The direct-to-patient telemedicine medical abortion service was effective, safe, inexpensive and satisfactory. It disproportionately served women in parts of Australia with limited access to abortion facilities. This experience may be instructive for others desiring to use telemedicine to enhance access to abortion.

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BackgroundThe research literature has documented age-related increases in genetic damage, including oxidative DNA damage, in human T lymphocytes, in vitro and ex vivo. Such damage has the potential to interfere with the ability of the T cells to proliferate at times when they need to, such as when antigen challenged. The consequence of this could be a sub-optimal immune response in vivo.Context and purposeThe purpose of the research reported in this paper was to investigate the impact of two antioxidants, which can be administered in vivo, Ebselen and N-acetyl L-cysteine, on the age-related increase in genetic damage, and on T cell proliferation and lifespan. In vitro human T cell clones, ex vivo peripheral blood mononuclear cells or T cells were supplemented with different concentrations of antioxidants, under standard conditions and for different periods of time. A range of assays were then applied in order to determine any impact of the antioxidants.Results30 μM ebselen or 7.5 mM N-acetyl L-cysteine supplementation resulted in a significantly higher intracellular GSH: GSSG ratio. This increased ratio was accompanied by reduced levels of oxidative DNA damage in established CD4+ human T cell clones, from a young or a middle-aged donor. Additionally, cultures of primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and CD4+ T cells from donors aged 25–30 or 55–60 years were also supplemented with these agents. Cells from all sources exhibited increased proliferation, and in the case of the T cell clones, an increase in cumulative population doublings. Neither ebselen nor N-acetyl L-cysteine had such effects on clones supplemented from the midpoint of their in vitro lifespan.ConclusionsEbselen and N-acetyl L-cysteine, under certain conditions, may have anti-immunosenescent potential in T cells in in vitro clonal and ex vivo polyclonal culture models.

Polymorphism of the human leukocyte antigen has been implicated in a number of autoimmune disorders including ageing. In the course of the present study, no association of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A1, B8, DR3 haplotype with a male Irish aged population, as previously reported, was observed. Two polymorphic nucleotides in the TNF cluster (G(/308A TNF-a and G'/252A TNF-b), associated with increased TNF-a production, were shown to be in tight linkage disequilibrium with the class I and II HLA loci, generating HLA haplotypes with extended linkage disequilibrium. However, no age-related allele or genotype frequencies were observed for either polymorphic nucleotide. #

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