Peripartum optimization and coordination of collaborative care practice: a critical role for the obstetric anesthesiologist in combating maternal morbidity and mortality.

Purpose Of Review: Antenatal anesthesia clinics remain uncommon despite the rising incidence of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States. The purpose of the present review is to outline the major considerations and challenges surrounding antenatal anesthetic evaluation.

Recent Findings: Data from the general surgical population would suggest a mortality benefit associated with preoperative anesthesia evaluation, although no such data exists in the obstetric population.

NEDD4 family ubiquitin ligases associate with LCMV Z's PPXY domain and are required for virus budding, but not via direct ubiquitination of Z.

Viral late domains are used by many viruses to recruit the cellular endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) to mediate membrane scission during viral budding. Unlike the P(S/T)AP and YPX(1-3)L late domains, which interact directly with the ESCRT proteins Tsg101 and ALIX, the molecular linkage connecting the PPXY late domain to ESCRT proteins is unclear. The mammarenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) matrix protein, Z, contains only one late domain, PPXY.

The Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus Matrix Protein PPXY Late Domain Drives the Production of Defective Interfering Particles.

Arenaviruses cause severe diseases in humans but establish asymptomatic, lifelong infections in rodent reservoirs. Persistently-infected rodents harbor high levels of defective interfering (DI) particles, which are thought to be important for establishing persistence and mitigating virus-induced cytopathic effect. Little is known about what drives the production of DI particles.

Highly Sensitive Assay for Measurement of Arenavirus-cell Attachment.

Arenaviruses are a family of enveloped RNA viruses that cause severe human disease. The first step in the arenavirus life cycle is attachment of viral particles to host cells. While virus-cell attachment can be measured through the use of virions labeled with biotin, radioactive isotopes, or fluorescent dyes, these approaches typically require high multiplicities of infection (MOI) to enable detection of bound virus.

Dissociation between sickness behavior and emotionality during lipopolysaccharide challenge in lymphocyte deficient Rag2(-/-) mice.

Inflammatory diseases are highly associated with affective disorders including depression and anxiety. While the role of the innate immune system on emotionality has been extensively studied, the role of adaptive immunity is less understood. Considering that chronic inflammatory conditions are mediated largely by maladaptive lymphocyte function, the role of these cells on brain function and behavior during inflammation warrants investigation.

The intracellular cargo receptor ERGIC-53 is required for the production of infectious arenavirus, coronavirus, and filovirus particles.

Arenaviruses and hantaviruses cause severe human disease. Little is known regarding host proteins required for their propagation. We identified human proteins that interact with the glycoproteins (GPs) of a prototypic arenavirus and hantavirus and show that the lectin endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi intermediate compartment 53 kDa protein (ERGIC-53), a cargo receptor required for glycoprotein trafficking within the early exocytic pathway, associates with arenavirus, hantavirus, coronavirus, orthomyxovirus, and filovirus GPs.

A structural analysis of M protein in coronavirus assembly and morphology.

The M protein of coronavirus plays a central role in virus assembly, turning cellular membranes into workshops where virus and host factors come together to make new virus particles. We investigated how M structure and organization is related to virus shape and size using cryo-electron microscopy, tomography and statistical analysis. We present evidence that suggests M can adopt two conformations and that membrane curvature is regulated by one M conformer.

Histamine influences body temperature by acting at H1 and H3 receptors on distinct populations of preoptic neurons.

The preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus, a region that contains neurons that control thermoregulation, is the main locus at which histamine affects body temperature. Here we report that histamine reduced the spontaneous firing rate of GABAergic preoptic neurons by activating H3 subtype histamine receptors. This effect involved a decrease in the level of phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase and was not dependent on synaptic activity.

Proteomics analysis unravels the functional repertoire of coronavirus nonstructural protein 3.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus infection and growth are dependent on initiating signaling and enzyme actions upon viral entry into the host cell. Proteins packaged during virus assembly may subsequently form the first line of attack and host manipulation upon infection. A complete characterization of virion components is therefore important to understanding the dynamics of early stages of infection.

Clinical value of parathyroid scintigraphy with technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile: discrepancies in clinical data and a systematic metaanalysis of the literature.

There is a considerable discrepancy in the literature concerning the sensitivity of parathyroid scintigraphy (PS) with 99mTc-MIBI. We therefore analyzed our own data and compared them to the literature in a metaanalysis. All patients who received 99mTc -MIBI scintigraphy and subsequent surgery in our department for the detection of enlarged parathyroid glands in primary (pHPT) or secondary (sHPT) hyperparathyroidism between 1991 and 1999 were included in our retrospective analysis.

Influence of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and CT/MRI on the clinical management of patients with gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors: an analysis in 188 patients.

Aim: Many studies describe the sensitivities and specificities of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) in patients with gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (GNT). We performed a study to evaluate the influence of these techniques on the therapeutic management of patients with advanced stages of GNT.

Patients And Methods: The results of either CT/MRI scans or SRS were reviewed by two independent observers who decided on the therapy of a patient.

Use of the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) for the detection of insulinomas: initial experimental results.

The non-invasive detection of insulinomas remains a diagnostic problem that is not solved by means of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. We investigated the biokinetics and specificity of uptake and degradation of the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in a rat insulinoma cell line (RINm5F) in order to ascertain whether radiolabelled GLP-1 may be suitable for specific visualisation of insulinomas in vivo. GLP-1 (7-36)amide was radioiodinated according to the iodogen method.