Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in Central Germany: an underestimated risk.

PURPOSE: This is the first study to determine the cytomegalovirus (CMV) seronegativity rate for women of childbearing age in Saxony-Anhalt and to determine the prevalence of clinically relevant congenital CMV (cCMV) infection in Central Germany, because there are no valid data available. METHODS: The retrospective study was undertaken between January 2005 and December 2015. For the first time in Germany, the following seven data sources were used to analyze the prevalence of clinically relevant cCMV infection and the rate of CMV seronegative women of childbearing age: CMV Screening in maternity unit, University Women's Hospital, Social Paediatrics Centre (SPC), Malformation Monitoring Centre (MMC), Newborn Hearing Screening (NHS), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and In-house Doctor Department. Key parameters were anti-CMV IgG and IgM, CMV PCR of urine, and clinically relevant symptoms caused by CMV. RESULTS: Between 46 and 52% of women of childbearing age were CMV seronegative. The prevalence of clinically relevant cCMV infection was between 0.008 and 0.04%. CONCLUSIONS: The CMV seronegativity rate of women of childbearing age was confirmed to be in the middle range of estimated data from other sources in Germany. Data from the NICU, SPC, NHS, and MMC show the prevalence of clinically relevant cCMV infection. The risk of all cCMV infections is underestimated. Thus, the true prevalence of clinically relevant and subclinical cCMV infections is >0.04%.

Cardiolipin composition correlates with prostate cancer cell proliferation.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most diagnosed cancer in men. It has been recognized that diet can play a crucial role in PC genesis and progression. In this context, free fatty acids are considered as modulators of cell proliferation. Recently, a relationship between the composition of the mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin (CL) and cell proliferation has been discussed. The aim of this study was to analyse the interrelationship between CL composition and the proliferation of prostate cells by exposing PC-3 tumour cells to different fatty acids and by analysing the CL composition in prostate tissue from PC patients after prostatectomy. Among the applied fatty acids, palmitic acid was found to stimulate proliferation of PC-3 cells, whereas oleic acid (OA) had an inhibiting effect. The lipidomic analysis of CL revealed that fatty acids supplied to PC-3 cells were incorporated into CL molecules. Further, the CL content of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) exclusively correlated with the proliferation of PC-3 cells. The CL composition significantly differed between tumour and normal prostate tissue from PC patients. In five out of six patients, the CL content of palmitoleic acid was higher in tumour prostate tissue in comparison to normal prostate tissue. Our data illustrate that the composition of CL can be easily modified by the fatty acid environment of cells. OA was most effective in decreasing the amount of palmitoleic acid within the CL molecules and deceleration of PC-3 cell proliferation. In conclusion, a diet rich in OA might be beneficial in protecting from rapid proliferation of PC cells.

Lipidomic analysis of molecular cardiolipin species in livers exposed to ischemia/reperfusion.

Transient hepatic ischemia can cause significant liver injury. A central and early event in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is the impairment of mitochondria. The phospholipid cardiolipin (CL) is required for efficient mitochondrial function. The aim of this study was to analyze composition, content, and oxidation of CL in dependence of I/R stress. Therefore, we exposed rat livers to 20 min ischemia by interrupting the perfusion with Krebs-Ringer solution in situ. Tissue histology as well as increased activities of LDH, GLDH, and ASAT analysed in the efflux after 50 min reperfusion indicated impairment of the liver. For the analysis of local CL distribution the liver homogenate was separated according to density into 11 fractions. The fractions displayed different contents of CL and citrate synthase peaking at density of about 1.07 g/cm(3). Among the fractions, the distribution of molecular CL species significantly differed. I/R caused loss of about 30 % CL and 17 % citrate synthase activity. Further, I/R shifted the CL and citrate synthase activity profile toward lower densities. Oxidized CL was exclusively found in fractions with high CL and citrate synthase content after I/R stress. I/R treatment caused significant changes in the distribution of molecular CL species. Our data demonstrate that I/R causes significant decrease in CL content and increase of oxidized CL that may be of impact for impairment of mitochondrial function by I/R. These results lead to the suggestion that strategies supporting anti-oxidative defence and CL synthesis may be beneficial to reduce I/R injury of the liver.

Pediatric reference intervals determined in ambulatory and hospitalized children and juveniles.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine reference intervals in children and juveniles with nine recently developed and widely used laboratory methods. METHODS: More than 800 ambulatory and hospitalized individuals of the University pediatry were carefully selected according to clinical status and chemical profile in an a posteriori process over a period of two and a half years. The reference group with well-balanced gender proportions and steady age distribution between 1 day and 17 years was subdivided in five age classes. The laboratory methods were: the enzyme methods ALT, AST, LDH and GGT, all reliably reference standardized with traceability to the IFCC reference methods at 37 degrees C; ALT and AST without pyridoxal-phosphate activation; ALP as not yet approved IFCC method; the soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and ferritin, the latter being the only heterogeneous procedure. RESULTS: The results confirm in most cases the typical age concentration relationship of the measured quantities documented for similar methods. In some critical cases, in particular for sTfR and ferritin, the study produces limits which differ distinctly from those earlier reported. Gender differentiation was outlined according to statistical calculations. CONCLUSION: Proposals for reference intervals were derived from the central 95 percentile values.

Liver cirrhosis and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis caused by inapparent hepatitis C virus infection.

We report on an autopsy case of a 44-year-old woman who died of combined hepatic and renal failure and bacterial infection. Postmortem examination revealed advanced liver cirrhosis and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), caused by clinically inapparent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The diagnosis was confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of HCV RNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) liver tissue. We conclude that liver cirrhosis and concomitant MPGN should arouse suspicion of HCV infection despite ambiguous or negative results from serological analyses. Specimens of FFPE liver tissue may be used for the diagnosis of HCV infection, even if the tissue was obtained in a postmortem examination.

A multi-center quality control study of different CA15-3 immunoassays.

A long-term multi-center quality control study of CA15-3 determinations based on measurements of liquid BIOREF CA15-3 control sera was conducted in 17 participating laboratories. Seven different CA15-3 assays were applied using the appropriate automatic immunoanalyzers. CA15-3 means were determined for BIOREF low, medium and high level control sera. Values were 19.3 +/- 2.7 kU/l, 75.2 +/- 11.4 kU/l and 162.9 +/- 37.1 kU/l, respectively. Inter-assay imprecisions were calculated for each of the controls for each laboratory and for each of the methods, with coefficients of variation (CV) ranging from 2.9-15.5%. As a means of evaluation of assay linearity concentration ratios (high/medium, medium/low, high/low) were calculated and found to be in good agreement with reference values throughout the study. Individual long-term time courses of CA15-3 control measurements provided evidence for variability of test results due to changes in assay calibration. Comparisons with CV data obtained with BIOREF controls 17 years ago demonstrate significant improvements of CA15-3 assay precision in recent years. In conclusion, test-independent reference material can be used for CA15-3 quality control and in particular enables applicants to check for long-term stability of CA15-3 assay performance.