The Value of Serum I-FABP Level in the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal emergencies worldwide. Biomarkers and imaging are valuable adjuncts to history and examination. Differentiating complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis is essential. Our aim is to investigate whether serum I-FABP could be a suitable diagnostic biomarker in diagnosing acute appendicitis in which inflammation and ischemia play a role in the pathophysiology. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with histopathologically confirmed acute appendicitis were included in the study. Blood samples were taken from the patient and control groups to examine serum I-FABP, white blood cell (WBC) counts, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) levels. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients (39.3%) had complicated appendicitis. When the patient and control groups were compared in terms of I-FABP, WBC, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, (NLR) CRP, and PCT values, a significant difference was found in all biochemical parameters (p < 0.001). We compared the levels of patients with uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis in terms of serum I-FABP, WBC, NLR, CRP, and PCT levels and found that only the I-FABP level was significantly different (p < 0.001), and the diagnostic sensitivity was higher in patients with complicated appendicitis compared with uncomplicated patients (AUC; 0.89 for I-FABP, 0.55, 0.57, 0.61, and 0.59 for WBC, NLR, CRP, and PCT respectively). CONCLUSIONS: I-FABP has no diagnostic advantage over WBC, CRP, and PCT to diagnose acute appendicitis. However, it is more sensitive than other biomarkers in differentiating complicated from uncomplicated appendicitis.

GP73 level in patients with chronic hepatitis B: Relationship with liver biopsy, levels of ALT, AST and HBV DNA.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In this study, we investigated the Golgi protein 73 (GP73) level in Hepatitis B and determined the correlation between Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, and liver histopathology. Materials and. METHODS: GP73 levels were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum samples from patients. Liver biopsy specimens were examined by the same pathologist. RESULTS: : This study included a total of 127 patients who underwent liver biopsy. Of patients, 85% were HBeAg negative. HBV DNA level was median 134667 IU/mL (2247-170000000 IU/mL), Liver biopsy results revealed a mean Histological Activity Index (HAI) grade of 7.7 ± 3.4 and a mean fibrosis stage of 2.25 ± 1.06 gr/dL. GP73 was as follows: a mean of 14.8 ± 7.9 ng/mL and a median of 12.9 (4.8-50.1) ng/mL. A weak correlation between GP73 level and AST (r = 0.236, P = 0.11), fibrosis stage (r = 0.287, P = 0.002), and HAI grade (r = 0.218, P = 0.016) was noted. No statistically significant correlation was detected between GP73 and ALT (r = 0.16, P = 0.08), HBV DNA (r = 0.13, P = 0.08). CONCLUSION: Although recent studies revealed a strong correlation and increased GP73 levels in accordance with HAI scores and the fibrosis grade of liver, we detected a weak correlation between serum GP73 levels and HAI scores, fibrosis stage, and AST. This may be due to the insufficient number of patients with higher HAI grading and fibrosis staging in our study. Therefore, we concluded that, in cases of low-moderate fibrosis and HAI grading, GP73 seemed not to be useful and a reliable marker to replace liver biopsy.

The Application of Kidney Injury Molecule-1 to Determine the Duration Between Shockwave Lithotripsy Sessions.

PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the role of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) in determining the intervals between shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) sessions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, controlled study. It included 40 patients with unilateral kidney stones and 40 healthy persons of a similar age group as controls. The patients' midflow urine samples were collected before SWL and 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after the procedure. RESULTS: The average age in the SWL and control groups was 45 ± 14 and 39 ± 15 years, respectively (P = 0.336). The average KIM-1 value before SWL was 0.74 ± 0.35 ng/mL, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (0.51 ± 0.14 ng/mL) (P < 0.001). Similarly, the average values of the urine samples after SWL were higher than those of the control group (P < 0.001). When the KIM-1 values of the patients given SWL were compared within the group, the KIM-1 values 1 hour (1.06 ± 0.51) and 1 day (0.99 ± 0.67) after the procedure were statistically clearly higher than those before the procedure (P < 0.001) and statistically clearly higher than those of the control group (P = 0.005). The KIM-1 values 1 week and 1 month after the procedure were not significantly different than the preprocedure values (P = 0.652 and P = 0.747, respectively). CONCLUSION: KIM-1 is a noninvasive biomarker that may be used to show renal damage because of stones and early-stage renal damage linked to SWL. In addition, post-SWL KIM-1 values may be used to determine the interval between SWL sessions.