Increased platelet activation and aggregation are central processes in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. Increased platelet activity is associated with increased platelet volume. Mean platelet volume (MPV), a determinant of platelet function, is a newly emerging risk factor for atherothrombosis. Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by recurrent inflammatory febrile attacks of serosal and synovial membranes. Recently few studies have shown that FMF is associated with increased atherosclerosis risk. The present study was designed to evaluate levels of MPV in FMF patients compared with healthy subjects. We selected 35 FMF patients and 35 healthy control subjects matched for age, gender, and body mass index. Metabolic parameters and MPV levels were measured in all groups. Metabolic parameters were not different among the study groups (p > 0.05). The levels of MPV were significantly higher in the FMF group than in the control group (8.6 +/- 0.9 fl vs 7.8 +/- 0.5 fl, p = 0.001). The MPV levels were negatively correlated with duration of colchicine treatment (r = -0.40, p = 0.017). Also MPV levels showed positive correlation with delay of diagnosis (r = 0.58, p = 0.001). In conclusion, our results suggest that patients with FMF tend to have an increased platelet activation. Increased platelet activity could contribute to increasing the atherosclerotic risk in FMF patients.

There have been few studies concerning the cytokine profiles in gastric mucosa of Helicobacter pylori-infected patients with normal mucosa, chronic gastritis, and gastric carcinoma (GAC).In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the genomic expression levels and immune pathological roles of cytokines-interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, IL-10, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, IL-17A, IL-32-in H pylori-infected patients with normal gastric mucosa (NGM; control), chronic active gastritis (CAG), and GAC. Genomic expression levels of these cytokines were assayed by real-time PCR analysis in gastric biopsy specimens obtained from 93 patients.We found that the genomic expression levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A mRNA were increased in the CAG group and those of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, TGF-β mRNA were increased in the GAC group with reference to H pylori-infected NGM group.This study is on the interest of cytokine profiles in gastric mucosa among individuals with normal, gastritis, or GAC. Our findings suggest that the immune response of gastric mucosa to infection of H pylori differs from patient to patient. For individual therapy, levels of genomic expression of IL-6 or other cytokines may be tracked in patients.

The pathophysiological mechanism of hypertensive retinopathy (HR) is not fully established. Elevated blood pressure alone does not fully account for the extent of retinopathy so other pathogenic mechanisms may be involved, such as increased platelet activation. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of platelet activation. Therefore, this study was designed to answer the following questions: Do MPV levels change in HR? and is there any relation between degree of HR and MPV levels? This study included newly diagnosed and 57 untreated essential hypertensive patients with HR. The hypertensive patients were divided into two groups according to the Keith, Wagener classification. Group 1 comprised 29 hypertensive patients with grade 1 HR with a mean age of 56.8 ± 9.7 years. Group 2 comprised 28 hypertensive patients with grade 2 HR with a mean age of 58.1 ± 10.3 years. Twenty-seven normotensive subjects who were the healthy participants and had undergone the check-up program were used as the control group. Fundoscopic examination, metabolic parameters and MPV levels were measured in all groups. The level of MPV in group 2 was significantly higher than in group 1 (8.9 ± 0.8 fl vs.8.3 ± 0.8 fl, p = 0.02) and the normotensive control group (8.9 ± 0.8 fl vs 7.8 ± 0.7 fl, p < 0.001). It was also higher in group 1 than in normotensive control group (8.3 ± 0.8 fl vs.7.8 ± 0.7 fl, p < 0.01). In addition, MPV showed a positive correlation with the degree of HR in the hypertensive group (r = 0.41, p = 0.015). Our study suggests that platelet activation, a mechanism known to be involved in vascular lesions, may promote the development of HR.

Background/Aims: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic liver disease influenced by environmental, genetic, and epigenetic fac tors, with varying incidence across populations. This study compared demographic, biochemical, and treatment responses in Danish and Turkish PBC patients. Materials and Methods: Four cohorts were analyzed: (1) 101 incident Turkish patients, (2) 77 incident Danish patients, (3) 103 prevalent Turkish patients, and (4) 155 prevalent Danish patients. Demographics, biochemical data, disease severity, and response to ursodeoxy cholic acid (UDCA) were assessed. Regression analysis was applied to the entire cohort to identify factors associated with the UDCA response. Results: Female dominance was noted in all cohorts (>90%) except the Danish incident group (75%). Turkish patients in the preva lent cohort were younger than Danish patients. Antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) positivity was higher in Turkish cohorts (92%-97%) compared to Danish cohorts (75%-88%). Biochemical data were similar across groups, with 15% of both populations having cirrhosis. Turkish patients showed a higher complete response to UDCA. Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels reduced UDCA response, while Turkish ethnicity and older age improved it. Conclusion: Despite similar disease severity and age at diagnosis between Danish and Turkish PBC patients, Turkish patients had higher AMA positivity and better responses to UDCA treatment. These findings suggest potential genetic or environmental influences on treat ment efficacy. Cite this article as: Eruzun H, Bossen L, Turan Gökçe D, et al. Clinical and biochemical characteristics of a Danish and Turkish cohort of incident and prevalent patients with primary biliary cholangitis. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2025;36(4):241-246.

Background and Aim: This study aimed to identify the indications for liv-er transplantation (LT) based on underlying etiology and to characterize the patients who underwent LT. Materials and Methods: We conducted a multicenter crosssectional ob-servational study across 11 tertiary centers in Turkiye from 2010 to 2020. The study included 5,080 adult patients. Results: The mean age of patients was 50.3±15.2 years, with a predominance of female patients (70%). Chronic viral hepatitis (46%) was the leading etiological factor, with Hepatitis B virus infection at 35%, followed by cryptogenic cirrhosis (24%), Hepatitis C virus infection (8%), and al-cohol-related liver disease (ALD) (6%). Post-2015, there was a significant increase in both the number of liver transplants and the proportion of living donor liver transplants (p

Background: Prevalence of the end-stage liver disease in the elderly patients indicating a liver transplantation (LT) has been increasing. There is no universally accepted upper age limit for LT candidates but the functional status of older patients is important in pre-LT evaluation. This study aimed to examine the impact of older age on survival after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Method: A total of 171 LDLT recipients were assessed in two groups: age ≥65 and < 65. To eliminate selection bias propensity score matching (PSM) was performed, and 56 of 171 recipients were included in this study. Results: There were 20 recipients in the older group and 36 in the younger. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 65.0%, 60.0%, and 60.0% in group 1; 88.9%, 84.7%, and 71.4% in group 2, respectively. The 1-year survival was significantly lower in the older recipients; however, overall survival rates were similar between the groups. Of the 56 recipients, 15 (27%) deaths were observed in overall, and 11 (20%) in 1-year follow-up. The univariate regression analysis after PSM revealed that MELD score affected 1- year survival and the multivariate analysis revealed that age ≥65 years and MELD score were the predictors of 1-year survival. Conclusion: At first sight, before PSM, survival appeared to be worse for older recipients. However, we have shown that there were confounding effects of clinical variables in the preliminary evaluation. After the elimination of this bias with PSM, This study highlights that older recipients have similar outcomes as youngers in LDLT for long-term survival.