Usefulness of the "OptiMAL Rapid Malaria test" for rapid detection of malaria imported to Poland

In this survey the use of OptiMAL test for rapid diagnosis of malaria was evaluated. It was proved that this test allowed to diagnose the Plasmodium sp. antigen in 72% of examined blood specimens, 82% for P. falciparum infection and 69% for P. vivax, whereas P. ovale was not detected at all. The test sensitivity depended on the parasitemia level. It showed a sensitivity of 100% for parasitemia density exceeded 1%, 95.4% with the parasitemia ranging from 0.1-0.99%. For lower parasite density, the test's sensitivity was of 32 and 60%. The OptiMAL test showed a 99.1% specificity thus it revealed to be significantly high.     

Human herpesvirus-7 infection of the CNS with acute myelitis in an adult bone marrow recipient

The beta-herpesviruses, human herpesviruses-6 and -7 (HHV-6 and HHV-7), are closely related and have very similar biological behaviour. While HHV-6 is associated with encephalitis in immunosuppressed adults, HHV-7 is not recognised as a cause of neurological disease in such patients. This report describes the identification of a reactivated HHV-7 infection in the cerebrospinal fluid of an adult who presented with an acute myelitis 11 months after unrelated donor bone marrow transplant.     

Midgestational lethality in mice lacking the parathyroid hormone (PTH)/PTH-related peptide receptor is associated with abrupt cardiomyocyte death

PTHrP is a key developmental regulatory protein and a potent vasoactive agent. Previous studies have shown that mice lacking either the Pthrp or the PTH type 1 receptor (Pth1r) gene exhibit severe chondrodysplasia. In addition, in most genetic backgrounds, the receptor null mice die prenatally at midgestation, but the cause of death remains elusive. Here we show the loss of the Pth1r gene in C57BL6 mice leads to massive, abrupt cardiomyocyte death and embryonic lethality between embryonic days (E) E11.5 and E12.5. PTH1R mRNA was abundantly expressed in the developing wild-type mouse heart and cardiomyocytes from E11.5 embryos demonstrated acute increases in cAMP and increased Ca(2+)oscillations in response to PTHrP-(1-34)NH(2). Analyses of more than 300 embryos (E8-E14.5) from C57BL6/PTH1R +/- matings showed that PTH1R-/- mice survived until E11 with no obvious defects in any tissue. By E12, only 10% of the PTH1R-/- embryos survived and all PTH1R null mice were dead by E13. Ultrastructural and histological analysis revealed striking mitochondrial abnormalities at E11.5 and precipitous cardiomyocyte death between E12.0 and E12.5, followed by degenerative changes in the liver and massive necrosis of other tissues. No abnormalities were observed in the yolk sac or placenta implicating the heart degeneration as the primary cause of death. Taken together, these findings indicate that the PTH1R is required for the development of normal cardiomyocyte function.     

Radioimmunoscintigraphy of recurrent, metastatic, or occult colorectal cancer with technetium Tc 99m 88BV59H21-2V67-66 (HumaSPECT®-Tc), a totally human monoclonal antibody

PURPOSE: The study contained herein was undertaken to evaluate the accuracy of radiolabeled human monoclonal antibody, 88BV59H21-2V67-66 (88BV59 or HumaSPECT®-Tc), in predicting disease resectability in presurgical subjects with recurrent, metastatic, or occult colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: A total of 219 patients with disease visualized on computed tomographic scan (recurrent or metastatic disease) or with negative or equivocal computed tomographic scan and rising carcinoembryonic antigen serum levels (occult group) received technetium Tc 99m-labeled 88BV59 intravenously. Planar and single photon emission computed tomographic images were obtained 14 to 20 hours postinfusion, before surgery. The ability of computed tomographic and HumaSPECT®-Tc imaging to define the extent of disease and to predict resectability was evaluated based on surgical and histopathologic results. RESULTS: In patients with recurrent or metastatic disease (170 evaluable patients), the accuracy of predicting non-resectability of disease was significantly greater (P<0.001) for HumaSPECT®-Tc than for computed tomography (60vs. 29 percent). Computed tomography understaged 41 percent of patients believed to have resectable disease compared with 27 percent for HumaSPECT®-Tc (P<0.001). In occult disease patients (29 computed tomographic and 28 HumaSPECT®-Tc evaluable patients), the overall accuracy of predicting resectability/nonresectability was 68 percent for HumaSPECT®-Tc compared with 24 percent for computed tomography. Administration of HumaSPECT®-Tc had no effect on monoclonal antibody-basedin vitro diagnostic assays. Only a single patient demonstrated an anti-antibody response (90 ng/ml) at nine weeks postinfusion. CONCLUSION: HumaSPECT®-Tc was more accurate than computed tomography in determining disease resectability in patients with metastatic, recurrent, or occult cancer. The addition of HumaSPECT®-Tc imaging can play a significant role in patient management decisions.Supported in part by a grant from INTRACEL Corporation (formerly PerImmune, Inc.), Rockville, Maryland.     

The MACTAR Patient Preference Disability Questionnaire--an individualized functional priority approach for assessing improvement in physical disability in clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis

A new approach to assessing disability in arthritis that quantifies the functional priorities of the patient is described. Comparison against global improvement suggests that this instrument has the potential to detect small clinically important changes in function.     

Therapeutic Interleukin-6 Trans-signaling Inhibition by Olamkicept (sgp130Fc) in Patients With Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease

1. Download : Download high-res image (358KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Effects of Poly(2′-O-Methyladenylic Acid) on Susceptibility and Autogenous Immunity to RNA Tumor Virus Oncogenesis In Vivo

Poly(2'-O-methyladenylic acid) [poly(Am)] inhibited tumor development and death induced by the Moloney sarcoma virus-leukemia virus complex in newborn mice. The compound was effective at 10 mug per mouse when given at least 1 hr before inoculation of virus, but the greatest inhibition was seen in mice treated at least 4 hr before infection. Poly(2'-O-methyluridylic acid) and poly(vinyladenine) also inhibited sarcoma development and death but were less effective than poly(Am). Poly(Am) also enhanced the antibody response of newborn mice to endogenous leukemia virus envelope antigens, which we refer to as autogenous immunity. The results of these preliminary studies suggest that poly(Am) altered the oncogenic potential of the Moloney sarcoma-leukemia virus complex in vivo, and the effect appears to be mediated through an enhancement of the immune response of the treated animals.     

Evaluation of tracheal imaging by optical coherence tomography

BACKGROUND: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new technology capable of generating high resolution cross-sectional images of complex tissue in real time. Analogous to ultrasound, OCT measures backscattered light intensity using coherence interferometery to construct topographical images of complex tissue. Since OCT uses infrared light rather than acoustic waves, its spatial resolution is exceptionally high (2-10 microm). Recent advances in data acquisition, analysis, and processing enable real-time imaging, and make OCT a potentially valuable tool for pulmonary airway diagnostic applications, including assisting directed airway biopsies. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates feasibility of OCT for delineating proximal airway microstructures in various animal as well as human tracheas. METHODS: Excised trachea samples from New Zealand white rabbits, Duroc pigs, and human trachea were imaged using a compact, 1,300-nm broad-band superluminescent-diode-based prototype fiber OCT device we constructed. The resulting structural OCT images were compared to conventional hematoxilin and eosin (HE) stained histological sections from the same samples. RESULTS: OCT was able to delineate microstructures such as the epithelium, mucosa, cartilage, and glands in all samples. Conclusion: These findings suggest that integration of OCT with flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy could enhance pulmonary diagnostic medicine and detection of pathologic tissue changes in various respiratory diseases.