BACKGROUND Recently, apoptotic cells have been found in plasma obtained by centrifugation of blood from pregnant women, raising the question of what constitutes plasma and whether plasma is truly cell free. We compared the effects of different blood-processing protocols on the quantification, DNA composition, and day-to-day fluctuation of fetal and total DNA in maternal plasma. METHODS Blood ...

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was purified to homogeneity from human seminal plasma by ion-exchange chromatography on a CM-Sephadex C-50 and by gel filtration on a Sephacryl S-200 column. A single 33-kDa protein band appeared in SDS-PAGE. High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) of the purified protein produced a single peak, while isoelectric focusing demonstrated the presence of five diff...

Snake venoms contain a rich variety of factors which affect blood coagulation. There have been few reports on the anticoagulant activity of the venom of different cobras, but no such observations have been made on the Iranian cobra, although a procoagulant factor has been described. In this study an anticoagulant factor has been purified from the venom of Naja naja oxiana using gel filtrat...

BACKGROUND Urinary excretion is currently regarded as the main mechanism of elimination of N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). The clinical implications and the value of measurement of urinary NT-proBNP in patients with heart failure are largely unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied 94 patients (age, 58+/-11 years; 79% men) with chronic heart failure (CHF) and 20 ag...

The acute effects of the angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitor captopril on regional blood flow, renal hemodynamics and sodium excretion were studied in 12 patients with severe congestive heart failure. Converting-enzyme inhibition decreased systemic vascular resistance by 27% and increased cardiac index by 16%. Estimated hepatic blood flow decreased 17%, but renal blood flow increased 60%. T...

To determine if pregnancy alters the impaired renal vasodilator responses in hypertensive Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl S) rats, we measured glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow and calculated renal vascular resistance before, during, and after renal vasodilation with glycine (0.17 mmol/kg per minute IV). Conscious, midterm (day 11 to 14) pregnant and age-matched virgin Dahl S...

Blood pressure decreases during early pregnancy in association with a decrease in peripheral vascular resistance and increases in renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate. These early changes suggest a potential association with corpora lutea function. To determine whether peripheral vasodilation occurs following ovulation, we studied 16 healthy women in the midfollicular and midluteal ...

Microvascular fluid exchange (flow J(v)) underlies plasma/interstitial fluid (ISF) balance and oedematous swelling. The traditional form of Starling's principle has to be modified in light of insights into the role of ISF pressures and the recognition of the glycocalyx as the semipermeable layer of endothelium. Sum-of-forces evidence and direct observations show that microvascular absorption is...

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is produced and secreted by atrial cells. We measured calf capillary filtration rate with prolonged venous-occlusion plethysmography of supine healthy male subjects during pharmacologic infusion of ANP (48 pmol/kg/min for 15 min; n = 6) and during placebo infusion (n = 7). Results during infusions were compared to prior control measurements. ANP infusion increas...