Purpose: The most common anemias are iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and beta-thalassemia minor (BTm). A correct differantiation of them is important in terms of preventing unnecessary iron treatment and also preventing thalassemia disease. Considering the financial limitations specifically in countries with high prevalence of thalassemia, mathematical indices, which are simpler solutions, have been used to achieve a differential diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Total of 71 cases eligible for inclusion criteria were included in the study and 11 indices were examined. 46 of the cases were in the BTm-group and 25 of the cases were in the IDA-group. The BTm-group were accepted as positive-patient-group and the IDA-group were accepted as control-group. Diagnostic criteria were evaluated with erythrocyte indices. Results: The highest Youden Index was seen in the Sirdah index (89.48%), followed by two identical performances of the Ehsani and the Mentzer indices (84.%), indicating that these three indices showed the best diagnostic performance. There were two indices with a low performance (DOR

Background/Aim: Epidemiological investigations consistently indicate a widespread deficiency and insufficiency of vitamin D on a global scale. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to various acute and chronic diseases, including pre-eclampsia, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and neurological disorders. However, the relationship between vitamin D status and its implications for global and public health has not been comprehensively explored. Notably, the differing clinical decision thresholds for diagnosing vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency established by various associations can create diagnostic confusion. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the distribution of vitamin D levels in Niğde province, considering variations by month, gender, and season, with respect to the clinical decision thresholds defined by different associations. Methods: The study sample comprised 57,731 cases (71% women and 19% men) admitted to our hospital between January 2021 and December 2022. We retrospectively evaluated 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels based on months, seasons, age, and gender. Additionally, we examined 25(OH)D levels separately using the clinical decision thresholds set by the Vitamin D Council, the Endocrine Society, and the Food and Nutrition Board. Patients with chronic renal insufficiency, hepatic insufficiency, and gastrointestinal malabsorption were excluded from the study, encompassing patients of all age groups. Furthermore, we categorized patients into different age decades and analyzed their vitamin D levels. We compared the same months in 2021 and 2022, monitoring changes in vitamin D levels throughout the year. Vitamin D levels were measured using the electrochemiluminescence assay (ECLIA) on a Roche Cobas E801 instrument. Results: When comparing the same months in 2021 and 2022, there was no statistically significant decrease or increase in 25(OH)D levels (The P-values for January and December were 0.066, 0.395, 0.907, 0.465, 0.705, 0.541, 0.625, 0.860, 0.695, 0.549, 0.892, and 0.838, respectively). Vitamin D insufficiency was observed in 70.3% of women and 29.7% of men. Participants under one year of age exhibited the highest mean 25(OH)D level (34.9 ng/mL), while participants between 20 and 29 years of age had the lowest mean 25(OH)D level (15.7 ng/mL). The lowest mean 25(OH)D level was recorded in April 2022 (15.6 ng/mL), whereas the highest mean 25(OH)D level was observed in July 2021 (22.7 ng/mL). There was a slight negative correlation between age and 25(OH)D levels (r=-0.038, P<0.001). The Vitamin D Council classification identified the highest number of patients with vitamin D deficiency (n=50,833; 88%). The Food and Nutrition Board included the lowest number of patients with vitamin D deficiency (n=15,049; 26.1%). Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in Niğde province, particularly among women, and remains a significant public health concern. We advocate for the adoption of a unified clinical decision threshold and the expansion of the national vitamin D supplementation program to encompass adolescents and adults.

Background: Sparc/osteonectin, cwcv, and kazal-like domains proteoglycan 1 (SPOCK1) is an oncogene that promotes tumor formation and progression in certain types of cancer and is associated with poor survival rates. However, there is limited information on the importance of SPOCK1 in gynecological cancers in the literature. The aim of this study was to explore the role of SPOCK1 in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma (OV), cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (CESC), and uterine corpus endometrial carcinomas (UCEC). Methods: The data used in this study were obtained from the GEPIA2, TCGA, Kaplan–Meier Plotter, GeneMANIA, UALCAN, cBioPortal, and TIMER databases. Overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) rates were evaluated by Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Spearman’s rho and statistical significance values were obtained for the correlation between SPOCK1 expression and tumor infiltration by different immune cells. Results: Lower SPOCK1 gene expression was observed in CESC and UCEC compared to normal tissue (p < 0.05), but the OV did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). In OV, SPOCK1 gene expression was solely linked to age; in CESC, it was linked to age, stage, weight, and histology; and in UCEC, it was linked to age, stage, weight, and menopausal status. Conclusions:SPOCK1 gene expression in UCEC showed weak positive correlations with CD8+ T cells and weak negative correlations with CD4+ T cells. SPOCK1 may be a potential prognostic and therapeutic target for gynecological cancers.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents a clinically challenging breast cancer (BC) subtype, characterized by aggressive behavior, high recurrence risk, and limited therapeutic options. MEAK7 has been identified as an alternative mTORC1 signaling pathway regulator; however, its role in BC and TNBC remains uninvestigated. This study aims to assess MEAK7 expression, prognostic significance, and therapeutic potential. We employed public datasets, including TCGA, bc-GenExMiner v5.2, GEPIA3, DOSurvive platforms, Kaplan–Meier Plotter, UALCAN, TIMER2.0, STRING, ENCORI, HPA, miRDB, TargetScan, and CRISPRdb. MEAK7 expression was significantly elevated in BC tissues versus normal breast tissue. MEAK7 expression was pronounced in TNBC and basal-like subtypes, with hypomethylation of its promoter region in TNBC. Elevated MEAK7 expression correlated with reduced disease-free survival (DFS) in TNBC and basal-like. Multivariate Cox regression identified MEAK7 as a significant prognostic factor for overall survival, independent of age and tumor stage. MEAK7 showed CRISPR-targetable gRNA profiles with high on-target efficiency and minimal off-target effects. Analyses revealed negative correlation with tumor-suppressive RNAs (miR-149-3p, miR-135a-5p, and LINC00993) and positive correlation with aggressive regulators (miR-135b-5p and HIF1A-AS2). This study represents one of the initial comprehensive and multi-platform bioinformatic analyses demonstrating that MEAK7 exhibits elevated expression in breast cancer, particularly within the aggressive TNBC. The findings indicate that MEAK7 may serve as a promising prognostic biomarker in TNBC biology and suggest its viability as a molecular candidate for future investigation in targeted therapeutic strategies.

Unveiling the Diagnostic Potential of Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and HALP Score in Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer: A Step Toward Early Detection - European Journal of Breast Health