Mycoplasma pneumoniae may cause dyspnoea and hospitalisations in young healthy adults

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases - Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostics for Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) from the respiratory tract has...     

Onyx,a New Liquid Embolic Material for Peripheral Interventions: Preliminary Experience in Aneurysm,Pseudoaneurysm, and Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformation Embolization

Purpose To describe our preliminary experience with a new liquid embolization agent, Onyx, in peripheral interventions. Methods and results We successfully treated two peripheral aneurysms (one in an internal iliac artery, one in a thoracic collateral artery of an aortic coarctation), two peripheral pseudoaneurysms (one in a lumbar artery, one in a renal artery), and one pulmonary arteriovenous malformation. Conclusion Onyx is a promising alternative embolic material for peripheral interventions. It can be combined with coils in selected cases, and balloon catheters can be effectively used during slow injection of embolic material to control flow and protect the aneurysm neck.     

Amino acids of coxsackie B5 virus are critical for infection of the murine insulinoma cell line,MIN‐6

It was shown recently that 15 successive passages of a laboratory strain of the Coxsackie B virus 5 in a mouse pancreas (CBV‐5‐MPP) resulted in apparent changes in the virus phenotype, which led to the capacity to induce a diabetes‐like syndrome in mice. For further characterization of islet cell interactions with a passaged virus strain, a murine insulinoma cell line, MIN‐6, was selected as an experimental model. The CBV‐5‐MPP virus strain was not able to replicate in MIN‐6 cells in vitro but required adaptation over a few days for progeny production and the generation of cytopathic effects. In order to determine the genetic characteristics required for virus growth in MIN‐6 cells, the whole genome of the MIN‐6‐adapted virus variant was sequenced, and critical amino acids were identified by comparing the sequence with that of a virus strain passaged repeatedly in the mouse pancreas. The results of site‐directed mutagenesis demonstrated that only one residue, amino acid 94 of VP1, is a major determinant for virus adaptation to MIN‐6 cells. J. Med. Virol. 81:296–304, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Absences for sickness among children in day care

The number of days of absence because of sickness, recorded for all children in one city in Finland, cared for in municipal day care over a period of 2.5 years, was collected from the monthly figures kept by the city council office for accounting purposes. The average number of days of absence per child was 24 per year at child-care centers and 9 in family care (p < 0.01) at age less than 3 years, 13 and 7, respectively (p < 0.05) at age 3-5 years, and 10 and 5, respectively (p < 0.05) among those aged 6 years. The average duration of absence in all age groups was 3.6 days in child-care centers and 2.5 days in family-care centers. The number of days absent at each child-care center in 1986 correlated significantly with that for 1987 (r = 0.58, p < 0.001), indicating consistency in the absence figures. A bivariate analysis showed the number of children in the child-care centers (r = 0.32, p < 0.05) to explain the number of absences for sickness, and after this factor had been controlled in a multivariate analysis, the number of nurses serving out food while looking after the children (r = 0.27, p < 0.01) and the number of families to whom the children belonged (r = 0.27, p < 0.01).     

Salivary carbonic anhydrase VI and its relation to salivary flow rate and buffer capacity in pregnant and non-pregnant women

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that pregnancy may have unfavourable effects on oral health. The pH and buffer capacity (BC) of paraffin-stimulated saliva, for example, have been found to decrease towards late pregnancy. Salivary carbonic anhydrase VI (CA VI) probably protects the teeth by accelerating the neutralization of hydrogen ions in the enamel pellicle on dental surfaces. Since estrogens and androgens are known to regulate CA expression in some tissues, we studied here whether salivary CA VI concentration shows pregnancy-related changes. DESIGN: Paraffin-stimulated salivary samples were collected from nine pregnant women 1 month before delivery and about 2 months afterwards and assayed for salivary CA VI concentration, BC and flow rate. The enzyme concentration was determined using a specific time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. The control group consisted of 17 healthy non-pregnant women. RESULTS: The results indicated that salivary CA VI levels varied markedly among individuals, but no significant differences in mean concentrations were seen between the samples collected during late pregnancy and postpartum. BC values were lower during pregnancy, however. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that CA VI secretion is not significantly affected by the hormonal alterations associated with pregnancy, and confirm the earlier reports that CA VI is not involved in the regulation of actual salivary BC.     

Increased frequency of interleukin-1beta (-511) allele 2 in febrile seizures

Febrile seizures can be the first sign of epilepsy. In a recent study, patients with temporal lobe epilepsy were reported to carry the interleukin-1beta allele 2 at position -511 more often than healthy control subjects. Because pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1, are well-known inducers of fever and therefore could play an important part in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures, we have, in this study, analyzed the cytokine gene polymorphism of interleukin-1beta at position -511 in children with febrile seizures and control subjects. We found a statistically significant increase in the frequency and the carriage of interleukin-1beta (-511) allele 2 in children with febrile seizures (n = 35) compared with healthy blood donors (n = 400) (P = 0.03 and P = 0.05, respectively). In previous studies, this allele has been connected to increased in vitro production of interleukin-1. Children with febrile seizures may therefore have an increased pro-inflammatory reaction during fever. This pro-inflammatory reaction may also predispose some children to the development of epilepsy.     

Increased plasma levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients with febrile seizures

PURPOSE: Pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines regulate the febrile response during infection. Febrile seizures (FSs) conversely are associated with rapid onset of high fever. Activation of the cytokine network has been shown in previous studies of FSs and cytokines. In this study, the association between cytokines and FSs was further investigated. METHODS: Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha plasma levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 55 children with FSs and in 20 age-matched febrile controls immediately on arrival at the hospital. Cerebrospinal fluid cytokine levels also were measured in 16 FS children. RESULTS: The plasma IL-1RA/IL-1beta ratio (mean, 2,133 vs. 119; median, 790 vs. 105; p < 0.0001) and plasma IL-6 (mean, 41.7 pg/ml vs. 16.1 pg/ml; median, 19.6 pg/ml vs. 10.5 pg/ml; p = 0.005) were significantly higher in FS patients compared with control children. Logistic regression analysis was used to find the most significant predisposing factors for FSs. In this analysis, the high plasma IL-1RA/IL-1beta ratio was the most significant factor connected to FSs (OR, 41.5; 95% CI, 4.9-352.8), but high plasma IL-6 also was significantly associated with FSs (OR, 5.3; 95% CI, 1.4-20.3). CONCLUSIONS: Present results support the hypothesis that the cytokine network is activated and could have a role in the pathogenesis of FS.     

Combined perfusion- and diffusion-weighted MR imaging in acute ischemic stroke during the 1st week: a longitudinal study

PURPOSE: To compare findings with different magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion maps in acute ischemic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Combined diffusion-weighted (DW) and perfusion-weighted (PW) MR imaging was performed in 49 patients with acute (<24 hours) stroke, on the 1st and 2nd days and 1 week after stroke. Volumes of hypoperfused tissue on maps of relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and mean transit time (MTT) were compared with the volume of infarcted tissue at DW imaging. RESULTS: The mean infarct volume increased from 41 to 65 cm(3) between the 1st and 2nd days (P: <.001; n = 49). On the 1st day, all perfusion maps on average showed hypoperfusion lesions larger than the infarct at DW imaging (P: <.001; n = 49). MTT maps showed significantly (P: <.001) larger hypoperfusion lesions than did rCBF maps, which showed significantly (P: <.001) larger hypoperfusion lesions than did rCBV maps. The sizes of the initial perfusion-diffusion mismatches correlated significantly with the extent of infarct growth (0.479 < r < 0.657; P: 相似文献   

Selective sensitivity of Caenorhabditis elegans neurons to RNA interference

RNA interference is a new approach to knockdown gene expression, but effectiveness varies depending on the organism, cell type or target sequence. Studies with Caenorhabditis elegans have shown that subsets of cells including neurons are often resistant to RNA interference. We measured RNA interference using green fluorescent protein reporter strains and feeding, soaking and injection delivery methods in a number of Caenorhabditis elegans neuron subtypes (dopaminergic, GABAergic, cholinergic, glutamatergic, touch). The sensitivity to RNA interference varied: GABAergic and dopaminergic neurons showed greater resistance while cholinergic, glutamatergic and touch neurons were more sensitive. Dysfunctional RRF-3, a putative RNA-directed RNA polymerase, had a significant effect on increasing neuron sensitivity in most subtypes. These results demonstrate that Caenorhabditis elegans neurons vary in their sensitivity to RNA interference.