Nezih Hekim

Biruni University · Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics

The pathogenesis of COVID-19 implicates a potent in ammatory response resulting in cytokine storm. We aimed to evaluate association between polymorphisms in IL-6 gene at rs1800796/rs1800795, IL-6R at rs2228145, IL-10 at rs1800896 and rs1800871, IL-17 at rs2275913 and rs76378, and the prevalence (per million) and mortality rates (per million) of COV...

This study explores the association of vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) gene polymorphisms, vitamin D levels, and the severity of COVID-19, including the need for intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization. We analyzed a cohort of 56 consecutive age- and gender-matched adult COVID-19-positive patients and categorized them into three groups: outpatie...

Aim:Metabolic changes begin after the invasion of an infectious microorganism and continue to develop as a series of interrelated events. Arginine is important in infectious diseases due to lymphocyte proliferation, nitricoxide production by macrophages, and the use of polyamides in the immune response. In this study, we aimed to examine the possib...

Background Due to the growing evidence of the importance of iron status in immune responses, the biomarkers of iron metabolism are of interest in novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present prospective study was carried out to compare iron status indicated by levels of ferritin with the levels of two novel biomarkers related to iron home...

The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of the carriership of rs2228145 allelic variations of IL-6R with two other allelic variations in IL-6 gene at rs1800795 and rs1800796 loci and with the laboratory data of a healthy cohort of the Turkish population. The data of 121 healthy Turkish subjects (aged 12-84 years) including th...

Background: COVID-19 is known to be transmitted by direct contact, droplets or feces/orally. There are many factors which determines the clinical progression of the disease. Aminoacid disturbance in viral disease is shown in many studies. İn this study we aimed to evaluate the change of aminoacid metabolism especially the aspartate, glutamine and...

The rs7041 and rs4588 polymorphisms found in the GC gene, encoding vitamin D-binding protein (DBP), have distinct biochemical phenotypes. The aim of this study was to investigate vitamin D parameters with these polymorphisms, in individuals with possible vitamin D deficiency. The most common (49% of the cohort) genotype in rs7041 was GT, especially...

In a digital society, shall we be the authors of our own experience, not only during our lifetime but also after we die? We ask this question because dying and bereavement have become even harder, and much less private, in the digital age. New big data-driven digital industries and technologies are on the rise, with promises of interactive 3D avata...

Background The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection may rely on a potential genetic background for the variations in inflammatory response. We aimed to investigate the possible correlation between polymorphisms in IL-6 gene at rs1800796/rs1800795, in IL-6R at rs2228145, in IL-10 at rs1800896 and rs1800871, in IL-17 at rs2275913 and r...

The motivation of the current study is to develop a strategy providing targeted and effective photodynamic therapy (PDT) on breast cancer cells by eliminating the limitations of PDT. For this purpose, a disulfide bridged phthalocyanine with favorable wavelength absorbance that is activatable in cancer cells was synthesized and encapsulated in lipos...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by a new strain of the coronavirus. There is limited data on the pathogenesis and the cellular responses of COVID‐19. In this study, we aimed to determine the variation of metabolites between healthy control and COVID‐19 via the untargeted metabolomics method. Serum sam...

The pathogenesis of COVID-19 implicates a potent inflammatory response resulting in cytokine storm. We aimed to evaluate association between polymorphisms in IL-6 gene at rs1800796/rs1800795, IL-6R at rs2228145, IL-10 at rs1800896 and rs1800871, IL-17 at rs2275913 and rs76378, and the prevalence (per million) and mortality rates (per million) of CO...

Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has given rise to emerging respiratory infections with a pandemical diffusion. The vitamin D binding protein (DBP) with emphasis on its regulation of total and free vitamin D metabolite levels in various clinical conditi...

Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease. There is not enough knowledge about plasma amino acid levels in CCHF. Therefore, we investigated of plasma amino acids levels in patients with CCHF and the association between the levels of these amino acids and disease severity. The plasma amino acid levels [including glutamate (Glu), aspa...

Precision/personalized medicine is a hot topic in health care. Often presented with the motto ''the right drug, for the right patient, at the right dose, and the right time,'' precision medicine is a theory for rational therapeutics as well as practice to individualize health interventions (e.g., drugs, food, vaccines, medical devices, and exercise...

Obesity is seen as one of the top ten (10) illness's listed by World Health Organization (WHO). It is a global problem that can affect people of all ages. Obesity is identified one of the most important factors leading to diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. Individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) above 40 kg/m2 are defined with morbid obesit...

Driverless cars with artificial intelligence (AI) and automated supermarkets run by collaborative robots (cobots) working without human supervision have sparked off new debates: what will be the impacts of extreme automation, turbocharged by the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and the Industry 4.0, on Big Data and omics implementation science? The Io...

Biguanidlerle tip-II diyabetin tedavi edilebileceğini keşfeden, Prof. Dr. Erich Frank, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’ün 1933 üniversite reformu ile ülkemize gelmiş ve bu toprakların insanı olmuştur. İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul Tıp Fakültesi hocalarından Dr. Erich Frank, sadece müthiş Türk bilim adamları yetiştirmedi, keşfi ile milyonlarca tip-II diyabe...

Science and its practice always had a subtext, subject to influence by scientists', funders', and other innovation actors' values and assumptions. The recent emergence of post-truth, authoritarian and populist penchants, in both developed and developing countries, has further blurred the already fluid boundaries between material scientific facts an...

When c-Myc or K-Ras, produced by more than half of human cancers, is considered, it is known that these oncoproteins are continuously active spontaneously without any stimulating hormone or signal, leading to cell proliferation. Uncontrolled cell proliferation can be stopped with a drug that inhibits very little c-Myc and K-Ras. There are numerous...

Many studies show that short non-coding sequences are widely conserved among regulatory elements. More and more conserved sequences are being discovered since the development of next generation sequencing technology. A common approach to identify conserved sequences with regulatory roles relies on topological changes such as hairpin formation at th...

Many studies show that short non-coding sequences are widely conserved among regulatory elements. More and more conserved sequences are being discovered since the development next generation sequencing technology. A common approach to identify conserved sequences with regulatory roles rely on the topological change such as hairpin formation on the...

Diagnostics spanning a wide range of new biotechnologies, including proteomics, metabolomics, and nanotechnology, are emerging as companion tests to innovative medicines. In this Opinion, we present the rationale for promulgating an "Essential Diagnostics List." Additionally, we explain the ways in which adopting a vision for "Health in All Policie...

Abstract Scholarship knows no geographical boundaries. This science diplomacy and biotechnology journalism article introduces an original concept and policy petition to innovate the global translational science, a Science Peace Corps. Service at the new Corps could entail volunteer work for a minimum of 6 weeks, and up to a maximum of 2 years, for...

Galactorrhea; the most common nipple discharge is the inappropriate secretion of milk which may occur spontenously or upon expression of the nipple in the absence of pregnancy or lactation. Nipple discharges may vary in color and consistency from clear or milky to bloody and, it can be benign process or an indicator of malignancy. However etiology...

Background Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, caused by mutated alleles of the MTHFR gene. Since this enzyme catalyzes the conversion of 5.10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, its deficiency results in hyperhomocysteinemia, homocystinuria and hypomethionemia. The clin...

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between birth weight and blood pressure (BP) by means of ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) and renal functions in non-obese children who were born small-for-gestational age (SGA) at term. The study group consisted of 39 (19 female, 20 male; mean age 8.8 ± 2.6 years) children born SGA. Their da...

Early markers are required in pathophysiological process of obesity, MS and type 2 diabetes. We aimed to clarify the usefulness of serum adipokines (adiponectin, AD and resistin) and inflammatory markers to identify obese and overweight children with MS. Three hundred and seven of 2 491 subjects aged 11-19 with BMI> or =85 centile selected with a m...

To study the effects of inhaled steroid withdrawal on bronchial hyperreactivity, sputum inflammatory markers and neutrophilic apoptosis in children with non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) bronchiectasis. To evaluate the role of inhaled steroids in the treatment of children with non-CF bronchiectasis with specific emphasis on the bronchial hyperreactivity...

Intraday pattern of stock returns are usually U-shaped on one-session markets and W-shaped on two-session markets. Today, the most accepted reason for these consistent patterns is the information accumulation during the non-trading hours. Nevertheless, there might be another reason that has grown out of the investor himself/herself. If so, this cha...

In this study authors aim to produce carbon foams with controllable pore size and distribution with high ratio of open porosity and to determine the cytotoxicity, and the bio-compatibility of the carbon foams by controlled experiments on the Dawley rats. Carbon foams are produced from Mitsubishi AR pitch at different pressures, temperatures, pressu...

Elevated asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels, an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, are an important cardiovascular risk factor. In patients with diabetes, increased ADMA levels have been reported, which may be associated with endothelial dysfunction. In this study, effect of nebivolol on serum ADMA levels in hypertensive patients...

To study clinical, radiological and laboratory features of children with non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) bronchiectasis (BE) and the association between symptom scores, spirometry, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings and inflammatory markers in induced sputum in these children. Twenty-seven children with steady-state non-CF BE were cro...

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme (EC 1.5.1.20), that reduces 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, a carbon donor for the homocysteine to methionine conversion. MTHFR is a keyenzyme that regulates folate metabolism which has an important role in DNA synthesis, DNA repair and methylation. The association...

To investigate the relationship between atherosclerosis, an inflammatory disease and hepcidin, which is reported as an indicator of inflammation. A total of 75 subjects between 40 and 70 years of age were included in the study. The patient group consisted of 40 stable patients who had previously experienced an atherosclerotic event (18 women, 22 me...

Dyslipidemia is an important complication in renal transplant patients. Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mediates the exchange of cholesteryl ester between high density lipoproteins and low density lipoproteins. The aim of this study was to investigate CETP Taq1B gene polymorphism and lipid abnormalities in renal transplant patients. We st...

Human prolactin consists of multiple forms of different sizes including three major prolactin (PRL) species, termed as little, big, and big-big PRL. If serum contains big-big PRL, it is termed macroprolactinemia; no symptoms of hyperprolactinemia develop due to low biological activity of big-big PRL. There are still few data regarding macroprolacti...

Thrombophlebitis occurs in a third of patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS). The thrombotic tendency in BS has been studied with inconclusive results perhaps due to the inadequate numbers of patients studied during the acute phase of the thrombosis as well as the lack of appropriate diseased controls. We have studied tissue-type plasminogen activato...

The presence of macroprolactinaemia was investigated in the symptom-free hyperprolactinaemia cases to reveal its incidence. The serum prolactin (PRL) fractions in 21 female patients with hyperprolactinaemia without any clinical symptoms were analyzed with PEG (polyethylene glycol precipitation) procedure. In 14 of these 21 cases, hyperprolactinaemi...

Humoral hypercalcemia is known to be an important cause of hypercalcemia associated with malignancy. Humoral hypercalcemia due to benign conditions has been rarely reported. We report on a 45-year-old woman with humoral hypercalcemia secondary to uterine leiomyoma. Following the surgical removal of leiomyoma by hysterectomy, serum calcium, suppress...

Lipoprotein-platelet interactions are very important in atherosclerosis and thrombosis. Several studies have been carried out on specific binding of various lipoproteins to platelets. But there is considerable disagreement about the details of these binding sites. Although low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors of several cells have been studied e...

Adrenomedullin (ADM) is a newly discovered endogenous vasorelaxing peptide isolated from pheochromocytoma. Some experimental studies suggest that ADM plays a role in asthma. The purposes of the present study were to assess the plasma ADM levels in adults with mild to severe asthma and controls and to correlate those with the findings on lung functi...

Growth hormone (GH) in combination with conventional therapy in hypophosphatemic rickets (HR) has been shown to promote renal phosphate (P) conservation and to result in a better metabolic control. This study aimed at investigating the acute biochemical effects of GH in 7 patients (5 female, 2 male) with HR aged between 2.16 and 16 years. Each pati...

The effects of TRH administration (400 microg, i.v.) on the release of prolactin were examined in 15 patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder and 15 normal control subjects. Four hundred micrograms TRH was given via IV route. Blood samples were taken before TRH administration (baseline values) and at 15, 30 and 60 min. The results dem...

The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (HP) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is very complex and still not well understood. However, many issues, even those as basic as whether HP induces or protects against GERD, are still controversial. The gastritis location could play also a role in the induction of GERD. Some investigators sugg...

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess thyrotropin stimulating hormone (TSH) response to thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) in patients with panic disorder (PD). Method: The effects of TRH administration on the release of TSH were examined in 15 patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for PD and compared their test results with those of 15 n...

Brachyolmia refers to a form of skeletal dysplasia characterized by general platyspondyly without significant epiphyseal, metaphyseal or diaphyseal changes in long bones. Three, possibly four, types of brachyolmia have been defined: Type I-Hobaeck-Toledo type. Type II-Maroteaux and Type III. We report a patient with brachyolmia and present the clin...

Objective: It is a known fact that FVIII related antigen (FVIII Rag) level is raised in systemic necrotizing and large vessel vasculitis but contradictory results exist in small vessel vasculitis. We therefore assessed the value of this parameter in children with Henoch-Shonlein Purpura (HSP). Methods: FVIII Rag, C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythr...

In our study, we developed a new method for fluorescence probes which is novel, inexpensive and renders useful information for prognosis on tumor tissues. It could be used in place of the receptors analysis. Comparative studies applying fluorescence probe techniques to the determination of Intracytoplasmic Immunoglobulin (Ic-IgG) have shown to gene...

Congenital erythropoietic porphyria (Gunther disease, CEP) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of haeme biosynthesis. It is characterized by extreme photosensitivity and the excretion of large amounts of uroporphyrin I and coproporphyrin I in the urine and coproporphyrin I in the faeces. We have diagnosed two cases of congenital erythropoietic p...

Yenidoğan konjunktivitinde Chlamydia trachomatis’in araştırılması. Haseki Tıp Bülteni 1993; 31 (2): 91-94.

Hiperbilirubinemili yenidoğanlarda serum serbest bilirubin düzeyleri. Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fak Derg 1992; 23: 435-437.

This paper confirms the important role played by prostaglandins in the induction of uterine contractions and the initiation of human labour, although the exact mechanism of action in labour remains unclear. Seventeen pregnant women at term were studied. Of these nine were in labour and the remainder underwent elective section. Prostaglandin E and F...

Sebum production is under hormonal control. We had shown that male sex is associated with more severe disease in Behçet's syndrome and the acneiform skin lesion of this disorder is not different from ordinary acne, an androgen-dependent lesion. Sebum excretion rate was higher in patients with Behçet's syndrome than in healthy controls, children and...

Plasma von Willebrand factor F VIII related antigen levels were elevated in 13 patients with Behçet's syndrome and vascular disease compared to 17 with Behçet's syndrome without vascular involvement and 23 healthy controls. As expected 12 diseased controls, 9 of whom had systemic sclerosis, had still higher levels of F VIII related antigen.

More than half of the extranuclear receptor content of resting cells is associated with cytoplasmic structures. Subfractionation of microsomes reveals a preponderance of "basic" (low electrophoretic mobility) receptor in rough endoplasmic reticulum. Surfynol-dithiothreitol extracts of smooth membranes are rich in "acidic" (high electrophoretic mobi...

A goat antiserum was raised by immunization with the endoglycosidase fission product of porcine estrogen receptor. Its IgG fraction was employed for ascertaining the interrelationship of receptor forms extracted from three subcellular compartments of target cells and for comparing receptors from various species. Unspecific alignments of (non-immune...

Die Immunglobulin-G-Frak-tion eines Ziegenantiserums gegen ein vermutliches Endoglycosidase-Spaltprodukt des üstradiol-rezeptors aus Schweineuterus enthült Antikürper, die den üstradiol-Rezeptor-Komplex prüzipitieren und andere, die üstradiol aus der Rezeptorbindung freisetzen. Die verschiedenen subzellu-lüren Formen des Rezeptors aus Uterus und au...

Immunoglobulin G preparations align unspecifically with all naturally occurring forms of the estradiol receptor, giving rise to soluble complexes of moderately increased sedimentation velocities. This interaction is not shown by the tryptic receptor fragment, which still contains the high affinity steroid binding site and the dimerization links of...

Summary Serum IgG, IgA, and IgM levels have been measured in patients with brain tumours. Only in astrocytomas have significant differences been found with respect to the other brain tumours. The specific elevation of IgM levels in astrocytoma grade III (X=313+36, n=4) and astrocytoma grade IV (X=671+ 146, n=4) in comparison with astrocytoma grade...

Receptor-like androgen binding has been studied in normal human testis tissue and human testicular tumours. In cytosol an exchange assay with [3H]-methyltrienolone ([3H]-R 1881) has been used. Determination of nuclear binding sites was performed by a [3H]-testosterone exchange method. In normal testis cytosol a concentration of 119 ± 60 fmol/mg pro...