Blood lead and cadmium and birth weight among sub-arctic and arctic populations of Norway and Russia

BACKGROUND: Delivering women and their newborns in the Kola Peninsula of Russia and the neighboring arctic area of Norway were studied to explore relationships between maternal cadmium and lead status and birth weight as a pregnancy outcome. METHODS: Life-style information, maternal blood and cord blood specimens were collected from 50 consecutive mother-infant pairs from hospital delivery departments in three Russian and three Norwegian communities. Pregnancy outcomes were verified by consulting medical records. Lead and cadmium were determined in the blood samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. RESULTS: The median blood-cadmium concentration for the Russian mothers was 2.2 nmol/L (n = 148) versus 1.8 nmol/L in the Norwegian group (n = 114, p = 0.55). A weak association was observed between maternal cadmium and amount smoked (r = 0.30, p<0.001); no correlation was found between maternal blood cadmium and birth weight. The corresponding maternal lead values were 0.14 (Russia) and 0.06 micromol/L (Norway), p<0.001. The latter lead concentration constitutes one of the lowest adult population values reported to date. Maternal and cord blood lead levels were strongly correlated (r = 0.88, p<0.001). In a multivariate linear regression model, maternal blood lead was recognized as a negative explanatory variable (p<0.05) for birth weight and child's body mass index (BMIC), with or without adjustment for gestational age. A similar association was suggested by ANOVA-analysis of maternal blood lead by quartiles. CONCLUSION: Maternal blood-lead level as an environmental factor is an apparent predictor of low birth weight and BMIC. It reduced substantially the contribution of a country factor in explaining the observed differences in birth weight.     

Pharmacokinetics and endometrial and tubal tissue penetration of cefalotin and cefazolin

The pharmacokinetics and concentrations of the two antibiotics cefazolin and cefalotin were studied during gynecologic operations in endometrial and tubal tissue. The patients received 0.05 g/kg of the antibiotics by intravenous injection. Under the given conditions, pharmacokinetic calculation of the plasma elimination gave half-lives of 24.8 min for cefalotin and of 63 min for cefazolin. Fitting of the tissue levels to the Bateman function showed that the two antibiotics diffuse rapidly into both tubal and endometrial tissue and attain peak concentration levels between 10 and 25 min. In both tissues the concentrations of cefazolin were higher than those of cefalotin. Higher tissue concentrations of cefazolin could also be demonstrated in experiments of longer duration.     

Toll样受体与子宫内膜及子宫内膜异位症

子宫内膜异位症(EMs)发病机制尚未完全阐明.大量研究表明,免疫因素在EMs的发病机制中起重要作用.EMs免疫应答异常主要是巨噬细胞数量和活性增加及其分泌产物,如生长因子、细胞因子和血管生成因子的改变.Toll样受体(TLRs)识别特异性的病原体相关分子模式,启动和介导免疫应答,在固有免疫中发挥重要作用,并诱导产生适应性免疫反应.TLRs在正常子宫内膜中的生理作用以及在EMs中的相关研究已逐步开展,对其深人认识和研究将为EMs诊断、治疗和预后判断提供新思路和手段.