Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the levels of hepcidin in the serum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: In the study, 74 male patients (ages 45-75) in a stable period for COPD were grouped as Group I: Mild COPD (n:25), Group II: Moderate COPD (n:24), and Group III: Severe COPD (n:25). Healthy non-smoker males were included in Group IV (n:35) as a control group. The differences of hepcidin level among all the groups were examined. Also, in the patient groups with COPD, hepcidin level was compared with age, body mass index, cigarette (package/year), blood parameters (iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, hemoglobin, hematocrit [hct]), respiratory function tests, and arterial blood gas results. Results: Although there was no difference between the healthy control group and the mild COPD patient group (P=0.781) in terms of hepcidin level, there was a difference between the moderate (P=0.004) and the severe COPD patient groups (P=0.002). The hepcidin level of the control group was found to be higher than the moderate and severe COPD patient groups. In the severe COPD patients, hepcidin level increased with the increase in serum iron (P=0.000), hct (P=0.009), ferritin levels (P=0.012), and arterial oxygen saturation (SaO₂, P=0.000). Conclusion: The serum hepcidin level that is decreased in severe COPD brings into mind that it may play a role in the mechanism to prevent hypoxemia. The results suggest that serum hepcidin level may be a useful marker in COPD. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings between hepcidin and COPD.

With this study, we aimed at evaluating demographic data, clinical, laboratory findings in pulmonary embolism (PE) and the relationship of these findings with the embolism location region and responses of the patients to the treatment of the embolism in order to contribute to the patient management in decreasing mortality. Clinical findings, accompanying diseases, risk factors, serum D-dimer and creatinine levels, imaging modalities and mortality rates of 205 patients (female: 98, male: 107) diagnosed with PE were examined retrospectively. The relationship between the qualifier variables was evaluated using Chi-square test. Average age of the patients was 61.55±14.44 years and 86 (42%) patients were above 65 years. Most common complaint was dyspnea (85%), most frequent coexisting disease was congestive heart failure (19%). Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) (30.7%) was the most frequently seen risk factor. Pulmonary embolism was mostly in the right lobe pulmonary artery (32.1%). It was observed that the higher ages of patients the more frequency of proximal located embolism was (p<0.005), especially lobar artery involvement was observed to be high (p=0.032). An early mortality rate was 4.9% and late mortality rate was 11.2%. In the patients with complaint of dyspnea who are at elder ages and have accompanying diseases, PE should be considered. PE is generally localized in the main pulmonary arteries, which emphasizes crucial importance of early diagnosis and treatment in reduction of mortality.

We aimed to underline the importance of serum S100B protein as a useful biochemical marker in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Forty-three newly diagnosed patients with OSAS (median apnea-hypopnea index [AHI, events/ hour]: 37.5 [range 11.3-137]) and 25 subjects with AHI < 5 (median AHI: 4.4 [range 0.7-4.8]) were included in the study. Serum S100B protein level was tested in serum samples taken after polysomnography in both groups and the difference between OSAS patients and the control group regarding that level was assessed. In addition, the association of S100B protein serum level with age, body mass index, AHI, mean O2 saturation percentage during sleep, minimum O2 saturation value (%) at the end of the apneas, and the time spent at an O2 saturation less than 90% were analyzed in the OSAS patient group. Median serum S100B protein level was 133.7 pg/ mL (range 20.97-230.70 pg/mL) in patients with OSAS and 16.1 pg/mL (range 10.1-22.9 pg/mL) in the control group (p < 0.005). Serum S100B protein level did not correlate with any studied variable (p > 0.05 for each correlation coefficient). Serum S100B protein level is increased in patients with OSAS and may be a useful biochemical marker in those patients.

Epigenetic defines long-lasting changes in gene expression independently from DNA sequence. Current evidence revealed that epigenetic mechanisms may have role into immune response and asthma. The purpose of this article is to review basic epigenetic mechanisms in asthma.

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