Over the past 30 years, forensic experts from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have embraced advanced technologies and innovations to enable great efficacy and proficiency in the identification of war victims. The wartime events in the countries of former Yugoslavia greatly influenced the application of the selected DNA analyses as routine tools for the identification of skeletal remains, especially those from mass graves. Initially, the work was challenging because of the magnitude of the events, technical aspects, and political aspects. Collaboration with reputable foreign forensic experts helped tremendously in the efforts to start applying DNA analysis routinely and with increasing success. In this article, we reviewed the most significant achievements related to the application of DNA analysis in identifying skeletal remains in situations where standard identification methods were insufficient.

Due to its turbulent demographic history, marked by extensive settlement and gene flow from diverse regions of Eurasia, Southeastern Europe (SEE) has consistently served as a genetic crossroads between East and West and a junction for the migrations that reshaped Europe’s population. SEE, including modern Croatian territory, was a crucial passage from the Near East and even more distant regions and human populations in this region, as almost any other European population represents a remarkable genetic mixture. Modern humans have continuously occupied this region since the Upper Paleolithic era, and different (pre)historical events have left a distinctive genetic signature on the historical narrative of this region. Our views of its history have been mostly renewed in the last few decades by extraordinary data obtained from Y-chromosome studies. In recent times, the international research community, bringing together geneticists and archaeologists, has steadily released a growing number of ancient genomes from this region, shedding more light on its complex past population dynamics and shaping the genetic pool in Croatia and this part of Europe.

ABSTRACT Population genetic studies have shown that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian (B&H) population is a part of the European gene pool, but there has been limited information on the genetic structure of ancient B&H populations. This study aimed to determine the frequency and distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups for a medieval Bosnian population. Thirty-four samples, excavated from medieval necropolises located within the borders of medieval Bosnia, were analyzed. Sequencing of the mtDNA hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) region and RFLP analysis were performed for haplogroup determination. All 32 samples were identified as haplogroup H, with subhaplogroups H2a and H5 in 30 and 2 samples, respectively. The frequency of the H haplogroup was significantly different between the studied samples and previous studies of contemporary B&H populations, where the H haplogroup frequency was approximately half that of the ancient population studied here. A significant difference in H haplogroup frequency compared with other medieval populations outside of Bosnia was also observed: the ancient B&H population is most similar to ancient Italians. These results provide insight into the mitochondrial landscape of populations that inhabited the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages. Our study reveals that inhabitants of medieval Bosnia carried genetic lineages that exist today in B&H populations, suggesting continuity of mtDNA haplogroups over a long period of time, regardless of various historical demographic events that shaped the genetic structure of the modern B&H population.

Objectives: Lamivudin has been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B but experience with lamivudin treatment for acute severe hepatitis B is still limited. Fulminant hepatitis develops in 1% of patients with acute hepatitis B. Severe acute hepatitis B in immunocompetent patients may progress to fulminant hepatitis and death. Aim: To evaluate the efficasy of lamivudine for the treatment of acute severe hepatitis B virus infection in imunocompetent adults in Clinic for infectious diseases Banja Luka. Patients and methods: In the period of 2006-2024 years, 12 immunocompetent patients (4 women, 8 men, age 24-77 years) with severe acute hepatitis B were treated with lamivudin. All 12 patients fulfil at least two of the criteria for severe acute hepatitis B infection: 1. hepatic encephalopathy; 2. total bilirubin 210 micromole per litre; and severe coagulopathy (international normalized ratio-INR was 4.5 ± 6.4 or prothrombin time-PT < 40%). All patients had evidence of severe hepatocyte lysis. Nine patients had rapid increase of total bilirubin and contemporary decrease of alanine aminotransferase level, which escalate risk of development of fulminant hepatitis B. All patients received lamivudin at a dose 100 mg per day. Results: Ten patients responded well to the treatment and their biochemical parameters improved rapidly. Within 1-6 months, the HBsAg was undetectable in 10 out of 12 investigated patients. Protective anti-HBs antibodies developed in 10 of them in 1-6 months. The corticosteroid therapy was short-term in 2 of 12 patients. Two patient developed fulminant hepatitis B and died after the lamivudine therapy was initiated. Lamivudine treatment was well tolerated in all patients. Conclusion: Lamivudin induces a prompt clinical, biochemical and serological response in immunocompetent patients with severe acute hepatitis B. Early treatment with lamivudine probably decreases the risk of progression to fulminant hepatitis in patients with severe acute hepatitis B.

Aim: To assess Red blood cell Distribution Width (RDW) and platelet indices values in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to verify its association with kidney dysfunction (KD). Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study included 149 T2DM subjects divided into two groups with (T2DM – KD; n=52) and without (T2DM-nKD; n=97) presence of kidney dysfunction and 30 healthy subjects. White Blood Cells (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, RDW, platelet indices, urea, and creatinine, were measured in all participants. Kidney function was evaluated by the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated using the simplified Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula. Results: T2DM-KD subjects showed statistically significantly higher values of the parameters RDW (p<0.01), Mean Platelet Volume - MPV (p<0.01), Platelet Distribution Width-PDW (p<0.01), Platelecrit-PCT (p<0.01), and Platelet Mass Index-PMI (p<0.01) compared to T2DM-nKD subjects, and statistically significantly lower values of the WBC count in T2DM-KD subjects compared to subjects suffering from T2DM without kidney dysfunction (p<0.01). ROC curve analysis revealed that RDW (sensitivity of 80.8%, specificity of 78.3%), MPV (sensitivity of 75%, specificity of 78.4 %), and PDW (sensitivity of 80.8%, specificity of 83.5%) could be used as markers in distinguishing between T2DM subjects with and without kidney dysfunction. Conclusion: This study confirms the reliability of the RDW,MPV, and PDW as simple, low cost and useful markers in distinguishing between T2DM subjects with and without kidney dysfunction.

Abstract Guidewire loss is a rare complication of central venous catheterization. A 65-year-old male was hospitalized in a high-dependency unit for exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, erythrocytosis, and clinical signs of heart failure. Upon admission, after an unsuccessful right jugular approach, a left jugular central venous catheter was placed. The next day, chest radiography revealed the catheter located in the left parasternal region, with suspected retention of the guidewire, visually confirmed by the presence of its proximal end inside the catheter. The left parasternal location of the catheter and the typical projection of the guidewire in the coronary sinus, later confirmed by echocardiography, raised suspicion of a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC). Agitated saline injected into the left antecubital vein confirmed bubble entry from the coronary sinus into the right atrium. After clamping the guidewire, the catheter was carefully retrieved along with the guidewire without any complications. This is the first reported case of guidewire retention in PLSVC and coronary sinus. It underscores the potential causes of guidewire loss and advocates preventive measures to avoid this potentially fatal complication.

In solid tumor oncology, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is poised to transform care through accurate assessment of minimal residual disease (MRD) and therapeutic response monitoring. To overcome the sparsity of ctDNA fragments in low tumor fraction (TF) settings and increase MRD sensitivity, we previously leveraged genome-wide mutational integration through plasma whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Here we now introduce MRD-EDGE, a machine-learning-guided WGS ctDNA single-nucleotide variant (SNV) and copy-number variant (CNV) detection platform designed to increase signal enrichment. MRD-EDGESNV uses deep learning and a ctDNA-specific feature space to increase SNV signal-to-noise enrichment in WGS by ~300× compared to previous WGS error suppression. MRD-EDGECNV also reduces the degree of aneuploidy needed for ultrasensitive CNV detection through WGS from 1 Gb to 200 Mb, vastly expanding its applicability within solid tumors. We harness the improved performance to identify MRD following surgery in multiple cancer types, track changes in TF in response to neoadjuvant immunotherapy in lung cancer and demonstrate ctDNA shedding in precancerous colorectal adenomas. Finally, the radical signal-to-noise enrichment in MRD-EDGESNV enables plasma-only (non-tumor-informed) disease monitoring in advanced melanoma and lung cancer, yielding clinically informative TF monitoring for patients on immune-checkpoint inhibition. Detection of circulating tumor DNA using MRD-EDGE, a machine-learning-guided single-nucleotide variant and copy-number variant detection platform for signal enrichment, enables monitoring of minimal residual disease and immunotherapy response in settings of low tumor burden.