title: Serum β-Defensin-2 Levels and Their Relationship with the Clinical Course and Prognosis in Patients with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the clinical course and prognosis of serum levels of β-defensin-2 (BD-2) in patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology of the Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, were considered for inclusion in this study. The patients had positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results of the CCHF virus. There were 60 patients with CCHF in the study group and 25 healthy participants in the control group. Serum BD-2 levels were measured using ELISA. Data were analyzed using the Student t test or Mann-Whitney U test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 60 patients, 6 (10%) died and 54 (90%) were discharged following their recovery. The mean BD-2 level of the patient group was significantly higher (4,180.30 ± 3,944.19 pg/ml) than that of the control group (964.45 ± 266.07 pg/ml; p = 0.001). Serum BD-2 levels of the patients with fatal (1,529.81 ± 1,028.14) and nonfatal disease (4,474.80 ± 4,041.58) differed, but this difference showed only borderline significance (p = 0.055). The mean BD-2 level of the severe group was 5,507.45 ± 4,327.06 pg/ml, while it was 3,611.52 ± 3,676.73 pg/ml in the mild/moderate group, and both were significantly higher than that of the control group (p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the expression of serum BD-2 was raised in patients with CCHF, and this increase may beneficially affect survival. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the association of serum BD-2 with CCHF prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Balx0131;klx0131; Gx00F6;l State Hospital, Urfa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parlak
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parlak
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aksoy
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D023083:beta-Defensins