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The indirect fluorescent antibody technique as a method for detecting antibodies in aborted fetuses.

In this investigation the indirect fluorescent antibody technique was used to titrate antibodies in bovine sera to parainfluenza 3, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus and bovine viral diarrhea virus. These results were compared to those determined on the same samples by hemagglutination inhibition for parainfluenza 3 virus and serum neutralization for bovine virus diarrhea and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus. The results of the serological methods agreed closely. The indirect fluorescent antibody technique is a rapid and sensitive method for detecting antibodies and the procedure lends itself to use in diagnostic laboratories. In addition to the above viruses the presence or absence of antibodies to bovine coronavirus and bovine adenovirus 3 were determined by the indirect fluorescent antibody technique in thoracic fluids from 100 aborted fetuses and 50 nonaborted fetuses. Results on these samples were not compared to hemagglutination inhibition or serum neutralization as the condition of fluid samples from aborted fetuses renders interpretation of such tests unreliable. Antibodies to one or more viruses were detected in 30 of the 100 aborted fetuses and in seven of the 50 nonaborted fetuses. Antibodies to more than one agent were detected in eleven of the 100 aborted and in one of the 50 nonaborted fetuses. Reasons for this occurrence and application of the test in determination of causes of abortion are discussed.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Maternal mortality in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.

OBJECTIVE: To study the levels and causes of maternal mortality in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. METHODS: We collected data about all pregnancy-related deaths in St. Petersburg over the period 1992-2003 using several sources of information. An independent research group reviewed and classified all cases according to ICD-10 and the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the United Kingdom. We tested trends of overall and cause specific ratios (deaths per 100,000 births) for four 3-year intervals using the chi2 test. FINDINGS: The maternal mortality ratio for the study period was 43 per 100,000 live births. A sharp decline of direct obstetric deaths was observed from the first to fourth 3-year interval (49.8 for 1992-94 versus 18.5 for 2001-03). Sepsis and haemorrhage were the main causes of direct obstetric deaths. Among the total deaths from sepsis, 63.8% were due to abortion. Death ratios from sepsis declined significantly from the first to second study interval. In the last study interval (2001-03), 50% of deaths due to haemorrhage were secondary to ectopic pregnancies. The death ratio from thromboembolism remained low (2.9%) and stable throughout the study period. Among indirect obstetric deaths a non-significant decrease was observed for deaths from cardiac disease. Death ratios from infectious causes and suicides increased over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal mortality levels in St. Petersburg still exceed European levels by a factor of five. Improved management of abortion, emergency care for sepsis and haemorrhage, and better identification and control of infectious diseases in pregnancy, are needed.

Abortion, Induced↗

[Leukocyte immunization and early spontaneous abortions].

Forty patients who had had at least two early spontaneous abortions, i.e. before the 12th week of pregnancy without known aetiology factors (anatomical, chromosomal, infectious or hormonal) were immunised with their husband's leucocytes. These immunisations were carried out by repeated intravenous injections of leucocytes taken from the husband's peripheral blood. In 24 patients the search for anti-HLA antibodies was shown to be positive after a varying number of injections (2 to 10). Twelve patients are still being treated, 4 did not make antibodies. Eighteen pregnancies have been observed, of whom 11 have so far come to term, 4 are following a normal course and 3 pregnancies were interrupted late of different reasons. The success rate, by which is meant pregnancies without early abortion, was 17/21, i.e. 81%. A comparison of the number of HLA A, B or DR antigens found to be shared between the couple in 40 couples studied, when compared with a series of 64 fertile couples (who had had at least 2 children without any abortions) shows no differences. These couples as compared with fertile couples do not show either differences in the frequency of HLA antigens. After leucocyte immunisation an inhibition in the mixed lymphocyte culture is found between the patient's lymphocytes and her husband's in the wife's serum if this has made anti-HLA antibodies.

Abortion, Habitual↗

The effects of bovine viral diarrhoea virus on cattle reproduction in relation to disease control.

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a major reproductive pathogen in cattle. Infection of the bull can lead to a fall in semen quality and the isolation of infectious virus in the ejaculate, while infection in the cow leads to poor conception rates, abortions and congenital defects. BVDV also reduces the animal's resistance to other respiratory and enteric pathogens. The prevalence of BVDV is primarily due to the efficiency with which the virus crosses the placenta of susceptible females. Calves that survive infection during the first trimester of pregnancy are born with a persistent and lifelong infection. These persistently infected (PI) animals represent between 1.0% and 2.0% of the cattle population and continuously shed infectious virus. The availability of reliable diagnostic ELISA and PCR techniques, which can test milk or serum samples for virus or antibodies, has simplified BVDV surveillance and improved the prospects for control. Although PI animals are the principal vectors within and between herds, they can be readily identified and removed. By contrast, cows carrying a PI foetus are particularly problematic. These animals have been compared to 'Trojan Horses' because they are virus-negative and antibody-positive but they deliver PI calves. In general, acutely infected cattle are much less efficient vectors but infections at the onset of puberty have resulted in a localised and persistent infection within the testes. Under these circumstances, virus shedding into the semen may remain undetected. Transmission of BVDV can be controlled through vaccination or eradication. BVDV vaccine technology has been developing over the past 30 years, but currently available vaccines are still of the conventional inactivated or attenuated sort. In general, vaccination has not been applied with sufficient rigor to make a significant impact on the level of circulating virus, unlike the national and regional eradication programmes established in areas such as Scandinavia, Austria, the Netherlands and Scotland. Eradication confers the added advantage of improved herd health; however, it also creates a susceptible cattle population that needs to be protected by stringent biosecurity. In this article, we discuss how BVDV influences reproductive function, the potential for viral transmission during breeding and the measures that must be taken to avoid the spread of infection to susceptible cattle populations via semen, embryos, culture fluids and infected cows.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Morbidity that is associated with curettage for the management of spontaneous and induced abortion in women who are infected with HIV.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the morbidity that is associated with curettage for the management of abortions in women who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus compared with women who were not infected with human immunodeficiency virus. STUDY DESIGN: Women who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (cases) and who underwent curettage for the management of scheduled and unscheduled abortions in the first half of pregnancy between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 2002, were identified. Women who were not infected with human immunodeficiency virus (control subjects) were matched 3:1 to cases for gestational age, type of abortion, and year of procedure. Medical records were reviewed to obtain demographic characteristics, gestational age, abortion characteristics, and procedure-related complications. Chi-squared test, Student t test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS: Seventy-one women who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (cases) and 213 women who were not infected with human immunodeficiency virus (control subjects) who underwent curettage during the study period were evaluated. Forty-eight cases (68%) and 146 control subjects (69%) underwent a scheduled curettage. Twenty-three cases (32%) and 66 control subjects (31%) underwent an unscheduled curettage for spontaneous or incomplete abortion. No significant differences were seen in age, gravidity, or parity. There were significantly more black women in the HIV-infected cohort (P < .001), which was representative of our human immunodeficiency virus population. The mean gestational age in the cases was greater than in the control subjects (10.9 +/- 4.2 weeks of gestation vs 9.2 +/- 3.1 weeks of gestation; P = .004). Procedure-related complications occurred in 10 of the women (14%) who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus who underwent curettage, compared with 9 of the women (4%) who were not infected with human immunodeficiency virus (P = .004). With the use of logistic regression, complication rates were unaffected by the difference in gestational age. Infectious complications did not differ between the 2 groups (P = .435). CONCLUSION: There was a higher rate of procedure-related complications among women who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus and who underwent curettage for management of spontaneous and induced abortions. There was no increase in infectious morbidity in the women who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Abortion, Induced↗

Recurrent reproductive wastage and immunologic factors.

PROBLEM: The causes of recurrent reproductive wastage are varied and complex. The present study was designed to focus on the role of immunologic factors in cases where other causes were not evident. METHOD OF STUDY: Over 20 years, more than 1500 couples were evaluated in our clinic because of recurrent spontaneous abortion. Women were tested for anti-phospholipid antibodies and plasma contact proteins of the intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation after endocrine, organic, infectious and genetic etiologies of miscarriages were excluded. RESULTS: Anti-phosphatidylethanolamine antibodies, anti-annexin antibodies, and factor XII deficiency were more common factors in recurrent spontaneous abortion patients than were anti-cardiolipin antibodies in terms of induction of recurrent pregnancy losses. Paternal leukocyte immunotherapy of patients without such abnormalities was associated with a significantly improved success rate. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent reproductive wastage can be minimized by individualized therapy based on comprehensive evaluation of immunologic factors, including several anti-phospholipid antibodies.

Abortion, Habitual↗

The cytokine theory of headache.

Immune cell cytokines are proposed as the common mediators of headache. This unifying concept can not only account for headache, but also the prostaglandins, leukotrienes, platelet activating and vasoactive substances linked with headache, the varied symptoms associated with headache and the high incidence of headache with depression, infectious disease, trauma and in premenopausal women. The immune system as the central mediator of headache is consistent with the promoting effect of estrogen, the abortive activity of cortisol and the prophylactic properties of fish oil and evening primrose oil. This hypothesis provides a unified mechanism to explain headache triggered by food, infectious disease or trauma.

Cytokines↗

Synthesis of viral proteins in polymorphonuclear leukocytes infected with influenza A virus.

Various reports have indicated that infection of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) with influenza virus causes depression of their metabolic and chemotactic responses, but the effect the PMNL has on the life cycle of influenza virus has not been well defined. The studies reported here were undertaken to determine whether influenza virus could replicate within PMNL. Virus-infected and uninfected PMNL were labeled with [35S]methionine and analyzed by gel electrophoresis and fluorography for detection of newly synthesized proteins. Both host- and virus-specific proteins were produced within PMNL. By using indirect immunofluorescence techniques combined with flow cytometry, the expression of newly synthesized viral antigens was detected in virus-infected PMNL. Plaque assays on supernatant fluid from infected PMNL showed that infectious progeny were not produced, indicating that influenza virus infection of PMNL is abortive.

Cell Line↗

[Trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma evansi (Steel 1885), Balbiani 1888 in small ruminants in Mauritania: results of experimental inoculation and field surveys].

In order to define the eventual role of small ruminants in the epidemiology of T. evansi infection in Southern Mauritania, the following experiments were carried out: the intravenous inoculation of a ewe and a goat with a local strain of T. evansi isolated from a dairy camel; surveys of small ruminant flocks which graze with infected camels in the South of the Trarza region. The experimental inoculation allowed to show that local sheep and goats are receptive. Only the ewe showed a clinical episode with loss of weight and abortion. During 220 days after inoculation the blood of the goat remained constantly infectious for the mouse whereas in the same period the ewe's blood showed an alternation of infectious and non-infectious phases. However in the field, none of 381 blood smears of small ruminants (207 goats, 174 sheep) were positive and none of the 187 serums (109 goats, 78 sheep). Therefore, it seems that the small ruminants of the South Mauritania do not play any role in the epidemiology of T. evansi camel trypanosomosis even if they are receptive to experimental inoculation.

Animals↗

Chronic chorioamnionitis: a clinicopathologic study of 17 cases.

The clinicopathologic features of 17 cases of an unusual variant of chorioamnionitis distinguished by a pure or predominantly chronic inflammatory infiltrate in the fetal membranes rather than the usual acute inflammatory reaction are reported. In six cases, there was an equal (one case) or minor (five cases) component of acute inflammation in the fetal membranes as well. Concomitant villitis, found in 11 cases, was almost uniformly lymphohistiocytic and destructive, but it varied greatly in severity. Immunoperoxidase stains for cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex I and II, and Toxoplasma gondii; Warthin-Starry, Gomori methenamine silver, Dieterle, Gram and acid fast stains; placental or amniotic fluid culture; and limited maternal serologic studies failed to identify a specific infectious etiology in any case. Seven women had experienced at least one previous spontaneous abortion, fetal death in utero, or preterm birth. No patient reported a history of fever, rash, or flu-like syndrome during pregnancy. Serious antenatal complications were numerous. Preterm birth occurred in 13 cases. Gestational age ranged from 25 to 42 weeks (mean 32 weeks) and birth weight ranged from 740 to 3,230 g (mean 2,100 g). When expressed as a percentile for gestational age, 47% of infants had a birth weight at or below the 25th percentile, and 76% were at or below the 50th percentile. Two infants were born with gross anomalies, and one infant died in the neonatal period.

Adolescent↗

Equid herpesvirus 1 is neurotropic in mice, but latency from which infectious virus can be reactivated does not occur.

Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is the most common cause of virus-induced abortion in horses. After primary infection the virus becomes latent predominantly in the respiratory tract lymph nodes and the genome can also be detected in the peripheral nervous system. The role of mouse as a feasible model for the establishment of latency and reactivation of EHV-1 was investigated. Intracerebral and intranasal infections of 3- and 17-day-old mice were made and virus replication was confirmed by virus isolation and detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) in brain. For reactivation studies, the mice were killed 8 weeks post infection and tissues were collected for cocultivation. In mice from both age groups, infectious virus was not detected by cocultivation. Following attempts to reactivate virus in vivo with corticosteroids, the viral antigen was detected at low levels by IIF and the expression of the gB gene by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in brain, trigeminal ganglia, olfactory lobe, lung and spleen. Virus was also detected by IIF following incubation of tissue explants in the growth medium containing pokeweed mitogen (PWM). These results show the limitations of the mouse model for investigating EHV-1 latency and highlights the issue of 'ineffective reactivation' of virus.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Strain of mycoplasma associated with human reproductive failure.

A strain of mycoplasma not previously described has been isolated from the chorion, decidua, and amnion of a patient who sustained a spontaneous abortion during the middle trimester. The fetal membranes exhibited an inflammatory reaction, but no evidence of other infectious agents, bacterial or viral, was noted. The T strain identified is not a classical mycoplasma; it differs in growth and nutritional requirements from the T strains previously characterized.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Competing death programs in poliovirus-infected cells: commitment switch in the middle of the infectious cycle.

Productive poliovirus infection of HeLa cells leads to the canonical cytopathic effect (CPE), whereas certain types of abortive infection result in apoptosis. To define the time course of commitment to the different types of poliovirus-induced death, inhibitors of viral replication (guanidine HCl) or translation (cycloheximide) were added at different times postinfection (p.i.). Early in the infection (during the first approximately 2 h p.i.), predominantly proapoptotic viral function was expressed, rendering the cells committed to apoptosis, which developed several hours after viral expression was arrested. In the middle of infection, concomitantly with the onset of fast generation of viral progeny, the implementation of the viral apoptotic program was abruptly interrupted. In particular, activation of an Asp-Glu-Val-Asp (DEVD)-specific caspase(s) occurring in the apoptosis-committed cells was prevented by the ongoing productive infection. Simultaneously, the cells retaining normal or nearly normal morphology became committed to CPE, which eventually developed regardless of whether or not further viral expression was allowed to proceed. The implementation of the poliovirus-induced apoptotic program was suppressed in HeLa cells overexpressing the Bcl-2 protein, indicating that the fate of poliovirus-infected cells depends on the balance of host and viral pro- and antiapoptotic factors.

Apoptosis↗

[Abortive influenza virus infection in Ehrlich ascitic cancer cells. Further studies of the properties of ascitic virus].

Non-infectious virus particles produced by influenza virus (classical fowl plague)-infected Ehrlich ascitic carcinoma cells have the same morphology, size and sedimentation rate as the standard virions. Their main difference from the allantoic virus is their extreme fragility. They remain intact upon a short-term centrifugation in sucrose solutions but desintegrate upon prolonged centrifugation. In isopicnic fractionation they are detected in two forms, with a density of 1.23 g/ml retaining the hemagglutinating but not the neuraminidase activity and with a density of 1.27 g/ml deprived of both hemagglutinating and neuraminidase activity. In the electron microscopic examination the 1.23 g/ml structure appears as virus particles with defective areas in the surface spikes layer whereas the 1.27 g/ml structure has no spike layer at all. The protein analysis by polyacryl amide gel electrophoresis revealed a sharply reduced amount of the membrane protein in the ascitic virus. A hypothesis is suggested according to which the reduced amount of the membrane protein is the cause of the unusual fragility of ascitic virus particle membranes as a result of which they readily lose glycoproteins which, in its turn, leads to their reduced infectious activity.

Animals↗

A retrospective study of sporadic bovine abortions, stillbirths, and neonatal abnormalities in Atlantic Canada, from 1990 to 2001.

In a retrospective study on 265 cases of sporadic bovine abortions, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths in Atlantic Canada (1990 to 2001), an etiological diagnosis was made in 117 cases (44.2%). The cases were divided into 2 groups: 234 abortions, and 31 stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Identified causes of abortion were bacteria (24.4%), fungi (6.8%), viruses (6.0%), protozoa (Neospora spp.) (2.1%), congenital anomalies (0.4%), and miscellaneous conditions (1.3%). In addition, placentitis without demonstrable infectious agents was observed in 17 (7.3%). Of the 31 cases of stillbirth and neonatal death, identified causes were dystocia (22.5%), congenital anomalies (22.5%), meconium aspiration syndrome (16.1%), and miscellaneous conditions (6.5%). No etiological diagnosis was made in 59% of abortions and 32.4% of stillbirths and neonatal deaths. The 3 most common identifiable causes of abortion in this study were bacterial, fungal, and viral infections.

Abortion, Veterinary↗