Sensitization to Zygophyllum fabago pollen. A clinical and immunologic study

Zygophyllum fahago is a herbaceous plant found widely in the Mediterranean area. There are no previous reports of its allergenicity. An aerobiologic and clinical survey was conducted in Murcia, southern Spain, to determine the quantity of airborne pollen and establish the possible role of this pollen as a cause of allergic symptoms. With a Hirst volumetric trap, we determined the atmospheric concentrations of this pollen in 1993, 1994,1995, and 1996. Of 1180 patients tested, 181 (15,34%) had a positive skin test. To determine its allergenicity, we divided 47 patients into three groups: in group 1, all the patients had symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis plus asthma; in groups 2 and 3, rhinoconjunctivitis. In group 1, we performed a bronchial provocation test (BPT): in groups 2 and 3, we performed nasal provocation (NPT) and conjunctival provocation (CPT) tests, respectively, SDS-PAGE was used to characterize the antigenic fractions and RAST inhibition to determine cross-reactivity with other pollens. The pollen dispersion period is from May to September (445 grains/m³), BPT was positive in 13 of 15 patients, NPT in 14 of 16 patients, and CPT in 13 of 16 patients. RAST inhibition revealed cross-reactivity with Mercurialis, Ricinus, Olea. and Betula. SDS-PAGE identified 25 IgE antibody-binding components, five of which (60, 65, 41, 38, and 15.5/14,7 kDa) were recognized by 40% of the sera. By SDS-PAGE immunoblotting with sunflower antiprofilin rabbit serum and affinity chromatography we established that the Z. fahago extract has profilin. This study shows that this pollen becomes airborne and elicits an IgE response which triggers respiratory symptoms in allergic subjects.     

New advances in treating osteoporotic compression fractures.

Osteoporosis is a chronic and potentially debilitating disease. A painful consequence of osteoporosis is a compression fracture of a vertebral body of the spine. These fractures can lead to physical deformities and emotional trauma. Treatment options for these fractures are limited and occasionally ineffective. New surgical advances in treating vertebro-compression fractures are evolving. Kyphoplasty is a new surgical procedure now being used to treat the painful compression fracture.     

The hemolysin-producer coelomocytes in Holothuria polii

Using sodium metrizoate discontinuous gradients, two hemolysin-producer amebocyte populations have been separated from total circulating Holothuria polii coelomocytes. The amebocytes of population 1 are responsible for the production of the calcium-dependent and temperature-labile hemolysin, whereas those of population 2 produce the calcium-independent and temperature-stable one. The intracytoplasmic hemolysins were evidenced also by immunofluorescence. Petaloid and filipodial amebocytes were the only positive cell types.     

Implementing and complying with the Smoke-free Hospitals Project in Catalonia, Spain.

The objective of the study was to describe the implementation of measures for preventing tobacco consumption developed in the Catalan Network of Smoke-free Hospitals. Information from 25 hospitals that are actively involved in the Catalan Network of Smoke-free Hospitals (April 2004) was used. The degree of implementation of the Smoke-free Hospitals Project was analysed by means of the Self-Audit Questionnaire of the European Network for Smoke-free Hospitals; each hospital was analysed globally and according to the duration of its Network membership (<1 year: implementation stage; > or =1 year: consolidation stage). In terms of global indicators, there were high levels of commitment (64.8%), communication (74.7%), tobacco control (77.4%) and implementation of smoke-free environments (81.0%). A lower degree of implementation (<50%) was found in education and training, health promotion and healthy workplaces. According to the duration of Network membership, significant differences were observed for communication, environment, healthy workplaces and follow-up. Deficits were observed in areas such as specialist training and cessation support, and further input is required here. By identifying areas needing attention, providing a guide for policy development and by administering it periodically, one can ensure that progress is kept on track.     

Prognostic role of immunosuppressive acidic protein in advanced ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to investigate immunosuppressive acidic protein in the prognostic characterization of advanced ovarian cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Serum levels of immunosuppressive protein were prospectively measured in 80 patients with untreated ovarian carcinoma. To evaluate the prognostic significance of immunosuppressive acidic protein levels, cutoff points were studied every 50 μg/ml between 450 and 1350 μg/ml. RESULTS: Pretreatment immunosuppressive acidic protein levels were not significantly associated with stage, histotype, grade of differentiation, postoperative residual tumor, and response to chemotherapy. The most significant association with survival was observed at a cutoff value of 1100 μg/ml (p = 0.0089). In the univariate analysis for overall survival, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage and immunosuppressive acidic protein status were found to have a role in predicting ovarian cancer prognosis. In the multivariate analysis only immunosuppressive acidic protein status was significantly associated with survival. A statistical correlation was found between serum levels and overall survival (p = 0.0104, χ² 6.56), including immunosuppressive acidic protein as a continuous variable. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that immunosuppressive acidic protein assay is a potentially useful tool in the prognostic characterization of advanced ovarian cancer. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1996;175:1606-10.)     

Slow event-related brain activity of aphasic patients and controls in word comprehension and rhyming tasks

Slow event-related potentials (ERP) were examined in healthy and aphasic subjects in two-stimulus designs comprising a word comprehension and a rhyming task. Aphasics, though selected to perform above chance level, made significantly more errors and responded more slowly than controls, although canonical correlations did not indicate a statistical relationship between performance measures and ERP amplitudes. A discriminant analysis of ERP amplitudes distinguished the groups for the slow wave (SW; 0.5-1.0 s post-S1 onset) in the word comprehension, for the SW and the initial contingent negative variation (iCNV; 1.0-2.0 s post-S1 onset) in the rhyming task. Similarly for both tasks, ERP topography showed left-anterior predominance of the negative SW and iCNV in controls, whereas participants with aphasia showed smaller anterior and larger left-posterior amplitudes. The centroparietal terminal CNV (tCNV; 1 s pre-S2) was smaller in participants with aphasia than in controls, but similar in topography. Results suggest left-anterior activation for those language processes that were presumably provoked in the present tasks, like lexical access, or phonological encoding. The pattern of participants with aphasia may indicate effects of language impairment and recovery, but also consequences of the brain damage.