The influence of RGD-bearing hydrogels on the re-expression of contractile vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype

This study reports on the ability of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel scaffolds with pendant integrin-binding GRGDSP peptides (RGD-gels) to support the re-differentiation of cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) toward a contractile phenotype. Human coronary artery SMCs were seeded on RGD-gels, hydrogels with other extracellular matrix derived peptides, fibronectin (FN) and laminin (LN). Differentiation was induced on RGD-gels with low serum medium containing soluble heparin, and the differentiation status was monitored by mRNA expression, protein expression, and intracellular protein organization of the contractile smooth muscle markers, smooth muscle α-actin, calponin, and SM-22α. RGD-gels supported a rapid induction (2.7- to 25-fold up-regulation) of SMC marker gene mRNA, with expression levels that were equivalent to FN and LN controls. Marker protein levels mirrored the changes in mRNA expression, with levels on RGD-gels indistinguishable from FN and LN controls. Furthermore, these markers co-localized in stress fibers within SMCs on RGD-gels suggesting the recapitulation of a contractile apparatus within the cells. These results indicate that SMCs cultured on RGD-bearing hydrogels can re-differentiate toward a contractile phenotype suggesting this material is an excellent candidate for further development as a bioactive scaffold that regulates SMC phenotype.     

Eleven consecutive years of respiratory syncytial virus outbreaks in Croatia

Background:  Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of severe lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in infants. The aim of the present study was to analyze the epidemiologic characteristics of RSV outbreaks in Croatian children.
Methods:  Over a period of 11 consecutive years (1994–2005), 3435 inpatients with acute respiratory infections (ARI) aged from birth to 10 years and were residing in Zagreb County were tested for infection with RSV and other respiratory viruses at the Virology Department, Croatian National Institute of Public Health. RSV was identified in nasopharyngeal secretions by isolation on cell culture and/or detection with monoclonal antibodies using a direct fluorescence assay.
Results:  RSV was the most common causative agent of ARI (42.2%; 658/1559) for the infants 0–6 months of age. It was also the etiologic agent of LRTI in 49% (495/1010) of infants of similar age. RSV was demonstrated in 56.5% (382/676) of infants with bronchiolitis, and in 36.5% (49/134) of those with pneumonia in this age group.
Conclusion:  The overall prevalence of RSV infection in Croatian children with acute respiratory illness, and its occurrence in various age groups, has remained stable over the past decade. RSV was found to be the most common cause of bronchiolitis occurring throughout childhood (52.7%; 482/913).     

Circulating Cytokines Reflect Mucosal Inflammatory Status in Patients with Crohn’s Disease

Background  

There is a great need for a simple activity assessment tool that can reliably predict activity in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD).     

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a child with ataxia-telangiectasia: case report

We present a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). The 4-year-old girl is the first child of young nonconsanguineous parents of Serbian origin. Gait problems appearing in the second year of life were treated by physiotherapy. At the age of 4 she was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and treated according to Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster strategy. Owing to typhlitis developing after 15 days of cytotoxic treatment, frequent radiologic examinations were performed causing profound aplasia. Typhlitis did not respond to conservative treatment but necessitated extensive bowel resection. At that time the A-T was suspected by our team and confirmed by increased chromosomal radiosensitivity and markedly reduced level of A-T mutated protein. Chemotherapy was continued without alkylating agents and further radiologic imaging ran an uncomplicated course. At present, the patient is in first remission and 2.5 years since the beginning of the treatment. We stress the importance of careful initial neurologic evaluation of children with malignancy.     

Craniosynostosis,ectopia lentis,and congenital heart defects: Further delineation of an autosomal dominant syndrome with incomplete penetrance

The association of craniosynostosis with ectopia lentis is extremely rare. This was recently reported in monozygotic twin sisters, supporting a genetic etiology for this syndromic association. We report on female first cousins once removed who were born with unilateral coronal synostosis. One cousin also had peripheral pulmonic branch stenosis at birth and was later found to have ectopia lentis and severe myopia. The other cousin had an atrial septal defect, mitral valve prolapse, and only mild myopia. Their intelligence is normal. The inheritance is likely autosomal dominant with variable expression and incomplete penetrance and further defines this syndrome to include congenital heart defects. These findings will have important implications for genetic counseling. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A der(14)t(1;14)(q12;p11) in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Duplication of the long arm of chromosome 1 (1q) is widely reported in human neoplasia, including the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). So far, it has not been described as a single aberration in the chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), a subtype of MDS. Rather, trisomy 1q was always a part of complex chromosome changes affecting the subtypes of MDS other than CMML. We report on a patient with CMML with an unbalanced translocation of the entire 1q onto the short arm of chromosome 14 as a sole cytogenetic abnormality. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with an alpha-satellite probe for the paracentric region of the long arm of chromosome 1 confirmed the presence of trisomy 1q in a derivative chromosome, der(14)t(1;14)(q12;p11). The discrepant results between the metaphase cytogenetics (100% abnormal) and interphase cytogenetic (71% nuclei with 3 signals) suggest that trisomy 1q, even in the absence of additional cytogenetic changes, has a sufficient leukemogenic potential to confer a proliferative advantage on hematopoietic cells committed to monocyte stemline both in vitro and in vivo. The literature data on partial and complete trisomy 1q in CMML is reviewed.     

Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis and leprosy by enzyme immunoassay

Objective: To evaluate the use of serodiagnosis for tuberculosis and leprosy using mycobacterial antigen 38 kDa, with kits from Omega laboratories, to detect IgG by enzyme immunoassay (EIA).
Method: The study population consisted of 58 patients with evidence of tuberculous infection (culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex or microscopic evidence), of whom 23 had pulmonary and 35 had extrapulmonary disease. There were six subjects who had recently been treated for tuberculosis, 11 patients on treatment for leprosy and 137 patients suspected of having tuberculosis on clinical or radiologic grounds (without laboratory evidence). A control group comprised 35 healthy individuals or patients suffering from diseases other than tuberculosis.
Results: The tests showed that there was a significant difference in antibody levels between the patients with active pulmonary disease, extrapulmonary tuberculosis and leprosy in comparison with the control group ( p <0.001). The sensitivities of the two tests together for proven pulmonary tuberculosis were 100% and 95.7% at 1.0–1.5 and >1.6 EIA cut-off points respectively, while the specificities were 88.5% and 100% at the same cut-off points. The sensitivities for extrapulmonary tuberculosis were 71.4% and only 51.4% at 1.0–1.5 and >1.6 EIA cut-off points. The test was positive in 30 (21.9%) of the 137 suspected patients, while 43 (31.4%) had an equivocal result and the remaining 64 (47.7%) suspects were definitely negative. There was again a significant difference in positivity rates between suspects and the control group.
Conclusions: Omega IgG test is useful in the serodiagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis and leprosy, but less sensitive in extrapulmonary disease, particularly in children. Equivocal results may only add to the evidence of tuberculosis in early or minimal disease.