Type 1 diabetes associated genes account for less than 50% of disease susceptibility. Human enteroviruses have been implicated as environmental factors that might trigger and/or accelerate this autoimmune disorder. We now report of a 12-year-old girl that developed pancreatic autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes after enteroviral infection. Diabetes-associated autoimmunity was evaluated by measurement of several islet cell related autoantibodies. Neutralizing antibodies to different enteroviruses were determined in the case and eight children suffering from aseptic meningitis during a large scale epidemic. Several types of diabetes-associated antibodies were detected post-infection in the adolescent with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, including islet cell antibodies (ICA) and tyrosine phosphatase antibodies (IA2A). ICA but not IA2A appeared in the non-diabetic enterovirus-infected subjects. Based on virological studies, type 1 diabetes pathogenesis process could have been triggered by echovirus 30 infections. This study provides the first evidence of an association between echovirus 30 infection with the presence of pancreatic autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. Our data suggest that echovirus 30 Cuban strain could be considered a potentially diabetogenic enteroviral variant.

No abstract

The aim of this investigation was to assess organ injury provoked by a new pulsatile pump for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with respect to a conventional centrifugal pump. Eight pigs in the pulsatile group (PG) and five in the centrifugal group (CG) underwent a partial CPB lasting 180 min. The animals were sacrificed 180 min after CPB was suspended, and a morphological study of fragments of ventricular wall, liver, lung, and kidney was performed. In CG, centrilobular hepatic necrosis was observed accompanied by sinusoidal dilatation and congestion, multiple focuses of myocardial ischemia, and minor to moderate pulmonary interstitial edema. In PG, diffuse centrilobular sinusoidal congestion in the liver, congestion and capillary dilatation of low intensity in the ventricular wall, and nonsignificant pulmonary interstitial septal edema was observed. In the kidney, both groups showed degenerative changes of the tubular cells and nonsignificant tubular dilatation. These results suggest a better peripheral circulation in the pulsatile group.

From April to September 2000, an epidemic of aseptic meningitis spread throughout Cuba, with 16,943 reported cases. Virologic studies identified echovirus 16 as the cause of this epidemic. This is the first reported isolate of echovirus 16 from patients with viral meningitis in Cuba.

Previous studies have demonstrated the potential advantages of pulsatile flow as compared with continuous flow. However, to date, physiologic pumps have been technically complex and their application has therefore remained in the experimental field. We have developed a new type of centrifugal pump, which can provide pulsatile as well as continuous flow. The inner wall of a centrifugal pump is pulsed by means of a flexible membrane, which can be accurately controlled by means of either a hydraulic or pneumatic driver. The aim of this study was to assess the hydraulic behavior of the new pump in terms of surplus hemodynamic energy (SHE). We conducted experiments using a mock circulatory system including a membrane oxygenator. No differences were found in the pressure-flow characteristics between the new pump and a conventional centrifugal pump, suggesting that the inclusion of the flexible membrane does not alter hydraulic performance. The value of SHE rose when systolic volume was increased. However, SHE dropped when the percentage of ejection time was reduced and also when the continuous flow (programed by the centrifugal console) increased. Mean flow matched well with the continuous flow set by the centrifugal console, that is, the pulsatile component of the flow was exclusively controlled by the pulsatile console, and was therefore independent of the continuous flow programed by the centrifugal console. The pulsatility of the new pump was~25% of that created with a truly pulsatile pump.