Pre-eclampsia is a potent risk factor for deterioration of retinopathy during pregnancy in Type 1 diabetic patients

The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of pregnancy on deterioration of retinopathy in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Sixty-five pregnant Type 1 diabetic women attending the University Hospital in Lund were studied retrospectively. The degree of retinopathy, and levels of HbA1c and blood pressure 12 months before, during, and 6 months after pregnancy were compared of those of 56 non-pregnant Type 1 diabetic women matched for age and duration of diabetes. For all patients, sight-threatening deterioration of retinopathy did not differ between the pregnancy group (9/65) and the control group (6/56). Over time, pregnant patients had lower HbA1c levels than controls (p < 0.001). Pregnant patients with sight-threatening deterioration of retinopathy had higher HbA1c levels than those without (p = 0.028 and the decrement in HbA1c between the 6-14th and the 20th week of gestation was more pronounced (p = 0.006). In those patients who developed pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, deterioration of retinopathy ocurred more frequently compared to those without pre-eclampsia (4/8 vs 5/65; p = 0.005). In conclusion, sight-threatening deterioration of retinopathy was not more common during pregnancy in IDDM patients than among age- and duration-matched control patients. In pregnant patients, deterioration of retinopathy was associated with the pregestational degree of metabolic control as well as with a rapidly improved glycaemic control acheived during pregnancy. Among those in whom deterioration occurred during pregnancy, pre-eclampsia was a potent risk factor.     

Brain regions supporting intentional and incidental memory: a PET study

Regional brain activity associated with intentional and incidental memory retrieval was studied with PET. Previously studied and new words were presented in either an intentional or an incidental memory task. Type of task was crossed with an encoding manipulation ('deep' vs 'shallow') which varied the probability that studied items would be remembered. In both tasks, deeply encoded items were associated with greater activation in the left hippocampus than were items that had received shallow encoding, suggesting that the involvement of the hippocampus in memory retrieval is independent of whether remembering is intentional or incidental. Right prefrontal and bilateral parietal cortex were more activated during the international task than during the incidental task, irrespective of encoding condition. Thus, these regions play a more extensive role in memory retrieval when remembering is intentional.     

Relation between coronary artery disease, aortic stiffness, and left ventricular structure in a population sample

With the use of the degenerated nucleotides that contain the conserved sequence of G protein-coupled receptor, we have identified a 648-bp clone (HDGRC02) from human genomic DNA with significant sequence homology to human neurotransmitter receptors. HDGRC02 was then used as a probe for the screening of full length gene. From human Lambda DASH II genomic library, a 1.6 Kb clone encoded a full length gene was isolated and named putative neurotransmitter receptor (PNR). PNR has a single open reading frame which predicts a 38.3 KD protein of 338 amino acids with seven transmembrane domain topography. The amino acid sequence of PNR exhibits considerable homology to the rat 5-HR1D receptor with 35% amino acid identity and 56% amino acid similarity. PNR also shows significant sequence homology to the 5-HT1D receptor from Japanese puffer fish fugu, to the 5-HT4L receptor from mouse, to the alpha-2 adrenergic receptor and to the D2 dopamine receptor. Northern blot analysis indicates that PNR is expressed in skeletal muscle and selected areas of the brain. A chromosome mapping study located the PNR gene with human chromosome band of 6q23. The findings in the present study demonstrate that PNR is a putative neurotransmitter receptor.     

Factors affecting the efficiency of collection of CD34-positive peripheral blood cells by a blood cell separator

BACKGROUND: The yield of CD34-positive cells obtained from an apheresis procedure is determined, in part, by the efficiency of collection. Optimization of the efficiency of CD34-positive peripheral blood cell collection requires identification of predictive factors. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Demographic, stem cell collection, mobilization, and disease-related measures from autologous and allogeneic donors undergoing 252 progenitor cell apheresis procedures were retrospectively reviewed. Statistical relationships between CD34 collection efficiency and the various measures were determined by correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: CD34 collection efficiency inversely correlated with the peripheral white cell count, hematocrit, and serum albumin concentration (R2 = 0.29). White cell count was the single best predictor of CD34 efficiency (R2 = 0.19). Donor groups with cytopenias (patients vs. normal donors; increased cycles of prior chemotherapy; bone marrow involvement; chemotherapy plus growth factor mobilization) had higher collection efficiencies. Only 29 percent of the variability in the data could be attributed to white cell count, hematocrit, and albumin concentration. The majority of the remaining variability was due to unexplained differences between donors. CONCLUSION: CD34 collection efficiencies show considerable variation. Higher peripheral white cell counts, hematocrits, and/or albumin concentrations result in decreased CD34 collection efficiency, but most of the variability in the data is not accounted for by these three factors.     

The in-vitro generation of dendritic cells from blast cells in acute leukaemia

Recent clinical observations indicate that ibuprofen may alleviate the radiation-induced dysuria that almost invariably occurs during radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Because the use of ibuprofen could consequently become common during radiation therapy for prostate cancer, we have been interested in the potential interactions between ibuprofen and ionizing radiation on prostate tumor cells. The effects of gamma-irradiation and/or ibuprofen on PC3 and DU-145 human prostate carcinoma cells were evaluated in vitro using three model systems. Clonogenic survival was determined by plating cells 24 h after treatment of nearly confluent monolayers. Analysis of cell growth, cell detachment, and apoptotic cell death was carried out over a period of up to 9 days after treatment of PC3 and DU-145 monolayers. The effect of ibuprofen and/or radiation was also probed by observing the inhibition of growth of established PC3 and DU-145 colonies that were treated on the 14th day of colony growth. Ibuprofen enhanced the radiation response of prostate cancer cells in all three in vitro models. Both the cytotoxic and radiosensitizing effects of ibuprofen seem to require concentrations that are higher than those reported to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis, suggesting that other molecular mechanisms may be responsible for ibuprofen cytotoxicity.