Search

Osteoporosis is a common age-related skeletal disease, characterized by changes in the microarchitectural structure of bone tissue and decreased bone mass, especially affecting postmenopausal women. Genetic and environmental factors affecting bone metabolism play a role in the development of osteoporosis. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an important enzyme involved in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. Genetic variations in the MTHFR gene lead to impaired function or inactivation of this enzyme. A decrease in MTHFR enzyme activity and an increase in homocysteine levels affect bone metabolism. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and osteoporosis in Turkish postmenopausal women. DNA samples were extracted from 200 volunteers. The PCR-RFLP technique was used to identify the MTHFR gene polymorphisms C677T and A1298C. The statistical significance of the analysis's results was assessed. C677T genotype and allele frequency distributions were not statistically different between postmenopausal osteoporosis and healthy control groups ( p  = 0.249, p  = 0.754), while A1298C genotype and allele frequency distributions were found to be statistically significant ( p  = 0.002, p  = 0.013). The results of our study showed that the A1298C polymorphism may be a genetic factor associated with osteoporosis in this specific population. However, the C677T polymorphism did not show a significant connection. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis of osteoporosis, future research with larger sample sizes and the consideration of additional genetic and environmental factors is essential. Additionally, it is crucial to account for ethnic disparities, gene-gene interactions, and gene-environment interplays. These insights can inform the development of personalized preventive and therapeutic strategies for individuals at risk of osteoporosis in diverse populations.

Aim: There is a lack of an overview of the factors associated with postacute COVID-19 musculoskeletal symptoms. The aims of this study were as follows: 1- to evaluate the most frequent admission symptoms and the frequency of musculoskeletal symptoms in postacute COVID-19 patients; and 2- to determine the related factors with the postacute COVID-19 musculoskeletal symptoms., Methods: A total of 280 postacute COVID-19 patients (183 females, 97 males) were enrolled and divided into two groups: 1- patients whose musculoskeletal symptoms initiated with or were aggravated by COVID-19 (n = 240); and 2- patients whose musculoskeletal symptoms did not change with COVID-19 (n = 40). The variables were demographic and treatment data, symptoms on admission, postacute COVID-19 symptoms, laboratory results (complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, ferritin and d-dimer), chest computed tomography findings and symptoms during acute COVID-19., Results: Most of the patients have fatigue (71.8%), spine pain (70.7%) and myalgia (60.7%). The most common pain region was the back (30.4%). The frequency of dyspnoea was 30%, cough 18.5% and chest pain 10.7%. Having any chronic disease (P = .031), the duration of hospital stay (P = .016), frequency of back pain during acute COVID-19 (P = .018), tomography findings and d-dimer (P = .035) levels were significantly higher, and lymphocyte (P = .024) levels were significantly lower in the patients whose symptoms began with or were aggravated by COVID-19., Conclusion: Back pain was the most frequent symptom on admission. The most common postacute COVID-19 musculoskeletal symptoms were fatigue, spine pain and myalgia. Lower lymphocyte and higher d-dimer levels, the presence of COVID-19 findings in tomography and back pain during acute COVID-19 infection, higher duration of hospital stay and having chronic diseases were related to post-COVID-19 musculoskeletal symptoms., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship between NOD1/CARD4 and NOD2/CARD15 gene polymorphisms and osteoporosis in the Turkish population. The first time we thought that the functional polymorphisms in NOD1/CARD4 and NOD2/CARD15 genes might have triggered the development of osteoporosis. The objective of our study was to determine the relationship between NOD1/CARD4 and NOD2/CARD15 SNPs and osteoporosis. The NOD1/CARD4 (rs5743336) and NOD2/CARD15 (rs2066847) SNPs were analyzed by PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 94 healthy controls and 164 subjects with osteoporosis. PCR products were digested with restriction enzymes AvaI for NOD1/CARD4 and ApaI for NOD2/CARD15. We found that NOD1/CARD4 genotype distribution of AA, GA and GG were 15, 44 and 41% for patients and 17, 46 and 37% for controls, respectively. NOD2/CARD15 mutation was found only in three patients (1.8%) as heterozygote. The results did not show any statistical difference between NOD1/CARD4 and NOD2/CARD15 genotype distribution of patients and healthy groups (χ2 = 1.740, P=0.187; χ2 = 1.311, P=0.519). However, the most frequent AG genotype (46%) of NOD1/CARD4 was observed in healthy controls, GG genotype (44%) of NOD1/CARD4 was observed as the most frequent in osteoporotic patients. NOD2/CARD15 WT/WT genotype, the most frequent genotype, was observed in both groups. Statistical analysis revealed that NOD1/CARD4 and NOD2/CARD15 polymorphisms are not associated with osteoporosis. However, a definite judgement is difficult to be made due to restricted number of patients and small size of control group. Further research is sorely warranted in this direction., (© 2020 The Author(s).)