Carotid Artery Stiffness and Development of Hypertension in People with Paraplegia and No Overt Cardiovascular Disease: A 7-year Follow-up Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare arterial stiffness between people with paraplegia and able-bodied persons (ABPs) and to assess cardiovascular markers that may be predictive of the development of arterial hypertension in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: This study was conducted at rehabilitation Hospital, Udine (Italy).

Methods: Fifty-seven patients with SCI were prospectively enrolled and compared with 88 healthy ABPs.

Structural and functional left ventricular impairment in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury and no overt cardiovascular disease.

Context: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in subjects with long-term spinal cord injury (SCI). More specific recommendations for CVD prevention in this population are needed.

Methods: One hundred thirty male subjects (47 subjects with SCI and 83 able-bodied persons (ABPs), mean age 43.

Homogeneous immunoassay of atrazine in water by terbium-entrapping liposomes as fluorescent markers.

Atrazine (Atr) was conjugated to mastoparan (Mast) cytolytic peptide; Mast-Atr derivative was used as cytolytic agent on liposomes trapping Tb/citrate complex. This was applied in a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay for detection of Atr in water. The cytolytic activity was read by means of time-resolved fluorescence after adding an excess of dipicolinic acid (DPA).

Analytical performance of luminescent immunoassays of different format for serum daidzein analysis.

Two sensitive competitive-type solid-phase immunoassays for serum daidzein analysis have been developed and optimized. The first is a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay that uses black polystyrene microtiter wells in which daidzein-specific antibodies raised in rabbits are immobilized and a daidzein derivative is coupled to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a label. The HRP activity of the antibody-bound tracer is measured with an enhanced chemiluminescent system (luminol/H2O2/enhancer).

Selectively conjugated melittins for liposome time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay of theophylline in serum.

Theophylline (Th) has been selectively conjugated to the four amino groups of melittin (Mel) by solid phase peptide synthesis. The cytolytic activity of the resultant Th-Mel compounds was tested on liposomes trapping the bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate with 4,7-bis(chlorosulfophenyl)-1,10-phenanthrol ine-2,9-dicarboxylic acid (BCPDA). The loss of lytic activity was the highest for Th-K7-Mel.