Introduction and objective: Hepatitis A Virus (HAV), reportedly the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis in developing countries, infects millions of people worldwide each year. The aim of the study is to investigate the seropositivity of anti-hepatitis A virus (HAV) IgG and IgM in all...

Introduction and objective: Legionnaires’ disease, which is a waterborne disease leading to pneumonia that can result in death, is one of the major health issues today. The study aims to carry out a three-year retrospective review of routine Legionella follow-up analyses in various samples...

In this study, our objective was to compare direct microscopic examination and direct fluorescence antibody (DFA) method for Giardia diagnosis in stool samples and to evaluate the possible risk factors related to Giardia infections. Stool samples of 185 patients with diarrhoea collected between June 2019 and July 2019 in Erzurum Yakutiye Research Hospital were included in the study. Microscopic examination of the samples was performed with native-lugol, and they were subsequently scanned by the indirect fluorescent assay microscope using the DFA method at 100-200X magnification. In addition, all patients filled a questionnaire prepared to determine the possible risk factors related to Giardia infection. The age of the 185 participating patients who belonged to different groups was between 0 and 94 years. Giardia spp. cysts were detected in five stool samples (2.7%) using direct microscopic examination. Nine samples (4.9%) were DFA-positive. The incidence of giardiasis was noted to be 7.5% in children, 3.8% in adults, 7.3% in people living in rural areas, 2.9% in people living in urban areas, 10% in people having pets and 4.2% in people who do not have pets. By taking the DFA method as a reference, the sensitivity and specificity of the microscopic examination were found to be 44.4% and 99.4%, respectively. The Giardia positivity rate was higher in children, those living in rural areas, those having pets and those using well water as drinking water.

Sepsis is a life-threatening systemic inflammatory condition marked by a dysregulated host response to infection. The intestinal microbiota plays a pivotal role in maintaining immune homeostasis and epithelial barrier integrity, whereas dysbiosis significantly contributes to the pathogenesis of sepsis. This study investigates the effects of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa-derived metabolite Pyocyanin and the probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii) on microbial composition and the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling axis in a cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced rat model of sepsis. The experimental design assessed the synergistic or antagonistic effects of single and combined treatments using molecular, microbiome, and immunohistochemical parameters to evaluate histopathological damage and microbial ecological dynamics. Seven experimental groups were established following CLP. Intra-abdominal Pyocyanin (10 nmol/g) and oral probiotic (10⁶ CFU/kg) treatments were administered either individually or in combination. Focused Ion Beam - Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) analyses revealed that the amorphous structure of Pyocyanin interacted with the surface of S. boulardii. Western blot analysis showed a 2.3-fold increase in TLR4/NF-κB expression in the CLP group (p ≤ 0.05), which synergistically rose to 4.5-fold with Pyocyanin (p ≤ 0.001), whereas probiotic treatment decreased expression levels by 35%. According to 16 S rRNA sequencing, Pyocyanin reduced α-diversity by increasing Lactobacillaceae abundance to 32.66% (Shannon index: 3.598 vs. 4.433 in control), while S. boulardii enhanced β-diversity by elevating Coriobacteriaceae (5.85%) and Prevotellaceae (10.63%) levels (Tables 2, 3 and 4). PCoA confirmed 41.7% Bray-Curtis dissimilarity between groups at the species level (PERMANOVA R²=0.38, p = 0.002). Histopathologically, severe hepatocyte necrosis (73.2 ± 6.1%, p = 0.0022) and a 4.2-fold increase in hepatic TGF-β expression were observed in the CLP group, whereas epithelial barrier damage was significantly attenuated in the probiotic groups. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that combined treatment reduced Caspase-8 and TLR4 expression by 28% compared to Pyocyanin alone (p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, S. boulardii supported microbiota homeostasis by suppressing TLR4/NF-κB signaling, whereas Pyocyanin exacerbated the inflammatory response via NLRP3 activation. These findings provide molecular evidence supporting probiotic-assisted immunomodulatory strategies in sepsis therapy.

Objective: In the study, 419 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains (MTC), which were isolated from samples sent to the Regional Tuberculosis Laboratory in our city between 2015 and 2019 with suspected tuberculosis from Erzurum and surrounding cities were investigated. Methods: Our research is a retrospective cross-sectional study and clinical samples sent to the Regional Public Health Laboratory with suspicion of Tuberculosis within a five-year period from January 2015 to December 2019 were first evaluated by using Ehrlich-Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. The samples were then simultaneously inoculated into the automated culture system (BACTEC MGIT 960) with Löwenstein-Jensen medium. Sensitivity research was conducted for isoniazide, rifampicin, streptomycin and ethambutol antibiotics with BACTEC MGIT 960 system to samples defined by MTC identification test (TBc ID) from reproduction positive tubes. Results: In our study, 337 (80.4%) of the 419 MTC strains investigated in our study were susceptible to all major anti-TB drugs, while 82 (19.6%) were found to be resistant to at least one major anti-TB drug. The distribution of resistance ratios was isoniazid (11.9%), streptomycin (11.7%), rifampicin (4.1%), ethambutol (3.6%). Multi-drug resistant (MDR)–TB ratio (isoniazid+ rifampicin) was found to be (3.6%). Conclusions: In our study, in the strains in which resistance to anti-TB drugs was investigated, the highest drug resistance was determined for isoniazid. The lowest drug resistance was determined for ethambutol.