Umbilical cord blood screening for cytomegalovirus DNA by quantitative PCR.

BACKGROUND: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, which is the most common congenitally transmitted infection, affects approximately 1% of neonates worldwide. Despite its prevalence, no convenient screening test for neonatal CMV infection has been implemented. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and yield of screening umbilical cord blood for CMV DNA emiaby quantitative PCR. STUDY DESIGN: Umbilical cord blood was tested for CMV DNAemia using a commercial quantitative PCR assay. Maternal CMV serostatus at the time of delivery was assessed by testing for CMV IgG and IgM antibodies in serum. CONCLUSIONS: Screening for congenital CMV infection with PCR is easily incorporated into routine labor and delivery care using discarded cord blood specimens to identify neonates whose infection is otherwise undiagnosed. Among 433 infants tested, two (0.5%) had DNAemia detected in cord blood, one of whom was symptomatic, and both of whose mothers were CMV IgG positive and IgM negative. Viremic neonates identified by screening with PCR may be at high risk of developing long-term neurological complications of CMV infection and cannot reliably be identified using clinical presentation or maternal serology. Because of its convenience, cord blood CMV screening with PCR should be further investigated for incorporation into neonatal screening protocols.     

Epitope Detection in the Envelope of Intracellular Naked Orthopox Viruses and Identification of Encoding Genes

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were generated against vaccinia virus, cowpox virus KR2 Brighton, monkeypox virus Copenhagen, or ectromelia virus. Pairwise epitope specificity studies by competition ELISAs identified 23 distinct antigenic sites in 19 different orthopox virus strains. Six epitopes were completely independent of each other, and 17 closely related antigenic sites formed three separate epitope complexes. As shown by immunogold electron microscopy (ELMI), all MAbs reacted with epitopes in the envelope of intracellular naked virus, 16 MAbs recognized proteins of 32, 30, 16 or 14 kDa in Western blotting (WB), and 9 MAbs neutralized virus infectivity. In rabbitpox virus (RPV) 18 epitopes were detected. A λgt11 expression library of RPV DNA was screened with the corresponding 18 MAbs. Fourteen recombinant bacteriophage clones (ph) were isolated. Cross-hybridizations of phage and RPV DNA demonstrated a reaction with the HindIII A, HindIII D, or HindIII H fragments, respectively. DNA of ph3D was related to the A25L gene, which corresponds to the A-type inclusion body gene of cowpox virus. Two phage clones contained sequences of the 14-kDa fusion protein gene (A27L gene). Ph1A contained nearly the entire 14-kDa gene encoding 4 neutralizing (neutr) and 2 nonneutr epitopes. Ph5, expressing only half of this gene product, encoded 1 nonneutr epitope. The fusion protein of vaccinia virus MVA was isolated by immune-affinity chromatography with a neutr. catching MAb. The protein formed hollow rods (ELMI) and the 6 antigenic sites that were present were identical to those expressed by Escherichia coli infected with ph1A. WB detection with a polyclonal hyperimmune serum detected protein bands of 54, 32, 30, 16, and 14 kDa. The catching MAb bound only to a 16-kDa band. The purified fusion protein induced neutralizing antibodies in mice and rabbits.     

Myocardial hypertrophy and enhanced left ventricular contractility in Zucker diabetic fatty rats.

Heart failure is known to be a complication of insulin-dependent (IDDM) and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) even in the absence of coronary heart disease or hypertension. The mechanisms leading to diabetic cardiomyopathy are unknown. The aim of the study was to characterize structural and functional alterations in hyperinsulinemic Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats treated with or without insulin. Diabetic animals showed a twofold increase in cardiomyocyte volume with increased left ventricular ANP but not BNP mRNA levels in spite of a reduced plasma renin activity (PRA) 2 months after onset of diabetes compared to nondiabetic littermates. These changes were associated with an increase in left ventricular performance as assessed by echocardiography. Insulin treatment led to a significant increase in body weight (BW), total heart weight, myocardial protein content, and left ventricular mass (LVM). Perivascular fibrosis and laminin thickness were significantly augmented in diabetic rat myocardium irrespective of insulin treatment, whereas interstitial collagen I and fibronectin were similarly found in diabetic and control myocardium. Initial stages of diabetic cardiomyopathy in hyperinsulinemic rats are characterized by cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and enhanced cardiac contractility. It is suggested that hyperinsulinemia may be involved in cardiac hypertrophy.     

Production of IL-12, IL-23 and IL-27p28 by bone marrow-derived conventional dendritic cells rather than macrophages after LPS/TLR4-dependent induction by Salmonella Enteritidis

Induction of the interleukin-12 (IL-12) cytokine family comprising IL-12, IL-23, IL-27, and IL-12p40 by intracellular pathogens is required for orchestration of cell-mediated immune responses. Macrophages (MΦ) have been shown to be a source of IL-12 following TLR4-dependent activation by Salmonella (S.). In this study another antigen-presenting cell type, the conventional dendritic cell (cDC), was analyzed and its cytokine responses compared with those of MΦ. We generated bone marrow-derived conventional dendritic cells (BMDC) and macrophages (BMMΦ) by incubating murine bone marrow cells with supernatants containing granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), respectively. Stimulation of BMDC and BMMΦ with S. enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) or LPS resulted in the release of IL-12 and IL-23 by BMDC but not by BMMΦ. Furthermore, BMDC secreted approx. 20-fold more IL-12p40 and IL-27p28 than BMMΦ. However, BMDC and BMMΦ produced similar levels of IL-10. Using BMDC originating from wild-type (wt), TLR2^def and TLR4^def mice, we show that in BMDC the induction of IL-12, IL-23, and IL-27p28 by SE is dependent on TLR4, whereas low-level production of p40 is also mediated by pattern recognition receptors (PRR) other than TLR4. Interestingly, LPS- and SE-provoked responses of BMDC were remarkably similar indicating that LPS is the primary danger molecule of SE. Taken together, our results point to cDC rather than MΦ as the major producers of the IL-12 family members during in vitro infection with SE. The mechanisms of recognition of SE, however, appear to be the same for cDC and MΦ     

Mechanical Activation of Pharmaceutical Systems

Mechanical activation has become a phenomenon of general significance in pharmaceutics. This report describes the extent of activation induced by relevant processes. With the use of the Eyring equation the transformation of structurally stored energy into chemical energy and the implied free enthalpy as well as the excess free enthalpy (activity) were evaluated from the rate of an indicator reaction. A comparison was made between different kinds of milling and tabletting with respect to pharmaceutical conditions. An optimization of these processes was derived.     

[3H] UK-14,304, a new agonist ligand of α2-adrenoceptors: a comparative study with human and rat tissue

Summary [³H] UK-14,304 was used to investigate ₂-adrenoceptors in rat brain and human platelets. Receptor pharmacology revealed that the ligand binds with high affinity to ₂-adrenoceptors. Psychoactive substances like neuroleptics, antidepressants, and-carbolines displace [³H] UK-14,304 from its binding sites in the lower micromolar range. A Hill number around 2 for most neuroleptics suggests a positive cooperativity with the ₂-adrenoceptors.Comparative studies with [³H] UK-14,304 and [³H] clonidine utilizing platelet membranes from human volunteers demonstrated that the former ligand is more suitable to investigate possible changes of ₂-adrenoceptors; [³H] UK-14,304 labels more receptors with a lower standard deviation, whereby the volume of the blood sample amounted to 35 ml instead of 50 ml required for [³H] clonidine as ligand. No sex differences of binding constants were detected, however an inverse correlation of maximum number of binding sites and affinity was found for female subjects with both ligands.No age-dependent changes of B_max and K_D-values were observed in the range of 24 to 59 years.     

Affinities of barbiturates for the GABA-receptor complex and A1 adenosine receptors: a possible explanation of their excitatory effects

Summary The effects of barbiturates on the GABA-receptor complex and the A₁ adenosine receptor were studied. At the GABA-receptor complex the barbiturates inhibited the binding of [³⁵S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate ([³⁵S]TBPT) and enhanced the binding of [³H]diazepam. Kinetic and saturation experiments showed that both effects were allosteric. Whereas all barbiturates caused complete inhibition of [³⁵S]TBPT binding, they showed varying degrees of maximal enhancement of [3H]diazepam binding; (±)methohexital was identified as the most efficacious compound for this enhancement. At the A₁ adenosine receptor all barbiturates inhibited the binding of [³H]N⁶-phenylisopropyladenosine ([³H]PIA) in a competitive manner. The comparison of the effects on [³H]diazepam and [³H]PIA binding showed that excitatory barbiturates interact preferentially with the A₁ adenosine receptor, and sedative/anaesthetic barbiturates with the GABA-receptor complex. It is speculated that the interaction with these two receptors might be the basis of the excitatory versus sedative/anaesthetic properties of barbiturates.Abbreviations GABA -aminobutyric acid - TBPT t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate 1073 - DMBB 5-(1,3-dimethyl)butyl-5-ethylbarbituric acid - MCB N-methyl-5-(1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-5-ethylbarbituric acid - MPPB N-methyl-5-phenyl-5-propylbarbituric acid - PIA N⁶-phenylisopropyladenosine Send offprint requests to M. J. Lohse at the above address     

Importance of Structural Free Space to the Solvent Power of Water

The contribution of structural free space to the solvent power of water was examined by a systematic modification of the geometric factor. Gaps and holes, available to foreign molecule occupation, are thought to be filled at low concentrations (max. 1 %) of aliphatic alcohols. The effect upon solvency reached approximately 10%, which suggests that spatial parameters affect solvent power. The results demonstrate the importance of solvent purity in the dissolution process.