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Mean values of subfoveal, nasal, temporal choroidal, and macular thickness for the four quadrants were significantly lower in patients with β-thalassemia minor than in healthy controls.

Background: It has been shown that bcl2, bcl-XL and mcl-1 protein levels are high in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells, and resultantly, apoptosis does not occur chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. Apelin and apela (ELABELA/ELA/Toddler) are two peptide ligands for a class A G-protein coupled receptor called apelin receptor. Studies have shown that ELA inhibits apoptosis by inhibiting apoptotic proteins and activating anti-apoptotic proteins. Proteins and genes involved in apoptosis are valuable for targeted cancer therapy. We hypothesized that serum levels may be increased in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia based on the antiapoptotic effect of ELA. We compared serum apelin levels of healthy volunteers and patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We aimed to draw attention to a new molecule worthy of research in targeted cancer treatment. Methods: 42 untreated CLL patients and 41 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Serum ELA levels were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits (Dhanghai Sunred Biological Technology co. Ltd), automated ELISA reader (Thermo Scientific, FİNLAND) and computer program (Scanlt for Multiscan F.C.2.5.1) in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Statistical analysis was done by Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows 20 (IBM SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) ve MedCalc programs. ELA and variables related to CLL were correlated with Spearman correlation anlysis test. ROC analysis and Youden index method were used to determine a cut off point for ELA. All p-values were 2-sided with statistical significance at 0.05 alpha levels. Results: In our study, we found that serum ELA levels were significantly higher in patients with CLL. Conclusions: This study highlights that ELA targeting may be a potential therapeutic option for treating CLL. Keywords: ELABELA; apelinergic system; chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; apoptosis

Objective: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) affects the quality of life substantially. Recently, different parenteral iron preparations have been used as intravenous iron supplements. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) and iron sucrose (IS) treatments in patients with IDA. Materials and Methods: The present study included 180 patients treated with intravenous iron at Kayseri Education and Research Hospital. FCM was administered a maximum of two infusions of 500-or 1000-mg iron. Also, IS was 200 mg administered in up to five infusions in 12 days. In all patients, laboratory evaluations were performed before beginning treatment and 4 weeks after treatment. Results: An expected increase in hemoglobin (Hb) and transferrin saturation (TS) levels was observed in the two groups. Also, the median ferritin increase was 54.50 ng/mL in the FCM group, whereas it was 28.05 ng/mL in the IS group (p<0.001). Likewise, post-treatment ferritin levels increased more significantly in the FCM group than in the IS group (58.15 vs. 29.65 ng/mL, respectively) (p<0.001). Conclusion: Our results show high efficacy and good tolerability of both the treatments. Also, FCM has the advantage of allowing more iron to be administered in fewer infusions and rapid correction of ferritin levels in IDA.