Evidence implicating heterozygous deletion of chromosome 7 in the pathogenesis of familial leukemia associated with monosomy 7.

Complete or partial monosomy 7 is a recurring cytogenetic abnormality in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myeloproliferative syndromes (MPS) and is particularly common in patients with Fanconi's anemia and in secondary AML. A familial form of monosomy 7 has been recognized in which two or more siblings develop MPS or AML before age 20. We tested the hypothesis that a recessive cancer susceptibility locus on chromosome 7 was important in the pathogenesis of leukemia in familial monosomy 7 by determining the parental origins of the chromosome 7 retained in the bone marrows of three pairs of affected siblings. We found no overlapping region where all three pairs retained DNA derived from the same paternal or maternal chromosome. These data suggest that inactivation of a single allele of a putative tumor-suppressor gene may be sufficient to contribute to leukemic transformation in familial monosomy 7.     

Evaluation of the standards compliance of the queen bees reared in the Mediterranean region in Turkey

The influence of different commercial queen producers on the quality of Apis mellifera queens was assessed. It was aimed to determine the quality characteristics of queens reared by commercial queen producers located in the province of Antalya, which is an important region in queens production due to its climatic characteristics. For this purpose, the quality characteristics of a total of 105 queen bees obtained from 21 enterprises were determined. Differences between the enterprises in terms of the number of spermatozoa (P < 0.01) were determined. In terms of the diameter of spermatheca, spermatheca volume and live weight, statistical differences between the enterprises were also observed (P < 0.05). When the relationships between the measured characteristics were examined, significant values were obtained statistically between live weight and diameter of spermathecae (0.268) and spermatheca volume (0.258). It was also determined that there is a significant correlation between spermatheca diameter and spermatheca volume (0.995). The spermatheca diameter of a good quality queen bee should not be <1.2 mm, spermatheca volume 0.90 mm³ and live weight not <200 mg. Only live weight was found to be within the normal quality standard values when the average results of the quality criteria are taken into consideration. Other characters such as spermathecae diameter, spermathecae volume and number of spermatozoa in spermathecae seem to be below quality standard values.     

Evaluation of carbon sources for the production of inulinase by Aspergillus niger A42 and its characterization

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Inulinases are used for the production of high-fructose syrup and fructooligosaccharides, and are widely utilized in food and pharmaceutical industries. In...     

Midregional-proAtrial Natriuretic Peptide and High Sensitive Troponin T Strongly Predict Adverse Outcome in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Repair of Mitral Valve Regurgitation

Background

It is not known whether biomarkers of hemodynamic stress, myocardial necrosis, and renal function might predict adverse outcome in patients undergoing percutaneous repair of severe mitral valve insufficiency. Thus, we aimed to assess the predictive value of various established and emerging biomarkers for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in these patients.

Methods

Thirty-four patients with symptomatic severe mitral valve insufficiency with a mean STS-Score for mortality of 12.6% and a mean logistic EuroSCORE of 19.7% undergoing MitraClip therapy were prospectively included in this study. Plasma concentrations of mid regional-proatrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP), Cystatin C, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), high-sensitive troponin T (hsTnT), N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), galectin-3, and soluble ST-2 (interleukin 1 receptor-like 1) were measured directly before procedure. MACE was defined as cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure (HF).

Results

During a median follow-up of 211 days (interquartile range 133 to 333 days), 9 patients (26.5%) experienced MACE (death: 7 patients, rehospitalization for HF: 2 patients). Thirty day MACE-rate was 5.9% (death: 2 patients, no rehospitalization for HF). Baseline concentrations of hsTnT (Median 92.6 vs 25.2 ng/L), NT-proBNP (Median 11251 vs 1974 pg/mL) and MR-proANP (Median 755.6 vs 318.3 pmol/L, all p<0.001) were clearly higher in those experiencing an event vs event-free patients, while other clinical variables including STS-Score and logistic EuroSCORE did not differ significantly. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, NT-proBNP and in particular hsTnT and MR-proANP above the median discriminated between those experiencing an event vs event-free patients. This was further corroborated by C-statistics where areas under the ROC curve for prediction of MACE using the respective median values were 0.960 for MR-proANP, 0.907 for NT-proBNP, and 0.822 for hsTnT.

Conclusions

MR-proANP and hsTnT strongly predict cardiovascular death and rehospitalization for HF in patients undergoing percutaneous repair of mitral valve insufficiency. Both markers might be useful components in new scoring systems to better predict short- and potentially long-term mortality and morbidity after MitraClip procedure.     

miRNA-197 and miRNA-223 Predict Cardiovascular Death in a Cohort of Patients with Symptomatic Coronary Artery Disease

Background

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been described as potential diagnostic biomarkers in cardiovascular disease and in particular, coronary artery disease (CAD). Few studies were undertaken to perform analyses with regard to risk stratification of future cardiovascular events. miR-126, miR-197 and miR-223 are involved in endovascular inflammation and platelet activation and have been described as biomarkers in the diagnosis of CAD. They were identified in a prospective study in relation to future myocardial infarction.

Objectives

The aim of our study was to further evaluate the prognostic value of these miRNAs in a large prospective cohort of patients with documented CAD.

Methods

Levels of miR-126, miR-197 and miR-223 were evaluated in serum samples of 873 CAD patients with respect to the endpoint cardiovascular death. miRNA quantification was performed using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

Results

The median follow-up period was 4 years (IQR 2.78–5.04). The median age of all patients was 64 years (IQR 57–69) with 80.2% males. 38.9% of the patients presented with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), 61.1% were diagnosed with stable angina pectoris (SAP). Elevated levels of miRNA-197 and miRNA-223 reliably predicted future cardiovascular death in the overall group (miRNA-197: hazard ratio (HR) 1.77 per one standard deviation (SD) increase (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20; 2.60), p = 0.004, C-index 0.78; miRNA-223: HR 2.23 per one SD increase (1.20; 4.14), p = 0.011, C-index 0.80). In ACS patients the prognostic power of both miRNAs was even higher (miRNA-197: HR 2.24 per one SD increase (1.25; 4.01), p = 0.006, C-index 0.89); miRA-223: HR 4.94 per one SD increase (1.42; 17.20), p = 0.012, C-index 0.89).

Conclusion

Serum-derived circulating miRNA-197 and miRNA-223 were identified as predictors for cardiovascular death in a large patient cohort with CAD. These results reinforce the assumption that circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers with prognostic value with respect to future cardiovascular events.     

Truncated tyrosine kinase B brain-derived neurotrophic factor receptor directs cortical neural stem cells to a glial cell fate by a novel signaling mechanism

During development of the mammalian cerebral cortex neural stem cells (NSC) first generate neurons and subsequently produce glial cells. The mechanism(s) responsible for this developmental shift from neurogenesis to gliogenesis is unknown. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is believed to play important roles in the development of the mammalian cerebral cortex; it enhances neurogenesis and promotes the differentiation and survival of newly generated neurons. Here, we provide evidence that a truncated form of the BDNF receptor tyrosine kinase B (trkB-t) plays a pivotal role in directing embryonic mouse cortical NSC to a glial cell fate. Expression of trkB-t promotes differentiation of NSC toward astrocytes while inhibiting neurogenesis both in cell culture and in vivo. The mechanism by which trkB-t induces astrocyte genesis is not simply the result of inhibition of full-length receptor with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity signaling. Instead, binding of BDNF to trkB-t activates a signaling pathway (involving a G-protein and protein kinase C) that induced NSC to become glial progenitors and astrocytes. Thus, the increased expression of trkB-t in the embryonic cerebral cortex that occurs coincident with astrocyte production plays a pivotal role in the developmental transition from neurogenesis to gliogenesis. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which a single factor (BDNF) regulates the production of the two major cell types in the mammalian cerebral cortex.     

Distribution of HSV-1 IgG antibodies by two methods comparing in Turkish atopic children

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) is a ubiquitous pathogen. Other than known diseases, HSV-1 may have an important role in the pathogenesis of atopy by causing immortality of th2 cells. From June 1st to July 31st 2006, seventy five blood samples were collected from atopic children referred to the allergy clinic of the hospital. The bloods samples were used to detect HSV-1 IgG antibodies by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Virus Neutralization Test. HSV-1 IgG antibody seroprevalence in atopic children was found high, 62.6% by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and 57.3% by Virus Neutralization Test. Thus Virus Neutralization Test sensitivity was 92.15% and specificity was 100% regarding to the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay technic. Although Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay was more sensitive than Virus Neutralization Test, there was no significant difference between two technics (p > 0.05) in detecting HSV-1 IgG antibodies in serum.     

The effect of benzene on the activity of adenosine deaminase in tissues of rats

Swiss Albino (Rat rattus norvegicus) rats were intraperitoneally injected with a 100 mg kg(-1) dosage of benzene, a toxic and carcinogenic agent widely used for industrial purposes. Changes in the adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in the liver, kidney and serum of rats were investigated at 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 h following injection. Serum physiological was administered to each control group. Enzyme activities were measured spectrophotometrically. Our purpose was to further investigations of some diseases caused by benzene, and present evidence of variations in the activity of ADA enzyme effected by benzene. While benzene caused significant inhibitions in ADA activity in the liver at 16 and 32 h and at 0.05 probability level, no significant inhibition or activation occurred at other test periods (hours). ADA activity did not present any significant variation in the kidneys. It was observed that ADA activity displayed similar patterns in the control groups. Comparisons of ADA activities in the two groups showed a statistically significant decrease between 4(th) and 64(th) hours (p< 0.05), demonstrating a direct correlation between benzene and its effects on ADA enzymes.