Antibodies to staphylococcal peptidoglycan and its peptide epitopes, teichoic acid, and lipoteichoic acid in sera from blood donors and patients with staphylococcal infections.

Antibodies to the staphylococcal antigens peptidoglycan, beta-ribitol teichoic acid, and lipoteichoic acid, as well as to the peptidoglycan epitopes L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala, L-Lys-D-Ala, and pentaglycine, were found over a wide range of concentrations in sera from both blood donors and patients with verified or suspected staphylococcal infections. The patient group was heterogeneous with regard to both age and type of staphylococcal infections, being representative for sera sent to our laboratory. In single-antigen assays antibodies to pentaglycine had the highest predictive positive value (67%), although only 32% of the patients had elevated levels of such antibodies. Combinations of test antigens could yield positive predictive values as high as 100%, but then the fraction of positive sera was low. Indeed, the fraction of patient sera which was positive in multiple-antigen tests never exceeded 61%. The clinical usefulness of these seroassays for identifying Staphylococcus aureus as a causative agent was limited, owing to the considerable overlap in the range of antibody concentrations between patient and blood donor sera.     

Effect of dietary and antismoking advice on the incidence of myocardial infarction: a 16-year follow-up of the Oslo Diet and Antismoking Study after its close

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The Oslo Diet and Antismoking Study was a 5-year randomised controlled trial initiated in 1972-1973 and ended in 1977-1978, which showed that dietary change and smoking cessation reduced the incidence of coronary heart disease among high risk middle-aged men. In an extended follow-up we studied the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) 16 years after the end of the trial in the intervention and control groups. METHODS: The primary endpoint was the first occurrence of non-fatal and fatal MI including sudden death up to December 31 1993. Cases of fatal MI were identified by linkage to Statistics Norway using each subject's individual personal number. Cases of non-fatal MI were extracted from the hospital records. Cox proportional hazards regression models estimated relationships between changes in total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and smoking status and the primary endpoints up to 16 years following the end of the trial. RESULTS: At 5 and 10 years following the end of the trial the incidence of MI among the 604 men in the intervention (I) and 628 in the control (C) group differed significantly (5-year event rate (I/C) =0.059/0.090; P=0.038 and 10-year event rate (I/C) =0.111/0.155; P=0.023), but the difference faded slowly and subsequently (P=0.069 at 16 years). The reduction in MI in the intervention group was primarily explained by the differences in total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations between the groups. CONCLUSION: This extended follow-up of the Oslo Diet and Antismoking Study found a prolonged benefit of the intervention lasting for at least a decade after the close of the trial. This finding is in accordance with statin and other studies showing that the effect of cholesterol lowering may be prolonged after the end of the intervention.     

Multiple interactions between the alpha<Subscript>2C</Subscript>- and beta<Subscript>1</Subscript>-adrenergic receptors influence heart failure survival

Background  

Persistent stimulation of cardiac β₁-adrenergic receptors by endogenous norepinephrine promotes heart failure progression. Polymorphisms of this gene are known to alter receptor function or expression, as are polymorphisms of the α_2C-adrenergic receptor, which regulates norepinephrine release from cardiac presynaptic nerves. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible synergistic effects of polymorphisms of these two intronless genes (ADRB1 and ADRA2C, respectively) on the risk of death/transplant in heart failure patients.