Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Determination Of Serum Cardiac Biomarkers And Plasma D-Dimer Levelsin Anemic Sheep With Babesiosis, Özlem Orunç Kilinç, Yaşar Göz, Nazmi̇ Yüksek, Yildiray Başbuğan, Ali̇ Bi̇lgi̇n Yilmaz, Ahmet Duran Ataş

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In this study, the cardiac effects of anemia and venous thromboembolism (VTE), reportedly caused by the hemolyzed erythrocytes occurring in sheep with babesiosis, were investigated using cardiac markers and D-dimer (DD). The study included 34 sheep: 24 infected Akkaraman sheep (1-3 years old, diagnosed with babesiosis based on clinical and laboratory findings) and a control group of 10 noninfected healthy sheep of the same breed and age. Hematocrit (Hct) levels were measured in blood obtained from both groups. Cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were measured in serum samples. In addition, the levels of …

The Effects Of Different Salting And Preservation Techniques Ofkaşar Cheese On Cheese Quality, Asya Çeti̇nkaya, Mustafa Atasever

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this research is to determine the effects of different salting and preservation techniques on the quality of kaşar cheese. Physical, chemical, and microbiological analyses were performed on days 1, 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 of the maturation of 270 samples of kaşar cheese produced for this research. Additionally, sensory analyses were performed on days 30, 60, 90, and 120 of maturation. The total number of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, Lactococcus, Staphylococcus-Micrococcus, and psychotropic bacteria was lower and the number of yeast-mold and lactobacilli was higher in cheese examples salted in a boiler than those salted in …

Fattening Performance And Carcass Characteristics Of Turkish Indigenoushair And Honamlı Goat Male Kids, Ahmet Hamdi̇ Aktaş, Beki̇r Gök, Serkan Ateş, Mehmet Emi̇n Teki̇n, İbrahi̇m Halici, Hüseyi̇n Baş, Hakan Erduran, Shinan Kassam

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study was undertaken to measure the effect of fattening duration (60, 80, and 100 days) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of male kids from indigenous Hair and Honamlı goat breeds reared under intensive fattening systems in Turkey. Fattening duration had a significant effect (P < 0.001) on the fattening performance and a number of carcass characteristics of kids. An interaction was detected between genotype and fattening duration for average daily gain (ADG). Hair goat kids grew at a faster rate than Honamlı kids in the 20-40 day and 40-60 day fattening periods, but they maintained relatively similar ADGs within other fattening periods. On average, over the course of the fattening trial, Honamlı kids grew at an average daily rate of 209 g/head, while Hair goat kids grew at a daily rate of 231 g/head. Dressing percentage and carcass lean and fat percentages of kids increased (P < 0.05-0.001) with slaughter age and weight for both genotypes, whereas the percentage of bone decreased (P < 0.001) with each successive fattening period. No genotypic differences were detected for a number of carcass characteristics at the time of slaughter, with the exception of relatively higher (P < 0.01) fat deposit rates within the kidney and pelvic areas for Hair kids.

Effects Of Long-Term Starvation And Refeeding On Fatty Acid Metabolism-Relatedgene Expressions In The Liver Of Zebrafish, Danio Rerio, Ayşe Ölmez, Mehtap Bayir, Chunfang Wang, Abdulkadi̇r Bayir

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

A 70-day starvation was conducted to determine the effects of long-term starvation on whole-body polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) composition and fatty acid metabolism-related gene expression in the liver of zebrafish, Danio rerio. The starvation period was followed by a 15-day refeeding period to test recovery of both PUFA composition and gene expression levels. It was found that n-3 PUFA and arachidonic acid levels increased during starvation and returned to normal values after refeeding (P < 0.05). Expression of seven (elovl5, fads2, cpt1-β, acox1, acadvl, fabp1a, and fabp7a) of eight total genes downregulated significantly towards the end of the starvation. As a result of refeeding, gene expression of elovl5 and ppar-α returned to the normal levels. Therefore, it was concluded that, in general, mRNA expression of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism was negatively influenced by long-term starvation (70 days); there was no direct relationship between whole-body fatty acid composition and hepatic gene expressions; and 15-day refeeding was insufficient for recovery of starvation-based metabolic losses in zebrafish.

Serum Pharmacokinetics And Tissue Concentrations Of A Newrecrystallized Enrofloxacin Hydrochloride-Dihydrate In Hamsters, Alma Carrascosa, Alejandro De La Peña, Lilia Gutierrez, Hector Sumano

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), and PK/PD ratios of a new solvate of enrofloxacin (enrofloxacin hydrochloride-dihydrate; enro-C), were studied in hamsters. Enrofloxacin from Baytril1397904493 5% (enroR) served as the reference preparation. Two groups of 60 Syrian golden hamsters were intramuscularly injected individually with 10 mg/kg of enroR or with enro-C. Tissue and serum samples were obtained for 72 h; enrofloxacin concentrations were determined by HPLC with UV detection. Ninety percent minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC90) were determined for strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Leptospira interrogans, and Escherichia coli. All PK variables were statistically different between groups (P < 0.01). CMAX of enrofloxacin for enro-C was 17.3 μg/mL and it was 2.6 μg/mL for enroR. AUC was considerably higher for enro-C (459.2 μg/mL h vs. 19.9 μg/mL h). There were no statistically significant differences in MIC90 values between enroR and enro-C. Tissue concentrations of enro-C in all cases were higher and remained above the MIC for longer periods than those of enroR. Relevant PK/PD ratios for enrofloxacin (AUC/MIC ? 125 and CMAX > MIC = 10-12) are consequently …

In Situ Degradation Of Almond (Prunus Dulcis L.) Hulls, A Potential Feed Material For Ruminants, Saeid Jafari, Alireza Alizadeh, Ali Imni, Goh Yong Meng, Mohamed Ali Rajion, Mahdi Ebrahimi

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The nutritive values of almond hulls (Ahs), alfalfa (ALF), and sugar beet pulp (SBP) were determined using the in situ nylon bag technique. The ruminal dry matter (DM) degradation kinetics of 4 varieties of Ahs were compared with ALF and SBP. The almond varieties tested were Rabbi (RAB), Mamaii (MAM), Shahrud 15 (SH15), and Shokufe (SH). Samples were incubated in triplicate at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h in 3 rumen-fistulated steers. The average total degradability fraction (TDF) of DM in Ahs was 89.00%. Although the TDF of Ahs (86.50%) was lower than that of …

The Prediction Of The Prevalence And Risk Factors For Subclinical Heifermastitis In Turkish Dairy Farms, Ayhan Baştan, Seçki̇n Salar, Mehmet Cengi̇z, İsfendi̇yar Darbaz, Mürşi̇de Ayşe Demi̇rel, Doğukan Özen

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for subclinical heifer mastitis and to create a model that can predict the prevalence of subclinical mastitis of pregnant heifers in farms in Turkey. Lacteal secretion samples were taken from 439 pregnant (6-9 months) heifers and bacteriological analyses were performed. In this study, 37.47% of the samples were determined to be infected. In lacteal secretion samples, the isolation rate of coagulase-negative staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus was 44.83% and 35.71%, respectively. The incidence of mastitis was calculated as 42.87 ± 4.12%. An eight-question survey was conducted. Using the data collected, …

Macroanatomical Characteristics Of Plexus Brachialis And Its Branches In Martens (Martes Foina), Yasi̇n Demi̇raslan, Mevlüt Aykut, Özcan Özgel

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The purpose of this study was to determine the macroanatomical characteristics of nerves forming the plexus brachialis and originating from plexus in beech martens. A total of 6 beech martens (3 males and 3 females) that died in traffic accidents and were brought to Mehmet Akif Ersoy University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Anatomy on various dates were used in this study. Nerves forming the plexus brachialis and originating from this plexus in martens were dissected and their results were recorded. According to the obtained results, it was observed that the plexus brachialis in beech martens was composed of …

The Effect Of Oxytocin And Prostaglandin Hormones Added Tosemen On Stallion Sperm Quality, Çi̇ğdem Çebi̇ Şen, Ergun Akçay

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) and oxytocin have been used to improve reproductive performance in many mammalian species, including humans. The aim of the present study was to determine their effects on sperm quality when extended stallion semen was enriched with PGF2α or oxytocin. In this study, 16 healthy adult stallions, each 15-22 years old, were used. Five ejaculates from each stallion were collected with an artificial vagina during breeding season. Thereafter, gel-free semen was divided into 7 aliquots and diluted with an INRA96 semen extender. The following different treatments were evaluated: 3 with only PGF2α (10, 20, and 40 μg/mL) and …

Sow Fertility After Insemination With Varying Doses Of Volume And Spermatozoa Count, Jelena Apic, Slobodanka Vakanjac, Ivan Stancic, Ivan Radovic, Stoja Jotanovic, Zdenko Kanacki, Branislav Stankovic

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility of increasing boar's reproductive exploitation by using AI doses of doubly reduced volume and sperm count in the intrauterine AI procedure. The experiment was conducted at a commercial pig farm in Serbia in 2014. Classic intracervical insemination (ICI) was performed by using 50 mL or 100 mL volume doses containing 4 × 109 or 2 × 109 progressively motile spermatozoa. The same volumes and sperm numbers per dose were used with intrauterine insemination (IUI). Each dose combination was used to inseminate 30 sows. Intrauterine insemination with AI doses of …

Effects Of Probiotics, Oligosaccharides, And Berberine Combinationson Growth Performance Of Pigs, Guoge Fan, Juan Chang, Qingqiang Yin, Xiao Wang, Xiaowei Dang

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In order to find alternative feed additives to replace antibiotics for safe animal production, combinations of probiotics, oligosaccharides, and berberine were used in this study. Ninety 60-day-old pigs were assigned to 9 groups, with 10 pigs for each group. Group 1 was the control, group 2 had antibiotics added, and groups 3-9 had different levels of combinations added. The experimental period was 60 days. The results indicated that average daily gain and feed conversion ratio had no significant differences among the 9 groups (P > 0.05); however, the diarrhea rates in the control group and the high probiotic groups with low …

Seroepidemiological Survey Of Leptospiral Infection In Stray Dogs In Serbia, Dragica Vojinovic, Natasa Bogicevic, Ana Vasic, Marija Manic, Milica Elezovic Radovanovic, Dragan Rogozarski, Jovan Maric, Miroslav Valcic

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis with worldwide distribution. This disease is facilitated among stray dogs due to their lifestyle and the absence of immunoprophylaxis. The aim of the present study was to provide serological data on the presence of certain serovars of Leptospira spp., which are assumed to circulate in the population of stray dogs in Serbia. During a period of 3 years (from April 2010 to June 2013), 1045 canine sera originating from 11 shelters were submitted to the laboratory of the Department of Infectious Animal Diseases and Diseases of Bees, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Belgrade. A microscopic agglutination …

Development And Validation Of Sandwich Quantitative Elisa Prototypebased On The Bovine Ifng For The Detection Of Cellular Immunity, Oktay Genç, Özlem Büyüktanir, Gülnur Serdar, Yunus Kiliçoğlu, Sali̇h Otlu

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Immunodiagnostic tests based on in vitro enzymatic methods are mostly preferred to in vivo methods for the detection of cellular immunity due to their cost, applicability, repeatability, and higher sensitivity. Therefore, the development of a quantitative sandwich ELISA prototype detecting bovine IFNg (bIFNg) was planned. In this study, two clone originated monoclonal antibodies were used for capturing the plates, and biotin conjugated monoclonal Ab was used as a secondary antibody in sandwich ELISA. Different approaches such as inter- and intraassay precision and dilution parallelism were evaluated for test validation. The correlation of coefficient variation that is over 95% and 5% …

Effects Of Duck Feed Supplemented With Invasive Giant Salvinia(Salvinia Molesta) On Duck Meat Characteristics, Bambang Dwiloka, Agus Setiadi, Siswanto Imam Santoso, Edjeng Suprijatna, Siti Susanti

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present work was designed to study the potency of Salvinia molesta (SM) as feedstuff influencing meat characteristics in ducks for the first time. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the effects of fermented (FSM) and nonfermented (NFSM) SM powder as a duck feed supplement on the lipid composition (fat, total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels) and fatty acid profile of duck meat, as well as its protein and water content. This study included eighty 4-week-old ducks, which were assigned at random to 2 groups based on treatment: basal diets (control) and supplementation with SM (15% NFSM, 15% FSM, 17.5% …

Correlation Between The Milk Vein Internal Diameter Surface Andmilk Yield In Simmental Cows, Damjan Gracner, Gerard Gilligan, Nickholas Garvey, Luis Moreira, Patricia Harvey, Amanda Tierney, Robert Zobel

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

It is known that milk production is directly correlated with the blood flow through the mammary gland, and milk veins drain approximately 90% of the total blood passing through this organ. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between milk vein internal diameter surface and milk production in Simmental cows. The milk vein internal diameter was measured by ultrasonography in heifers during the 2nd month of the first gravidity, and again on day 50 following the second calving. After the application of exclusion criteria, the internal vein diameter surface area was mathematically calculated (mm2) for a …

Evaluation Of The Genetic Resistance Status To Classical And Atypicalscrapie In Karacabey Merino Rams, Yalçin Yaman, Mehmet İhsan Soysal, Cemal Ün

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Scrapie, the oldest prion disease of sheep, has two types: classical and atypical scrapie. It was determined that some nucleotide polymorphisms in the PrP coding gene have affected classical and atypical scrapie susceptibility. Consequently, EU member states have established breeding programs aiming to increase genetic resistance of their flocks to classical scrapie. These breeding programs have primarily been implemented in economically important breeds. Thus, we investigated classical and atypical scrapie related PrP genotypes of the Karacabey merino breed, which is of great economic importance in western regions of Turkey. In relation to classical scrapie, three alleles (ARR, ARQ, and VRQ) …

Effects Of Epimedium Polysaccharide On Female Mouse (Mus Musculus)Ovarian And Uterine Development, Seth Yaw Afedo, Yaping Xu, Caroline Wanjiku Muneri, Guochao Ni, Weichao Xu, Rong Rui

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Epimedium polysaccharide (EPS) on ovarian and uterine development in female mice and assess the in vitro maturation (IVM) rate. Healthy Kunming female mice were divided into 4 groups and administered 2, 4, 6, and 8 mg/0.1 mL of EPS, respectively; the control group was given 0.1 mL of 0.9% physiological saline solution. After 7 and 14 days, the mice were sacrificed and their reproductive tracts (uterus, oviduct, and ovaries) were removed. The reproductive tract was weighed; some ovaries were punctured to harvest oocytes for IVM culture and the others were used …

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay For The Detection Of Antibodies Against The Extracellular Domain Of The Oxaa Membrane Protein Of Mycoplasma Suis, Lijun Jia, Mingming Liu, Shoufa Zhang, Lei Zhang, Huanping Guo, Jixu Li

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Epidemics of swine infected with Mycoplasma suis, a hemotrophic pathogen, cause substantial economic losses to the swine industry worldwide. The complementary DNA sequences encoding two predicted extracellular domains of the OxaA protein of M. Suis were obtained using polymerase chain reaction and standard molecular cloning methods. The OxaA domains were expressed separately in Escherichia coli as glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins, designated as GST-A and GST-B. The antigenicity of the GST-A and -B recombinant proteins was confirmed by western blotting. The GST-A and -B proteins were approximately 33.9 kDa and 34.6 kDa in size, respectively. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was …

Evaluation Of Dual-Activity Opioid-Npff Ligands For Antinociception, Jason N. Teng

Honors Theses

Opioids have become a staple in the medical world as an analgesic used to treat acute and chronic pain. However, there are many issues associated with the frequent use of opioids including tolerance, constipation, and opioid-induced hyperalgesia. Fortunately, recent discoveries of neuropeptide FF (NPFF) antagonists, have led to the understanding that tolerance and hyperalgesia caused by opioids can be greatly reduced. This discovery eventually led to the creation of dual ligands with both opioid agonist and NPFF antagonist activity. These dual ligands have been shown to prevent tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia while maintain analgesic qualities in mice. However, these studies …

A Comparison Of The Deaf Community And Hard-Of-Hearing Individuals On Their Knowledge And Opinions Of Cochlear Implants, Marian R. Bryant

Honors Theses

This thesis examined the opinions and knowledge of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals on cochlear implants. Previous research presented showed the controversial opinions on what was known about cochlear implants as a result of speculation in the Deaf community. This thesis consisted of surveying Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in order to have a better understanding of what is known about cochlear implants and the opinions that concur due to incorrect or correct knowledge. Thirteen subjects, including eight Deaf and seven hard-of-hearing individuals, completed the assessment. The results indicated that uncertainty about cochlear implants still remains; therefore, it is necessary to educate …

Time-Limited Case Management For Homeless Mothers With Mental Health Problems: Effects On Caregiver Mental Health., Judith Samuels, Patrick J. Fowler, Andrea Ault-Brutus, Dein-In Tang, Katherine Marcal

Brown School Faculty Publications

Objective: In this study we test the effect of a time-limited case management model targeting homeless mothers who are experiencing mental health problems. Adapted from an empirically informed intervention to prevent recurrent homelessness among individuals, the Family Critical Time Intervention (FCTI) supports mothers with children for a 9-month period as they move from homeless shelters into affordable housing. The case management team uses a structured intervention to encourage mothers to create and maintain necessary connections in the community for key family supports. Method: We use a longitudinal randomized controlled trial (N = 210) to test whether homeless mothers referred to …

The Rewarding Nature Of Anger Rumination In Borderline Personality Disorder: An Fmri Investigation, Jessica R. Peters

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Anger rumination, or persistently dwelling on feelings of anger, is associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and related features, such as aggressive behavior and cognitive distortions. To develop more effective treatments, it is crucial to understand why individuals with BPD engage in anger rumination despite its negative outcomes. The activation of energy associated with anger, as well as feelings of justification and validation, may be experienced in the short-term as rewarding. This may prevent individuals with BPD from attempting to reduce their rumination.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral methods were utilized to examine this theory in a sample …

Development Of An Avian Model For Identifying Individual Differences In Drug Vulnerability, Beth A. Rice

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The attribution of incentive salience to cues that become associated with drugs of abuse is a critical characteristic of individuals who may be vulnerable to drug addiction. Rodents with the propensity to sign track are thought to be vulnerable to drug abuse. The goal of the current work was to investigate whether sign trackers (STs) would acquire cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) to a discrete cue using an avian species. In Experiment 1, sign and goal trackers (GTs) were first identified using a one third rank order split. Following identification, cocaine-CPP was conducted with a discrete cue in each end …

Gαq-Associated Signaling Promotes Neuroadaptation To Ethanol And Withdrawal-Associated Hippocampal Damage, Anna R. Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Prolonged, heavy consumption of alcohol produces marked neuroadaptations in excitatory neurotransmission. These effects are accelerated following patterns of intermittent heavy drinking wherein periods of heavy consumption are followed by periods of abstinence. Studies have shown that neuroadaptive changes in the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor produces excitotoxicity during periods of withdrawal; however, upstream targets were not adequately characterized. The present studies sought to identify these targets by assessing the role of group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) and intracellular calcium in promoting cytotoxicity of hippocampal cell layers in vitro. It was hypothesized that ethanol-induced activity of mGluR1-and-5 contributes to hippocampal …

Interpersonal Rejection Sensitivity Predicts Burnout: A Prospective Study, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined whether interpersonal rejection sensitivity (IRS)—the hallmark of atypical depression – prospectively predicted burnout, controlling for baseline symptoms, history of depressive disorders, antidepressant intake, gender, age, and length of employment (mean between-assessment duration: 21 months; n = 578; 74% female). IRS was related to a 119% increased risk of burnout at follow-up. Three of four burned out participants reported to be affected by IRS, or 2.5 times the rate observed in participants with no (or subthreshold) burnout symptoms. Our study highlights a dispositional factor in burnout’s etiology also known to be a key component of atypical depression’s etiology. The …

Burnout Does Not Help Predict Depression In French Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Objectives: Burnout has been viewed as a phase in the development of depression. However, supportive research is scarce. We examined whether burnout predicted depression among French school teachers.

Methods: We conducted a 2-wave, 21-month study involving 627 teachers (73% female) working in French primary and secondary schools. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and depression with the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 grades depressive symptom severity and provides a provisional diagnosis of major depression. Depression was treated both as a continuous and categorical variable using linear and logistic regression analyses. We controlled …

Non-Invasive Right Ventricular Efficiency Using 4d Flow Mri, Alejandro Roldán-Alzate, Scott Grogan, Heidi Kellihan, Alessandro Bellofiore, Naomi Chesler, Oliver Wieben, Christopher Francois

Faculty Publications

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH) is a progressive disease of increased resistance to flow through the lungs, leading to right ventricular (RV) failure [1]. MRI is increasingly used to assess right ventricular (RV) function in PH. RV stroke work (SW) based on invasive pressure and volume measurements, is used to assess ventricular work. Determining RV work from MRI could enable a more complete characterization of RV and PA interactions in PH. The purpose of this study was to non-invasively estimate RV work from simultaneously acquired RV volume (VRV) and pulmonary artery flow (QPA) using a 4D flow-sensitive MRI sequence …

Exploring Communication Patterns In The Discussion Of Maternal Pku Syndrome Between Parents And Daughters, Hannah Beth Andrews

Theses and Dissertations

Maternal PKU syndrome is the collection of features and birth defects that arise from uncontrolled phenylalanine levels in a pregnant woman with phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) deficiency, previously known as phenylketonuria (PKU). Currently, the literature is lacking in exploring what young women are being told about maternal PKU syndrome. In this study, communication patterns between parents and their daughters about maternal PKU syndrome were investigated through an online survey completed by parents. The survey assessed parents’ level of comfort with this topic, the information they discussed with their daughter and the resources they accessed. Followup interviews were conducted with participants to …

Evaluating Changes In Patient Anxiety Regarding Classic Cancer Genetic Testing Versus Expanded Multiplex Cancer Genetic Testing, Andrew Todd Alfonso

Theses and Dissertations

Multiplex cancer genetic testing by next generation sequencing (NGS) offers genetic counselors and patients new options for testing multiple genes beyond BRCA1 and BRCA2, increasing both the yield of positive results and the number of variants of uncertain significance (VUS). This pilot study explored three psychosocial questions related to multiplex cancer genetic testing: 1). Do anxiety levels differ in patients with results of familiar single gene testing versus those with results of multiplex cancer genetic testing of unfamiliar genes? 2). Do different results (i.e., negative, positive, or VUS) affect patient anxiety levels in the post-results period? 3). Is patient anxiety …

Variant Reclassification In Cancer Genetic Testing: Are Genetic Counselors Prepared? A Review Of Current Practices, Niamh Gemma White

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Cancer genetics has emerged as a critical specialty within the field of genetic counseling. Advancements in research are constantly uncovering new insights into the genetics of cancer and inherited cancer syndromes. It is crucial that genetic counselors and the institutions in which they work are in sync with these advancements. Currently, multiplex or multi-gene cancer testing is rapidly being adapted into the cancer genetic counseling setting. The ‘hot topic’ of an increased likelihood of receiving variant results following such testing has been explored in depth in the literature. However, research surrounding genetic counseling practices and the reclassification of VUS …