The impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on urinalysis parameters.

BACKGROUND: Creatinine elevation and changes in urinalyse parameters may be seen due to acute kidney injury during COVID-19. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the changes in urinalysis of COVID-19 patients with normal kidney function. METHODS: The data of COVID-19 patients with normal renal functions were retrospectively analyzed. Urinalysis parameters of these patients were recorded. The patients were divided into three groups as mild, moderate and severe with respect to the clinical course of the disease. It was examined whether the urine analysis values in the groups were different from normal reference values and whether these values were different between the groups. In addition, possible relationship between the urinalysis parameters and the clinical severity of the disease was investigated. RESULTS: There are three groups; mild (N.=40), moderate (N.=38) and severe (N.=42). Mean age were significantly higher in the severe group, while gender distribution of the groups was similar (P=0.033, P=0.091) Creatinine values of all patients were normal. There were 6.7% glucose positivity, 13.4% protein positivity, 5.8% urobilinogen positivity and 7.5% ketone positivity in urine dipstick analysis and these changes were all significantly higher than the reference values (P=0.008, P<0.0001, P=0.016, P=0.016). Pyuria and hematuria were detected in 8.3% and 9.2%, respectively. The urinalysis parameters and urine microscopy findings were not affected by the severity of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: Glycosuria, proteinuria, pyuria and hematuria may occur during COVID-19 disease, regardless of comorbidity and renal dysfunction. However, these urine parameters were not correlated with the severity of the disease.

Is oxidative stress measured by thiol/disulphide homeostasis status associated with prostate adenocarcinoma?

AIM OF THE STUDY: We aim to examine the relation between thiol/disulphide homeostasis and transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy (TRUS-Bx) results and evaluate whether it was effective on the distinction of benign and malign prostate disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 29 men histopathologically diagnosed as prostate adenocancer (Pca) (group 1), 30 men having benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) (group 2) and age match 30 healthy individuals in the control group (group 3). Thiol/disulphide homeostasis was measured using a novel automatic and spectrophotometric method. RESULTS: Among the three groups, a statistically significant difference was detected among native thiol, total thiol levels and disulphide/total thiol, disulphide/native thiol and native thiol/total thiol ratios which are thiol/disulphide homeostasis parameters apart from disulphide (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001 respectively). Additionally, no significant difference was detected in albumin and total protein levels among the groups (p = 0.223, p = 0.316 respectively). Serum native and total thiol levels were high and disulphide level was low in group 1 when compared to the group 2 (p = 0.003, p = 0.007, p = 0.265 respectively). In addition, serum native thiol, total thiol and disulphide levels were low in group 1 when compared to the group 3, but while low native and total thiol levels were significant, low disulphide levels were not found significant (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.331, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Thiol/disulphide homeostasis was found to be disturbed in Pca patients detected with TRUS-Bx. This is suggesting serum native thiol, total thiol level and ratios provides a novel biomarker for the role for oxidative stress in disease etiopathogenesis.

Role of varicocele treatment in assisted reproductive technologies.

OBJECTIVE: In this review, we investigate the advantage of varicocele repair prior to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for infertile couples and provide cost analysis information. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched the following electronic databases: PubMed, Medline, Excerpta Medica Database (Embase), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). The following search strategy was modified for the various databases and search engines: 'varicocele', 'varicocelectomy', 'varicocele repair', 'ART', 'in vitro fertilisation (IVF)', 'intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)'. RESULTS: A total of 49 articles, including six meta-analyses, 32 systematic reviews, and 11 original articles, were included in the analysis. Bypassing potentially reversible male subfertility factors using ART is currently common practice. However, varicocele may be present in 35% of men with primary infertility and 80% of men with secondary infertility. Varicocele repair has been shown to be an effective treatment for infertile men with clinical varicocele, thus should play an important role in the treatment of such patients due to the foetal/genetic risks and high costs that are associated with increased ART use. CONCLUSION: Varicocele repair is a cost-effective treatment method that can improve semen parameters, pregnancy rates, and live-birth rates in most infertile men with clinical varicocele. By improving semen parameters and sperm structure, varicocele repair can decrease or even eliminate ART requirement.