Erythropoietin in amniotic fluid as a marker of chronic fetal hypoxia.

Objective: To determinate the erythropoietin concentration in amniotic fluid in normal pregnancies and pregnancies with suspected hypoxia.

Method: The erythropoietin concentration of 164 samples of amniotic fluid was determined by ELISA. The samples were taken by amniotomy during birth, as well as amniocentesis conducted during prenatal care.

Computerized cardiotocography following vibroacoustic stimulation of premature fetuses.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of vibroacoustic stimulation (VAS) on the fetal heart rates (FHRs) in a group of premature fetuses.

Study Design: The FHRs were analyzed using the Oxford Sonicaid Computer System 8000, 30 min preceding and then 3 times following VAS.

Results: The changes of the mean FHR after VAS in the premature group and the control group of term fetuses occurred in the first 10 min after VAS.

Compliance to a low-salt diet.

Community intervention projects, efforts at single centers, and multicenter, prospective, dietary salt-restriction trials suggest that such an intervention is neither easy to achieve nor simple to maintain. Community-wide interventions based on advertisements, pamphlets, posters, radio messages, instructions in schools or other institutions, and cooperation from food suppliers such as butchers and bakers resulted in a slight decrease in salt consumption, mostly in normotensive women. A demonstration project at a single center showed that lowering salt intake long-term by 50% in hypertensive patients was feasible.

Heterogeneous responses to changes in dietary salt intake: the salt-sensitivity paradigm.

Blood pressure responses to increases and decreases in dietary salt intake are heterogeneous. In some hypertensive individuals, decreases in blood pressure with salt restriction are clinically significant and approach that achieved with medication. In others, little or no change in blood pressure occurs, whereas in still others, blood pressure may actually increase with salt restriction.

Non-classical-MHC genetics of immunological disease in man and mouse. The key role of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes.

For a series of immunological diseases including asthma, inflammatory arthritis and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis the non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genetics of man and mouse has been making rapid progress. Information is available not only for the disease associations of individual candidate genes but also from the first genome scans. In both species the proinflammatory cytokine genes and/or their related receptors and inhibitors (IL-1, IL-1r, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-6r, TNF-alpha), and to a lesser extent the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 are implicated as candidate control elements.

Disturbances of thyroid function tests by drugs.

Commonly prescribed drugs can variously cause changes in measuring serum T3 and T4 concentrations. Thus spuriously normal thyroid hormone levels may result in moderate hypo- or hyperthyroidism, or the influence of pharmacological substances may lead to a false diagnosis of thyroid disease in euthyroid subjects. On the other hand numerous pharmacological agents, especially those interacting with neurotransmitters, may influence TSH secretion, too.

Comparison of fosfomycin and teicoplanin in serum bactericidal activity against staphylococci.

A serum bactericidal test was established employing human sera of volunteers after intravenous administration of fosfomycin (CAS 23155-02-4) and teicoplanin (CAS 61036-62-2) against 40 staphylococcal strains (20 Staphylococcus aureus and 20 coagulase-negative staphylococci, 10 of each group being susceptible and 10 being resistant to oxacillin). Median serum inhibitory titres were highest for fosfomycin against oxacillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. In the three other groups of strains, the activity of fosfomycin was comparable to that of teicoplanin.

Improvement of myocardial perfusion by short-term fluvastatin therapy in coronary artery disease.

Patients with hypercholesterolemia have impaired coronary and peripheral endothelial function. In patients with coronary artery disease, intracoronary acetylcholine infusion or mental stress causes paradoxical vasoconstriction, whereas lowering cholesterol restores endothelial function. The impact of lipid lowering by fluvastatin on myocardial perfusion in hypercholesterolemic patients with perfusion abnormalities was assessed by thallium-201 single photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT).

Isolation of atypical mycobacteria from tap water in hospitals and homes: is this a possible source of disseminated MAC infection in AIDS patients?

Infections caused by mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT), especially Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), are common in AIDS patients, but rare in immunocompetent persons. The route of transmission is unknown, but tap water could provide a possible source of infection: MAC was isolated from tap water in the U.S.

Intensive treatment of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with the MACOP-B protocol.

The usefulness of intensive chemotherapy with the MACOP-B protocol was evaluated in 8 patients with AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Four patients had a prior AIDS diagnosis. The median CD4+ lymphocyte count was 0.

Nuclear calcium signaling is initiated by cytosolic calcium surges in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Calcium is not only a second messenger in the cytoplasm but also may be involved in signaling within the nucleus itself. The regulation of the nuclear calcium signal is imperfectly defined. The purpose of our study was to further elucidate the relationship between cytosolic [Ca++]c and nuclear calcium concentration [Ca++]n in vascular smooth muscle cells and to test the hypothesis that components of the phospholipase C-induced signaling system are responsible for the hormone-induced increase in [Ca++]n.

Enterocytozoon bieneusi infection in an immunocompetent patient who had acute diarrhea and who was not infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a microsporidian species that has been detected exclusively in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are severely immunocompromised. We report what we believe is the first case of E. bieneusi infection in an HIV-negative patient with acute, self-limited diarrhea whose CD4+ cell count was not depressed.

Antibacterial efficacy of ciprofloxacin in a case of endocarditis due to Cardiobacterium hominis.

Endocarditis due to Cardiobacterium hominis is rare and may be treated with a variety of antibiotics. We isolated the bacteria from blood cultures of a patient with Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis who could be successfully treated with ciprofloxacin. The bacterial features of Cardiobacterium hominis are presented, and susceptibility to ciprofloxacin is documented with bacterial killing curves employing peak and trough specimens of patient's serum.

Successful treatment of AIDS-related pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma with liposomal daunorubicin.

We report a 35 year old male, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), who presented with rapidly progressive pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma. The tumour regressed with treatment with liposomal daunorubicin and remained in partial remission until the patient died 12 months later from complications of HIV infection. Liposomal daunorubicin may be a safe and effective alternative to the treatment protocols in current use for pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma.

Comparative studies of high resolution Z-DNA crystal structures. Part 1: Common hydration patterns of alternating dC-dG.

The water structure in three crystal forms of the left-handed Z-DNA hexamer [d(CGCGCG)]2 has been analyzed. Several common motifs have been found in the first hydration shells. On the convex surface, the major groove of the left-handed conformation, water molecules bridge the guanine O-6 keto groups at GpC steps.

Safety of alternating ganciclovir and foscarnet maintenance therapy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related cytomegalovirus infections. An open-labeled pilot study.

In the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in patients with AIDS, a life-long suppression therapy following an induction therapy consisting of ganciclovir or foscarnet is essential. Due to drug-related toxicities, anti-CMV therapy frequently has to be discontinued. To determine whether toxicities and side effects may be reduced with an alternating combination therapy consisting of ganciclovir and foscarnet (ganciclovir: 5 mg/kg every other day; foscarnet: 120 mg/kg every other day), 10 AIDS patients with CMV disease received this maintenance therapy for a median time of 18.

Quantitative assessment of peripheral and coronary artery lesions before and after balloon angioplasty: a comparison of intravascular ultrasound and angiography.

Intravascular ultrasound and conventional angiography were used to determine the degree of stenosis before and after angioplasty in 25 consecutive patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease and 15 selected patients with coronary artery disease. Angiographic determinations of the luminal area and percent stenosis were made with the help of an automatic detection system, and the same parameters were evaluated planimetrically in the ultrasound studies. Following angioplasty of peripheral lesions, angiography demonstrated a significantly greater increase in mean luminal area (10.

Meningovascular neurosyphilis in human immunodeficiency virus infection as a differential diagnosis of focal CNS lesions: a clinicopathological study.

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) appears to alter the course of syphilis and particularly neurosyphilis. We report the case of an HIV-positive patient with two CNS lesions due to vascular complications of neurosyphilis of the meningovascular type, 18 months after he had developed a penile chancre. On admission, CT scans were inconsistent with cerebral toxoplasmosis or CNS lymphoma.

Efficacy of pyrimethamine/sulfadoxine in the prevention of toxoplasmic encephalitis relapses and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV-infected patients.

The efficacy and safety of 25 mg pyrimethamine plus 500 mg sulfadoxine given twice a week in preventing relapses of AIDS-related toxoplasmic encephalitis was evaluated in an open study. The 56 HIV-infected patients evaluated had responded to intensive treatment with pyrimethamine/clindamycin prior to starting the present prophylactic regimen. Four patients (7 %) experienced relapse while on pyrimethamine/sulfadoxine.

Spectral power and coherence analysis of sleep EEG in AIDS patients: decrease in interhemispheric coherence.

Fifteen patients aged between 26 and 55 years with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and various cerebral manifestations of the disease underwent an all-night sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) registration. The recordings of 15 age-matched volunteers were examined as controls. Sleep stages were determined visually and the following spectral analysis was based on corresponding artifact-free 40-second periods.

Acute and long-term efficacy of antituberculous treatment in HIV-seropositive patients with tuberculosis: a study of 36 cases.

Thirty-six consecutively observed HIV-seropositive patients with tuberculosis, including 31 patients with AIDS, who received antituberculous treatment, were followed up to evaluate its efficacy. Treatment with standard antituberculous regimens was intended except when an individual's condition required a modified therapeutic approach. Therapeutic failure occurred in five patients (14%) while on treatment, one also had a post-treatment relapse.

In vitro inhibition of platelet aggregation by the liver with UW solution as the preservation fluid.

The influence of UW preservation fluid in comparison with that of Euro-Collins and Bretschneider solutions on collagen, adenosine diphosphate and ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation was investigated in vitro using platelet-rich plasma of 4 healthy volunteers. The concentrations of the solutions tested were comparable to those that may be used in the transplant situation. 2UW solution inhibited ADP and collagen-induced platelet aggregation--an effect that could be attributed mainly to adenosine and secondarily to penicillin in UW solution--whereas ristocetin-induced aggregation was not affected.