Aim: Vitamin D is one of the major hormones involved in phosphorus metabolism in the secosteroid structure. Studies have shown that low serum vitamin D levels are associated with chronic diseases such as autoimmune diseases, diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, depression, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate serum vitamin D levels in the adult population according to age and gender in Karapınar, Turkey. Materials and Methods: Serum vitamin D levels of 6,774 patients admitted to Karapınar Public Hospital between January and December 2018 were evaluated according to age and gender, investigated, and retrospectively screened. Serum vitamin D level 100 ng/mL as toxicity. Results: The study consisted of 5,111 women (75.5%) and 1,663 men (24%). The mean vitamin D levels were 14.6 ± 0.2 ng/mL in women and 17.8 ± 0.3 ng/mL in men. Vitamin D levels were found to be lower in both men and women as age progressed. Deficiency (<10 ng/mL) of vitamin D was found in 83.8% of women and 18.2% of men, while insufficiency (10–30 ng/mL) of vitamin D was found in 69.6% of women and 30.4% of men. Conclusion: In this study, in patients who were admitted to our hospital in Karapınar City, serious vitamin D deficiency was detected. We recommend that people should take vitamin D and calcium supplements and they also should have more exposure to the sunlight.

Objective: Hemoglobinopathies are a common public health problem in Turkey. In the screening of these disorders in population, cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is accepted as the gold standard method. In this study, the aim was to assess four different HPLC devices used in hemoglobinopathy screening. Materials and methods: A total of 58 blood samples were analyzed with four different HPLC methods (Bio-Rad variant II, Agilent 1100, Tosoh G8 and Trinity Ultra2 trademarks). Results: The comparison study demonstrated a good correlation between the results of each HPLC analyzer and the reference value obtained by averaging all the HbA ₂ results belonging to the methods tested in the study [ (Tosoh G8 (r=0.988), Bio-Rad variant II (r=0.993), Agilent 1100 (r=0.98) and Trinity Ultra2 (r=0.992) ]. HbA ₂ determination in the presence of HbE was interfered in both Bio-Rad variant II and Tosoh G8. Conclusion: The analyzers were found to have compatible HbA ₂ results but with accompanying different degrees of proportional and systematic biases. HPLC analyzers may be affected by different hemoglobin variants at different HbA ₂ concentrations, which is an important point to take into consideration during the evaluation of HbA ₂ results in thalassemia screening.

Blood grouping is the first and most important requirement for most basic medical procedures. The expert in the conventional art used to detect blood type monitors the color and shape change in the blood by mixing anti-serum substance into the blood sample and determines the blood group and Rh factor. This is done by the expert throughout the day and is open to errors due to tiredness and oversight. In this study, it was aimed to determine blood group automatically by using image processing techniques. For this purpose, a series of image processing techniques have been applied on digital images of real patient blood. After the blood samples were divided into three parts, firstly RGB-Gray level-Black/White conversion was performed. Subsequently, morphological procedures were performed, and the blood region was segmented and border lines were marked. In the last stage, the white pixel density, the number of objects in the region, and the number of edge pixels were determined and blood group and Rh factor were determined.

Objectives: Vitamin D is one of the major hormones involved in the metabolism of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). In the present study, we aimed to determine the analytical performance of the immunoassay method used for determining plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels in routine clinical practice in laboratories. Methods: Venous blood samples were collected from 156 patients for the comparisons and were analyzed with Siemens ADVIA Centaur XPT, the Roche Cobas 6,000’s module e601, Abbott Architect i2000, and the liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results: The four methods were analyzed and compared through the Passing-Bablok regression for 25(OH)D, and the highest correlation was found at LC-MS/MS and Cobas 6,000’s module e601 (r=0.799), LC-MS/MS/Abbott Architect i2000, and LC-MS/MS/Siemens ADVIA Centaur XPT as r=0.736, 0.721, respectively. The correlation coefficient was found between Abbott Architect i2000 with Roche Cobas e601 and Siemens ADVIA Centaur XPT as r=0.934 and r=0.907, respectively. Also, the correlation coefficient was found between Roche Cobas e601 and Siemens ADVIA Centaur XPT as r=0.906. Conclusions: The Roche Cobas assay showed better performance, compared with the other assays. Based on our findings, the chemiluminescence methods in automated systems seem to be expedient.

Objective: The measurements of electrolytes are an indispensable part of the routine tests performed in clinical biochemistry laboratories. In the present study, we aimed to measure serum sodium (Na), potassium (K), and chlorine (Cl) electrolytes via the ion-selective electrode (ISE) method and evaluated in terms of linearity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy levels in the Mindray BS-800M and Beckman Coulter AU5800 devices. Material and methods: The serum samples were obtained from the healthy volunteers admitted to the Karapınar State Hospital for control purposes between January and April 2021. The sample probe was conducted using the same indirect method in the Mindray BS-800M and Beckman Coulter AU5800 devices, which is an individual sample probe for the ISE method. Results: While the comparative measurements were performed on different devices, the correlations between the electrolytes were found as follows: Na [r=0.964, 95% CI (0.52-0.90)], K [r=0.995, 95% CI (0.09-0.12)], and Cl [r=0.972, 95% CI (0.69-1.12)]. Moreover, a correlation was also found between these results. Conclusion: A consistency between the measured Na, K, and Cl electrolytes was determined on the different analyzers. Also, a positive correlation was determined between those electrolytes. We consider that further and comprehensive studies are needed to elucidate these results.