Isolated fetal ascites.

OBJECTIVE: We present a rather rare case of isolated fetal ascites. We summarize its possible causes and diferential diagnostic procedure, our pregnancy managment and final outcome of the child. STUDY DESIGN: Case report. SETTINGS: Gynekologicko-porodnická klinika, Masarykova nemocnice, Ústí nad Labem; Neonatologická klinika, Masarykova nemocnice, Ústí nad Labem. METHODS: The pacient 18-years-old, I/0, was admitted to our clinic in the 32nd week of pregnancy with the dia-gnosis of significant isolated fetal ascites. Gradually, the most common causes of isolated ascites were excluded by the examination algorithm: developmental defects of GIT, urogenital tract and heart defects, genetic disorders, metabolic defects and immune and nonimmune causes of fetal hydrops. During the hospitalization, ascites lightening puncture was performed twice because of the significant lung tissue compression - without significant long-term effect. At the gestational age of 33+4, caesa-rean delivery was indicated for extreme ascites growth and significant lung tissue relapse. A boy of 2150 g with a serious respiratory distress was born. Immediately after delivery in the operating theatre a relieving ascites puncture was performed and the ventilation parameters improved immediately thereafter. During the following hospitalization the ascites has spontaneously, completely and definitely resorbed. The newborn was released into home care 49 days after delivery. CONCLUSION: Idiopatic isolated fetal ascites is a relatively rare diagnosis with a favourable outcome. The etiology of ascites could not be identified.

Acute immune trobocytopenic purpura in pregnant adolescent.

OBJECTIVE: The article reviews the causes of thrombocytopenia in pregnancy and the basic examination scheme. Further, it deals in more details with diagnosis of immune thromocytopenic purpura (ITP) and presents a case report of a rare case of acute severe ITP in pregnant adolescent. DESIGN: Review article and case report. SETTINGS: Department Obstet/Gynecol Uni J. A. Purkyně and Masaryk´s Hospital, Ústí nad Labem; Children and adolescent dep. Hospital Most; Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion Prague; Department of Children Med. Uni J. A. Purkyně and Masaryk´s Hospital, Ústí nad Labem; Department of Clinic Hematology Masaryk´s Hospital, Ústí nad Labem; Department of Neonatology Uni J. A. Purkyně and Masaryk´s Hospital, Ústí nad Labem. METHODS: Based on a review of the published papers, general rules for diagnosis, treatment, fetal risks, pregnancy management and labor in women with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) are given. Further we present the case of a 16-year-old pregnant girl with an acute severe form of ITP not responding to corticosteroid treatment who underwent twice critical decline of platelets up to 1×109 and repeatedly it was necessary to access the application of IVIG and Azathioprim (Imuran) was also used in her treatment. Pregnancy was unplanned terminated for dg. placental abortion in gestational age 32+4.The girl of 1740 g/42 cm was born with Apgar score 10-10-10 with no signs of thrombocytopenia. Surgery and postoperative course in the mother without complications. The newborn was discharged from the hospital into home care at a gestational age of 36+1 along with his mother. RESULTS: We present a case of acute severe form of ITP in pregnancy with a successful though somewhat dramatic end. CONCLUSIONS: These rare cases are demanding in terms of logistical, personnel and material provision. The aim of the treatment is to achieve a satisfactory maturity of the fetus, the treatment is financially demanding and is not without risks. Therefore, these cases should only be dealt with at Perinatology Centers in close cooperation with hematologists and neonatologists.

In vitro growth response of Phytophthora cactorum, P. nicotianae and P. × pelgrandis to antibiotics and fungicides.

The reactions of isolates of Phytophthora cactorum, P. nicotianae and P. × pelgrandis to metalaxyl, mancozeb, dimethomorph, streptomycin and chloramphenicol were tested to obtain information about the variability of resistance in these pathogens. Distinct genetic groups showed significant differences in resistance to all tested substances except streptomycin. In response to streptomycin, the growth inhibition rates of distinct groups did not differ significantly. The most remarkable differences were detected in the reactions to chloramphenicol and metalaxyl. Discriminant analysis evaluating the effect of all substances confirmed the differences among the groups, which are in agreement with the differences revealed by earlier DNA analyses.

The effect of landscape structure on the distribution of brown hare Lepus europaeus in farmlands of Germany and Poland.

Habitat management should be an important part of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus) conservation, but the habitat requirements of this species are not fully recognised. The aim of our research was to estimate these requirements by analysing the effect of various agricultural landscape structure features on the distribution of hares in five agricultural areas in Germany and Poland. The local density of hares was assessed in the spring and autumn of 2006 by using the method of spotlight-strip counts on 9-15 subareas in each research region. The structure of agricultural landscape has been described for each subarea: the share of grain, other crops and grasses as well as the density of crop edges and uncultivated places with wild vegetation. The density of hares was considerably higher in Germany than in Poland (18.8-48.4 vs. 4.1-9.5 indiv./km(2)). The hare density was positively correlated with non-grain crops in an area, with crop edges in two areas and with wild vegetation without trees in two areas, and negatively correlated with grassfields in two areas. The occurrence of wild vegetation without trees affected the hare density only in the study areas, where this habitat was relatively rare (<3 km/km(2)). It was suggested that proper projects aimed at habitat management for brown hares should be elastic, i.e. the projects should be modified depending on the structure of local landscapes. Moreover, the protection and creation of structures with wild vegetation among cropland seem to be considerable methods of brown hare or generally wildlife conservation; therefore, such measures should be an important part of agro-environmental packages.

[Activation of hemostasis in patients with chronic cholecystitis]. / Aktywacja hemostazy u chorych na przewlekle kamicze zapalenie pecherzyka zólciowego.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of chronic cholecystitis on haemostasis. The study was conducted on 48 patients suffering from chronic cholecystolithiasis admitted for cholecystectomy to the Department of Surgery Regional Hospital in Bialystok. The control group consisted of 25 healthy subjects in this same age range. As a result of the study we found out that patients with chronic cholecystitis had hypercoagulability characterised by increase plasma concentrations of the sensitive markers of haemostasis: prothrombin fragments (F1 + 2), thrombin/antithrombin complex (TAT) and D-dimer.

Adherence of bile-isolated bacteria to the bile ducts mucosa as a pathogenic factor in the development of inflammatory lesions.

Bacterial infection of the bile system appears to be an important factor in the formation of stones. In view of the hypothesis that strains of E. c. form an essential factor in infections of the bile ducts, an attempt has been made to determine the connection between infections of the bile ducts and the adherence of E. c. to the epithelium of the gallbladder. The research covered 148 patients operated electively for cholecystolithiasis (121), cholecystocholedocholithiasis (26) and recurrent lithiasis (1). In bile collected from the gallbladder in the course of the operation, E. coli strains were isolated. Cholangioscopy performed in 26 patients enabled the macroscopic evaluation and grading of inflammatory lesions of bile duct mucosa. The mucosa of the gallbladder was evaluated histologically. The adherence test was performed using homologous and heterologous strains of E. c. isolated from the bile of gallstone patients. The adherence occurred most frequently in the neck of the gallbladder (71-100%) in those patients in whom an infectious process of the bile ducts mucosa was endoscopically diagnosed. The adherence of bacteria to the epithelium of the gallbladder did not depend on the type of inflammation (acute, chronic).

Probing the binding of Tb(III) and Eu(III) to the hammerhead ribozyme using luminescence spectroscopy.

BACKGROUND: Divalent metal ions serve as structural as well as catalytic cofactors in the hammerhead ribozyme reaction. The natural cofactor in these reactions is Mg(II), but its spectroscopic silence makes it difficult to study. We previously showed that a single Tb(III) ion inhibits the hammerhead ribozyme by site-specific competition for a Mg(II) ion and therefore can be used as a spectroscopic probe for the Mg(II) it replaces. RESULTS: Lanthanide luminescence spectroscopy was used to study the coordination environment around Tb(III) and Eu(III) ions bound to the structurally well-characterized site on the hammerhead ribozyme. Sensitized emission and direct excitation experiments show that a single lanthanide ion binds to the ribozyme under these conditions and that three waters of hydration are displaced from the Tb(III) upon binding the RNA. Furthermore, we show that these techniques allow the comparison of binding affinities for a series of ions to this site. The binding affinities for ions at the G5 site correlates linearly with the function Z(2)/r of the aqua ion (where Z is the charge and r is the radius of the ion). CONCLUSIONS: This study compares the crystallographic nature of the G5 metal-binding site with solution measurements and gives a clearer picture of the coordination environment of this ion. These results provide one of the best characterized metal-binding sites from a ribozyme, so we use this information to compare the RNA site with that of typical metalloproteins.

A metal ion-binding site in the kringle region of bovine prothrombin fragment 1.

45Ca(II) binding studies (equilibrium dialysis) on the kringle domain of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 were conducted using a mixture of peptides (residues 43-156 and 46-156) resulting from limited alpha-chymotryptic hydrolysis of fragment 1. Analysis of the Scatchard plot of these data indicates a single, low affinity Ca(II)-binding site to be present. Similar results were obtained from studies on the decarboxylated fragment 1 derivative, 10-gamma-MGlu-fragment 1. Acetylation of bovine fragment 1 in the absence of Ca(II) or Mg(II) ions results in the loss of the metal ion-promoted quenching of the intrinsic Trp fluorescence of the protein and the Ca(II)-mediated binding to phosphatidylserine/phosphatidylcholine (PS/PC) vesicles. The acetylation of the NH2 alpha-group of Ala-1 has been shown (Welsch, D. J., and Nelsestuen, G. L. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 4946-4952) to abolish the PS/PC binding property of fragment 1. The present study demonstrates that acetylation of a second site possibly Ser-79 or Thr-81 using the conditions described in the preceding paper results in loss of both the fluorescence transition and the Ca(II)-mediated PS/PC binding of the resulting protein derivative. Removal of the O-acetyl group at the Ser-79/Thr-81 site is accomplished by aminolysis with 0.2 M hydroxylamine, pH 10, 50 degrees C; the fluorescence transition is partially restored. PS/PC binding is partially restored if the NH2 alpha-group of Ala-1 is trinitrophenylated but is not restored if the NH2 alpha-group of Ala-1 is acetylated. We conclude that the Ser-79/Thr-81 site may represent a portion of the metal ion-binding site within the kringle domain of fragment 1. Occupancy of this site by a Ca(II) ion appears to be important in the binding of the protein to PS/PC vesicles.

Modifications of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 in the presence and absence of Ca(II) ions. Loss of positive cooperativity in Ca(II) ion binding for the modified proteins.

Chemical modification of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 according to the procedure of D. J. Welsch and G. L. Nelsestuen (1988) [Biochemistry 27, 4946-4952 and ealier papers] provided a series of fragment 1 derivatives in which various nitrogen-containing side chains were N-acetylated and/or N-2,4,6-trinitrophenylated. In addition the des-[Ala-1,Asn-2]- and des-[Ala-1,Asn-2,Lys-3]-fragment 1 derivatives were prepared by limited enzymatic hydrolysis of fragment 1 using cathepsin C and plasmin, respectively. Quantitative studies on the Ca(II) binding of these proteins have been accomplished using 45Ca(II) equilibrium dialysis. Binding of these fragment 1 derivatives to phosphatidylserine/phosphatidylcholine (PS/PC) vesicles (25:75) in the presence of Ca(II) ions has been studied using the light-scattering technique. Acylation of the 5 lysine residues of fragment 1 by the action of acetic anhydride (500-fold molar excess) in the presence of 75 mM Ca(II), pH 8.0, results in loss of positive cooperativity in Ca(II) binding (Scatchard plot) and an increase in the number of Ca(II) ions bound. The Ca(II)-dependent PS/PC binding of the acylated protein is reduced. Removal of 2 and 3 residues from the amino terminus likewise leads to loss of positive cooperativity in Ca(II) binding and reduced binding affinity to PS/PC vesicles. The important role of the amino-terminal 1-10 sequence is discussed. We conclude that positive cooperativity in Ca(II) binding is not a prerequisite for the Ca(II)-dependent binding of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 to PS/PC vesicles.

The pineal gland and the effect of neonatal administration of androgen upon the development of spontaneous salt and water intake in female rats.

The effect of pinealectomy (PX) and sham-pinealectomy (SPX) on the calculated concentration of NaCl in the total volume of fluid drunk per day ([NaCl]I) in female rats offered a free choice between water and 3% NaCl solution was measured. In normal rats the [NaCl]I increases after attainment of sexual maturity. The increase can be accelerated by neonatal PX. Neonatal 'masculinization' of female rats by testosterone propionate (TP2) removes the increase of [NaCl]I in adult females and suppresses the acceleration due to PX. Neonatal SPX interferes with this decreasing effect of TP2 in adult female rats. The role of the pineal gland in the regulation of water and salt intake is discussed in relation to sex differences, sexual maturation and neonatal stress.