Increased soluble P-selectin levels following deep venous thrombosis: cause or effect?

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is associated with coagulation abnormalities, but evidence of excess platelet activity is scant. Soluble P-selectin is a marker of platelet activity, with high levels being found in patients with thrombotic disease. We measured soluble P-selectin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in plasma from 89 patients with objectively confirmed DVT and in 126 healthy age- and sex-matched control subjects, and found higher levels in the patients (P = 0.

Increased fetal loss in women with heritable thrombophilia.

Background: A successful outcome of pregnancy requires an efficient uteroplacental vascular system. Since this system may be compromised by disorders of haemostasis associated with a prothrombotic state, we postulated that maternal thrombophilia might be a risk factor for fetal loss. We studied the relation between heritable thrombophilic defects and fetal loss in a cohort of women with factor V Leiden or deficiency of antithrombin, protein C, or protein S.

Survival in families with hereditary protein C deficiency, 1820 to 1993.

Objectives: To establish the survival of individuals heterozygous for hereditary protein C deficiency, who have an increased risk of venous thrombotic events, and to compare it with the survival of the general population.

Design: Retrospective study in pedigrees of 23 families with hereditary protein C deficiency for period 1820 and 1993.

Setting: 23 completed family trees of 24 probands from various parts of the Netherlands with symptoms of protein C deficiency.

A century of mortality in five large families with polycystic kidney disease.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) characteristically leads to end-stage renal failure in the fifth or sixth decade of life, which in the absence of therapeutic measures will lead to premature death. To determine excess mortality relative to the general population and chromosome 16-linked ADPKD patients, we studied 348 individuals who belonged to five large ADPKD families and who had at least a 50% probability of carrying the gene; the study data derive from a time span of approximately one century. Assessment of the diagnosis of ADPKD in the present generation was based on the characteristic roentgenographic appearance of polycystic kidneys and was confirmed by DNA analysis with flanking polymorphic markers around the polycystic gene.

Epidemiology of haemophilia in Greece: an overview.

Demographic data of the Greek haemophilia A and B population for the period 1972-1993 were analyzed. Prevalence at birth including known not-registered patients was calculated at 23.1 per 100,000 male births.

The importance of pre-freeze equilibration of glycerol in cryopreservation of human spermatozoa and the biochemical conversion of glycerol.

Objective: To find optimal conditions for cryopreservation of human spermatozoa with glycerol as cryoprotectant.

Materials And Methods: Pooled semen from groups of three normal donors was allowed to liquefy for 30 minutes at 37 degrees C. Samples were subjected to a prefreeze equilibration interval of 0, 30, or 60 minutes, with 5% or 10% glycerol, at 0 degrees C, 22 degrees C, or 37 degrees C.

[150 years of life expectancy of Dutch members of parliament; 1848-1989].

To determinate whether the stressful lifestyle of members of parliament (MP) might lead to excess mortality, as suggested in British Medical Journal in 1989, we investigated the mortality and life expectancy of 1589 members of the Dutch parliament over the period 1848-1989. Total mortality (all causes) for members of parliament who had been in function for at least one year (n = 1472) was compared to that of the general population of the Netherlands, adjusted for age, sex and calendar period. We calculated a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) from beginning of exposure as well as from ten years after entry in order to correct for a healthy cohort effect.

Longevity of men capable of prolonged vigorous physical exercise: a 32 year follow up of 2259 participants in the Dutch eleven cities ice skating tour.

Objective: To compare the long term survival of a group of athletes taking prolonged vigorous physical exercise to that of the general population.

Design: Follow up of a cohort of participants in the Dutch eleven cities ice skating tour (a race and recreational tour) over a distance of 200 kilometers.

Setting: Data on participation from the organising committee and data on mortality from all municipalities in The Netherlands.

Influence of Ca2+ on the plasma membrane potential and electrogenic uptake of glycine by myeloma cells. Involvement of a Ca2+-activated K+ channel.

The involvement of Ca2+-activated K+ channels in the regulation of the plasma membrane potential and electrogenic uptake of glycine in SP 2/0-AG14 lymphocytes was investigated using the potentiometric indicator 3,3'-diethylthiodicarbocyanine iodide. The resting membrane potential was estimated to be -57 +/- 6 mV (n = 4), a value similar to that of normal lymphocytes. The magnitude of the membrane potential and the electrogenic uptake of glycine were dependent on the extracellular K+ concentration, [K+]o, and were significantly enhanced by exogenous calcium.

An ELISA for screening hybridoma cultures for monoclonal antibodies against a detergent solubilized integral membrane protein.

A method is described for the binding of a detergent solubilized integral membrane protein to polystyrene immunoassay plates. Addition of Bouin's fluid, a histochemical fixative, to wells of plates containing the detergent solubilized antigen, followed by low speed centrifugation, is sufficient to promote binding of antigen in the presence of Triton X-100 concentrations as high as 1.75%.

Variations in the levels of estrogen receptors in prolactin producing pituitary tumor cells.

The binding of [3H]-17 beta-estradiol in cells and cytoplasmic fractions of three different prolactin producing pituitary tumor lines was compared and found to vary widely. The concentration of estrogen receptors of the MtTW10 rat tumor line was high in early passages, but receptor levels decreased with subsequent passages in animals. Over a period of 12 months, the estrogen binding capacity in low speed supernatant fractions of cell homogenates decreased from 61.

Methadone induced lysis of mammalian cells.

Methadone induced lysis of human erythrocytes and mouse leukemic cells was studied. The cells lyse without prior swelling that is a necessary step of colloid osmotic lysis. Methadone is accumulated by both cell types, and is widely distributed intracellurly in mouse leukemic cells.

The metabolism of methadone by cultured mammalian cells.

Rat hepatoma tissue culture cells and mouse leukemic cells were found to metabolize [1-3H] methadone to at least 2 unidentified radioactive compounds. These results suggest that cultured cells may be useful models for studying methadone metabolism by specific cell types.