Background and Aim: Genes related to the circadian rhythm control vari-ous biological processes. The aim of this study was to comprehensively in-vestigate the mutational and mRNA profile of core circadian rhythm genes in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) samples. Materials and Methods: In this study, the gene profile of a total of 369 patients with HCC was examined over the data obtained from the cancer genome atlas database through-cBioPortal. The effects of mutations on protein were examined by scoring the Polymorphism Phenotyping v2, Mu-tation Assessor, and SIFT-databases. While the association of genes with other genes was determined with the GeneMANIA-database, the associa-tion of expression levels in the genes with overall survival (OS) was evalu-ated with the Kaplan–Meier Plot database. Results: As a result of the analyses, there were a total of 25 mutations. De-creased expression levels of PER1 (1.3e-05), PER3 (p=0.046), and CRY2 (p=1.8e-06) genes were found statistically associated with shorter OS. It was also found that increased expression levels of the PER2 (p=0.045) gene were associated with longer OS, and increased expression levels of the NPAS2 (p=9e-04) gene were associated with shorter OS. Conclusion: In particular, changes in the PER1, PER2, CRY2, and NPAS2 genes may provide possible molecular targets in chemotherapy and im-munotherapy for HCC patients.

Summary: Background: The aim of our study is to compare plasma ferritin levels found to be high or low in terms of reference range by means of electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA) and immunoturbidimetric method and to examine whether they can be used interchangeably. Methods: 84 patients with high plasma ferritin level and 153 patients with low ferritin level according to the reference range were included in the study. Plasma samples measured in Cobas e601 device with ECLIA were also measured as immunoturbidimetric Cobas c501 device. For method comparison, CLSI EP9-A3 Guideline was used. While the consistency between the methods were specified with Passing-Bablok regression analysis and Spearman cor relation analysis, bias error between the methods (bias%) was determined through Bland-Altman analysis. Results: Both high and low plasma ferritin levels measured with Cobas e601 module and determined high in terms of reference range were compared with the results found with cobas c501 module. The difference was found to be statistically significant (p<0.001). According to regression and correlation (for low plasma ferritin levels; r: 0.993, p<0.001, for high plasma ferritin levels; r: 0.966, p<0.001) results, the methods were in consistency with each other. Additionally, while the bias% value was found to be 10.4% for low plasma ferritin levels, it was found to be 12.6% for high ferritin levels. Conclusions: Accordingly, we believe that, comparison with more samples especially in terms of different clinical decision levels is required in order to examine inter changeable use of immunoturbidimetric method in integrated devices and ECLIA.

Bioinformatic Investigation of Genetic Changes in Paraoxonase Genes in Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Subtypes - European Journal of Breast Health

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.