Single dose therapy of vaginal candidiasis: a comparative trial of fenticonazole vaginal ovules versus clotrimazole vaginal tablets

An open, randomized comparative clinical trial was performed in 153 patients suffering from symptomatic vaginal candidiasis confirmed by mycological tests. Patients were allocated at random into two groups: the first group (consisting of 75 subjects) was treated with a single vaginal ovule of fenticonazole (600 mg) and the second group (consisting of 78 subjects) was treated with a single vaginal tablet of clotrimazole (500 mg). Therapeutic efficacy was assessed by microbiological and clinical criteria 7 days and 1 month (when possible) after the single dose treatment. At the first follow-up visit, complete disappearance of the signs and symptoms or a highly significant reduction of their intensity was observed in both treatment groups. No significant difference was evident between the two drugs. At 7 days, the mycological tests gave negative results in 92% of the patients in the fenticonazole group and in 88.5% of the patients in the clotrimazole group. The difference between the two treatment groups was again not statistically significant. The second follow-up visit was performed in 55 (73.3%) patients of the fenticonazole group and in 52 (66.7%) patients of the clotrimazole group. The results indicate that 83.6% of patients in the fenticonazole group and 69.2% of patients in the clotrimazole group were still disease free at the time of this visit. Both drugs were well tolerated. Mild, local and short lasting side-effects were reported in only 5 cases of the group treated with fenticonazole.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Genetic differentiation between and within strains of the saw-toothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) at RAPD loci

Nine strains of Oryzaephilus surinamensis have been kept in laboratory culture for periods ranging from 5 to 30 years (30–180 generations). Two RAPD primers provided sufficient information to separate the strains reliably and unambiguously. The strains are maintained at a population size of 200 breeding adults. The marked divergence between strains is consistent with the small population size, which for the older strains, according to population genetics theory, implies that roughly half the original genetic variation should now be lost from within strains. However, there is no indication that the older strains have less inter-strain variation. The results demonstrate RAPD loci can reliably detect population subdivision, which in field populations of pest species is of fundamental importance in understanding the population genetics of insecticide resistance.     

Carbonic anhydrase II expression in fibrous astrocytes of the sheep

Immunohistochemical expression of carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme II (CAII) was demonstrated in a population of fibrous astrocytes in a young lamb and an adult sheep. Such cells were identified by co-expression of CAII and glial fibrillary acidic protein, nuclear morphology and their contribution of glial fibrillary acidic protein reactive processes to the glial limitans. Similar cells were not identified in neonatal lambs. As in man and mouse, CAII was also expressed in choroid plexus epithelium occurring in neonate, young and adult sheep brain. In contrast, however, to man and mouse, CAII was not expressed in sheep oligodendrocytes.     

Ankylosing spondylitis antirheumatic drug trials. III. Setting the delta for clinical trials of antirheumatic drugs--results of a consensus development (Delphi) exercise.

Defining the minimum clinically important difference or delta to be detected in a clinical trial depends on a number of factors including the research hypothesis, patient characteristics, the nature of the intervention and the trial design. In 2 previous studies, we have developed standardized procedures for conducting outcome measurement based on current Food and Drug Administration and European League Against Rheumatism guidelines for clinical trials in ankylosing spondylitis, and thereafter, determined the standard deviation for these outcome measures. In the final component of this series of studies, we have employed a Delphi technique to establish estimates for delta, and calculated the sample size requirements under 2 different conditions of Type I and Type II error probabilities.     

A comparative analysis of radiological and surgical placement of central venous catheters

Purpose To compare the differences in practice and outcome of all radiologically and surgically placed central venous catheters retrospectively over a 2-year period simultaneously, at a single institution. Methods A total of 253 Hickman catheters were inserted in 209 patients; 120 were placed radiologically in 102 patients and 133 were placed surgically in 107 patients. The indication was chemotherapy in 76% of radiological and in 47% of surgical cases; the remainder were for total parenteral nutrition and venous access. Results There were 6 (4.5%) primary surgical failures and a further 17 (13%) surgical cases requiring multiple placement attempts. Pneumothorax occurred once (0.8%) surgically and four times (3.3%) radiologically. There were no radiological primary misplacements but there were five (3.7%) surgical ones. Catheter or central vein thrombosis occurred in four (3.3%) radiological and five (3.7%) surgical cases. The rate of infection per 1000 catheter-days was 1.9 in radiologically placed catheters and 4.0 in surgically placed ones (p<0.001). Average catheter life-span was similar for the two placement methods (100±23 days). Conclusion Radiological placement is consistently more reliable than surgical placement. There are fewer placement complications and fewer catheter infections overall.     

Ancient,highly polymorphic human major histocompatibility complex DQA1 intron sequences

A 438 basepair intron 1 sequence adjacent to exon 2 in the human major histocompatibility complex DQA1 gene defined 16 allelic variants in 69 individuals from wide ethnic backgrounds. In contrast, the most variable coding region spanned by the 247 basepair exon 2 defined 11 allelic variants. Our phylogenetic human intron 1 tree derived by the Bootstrap algorithm reflects the same relative allelic relationships as the reported DQA1 exon 2 tree [Gyllensten and Erlich, Hum Immunol 36:1–10, 1989]. Thus 3′ DQA1 intron 1 and exon 2 have cosegregated since divergence of the human races. Comparison of human alleles to a Rhesus monkey DQA1 first intron sequence found only 10 nucleotide substitutions unique to Rhesus, with the other 428 positions (98%) found in at least one human allele. This high degree of homology reflects the evolutionary stability of intron sequences since these two species diverged over 20 million years ago. Because more intron 1 alleles exist than exon 2 alleles, these polymorphic introns can be used to improve tissue typing for transplantation, paternity testing, and forensics and to derive more complete phylogenetic trees. These results suggest that introns represent a previously underutilized polymorphic resource. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.