No abstract

No abstract

BackgroundGroup B streptococcus (GBS) infection is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Here, we present the analytical and diagnostic usefulness of a new real-time PCR-based assay (Xpert GBS; Cepheid, USA) for rapid and accurate prenatal GBS screening.MethodsWe enrolled 175 pregnant women who were between 35 and 39 weeks of gestation. The analytical performance of the Xpert GBS assay was first tested using a reference GBS strain. Next, to test diagnostic performance, rectovaginal swabs were obtained from pregnant women who visited the hospital for regular antenatal screening after 34 weeks of gestation. The results of the Xpert GBS assay were compared to those of standard culture for the detection of prenatal GBS colonization.ResultsWhen any positive result from Xpert GBS or culture was considered a true positive, the sensitivity of the Xpert GBS assay and culture were 91% (20/22; 95% CI [confidence interval], 72-98) and 68% (15/22; 95% CI, 47-84), respectively. The specificity of both methods was 100% (153/153; 95% CI, 97-100). The sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert GBS assay, using the culture results as a reference, were 86.7% and 95.6%, respectively. In the Xpert GBS assay, the median threshold cycle of vaginally colonized samples was significantly lower than rectally colonized samples (P<0.01).ConclusionsThe Xpert GBS assay is an accurate, rapid, easy-to-use test for the detection of maternal GBS colonization in prenatal screening that might be especially useful in clinical settings where standard culture is not feasible.

Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus is a rare human pathogen, but can cause serious extraintestinal infections. Effective antimicrobial agent is required for the therapy, but we have very limited knowledge on the susceptibility of the organism. In this study, the susceptibility of 25 isolates of the organism to 14 antimicrobial agents was tested by an agar dilution method. Antimicrobial agents with low MIC ranges, in micrograms/ml, were: meropenem < or = 0.25, dirithromycin < or = 0.5, gentamicin < or = 1, amikacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and erythromycin < or = 2. The MIC range of cefepime was 0.5-8 micrograms/ml, but those of other beta-lactams were relatively high. All of the isolates were interpreted to be susceptible to cefepime, meropenem, amikacin, gentamicin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and dirithromycin. A significant proportion of the isolates were either intermediate or resistant to ampicillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, aztreonam, loracarbef and erythromycin. In conclusion, the organism remains susceptible to aminoglycosides and tetracycline. Greater in vitro activity of meropenem, ofloxacin and dirithromycin require clinical evaluation.

Background: The DR-70TM immunoassay is a newly developed cancer diagnostic test which quantifies the serum fibrin degradation products (FDP), produced during fibrinolysis, by antibody reaction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of DR-70 TM immunoassay in screening malignant tumor. Methods: Sample subjects were 4,169 adults, both male and female, who visited the health promotion center of a general hospital from March 2004 to April 2005 and underwent the DR-70 TM immunoassay test and other tests for cancer diagnosis. The patient group was defined as 42 adults out of the sample subjects who were newly diagnosed with cancer during the same time period when the DR-70 TM immunoassay test was performed. Final confirmation of a malignant tumor was made by pathological analysis. Results: The mean DR-70 TM level was 0.83±0.65 g/ml (range: 0.00 (0.0001) 7.42 g/ml) in the control group (n= 4,127) as opposed to 2.70±2.33 g/ml (range: 0.12 ~ 9.30 g/ml) in the cancer group (n=42), and statistical significance was established (p 0.0001, Student t-test). When categorized by the type of malignant tumor, all cancer patients with the exception of the subgroups of colon and rectal cancer showed significantly higher mean DR-70

No abstract

Understanding the metabolic changes in women is one of the important ways to prevent and treat osteoporosis. To reveal the metabolic characteristics of 289 healthy women aged between 35-65 yr in Tae-An, Korea we evaluated the association between bone mass assessed by broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) using quantitative ultrasound 2 (QUS2) and various parameters such as age, body mass index, serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, calcium, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, 25(OH)D, and urinary ratios of calcium/creatinine and deoxypyridinoline (Dpyd)/creatinine. Among the subjects, 3.0% were osteoporotic, and 40.9% were osteopenic. When the subjects were classified according to their years since menopause (YSM) and age, the prevalence of osteoporosis increased along with an increase of YSM and age. Bone turnover markers such as serum alkaline phosphatase and fasting urinary Dpyd/creatinine were significantly higher in the group with low bone mass than in the normal group. In summary, this study shows, by use of biochemical markers of bone turnover and QUS2, the prevalence of osteoporosis in women aged between 35-65 in Tae-An was 3.0% and the risk of low bone mass increased with the bone turnover markers.

Background : Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is defined as the occurrence of three or more consecutive spontaneous abortion before 20 gestational weeks. But, 40-50% of RSA still remain "unexplained". Cytokines seem to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of unexplained RSA, and Th1 cytokines have been shown to exert deleterious effects on pregnancy. NK cytotoxicity has been reported to be predictive of subsequent abortion in women who had unexplained recurrent abortions. The aim of this study was to investigate immunophenotypic characteristics of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and evaluate Th1 cytokine (TNF-) production in women with RSA.Methods : The study group comprised 93 women with RSA, and the control group consisted of 40 healthy pregnant women. The population of CD56/CD16 cells was observed by using a two-color scattergram in FACScan (Becton Dickinson, San Jose CA, USA). Concentration of TNF-was measured by an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA) using commercial kits (NEOGEN corporation, Lexington KY, USA).Results : The percentage of CD56+/CD16-cells were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the patients with RSA (13.40±7.95%) than in the pregnant control group (9.12±3.93%). We observed a significantly higher level of TNF-(medians: 85.59±8.29 pg/mL versus 44.80±9.78 pg/mL; P<0.05) in RSA women compared to controls.Conclusions : This study indicates that an increased proportion of CD56+/CD16-mononuclear cells and increased level of serum TNF-are related to RSA. Thus, the two factors could be used as an indicator of subsequent successful implantation and maintenance of gestation. (Korean J Lab Med 2006;26:198-203)