Cardiac troponins following repeated administration of an iron chelator--salicylaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone (SIH)--in rabbits

Both cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) are considered to be reliable biomarkers with sufficient sensitivity and specificity for cardiac injury in the majority of laboratory animals. The aim of our study was to compare the diagnostic performance of cTnT and cTnI in three groups of rabbits: 1) control (saline 1 ml/kg i.v.); 2) Salicylaldehyde Isonicotinoyl Hydrazone--SIH (50 mg/kg, once weekly, i.p.; partially dissolved in 10% Cremophor solution); 3) 10% Cremophor solution in water (2 ml/kg i.v.). The drugs were given once a week, 10 administrations. The concentration of cTnT was measured using Elecsys Troponin T STAT Immunoassay (Roche). The concentration of cTnI was measured using AxSYM Troponin I (Abbott). The linear regression model was applied to see if there is a dependence between cTnT and cTnI. The coefficient of determination was not acceptable in all groups. The highest value of R2 was found in the control group (R2 = 0.424). We may conclude that in rabbits meaningful dependence between cTnT and cTnI was not found. According to our long-term experiences cTnT seems to be more suitable cardiomarker in rabbits in comparison with cTnI where the data are characterized by the large scatter.     

Fugetaxis: active movement of leukocytes away from a chemokinetic agent

Chemotaxis or active movement of leukocytes toward a stimulus has been shown to occur in response to chemokinetic agents including members of the recently identified superfamily of proteins called chemokines. Leukocyte chemotaxis is thought to play a central role in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes including the homing of immune cells to lymph nodes and the accumulation of these cells at sites of tissue injury and pathogen or antigen challenge. We have recently identified a novel biological mechanism, which we term fugetaxis (fugere, to flee from; taxis, movement) or chemorepulsion, which describes the active movement of leukocytes away from chemokinetic agents including the chemokine, stromal cell derived factor-1, and the HIV-1 envelope protein, gp120. In this article, we review the evidence that supports the observation that leukocyte fugetaxis occurs in vitro and in vivo and suggestions that this novel mechanism can be exploited to modulate the immune response. We propose that leukocyte fugetaxis plays a critical role in both physiological and pathological processes in which leukocytes are either excluded or actively repelled from specific sites in vivo including thymic emigration, the establishment of immune privileged sites and immune evasion by viruses and cancer. We believe that current data support the thesis that a greater understanding of leukocyte fugetaxis will lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches for a wide range of human diseases.     

Lipid profile and atherogenic indices in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background and aimsLimited number of studies investigated lipid profile in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with inconsistent results. This study aimed to investigate lipid parameters in sera of patients with stable COPD and their associations with disease severity, smoking, comorbidities and therapy.Methods and resultsThe study included 137 COPD patients and 95 controls. Triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were assessed. Non-HDL-C (NHC), atherogenic coefficient (AC), TG/HDL-C, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), Castelli's risk index I and II (CRI-I, CRI-II), and monocyte to HDL ratio (MHR) were calculated.HDL-C and MHR were increased, while other lipid parameters and indices were decreased in COPD patients compared to healthy individuals. Smoking did not influence lipid parameters. However, lipid profile was altered only in more severe disease stages. AC, CRI-I and CRI-II showed positive association with lung function parameters in COPD patients, and negative with COPD multicomponent indices (ADO, BODCAT, BODEx, CODEx and DOSE). Combined model that included CRI-II, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and white blood cells showed great diagnostic performances, and correctly classified 72% of study participants with an AUC of 0.800 (0.742–0.849), P < 0.001. Bronchodilator monotherapy and statins have opposite impact on TC, LDL-C and NHC, while TG, TG/HDL-C and AIP were increased in COPD patients with cardiovascular diseases.ConclusionLipid disbalance is present in COPD, and it seems to occur later as the disease progresses. Further studies are needed to illuminate the underlying mechanism of dyslipidaemia.     

Primary lymphoma of the heart: three-dimensional reconstruction

Primary cardiac lymphoma is defined as a lymphoma of the heart and pericardium with little or no extracardiac or local involvement such as mediastinal lymph nodes or pleural effusion. Most cases are diagnosed only post mortem (1). If this disease could be diagnosed earlier, therapy with chlorpropamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) could bring about a remission (2,3,4). Transoesophageal echocardiography with three-dimensional acquisition is a new technique which can allow earlier diagnosis, and facilitate guided transvenous biopsy (5,6). We here report an example of the pre-mortem diagnosis of cardiac lymphoma by these techniques.     

What level of symptoms are patients with adult spinal deformity prepared to live with? A cross-sectional analysis of the 12-month follow-up data from 1043 patients

European Spine Journal - Previous studies suggest that a meaningful and easily understood measure of treatment outcome may be the proportion of patients who are in a “patient acceptable...     

Filling accuracy and imprecision of commercial evacuated sodium citrate coagulation tubes

Current recommendations advocate that blood tubes for coagulation testing should be filled not less than 90% of their nominal filling volume, since under- or over-filling >10% may generate unreliable results of some hemostasis assays. This study was hence aimed to explore filling accuracy and precision of commercial blood tubes. Between-lot variations of 3 different lots (20 tubes per lot) of 3.2% citrate blood tubes manufactured by Becton Dickinson, Greiner and Kima were studied. One additional lot from each manufacturer was assessed in triplicate (three series of 20 tubes), to assess within-lot variation. All tubes were first weighed empty and then filled with distilled water by a syringe, under ideal filling conditions. Filled tubes were weighed again, in duplicate. For each 20 tubes series, mean bias (deviation from the ideal tube filling volume) and imprecision (coefficient of variation; CV%) were calculated. All biases were within ±10%. Within-lot and between-lot variation in filling volume was acceptable, and comprised between 0.4 and 2.4%. Greiner tubes were the most accurate (bias, ?1.0 to 2.4%), followed by Kima (bias, ?7.8 to ?5.9%) and Becton Dickinson (bias, ?9.6 to 3.3%) tubes. The highest between-lot difference was noted for Becton Dickinson tubes (up to 12.9%), followed by Greiner and Kima tubes (up to 3.4 and 1.8%, respectively). Although coagulation tubes filling accuracy was within ±10% for all three tested manufacturers, the overall bias was found to be variable among manufacturers and lots. Major effort shall be made by blood tube manufacturers for improving standardization of their products.     

The Use of Lasers in Disinfection and Cleanliness of Root Canals: a Review

The outcome of root canal treatment is based on efficient disinfection of the root canal system and prevention of reinfection. Current chemomechanical cleaning methods do not always achieve these goals, and insufficient root canal disinfection is the main reason for endodontic failure. Due to high energy content and specific characteristics of laser light, laser treatment has been proposed for cleaning and disinfecting the root canal system. This paper reviews the literature covering the effect of Er:YAG, Er,Cr:YSGG, Nd:YAG and diode laser on the root canal wall in the removal of smear layer and against intracanal bacteria. Recently, the use of laser energy to induce cavitation and acoustic streaming of intracanal irrigants has been investigated. Based on recent literature, it can be concluded that lasers have bactericidal effects. However, they still cannot replace sodium hypochlorite and should be considered as an adjunct to the current chemical root canal disinfection protocols. Certain lasers can help in removing the smear layer and debris and can modify the morphology of the root canal wall. Unfortunately, there have not been enough randomized clinical studies evaluating endodontic treatment outcome following the use of laser.Key words: Disinfection, Root Calan Preparation; Laser Therapy, Low-Level; Smear Layer