Effect of regenerative factor rich plasma, P substance and fetal calf serum on the growth of epithelial cells in the cornea. Comparative experimental study.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the experimental effectiveness of Regenerative Factor Rich Plasma (RFRP) of human blood versus Fetal Bovim Serum (FBS) and neuropeptide Substance P (SP) on corneal epithelium cell proliferation. METHOD: Rabbit corneal epithelium cell (CCL-60) growth was compared between different RFRP fractions, FBS and with the neuropeptide Substance P. The ability of the RFRP fractions and SP to revert the inhibitory effect of the CsA was also evaluated. RESULTS: All groups showed an increase (p<0.001) in corneal epithelial cell growth compared with the control group. The maximum capacity of cell growth was obtained with dilutions of 50% in the FBS, RFRP-I, RFRP -II, RFRP-III groups and with 100nM of SP. The highest growth was observed with 50% FBS, RFRP-I and RFRP-II. The group with SP and RFRP-III had significantly lower growth (p<0.001). When the NK1 receptor antagonist CsA was added at a dose of IC50, we found a significant decrease in cell growth (p<0.001) in all culture conditions, including the control group. The decrease was similar in all groups, but was especially pronounced in RFRP-II. RFRP I, II and III promoted growth more than SFB 10%. CONCLUSION: The RFRP of human blood promotes the growth of corneal epithelial cells in a significantly more efficient manner than FBS and SP. RFRP can be effective both in cell cultures and stem cell cultures.

Deficient long-term response to pandemic vaccine results in an insufficient antibody response to seasonal influenza vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the long-term antibody response to the 2009-H1N1 vaccine in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) and its clinical repercussion on the efficacy of following 2010-2011 influenza vaccine. METHODS: We performed a multicenter prospective study in SOTR receiving one dose of the nonadjuvant 2010-2011 seasonal influenza vaccine and determined the immunological response at 5 weeks after vaccination. RESULTS: One hundred SOTR were included. Long-term antibody titers to the previous vaccine were only detected in one third of the patients. Patients with baseline titers had significantly higher seroprotection for the 2009-H1N1 strain (100% vs. 73%, relative risks [RR] 1.37, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.19-1.57; P=0.006), for H3N2 strain (100% vs. 62.2%, RR 1.61, 95% CI 1.36-1.90; P=0.005), and for B strain (100% vs. 69%; P=0.02). The seroconversion rate in patients with baseline titers was 90.9% vs. 73% (RR 2.97, 95% CI 0.75-11.74; P=0.07) for the 2009-H1N1 strain, 92.2% vs. 62.2% (RR 5.29, 95% CI 0.8-35.7; P=0.02) for the H3N2 strain, and 58.3% vs. 69% (P=0.45) for the B strain. CONCLUSIONS: SOTR response to the 2010-2011 influenza vaccine was not optimal. The response was related to baseline titers; however, most of the patients did not exhibit detectable antibodies at vaccination lacking long-term response. New strategies are necessary to improve vaccination efficacy.

Quantitative real-time PCR for detection of Acinetobacter baumannii colonization in the hospital environment.

A real-time PCR assay was developed for detecting the presence of Acinetobacter baumannii on hospital equipment and compared to conventional bacterial culture using 100 hospital environmental samples. The real-time PCR detected contaminated surfaces in 4 h with high sensitivity (100%) compared to conventional culture. Thirty-eight percent of samples were positive by real-time PCR and negative by bacterial culture (false positives), possibly indicating the widespread presence of bacterial DNA that is not associated with viable bacteria.