Maternal dietary counseling reduces total and LDL cholesterol postpartum.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary counseling on blood lipid concentrations during and after pregnancy.

Methods: Partcipants (N = 256) were randomized into three study groups: dietary counseling with probiotics or placebo and a control group at first trimester of pregnancy. Diet quality was evaluated from food records by an index of healthy eating and total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoproteins A-I and B, and lipoprotein (a) were measured at the first and third trimesters of pregnancy and 1, 6, and 12 mo postpartum.

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is associated with severe sepsis and fatal disease in emergency room patients with suspected infection: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Early diagnostic and prognostic stratification of patients with suspected infection is a difficult clinical challenge. We studied plasma pentraxin 3 (PTX3) upon admission to the emergency department in patients with suspected infection.

Methods: The study comprised 537 emergency room patients with suspected infection: 59 with no systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and without bacterial infection (group 1), 67 with bacterial infection without SIRS (group 2), 54 with SIRS without bacterial infection (group 3), 308 with sepsis (SIRS and bacterial infection) without organ failure (group 4) and 49 with severe sepsis (group 5).

Role of plasma bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein, group IIA phospholipase A(2), C-reactive protein, and white blood cell count in the early detection of severe sepsis in the emergency department.

Objectives: To study the diagnostic values of bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), group IIA phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)GIIA), white blood cell count (WBC), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in identifying severe sepsis upon admission in an emergency room.

Methods: This was a single-centre prospective cohort study involving 525 adult patients admitted to the emergency room with suspected infection. Plasma samples were taken concurrently with the blood cultures.

Early detection of severe sepsis in the emergency room: diagnostic value of plasma C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and interleukin-6.

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic values of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) method (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) to identify severe sepsis in an emergency room (ER) setting.

Methods: This was a single-centre prospective follow-up study of 539 consecutive adult patients admitted to the ER with suspected infection. Blood samples were taken concurrently with blood cultures at admission.

Dietary sucrose intake is related to serum leptin concentration in overweight pregnant women.

Background: Overweight, characterized by low-degree systemic inflammation, predisposes women to impaired glucose metabolism during pregnancy. Adipokine leptin participates in the regulation of energy balance and immune action.

Aims Of The Study: Objective of the study was to evaluate if aberrations in glucose metabolism during pregnancy are related to leptin concentration and whether serum leptin concentration is affected by diet composition.

Automated measurement of 25-OH vitamin D3 on the Roche Modular E170 analyzer.

Background: The first commercial direct automated immunoassay specific for 25-OH vitamin D(3) (25-OH-D(3)) was recently introduced for use on Roche Diagnostics immunoassay analyzers. We assessed the analytical performance of the Elecsys 25-OH-D(3) assay on a Roche Modular E 170 analyzer.

Methods: The Elecsys 25-OH-D(3) assay is a direct electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for human serum or plasma.

Renal impairment compromises the use of total homocysteine and methylmalonic acid but not total vitamin B12 and holotranscobalamin in screening for vitamin B12 deficiency in the aged.

Background: Vitamin B(12) deficiency and renal impairment are common in the aged, and therefore the screening test for vitamin B(12) deficiency should not be affected by renal function. Renal impairment has been associated with increased concentrations of plasma total homocysteine and methylmalonic acid, as well as increased total vitamin B(12) and holotranscobalamin concentrations.

Methods: The effect of renal impairment on vitamin B(12)-related biochemical variables was assessed in 1011 aged subjects.

Vitamin B12 deficiency in the aged: a population-based study.

Background: vitamin B12 deficiency is common in the aged, but it is controversial whether only some risk groups should be investigated instead of screening the entire aged population.

Objectives: to describe the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in the Finnish aged, and to find out if the subjects especially prone to vitamin B12 deficiency could be identified by the risk factors or clinical correlates.

Design: a cross-sectional, population-based study of 1048 aged subjects (age 65-100 years) was carried out.

Utility of serum C-reactive protein in assessing the outcome of infective endocarditis.

Aims: To evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of serial serum C-reactive protein determinations in monitoring the outcome of infective endocarditis (IE).

Methods And Results: C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood cell count (WBC) were measured from admission until week 10 in 129 patients with 134 episodes of IE. Need for cardiac surgery and final outcome were assessed until 3 months from admission.

Prediction of the development of tolerance to milk in children with cow's milk hypersensitivity.

Objectives: To investigate whether the development of tolerance to cow's milk (CM) by aged 4 years can be predicted with a skin prick test (SPT) and measurements of total or specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the serum, taken at the time of diagnosis of cow's milk hypersensitivity (CMH).

Study Design: Infants with immediate (n=95) or delayed (n=67) challenge reactions to CM were prospectively followed to aged 4 years. CMH status was assessed annually by CM challenges.

RIA for serum holo-transcobalamin: method evaluation in the clinical laboratory and reference interval.

Background: Decreased serum holo-transcobalamin (holoTC) could be the earliest marker of cobalamin (Cbl) deficiency, but there has been no method suitable for routine use. We evaluated a new commercial holoTC RIA, determined reference values, and assessed holoTC concentrations in relation to other biochemical markers of Cbl deficiency.

Methods: The reference population consisted of 303 individuals 22-88 years of age, without disease or medication affecting Cbl or homocysteine metabolism.

Mode of delivery and asthma -- is there a connection?

Genetic factors cannot explain the recent rapid increase in the incidence of atopic diseases. The phenomenon has been explained by environmental factors, and there are data for and against the hypothesis that a decline in the pressure of microbial stimulation early in life could be behind the allergy epidemic. Changes have also occurred in maternity care, among them a rise in the caesarean section rate, which could diminish initial microbial exposure and thereby alter T helper 1 cell/T helper-2 cell development and affect the risk of developing atopy.