Browsing by Author "Akin, K. O."

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Immunoregulatory Effects of Isotretinoin in Patients With Acne
(Wiley-blackwell, 2012) Karadag, A. S.; Ertugrul, D. T.; Bilgili, S. G.; Takci, Z.; Akin, K. O.; Calka, O.
Background In vitro studies have shown that retinoids influence T-cell differentiation. Objectives To study the effect of isotretinoin on T-cell differentiation markers in patients with acne. Methods A total of 37 patients with acne vulgaris (25 female, 12 male, age 19.6 +/- 3.7 years) and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (19 female, 11 male, age 20.5 +/- 4.4 years) were included in the study. Screening for biochemical parameters in serum samples were done just before initiation (pretreatment) and after 3 months of isotretinoin treatment (post-treatment) in the acne group. Results Baseline levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (P < 0.0001), interleukin (IL)-4 (P < 0.0001), IL-17 (P < 0.0001) and interferon (IFN)-gamma (P = 0.002) were significantly higher in the acne group compared with the control group. TNF-alpha (P < 0.0001), IL-4 (P < 0.0001), IL-17 (P < 0.0001) and IFN-gamma (P < 0.0001) levels decreased after isotretinoin treatment. TNF-alpha and IL-4 values after isotretinoin treatment were similar to those of the control group. However, levels of IL-17 (P < 0.0001) after isotretinoin treatment were higher than those of the control group, despite a significant decline after treatment. Levels of IFN-gamma (P < 0.0001) after isotretinoin treatment were lower than those of the control group. Conclusions This study shows that isotretinoin treatment significantly decreases TNF, IL-4, IL-17 and IFN-gamma levels in patients with acne. We failed to show that isotretinoin redirects naive T helper (Th) differentiation preferentially towards the Th2 cell lineage.
Serum Holotranscobalamine, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid and Homocysteine Levels in Patients With Vitiligo
(Wiley-blackwell, 2012) Karadag, A. S.; Tutal, E.; Ertugrul, D. T.; Akin, K. O.; Bilgili, S. G.
Few studies have investigated the role of vitamin B12 metabolism in vitiligo. We tested the hypothesis that vitamin B12 and folate metabolism might have an influence on the pathogenesis of vitiligo. Full blood count and levels of folic acid, vitamin B12, homocysteine and holotranscobalamine were examined for 69 patients with vitiligo and 52 controls. The vitiligo group had higher levels of homocysteine (P < 0.01) and haemoglobin (P < 0.01) levels, and lower levels of vitamin B12 (P < 0.01) and holotranscobalamine (P < 0.0001) than the control group. Folic acid levels were similar for both groups. In a risk analysis, hyperhomocysteinaemia (= 15 mu mol/L, P < 0.01) and vitamin B12 deficiency (< 200 pg/mL, P < 0.01) were significant risk factors for vitiligo. Patients with holotranscobalamine levels in the lowest quartile had an increased risk for co-occurrence of vitiligo (P < 0.005). Vitamin B12 deficiency and hyperhomocysteinaemia may share a common genetic background with vitiligo.