Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling and umbilical vein transfusions. Rapid serologic differentiation of fetal blood from maternal blood

Percutaneous umbilical blood samples (PUBS), obtained under ultrasound guidance, are used for prenatal diagnosis and management of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) and other fetal disorders. Rapid testing at the time of sampling is vital to distinguish fetal from maternal blood. Blood typing was performed by slide technique in the treatment room during 38 procedures on 25 patients. Anti-I was used to test 50 presumed PUBS; venous I-positive maternal blood was tested in parallel. Because anti-I cannot detect fetal blood after umbilical vein transfusion (UVT) of I-positive donor blood, ABO and Rh blood typing reagents were used to test 29 samples when maternal and fetal or donor blood groups differed. Monoclonal reagents were used for optimal detection of weak AB antigens in fetal blood. Avid, chemically modified anti-D was used for Rh typing. Blood typing showed 27 (34%) of 79 samples to be maternal blood. Fetal blood was obtained in 8 of 10 cases investigated for fetal disorder and in 16 cases of potential HDN (anti-D, 5; -CD, 5; -cE, 2; -K, 2; -c; -E). The absence of HDN (antigen-negative fetus) was determined in 4 cases. UVT afforded live birth of 9 of 10 infants with HDN and was not indicated in two cases.     

Donor levels of serum alanine aminotransferase activity and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen associated with recipient hepatitis C and non- B, non-C outcomes

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis virus(es) that are neither hepatitis B (HBV) nor hepatitis C (HCV) (non-B, non-C [NBNC]) may be transmitted by transfusion. The present study assessed donor values for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti- HBc) for their association with HCV and NBNC hepatitis outcomes among allogeneic blood recipients. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Data on blood donors and recipients enrolled in the Transfusion- Transmitted Viruses Study in four United States cities from 1974 through 1980 were supplemented by anti-HBc testing of donors and anti-HCV evaluation of recipients. Two statistical approaches estimated the value of these indirect tests in detecting donors associated with HCV seroconversion and NBNC hepatitis in recipients. RESULTS: For HCV cases, donor ALT alone (at > or = 60 IU/L) had a sensitivity and a specificity of 30 and 96 percent, respectively, and anti-HBc alone (at > or = 60% inhibition) had a sensitivity and specificity of 53 and 86 percent, respectively. The two markers combined had a sensitivity and a specificity of 69 and 83 percent. For NBNC hepatitis cases, each measure had low sensitivity (20%) that was not improved by using both (28%) [corrected]. CONCLUSION: The indirect tests proved to be equal in sensitivity to the first-generation anti-HCV tests. The positive predictive power of these indirect tests in the 1980s was sufficient to affect HCV incidence in studies during that period. Improved anti-HCV assays, however, replaced the need for indirect tests. The sensitivity of indirect tests for NBNC hepatitis contributed little.     

Humidification during high-frequency oscillation ventilation is affected by ventilator circuit and ventilatory setting

Background:  High-frequency oscillation ventilation (HFOV) is an accepted ventilatory mode for acute respiratory failure in neonates. As conventional mechanical ventilation, inspiratory gas humidification is essential. However, humidification during HFOV has not been clarified. In this bench study, we evaluated humidification during HFOV in the open circumstance of ICU. Our hypothesis is that humidification during HFOV is affected by circuit design and ventilatory settings.
Methods/Materials:  We connected a ventilator with HFOV mode to a neonatal lung model that was placed in an infant incubator set at 37°C. We set a heated humidifier (Fisher & Paykel) to obtain 37°C at the chamber outlet and 40°C at the distal temperature probe. We measured absolute humidity and temperature at the Y-piece using a rapid-response hygrometer. We evaluated two types of ventilator circuit: a circuit with inner heating wire and another with embedded heating element. In addition, we evaluated three lengths of the inspiratory limb, three stroke volumes, three frequencies, and three mean airway pressures.
Results:  The circuit with embedded heating element provided significantly higher absolute humidity and temperature than one with inner heating wire. As an extended tube lacking a heating wire was shorter, absolute humidity and temperature became higher. In the circuit with inner heating wire, absolute humidity and temperature increased as stroke volume increased.
Conclusion:  Humidification during HFOV is affected by circuit design and ventilatory settings.     

Confounding and interaction effect of Treponema denticola salivary carriage in chronic periodontitis

Oral Diseases (2010) 16 , 278–285 Aim: To evaluate the salivary carriage of Treponema denticola and its association with demographic variables in the etiopathogenesis of chronic periodontitis. Subjects and methods: Ninety‐seven chronic periodontitis (CP) patients and a control group of 51 healthy subjects (HC) were selected. Periodontal status was assessed by criteria based on probing depth, attachment loss, extent, and severity of periodontal breakdown. A polymerase chain reaction method was used to determine the occurrence of T. denticola in saliva samples. Risk indicators for CP were assessed individually and adjusted for confounding and/or interaction using a logistic regression model. Results: Although univariate analysis revealed a positive association of age ≥30 years, smoking, and salivary carriage of T. denticola with CP, after logistic regression analysis, the association between age ≥30 years/smoking and CP persisted, whereas salivary carriage of T. denticola failed to achieve statistical significance. An interaction effect was significantly detected between these three variables. Conclusion: Although salivary carriage of T. denticola may be a risk indicator for CP, its pathogenicity should not be exclusively endorsed to its detection in saliva, but it might be associated with the synergistic biological interaction of the bacterium with some demographic characteristics of the susceptible host.     

Pharmacogenetic characterization of indacaterol,a novel β2-adrenoceptor agonist

Background and purpose:

Indacaterol is a novel β₂-adrenoceptor agonist in development for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the comparative pharmacology of indacaterol in recombinant cells expressing the common polymorphic variants of the human β₂-adrenoceptor and in human primary airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells.

Experimental approach:

Chinese hamster ovarian-K1 cell lines expressing high and low levels of the common human β₂-adrenoceptor variants were generated [Gly16-Glu27-Val34-Thr164(GEVT), RQVT, GQVT] and also the rare GQVI variant. Human primary ASM cells were isolated from explants of trachealis muscle. Adenosine-3′,5′-cyclic-monophosphate production was used as an outcome measure.

Key results:

In both the low- and high-expression recombinant GEVT ‘wild type’ cell lines indacaterol is a high-efficacy agonist. Salmeterol and formoterol were identified as low- and high-efficacy agonists, respectively, and showed similar potencies to indacaterol irrespective of the β₂-adrenoceptor genotype. The I164 variant cell line was associated with a reduced capacity to generate adenosine-3′,5′-cyclic-monophosphate in response to β₂-adrenoceptor agonist. In the human primary ASM cells indacaterol gave a maximal response intermediate between that of salmeterol and formoterol.

Conclusions and implications:

These data demonstrate that indacaterol is a high-efficacy agonist in recombinant cell systems but acts with lower efficacy in human primary ASM cells. No marked genotype-dependent effects were observed for common variants; however, changes in I164 receptor activity were identified, which were dependent on the level of expression of β₂-adrenoceptors.     

Repeated stress alters dendritic spine morphology in the rat medial prefrontal cortex

Anatomical alterations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are associated with hypothalamopituitary adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, altered stress hormone levels, and psychiatric symptoms of stress-related mental illnesses. Functional imaging studies reveal impairment and shrinkage of the mPFC in such conditions, and these findings are paralleled by experimental studies showing dendritic retraction and spine loss following repeated stress in rodents. Here we extend this characterization to how repeated stress affects dendritic spine morphology in mPFC through the utilization of an automated approach that rapidly digitizes, reconstructs three dimensionally, and calculates geometric features of neurons. Rats were perfused after being subjected to 3 weeks of daily restraint stress (6 hours/day), and intracellular injections of Lucifer Yellow were made in layer II/III pyramidal neurons in the dorsal mPFC. To reveal spines in all angles of orientation, deconvolved high-resolution confocal laser scanning microscopy image stacks of dendritic segments were reconstructed and analyzed for spine volume, surface area, and length using a Rayburst-based automated approach (8,091 and 8,987 spines for control and stress, respectively). We found that repeated stress results in an overall decrease in mean dendritic spine volume and surface area, which was most pronounced in the distal portion of apical dendritic fields. Moreover, we observed an overall shift in the population of spines, manifested by a reduction in large spines and an increase in small spines. These results suggest a failure of spines to mature and stabilize following repeated stress and are likely to have major repercussions on function, receptor expression, and synaptic efficacy.     

Kinetics of peripheral blood mononuclear cell mobilization with chemotherapy and/or granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor: implications for yield of hematopoietic progenitor cell collections

BACKGROUND: Peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) are commonly collected and used to reconstitute hematopoiesis after high-dose chemotherapy. However, strategies for optimal collection and assessment of leukapheresis components are not standardized. STUDY DESIGN and METHODS: Hematopoietic progenitor cell assays were performed on 369 leukapheresis components collected from 95 patients who had received doxorubicin-based chemotherapy and/or granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Precollection patient hematologic values, leukapheresis collection values, component hematopoietic progenitor cell assays, and patient outcome measures were summarized. The kinetics of mononuclear cell (MNC) and PBPC mobilization were assessed among four patient groups. RESULTS: Patient group was a significant predictor of the peripheral blood MNC count on the day of collection (p<0.0001), and that value was a significant predictor of granulocyte-macrophage– colony-forming unit (CFU-GM) yield (p<0.0001). This relationship between the peripheral blood MNC count on the day of collection and CFU- GM yield differed according to patient group (p<0.0001). CFU-GM made up a larger fraction of peripheral blood MNCs collected from patients who received chemotherapy plus G-CSF than collected from those who received G-CSF alone. Moreover, the peripheral blood MNC count and the corresponding CFU-GM yield increased significantly on consecutive days of collection in patient groups receiving chemotherapy and G-CSF but were unchanged or decreased in patients receiving G-CSF alone. CONCLUSION: The relationship between peripheral blood MNC count and leukapheresis component CFU-GM yield differed significantly between patients who received chemotherapy and G-CSF and those who received G- CSF alone for the mobilization of PBPCs. Patient peripheral blood MNC count and component CFU-GM yield are useful for both assessing and suggesting revisions to PBPC mobilization and collection strategies.