The detection of CMV in amniotic fluid and cervicovaginal smear samples by real-time PCR assay in prenatal diagnosis

Objective: There is no specific antiviral therapy or a vaccine, which could be safely administered to the pregnant women with primary human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Therefore, prenatal diagnosis has a critical role in the management of pregnancy, complicated by this disease. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and clinical consequences of human CMV infection from cervicovaginal smear and amniotic fluid samples of pregnant women by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, in one of the Obstetrics and Gynecology outpatient clinics of Turkey. The identification of reliable prognostic markers of fetal disease remains the main purpose and a major challenge on this issue. Methods: Two hundred and six samples, of which 135 were cervicovaginal smear and 71 were amniotic fluid, were enrolled in the study. The DNAs of the samples were extracted by using Roche Diagnostic (Roche, Germany) kit and amplifications of these DNAs were studied by using Light-Cycler system (Roche Germany) as being quantitative. Anti-CMV IgM antibodies in the samples were studied by both MEIA (Imx system, Abbot Laboratories, USA) and a commercial ELISA kit (Radim SPA, Italy) while anti-CMV IgG antibodies were studied by MEIA (Axsym system, Abbot Laboratories, USA). Results: Human CMV DNA was found to be positive in 1.5% (2 in 135) of cervicovaginal smear and 1.4% (1 in 71) of amniotic fluid samples by RT-PCR. IgM and IgG were found to be negative in all of the cervicovaginal smear samples by both MEIA and ELISA, while IgG antibody was found to be positive in only one of the amniotic fluid samples by MEIA. Conclusion: With RT-PCR assay, we have found the prevalence of human CMV in pregnant women similar to epidemiologic reports, which have been described earlier. Whereas the fetus with positive amniotic fluid in favor of human CMV had an intrauterine growth restriction resulted in intrauterine exitus, no symptoms were observed in the infants of the other two pregnant women with positive RT-PCR results. The fact that the clinical consequence of the newborn whose amniotic fluid evaluation revealed human CMV infection by RT-PCR made us think that this molecular diagnosis method may be a reliable assay in prenatal diagnosis of this pathogen.     

Primary testicular Burkitt lymphoma in a child

A 13-year-old boy was referred to the authors' hospital following a right inguinal orchiectomy for a right scrotal mass. Histopathological examination revealed Burkitt lymphoma. The left testis was found to be small with heterogeneous parenchyma by scrotal ultrasound (US) and other systemic investigations were negative for lymphoma involvement. Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy showed no evidence of involvement in the left testis. Considering stage I Burkitt lymphoma, chemotherapy was started. Following the first course, US findings changed: the volume of the left testis decreased and the parenchyma became homogeneous. The left testis was considered to be involved by lymphoma at initial diagnosis and chemotherapy was intensified. At the end of 5 months of chemotherapy the left testis was again heterogeneous in US. A wedge-biopsy was negative for lymphoma. The patient is under regular follow-up and is in complete remission 19 months after the end of chemotherapy. Primary testicular lymphoma is quite rare in children and experience is limited. Changes in testicular size and parenchyma by US should not necessarily indicate involvement by lymphoma in pubertal boys.     

Expression of PTEN, cyclin D1, P27/KIP1 in invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast and correlation with clinicopathological parameters

In this study, tumour tissue samples of 85 primary breast cancer patients were evaluated for phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN), cyclin D1 and P27/Kip1 expression patterns. The results were correlated with clinicopathological parameters. Loss of PTEN protein expression was present in 32.5% of the cases. Cyclin D1 was overexpressed in 54.2% and P27/Kip1 in 89.3% of the cases. Statistically significant associations were found between PTEN and cyclin D1 expression patterns, and cyclin D1 expression and tumour size.     

Water-immiscible room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as drug reservoirs for controlled release

Water-immiscible room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) have a largely unexplored potential as pharmaceutical solvents and reservoirs. This paper explores some relevant properties of the hexafluorophosphate (PF6(-)) salts of butyl, hexyl and octyl-3-methylimidazolium cations (BMIM, HMIM, OMIM, respectively). The dodecyl analogue is solid at room temperature, but its melting point can be lowered by addition of the lower homologues. Although water-immiscible, the liquids absorb water to an extent depending on their structure, the higher alkyl analogues having a lower affinity for absorbed water. The RTIL/water partition coefficients of sucrose, penicillin V potassium, dexametasone, progesterone and dehydro-epiandrosterone have been compared with octanol-water coefficients. The viscosities of the salts were measured in anhydrous, water-saturated and intermediate states. The PF6(-) ionic liquids display a low and decreasing aqueous solubility as the alkyl chain length is increased: 0.035 moll(-1) (BMIM), 0.032 moll(-1) (HMIM) and 0.09 moll(-1) (OMIM). The release of sucrose and dexametasone from RTIL reservoirs into water can be prolonged over 48 h. Saturated solutions of these RTILs show little toxicity towards Caco-2 cells, although the OMIM derivative, which is more surface-active, has a small effect on cell viability.     

Interleukin levels in neovascular age-related macular degeneration: evaluation of morphological and functional progression over 5 years

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology -     

Olanzapine attenuates brain damage after focal cerebral ischemia in vivo

Atypical antipsychotic drugs are widely used in the treatment of schizophrenia. These agents are discovered to have some additional beneficial effects beyond their effectiveness as antipsychotic drugs. Among these initially unexpected effects are their potential effects as mood stabilizers in bipolar disorder and their efficacy in improving long-term outcome in schizophrenia. These effects recently raised the question whether these drugs may also have some neuroprotective effect in the brain. To examine this matter, in this study we evaluated the neuroprotective effect of olanzapine after permanent focal cerebral ischemia. Anaesthetized male C57BL/6j mice were submitted to permanent thread occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Olanzapine (0.1 and 1 mg/kg) or vehicle was applied intraperitoneally just after permanent ischemia. Twenty-four hours after permanent ischemia, brain injury was evaluated by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining (TTC). Olanzapine (0.1 and 1 mg/kg) showed significant neuroprotection after permanent focal cerebral ischemia.