Zygosity determination of multiple pregnancy by deoxyribonucleic acid fingerprints

We used a new method of deoxyribonucleic acid analysis to determine zygosity in multiple pregnancies. This method uses a minisatellite core probe, requires only a small amount of deoxyribonucleic acid, and detects the restriction fragment length polymorphisms that are a result of allelic differences in the number of tandem repeats that contain the core sequence. Southern blot hybridization showed an individual-specific deoxyribonucleic acid fingerprint and each polymorphic band in the sibling could be identified within one (but not both) of the parents. Identical deoxyribonucleic acid fingerprints among the siblings of multiple pregnancy indicate they must be monozygotic. This method is sufficiently reliable and rapid so the determination of zygosity in multiple pregnancy can be made the same day the fetal deoxyribonucleic acid is made available.     

Monocyte activation in early onset rheumatoid arthritis.

Monocytes from peripheral blood and synovial fluid of patients with definite and classic rheumatoid arthritis spontaneously produced significantly greater amounts of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), leukotriene B4 (LTB4), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) than samples of peripheral blood from normal controls. Peripheral blood monocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis produced significantly greater amounts of PGE2 than control samples when stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. There were no significant differences in the spontaneous release of superoxide or N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase by peripheral blood monocytes between patients and healthy controls. Both stimulated and unstimulated peripheral blood monocytes from patients with definite or classic rheumatoid arthritis produced significantly greater amounts of PGE2 than samples from normal controls. This was true, regardless of the stage of disease and the presence or absence of roentgenological joint abnormalities. Amounts of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase released by peripheral blood monocytes from patients correlated positively with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and negatively with duration of disease. Amounts of IL-1 beta and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase released from the peripheral blood monocytes of patients who had had their disease for less than one year were significantly higher than those of normal controls. There were no significant correlations between the types of treatment and the amounts of PGE2, LTB4, IL-1 beta or N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase released by peripheral blood monocytes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The findings suggest that monocytes are activated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis both at the onset of disease and during its chronic phase, and that they produce large amounts of mediators which may have a role in the induction and extension of the inflammatory process which leads to tissue damage.     

Varicella-zoster virus meningitis coincident with bacteremia caused by liver abscess: a case report

Journal of NeuroVirology - Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) meningitis is sometimes associated with herpes zoster, which is also associated with various other infectious diseases. However, there are...     

Iron-binding proteins and free iron in synovial fluids of rheumatoid arthritis patients

Summary Iron-binding proteins (lactoferrin, transferrin and ferritin) and free iron were measured in synovial fluid (SF) from 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 20 osteoarthritis (OA) patients. The iron-binding proteins except transferrin were significantly increased in RA SF as compared with OA SF. Similarly, free iron was also significantly higher in RA SF than in OA SF, whereas the ferritin saturation index, transferrin saturation index and bound iron were more significantly decreased in RA SF than in OA SF. These results suggest that RA SF contains sufficient micromolar amounts of free iron to allow hydroxyl radical formation. Also the capacity of iron-binding proteins to bind free iron is inadequate in the presence of a large amount of iron-binding proteins which are present in RA SF.     

Activation of complement in normal serum by hydrogen peroxide and hydrogen peroxide-related oxygen radicals produced by activated neutrophils.

Neutrophils activated by soluble particulate stimuli generate superoxide anion and subsequently form hydrogen peroxide and other oxygen radicals. The effect of hydrogen peroxide on the complement system in normal serum was investigated. Treatment of normal serum with hydrogen peroxide resulted in a diminution of the haemolytic activity of the total and alternative complement pathways and the haemolytic titres of C3 and C5 but not of C2, in normal serum. These decreases in complement activity depended on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide added to the serum. Immunoelectrophoretic analysis of hydrogen peroxide-treated serum showed that C3 and C5 proteins were activated. Complement degradation products C3a and C5a were produced in normal serum treated with hydrogen peroxide, and 20 mM EDTA abolished C3a and C5a production in hydrogen peroxide-treated serum but 20 mM Mg-EGTA did not. Catalase completely abolished and dimethylsulphoxide and D-mannitol, hydroxyl radical scavengers, partially inhibited the hydrogen peroxide-mediated complement activation. Hypochlorite, incubated with normal serum, significantly inhibited serum haemolytic activity, and sodium thiosulphate, a reducing agent, abolished the effect of hypochlorite. Normal serum incubated with activated neutrophils showed neutrophil chemotactic activity and decreased serum haemolytic activity, and the addition of catalase or methionine (5 mM) completely abolished the effects of activated neutrophils. These results suggest that hydrogen peroxide activates complement via an alternative pathway of complement activation and that hydroxyl radicals and other hydrogen peroxide-related species such as hypochlorite are most likely involved in hydrogen peroxide-mediated complement activation. Complement activation by oxygen radicals produced by activated neutrophils may be one of the mechanisms by which complement is activated in human immune complex diseases.     

A case report of a 19‐week gravid patient with a dehisced abdominal wound and treated with V.A.C. ATS® Therapy System

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is an effective treatment for various non‐healing wounds, and V.A.C.^® Therapy was the first‐approved NPWT device by the Japanese government in 2009. We report the case of a 19‐week pregnant patient where V.A.C.^® Therapy was applied to her dehisced laparotomy wound with satisfactory results. The patient was a 30‐year‐old female who was referred to our hospital from her previous doctor because of the presence of an ovarian cyst on the left ovary. The patient presented at 14 weeks into her pregnancy, and surgery was considered because of no reduction in the size of the cyst. An oophorocystectomy was performed, and then the surgical incision was re‐opened at postoperative day (POD) 10 due to a surgical site infection. V.A.C.^® Therapy was initiated on POD 26 (20 weeks of pregnancy) and continued for 28 days. After 28 days of V.A.C.^® Therapy (POD 54), the wound was sutured for complete closure. The foetus did not experience any adverse affects from the surgery and, subsequently, normal vaginal delivery was achieved. This case is the first report of the use of V.A.C.^® Therapy over a dehisced abdominal wound on a pregnant patient in our country.     

Paternal smoking habits affect the reproductive life span of daughters

The present study assessed whether the smoking habits of fathers around the time of conception affected the period in which daughters experienced menstrual cycles (i.e., the reproductive life span). The study revealed that the smoking habits of the farther shortened the daughters' reproductive life span compared with daughters whose fathers did not smoke.     

Serum interleukin-2 receptor for the early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

The value of measuring soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) in the sera of patients with joint pain as a predicting parameter for the future development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was examined. sIL-2R was measured by the ELISA method. Sixty-four patients with joint pain (suspected RA: sus-RA) but no bone or joint destruction were enrolled over 2 years and 47 were selected for the study. Eleven patients whose diagnosis was sus-RA after a year of observation were successively followed-up for 5 years. Two-thirds of the patients whose sIL-2R levels were higher than those of normal healthy adults (<82 pmol/l; mean+2SD) developed RA within a year. On the other hand, one-quarter of the patients with normal levels of sIL-2R also developed RA within a year. The presence of two or three of the following three items in patients with joint pain without any bone and joint destruction was thus indicated to be useful for the early diagnosis of RA: elevated CRP level (1.0 mg/dl), positive rheumatoid factor (RF) (30 IU/ ml) and an elevated sIL-2R level (100 pmol/l). Sensitivity and specificity were 72.7% and 96.0%, respectively. The probability of development of RA is expressed asP=1/[1+exp(2.673–0.01784×sIL-2R–0.4398*#x00D7;CRP – 0.004835 × RF)], withR ²=0.3083 andp<0.0005. On the other hand, the sIL-2R levels did not correlate with any future bone or joint changes within a year of observation. The above criteria may therefore hopefully justify the early treatment of patients with joint pain using drugs that can modify the patients' immune fuction. However, the validity of these criteria still need to be examined more thoroughly in the future.     

Rheumatoid arthritis in the Northeastern area of the People's Republic of China and Western Japan

Summary The clinical features of 134 consecutive hospitalized patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the northeastern area of the People's Republic of China and 251 consecutive hospitalized patients from western Japan were compared. A total of 91.8% of the Chinese patients were of Han nationality, while all of the patients from Japan were Japanese. The patients in the People's Republic of China showed more inflammatory articular disease and more frequent subcutaneous nodules than did the Japanese patients in the presence of a less elevated ESR value and less radiographic joint destruction. The clinical features of the patients of Han nationality and the Japanese did not change even after adjusting the patients' age and disease duration. The reasons for the contradictory features in the Chinese patients still remain to be clarified. This study is hopefully a first step in promoting more precise studies on rheumatoid arthritis in the People's Republic of China.