What is the importance of Demodex folliculorum in Behçet's disease?

Demodex folliculorum is an obligate parasite and commonly detected in patients with immune system deprivation. This study is planned to document the Demodex folliculorum prevalence among patients with Behçet's disease (BD). The patients who referred to the ophthalmology clinic were included in the study. Fourty patients with BD and 131 patients with refractive errors without any ocular and systemic disease were included. For parasite detection, 3 eyelashes from each inferior eyelid were epilated. Standardized skin surface biopsy (SSSB) was performed for detection of parasite at cheeks of patients. Samples were prepared with Hoyer's solution and investigated under the light microscope. There were 15 female and 25 male in BD group and 61 female and 70 male patients ine control group. Mean ages were 37.62 and 38.38 for BD and control groups, respectively. Demodex folliculorum prevalence at eyelashes was 65% for BD and 10% for control group. SSSB of cheek revealed 7.5% positivity for BD and 10% for control group patients. Statistical analysis documented a significant difference for eyelashes (p < 0.05) which could not be detected for skin results. Investigation of Demodex folliculorum in BD may be useful, even in patients without any complaint, for the treatment of ocular and eyelid discomforts of these patients.

[Determination of house dust mites in Eskisehir]. / Eskisehir'de Ev Tozu Akari Görülme Durumu.

House dust contains various organic and inorganic materials. The most important parts of the house dust are dust mites causing allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and seasonal keratoconjunctivitis. In this study, a total of 72 random house dust samples collected from various regions of Eskisehir were examined. The dust samples were examined by the lactic acid precipitation method which was modified from the Spieksma-Boezaman's method. The mite positive house dust rate was 16.67% including Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Chortoglyphus arcuatus and Tyrophagus sp. It was concluded that investigation of a greater number of samples would lead to more precise rate of detection of mite positive dust and also that more mite species would be found.

[Investigation of house dust mite incidence related to social factors]. / Ev tozu akarlarinin görülme durumunun sosyal degiskenler açisindan incelenmesi.

House dust mites are found everywhere there are temperatures of 25-27 degrees C and humidity of 70-80 percent. The amount of acari varies according to social conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between social factors and the observable rate of acari. A total of 303 dust samples were examined and according to results of questionnaires, increase of acari populations was observed under the following conditions: crowded homes, wooden houses, using second hand furniture, poor ventilation, insufficient cleaning, no vacuum cleaner, lack of sunlight indoors, high humidity, and presence of pets in the garden. Even though the acari density was sometimes found to be high, relationships with factors were not statistically significant. Advice to allergic patients about precautions concerning the factors may be useful.

[House dust mite fauna in Malatya]. / Malatya'da ev tozu akar faunasi

The organisms in the Acarina order of the Arachnida class that form an important group of the Arthropoda are called mites. Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart, 1897) and D. farinae (Hughes, 1961) are known to be the most common mites found in house dust. The aim of this study was to determine the house dust mite fauna in Malatya that had not been investigated previously. In this study, a total of 303 house dust samples collected from various districts of Malatya between June 1, 2000 and November 20, 2001 were examined. The dust samples were examined by the lactic acid precipitation method which was modified from the Spieksma-Boezaman's method. The rate of mites was found to be 23.1%. In conclusion, the rate of mites detected in this study was considered to be high considering the altitude and humidity of Malatya.

Dust-mites: effect on lipid peroxidation.

BACKGROUND: Dust-mites are present in our homes, feed on dead exfoliated skin and other organic material. It is also known that oxidative stress may lead to cellular damage that can be confirmed by markers of cellular disruption. Oxidative stress in various infective processes has been documented. We investigated whether house dust-mites cause oxidative stress in patients. METHODS: Products of lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes and lymphocytes were assessed by measuring malondialdehyde concentration. RESULTS: Our results showed that patients who had a positive skin test for dust-mite antigens and had dust-mites present in their houses (dust-mite positive) had increased erythrocyte malondialdehyde levels (62.39 [18.56] nmol/g-Hb) compared with those who were skin test positive, dust-mite negative (45.45 [10.82]) or skin test negative, dust-mite negative (42.20 [5.68]). They also had significantly higher levels of lymphocyte malondialdehyde (4.22 [0.55] nmol/g-protein) compared with those who were skin test positive, dust-mite negative (3.46 [0.29]) or skin test negative, dust-mite negative (1.25 [0.31]; p <0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the malondialdehyde levels of dust-mite negative/skin test positive and dust-mite negative/skin test negative patients. CONCLUSION: Increased malondialdehyde activity in lymphocytes and erythrocytes in the dust-mite positive/skin test positive group shows the presence of the oxidative stress in patients with dust-mite infestation.

[Hydatid cyst prevalence in the region of Kars.]. / Kars bölgesinde hidatik kist prevalansi

It has been reported that hydatid cysts are more common in societies that breed animals. Although there have been epidemiologic studies in various regions of our country, there has been no previous study related to this issue in the province of Kars where stockbreeding is quite common. In this study in order to determine the seroprevalence in the city of Kars and villages of the province of Kars, 511 serums were obtained and the specimens were analyzed by the indirect hemagglutination technique (IHAT) and indirect immunofluorescent technique (IFAT). The seropositive rate of 34.6% (177) found in this study, leads to the conclusion that hydatid cysts may be an important health problem in the region, and it was concluded that it would be suitable to carry out more comprehensive studies in the region.