Lesbian mothers who conceived after donor insemination: a follow-up study

This study investigated the development of family relationships in lesbian families who conceived after donor insemination (DI). The main characteristics of this unknown family structure were analysed. An anonymous donor was used to conceive, the family unit consisted of two mothers and a father was non-existent, and both women had a homosexual orientation. A total of 50 lesbian couples who conceived after DI with children aged between 1 and 2 years participated in this study, using a standardized interview created for this study. After the birth of their child, 56% of the lesbian mothers (n = 100) would have wanted the identity of the donor to be registered, while 10% would have done so at the time of the insemination. Opinions differed in 12 of the 50 couples: the biological mother was in favour of identity registration while the social mother was not. Both women considered themselves a parent of the child with equally shared responsibilities. Mothers were open about the special features of their family structure with children and within their immediate social network. Only 30% disclosed their lesbian identity in a broader social environment. The features of these newly created families may influence the psychological development of the children and therefore make long-term follow-up studies indispensable.     

Heat shock proteins and molecular chaperones: implications for adaptive responses in the skin

Recent advances in the biology of heat-shock proteins (hsps) are reviewed. These abundant and evolutionarily highly conserved proteins (also called stress proteins) act as molecular escorts. Hsps bind to other cellular proteins, help them to fold into their correct secondary structures, and prevent misfolding and aggregation during stress. Cytoplasmic hsp70 and hsp60 participate in complicated protein-folding pathways during the synthesis of new polypeptides. Close relatives of hsp70 and hsp60 assist in the transport and assembly of proteins inside intracellular organelles. Hsp90 may have a unique role, binding to the glucocorticoid receptor in a manner essential for proper steroid hormone action. Hsps may also be essential for thermotolerance and for prevention and repair of damage caused by ultraviolet B light. A unique class of T lymphocytes, the gamma delta T cells, exhibits a restricted specificity against hsps. These T cells may constitute a general, nonspecific immune mechanism directed against the hsps within invading organisms or against very similar hsps within invading organisms or against very similar hsps expressed by infected (stressed) keratinocytes. Immunologic cross-reactivity between hsps of foreign organisms and of the host may play a role in some autoimmune diseases. Although hsps are expressed in the skin, many questions remain about their role during injury, infection, and other types of cutaneous pathophysiology.     

Complete relaxation and conformational exchange matrix (CORCEMA) analysis of NOESY spectra of interacting systems; two-dimensional transferred NOESY

A very general procedure entitled complete relaxation and conformational exchange matrix (CORCEMA) analysis has been developed to analyze the 2D-NOESY spectra of interacting systems undergoing multistate conformational exchange. This is an extension of earlier work from this laboratory on the methodological treatment of multistate conformational exchange [Krishna et al., Biopolymers 19, 2003 (1980)] and the theory of transferred NOESY for finite exchange off-rates [Lee and Krishna, J. Magn. Reson. 98, 36 (1992)]. The current theory is based on generalized rate matrices for relaxation and conformational exchange. The CORCEMA algorithm explicitly incorporates intermolecular dipolar cross relaxation between the molecules when they are complexed. It permits an analysis of NOESY intensities for the intra- as well as intermolecular contacts between the interacting molecules under a variety of binding conditions. Its application is illustrated on two examples of transferred NOESY simulations: (1) a two-state system involving a ligand and an enzyme forming a ligand-enzyme complex, and (2) a three-state system in which the ligand-enzyme complex can undergo a conformational transition from an "open state" to a "closed state," and can include conformational changes in both the complexed ligand and the complexed enzyme, such as hinge-bending motions. Simplifying expressions for generalized matrix analyses are derived for three limiting cases of the three-state system. This three-state example is illustrated using a hypothetical model of the hinge-bending motion in a thermolysin-inhibitor complex. It is shown that: (1) The neglect of cross relaxation between the interacting species in their complexed forms can lead to misleading conclusions on the "bound" conformation of the ligand. (2) If protein-mediated spin diffusion is dominant, caution is needed in analyses based on initial slopes alone due to one's inability to identify the exact range of the initial growth curve under poor signal/noise situations. (3) The neglect of conformational changes upon complexation, e.g., hinge-bending motions of the ligand-enzyme complex, can lead to erroneous results on the nature of "bound" conformations of the ligand. In this case, attempts to analyze the transferred NOESY data with a two-state model will result in a "virtual" conformation for the bound ligand. (4) When the hinge-bending rate is slower than the cross relaxation and enzyme off-rates, the bound conformation of a ligand deduced from the transferred NOESY experiment is more likely to represent nonspecific or weak binding in an open state of the enzyme.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

A comparison of the shake test, optical density, L/S ratio (planimetric and stechiometric) and PG for the assessment of fetal lung maturity

Our aim was to determine the diagnostic accuracy and reliability of four tests for the assessment of fetal lung maturity (FLM): shake test, optical density at 650 nm (OD650), lecithin to sphingomyelin ratio (L/S) by planimetry and stechiometry, and presence of phosphatydylglycerol. Amniotic fluid was obtained from 74 patients at various gestational ages. The shake test and the OD650 were performed according to published methods L/S was determined by TLC (thin-layer chromatography) and the ratio assessed by planimetry and stechiometrically by measurement of organic phosphorus from the chromatographic spots. PG was assessed similarly by TLC. When correlated with gestational age at amniocentesis, all tests correlated positively: shake test (r = 0.46, p < 0.005); OD650 (r = 0.31, p < 0.005); planimetric L/S (r = 0.77, p < 0.005); stechiometric L/S (r = 0.52, p < 0.005) and PG (r = 0.54, p < 0.005). The diagnostic accuracy of each test was as follows: the shake test and the OD650 had a sensitivity of 50%, while the steciometric L/S had a sensitivity of 75%, the planimetric L/S and the presence of PG were 100%. All four tests demonstrated a specificity greater than 64%, the highest for the PG presence being (83%) and the shake test (86%). Predictive negative values for lung maturity were > 93% for all tests, with the highest for the planimetric L/S and presence of PG being (100%). The study confirms that the determination of L/S ratio is still superior to other tests in terms of overall diagnostic accuracy. In addition, it was found that presence of PG was highly associated with the absence of respiratory complications in the newborn.     

Reversible parotid enlargement and pseudo-Sj?gren's syndrome secondary to hypertriglyceridemia

We describe 2 patients with a Sj?gren-like syndrome apparently secondary to hypertriglyceridemia. Both had bilateral parotitis in addition to musculoskeletal and sicca symptoms. Parotid gland histology revealed fatty infiltration with no inflammation. Therapy with dietary modification and triglyceride lowering drugs resulted in resolution of symptoms and parotid swelling in one patient. In the 2nd patient, hypertriglyceridemia was resistant to triglyceride lowering drugs, and parotid symptoms and swelling continued unabated. Our findings suggest aggressive treatment of hyperlipidemia in pseudo-Sj?gren's syndrome may result in amelioration of musculoskeletal and parotid symptoms.