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Objectives: This study aims to examine the relationship of serum tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (sTWEAK) levels withinterleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), fetuin-A, insulin, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA)-insulin resistance (IR), and diseaseactivity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are in remission or have low disease activity.Patients and methods: Fifty-four patients with RA (8 males, 46 females; mean age 52.7±12.3 years; range 40 to 64 years) and 34 healthy controls (6males, 28 females; mean age 53.2±11.3 years; range 41 to 65 years) were included in the study. The sTWEAK, fetuin-A, insulin, lipid profile and IL-6concentrations were determined. The HOMA-IR levels were calculated using a calculator. Disease activity score 28 was used to assess the diseaseactivity.Results: The erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, fetuin-A, and IL-6 levels were higher in the RA group than in the control group(p=0.004, 0.001, 0.001, and 0.003, respectively). sTWEAK levels were lower in the RA group than in the control group (p=0.007). There were nodifferences in the TNF-α, HOMA-IR, insulin, and lipid profile levels of the two groups (p>0.05). sTWEAK had a negative correlation with body massindex and fetuin-A (r=-0.261 and r=-0.287, respectively).Conclusion: We found that RA patients had lower sTWEAK levels and higher fetuin-A levels than the control group subjects. Furthermore, thesetwo molecules were associated with each other. This study demonstrated that in RA patients, even if the disease is controlled with treatment,some molecules associated with an increased metabolic and cardiovascular risk continue to function. Follow-up studies on larger populations arewarranted to confirm these findings.

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Objectives: This study aims to report the assessment of the Turkish League Against Rheumatism (TLAR) expert panel on the compliance and adaptation of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2016 recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Turkey. Patients and methods: The EULAR 2016 recommendations for the treatment of RA were voted by 27 specialists experienced in this field with regard to participation rate for each recommendation and significance of items. Afterwards, each recommendation was brought forward for discussion and any alteration gaining ≥70% approval was accepted. Also, Turkish version of each item was rearranged. Last version of the recommendations was then revoted to determine the level of agreement. Levels of agreement of the two voting rounds were compared with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. In case of significant difference, the item with higher level of agreement was accepted. In case of no difference, the changed item was selected.Results: Four overarching principles and 12 recommendations were assessed among which three overarching principles and one recommendation were changed. The changed overarching principles emphasized the importance of physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists as well as rheumatologists for the care of RA patients in Turkey. An alteration was made in the eighth recommendation on treatment of active RA patients with unfavorable prognostic indicators after failure of three conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Remaining principles were accepted as the same although some alterations were suggested but could not find adequate support to reach significance. Conclusion: Expert opinion of the TLAR for the treatment of RA was composed for practices in Turkish rheumatology and/or physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics.

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Objectives: This study aims to investigate the association of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) with neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) rather than the disease activity score 28 using C-reactive protein in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients and methods: The study included 59 RA patients (11 males, 48 females; mean age 53.79±13.55 years; range 40 to 66 years) and 20 healthy controls (5 males, 15 females; mean age 50.41±6.11 years; range 43 to 56 years). Complete blood count tests were recorded and NLR and platelet/lymphocyte ratio were calculated. PTX3 and interleukin-6 levels were examined in serum samples. Disease activity of RA patients was assessed by disease activity score 28. Results: Demographic characteristics were similar between the two groups, with no statistically significant difference in terms of sex, age, and body mass index (p>0.05). NLR, PTX3 and interleukin-6 levels were higher in patients with RA than the control group (p<0.05). While erythrocyte sedimentation rate had a positive correlation with mean platelet volume, we found no correlation between NLR and other parameters of disease activity, PTX3, and interleukin-6. Conclusion: We found no correlation between PTX3 and disease activity score 28 or NLR, although PTX3 levels were higher in RA patients than the controls. As a result, we were unable to establish a relationship between PTX3 and disease activity, directly or indirectly. To our knowledge, our study was the first to investigate the relationship between PTX3 and NLR.

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Objectives: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) in Turkey using the same telephone questionnaire developed for screening RA and SpA in France and used in Serbia and Lithuania. Material and methods: The study was performed in two steps. In step I, the French questionnaire was translated into Turkish and validated through a group of 200 patients (80 males, 120 females; mean age 44.0±13.1 years; range, 19 to 75 years) followed up at the rheumatology departments of University Hospitals in Antalya and Ankara. In step II, the validated Turkish questionnaire was administered face-to-face to randomly selected 4,012 subjects (1,670 males, 2,342 females; mean age 41.5±16.8 years; range, 16 to 97 years) by trained general practitioners across the country, in 25 provinces for case detection. The subjects who were suspected of having RA or SpA in accordance with the questionnaire were invited to the nearest university hospital for rheumatologic examination in order to confirm the diagnosis. Results: In step II, a total of 25 subjects (2 males, 23 females) were diagnosed as RA. The standardized RA prevalence for the general population of Turkey was calculated as 0.56% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.33-0.79), 0.10% (95% CI; -0.05-0.25) for males and 0.89% (95% CI; 0.51-1.27) for females. A total of 18 subjects (3 males, 15 females) were diagnosed as SpA. The standardized SpA prevalence for the general population of Turkey was 0.46% (95% CI; 0.25-0.67), 0.17% (95% CI; -0.03-0.37) for males and 0.65% (95% CI; 0.32-0.98) for females. The prevalence of RA was highest in the Northern region (2.00%) and the prevalence of SpA was highest in the Central region (1.49%). Conclusion: The prevalences of RA and SpA in Turkey are close to each other and there are significant inter-regional variations in prevalences of both RA and SpA.

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Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı inmeli hastaların global ve spesifik alanlarda yaşam kalitesini değerlendirmek ve inme sonrası yaşam kalitesini etkileyen değişkenleri belirlemektir. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Serebrovasküler olaya bağlı hemiplejisi olan, kognitif fonksiyonları yeterli 104 hasta ve 108 sağlıklı kontrol çalışmaya alındı. Demografik ve klinik özellikler kaydedildi. Hastaların fonksiyonel durumlarını değerlendirmek için Barthel İndeksi (Bİ) ve Fonksiyonel Ambulasyon Sınıflaması kullanıldı. Yaşam kalitesi Kısa form 36 (SF-36) sağlık değerlendirme anketi ile, emosyonel durumları Hastane Anksiyete ve Depresyon Ölçeği (HADÖ) ile değerlendirildi. Fonksiyonel durum, motor bozukluk ve emosyonel durum bağımsız değişkenler olarak belirlendi ve yaşam kalitesini tahmin etmek için kullanıldı. Bulgular: Hastaların total ve subtotal SF-36 skorları kontrol grubuna göre anlamlı düşüktü (p<0,001). Ortalama anksiyete ve depresyon skorları kontrol grubuna göre hasta grubunda yüksekti (p<0,001). Bazı subskorlar ve SF-36nın fiziksel komponent skoru kadın ve okumamış hastalarda erkek hastalar ve okumuşlara göre anlamlı düşüktü. Multipl regresyon analizine göre, depresyon düzeyi mental sağlık ile (p<0,001); sakatlık düzeyi fiziksel sağlık ile ilişkiliydi (p<0,05). Bu çalışmanın gücü verilen örneklem hacmine göre %100dür (α=0,01). Sonuç: Bu çalışma genel popülasyona göre inme hastalarının önemli derecede kötü yaşam kalitesine sahip olduğunu gösterdi. İnme sonrası yaşam kalitesindeki bozulma, cinsiyet ve eğitim düzeyi gibi demografik özellikler, fiziksel disabilite ve emosyonel durum ile ilişkili görünmektedir. Bu nedenle disabilitenin engellenmesi, depresyonun erken tanı ve tedavisi, inme hastalarının yaşam kalitesini arttırmada önemlidir.