Use of trans-tube treatment program in patients with acute intestinal obstruction and peritonitis

In 92 patients with enteral insufficiency syndrome, an acute ileus (AI) and diffuse peritonitis (DP) the prolonged small intestine decompression, the small intestine lavage with solution analogous to the chyme by electrolyte composition, medicinal decontamination, enterosorption and intraluminal electrophoresis of medicinal preparations was conducted. The pH magnitude and the degree of microbial contamination were determined; the toxicity in the probe contents according to paramecium test coefficient value was estimated. The advantage of transtube treatment over passive decompression of small bowel was proved, the hospitalization period reduced in AI on average by 7.5 days, for DP--by 11 days, mortality--by 13.2% and 22.5% accordingly.     

Serologic test for syphilis as a surrogate marker for human immunodeficiency virus infection among United States blood donors

OBJECTIVE: To determine the presence of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in patients affected by acute lung injury (ALI) and the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) during mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). DESIGN: A prospective clinical study. SETTING: 10-bed general intensive care unit in a University Hospital. PATIENTS: 7 consecutive patients an age 44.7 +/- 8.6 years with a diagnosis of ALI or ARDS were studied. All were on mechanical ventilation with PEEP. INTERVENTIONS: PEEP was increased in steps of 5 cm H2O until the appearance of TR or up to a limit of 20 cm H2O. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Right atrial pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, and wedge pressure were measured and cardiac output was determined by thermodilution. TR was graded from 0 to 3. Standard 2D echocardiographic and pulsed-wave images were obtained at each level of PEEP. PEEP was increased from 4 +/- 3 to 17 +/- 2 cm H2O. Mean PAP increased from 27.7 +/- 2.9 to 36.7 +/- 3.5 mm Hg (p < 0.02) when PEEP was increased. Five patients had competent valves and two had mild TR at baseline. In six out of the seven, TR either developed or increased when PEEP was increased. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated the development of TR after the use of PEEP in patients with ALI and ARDS as a consequence of pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular overloading. Since TR may randomly affect cardiac output values and derived parameters, the assessment of cardiac performance by some techniques such as thermodilution should be used with caution.     

IgE from latex-allergic patients binds to cloned and expressed B cell epitopes of prohevein

Prohevein is one of the major allergens associated with latex allergy. In the present study, we identified IgE binding regions of prohevein, and expressed multiple IgE binding epitopes by selective cloning. These truncated polypeptides were then used to demonstrate IgE in the sera of patients. Decapeptides of prohevein were synthesized on derivatized cellulose membrane with an offset of one amino acid. The IgE reactivity of these linear peptides was evaluated separately using pooled sera from latex-allergic health care workers (HCW) and spina bifida (SB) patients. A total of 10 IgE binding epitopes representing unique as well as shared epitopes from both the N- and C-domains of the prohevein were identified. Recombinant polypeptides were constructed based on the identified epitopes, and clones carrying DNA fragments were overexpressed. These recombinant peptides were evaluated for IgE binding with sera from HCW, SB, and normal individuals. Recombinant prohevein, hevein, and the C-domain exhibited IgE binding in 84, 88, and 40% of HCW sera, respectively, as against reactivity of 84% with crude latex allergens. However, only 48% of the sera from SB patients showed IgE binding with recombinant prohevein, while 56 and 28% had reactivity with recombinant N- and C-domains, respectively. Among the three remaining recombinant peptides of the C-domain, only CA44-103 showed IgE binding with SB patients. The results of the present study suggest that linear IgE epitope analysis and construction of recombinant peptides increase the sensitivity and specificity of the immunodiagnosis of latex allergy and provide more information on the immunopathogenesis of hypersensitivity reaction mediated by type I allergy.     

Important role of hydrogen bonds in the structurally polarized transition state for folding of the src SH3 domain

Experimental and theoretical studies on the folding of small proteins such as the chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 (CI-2) and the P22 Arc repressor suggest that the folding transition state is an expanded version of the native state with most interactions partially formed. Here we report that this picture does not hold generally: a hydrogen bond network involving two beta-turns and an adjacent hydrophobic cluster appear to be formed in the folding transition state of the src SH3 domain, while the remainder of the polypeptide chain is largely unstructured. Comparison with data on other small proteins suggests that this structural polarization is a consequence of the topology of the SH3 domain fold. The non-uniform distribution of structure in the folding transition state provides a challenging test for computational models of the folding process.     

Effectiveness of different alpha-tocopherol derivatives in preventing experimental muscular dystrophy in chickens

Activity of vitamin E and its derivatives--alpha-tocopheryl quinone, its short chain analogue and alpha-tocopheryl acetate also containing short chain molecule were studied during chicken experimental muscular dystrophy. alpha-Tocopheryl quinone containing short chain molecule proved to be the most active substance; similarly to vitamin E the preparation increased the erythrocyte resistance to osmotic haemolysis, distinctly increased the content of ubiquinone and decreased concentration of ubichromenol in the chicken liver tissue as compared with E-deficient animals. At the same time, the content of ubiquinone was unaltered in skeletal muscles. The data obtained suggest that vitamin E could be effectively substituted by its derivatives for prevention an treatment of muscular dystrophy.