Maternal Serum Meteorin Levels and the Risk of Preeclampsia

BACKGROUND

Meteorin (METRN) is a recently described neutrophic factor with angiogenic properties. This is a nested case-control study in a longitudinal cohort study that describes the serum profile of METRN during different periods of gestation in healthy and preeclamptic pregnant women. Moreover, we explore the possible application of METRN as a biomarker.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

Serum METRN was measured by ELISA in a longitudinal prospective cohort study in 37 healthy pregnant women, 16 mild preeclamptic women, and 20 healthy non-pregnant women during the menstrual cycle with the aim of assessing serum METRN levels and its correlations with other metabolic parameters. Immunostaining for METRN protein was performed in placenta. A multivariate logistic regression model was proposed and a classifier model was formulated for predicting preeclampsia in early and middle pregnancy. The performance in classification was evaluated using measures such as sensitivity, specificity, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. In healthy pregnant women, serum METRN levels were significantly elevated in early pregnancy compared to middle and late pregnancy. METRN levels are significantly lower only in early pregnancy in preeclamptic women when compared to healthy pregnant women. Decision trees that did not include METRN levels in the first trimester had a reduced sensitivity of 56% in the detection of preeclamptic women, compared to a sensitivity of 69% when METRN was included.

CONCLUSIONS

The joint measurements of circulating METRN levels in the first trimester and systolic blood pressure and weight in the second trimester significantly increase the probabilities of predicting preeclampsia.

[Evaluation of marine sponge extracts as new sources of antimicrobial substances]

As part of the search for new natural sources of antibiotic compounds, in this study, carried out in the northeastern coast of Colombia, 15 sponge species were collected. A crude organic extract was obtained from each one and evaluated regarding their antimicrobial properties in vitro against microorganisms with clinical importance for humans (one strain for each specie of Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans). Sponge extracts from Halichondria spp., Petromica ciocalyptoides and Xestospongia proxima exhibited antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria and antifungal activity against the fungi, while the sponge Dragmacidon reticulata showed activity only for the same yeast specie. Bioactivity of the extracts was compared with that of both a antibiotic (cefoperazone) and an antimicotic (nistatine). It was found that inhibition values of X. proxima extracts in vitro are, in some cases, higher than those observed for cefoperazone and nistatine. Crude extracts from the sponges Myrmekioderma gyroderma, Myrmekioderma rea, Biemna cribaria, Cinachyrella kuekenthali, Iotrochota imminuta, Oceanapia peltata, Polymastia tenax, Desmapsamma anchorata, Spirastrella coccinea, Cribrochalina infundibulum and Oceanapia bartschi did not show any antimicrobial activity whatsoever.

Changes in the quality of rabbit semen in 14 consecutive ejaculates obtained every 15 minutes

Modifications of semen quality related to ejaculation frequency is one of the most important and neglected factors from the standpoint of artificial insemination or sperm competition. New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) offer an advantageous experimental model because they have characteristic sexual behavior, they present rapid ejaculation after a single intromission, they have a very short interval between successive ejaculations, and semen can be easily collected. The authors studied the modifications on sperm quality (semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility) produced by 14 consecutive ejaculations recovered every 15 min using stimulus females and an artificial vagina. Bucks were exposed every 15 min to a sexually receptive female. After each ejaculation the female was removed and reintroduced 15 min later. Sperm concentration showed a clear biphasic conduct. The amount of spermatozoa per milliliter decreased rapidly until ejaculate number 6, showed a highly significant increase in ejaculates 7-9, and decreased to nil in the last 2 ejaculates. Total number of ejaculated spermatozoa was 557 x 10(6), 76% of which were recovered from the first 4 ejaculates. Ejaculate volume also showed a biphasic conduct. In the first ejaculates the volume decreased linearly until ejaculate number 6, showed a significant increase in ejaculates 7-10, and then decreased. The total semen volume recovered during the experiment was 2.44 mL, 40% of which (0.98 mL) was recovered from the first 2 ejaculates. Individual motility in the first 6 ejaculates was preferentially progressive (60% of the sperms) and turned to random or in situ from the seventh ejaculate up. The proportion of spermatozoa with cytoplasmic droplets increased from ejaculates 6 and 7 up. The results seem to reflect an acceleration of semen transport through the epididymis when the demands for spermatozoa increase.

Sylvatic trichinellosis in southwestern Spain

The epidemiology of Trichinella spp. in their main sylvatic hosts, wild boar (Sus scrofa ferus and red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Extremadura (southwestern Spain) was studied. We examined 88 Trichinella spp.-positive wild boar muscle-tissue samples from a total of 29,333 killed animals, referred to the Veterinary Parasitology Department (University of Extremadura, Spain) by the Extremadura Veterinary Service. Additionally, 227 red foxes killed during the hunting season and thus not subject to veterinary controls were examined for trichinellosis. Trichinella spp. larvae were found in six (3%) of the red foxes. All samples were examined using direct diagnostic techniques, including trichinoscopy and artificial digestion. The mean intensity of infection was 74.8 larvae/g (LPG) of muscle tissue in wild boars, compared to 30.6 LPG in foxes. Trichinella spiralis (sensu stricto) predominated over T. britovi in wild boars. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and alloenzyme typing showed that 74% of infected wild boars had only T. spiralis, 21% had only T. britovi, and 5% showed mixed infections. In contrast, 33% of infected foxes were infected only with T. spiralis, while 67% had T. britovi, suggesting a clear predominance of the latter in foxes. We suspect the existence of a paranthropic or sylvatic cycle in large areas of this region; given the ease of transfer between sylvatic and domestic or semi-domestic animals, this implies a high epidemiological risk.

Application of a colorimetric method to the determination of the protein content of commercial foods, mixed human diets and nitrogen losses in infantile diarrhoea

Recently we reported on the application of a method for protein determination which measures nitrogen in Kjeldahl digests colorimetrically. This procedure has the advantage of eliminating the distillation and titration steps of the Kjeldahl method and it is ideal for nutritional studies, since many samples can be run in a single day. Accordingly, the purpose of the present report was to extend the application of this method to the determination of the protein content of commercially available foods such as dairy products, dry cereals or cereal based products and legumes and also to evaluate this method in the determination of the protein content of the mixtures of cooked foods served during lunch at the cafeteria of the Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas. In both cases the results of the colorimetric nitrogen agreed very well with those obtained by the macro Kjeldahl, indicating that the colorimetric method may be used in monitoring the protein content of commercial foods and in evaluating the protein offered in institutional food services. Finally, to further demonstrate the value of this method in clinical trials, we used it to monitor the daily nitrogen intake and nitrogen losses in 43 male young children with acute diarrhoea, and 15 with persistent diarrhoea fed liquid formulae, and showed that protein digestibility and retention were higher in persistent than in acute diarrhoea. The severity of acute diarrhoea affected negatively (r = -0.62) the percentage of protein absorbed, whereas the protein absorbed (r = 0.70) and retained (r = 0.55) correlated positively with protein consumption.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Filter effects and low stimulation rate on the middle-latency response in newborns

Auditory middle-latency responses (MLR) have been recorded in 25 newborns at 60 dB nHL using two wide band-pass filter conditions and a slow stimulation rate of 2/s. With both types of filter, the MLR consisted in an initial positive wave followed by a negative component (Na) and a positive component (Pa). In newborns, this positive component appears in the vicinity of 45 ms and is more prolonged than the Pa of the MLR in adults. The probability of obtaining MLR after averaging only 500 signals was higher with a high-pass filter setting of 10 Hz (12 dB/octave), as compared with 5 Hz (12 dB/octave). No significant differences were found in the detectability rate of MLR between the two-filter band-pass settings. It is important to note that some MLR were unstable and not easily replicable. Therefore, the clinical application of these components is still doubtful.