The effect of screening-to-labor interval on the sensitivity of late-pregnancy culture in the prediction of group B streptococcus colonization at labor: A prospective multicenter cohort study.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of increasing screening-to-labor interval on the performance of group B streptococcus (GBS) screening by late-pregnancy enriched culture compared with intrapartum real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Material And Methods: Group B streptococcus colonization was determined in 2624 women with singleton pregnancies by culture at 35-37 weeks of gestation and at the beginning of labor by culture and RT-PCR from recto-vaginal swab samples.

Results: Group B streptococcus colonization rates were 29.

Riboflavin-Responsive Multiple Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency Associated with Hepatoencephalomyopathy and White Matter Signal Abnormalities on Brain MRI.

Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) is a rare inborn error of metabolism affecting both fatty acid and amino acid oxidation. It can manifest at any age, but riboflavin-responsiveness has mainly been described in less severely affected patients. We describe an infant with severe MADD presenting with profound hypotonia and hepatomegaly.

Ureido group-specific antibodies are induced in rabbits immunized with citrulline- or homocitrulline-containing antigens.

The specificities and cross-reactions of antibodies induced by citrulline- and homocitrulline-containing proteins may give implications on the role of citrulline- and homocitrulline-binding antibodies in the pathogenesis and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here we use rabbits as an experimental model of antibody development in RA. Thirty-two animals were immunized with peptide antigens containing either homocitrulline or citrulline.

Long-term hormonal follow-up after human Puumala hantavirus infection.

Objective: Nephropathia epidemica (NE) is a haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) caused by Puumala hantavirus (PUUV). Pituitary haemorrhage and hypopituitarism may complicate recovery from acute NE.

Design: Forty-seven of our recent cohort of 58 NE patients volunteered to be re-examined in order to estimate the burden of hormonal deficiency 4 to 8 years after the acute illness.

Separate and overlapping specificities in rheumatoid arthritis antibodies binding to citrulline- and homocitrulline-containing peptides related to type I and II collagen telopeptides.

Introduction: Our objective was to find out if there are antibodies binding to homocitrulline-containing type I and II collagen carboxyterminal telopeptides in sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and if these antibodies cross-react with citrulline and homocitrulline in the same peptide sequence.

Methods: A total of 72 RA and 72 control sera were analyzed for binding using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to citrulline- or homocitrulline-containing type I and II collagen carboxyterminal telopeptides, as well as to cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) and to mutated citrullinated vimentin (MCV). Specificities of the antibodies were tested using inhibition-ELISA.

Procollagen assays in cancer.

The synthesis rates of fibrillar collagens can be assessed in blood by measuring propeptides set free from corresponding procollagens before fiber formation. Type I collagen is the major component of the organic matrix of bone, but it is also found in other connective tissues. The serum concentration of the amino-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen, PINP, functions as a measure of type I collagen synthesis during normal bone turnover, but it is also released from bone metastases that involve an osteoblastic component.

Measurement of aminoterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP) in serum.

The aminoterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP) in serum is a sensitive indicator of the synthesis of type I collagen. Four assays are available for PINP, two of them (intact PINP assays) measure the intact propeptide and the other two (total PINP assays) also detect a smaller antigen in serum. In many clinical situations, these assays give similar information, but renal insufficiency increases the concentration of the smaller antigen, influencing both the apparent concentration of PINP and assay calibration.

Anticitrulline antibodies can be caused by homocitrulline-containing proteins in rabbits.

Objective: To clarify the possible roles of protein-bound homocitrulline in causing an antibody response to citrulline and as a confounding factor in citrulline detection assays.

Methods: Native, carbamoylated, and citrullinated albumins were used for testing the specificity of commercial antibodies against modified citrulline by Western blot. Rabbits were immunized with human albumin and/or bone type I collagen, both of which were treated with cyanate to produce homocitrulline, or with citrullinated synthetic telopeptide of type I collagen.

Medical theses as part of the scientific training in basic medical and dental education: experiences from Finland.

Background: Teaching the principles of scientific research in a comprehensive way is important at medical and dental schools. In many countries medical and dental training is not complete until the candidate has presented a diploma thesis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nature, quality, publication pattern and visibility of Finnish medical diploma theses.

Citrullinated collagens in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Citrulline formation through the deimination of arginine residues has recently been identified as an enzymatic post-translational modification of proteins that could be related to breaking the tolerance to self-antigens in the development of rheumatoid arthritis. Autoantibodies recognizing citrullinated peptides are highly specific indicators of early rheumatoid arthritis. However, current knowledge of the natural proteins that are citrullinated does not explain the main manifestations of the disease, that is, progressive damage to cartilage and bone - tissues rich in extracellular matrix.

Short-term intermittent intravenous clodronate in the prevention of bone loss related to chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure.

Chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure causes rapid bone loss in premenopausal women with early breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of intravenous intermittent clodronate during adjuvant chemotherapy in prevention of this rapid bone loss. 45 premenopausal women with early stage breast cancer were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.

Synthesis and maturation of type I and type III collagens in endometrial adenocarcinoma.

Objective: The structure and distribution of type I and type III collagens in the extracellular matrix of malignant endometrium was evaluated for their roles in the development and progression of this neoplasm.

Study Design: Collagen synthesis and deposition in endometrial adenocarcinomas was determined by immunohistochemical analysis of type I and type III procollagen and verified by computer-assisted morphometry and in situ hybridization.

Results: In the stroma of well-differentiated adenocarcinomas increased intracellular collagen synthesis was observed in fibroblastic cells as well as increased extracellular formation of newly synthesized type I and type III procollagen.

Differently cross-linked and uncross-linked carboxy-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen in human mineralised bone.

In bone matrix, type I collagen is stabilised by covalent cross-links formed between adjacent collagen molecules; the majority of which is believed to be immature, divalent bonds. For studying these immature forms in detail, we have developed an immunoassay for a synthetic peptide SP 4 that is analogous with and detects a linear epitope within the C-telopeptide of alpha1-chain of type I collagen. The SP 4 assay, together with the ICTP assay, which is specific for the trivalently cross-linked C-telopeptide, was used for the isolation of the differently cross-linked C-telopeptide structures of the alpha1-chain of type I collagen present in mineralised human bone.

Collagen formation in extracellular matrix of transplants of human transformed keratinocyte cell lines.

Background, Materials And Methods: The role of epithelial cell growth and neoplastic transformation on collagen formation and deposition in the extracellular matrix (ECM) was analyzed by culturing immortalized human epidermal cell lines and Ras-transformed benign and malignant clones on collagen gels as transplants. The lesions were analyzed for extent of growth and morphology of epithelial and mesenchymal components as well as synthesis and deposition of different collagens.

Results: Immortalized cell lines required up to 5 weeks of growth for a well-organized mesenchyme to develop; transplants of Ras-transformed benign clones needed 3 weeks and transplants of highly malignant clones only 2 weeks to form an organized stroma.

Increased amount of type III pN-collagen in AAA when compared with AOD.

Objective: the extent of the processing of type III procollagen to type III collagen was determined in nine human abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), and compared with ten samples of aortoiliac occlusive disease (AOD).

Methods: the aminoterminal propeptide (PIIINP) and telopeptide (IIINTP) of type III procollagen and collagen, respectively, were immunologically measured in the soluble and insoluble fractions of the extracellular matrix. The assay for PIIINP in the insoluble matrix was further validated.

Aminoterminal propeptide of the alpha1-homotrimer variant of human type I procollagen (hotPINP) in malignant pleural effusion.

The aminoterminal propeptide (hotPINP) of type I homotrimer, a putative malignancy-associated type I collagen variant, was purified for the first time and a method was established for its detection in pleural fluid. Samples of 58 patients, with malignant or benign disease, were studied with specific immunoassays for the two propeptides of type-I procollagen (PICP and PINP) and with HPLC-DEAE chromatography to separate the two PINP variants. HotPINP was present in 64% of both benign and malignant pleural effusion fluids, with the exception of malignant mesotheliomas, none of which showed the presence of hotPINP.

Familial high serum PICP: high even in skin interstitial fluid, suppressible by topical corticosteroid treatment.

Circulating C-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), mostly originating from bone, is mainly cleared by mannose receptors (MRs) in liver endothelial cells (LECs). We hypothesized that skin macrophage MRs could also play a role in local (in situ) clearance of PICP originating from skin type I procollagen synthesis. We tested this hypothesis in a male subject with a genetic systemic clearance defect, apparently due to an abnormality in MR function in LECs (or in PICP structure).

New PCR-based method for the Sp1 site polymorphism in the COL1A1 gene.

Polymorphism in the Sp1 binding site in the first intron of the COL1A1 gene has been related to increased risk of osteoporosis in several populations. To overcome the difficulties associated with the use of mismatch oligonucleotide primers in the original method for its detection, we developed a procedure involving PCR amplification of a 598-base pair sequence from the intron and its digestion with the restriction enzyme Van 91 I. The more frequent allele is recognized by the enzyme, whereas the reaction is abolished in the less frequent allele.

Type I collagen turnover and cross-linking are increased in irradiated skin of breast cancer patients.

Background And Purpose: The effects of radiation therapy on the turnover and structure of type I collagen were studied in irradiated and contralateral skin of 18 breast cancer patients without clinically evident fibrosis.

Materials And Methods: The rates of on-going type I collagen synthesis and degradation were assessed by the aminoterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP) and by two different assays (ICTP and SP4) for the carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen in the soluble tissue extracts, respectively. Also, TIMP-1, TIMP-2 and the MMP-2/TIMP-2 complex were measured in the tissue extracts.

Serial determinations of aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP) and prognosis in ovarian cancer; comparison to CA125.

During malignant growth many changes take place in the metabolism of fibrillar type III collagens in the connective tissues. The aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP) has been found to be often elevated in ovarian cancer. In the present study the prognostic value of serum PIIINP concentration in epithelial ovarian cancer is evaluated in relation to serum CA125.

Increased amount of type III pN-collagen in human abdominal aortic aneurysms: evidence for impaired type III collagen fibrillogenesis.

Purpose: This study aimed to characterize the distribution of structural domains of type I and III collagens in the wall of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), by the use of undilated atherosclerotic aortas (aortoiliac occlusive disease [AOD]) and healthy abdominal aortas as controls.

Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was applied with antibodies for the aminoterminal propeptides of type I (PINP) and type III (PIIINP) procollagens, which represent newly synthesized type I and III pN-collagens. In addition, an antibody against the aminoterminal telopeptide of type III collagen (IIINTP) was used as a means of detecting maturely cross-linked type III collagen fibrils.

Decreased protein C activation is associated with abnormal collagen turnover in the intraalveolar space of patients with interstitial lung disease.

Activation of the coagulation system in the alveolar space plays an important role in the pathogenesis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pulmonary fibrosis. The protein C (PC) pathway is the main modulator of coagulation activation. This study evaluated whether dysfunction of the PC pathway is associated with increased collagen synthesis in the intraalveolar space of patients with ILD.