BACKGROUND: Neopterin is released from monocytes/macrophages specifically by stimulation with interferon-γ. Therefore the increase refers to the activation of T lymphocytes. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to examine the potential role of neopterin in the cell mediated immune response to Behçet's disease. METHODS: We studied 67 patients of Behçet's disease classified by Shimizu and a control group of 30 normal healthy people. Serum neopterin was detected by radioimmunoassay technique. RESULTS: The serum neopterin concentration of the group with Behçet's disease was significantly elevated, compared with the control group (6.36 nmol/ml vs 3.63 nmol/ml). The increase of neopterin concentration was well correlated to the clinical severity of the diseases in increasing order. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the T lymphocyte derived IFN-γ which stimulates the production of neopterin has some role in the pathogenesis and clinical severity of Behçet's disease.
Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; Lymphocytes ; Neopterin* ; Radioimmunoassay ; T-Lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: Although the precise pathogenesis of the Behçet's disease is not yet undertween the severity of Behçet's disease and the serum cytokine level. development of cytokine research has made it possible to find out if there is an association between the severity of Behçet's syndrome and the serum cytokine level. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to elucidate whether the immunopathological mechanism is associated with the serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1β (I1,1β) which are predominantly produced by monocytes/macrophages, and mterleukm-6 (IL-6). METHOD: Sixty seven patients of Behçet's disease and ten healthy adults as a control group were studied. Serum TNF and IL-6 levels were detected by enzyme immunoassay and serum IL-lβ levels by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the serum levels of TNF, IL-1β, TL-6 compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the immunopathological reactions of the Behçet's disease are not associated with a monocyte/macrophage dependent mechanism, possibly due to other immunocompetent cells.
Adult ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Interleukin-6* ; Methods ; Necrosis* ; Radioimmunoassay ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2) is expressed and released predominantly activated T lymphocyte. Increased serum levels of soluble IL-2R have been noted in a variety of autoimmune diseases and in conditions associated with T lymphocyte activation. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine whether the T lymphocyte activation has any association with the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease. METHOD: We have measured the serum level of soluble IL-2R in serum samples obtained from 67 patients with Behçet's disease and 30 healthy people as a control group, using a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. RESULTS: Serum soluble IL-2R levels were found to be significantly elevated in the group of Behçet's disease as compared with the control group. No significant differences were found within clinical subtypes of Behçet's disease. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the presence of an ongoing T lymphocyte activation in this disease process.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-2* ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Lymphocytes ; Methods ; Receptors, Interleukin-2*

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2) is expressed and released predominantly activated T lymphocyte. Increased serum levels of soluble IL-2R have been noted in a variety of autoimmune diseases and in conditions associated with T lymphocyte activation. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine whether the T lymphocyte activation has any association with the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease. METHOD: We have measured the serum level of soluble IL-2R in serum samples obtained from 67 patients with Behçet's disease and 30 healthy people as a control group, using a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. RESULTS: Serum soluble IL-2R levels were found to be significantly elevated in the group of Behçet's disease as compared with the control group. No significant differences were found within clinical subtypes of Behçet's disease. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the presence of an ongoing T lymphocyte activation in this disease process.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-2* ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Lymphocytes ; Methods ; Receptors, Interleukin-2*

Dermatophytes have been demonstrated infrequently in the dermis, subcutis, lymph nodes, bones and other tissues. A few cases of deep granulomatous cutaneous infections due to dermatophytes have been reported, but Trichophyton mentagrophytes are extremely rare. We report two cases of T. mentagrophytes infection showing unusual granulomatous manifestations. A 63-year-old woman presented with multiple erythematous patches and nodules on both arms and lower extremities for 3 months. The second patient was a 69-year-old man who had erythematous annular plaques on the dorsum of the left hand for 4 months. Histopathologic examinations of the skin lesions of both patients showed chronic granulomatous inflammation with fungal elements. The biopsy specimens yielded T. mentagrophytes on culture. The skin lesions were cured after administration of itraconazole.
Aged ; Arm ; Arthrodermataceae ; Biopsy ; Dermis ; Female ; Granuloma* ; Hand ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Itraconazole ; Lower Extremity ; Lymph Nodes ; Middle Aged ; Skin ; Trichophyton*

Although the etiology of Behcet's Disease (BD; MIM 109650) remains to be clearly elucidated, levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) have been reported to be significantly elevated in BD patients, and TNF-alpha blockers have been demonstrated to exhibit some degree of therapeutic efficacy for a certain subset of BD sufferers. In this study, we have conducted an analysis of the TNFA haplotypes in the promoter response element that affect the binding affinity of specific transcription factors, in order to characterize their association with the clinical features of BD. Six polymorphisms in the promoter region of TNFA were genotyped in 254 BD patients and 344 control subjects, via the PCR-RFLP technique. TNFA -1031*C, -863*A and -308*G alleles were associated with an increased risk of BD (p=0.030, OR=1.4; p=0.008, OR=1.5; p=0.010, OR=1.8, respectively). The sole TNFA haplotype -1031C-863A-857C-376G-308G-238G, was associated with a 1.6 fold increase in the risk of BD, whereas the TNFA haplotype -1031T-863C-857C-376G-308A-238G was associated with a 0.6 decreased risk of BD. The TNFA -1031*C, -863*A, -857*C and -308*G alleles were significantly associated with BD. The findings of this study, collectively, indicate that TNFA haplotypes in the promoter response elements may exert significant influence on susceptibility to BD.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/*genetics ; Promoter Regions (Genetics)/*genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics ; Odds Ratio ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Humans ; Haplotypes/*genetics ; Genotype ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Female ; Behcet Syndrome/*genetics/pathology ; Aged ; Adult ; Adolescent

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Unilateral sinus lesions can be caused by many diseases and exact preoperative diagnosis is often difficult to make. The aims of this study were to evaluate the recent trends for prevalence of unilateral sinus lesions and find useful factors in differential diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Preoperative clinical diagnosis including computed tomography (CT) images, endoscopic findings and postoperative diagnosis based on pathology were assessed retrospectively in 384 consecutive patients who underwent unilateral sinus surgery from 2004 to 2013. RESULTS: Chronic bacterial rhinosinusitis (40%) was the most common cause of unilateral sinus lesions, followed by fungal sinusitis (21%), benign and malignant tumors (14%), and odontogenic sinusitis (11%). The incidence of odontogenic sinusitis has recently increased and mismatches of pre- and post-operative diagnosis were commonly found among patients with chronic bacterial rhinosinusitis, fungal sinusitis, or odontogenic sinusitis. Microcalcification in fungal sinusitis and dental lesions in odontogenic sinusitis were confirmed as critical factors by logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The incidence of odontogenic sinusitis has been increasing steadily over the last 10 years. The findings of microcalcification and dental lesions on CT could provide crucial information to make a precise preoperative diagnosis among chronic bacterial rhinosinusitis, fungal sinusitis and odontogenic sinusitis.
Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Methods ; Pathology ; Prevalence* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sinusitis*

Acute rhinosinusitis can usually be managed by appropriate medical therapy, but it may also extend to the periorbital area in some complicated cases. Periorbital necrotizing fasciitis is uncommon among orbital complications, but can be fatal if it leads to soft tissue infection characterized by extensive necrosis and gas formation in the fascia and subcutaneous tissue. Immunocompromised states such as old ages, diabetes mellitus, alcoholics, and chronic renal failure have been reported to be predisposing factors, but the disease has also been detected in healthy patients. If proper treatment is not performed at the right time, necrotizing fasciitis can lead to systemic toxicity, multisystem organ failure, and eventual death. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are important. We report a case of periorbital necrotizing fasciitis that occurred in a healthy 30-year-old male patient with acute rhinosinusitis, which was treated with a combination of intravenous antibiotics and debridement of necrotic tissue and local wound management.
Adult ; Alcoholics ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Causality ; Debridement ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Early Diagnosis ; Fascia ; Fasciitis, Necrotizing* ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Male ; Necrosis ; Orbit ; Sinusitis ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Wounds and Injuries

Ectopic thyroid gland is usually located along the development path of thyroid in the anterior midline of the neck. However, its occurrence within the mediastinum is very rare. Mediastinal ectopic thyroid cyst is usually benign and asymptomatic, but we experienced a case of the mediastinal ectopic thyroid cyst inducing a severe airway obstruction in a 45-year-old male. The mass had no connection to the cervical thyroid gland and histological examination revealed a mediastinal cyst of an ectopic thyroid. We present the case with a review of the related literatures.
Airway Obstruction ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Cyst ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Thyroid Dysgenesis* ; Thyroid Gland

We evaluated the performance of a recently developed immunoassay, Elecsys vitamin D total II assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Germany). Precision, linearity, and comparison studies were performed according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Control materials, linearity materials, and patient samples were used for the evaluation. For the correlation study, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used as the comparative method. Total coefficients of variations of the analyte were between 5.1% and 9.6%. The results of linearity evaluation were also acceptable for the range tested. Correlations with comparative methods were good; however, the mean values of the Elecsys vitamin D assay were higher than those of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The overall analytical performance of the Elecsys vitamin D total II assay is acceptable for the immunology analyzer. Therefore, the Elecsys vitamin D total II assay is expected to be widely used.
Allergy and Immunology ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Mass Spectrometry ; Methods ; Statistics as Topic ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins*