Publications by authors named "Başak Çakır Güney"

Background: In the current literature, there is a growing evidence that supports the significant role of inflammation in the progression of viral pneumonia, including patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the predictive value of C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) for in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Material And Methods: This retrospective study included the data of 275 consecutive COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in a referral pandemic center. The CAR ratio was obtained by dividing the CRP level with albumin level. The study population was divided into tertiles (T1, T2, and T3) according to their admission CAR values. The endpoint of the study was a composite outcome of in-hospital mortality.

Results: During the in-hospital course, 33 (12%) patients died. The patients classified into T3 group had significantly higher CAR compared those classified into T2 and T1 groups. After the adjustment for the confounders, T3 group had 8.2 (95% CI: 4.2-48.1) times higher rates of in-hospital mortality compared to T1 group (the reference group) in a logistic regression model using CAR values.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the predictive value of CAR for in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of the presepsin:albumin ratio and C‑reactive protein:albumin ratio in patients with sepsis in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: A total of 228 (129 males and 99 females) patients with newly diagnosed sepsis were included in the study. The relationship between the C‑reactive protein:albumin ratio, presepsin:albumin ratio, clinicopathologic parameters, and overall survival were investigated. The associations between C‑reactive protein:albumin ratio and presepsin:albumin ratio were evaluated alongside other inflammation-based prognostic scores such as quick Sepsis Related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA).

Results: The presepsin:albumin ratio was significantly higher in non-survivors (p < 0.01). Patients with a high presepsin:albumin ratio had worse overall survival compared with patients with high C‑reactive protein:albumin ratio levels (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Presepsin and presepsin:albumin ratio are markers of adverse prognosis in patients with sepsis and are superior to C‑reactive protein and C‑reactive protein:albumin ratio for this purpose. Presepsin:albumin ratio may be a novel marker of poor prognosis in patients with sepsis in intensive care units.

To investigate the protective efficacy of pentoxifylline through biochemical parameters and histopathological scores in a caerulein- and alcohol-induced experimental model of chronic pancreatitis in rats. A model of chronic pancreatitis with caerulein and alcohol was created in female rats of the genus Sprague Dawley. Pentoxifylline was administered in doses of 25 mg/kg (low dose) and 50 mg/kg (high dose) as a protective agent. Each group contained 8 animals. The groups were: group 1 (control group); caerulein + alcohol, group 2 (low-dose pentoxifylline group); caerulein + alcohol + pentoxifylline 25 mg/kg, group 3 (high-dose pentoxifylline group); caerulein + alcohol + pentoxifylline 50 mg/kg, group 4 (placebo); caerulein + alcohol + saline, group 5 (sham group); only saline injection.Rats were sacrificed 12 h after the last injection, and TNF-α, TGF-β, MDA, and GPx concentrations were measured in blood samples. The histopathologic examination was conducted by a pathologist who was unaware of the groups. The biochemical results of the treatment groups (group 2 and group 3) were statistically significantly lower compared with the control group (group 1) ( < .05). The difference between the low-dose treatment group (group 2) and high-dose treatment group (group 3) was significant in terms of biochemical parameters ( < .05). The difference between group 2 and the control group was not significant in terms of histopathologic scores ( > .05), whereas the difference between the group 3 and the control group was statistically significant ( < .05). As a result, pentoxifylline, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, was shown to have protective efficacy in an experimentally generated model of chronic pancreatitis.