Background:. Expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) has been shown in aortic dissection and aneurysms indicating increased proteolysis compared w

Background. Acute cholecystitis is a common complication of cholelithiasis. Delayed diagnosis may constitute morbidity and mortality; therefore, early diagnosis and determining the severity of acute cholecystitis are crucial.Objectives. This study aimed to determine the validity of blood procalcitonin (PCT) levels in assessing the severity of acute cholecystitis.Methods. The Emergency Department (ED) patients diagnosed as acute cholecystitis were included in the study. Patients were allocated into three severity grades according to the Tokyo Guidelines 2013. PCT level was measured after the clinical and radiological diagnosis of acute cholecystitis in the ED.Results. Ninety-five patients diagnosed with acute cholecystitis, among them 48 of were male. Forty patients (42.1%) were allocated to grade 1, 19 (20%) to grade 2, and 36 (37.9%) to grade 3. The median values of PCT were 0.104 ng/ml, 0.353 ng/ml, and 1.466 ng/ml for grade 1, 2, and 3 patients, respectively (p<0.001).Conclusion. Blood procalcitonin levels can be used to determine the severity of acute cholecystitis effectively.

Patients immune phenotype/genotype data may be useful to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection and can contribute to the identify the different levels of disease severity. The roles of chemokines have been reported in the coronavirus-related diseases SARS and MERS and they may likewise play a critical role in the development of the symptoms of COVID-19 disease. We analyzed the association of the MCP-1-A2518 G, SDF-1-3’A, CCR5-delta32, CCR5-A55029 G, CXCR4-C138T and CCR2-V64I gene polymorphisms with COVID-19 severity to further unveil the immunological pathways leading to disease severity and death. Polymerase chain reaction(PCR)/Sanger sequencing analysis was performed for detection of the variations in 60 asymptomatic and 119 severe COVID-19 patients. In our study, we found that the frequencies of MCP-1 of GA genotype and G allele carriers were significantly higher in severe COVID-19 patients than the asymptomatic COVID-19 patients (p < .0001 and p: .005, respectively). However, no significant association was found for any of the other polymorphisms with the severity of COVID-19. Our findings suggest that there is a positive association between MCP-1-A2518 G gene variants with the severity of COVID-19. However, larger studies in different population which will focus on gene expression levels will help us to understand the capability of the mechanism role.