RESULTS
The study comprised 56 participants, divided into three groups: mild/moderate (n = 24), severe (n = 8), and control (n = 24). The median age of the participants was 49.75\(\ \pm\) 14.26 years, and 66.1% (n = 37) were males. Table 1 shows the demographic data of the groups.
It was observed that the periostin level was significantly higher in both mild/moderate cases and severe cases compared to the control group at first presentation (p = 0.027 and p = 0.002, respectively) (Figure 1). However, TGF-\(\beta\) levels at first presentation were similar between the groups (p = 0.302) (Figure 2).
In the severe patient group, a significant increase was observed in serum periostin levels one month from symptom onset compared to the time of symptom onset (p = 0.020). In contrast, although serum periostin level increased slightly in the mild/moderate patient group, this increase was not found to be statistically significant (p = 0,138).
Another result of our study was that there was a weak but significant negative relationship between the basal lymphocyte and periostin levels and a weak, but significant positive relationship between the basal lymphocyte and TGF-β levels (rs = −0. 410, p = 0.020 and rs = 0.369, p = 0.038, respectively) (Figure 3).