Comparison of fetal plasma cortisol level between eutrophic and hypotrophic newborns

We tested two groups of singletons born at term: fifty-six eutrophic newborns and 56 hypotrophic subjects. They were selected randomly from all newborns delivered by vaginal route between 8 and 14 hours. Excluded were preeclampsia, diabetes, labours longer than 12 hours and newborns with malformations. Written informed consent was obtained from all women and data were collected before and after labour. Umbilical cord blood samples were obtained immediately following the delivery and plasma cortisol concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. The groups did not differ significantly regarding maternal age, parity, gestational age and Apgar score, but birth weight was significant differed (p < 0.001). In addition, eutrophic newborns had significantly elevated cortisol levels (457.7 nmol/L, 321.8-696.6 nmol/L) compared with hypotrophic newborns (320.5 nmol/L, 215.1-578.7 nmol/L, p < 0.001). The role of fetal cortisol in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) pregnancy and labour is uncertain, but fetal plasma cortisol levels may be lower in IUGR newborns.     

Ocular blood flow parameters in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the potential statistically significant differences in the ocular blood flow parameters in eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD). Eleven patients, 5 females and 6 males, mean age 46 years (range 22-70), with the unilateral rhegmatogenous RD were enrolled in the study. Colour Doppler Ultrasound was used to measure ocular blood flow velocities in the ophthalmic artery (OA), posterior ciliary's arteries (PCA) and ophthalmic vein (OV). The contralateral eye served as a control. All Doppler examinations were performed 1 day before and exactly 3 days after the retinal detachment surgery. The measurements of the peak systolic velocity (Vmax), diastolic velocity (Vd), minimum velocity (Vmin), time-averaged velocity (TAV), resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) showed no statistically significant difference (by paired Student's t-test, p > 0.05) between the OA, PCA and OV in healthy eyes and eyes with RD before operation, as well as between the eyes with RD before and after the operation. Only was increased RI in OV of eyes with RD after the surgery (p < 0.05). All these parameters were not related with 2 or more quadrants of RD, but the difference in duration of retinal detachment in days is statistically significant (by Wilcoxon t-test p > 0.05). Pearson correlation method gave statistically significant correlation between RI and PI of the OA in healthy eyes (r = 0.826, p < 0.01), eyes with RD before operation (r = 0.847, p < 0.01) and eyes with RD after the operation (r = 0.856, p < 0.01). Formula for the calculation of PI by RI was derived using linear regression analysis in all three cases. Scleral buckling surgery leaves the ocular blood parameters in OA unchanged. The correlation between RD and logarithm of duration of RD in days is statistically significant.     

A comparison of lymphocyte subpopulations simultaneously on local and systemic levels in acute rheumatoid arthritis patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most destructive inflammatory and autoimmune joint diseases, most frequently accompanied by extraarticular complications. The pathophysiologic mechanism and the importance of cell subpopulations in the initiation and perpetuation of synovitis are not sufficiently understood. In this study the frequency of lymphocyte subpopulations simultaneously in the synovial fluid (SF), the synovial membrane (SM) and peripheral blood (PB) of acute RA patients is determined, using flow cytometry procedures. The changes in the distribution of T lymphocyte subpopulations were significant on local levels in acute RA patients, resulting in a decreased CD4/CD8 ratio in SF, but an increased CD4/CD8 ratio in SM, compared to the ratio found in PB. The differences observed in the frequency of cells positive on natural killer (NK) cell markers suggest the role of CD16-CD56+ NK cell population in SF of RA patients. Significant differences in the observed frequency of lymphatic subpopulations suggest certain specificities of local immunological events in SM and SF in acute RA. These results confirm the T-lymphocyte hypothesis in initial pathogenic events in RA.     

The chromatin remodelling complex NoRC safeguards genome stability by heterochromatin formation at telomeres and centromeres

Constitutive heterochromatin is crucial for the integrity of chromosomes and genomic stability. Here, we show that the chromatin remodelling complex NoRC, known to silence a fraction of rRNA genes, also establishes a repressive heterochromatic structure at centromeres and telomeres, preserving the structural integrity of these repetitive loci. Knockdown of NoRC leads to relaxation of centromeric and telomeric heterochromatin, abnormalities in mitotic spindle assembly, impaired chromosome segregation and enhanced chromosomal instability. The results demonstrate that NoRC safeguards genomic stability by coordinating enzymatic activities that establish features of repressive chromatin at centromeric and telomeric regions, and this heterochromatic structure is required for sustaining genomic integrity.     

Characterization of Lactobacillus brevis L62 strain, highly tolerant to copper ions

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as starter culture in food industry must be suitable for large-scale industrial production and possess the ability to survive in unfavorable processes and storage conditions. Approaches taken to address these problems include the selection of stress-resistant strains. In food industry, LAB are often exposed to metal ions induced stress. The interactions between LAB and metal ions are very poorly investigated. Because of that, the influence of non-toxic, toxic and antioxidant metal ions (Zn, Cu, and Mn) on growth, acid production, metal ions binding capacity of wild and adapted species of Leuconostoc mesenteroides L3, Lactobacillus brevis L62 and Lactobacillus plantarum L73 were investigated. The proteomic approach was applied to clarify how the LAB cells, especially the adapted ones, protect themselves and tolerate high concentrations of toxic metal ions. Results have shown that Zn and Mn addition into MRS medium in the investigated concentrations did not have effect on the bacterial growth and acid production, while copper ions were highly toxic, especially in static conditions. Leuc. mesenteroides L3 was the most efficient in Zn binding processes among the chosen LAB species, while L. plantarum L73 accumulated the highest concentration of Mn. L. brevis L62 was the most copper resistant species. Adaptation had a positive effect on growth and acid production of all species in the presence of copper. However, the adapted species incorporated less metal ions than the wild species. The exception was adapted L. brevis L62 that accumulated high concentration of copper ions in static conditions. The obtained results showed that L. brevis L62 is highly tolerant to copper ions, which allows its use as starter culture in fermentative processes in media with high concentration of copper ions.     

Kinetics of Tissue Iron in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Rats

To elucidate the role of iron in the pathomechanisms of autoimmune CNS disorders, we estimated the tissue concentrations of Fe²⁺ in the brain, spinal cord, and liver in the chronic relapsing form of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The disease was induced in Dark Agouti (DA) strain of rats, by subcutaneous injection of bovine brain homogenate in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Control rats consisted of unsensitized rats and of rats treated with CFA or saline. The data obtained by clinical assessment and by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry have shown that the attacks of disease (on the 12th and 22nd post-immunization day) were followed by high accumulation of iron in the liver. Additionally, during the second attack of disease, the decreased concentration of Fe²⁺ was found in cervical spinal cord. The data point to regulatory effects of iron and hepatic trace elements regulating mechanisms in the pathogenesis of EAE.     

Knowledge-based computational methods for identifying or designing novel,non-homologous antimicrobial peptides

We describe computational approaches for identifying promising lead candidates for the development of peptide antibiotics, in the context of quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSAR) studies for this type of molecule. A first approach deals with predicting the selectivity properties of generated antimicrobial peptide sequences in terms of measured therapeutic indices (TI) for known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Based on a training set of anuran AMPs, the concept of sequence moments was used to construct algorithms that could predict TIs for a second test set of natural AMPs and could also predict the effect of point mutations on TI values. This approach was then used to design peptide antibiotics (adepantins) not homologous to known natural or synthetic AMPs. In a second approach, many novel putative AMPs were identified from DNA sequences in EST databases, using the observation that, as a rule, specific subclasses of highly conserved signal peptides are associated exclusively with AMPs. Both anuran and teleost sequences were used to elucidate this observation and its implications. The predicted therapeutic indices of identified sequences could then be used to identify new types of selective putative AMPs for future experimental verification.     

Prevalence of severe retinopathy of prematurity in a geographically defined population in Croatia

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of stage III of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among newborns of birth weight < 1500 g and gestational age (GA) < or = 32 weeks, and to compare these prevalences during two time periods (1998-2002 and 2003-2007). The investigation was conducted at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital in Rijeka, Croatia. The screening for ROP was performed by an ophthalmologist using a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope. Over a period of 10 years, there were 28,627 liveborn newborns, with 136 (0.48%) premature newborns with a birth weights < 1500 g and 226 (0.79%) newborns with GA at birth < or = 32 weeks. The proportions of survivors among newborns with birth weights < 1500 g (51.1% vs. 70.5%) and among newborns with GA at birth < or = 32 weeks (67.9% vs. 77.0%) were significantly higher in the later period. During the period 2003-2007, the proportion examined for ROP was higher among newborns with birth weight < 1500 g (52.9% vs. 97.1%) and among newborns with GA at birth < or = 32 weeks (46.5% vs. 96.9%). The prevalence of stage III ROP was significantly lower in 2003-2007 compared to that in 1998-2002 among newborns with birth weight < 1500 g (30.6% vs. 14.0%) and newborns with GA at birth < or = 32 weeks (22.4% vs. 8.8%). The prevalence of total ROP among newborns was significantly lower in 2003-2007 compared with 1998-2002. This decrease in prevalence may be explained by advances in neonatal intensive care unit, increased survival of very low birth weight infants and carefully timed retinal examinations.     

The role of omega6 to omega3 ratio in development and progression of age-related macular degeneration

The aim of this study is to investigate possible connection between omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio and development and progression of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). We examined 125 patients diagnosed with ARMD and divided into 5 groups of 25 patients according to CARMS (Clinical Age-Related Maculopathy Staging System). Control group consists of 51 patients with similar ages, without ARMD. All of them underwent stereobiomicroscopy, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. Dietary fatty acids intake was measured using food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The FFQ was based on previously validated questionnaire (DIETQ, Tinuviel Software, Warington, Ches, UK) and FFQ2 from Blue MountainEye Study. The data were analysed using food nutritient dana from McCance and Widdowson's Food Composition Tables, supplemented with a food fatty acid content database (Foodbase, London, UK). We noticed statistically significant difference between omega-6/omega-3 ratio in neovascular ARMD (stage 5) and all other groups including control group (p = 0.000020). The ratio in Stage 5 was about 11:1 like in Western diet. Stage 4-geographic atrophy (GA) has statistically significant difference in o-mega-6/omega-3 ratio compared with stage 1 (p = 0.000571), stage 2 (p = 0.000112) and stage3 (p = 0.000430). The ratio in first three groups is about 7-7.5:1 (greater then Mediteran-4-5:1, but lower then Western Diet-10-20:1). There is no statistically significant difference between first three stages (p > 0.05) and stage 4 and control group (p = 0.172388). Omega-6/omega-3 ratio is connected with development of neovascular ARMD. Decreased ratio protects against neovascular ARMD. On the contrary, GA seems to be connected with prolonged sunlight exposure (the ratio is about 6:1). It is good to know that changing nutrition habits someone can prevent development of severe neovascular form of ARMD because intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy limitations.     

Nail position has an influence on anterior knee pain after tibial intramedullary nailing

Our aim was to determine the possible relationship between anterior knee pain (AKP) and nail position marked as a distance from tip of nail to tibial plateau (NP) and to the tuberositas tibiae (NT). Nail position has an influence on anterior knee pain after tibial intramedullary nailing. We evaluated postoperative outcome results of 50 patients in the last 3 years with healed fractures initially treated with intramedullary (IM) reamed nails with 2 or 3 interlocking screws on both parts of the nail and with the use of medial paratendinous incision for nail entry portal. Patients marked a point on the visual analog scale (VAS) that corresponded to the level of postoperative AKP felt. Two groups of patients were formed on the basis of AKP (pain level was neglected): groups A and B, with and without pain, respectively. The difference between the two groups concerning NP measurements was statistically significant (p < 0.05), but not concerning NT measurements at the p < 0.05 level. Patients were classified by pain with high accuracy (98%) according to a classification tree. Symptoms of AKP did not appear if the tip of the nail position was more than 6.0 mm from the NP and more than 2.6 mm from the NT. However, for better evaluation of these results it will be necessary to examine a larger number of postoperative patients with AKP.