No abstract

Background During a pandemic, the occurrence of infections and case fatality rates are expected to vary from one country to another due to several variables such as poverty, existing comorbidities, population density, access to health care, availability and quality of health system resources, and environmental factors. Objectives Our aim is to investigate the relationship between various demographic and socioeconomic factors and reported COVID‐19 morbidity and mortality indicators in different countries. Also, to determine the position of the countries relative to each other in terms of three indicators including COVID‐19 cases, deaths and tests. Methods Canonical correlation analysis is used to investigate the intercorrelations between independent variables and the COVID‐19 cases and deaths for 92 countries. Countries' performances are measured by MULTIMOORA. Results Human Development Index, smoking habits, percentage of elderly population and test frequency are the most significant variables associated with COVID‐19 morbidity and mortality according to our study findings. Singapore, New Zealand and Australia are the best performed countries. Conclusions Several significant and unexpected associations exist between socioeconomic factors and the COVID‐19 cases and deaths. Singapore, New Zealand and Australia are surrounded by water, have been more successful in the pandemic process compared to other countries.

No abstract

No abstract

Background The purpose of this study is to examine the dose-dependent effects of vitamin 1,25(OH)2D3 on apoptosis and oxidative stress. Methods In this study, 50 male Balb/c mice were used as control and experiment groups. The mice were divided into 5 groups each consisting of 10 mice. Calcitriol was intraperitoneally administered as low dose, medium dose, medium-high dose and high dose vitamin D groups (at 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 μg/kg, respectively), for three times a week during 14 days. At the end of the study, annexin V was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method, and total antioxidant capacity and total oxidant status values were measured by colorimetric method in serum. Hematoxylin eosin staining was performed in liver tissues and periodic acid schiff staining was performed in kidney tissues. Results While comparing the results of medium-high dose (5 μg/kg) and high dose (10 μg/kg) vitamin D administration to that of the control group, it was observed that serum antioxidant status and annexin V levels decreased and glomerular mesenchial matrix ratio increased in kidney (p<0.05). In addition to these findings, in the group receiving high dose vitamin D (10 μg/kg), it was observed that the damage to the liver increased together with the the oxidative stress index values (p<0.05). Conclusions As a result, this study was the first in the literature to report that use of high-dose vitamin D (10 μg/kg) results in oxidant effect, rather than being an antioxidant, and causes severe histopathological toxicity in the liver and kidney.