Increased breath naphthalene in children with asthma and wheeze of the All Age Asthma Cohort (ALLIANCE).

Exhaled breath contains numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) known to be related to lung disease like asthma. Its collection is non-invasive, simple to perform and therefore an attractive method for the use even in young children. We analysed breath in children of the multicenter All Age Asthma Cohort (ALLIANCE) to evaluate if 'breathomics' have the potential to phenotype patients with asthma and wheeze, and to identify extrinsic risk factors for underlying disease mechanisms. A breath sample was collected from 142 children (asthma: 51, pre-school wheezers: 55, healthy controls: 36) and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Children were diagnosed according to Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines and comprehensively examined each year over up to seven years. Forty children repeated the breath collection after 24 or 48 months. Most breath VOCs differing between groups reflect the exposome of the children. We observed lower levels of lifestyle-related VOCs and higher levels of the environmental pollutants, especially naphthalene, in children with asthma or wheeze. Naphthalene was also higher in symptomatic patients and in wheezers with recent inhaled corticosteroid use. No relationships with lung function or TH2 inflammation were detected. Increased levels of naphthalene in asthmatics and wheezers and the relationship to disease severity could indicate a role of environmental or indoor air pollution for the development or progress of asthma. Breath VOCs might help to elucidate the role of the exposome for the development of asthma. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02496468).

Haemophilia A in a female: study of a family using intragenic and extragenic restriction site polymorphisms.

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) were studied in a large Algerian family which includes 6 haemophiliacs and a previously described case of female haemophilia A. The female propositus is 66 years old with a normal karyotype. Her parents are first cousins. Her 3 sons are haemophiliacs and her 3 daughters with affected children are obligate carriers. The proband has an excessive bleeding tendency and markedly reduced levels of F.VIII (VIII C 0.03 U/ml, VIII Ag 0.01 U/ml) with elevated vWF Ag (2.30 U/ml), similar to the levels observed in affected males from the family. Four RFLPs can be identified by Southern blotting after digesting genomic DNA with the restriction enzymes Bcl I, Bgl I, Kpn I/Xba I and Taq I and hybridization with a 647 bp Stu I/Sca I F.VIII genomic probe, a 1.8 Kb EcoRI F.VIII cDNA probe, a 1.0 Kb EcoRI/Sst I fragment of intron 22 and the extragenic probe ST 14, respectively. With these four RFLPs, the propositus was found to be homozygous for the alleles segregating in this family with the abnormal X-chromosome. The carrier status was proven in a granddaughter and excluded in another. In conclusion, this RFLP linkage analysis is another argument to suggest that the propositus, a rare case of female haemophilia, is homozygous for the abnormal gene.

The platelet-fibrinogen interaction. Evidence for proximity of the A alpha chain of fibrinogen to platelet membrane glycoproteins IIb/III.

Fibrinogen participates in platelet aggregation via specific inducible receptors on the cell surface. We have used a photoactivable bifunctional reagent, N-succinimidyl-6-(4'-azido-2'-nitrophenylamino)hexanoate, SANAH, to derivatize 125I-labeled-fibrinogen (125I-Fg) and crosslink it to ADP-stimulated platelets. Binding experiments established that 125I-Fg and 125I-Fg-SANAH interacted with platelets with the same kinetics and affinity as unlabeled fibrinogen. After photoactivation of the platelet-bound 125I-Fg-SANAH, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions revealed formation of a high molecular weight covalent complex with coordinate loss of the A alpha chain. 125I-Fg-SANAH missing the extreme carboxy-terminal region of the A alpha chain failed to crosslink to the platelets under similar conditions. Crosslinked 125I-Fg-SANAH was extracted from the cells in 1% Triton X-100, and immunoprecipitation with antibodies specific for platelet membrane glycoproteins was used to identify components of the complex. With antibodies to the glycoprotein IIb/III complex (anti-GP IIb/III), 40 +/- 9% of the extracted 125I-Fg-SANAH was immunoprecipitated. Omission of photoactivation, platelets, or ADP from the reaction or use of unmodified 125I-Fg resulted in less than 5% immunoprecipitation by the anti-GP IIb/III. As controls for specificity, anti-(glycoprotein Ib) or anti-IgG immunoprecipitated less than 5% of the extracted 125I-Fg-SANAH. Under similar conditions, 45% of the GP IIb/III from surface-labeled platelets was recovered in the anti-GP IIb/III immunoprecipitate. These results indicate that the A alpha chain of fibrinogen comes in close proximity to GP IIb/III when the molecule is bound to its platelet receptor.

The interaction of fibrinogen with human platelets in a plasma milieu.

Fibrinogen binds to specific receptors on human washed platelets and these sites are induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP). This interaction is assumed to be the basis for the participation of the molecule in ADP-stimulated aggregation of platelets, but fibrinogen binding to platelets in plasma has not been directly demonstrated. In this study, we have characterized the interaction of 125I-fibrinogen to platelets in the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) of afibrinogenemic patients. In either citrated or heparinized PRP, association of fibrinogen with platelets was demonstrable and was dependent on ADP dose. This binding reached equilibrium in 10-15 min, and saturation was achieved at fibrinogen concentrations greater than 0.5 microM. A linear Scatchard plot was derived that indicated a single class of binding sites with an affinity constant of Ka = 1.8 X 10(6) M(-1), and 32,000 fibrinogen molecules were maximally bound per platelet. The kinetics of the platelet fibrinogen interaction in plasma were essentially the same at 37 degrees C and 22 degrees C, but fewer molecules were bound at 37 degrees C. The rate constants of association were k 22 degrees C on = 0.9 X 10(6) M-1 . min-1 and k 37 degrees C on = 0.4 X 10(6) M-1 . min-1, respectively. Stabilization of the platelet-bound fibrinogen occurred only to a partial extent in both heparinized and citrated plasma. These results are similar to those obtained with washed platelets and establish that the previously defined steps in ADP-induced binding of fibrinogen to platelets occur in plasma, namely receptor induction by ADP, initial reversible binding, and irreversible binding.