Prevalence of trachoma in eastern Turkey.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to define the prevalence of trachoma in Erzurum, a town in Eastern Turkey where all types of conjunctivitis are known to be endemic. METHODS: To determine the epidemiological characteristics of the active and residual disease in the area, we chose 20% of the households in 17 residential areas using simple random sampling. RESULTS: We examined 6386 individuals aged < 30 and 2220 aged > 30 years. The active and the residual prevalence of the disease was found to be 3.2% in those aged < 30, and 1.9% for the group aged > or = 30. Risk factors included crowded households with five or more members, infrequent washing of the face, visiting thermal springs and the mutual use of towels by household members. According to the laboratory findings, trachoma with conjunctival smear was found positive in the first and second stages, but seropositivity was quite high in the third and fourth stages. The validity of the methods used for the diagnosis and the positive predictive values showed the sensitivity of the eyelid examinations to be 55.3%, specificity 95.4% and positive predictive value 23.9% which were the highest values in the field survey. CONCLUSIONS: Trachoma continues to be a serious public health threat in Erzurum, and eyelid examination is the most suitable method of diagnosis for surveillance of trachoma.

Protection of the retina from ischemia-reperfusion injury by L-carnitine in guinea pigs.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of L-carnitine in preventing retinal injury followed by ischemia-reperfusion. METHODS: The eyes of 34 guinea pigs were used in this experiment. The guinea pigs were divided into two groups: the first group (n=17) was given L-carnitine intraperitoneally (500 mg/kg) and second group (n=17) received the same dose of saline solution. Under general anesthesia, peritomy was performed. Retro-orbital tissues were ligated for 90 minutes and ischemia was induced, followed by 4 hours of reperfusion. One of the enucleated eye was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and retinal thicknesses were evaluated. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels were determined in the retina of the other eye. RESULTS: Mean TBARS levels in retinal tissue were found lower in L-carnitine group (2.77 +/- 0.55 microM) than in the control group (6.57 +/- 1.19 microM), (p<0.01). On the other hand, mean retinal thickness was found to be increased in the control group (47.47 +/- 5.62 microm) when compared to the L-carnitine group (26.52 +/- 4.65 microm), (p<0.01). In correlation analysis, significantly positive relationships were found between retinal TBARS level and retinal thickness both in the control and L-carnitine groups (r=0.981, p<0.01 and r= 0.967, p<0.01 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: L-carnitine is effective in preventing retinal injury followed by ischemia-reperfusion.