OBJECTIVE We examined the potential value of the uterine artery pulsatility index (PI) in pregnancies with fetal aneuploidies and in those that developed preeclampsia (PE) with the aim of distinguishing between these complications in pregnancies with low pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A). METHODS Uterine artery PI and serum PAPP-A at 11-13 weeks were measured in 165 cases of PE, ...

We investigated the impact and signal transduction mechanisms of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on transdiffer-entiation of renal tubular epithelial cells. Rat renal tubular epithelial cells (NRK-52E) were randomly divided into a normal control group, transforming growth factor (TGF)-b1-induced group (10 ng/mL), and intervention groups with 200 mg/L EGCG + 10 ng/mL TGF-b1 and 400 mg/L EGCG +...

Arsenate interferes with enzymatic processes and inhibits inorganic phosphorus (Pi) uptake in many plants. This study examined the role of phytase and phosphatase in arsenate tolerance and phosphorus (P) acquisition in the arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata . Enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of phytate in P. vittata extracts was not inhibited by arsenate at 5 mM or by heating at 100 °C for 10 mi...

Infectivity, development, and growth of Zygocotyle lunata in 18 male Balb/c mice, each exposed to 20 metacercariae cysts, were examined 1 to 6 wk post-infection (PI). Metacercariae cysts were obtained from naturally infected Helisoma trivolvis snails. At necropsy, 11 of 18 mice were found infected with a total of 32 worms. The range of recovery was 1 to 6 worms per host. The mean body area of w...

We have studied the properties of the fatty acyl binding sites of the phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (PI-TP) from bovine brain, by measuring the binding and transfer of pyrenylacyl-containing phosphatidylinositol (PyrPI) species and pyrenylacyl-containing phosphatidylcholine (PyrPC) species as a function of the acyl chain length. The PyrPI species carried a pyrene-labeled acyl chain of v...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of delayed administration of erythromycin in the course of acute otitis media caused by an erythromycin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae strain in the gerbil model. METHODS The bacterium was inoculated by transbullar challenge in the middle ear (ME) and antibiotic treatment at different doses was administered at various times thereafter. RESULTS When 2.5...

Silswal N, Parelkar NK, Wacker MJ, Brotto M, Andresen J. Phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate increases intracellular free Ca in arterial smooth muscle cells and elicits vasocontraction. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 300: H2016–H2026, 2011. First published March 18, 2011; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.01011.2010.—Phosphoinositide (3,5)-bisphosphate [PI(3,5)P2] is a newly identified phosphoinositide t...

Abstract Aim Organic substances in leaves of several southwest Australian native species interfere with sensitive colorimetric assays and prevent quantification inorganic phosphate concentration ([Pi]). We aimed to develop a reproducible routine procedure for treating leaf extracts activated charcoal (AC) remove interfering substances, allowing the determination [Pi] by malachite green spectrop...

Clinical isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Mus showed resistance both to extended-spectrum cephalosporins and to aztreonam. We detected a typical double-disk synergy image when ceftazidime or aztreonam was placed next to a clavulanic acid disk on an agar plate. This resistance phenotype suggested the presence of an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase. Isoelectric focusing revealed that this strain pr...

Streptococcus pneumoniae, a common human pathogen, colonizes the nasopharynx and causes diseases including acute otitis media (AOM). Herein, pneumococcal serotype distributions in children before and after PCV7 vaccination and in patients with pneumococcal disease in Siberian Russia (Krasnoyarsk) are reported. Analyses included antimicrobial susceptibility testing, sequence typing (ST), pulsed ...