Clin Lab
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Observational Study
Aggregometric assessment of clonidine's impact on the efficacy of dual platelet inhibition.
Clonidine is commonly used as a calmative and antihypertensive agent in perioperative care. Due to the drug's alpha-2-agonistic effects, it has recently been hypothesised that clonidine may affect platelet aggregability. The present investigation aimed to study the potential impact of clonidine on the efficacy of dual antiplatelet therapy. ⋯ The results of this study indicate that clonidine does not affect platelet aggregability in patients treated with dual antiplatelet therapy. The findings of the study also indicate that ex vivo induced platelet aggregation in the ASPItest and ADPtest increases with the duration between blood drawing and MEA analyses.
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Comparative Study
The influence of a whole food vegan diet with Nori algae and wild mushrooms on selected blood parameters.
Vegan and vegetarian diets could overcome many diseases of civilization. This study examines whether a whole food vegan diet with Nori algae and wild mushrooms can provide a sufficient quantity of critical nutrients. ⋯ Vegans following a whole food diet had a borderline supply of vitamin B12. Folic acid, vitamin B6, TSH, iron metabolism, and the blood count were in the normal range. Vegans taking dietary supplements demonstrated satisfactory overall results. An ingestion of sundried mushrooms can contribute to the supply of vitamin D.
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Clinical Trial
Clinical utility of a quantitative Rose Bengal slide agglutination test in the diagnosis of human brucellosis in an endemic region.
Brucellosis currently ranks as the most important zoonotic disease in the world. Brucellosis is difficult to diagnose because patients often have nonspecific clinical symptoms that can be attributed to a number of disease agents prevalent in the area. Thus, this has necessitated the dependency of clinicians on microbiological confirmation, very often by sero diagnostic methods. Early and accurate detection of brucellosis is important if specific antibiotic treatment is to be effective for the patients. The use of RBST as a qualitative means of diagnosis is quiet common. However, to date, there are only a handful of reports of the application of RBST as a quantitative diagnostic method in medical literature. The potential usefulness of quantitative Rose Bengal slide agglutination test (RBST) for suspected brucellosis was evaluated as a simple, inexpensive diagnostic tool to be used in clinical practice in an endemic region. ⋯ This technique has an immense value particularly for use in resource poor settings seen in rural areas. It can deliver definitive diagnosis in < 10 minutes to the clinician, which may in turn result in the early initiation of specific treatment and could be applied thus as a bedside methodology. It is not technically demanding and easy to interpret, does not involve heavy capital outlay, or trained personnel and, thus, is potentially useful in resource poor laboratories, particularly in developing regions. In addition, quantitative RBST demonstrates sensitivity and specificity equivalent to that achievable by performing SAT. It can readily be extended to screen a vast number of blood samples particularly in areas where brucellosis is hyperendemic. Quantitative RBST and 2ME have been noted to be of great value in therapeutic monitoring. Our data suggest that RBST titers in a range of 1:8 and 1:16 can undoubtedly be considered diagnostic of brucellosis in conjunction with compatible clinical and epidemiological evidence for the patients residing in areas endemic for the disease. Quantitative RBST is, therefore, recommended for routine use in clinical microbiology laboratories as an accurate and speedy diagnostic assay.
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Case Reports
A syndrome of insulin resistance resembling Donohue syndrome with patent ductus arteriosus.
Donohue syndrome, a rare autosomal recessive disorder, is associated with the mutation of the insulin receptor gene in the short arm of the 19th chromosome. It is very rare that a syndrome of insulin resistance resembles Donohue syndrome with patent ductus arteriosus. A 14-year-old girl, whose parents were consanguineous, was often admitted for abdominal pain over the past 8 years. ⋯ Most of patients with Donohue syndrome die prematurely. The child surviving for a long time may have a milder form of Donohue syndrome and may be due to a less severe form of the defective gene. Chromosomal abnormalities may be also associated with this disease.
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Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are a serious problem all over the world. The present study was conducted to investigate antimicrobial resistance patterns, genotypes, clonal relationship, and virulence fac- tors of VRE species isolated from rectal swab samples of hospitalized patients, patient's relatives, and medical staff at Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical School hospital. ⋯ The identification of VRE strains to the species level and detection of virulence genes will assist in infection control practices.