Non-secretion of ABO blood group antigens as a host susceptibility factor in the spondyloarthropathies

Gram negative bacteria precipitate reactive arthritis and may be concerned in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis and other spondyloarthropathies. Susceptibility to many infectious agents is associated with ABO blood group or secretor state, or both. The distribution of the ABO blood group or secretor state, or both, was therefore determined in 87 patients with ankylosing spondylitis and 32 with other forms of spondyloarthropathy. The prevalence of non-secretors was significantly increased in the total patient group (54/114; 47%) and in the subgroup with ankylosing spondylitis (41/84; 49%) compared with local controls (89/334; 27%) (p less than 0.001). Other subgroups of patients showed a similarly increased prevalence of non-secretion (33-47%). The distribution of ABO blood groups did not differ between patients and controls. The association between non-secretor state and ankylosing spondylitis strengthens the hypothesis that ankylosing spondylitis is a form of reactive arthritis. It also suggests several pathogenic mechanisms which may be relevant to the initial hostparasite interaction in ankylosing spondylitis.     

Antibiotic sensitivities of Neisseria meningitidis isolates from patients and carriers in Greece.

Usage of antibiotics in southern Europe is less well regulated than in northern countries. The proportion (48%) of meningococci in Spain insensitive to pencillin (MIC greater than or equal to 0.1 mg/l) prompted this investigation of antibiotic sensitivities of isolates from Greek patients with meningitis (31) and carriers (47 school-children and 472 recruits). The agar dilution method was used to determine MIC to penicillin G (PN), sulphamethoxazole (SU), rifampicin (RF), cefaclor (CF) and ciprofloxacin (CP). The proportion of isolates insensitive to PN was 48% for isolates from patients, 19% from school-children and 36.6% from recruits. Resistance to SU (MIC greater than or equal to 16 mg/l) was found in 16% of those from patients, 10.6% from children and 40% from recruits. None of the isolates from patients was resistant to RF (greater than or equal to 1 mg/l) but 6% of those from carriers were. Resistance to CF (greater than or equal to 4 mg/l) was found in 9.2% of patient isolates, 6.4% from children and 23.7% from recruits. All isolates except one were sensitive to CP (MIC range less than 0.0015-0.125 mg/l). Resistances to PN, SU and RF were analysed by serogroup, serotype and subtype of the bacteria. The proportion of resistant isolates showed some variation between different areas of Greece, but it was not statistically significant.     

Coagulation parameter instability as an early predictor of intracranial hemorrhage during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to treat over 2,000 neonates with severe respiratory distress due to a number of different diagnoses. Its application has been expanded into the pediatric population as well. Despite both technical advances and refinement of management techniques, intracranial hemorrhage remains a major cause of both morbidity and mortality during ECMO. We reviewed our ECMO experience with regard to the diagnosis of intracranial bleeding, and gave particular attention to the technicians' written records. Seven of 50 patients had a documented intracranial event during ECMO, and in all 7, the technicians noted increasing difficulty with control of the activated clotting time (ACT), platelet count, or both. This manifested itself as both inability to raise the ACT and/or platelet count, or inability to decrease the ACT, despite discontinuation of heparin. The patients with intracranial hemorrhages had a significantly greater number of changes in the rate of heparin infusion than matched controls. None of the patients with intracranial bleeding had any signs of extracranial hemorrhage, and none manifested any hemodynamic abnormalities. In 4 cases, the regularly scheduled echoencephalogram was obtained earlier in the day, and the patients were subsequently weaned and decannulated. We conclude from this review that instability of previously well-controlled coagulation parameters is an early predictor of an intracranial event. However, the impact of earlier diagnosis on outcome is less clear from this small number of patients.     

adaptive fourier threshold filtering: A method to reduce noise and incoherent artifacts in high resolution cardiac images

We introduce an image processing method which reduces white noise and random artifacts in sets of high resolution, time resolved images. At each pixel, the processing consists of: (1) the isolation of a time intensity curve (TIC), (2) Fourier transformation of each TIC, (3) application of a threshold to remove low intensity coefficients, (4) inverse transformation to generate noise reduced TICS which are recombined to form images with improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Noise filtering by Fourier thresholding is demonstrated on a set of cardiac images, resulting in a reduction of the noise energy by approximately 90%.     

Predictors of punding in Parkinson's disease: results from a questionnaire survey.

Dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) for Parkinson's disease (PD) has recently been linked to the development of a number of nonmotor behavioral control problems. Punding, one of these nonmotor problems, is a term used to describe complex, purposeless stereotyped behaviors such as the repetitive handling or sorting of objects. A self-report questionnaire was adapted to assess punding in the context of dysfunctional hobby-related activities. We report the results of a survey of PD outpatients from a PD research clinic (n = 141) and non-PD controls (n = 103); conducted to identify clinical and psychological factors predictive of punding behaviors. The PD group reported hobbies and activities, which scored significantly higher on the Punding Scale than controls. Higher impulsivity, poorer disease-related quality of life, younger age of disease onset, and concomitant daily medication dosage from dopamine receptor agonists were independently predictive of higher Punding Scale scores in the PD group. These findings are similar to those seen in dopamine dysregulation syndrome, and provide further evidence for the role of impulsivity and age at disease onset in DRT-related nonmotor behavioral problems in PD.     

Sepsis and cytokines: current status

Sepsis is a constellation of clinical signs and symptoms resulting from excessive systemic host inflammatory response to infection. This inflammatory response is largely mediated by cytokines, which are released into the systemic circulation. Plasma concentrations of specific cytokines, TNF alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6 and IL-8 are frequently elevated in human sepsis and cytokine concentrations correlate with severity and outcome of sepsis. In addition to pro-inflammatory cytokines, soluble cytokine receptors, cytokine receptor antagonists and counter-inflammatory cytokines are also produced in large quantities in patients with sepsis; however, the specific role of these molecules in sepsis remains undefined. A complex interaction of cytokines and cytokine-neutralizing molecules probably determines the clinical presentation and course of sepsis. Intervening in this sequence of events to modify the host inflammatory responses may prove to be a beneficial treatment strategy for sepsis, but currently tested anticytokine therapies have been largely unsuccessful.      

Immunostimulatory oligodeoxynucleotides induce apoptosis of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells

Immunostimulatory oligodeoxynucleotides (IS ODN) can mediate a number of immunologic effects. We previously demonstrated that treatment of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells with one class of IS ODN, CpG ODN, alters their phenotype and increases their immunogenicity. Here, we demonstrate that in contrast to the classic understanding of CpG ODN as inhibitors of B cell apoptosis, IS ODN including CpG ODN induce apoptosis in B-CLL cells. It is important that these changes are seen not only with CpG ODN but with ODN that lack the classical CpG motif. B-CLL cells from 20 subjects were treated in vitro with IS ODN for up to 7 days. IS ODN treatment resulted in increased numbers of apoptotic cells in 13 out of 20 B-CLL samples. IS ODN enhanced apoptosis in samples with 13q deletion as a single aberration and had a heterogeneous effect on apoptosis in samples with other aberrations including 17p deletion, 11q deletion, or trisomy 12. Induction of apoptosis did not correlate with expression of the CpG ODN receptor Toll-like receptor 9. Apoptosis was dependent on the activation of caspases and was accompanied by up-regulation of CD95/Fas and its ligand. We conclude that IS ODN including CpG ODN can induce apoptosis of most B-CLL samples. The ability of IS ODN to induce apoptosis differs based on cytogenetic status. Up-regulation of CD95/Fas may play a role in IS ODN-induced apoptosis of B-CLL.     

Serum concentrations of oestradiol-17beta, progesterone, relaxin and chorionic gonadotrophin during blastocyst implantation in natural pregnancy cycle and in embryo transfer cycle in the rhesus monkey

The present study was undertaken to assess the temporal association between the profiles of serum concentrations of oestradiol-17beta, progesterone, chorionic gonadotrophin (CG) and relaxin in pregnancies established naturally, and after embryo transfer, as well as in failed pregnancies in rhesus monkeys. In naturally mated cycles (group 1) a conception rate of 75% was obtained. In group 1, the mean day of CG detection in serum was 11.5 +/- 1.9 day post-ovulation, and for relaxin, 9.0 +/- 2.5 day post-ovulation. In group 2, embryo transfer to synchronous, non-mated surrogate recipients was performed; seven embryo transfer cycles yielded three pregnancies which were allowed to continue to term and normal infants were delivered. In embryo transfer cycles the mean day of CG detection was 14.8 +/- 1.8 day post- ovulation, and for relaxin, 11.4 +/- 2.6 day post-ovulation. A delay of about 3 days was observed in the appearance in circulation of CG (P < 0.05) and also of relaxin (P < 0.05) between natural mated and embryo transfer conception cycles. Significant differences (P < 0.05 for progesterone and P < 0.03 for oestradiol) were obtained for the areas under the curves for progesterone and oestradiol between days 12 and 16 in conception cycles compared with failed pregnancies. These data provide the first observation of the normal hormonal signals associated with maternal recognition of transferred embryos during the peri- implantation period, and suggest that the use of such an experimental primate embryo transfer model may help to elucidate components of maternal and embryonic signal-response mechanisms during embryo implantation.