The study investigated whether there is a male reproductive system coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) phenomenon. Thirty participants who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study between April and May 2020. The participants were assigned in one of the three groups including COVID‐19 patients before and after treatment, and controls. Presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) within the semen samples was investigated. Additionally, participant's demographics, semen parameters and serum sex hormone levels were compared between the groups. SARS‐CoV‐2 was not detected within the semen samples. Sperm morphology and serum sex hormone levels were significantly different between the groups. In the post hoc analysis, sperm morphology was significantly lower in the COVID‐19 patients. Patients before treatment had significantly lower serum FSH, LH and T levels than controls. However, patients after treatment had similar serum FSH, LH and T levels with controls and patients before treatment. In our opinion, COVID‐19 and its treatment had no specific deteriorative effect on male sexual health at a short‐time period. In the patients before treatment, decreased serum of T, FSH and LH levels was consistent with acute patient stress due to COVID‐19. Similarly, it seems that decreased sperm morphology was associated with the acute fever.

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This study aimed to investigate the predictive role of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on renal mass biopsy outcomes. A total of 71 patients with suspected kidney masses who underwent renal mass biopsy procedure between January 2017 and January 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. Pathological results after the procedure were obtained and pre-procedural serum CRP and NLR levels were extracted from the patients’ data. The patients were grouped into benign and malignant pathology groups according to the histopa-thology results. The parameters were compared between the groups. Diagnostic role of the parameters in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values was also determined. Additionally, Pearson correlation analysis, and univariate and multivariate cox proportional hazard regression analyses were also performed to investigate the above association with tumor diameter and pathology results, respectively. At the end of the analyses, a total of 60 patients had malignant pathology on histopathological investigations of the mass biopsy specimens, whereas the remaining 11 patients had a benign pathological diagnosis. Significantly higher CRP and NLR levels were detected in the malignant pathology group. The parameters positively correlated with the malignant mass diameter, as well. Serum CRP and NLR deter-mined the malignant masses before the biopsy with sensitivity and specificity of 76.6 and 81.8%, and 88.3 and 45.4%, respectively. Moreover, univariate and multivariate analyses showed that serum CRP level had a significant predictive value for malignant pathology (HR: 0.998, 95% CI: 0.940–0.967, P < 0.001 and HR: 0.951, 95% CI: 0.936–0.966, P < 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, serum CRP and NLR levels were significantly different in patients with malignant pathology after renal mass biopsy compared to the patients with benign pathology. Serum CRP level, in particular, diagnosed malignant pathologies with acceptable sensitivity and specificity values. Additionally, it had a substantial predictive role in determining the malign masses prior the biopsy. Therefore, pre-biopsy serum CRP and NLR levels may be used to predict the diagnostic outcomes of renal mass biopsy in clinical practice. Further studies with larger cohorts can prove our findings in the future.

We aimed to investigate the prevalence of cardiometabolic (CM) risk factors (impaired fasting glucose (>100 mg/dL), high blood pressure, overweight or obesity, high serum triglycerides (TG) and low serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels) in children with hepatosteatosis detected by abdominal ultrasound. Children whom ultrasound examination revealed hepatic steatosis were included in the study. Medical records, anthropometric and biochemical parameters were reviewed for the presence of the CM risk factors. Presence of ≥3 risk factors was defined as metabolic syndrome (MS).One hundred and forty-eight children and adolescents (67 boys, 81girls, and mean age 12.1±2.7 years) with hepatosteatosis were included. Sonographic hepatosteatosis grades of 1, 2 and 3 were observed in 111 (75%), 33 (22.3%), and 4 (2.7%) subjects, respectively. MS was observed in 36 patients (24.3%). The number of CM risk factors and degree of hepatic steatosis were correlated (r=0.183, p=0.026). Serum TG levels in girls and age in boys were significantly associated with the presence of medium to severe hepatosteatosis (grades 2 or 3) (R 2 =.342, =.040 and R 2 =.538, p=.001, respectively). CM risk factors and MS are common in children with hepatosteatosis. The presence and grade of hepatosteatosis on ultrasound can be used as surrogate markers of MS and CM risk in children.

BackgroundThe central role in the pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), called as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), infection is attributed to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2). ACE-2 expressing respiratory system involvement is the main clinical manifestation of the infection. However, literature about the association between the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and higher ACE-2 expressing kidney is very limited. In this study, we primarily aimed to investigate whether there is a kidney injury during the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The predictive value of kidney injury for survival was also determined.MethodsA total of 47 participants who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The participants were classified as ‘‘COVID-19 patients before treatment’’ ‘‘COVID-19 patients after treatment’’, ‘‘COVID-19 patients under treatment in ICU’’ and ‘‘controls’’. The parameters comorbidity, serum creatinine and cystatin C levels, CKD-EPI eGFR levels, KIM-1 and NGAL levels, urine KIM-1/creatinine and NGAL/creatinine ratios were statistically compared between the groups. The associations between covariates including kidney disease indicators and death from COVID-19 were examined using Cox proportional hazard regression analysis.ResultsSerum creatinine and cystatin C levels, urine KIM-1/creatinine levels, and CKD-EPI, CKD-EPI cystatin C and CKD-EPI creatinine-cystatin C eGFR levels exhibited significant difference in the groups. The causes of the difference were more altered kidney function and increased acute kidney damage in COVID-19 patients before treatment and under treatment in ICU. Additionally, incidences of comorbidity and proteinuria in the urine analysis were higher in the COVID-19 patients under treatment in ICU group. Urine KIM-1/creatinine ratio and proteinuria were associated with COVID-19 specific death.ConclusionsWe found that COVID-19 patients under treatment in ICU exhibited extremely higher levels of serum cystatin C, and urine KIM-1/creatinine and urine NGAL/creatinine ratios. These results clearly described the acute kidney damage by COVID-19 using molecular kidney damage markers for the first time in the literature. Lowered CKD-EPI, CKD-EPI cystatin C and CKD-EPI creatinine-cystatin C eGFR levels were determined in them, as well. Urine KIM-1/creatinine ratio and proteinuria were associated with COVID-19 specific death. In this regard, considering kidney function and kidney damage markers must not be ignored in the COVID-19 patients, and serial monitoring of them should be considered.