Research of Occult Hepatitis B Infection in HIV-infected Patients, Schindler Study ABSTRACT Objective: Occult hepatitis B infection seems to be more prevalent among subjects at high risk for HBV infection and with concomitant liver disease. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of OHBI in group of HIV-1+/HBsAg- Turkish patients. Methods: Ten centers in Turkey have been included in the study. Gender, age, occupation, place of residence, treatment status, clinic, immunodeficiency panel, eliza tests, hemogram, biochemistry and coagulation laboratory results of the patients were evaluated retrospectively. Results: The number of HIV-infected patients followed in these centers is 3172. The mean age of the patients was 37.2 ± 13.1, and they were 235 males (84.5%) and 43 (15.5%) females. 278 (99.6%) of the patients are patients who received antiretroviral treatment. included in the s Of the 279 patients included in the study, it was determined that HBsAg was negative in all of them, 169 were positive for Anti HBs and 125 were positive for Anti HBc IgG. HIV RNA (203/278) was detected in 203 of the patients. 4 (1.4%) of the patients were diagnosed with OHB. In our study, no significant difference was found in hemoglobin and bilirubin levels and complete blood count in patients with HIV-OHB co-infection. However, albumin values were found to be <3.5 in three OHD patients (p = 0.043). Conclusion: Reasearch the presence of OHB infection in HIV-infected patients is important in determining treatment options and predicting the survival of patient. Hypoalbuminemia could be showing hepatic failure and we can suggest the importance of treatment that diseases.

Objective: To date, over 7 million people have been infected in the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 which emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. This study examined the relationships between serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and surfactant protein-A (SP-A) levels and the clinical course and prognosis of COVID-19. Method: The study included a total of 108 subjects. Those in the patient group (n=88) were diagnosed with COVID-19 using real-time PCR analysis of nasopharyngeal swab samples and treated in the Atatürk University Pulmonary Diseases and the City Hospital Infectious Diseases department between March 24 and April 15. The control group (n=20) included asymptomatic healthcare workers whose real-time PCR results during routine COVID-19 screening in our hospital were negative. Results: The COVID-19 patient group had significantly higher MCP-1 and SP-A levels compared to the control group (p=0.001, p=0.001). Patients who developed macrophage activation syndrome had significantly higher MCP-1 and SP-A levels than those who did not both at admission (p=0.001, p=0.001) and on day 5 of treatment (p=0.05, p=0.04). Similarly, MCP-1 and SP-A levels were significantly higher in patients who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome compared to those who did not at both time points (p=0.001 for all). Both parameters were significantly higher in nonsurviving COVID-19 patients compared to survivors (p=0.001 for both). Conclusion: MCP-1 and SP-A are on opposing sides of the inflammatory balance, and SP-A may be a pneumoprotein of importance in the presentation, course, prognosis, and possibly the treatment of COVID-19 in the future.