Carboxyhemoglobin in umbilical cord blood and maternal smoking.

Background Smoking during pregnancy still exists in daily life but the effect on the newborn in the early stage of life is still unclear. This study investigates the normal reference range of carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) in umbilical cord blood gas (UBG). Methods A single center retrospective cross-sectional cohort study was performed with 1172 cases. We analyzed HbCO values in umbilical cord blood, maternal smoking, birth weight percentiles, duration of amenorrhea and maternal admission duration prior to delivery. Results HbCO levels in newborns range from 0 to 7.7% with a mean of 0.6% (standard deviation 0.6). Newborns from women who smoked during pregnancy have a significant higher HbCO value compared to newborns from women who did not smoke. Birth weight is negatively correlated with HbCO (P = 0.001). Conclusion Our results show the normal reference range in this study is 0-1.2% for HbCO in the umbilical blood of newborns. Smoking prior to delivery leads to a higher HbCO value in the UBG sample of the newborn, a lower birth weight and may be potential harmful.

No effect of n-3 fatty acids supplementation on NT-proBNP after myocardial infarction: the Alpha Omega Trial.

BACKGROUND: heart failure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular mortality, for which n-3 fatty acids may have beneficial effects. We examined the effect of marine eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and plant-derived alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) on N-Terminal-pro Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP), a biomarker of heart failure. METHODS: we randomly assigned 4837 post-myocardial infarction patients, aged 60-80 years (82% men), to margarines supplemented with a targeted additional intake of 400 mg/day EPA and DHA, 2 g/day ALA, EPA-DHA plus ALA, or placebo for 40 months. In a random selection of 639 patients, NT-proBNP was determined both at baseline and at the end of follow-up. NT-proBNP was loge-transformed and analysed by type of treatment using analysis of covariance adjusting for baseline NT-proNBP. RESULTS: patients consumed on average 19.8 g margarine/day, providing an additional amount of 238 mg/day EPA with 158 mg/day DHA, 1.98 g/day ALA, or both, in the active-treatment groups. In the placebo group, the geometric mean level NT-proBNP increased from 245 ng/l (95%-confidence interval [CI]: 207-290) to 294 ng/l (95%-CI: 244-352) after 40 months (p = 0.001). NT-proBNP levels were not affected by ALA (+8% versus placebo; 95%-CI: -8% to +25%; p = 0.34), EPA-DHA (+2% versus placebo; 95%-CI: -14% to +18%; p = 0.78), nor EPA-DHA plus ALA (+9% versus placebo; 95%-CI: -8% to +25%; p = 0.31) treatment. CONCLUSIONS: supplementation with modest amounts of EPA-DHA, with or without ALA, did not have a significant effect on NT-proBNP levels in patients with a history of myocardial infarction.

Sweat analysis using indirect ion-selective electrode on the routine chemistry analyser meets UK guidelines.

BACKGROUND: According to consensus documents, sweat testing remains the standard for diagnosing cystic fibrosis. We studied a novel method of sweat analysis on two chemistry platforms: Dimension Vista (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics) and Aeroset (Abbott). METHODS: Sweat collected from healthy individuals and aqueous samples in the critical range for sweat analysis were measured using the Orion 290 plus (Thermo Electron Corporation), Chiron 925 chloride analyser (Sherwood Scientific Ltd), flame photometry, sweat-chek analyser and indirect ion-selective electrodes (ISE) of Vista and Aeroset. For measurement on ISE, an addition protocol was designed. RESULTS: Within-run and between-run variation coefficients of Aeroset and Vista remained <5% as prescribed by UK guidelines. The correlation between the chloride analyser and chloride concentrations analysed on Vista or Aeroset was, respectively, y = 0.96x + 7.61 (r(2) 0.990) and y = 0.97x + 1.10 (r(2) 0.930) and between sweat-chek (conductivity) and sodium concentrations analysed on Vista or Aeroset was, respectively, y = 1.08x - 4.0 (r(2) 0.967) and y = 1.13x - 1.00 (r(2) 0.939). When classified according to medical decision rules (30 mmol/L and 60 mmol/L chloride, combined with sodium concentration), the same classification was found with the ISE-module and conventional methods for all samples. CONCLUSION: We describe a simple procedure for sweat analysis using the ISE-module of two different chemistry platforms. This procedure meets the requirements as described in UK guidelines.