The mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between misophonia and quality of life: findings from the validated Turkish version of MisoQuest

Introduction

Misophonia is a disorder characterized by decreased tolerance to certain sounds or their associated stimuli, and many measurement tools have been developed for its diagnosis and evaluation. The aims of the current study were to develop the Turkish version of MisoQuest, a fully validated misophonia questionnaire, to evaluate the relationships between misophonia, anxiety, and quality of life, and to examine the mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between misophonia and quality of life.

Methods

The reliability of the Turkish version of MisoQuest was conducted using data from 548 participants (Mean age = 28.06 ± 9.36). Then, the relationships between misophonia, anxiety, and quality of life were evaluated in a separate sample of 117 participants (Mean age = 25.50 ± 6.31) using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire.

Results

The results showed that the Turkish version of MisoQuest has good psychometric properties. Close-to-moderate positive correlations were found between misophonia and anxiety, and weak negative correlations were found between misophonia and quality of life. Anxiety mediated the relationships between misophonia and quality of life.

Discussion

These results emphasize that misophonia may be an important problem affecting people's quality of life and reveal the mediating role of anxiety on this effect.

Hearing Loss Related to Gene Mutations in Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis

INTRODUCTION

Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) is a disease that may develop either primarily or secondarily, resulting from urinary acidification defects in distal tubules. Hearing loss may accompany primary forms of dRTA. This study aims to determine the characteristics of hearing loss due to different gene mutations in patients with dRTA.

METHODS

Behavioral and electrophysiological audiological evaluations were performed after otolaryngology examination in 21 patients with clinically diagnosed dRTA. Radiological imaging of the inner ear (n = 9) was conducted and results of genetic analyses using next-generation sequencing method (n = 16) were included.

RESULTS

Twenty-one patients with dRTA from 20 unrelated families, aged between 8 months and 33 years (median = 12, interquartile range = 20), participated. All patients with ATP6V1B1 mutations (n = 9) had different degrees of hearing loss. There was one patient with hearing loss in patients with ATP6V0A4 mutations (n = 6). One patient with the WDR72 mutation had normal hearing. Large vestibular aqueduct syndrome (LVAS) was detected in 6 (67%) of 9 patients whose radiological evaluation results were available.

CONCLUSIONS

LVAS is common in patients with dRTA and may influence the type and severity of hearing loss in these patients. The possibility of both congenital and late-onset and progressive hearing loss should be considered in dRTA patients. A regular audiological follow-up is essential for the early detection of a possible late-onset or progressive hearing loss in these patients.

Evaluation of oral streptococci in saliva of children with severe Early Childhood Caries and caries-free

AIM

Oral streptococci were found to be associated with Early Childhood Caries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the 6 different bacteria in the streptococcus group in the saliva of children with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 60 children between 3 and 6 years of age were divided into two groups: children with S-ECC (Group S-ECC; n=30) and children who were caries-free (Group CF; n=30), according to the dmft and dmfs indices. Unstimulated saliva was collected from all participants for the detection of streptococcal group bacteria, including: Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus gordonii, Streptococcus salivarius, and Streptococcus sobrinus, using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of amplified 16S rRNA gene. The data were analysed using SPSS software.

RESULTS

The prevalence of S. oralis was significantly higher in the S-ECC group compared to the CF group (p<0.05). However, the frequencies of S. mutans, S. sanguinis, S. gordonii, S. salivarius, and S. sobrinus were similar between the two groups (p>0.05). The amount of streptococci colonies was higher in the S-ECC group compared to the CF group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

S. mutans or S. sobrinus alone may not be the only indicators for high risk of caries, but the prevalence of S. oralis in saliva may be a risk factor for increased caries activity in S-ECC.

Effect of EGF on Bax, Bcl-2 and Fas expression in ulcerous disease and N87 cell line

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the effect of epithelial growth factor (EGF) in primary culture of ulcer patients and N87 cell line on expressions of apoptotic genes.

METHODS

Ulcer patients who attended Gastroenterology Clinic of Mersin University Medical Faculty were included in this study. Three different doses of EGF were applied to the primary culture of biopsy samples from ulcer patients and gastric cancer cell-line (ATCC-NCI-N87) . The expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2 and Fas genes were measured with quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).

RESULTS

ΔΔCT analysis with qRT-PCR revealed no significant change in gene expression of Bax, Bcl-2 or Fas within the ulcer, normal tissue and gastric cancer. No significant change was determined between Bax and Bcl-2 gene expression levels and applied EGF doses when groups were compared for each EGF dose. On the other hand, when 50 ng/µl of EGF was administered, Fas mRNA expression level was significantly lower in the gastric cancer cell line compared to patients with ulcer and normal gastroduodenal tissue (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

In this study which was done with a restricted patient group, our results revealed that apoptosis induced by Fas expression in gastroduodenal suppressing carcinogenesis process plays an active role in gaining anti-apoptotic properties of cells (Tab. 4, Fig. 2, Ref. 27).

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of di-aqua-bis-(isonicotinamide-κN)bis-(2,4,6-tri-methyl-benzoato-κO1)nickel(II) dihydrate

In the title Ni^II complex, the divalent Ni ion occupies a crystallographically imposed centre of symmetry and is coordinated by two O atoms from the carboxyl­ate groups of two 2,4,6-tri­methyl­benzoate ligands, two N atoms from the pyridyl groups of two isonicotinamide ligands and two water mol­ecules in a slightly distorted octa­hedral geometry. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯H (59.8%), O⋯H/H⋯O (20.2%) and C⋯H/H⋯C (13.7%) inter­actions.

In the title Ni^II complex, [Ni(C₁₀H₁₁O₂)₂(C₆H₆N₂O)₂(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O, the divalent Ni ion occupies a crystallographically imposed centre of symmetry and is coordinated by two O atoms from the carboxyl­ate groups of two 2,4,6-tri­methyl­benzoate (TMB) ligands [Ni—O = 2.0438 (12) Å], two N atoms from the pyridyl groups of two isonicotinamide (INA) ligands [Ni—N = 2.1506 (15) Å] and two water mol­ecules [Ni—O = 2.0438 (12) Å] in a slightly distorted octa­hedral geometry. The coordinating water mol­ecules are hydrogen bonded to the non-coordinating carboxyl­ate O atom of the TMB ligand [O⋯O = 2.593 (3) Å], enclosing an S(6) hydrogen-bonding motif. Two solvent water mol­ecules are also present in the formula unit. In the crystal, a network of inter­molecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the complexes into a three-dimensional array. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯H (59.8%), O⋯H/H⋯O (20.2%) and C⋯H/H⋯C (13.7%) inter­actions.