Changes in collagen metabolism and fibroblastic activity may play a role in the pathogenesis of brucellosis. The prolidase enzyme plays an important role in collagen synthesis. We aimed to investigate the association of prolidase levels with brucellosis. Serum prolidase levels in 20 patients newly diagnosed with brucellosis were compared with levels in 30 healthy control subjects. Patients with brucellosis were reassessed 3 months later for prolidase, other laboratory measurements, and response to treatment. The levels of serum prolidase were significantly higher in brucellosis patients compared with those of healthy controls. Prolidase, sedimentation, and C-reactive protein levels were significantly lower after antibrucellosistreatment than before treatment. The current study is the first to demonstrate significantly increased serum prolidase levels in patients with brucellosis compared with healthy controls. Prolidase levels also significantly decreased with antibrucellosis treatment. This finding provides a new experimental basis to understand the pathogenesis of brucellosis in relation to collagen metabolism. The increase in serum prolidase levels might be related to several factors such as tissue destruction, increased fibroblastic activity, and granuloma formation, all of which are involved in the natural history of brucellosis.

Background/Objectives: Real-world data on the therapeutic use of FLT3 inhibitors in Turkey remain limited. Therefore, we retrospectively evaluated outcomes from 13 academic centers nationwide, focusing on the multikinase inhibitor midostaurin in patients with newly diagnosed FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Methods: We collected comprehensive information regarding treatment efficacy, safety, and tolerability. Results: The overall response rate to intensive chemotherapy (3 + 7) plus midostaurin was 87.7%, with a complete remission rate of 84.2%, consistent with previously reported clinical trial results. Treatment discontinuation due to intolerance or toxicity was low (3.5%). One patient discontinued therapy because of septic shock during induction, and another due to a drug–drug interaction during consolidation. Median overall survival was 21.4 months. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation was performed in first remission in 52.6% of patients. Five patients (8.8%) were refractory to induction therapy, and relapse occurred in 21.1% (12 patients). Conclusions: These findings support the effectiveness and acceptable tolerability of midostaurin in routine clinical practice for FLT3-mutated AML.

Background/Objectives: Iron deficiency may be associated with alterations in systemic inflammatory activity and metabolic parameters. However, whether oral and intravenous (IV) iron replacement have different effects on inflammatory markers and serum uric acid remains unclear. We compared inflammatory and metabolic responses to oral and IV iron in premenopausal women with iron deficiency. Methods: This prospective observational study included 72 oral iron recipients, 77 IV iron recipients, and 76 healthy controls. Patients were reassessed at Day 30. The primary outcome was change in C-reactive protein (CRP); changes in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and uric acid were secondary outcomes. Additional regressions used robust standard errors, adjusting for age, baseline hemoglobin, and baseline outcome values; the uric acid model additionally included baseline creatinine. Results: Baseline CRP and ESR were significantly higher in both iron-deficient groups than in controls (all Bonferroni-adjusted p < 0.001). The IV iron group had more severe baseline anemia than the oral iron group (median hemoglobin: 8.60 vs. 10.70 g/dL; Bonferroni-adjusted p < 0.001). Increases in hemoglobin, ferritin, and transferrin saturation over 30 days were greater with IV iron (all p < 0.001). Median CRP changes were −0.22 mg/L with IV iron and 0.07 mg/L with oral iron (unadjusted p = 0.041). However, multivariable regression with robust standard errors showed no statistically significant difference in Day 30 CRP after adjustment for age, baseline hemoglobin, and baseline CRP (IV minus oral: −1.585 mg/L; 95% CI, −3.261 to 0.091; p = 0.064; n = 149). The corresponding adjusted analysis showed lower Day 30 ESR with IV iron (−2.118 mm/h; 95% CI, −3.817 to −0.418; p = 0.015; n = 91). The adjusted serum uric acid difference, additionally accounting for baseline creatinine, was not statistically significant (0.389 mg/dL; 95% CI, −0.009 to 0.787; p = 0.055; n = 149). Conclusions: IV iron was associated with greater hematologic and iron-store repletion over 30 days. Adjusted comparisons showed no statistically significant differences in CRP or serum uric acid, whereas ESR was modestly lower with IV iron, with uncertain clinical significance. Nonrandomized treatment allocation and premedication restricted to the IV group preclude attributing these findings solely to iron administration.

Background: The effects of body mass index (BMI) and blood groups on immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) are not clearly known. This study aims to investigate the effect of BMI and blood groups on the treatment of ITP. Materials and Methods: All cases included in this study were primary ITP patients. Body measure-ments, treatment history, demographic, and laboratory data were recorded. The data obtained were analyzed after the patients were divided into groups based on BMI and blood groups. Results: The study included 68 (100%) cases, 53 of which were female (77.9%). The median age of the cases was 44 years (min: 18, max: 87). The median BMI was 28.05 (min: 17.6, max: 51.4), and patients with normal weight, overweight, and obesity were found in 24 (35.3%), 20 (29.4%), and 24 (35.3%) cases, respectively. According to blood groups, 29 (42.6%), 20 (29.4%), 11 (16.2%), and 8 (11.8%) cases had blood groups A, O, B, and AB, respectively. The analysis of BMI and blood groups together with demographic and laboratory variables revealed that patients with obesity had a higher mean age (p=0.049) and lactate dehydrogenase levels (p<0.001) than other BMI groups. In the analysis of treat-ment responses, it was found that using eltrombopag in the second-line treatment in the patients with normal weight group was associated with a better response than other BMI groups (p=0.025). Conclusions: This is the first study to look investigate the relationship between BMI and ITP therapy. According to the results of our study, we believe that BMI should be considered in the selection of second-line therapy for ITP.