Early Inflammatory Markers for the Diagnosis of Late-Onset Sepsis in Neonates: The Nosodiag Study.

Early diagnosis is essential to improve the treatment and prognosis of newborn infants with nosocomial bacterial infections. Although cytokines and procalcitonin (PCT) have been evaluated as early inflammatory markers, their diagnostic properties have rarely been compared. This study evaluated and compared the ability of individual inflammatory markers available for clinician (PCT, semi-quantitative determination of IL-8) and of combinations of markers (CRP plus IL-6 or quantitative or semi-quantitative determination of IL-8) to diagnose bacterial nosocomial infections in neonates.

Extensive study of human insulin immunoassays: promises and pitfalls for insulin analogue detection and quantification.

Background: Over the last few decades, new synthetic insulin analogues have been developed. Their measurement is of prime importance in the investigation of hypoglycaemia, but their quantification is hampered by variable cross-reactivity with many insulin assays. For clinical analysis, it has now become essential to know the potential cross-reactivity of analogues of interest.

The impact of dialysis solution biocompatibility on ultrafiltration and on free water transport in rats.

This study compares different peritoneal dialysis fluids (PDF) in rats over a short contact time. For greater accuracy, net ultrafiltration (UF) and peritoneal transport indices, mass transfer area coefficient (MTAC) were scaled for the in vivo peritoneal surface area recruited (ivPSA) measured by microcomputerized tomography. Wistar rats underwent nephrectomy (5/6ths), were randomized into two groups and given 1.

Transient Bcl-2 gene down-expression in circulating mononuclear cells of severe sepsis patients who died despite appropriate intensive care.

Objective: To assess the levels of expression of the antiapoptotic gene Bcl-2 and the proapoptotic gene Bax in circulating mononuclear cells (CMNC) harvested during the course of severe sepsis (SS) in formerly non-immunocompromised patients undergoing hospital-acquired infection, in parallel to cytokine levels.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Intensive care unit.

Hypoexpression of benzodiazepine receptors in the amygdala of neophobic BALB/c mice compared to C57BL/6 mice.

The distribution of benzodiazepine receptors in the brain of neophobic BALB/c mice was studied by autoradiographic analysis using [3H]-diazepam and compared to that of the same receptors of the "nonemotional" C57BL/6 mice. This technique revealed no significant interstrain difference except for a lower density of diazepam binding sites in the amygdala of BALB/c mice. Therefore, the expression of benzodiazepine receptors in the amygdala of the two strains of mice were quantified by binding studies on brain membranes.