Prognostic significance of the chemerin level in coronavirus disease 2019 patients.

Increased serum chemerin levels have been reported in several inflammatory diseases. Few studies have investigated the relationship between chemerin and clinical features of COVID-19. Thus, chemerin may modulate the development and progression of COVID-19. We compared the serum chemerin concentration between patients with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection and its association with the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. This is a prospective, single-center, cross-sectional study. We enrolled COVID-19 patients who presented to our tertiary hospital and healthy controls. The COVID-19 patients were conducted and the dates of symptom onset were recorded. After admission to the hospital and stabilization, blood samples were obtained for routine hemogram, biochemistry, and chemerin. The chemerin level was 37.93 ±â€…17.3 ng/mL in patients followed in the ICU, 29.41 ±â€…12.79 ng/mL in inpatients, 30.48 ±â€…10.86 ng/mL in outpatients, and 25.12 ±â€…9.82 ng/mL in healthy controls. The difference between patients treated in the ICU and healthy controls was significant (P < .001). The high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), ferritin, procalcitonin (PCT), and D-dimer levels were significantly higher in the intensive care unit (ICU) group (P < .001). Moreover, the chemerin level of patients who died was significantly higher than that of those who survived (P < .001). The chemerin level was increased in COVID-19 patients and also increased with increasing disease severity. The chemerin level was higher in the COVID-19 patients than healthy controls and was significantly higher in patients who died compared to those who did not.

Pentraxin 3 level in acute migraine attack with aura: Patient management in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the state of inflammation, PTX3 level and other routine inflammatory markers (high sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], and white blood cells [WBC]), in patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with migraine. We also investigated the relationship between the clinical presentation, PTX3 level, and other routine inflammatory markers in the emergency management of these patients. METHODS: The study included 44 patients (group 1) who presented to the ED due to a migraine attack with aura and 44 controls (group 2) with similar demographic characteristics. RESULTS: The WBC count was 8.82 ±â€¯2.10 × 109/L in group 1 and 7.85 ±â€¯2.04 × 109/L in group 2. The mean PTX3 level was 11.57 ±â€¯3.99 ng/mL in patients who presented at the ED with a migraine attack, and 4.59 ±â€¯1.28 ng/mL in controls. The differences values of WBC and PTX3 between the two groups were significant (respectively; P = 0.031, P < 0.001). ROC analyses indicated significant results for PTX3 as a marker for acute migraine attack. It had a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 84% at a cut-off value of 5.80 ng/mL. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to investigate plasma levels of PTX3 in patients with acute migraine. PTX3 as a biomarker may be used as an additional examination to the current subjective criteria to support the diagnosis of patients presenting to the ED with an acute migraine attack.

The association between mean platelet volume and inflammation in geriatric patients with emergency hypertension.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the role of inflammation parameters and platelet activation in geriatric patients with hypertension. Therefore, we compared the levels of those parameters in patients with hypertensive urgency and emergency. We also investigated the potential relationship between those parameters. METHODS: Ninety-six hypertensive (HT) patients (aged > 60) were included in the study in two groups: HT emergency (N = 48, group 1) and HT urgency (N = 48, group 2). Mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and high-sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP) were compared between those groups. Optimum cut-off levels of each parameter were determined by the use of Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationship between variables. RESULTS: The mean MPV and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with HT emergencies (both P < 0.001). Mean NLR was also significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.011). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a positive but weak correlation between the MPV and NLR (r = 0.245, P = 0.016), the hs-CRP level (r = 0.394, P < 0.001), and the WBC count (r = 0.362, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Increased platelet activity and inflammation are associated with the end organ failure. Levels of MPV and other inflammatory parameters may be useful in the management of geriatric patients with HT.

Prognostic importance of paraoxonase, arylesterase and mean platelet volume efficiency in acute ischaemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To study the prognostic importance activity of paraoxonase and arylesterase, and the value of mean platelet volume in patients with acute ischaemic stroke. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted at Harran University Hospital, Sanliurfa, Turkey, from January to June 2014, and comprised patients with symptoms of acute ischaemic stroke who presented to the emergency department. Paraoxonase activity, expressed in units per litre, or U/L, of serum, was evaluated in the absence of basal activity, and arylesterase activity was defined as micromoles, of phenol generated/min, and was expressed as U/L of serum. Mean platelet volume was measured as a routine parameter. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 94 participants, 48(51%) were patients with acute ischaemic stroke and 46(49%) were control subjects. Moreover, 27(56.3%) patients were females and 21(43.7%) were males. In the control group, 26(56.5%) were females and 20(43.5%) were males. The mean age of patients was 68.39±11.83 years compared to controls' 65±9.95 years. Decreased activity of prognostic importance and arylesterase were significant in patients than in the controls (p= 0.016 and p= 0.001, respectively). The median platelets of patients was significantly lower than that of the controls (p=0.004). However, the median mean platelet volume values were similar in the both groups (p=0.568). Binary logistic regression analyses showed that the paraoxonase and arylesterase were risk markers for the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased paraoxonase and arylesterase activity and decreased platelet counts were observed probably due to increased oxidative stress in acute ischaemic stroke patients.