ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the clinical course and prognosis of serum levels of beta-defensin-2 [BD-2] in patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever [CCHF]
Subjects and Methods: Patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology of the Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, were considered for inclusion in this study. The patients had positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results of the CCHF virus. There were 60 patients with CCHF in the study group and 25 healthy participants in the control group. Serum BD-2 levels were measured using ELISA. Data were analyzed using the Student t test or Mann- Whitney U test
Results:Of the 60 patients, 6 [10%] died and 54 [90%] were discharged following their recovery. The mean BD-2 level of the patient group was significantly higher [4,180.30 +/- 3,944.19 pg/ml] than that of the control group [964.45 +/- 266.07 pg/ml; p = 0.001]. Serum BD-2 levels of the patients with fatal [1,529.81 +/- 1,028.14] and nonfatal disease [4,474.80 +/- 4,041.58] differed, but this difference showed only borderline significance [p = 0.055]. The mean BD-2 level of the severe group was 5,507.45 +/- 4,327.06 pg/ml, while it was 3,611.52 +/- 3,676.73 pg/ml in the mild/moderate group, and both were significantly higher than that of the control group [p = 0.001]
Conclusion:In this study, the expression of serum BD-2 was raised in patients with CCHF, and this increase may beneficially affect survival. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the association of serum BD-2 with CCHF prognosis
ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the serum fibronectin (FN) levels and liver enzyme activities in patients with acute hepatitis (A, B, C) and chronic viral hepatitis (B, C); determine whether the virus types correlated with disease severity; and assess whether FN could be used as a marker of virus type or disease severity in patients. Methods: A total of 60 subjects were enrolled in the study, including 20 patients with acute hepatitis (A, B, C), 20 with chronic hepatitis (B, C), and 20 healthy controls. Serum fibronectin (FN), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and albumin were measured in all patients from blood samples. Results: Serum FN levels were significantly lower in acute (122.9 μg/mL (SD 43.1), P < 0.001) and chronic hepatitis patients (135.7 μg/mL (SD 46.0), P < 0 .001) compared to controls 221.4 μg/mL (SD 32.5). A negative correlation was found between serum FN and AST (r2 = 0.528, P < 0.001), ALT (r2 = 0.425, P < 0.001), and GGT (r2 = 0.339, P < 0.001). Additionally, high serum GGT levels (β = –0.375, P = 0.010), and low serum albumin levels (β = –0.305, P = 0.008) were associated with low serum FN levels. Conclusion: Serum FN levels were lower in both acute and chronic hepatitis patients, and an inverse relationship between serum FN and serum AST, ALT, and GGT levels was found. A decrease in serum FN levels may indicate hepatitis severity as AST and ALT represent hepatocyte damage.