No abstract

A total of 135 laying quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica), 9 weeks old, were divided into three dietary treatment groups. Three replicates were assigned to each treatment group consisting of 15 birds per cage. The diet was supplemented with 0, 100 and 200 ppm Yucca schidigera powder and given ad libitum to the quails for a period of 14 weeks. Body weight, egg production, feed consumption and feed efficiency were not different due to dietary treatments among the groups. Increased egg weight was determined in the control group. Yucca powder supplementation decreased serum glucose, cholesterol triglyceride level in laying quails. Serum total protein concentration was not changed by dietary treatments but albumin level was decreased in quails fed 100 ppm yucca powder. Egg yolk cholesterol concentration was not significantly different among the groups but tended to decline (11.5%) as a result of yucca supplementation. Red Blood Cell (RBC) and White Blood Cell (WBC) counts, packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) were not affected by supplementation of yucca powder. However, haemoglobin (HB) concentration was slightly increased and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was significantly increased by 200 ppm yucca powder supplementation to the diet.

NLR may be a biomarker with good sensitivity that is easily detected in serum. It can be proposed in clinical practice to identify a patient's prognosis. However, large prospective studies are required to further demonstrate the prognostic significance of these values.

Background and Design: Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to allergens in individuals who have been previously sensitized to an allergen. The causative allergens may change in time and may vary by geographic area and population. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the patch test results and characteristics of 169 patients-107 (63.3%) male, 62 (36.7%) female-,who received the diagnosis of ACD between 2011 and 2014. Results: The mean age of the patients was 41.06 years and the mean disease duration was 19.5 months. The most common occupation was service sector/housewifery (26.6%). The most frequent localization of the disease was the hands (n=105, 73%) and 50.3% of patients were skin test positive to at least one allergen. The most frequent seven allergens were nickel sulfate (n=50, 29.6%), cobalt chloride (n=23, 13.6%), potassium dichromate (n=22, 13%), sesquiterpene lactone mix (n=18, 10.7%), thiuram (n=10, 5.9%), clioquinol mix (n=10, 5.9%), and 4-tert-butilfenol formaldehyde resin (n=10, 5.9%), respectively. On the other hand, no patient, had a positive reaction to N-Isopropyl-Nphenyl-4-phenylenediamine, epoxy resin, balsam of peru, formaldehyde, quaternium-15, primin, tixocortol-21-pivalate, and fragrance mix-2. Conclusion: In comparison of this study which is the first report of patch test results of patients in Tekirdağ-a city in Thrace region-and other studies that report patch test results in different regions of our country; it was observed that the mean age of patients in the present study was higher than in other studies and there was no significant difference in terms of occupations of the patients and localization of the disease between the eastern region and Thrace region. We believe that further multicenter studies in a larger population performed in different cities of the country are needed to specify allergen characteristics of Thrace region. (Turkderm 2015; 49: 129-33)

Psoriasis is a disease that can contribute to a risk of atherosclerosis. In several studies, impaired endothelial dysfunction (ED) is correlated with psoriasis. Serum YKL-40 is a new inflammatory biomarker of vascular damage, like ED and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the study was to compare relevance of serum YKL-40 levels in psoriasis patients and healthy subjects according to ED diagnosis and identifiable cardiovascular risk factors. Sixty (31 female, 29 male) patients with plaque psoriasis, and 30 (18 female, 12 male) healthy controls were selected according to whether they had at least one or no identifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. All subjects were evaluated ultrasonographically for endothelial function and diagnosed as with or without ED and all groups compared for serum YKL-40 levels. YKL-40 levels of psoriatic patients with ED were higher than healthy controls with ED (P = <0.05). There were no statistical differences in between subjects without ED. YKL-40 levels of patients over age of 40 were higher than younger ones (P < 0.05). But in healthy controls, there were no differences. In comparison of cardiovascular risk-positive (RP) patients and RP healthy subjects, YKL-40 levels were higher in RP patients (P = <0.05). The elevation of plasma YKL-40 in psoriasis can be associated not only with inflammation of the disease, but also with ED. YKL-40 can be used as a marker for predicting and preventing cardiovascular diseases in RP psoriatic patients with age above 40.