Ethical, legal and medical aspects of transplantation

Tissue and organ transplantation is a very complex interdisciplinary treatment, particularly in regard to unpaired organs, and it carries numerous risks for all participants in such an action. For the purpose of minimizing the risks to the allowed level and the preservation the humanitarian goals in medicine when performing the transplantation, professional and scientific doctrines and the respect of ethical and legal principles should be strictly observed. The paper presents the basic approaches in the estimation of justification, usefulness and certain forms of responsibility in the process of transplantation. Ethical and legal postulates which support transplantation to prevent deviation, deprivation or delinquency have also been reviewed.     

The in vivo metabolic pattern of low-grade brain gliomas: a positron emission tomographic study using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose and 11C-L-methylmethionine

OBJECTIVE: The object of the present study was to identify metabolic differences between low-grade astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas and to improve their diagnosis and noninvasive assessment, because both types of tumors look very similar from the point of view of clinical and radiological data (as assessed by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging). METHODS: Before any aggressive treatment, 22 patients with primary low-grade gliomas (astrocytomas in 12 patients and oligodendrogliomas in 10) were investigated with positron emission tomography for both glucose metabolism (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose) and amino acid uptake (11C-L-methylmethionine). An original software that allows a full metabolic analysis of the tumor region of interest (defined from the T1-weighted magnetic resonance image) and compares tumor tissue uptake tracer concentrations with average healthy tissue values has been implemented for data processing. Heterogeneity of each individual tumor has been taken into account and was expressed in histograms, which provided data about the mean and also extreme and intermediate values of tracer concentrations and the way these values are distributed among the full tumor mass. RESULTS: It has been shown that both tumor types exhibit a glucose hypometabolism (slightly more pronounced with astrocytomas), whereas they strongly differ in methionine uptake, which is high in all oligodendrogliomas and either decreased, normal, or moderately increased in astrocytomas. This latter metabolic difference between both tumor populations may be partially explained by their different cell densities. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that despite similar radiological and clinical presentations, these two kinds of low-grade gliomas are metabolically different and could therefore have specific responses to different therapies. Moreover, their in vivo metabolic follow-up with positron emission tomography should rely on different parameters, depending on their histological type; methionine uptake may be more relevant than glucose metabolism in the follow-up of oligodendrogliomas.     

Developmental and light-dependent changes of the cytosolic chaperonin containing TCP-1 (CCT) subunits in maize seedlings, and the localization in coleoptiles

The cytosolic chaperonin containing TCP-1 (CCT) is known to keep fold cytoskeletal proteins and is involved in the proper organization of the cytoskeleton. These studies are based on the assumption that growth responses linked to structural rearrangement of the plant cytoskeleton include the action of CCT and the need for newly synthesized tubulin. The presence of the alpha- and epsilon-subunits of CCT was investigated in soluble fractions of protein extracts from maize mesocotyls and coleoptiles at distinct growth stages. The CCT-subunits, tubulins and actin decreased in the coleoptile in response to far-red light. In addition, independent from light treatment, the amount of CCT epsilon abundance declined with age in coleoptiles and mesocotyls between 2 and 4.5 days after sowing. In contrast to CCT epsilon, no significant light regulation of CCT alpha was found in the mesocotyl. In two day old, light-grown rapidly elongating coleoptiles part of the CCT alpha subunit and the bulk of actin and tubulin was found shifted into fractions of high molecular weight complexes when compared to slowly elongating, dark grown coleoptiles. In 4.5 day old, etiolated and elongating coleoptiles, part of both CCT-subunits and cytoskeleton proteins were found in fractions of high molecular weight. A complete disappearance of these polypeptides was observed in old far-red irradiated growth-arrested coleoptiles. CCT epsilon was found to be colocalized to microtubular structures and to the nucleus. We conclude from our data that abundance of CCT-subunits in soluble extracts is dependent on age and light treatment, but independent from the growth stage of mesocotyl and coleoptile.     

Potency comparison of peptidomimetic inhibitors against HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteinases: design of equipotent lead compounds

The results of investigation of haptoglobin (Hp) types in 596 donor blood samples in some towns of Ukraine (Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Odessa, Kiev, Uzhgorod, Zhitomir) are presented. Three normal Hp types (Hp1-1, Hp2-1 and Hp2-2) have been found. The reliable interpopulation differences in the Hp types frequency were not found. On the whole the Hp types frequency in the type Hp1-1 comprised 12.7%. In the type Hp2-1-48.1% and in the type Hp2-2-36.5%. The frequency of the gene Hp1 is 0.38. The frequency of the Hp types and of the gene Hpl in Ukraine is similar to that in population of Eastern Europe and European Part of Russia.     

Interaction between the Drug Information Centre and the Regional Centre for Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring in northern Sweden

Two Ghanaian women, aged 21 and 29 years, who were involved in road traffic accidents sustaining blunt trauma to the chest and who had delayed diagnosis of their total bronchial rupture and underwent successful surgical repair 18 and 29 months, respectively after injury are reported with a review of the literature. We believe these to be the first reported cases of delayed diagnosis and successful repair of total bronchial rupture in Tropical Africa.     

Distribution of allelic forms of erythrocyte H1 histones in Japanese quail populations divergently selected for amount of weight loss after transient starvation

Three polymorphic subtypes of erythrocyte histone H1 (H1.a, H1.b, and H1.z) were analyzed using a sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel in quail populations divergently selected for a high (line 1) or low (line 2) reduction in body mass following temporary food withdrawal. Both H1.b and H1.z histone alleles were found to be differently distributed in these populations during the selection period. The frequency of b1 in line 2 was approximately 1.9-2.8 times lower than in line 1 and approached the values in line 1 when the selection was suspended. Similarly, the frequency of allele z2 at locus H1.z increased significantly (about 1.6-2.3 times) in line 2 during selection and returned to the initial values when selection was stopped. On the other hand, allele a0 at locus H1.a was kept at relatively low levels (usually below 0.05) in both lines during selection. At that time its level was approximately three to four times lower than in a random mating control population. When selection was suspended, the frequency of a0 in line 1 increased significantly, approaching the values in the control line, and remained essentially unchanged in line 2. Thus, all three polymorphic histone H1 loci in quail responded through changes in allele frequencies to the breeding selection, which was directed at the amount of body weight loss upon transient starvation. It seems that either H1 histone locus could be linked to loci controlling the rate of body weight reduction following starvation or weight loss during fasting might be influenced by a panel of H1 histone alleles that can contribute to functional differences in avian chromatin.     

A new mumps virus lineage found in the 1995 mumps outbreak in western Switzerland identified by nucleotide sequence analysis of the SH gene

We determined the nucleotide sequence of the SH gene its flanking regions over a range of 380 nucleotides for three distinct mumps virus (MUV) isolates. Two isolates from the 1992 mumps epidemic in Western Switzerland and one MUV isolated in 1995 in the same geographic area have been analyzed and compared to 16 recently published SH nucleotide sequences and their presumed amino acid sequences. The nucleotide sequences from the 1992 MUV isolates were identical and closely related to two MUV strains from Eastern Switzerland and strains from the U.K. The MUV isolated in 1995 is clearly different from all other strains.