[Prevalence of epidemic outbreak of tularemia in the Hospital Universitario Río Hortega (Spain) in the year 2007]. / Situación del brote epidémico de tularemia durante el año 2007 en el Hospital Universitario Río Hortega de Valladolid.

INTRODUCTION: This present research study presents the analytic results of an outbreak of tularemia (Francisella tularensis) that occurred in the Northwest areas of Castilla y León in Northern Spain in late June 2007. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Serum was obtained from 302 patients from a West Valladolid health area, attended in the University Hospital of Río Hortega of the Castilla y León Health Care Service, with suspicion of tularemia. A tube agglutination test was performed in all of them to detect anti-F. tularensis antibodies. RESULTS: Anti-F. tularensis antibodies were detected in 59 (19%) of reported cases (302 sera). The most frequent clinical presentations of the disease suggest that the main transmission pathway was through inhalation of the bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: When the 2007 outbreak of human tularemia was compared with that which occurred in 1997, we observed a lower number of positive cases in the recent outbreak as well as a difference in the transmission pathway and predominant form of clinical presentation of the disease.

Anaphylaxis associated with antiphospholipid syndrome.

BACKGROUND: To our knowledge, no previously published reports have described food-induced anaphylaxis associated with the antiphospholipid syndrome. OBJECTIVE: We undertook a study of four patients with thrombosis associated with the antiphospholipid syndrome after each patient experienced anaphylaxis attributable to ingestion of vegetal foods. METHODS: IgE antibody levels to various foods were determined in serum specimens from the study patients, and skin prick tests with the same allergens were conducted to determine their in vivo responses. Hematologic, cardiopulmonary, vascular, and rheumatologic studies were also performed. IgG anticardiolipin antibody levels were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: All four patients fulfilled the criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome and had high levels of specific IgE antibodies for certain food allergens. By immunoblot analysis, the presence of serum IgE specific for a 45-kD protein band in an almond extract was detected in these four patients who experienced food-related anaphylaxis. No specific IgE was detected in sera from normal subjects. No IgE antibodies specific for the food panallergen lipid transfer proteins were detected. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of severe food-precipitated anaphylaxis associated with the antiphospholipid syndrome and the first description of a patient with allergy to blackberry. The possible involvement of food panallergens distinct from lipid transfer proteins is also discussed.

Reference values and methods comparison of a new testosterone assay on the AxSYM system.

OBJECTIVES: We have contributed to the Design Validation Protocol of the new Abbott AxSYM Testosterone assay with a study on reference values and methods comparison. DESIGN AND METHODS: For reference values a population of 45 women and 30 men was tested. In methods comparison, 132 samples for the AxSYM vs. ACS-180, and 30 for the AxSYM vs. Elecsys were used. Pearson and intraclass concordance coefficients and Passing-Bablock test were performed for overall group, men and women. RESULTS: Reference values were 0.9-3.1 (females) and 1.0-30.2 nmol/L (males). Globally, a good agreement between methods in both the AxSYM vs. ACS-180 (slope: 0.88, y-intercept: 0.67, r = 0.961) and the AxSYM vs. Elecsys (slope: 1.08, y-intercept: 0.31, r = 0.935) studies was found. Slightly worse results were observed for women. CONCLUSIONS: The reference range of testosterone by the AxSYM system matches with those published for other methods. An acceptable agreement between the AxSYM Testosterone assay and both a classical (ACS-180) and a more recent (Elecsys) methodology was observed.

Comparison of two homogeneous assays with a precipitation method and an ultracentrifugation method for the measurement of HDL-cholesterol.

We report on the performance of four HDL-cholesterol assays: a homogeneous method based on polyethylene glycol-modified enzymes/alpha-cyclodextrin sulfate (PEGME; Kyowa); a homogeneous method based on polyanion-polymer/detergent (PPD; Daiichi); the usual precipitation method with phosphotungstic acid/MgCl2 (PTA); and an ultracentrifugation (UC) procedure. The homogeneous HDL-cholesterol assays (performed with automated analyzers) were precise and correlated well with the PTA and UC assays. The specificity and accuracy of the PEGME method were better than those of the PPD method.

[Evaluation of alpha 1-antitrypsin phenotypes in Castilla-León: study of a population of newborn infants]. / Valoración de fenotipos de alfa 1-antitripsina en Castilla-León: estudio en una población de recién nacidos.

We have screened a population of newborn babies without any previous apparent pathology in order to discover the distribution of alpha 1-anti-trypsin phenotypes (AAT) in our community. The research has been done on 457 babies born in the province of Valladolid, determining the plasma levels of AAT and the corresponding phenotype. AAT quantification was done by nephelometry, and the phenotypic study was done by the technique described by Jeppsson. It has been possible to identify 8 different phenotypes, PIM being the one that had the highest incidence rate (72.42%), followed by PIMS (19.69%). In relation to the serum levels of AAT, the highest values were found for PIM (220 +/- 60 mg/dl) and the lowest for PIZ (43 +/- 2 mg/dl). Finally, the results obtained by our laboratory are compared with those of other authors.