OBJECTIVE: Is there any correlation between follicular fluid (FF) steroid levels and the occurrence of cytogenetic abnormalities in unfertilized human oocytes? DESIGN: Cytogenetic analysis was carried out on 397 oocytes, and the steroid content of 104 corresponding FF was analyzed using high-pressure liquid chromatography. Ovarian stimulation was performed by clomiphene citrate and human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) or by hMG combined with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) pretreatment. RESULTS: Oocyte maturity was correlated with an increasing FF progestin content and a significant decrease of androstenedione (A) levels. Chromosomal analysis revealed 84 of all oocytes to be abnormal (polyploid or aneuploid and/or prematurely condensed chromosomes present). In this group, A levels and A to estradiol ratios were significantly higher. Although progestin levels were higher in GnRH-a/hMG cycles, the incidence of oocyte normality was not different between the two stimulation schemes. More abnormal oocytes were found in patients with good sperm morphology. CONCLUSIONS: Oocyte abnormality correlates with higher A levels in the corresponding FF. Oocyte fertilization is also determined by intrinsic oocytic factors other than maturity. 相似文献
Object: Diesel soot has been recognized as probably carcinogenic to humans. Elemental carbon (also called black carbon) in soot
is considered at the moment as the most significant surrogate to be measured for assessing the exposure to this pollutant.
Its analysis is done by combustion in an oven and determination of the CO2 formed, after elimination of the organic fraction of the soot by heating and/or by solvent extraction. The analysis allows
determination of both fractions of the soot: “elemental carbon” (EC) and organic carbon␣(OC). The sum of EC and OC is called
TC (total carbon). Method: An informal European coordination group organized two round robin tests on filter samples collected from diluted diesel
emissions. The first round (RRT1) was performed on 13 different samples analyzed by ten laboratories. The range of loading
was 2.5 to 150 μg/cm2 of EC. No evaluation of the precision within laboratories could be made since each laboratory gave only one result per sample.
Therefore a second round (RRT2) was organized with two samples and a blank filter sent in several portions to 11 laboratories.
It should be stressed that each laboratory used its own method and that no standardization was planned at this stage. Results: Results of RRT1 showed that the coefficient of variation between laboratories decreased with higher loading and was around
10% to 15% for EC above about 20 μg/cm2. Dispersion of the results varied and it appeared that the way OC is removed from the soot is probably the most important
factor of influence. The correlation between the laboratories was good as a whole but some systematic differences could be
detected. Besides the different techniques to remove the organic carbon, the pretreatment of the filter by HCl (either as
a vapor or as a solution) to remove the inorganic carbonates (potential interference sources), is probably also a significant
factor of influence in the dispersion of the results between laboratories. It is not yet clear from these results whether
the “environmental” laboratories give different results from the “occupational” laboratories, but it is clear that their objectives
differ since for the “environmentalists”, EC is not a specific marker of diesel immissions, in contrast to the “occupationalists”.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that, although significant differences exist between laboratories they can be attributed mainly to the
narrow distribution of the results within a single laboratory, and that the overall agreement of the results for EC and TC
is fairly good. These results obtained with pure diesel engine emissions, should be complemented by field samples, but they
have already achieved relevant findings in the performance of the procedures used to assess exposure to diesel soot.
Received: 30 December 1996 / Accepted: 21 February 1997 相似文献
Vaccination against smallpox is again considered in order to face a possible bioterrorist threat, but the nature and the level of the immune response needed to protect a person from smallpox after vaccination are not totally understood. Therefore, simple, rapid, and accurate assays to evaluate the immune response to vaccinia virus need to be developed. Neutralization assays are usually considered good predictors of vaccine efficacy and more informative with regard to protection than binding assays. Currently, the presence of neutralizing antibodies to vaccinia virus is measured using a plaque reduction neutralization test, but this method is time-consuming and labor-intensive and has a subjective readout. Here, we describe an innovative neutralization assay based on a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector expressing the green fluorescent protein (MVA-gfp). This MVA-gfp neutralization assay is rapid and sensitive and has a high-throughput potential. Thus, it is suitable to monitor the immune response and eventually the efficacy of a large campaign of vaccination against smallpox and to study the vector-specific immune response in clinical trials that use genetically engineered vaccinia viruses. Most importantly, application of the highly attenuated MVA eliminates the safety concern in using the replication-competent vaccinia virus in the standard clinical laboratory. 相似文献
Gene expression profiling using microarrays (rat-specific array RG-U34A, Affymetrix, U.S.A.) was employed for the investigation of: (1) hormonal regulation of renal function and (2) nephrotoxicity. For this purpose about 8,800 genes were analysed in kidney and, additionally, in liver tissue.
Ad 1.) Kidney functions develop during postnatal life. Thus, in vivo transport and accumulation of p-aminohippurate (PAH) was investigated on renal cortical slices (RCS) from 10- and 55-day-old rats. The animals were treated with dexamethasone (DEXA; 60 μg/100 g b.wt./day) for 3 days, which caused a significant reduction in the accumulation of PAH in 10-day-old rats (42 ± 5% whereas it was only slightly reduced in 55-day-old rats (70 ± 8%). To further clarify the regulation of renal function by DEXA, results were compared with those obtained previously after in vitro stimulation with DEXA. RCS were incubated for 24 hours in DEXA-containing medium (10−9 M). Under these conditions DEXA significantly increased the PAH uptake capacity in RCS obtained from 10- and 55-day-old rats up to 126 and 136%, respectively. Thus a stimulation of tubular transport capacity is possible in vitro. The effect of DEXA treatment on the gene expression of the kidney (in vivo) was moderate. Focussing especially on transporters, ion channels, ATPases, glucuronyltransferases, glutathione-S-transferase and cytochrome P450, the expression of only few genes were significantly changed (3 to 50-fold up- or down-regulation). Moreover, distinct age differences were found after in vivo administration of DEXA. The investigation of in vitro effects of DEXA is currently been performed.
Ad 2.) The kidney is threatened by nephrotoxins because of its ability to accumulate them. We used a single administration of uranyl nitrate (UN; 0.5 mg/100 g b.wt.) as a model for chronic renal failure (CRF). Clearance experiments were performed 10 weeks after UN administration (maximal symptoms of CRF) in adult female rats. As expected, UN induced interstitial cicatrices with reduced GFR and diminished PAH transport capacity. Despite the impressive morphological and functional changes in the kidney after exposure to UN, the gene expression profiles in the kidneys were only minimally affected: we found significantly changed expression levels for only 20 genes (5 genes were up-regulated [e.g. transgelin], 15 down-regulated [among these the Na-K-Cl-symporter, insulin-like growth factor, kallikrein, and ornithine decarboxylase). The lack of agreement between gene expression data and the nephrotoxic effects of UN can probably be explained by the long time interval between dosing and the assessment of the effect. The results confirm that primary genomic responses are likely to be strongest transiently after exposure and then decrease in intensity. 相似文献
The Analytab Products, Inc. (API), anaerobic multitest microsystem (MICRO) was compared with the Center for Disease Control conventional (CONV) thioglycolate (supplemented with hemin and vitamin K1) system and with pre-reduced anaerobically sterilized (PRAS) media as recommended by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Growth from a solid medium was suspended to produce standard inocula. Substrates included 16 carbohydrates, indole, urea, gelatin, and esculin. API strips were inoculated in air and incubated in GasPak (BBL) jars. MICRO tests were read at 1 and 2 days. CONV tests at 1, 2, and 7 days, and PRAS tests at 3 weeks. One hundred thirty well-characterized strains of anaerobes (76 gram-negative rods, 16 cocci, 26 gram-positive nonsporeforming rods, and 12 clostridia), including 48 reference strains, were studied. Of 2,600 tests performed, 2,085 (80.2%) showed agreement with all three methods. There was 90.9% agreement between the MICRO and CONV, 84.9% between the MICRO and PRAS, and 84.6% between the CONV and PRAS tests. All MICRO tests were reliable except for indole, which was not sensitive enough, and gelatin, which was very insensitive. The MICRO system permits performance of biochemical tests at the workbench in the average clinical laboratory without the need for expensive equipment and time-consuming procedures. 相似文献
In-vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is a promising technique to reduce the
costs and avert the side-effects of gonadotrophin stimulation for in-vitro
fertilization (IVF). The pregnancy rates from oocytes matured in vitro are
much lower than those of in-vivo stimulation cycles indicating that
optimization of IVM remains a challenge. Therefore, we investigated the
effect of supplementation of the medium with gonadotrophins, oestradiol and
epidermal growth factor (EGF) and the effect of retaining or removing the
cumulus cells on nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of immature oocytes.
Human germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes obtained after gonadotrophin
stimulation for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were cultured in a
complex defined medium either supplemented with gonadotrophins, oestradiol
and physiological concentrations of EGF (2 ng/ml) or gonadotrophins and
oestradiol alone. The cumulus cells were either removed or kept intact. In
GV stage oocytes cultured without cumulus (group I) significantly more
oocytes reached the metaphase II (MII) stage at 30 h in media supplemented
with EGF (64.3 versus 33.9%, P < 0.003). For oocytes cultured with
intact cumulus (group II), more oocytes reached MII at 30 h than in group
I, but there was no difference in medium with or without EGF
supplementation (81.8 and 79.8% respectively). Cytoplasmic maturation of
MII oocytes was judged from their capability to activate and fertilize
after ICSI. In group I, the rates of activation and normal fertilization
were similar. However, in group II, significantly more oocytes underwent
normal fertilization in the EGF-supplemented than the unsupplemented group
(71.7 versus 45.6%, P < 0.05). The cleavage rates of the fertilized
oocytes were similar in the sibling oocyte subgroups cultured with or
without EGF supplementation, but the overall cleavage rates were higher in
cumulus-intact compared to cumulus-denuded oocytes (88.9 versus 47.8%, P
< 0.001). Thus, supplementation of the maturation medium with EGF and
maintenance of the cumulus during culture improve the nuclear and
cytoplasmic maturation of human oocytes in vitro.
相似文献
VP1 sequences were determined for poliovirus type 1 isolates obtained over a 189-day period from a poliomyelitis patient with common variable immunodeficiency syndrome (a defect in antibody formation). The isolate from the first sample, taken 11 days after onset of paralysis, contained two poliovirus populations, differing from the Sabin 1 vaccine strain by ~10%, differing from diverse type 1 wild polioviruses by 19 to 24%, and differing from each other by 5.5% of nucleotides. Specimens taken after day 11 appeared to contain only one major poliovirus population. Evolution of VP1 sequences at synonymous third-codon positions occurred at an overall rate of ~3.4% per year over the 189-day period. Assuming this rate to be constant throughout the period of infection, the infection was calculated to have started ~9.3 years earlier. This estimate is about the time (6.9 years earlier) the patient received his last oral poliovirus vaccine dose, approximately 2 years before the diagnosis of immunodeficiency. These findings may have important implications for the strategy to eliminate poliovirus immunization after global polio eradication. 相似文献