Prevalence of Hemoglobinopathies in Premarital Screening in the Province of Nigde, Turkey.

Hemoglobinopathies are one of the most widespread hereditary disorders in Turkey. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of hemoglobinopathies in the Nigde province of Turkey. This study was conducted with 2013 individuals who applied for the premarital screening, between January 2019 and December 2021. The complete blood count was measured by an automated hematology analyzer. The types of hemoglobin were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. A total of 2013 individuals including 951 (47.2%) females and 1062 (52.8%) males, were screened within the premarital screening program, and 67 (3.3%) of them were migrants. 53 out of 2013 (2.63%) individuals were identified as ß thalassemia carriers, and five of them were migrants including two from Afghanistan, two from Iran, and one from Georgia. HbC was observed in two cases, a couple from Syria (0.1%), HbD in two cases (0.1%), HbE in one case from Thailand (0.05%), HbS-ß-thalassemia in one case (0.05%), delta-ß thalassemia in one case (0.05%), and unidentified structural variant in one case (0.05%). Moreover, 183 individuals (9.1%) were considered to have iron deficiency, α-thalassemia, or silent ß-thalassemia carrier. These results indicate that the province of Nigde is a relatively risky region regarding hemoglobinopathies. Geographic location and immigrant population may have slightly affected the local prevalence of hemoglobinopathies and could be taken into consideration to ensure the effective implementation of the hemoglobinopathy prevention program.

Evaluation of oxidative stress, 3-Nitrotyrosine, and HMGB-1 levels in patients with wet type Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Background: This study aims to compare serum HMGB-1, 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT), TAS, TOS, and OSI levels in Wettype Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD) patients and healthy controls to determine the correlation of these parameters with each other. Methods: Thirty patients with Wet-type Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD) and 27 healthy adults, as controls were enrolled in the study. We determined the TAS and TOS levels in serum samples of both groups using commercial kits on a microplate reader. Serum HMGB-1 and 3-NT levels were measured with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: HMGB-1 levels were significantly higher in the patient group (137.51 pg/mL, p=0.001), while there was no difference between the two groups in serum 3-NT levels (p=0.428). A statistically significant difference found in the levels of TOS and OSI (p=0.001 and p=0.045, respectively) between the patients and controls, however, no significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of TAS levels (p=0.228). Conclusions: Oxidative stress and HMGB-1 levels were increased in wAMD patients and enhanced oxidative stress may be associated with increased tissue necrosis and inflammation. Thus administration of antioxidant treatment in addition to routine therapy should be considered in wAMD.