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PubMed2006

Distribution of RTX toxin genes in strains of [Actinobacillus] rossii and [Pasteurella] mairii.

Strains of [Actinobacillus] rossii, [Pasteurella] mairii and [Pasteurella] aerogenes can be isolated from abortion in swine. The RTX toxin Pax has previously been found only in those [P.] aerogenes strains isolated from abortion. Nothing is known about RTX toxins in field isolates of the other two species. To gain insight into the distribution of selected RTX toxin genes and their association with abortion, PCR screening for the pax, apxII and apxIII operons on 21 [A.] rossii and seven [P.] mairii isolates was done. Since species can be phenotypically misidentified, the study was backed up by a phylogenetic analysis of all strains based on 16S rRNA, rpoB and infB genes. The pax gene was detected in all [P.] mairii but not in [A.] rossii strains. No apx genes were found in [P.] mairii but different gene combinations for apx were detected in [A.] rossii strains. Most of these strains were positive for apxIII, either alone or in combination with apxII. Whereas pax was found to be associated to strains from abortion no such indication could be found with apx in [A.] rossii strains. Phylogenetically [A.] rossii strains formed a heterogeneous cluster separated from Actinobacillus sensu stricto. [P.] mairii strains clustered with [P.] aerogenes but forming a separate branch. The fact that [P.] aerogenes, [P.] mairii and [A.] rossii can phylogenetically clearly be identified and might contain distinct RTX toxin genes allows their proper diagnosis and will further help to investigate their role as pathogens.

Actinobacillus↗
PubMed2005

Management of spontaneous abortion.

Spontaneous abortion, which is the loss of a pregnancy without outside intervention before 20 weeks' gestation, affects up to 20 percent of recognized pregnancies. Spontaneous abortion can be subdivided into threatened abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, missed abortion, septic abortion, complete abortion, and recurrent spontaneous abortion. Ultrasonography is helpful in the diagnosis of spontaneous abortion, but other testing may be needed if an ectopic pregnancy cannot be ruled out. Chromosomal abnormalities are causative in approximately 50 percent of spontaneous abortions; multiple other factors also may play a role. Traditional treatment consisting of surgical evacuation of the uterus remains the treatment of choice in unstable patients. Recent studies suggest that expectant or medical management is appropriate in selected patients. Patients with a completed spontaneous abortion rarely require medical or surgical intervention. For women with incomplete spontaneous abortion, expectant management for up to two weeks usually is successful, and medical therapy provides little additional benefit. When patients are allowed to choose between treatment options, a large percentage will choose expectant management. Expectant management of missed spontaneous abortion has variable success rates, but medical therapy with intravaginal misoprostol has an 80 percent success rate. Physicians should be aware of psychologic issues that patients and their partners face after completing a spontaneous abortion. Women are at increased risk for significant depression and anxiety for up to one year after spontaneous abortion. Counseling to address feelings of guilt, the grief process, and how to cope with friends and family should be provided.

Abortifacient Agents↗
PubMed1999

[The antioxidants (coenzyme Q10) in materno-fetal physiopathology].

BACKGROUND: Coenzyme Q10 (ubidecarenone) is a torpeniod molecule mainly located in bacterial and mitochondrial membranes. It is a part of a specific enzyme system and acts primarily on the transport of electrons in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. It performs an antioxidant action. We studied both fetal and maternal coenzyme Q10 plasma levels in physiological conditions and also in the presence of some pathologies. METHODS: As regards the maternal side, we selected 483 pregnancies, performing 615 blood samples, and divided them into four groups: A: physiological pregnancies; B: spontaneous abortions; C: threatened abortions; D: threatened late abortions and threatened pre-term deliveries. We then selected 61 pregnancies which differed from the previous ones and determined Q10 levels in fetal samples obtained by cordocentesis. We divided a control group from pathological groups: intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR); Rh-isoimmunization (with intra-uterine transfusion), non immune fetal hydrops, fetal malformations. Coenzyme Q10 levels were determined in only one laboratory by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Coenzyme Q10 concentrations were expressed as mg/ml, the data as the mean + SD. Statistical analysis was performed employing a linear regression model and the student "t"-test. RESULTS: After working out a normality curve of CoQ10 levels in maternal blood, we noticed that the levels of Coenzyme Q10 were low in spontaneous abortions, in threatened late abortions and in threatened pre-term deliveries. We determined the value of 0.3 mg/ml as a cutoff to differentiate the fetal from the adult values. Moreover, CoQ10 values turned out to be increased only in fetuses affected by non-immune fetal hydrops. CONCLUSIONS: Accordingly, we can say that maternal CoQ10 plasma levels can be considered as a marker of pathological uterine contractile activity. There is a substantial increase in CoQ10 fetal plasma levels in fetuses affected by hypoxic hypoxia and also in those affected by non-immune fetal hydrops.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1991

The ethics of selecting for fetal sex.

Though it is not yet within our capacity to engineer the sex of a human fetus prior to conception, recent technological advances have made possible earlier and earlier detection of the sex of a fetus in utero. Where an embryo has been fertilized in vitro, detection of sex can be carried out much earlier still. These developments make it possible for couples to decide whether to continue with a pregnancy where a fetus is not of the preferred sex. To permit couples such an option would raise several ethical and policy issues. I consider ethical objections based, firstly, on there being something inherently wrong with the practice of sex selection; secondly, on there being serious untoward consequences from the practice of sex selection; and thirdly, on the wrongness of the abortions which would be required to make the practice effective. I argue that none of these is decisive against a handful of cases where sex selection might be justified, in particular, where it would help reduce the incidence of sex-linked diseases and in cases where strong economic or psychological grounds exist for endorsing parental choice over the sex of their offspring. Even granted that there are no strong ethical reasons for opposing all parental choice of sex (where this is understood to be a private decision), I claim that there are, nonetheless, powerful policy reasons for severely restricting the use of the expensive technology in the service of such private decision-making.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1983

Maternal exposure to exogenous sex hormones in relation to birth weight of offspring.

Birth weight was analyzed among singleton live births (N = 665) in Upstate New York in 1974 to women who used oral contraceptives (OC) in comparison to live births to women who used no contraceptives (N = 716), within 11 months prior to last menstrual period (LMP). In addition, birth weight was examined among live births to women who received hormone support therapy (N = 97) and hormone pregnancy tests (N = 75) during pregnancy. There was no evidence for a reduction in mean birth weight, or an increase in frequency of lower weights, among births to OC users, including those who stopped using OC within 2 months of LMP. Generally similar findings held within three maternal age groups (less than 25, 25-29, and 30-39 years). There was no evidence for a reduction in birth weight among offspring of women who received hormone pregnancy tests. Mean birth weight was relatively low among male and female births to women who received hormone therapy for "threatened abortion," but this may reflect the selection of women for such treatment rather than an effect of exogenous hormones on fetal growth.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1995

Gestational trophoblastic disease metastatic to the central nervous system.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate characteristics of patients with central nervous system (CNS) lesions of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) and determine prognostic and therapeutic implications applicable to management. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 454 patients treated at the Southeastern Regional Trophoblastic Disease Center between 1966 and 1992 with at least 2 years of follow-up, and identified 42 (9.3%) with CNS metastases. Sixteen patients presented for primary therapy and 27 patients had received significant therapy prior to presentation. Three heavily treated moribund patients died before their first cycle of chemotherapy and were excluded from analysis. Brain metastases were documented by physical exam and radionuclide imaging (before 1976), computed tomography scan (after 1976), or magnetic resonance imaging (after 1986). Patients received multiagent chemotherapy with methotrexate, actinomycin D, and chlorambucil (MAC)- or etoposide-based regimens. All patients received radiation therapy. No intrathecal chemotherapy was given. Craniotomy was employed in seven cases. Remission was defined as three weekly hCG levels below assay sensitivity (< 5 mIU/ml). RESULTS: Overall survival was 44%. Twelve of 16 patients (75%) who presented with CNS metastases with no prior therapy (Group A), 5 of 13 (38%) patients who had prior treatment (Group B), and none of 10 patients who developed CNS metastases during therapy (Group C) survived (P < 0.05). Two of four patients who failed in the CNS after treatment for CNS lesions were salvaged. Demographic characteristics of Groups A and B were similar. No significant differences with respect to WHO score, interval from pregnancy to onset of disease, or age among these groups were found. Group B patients had a four-fold higher incidence of liver metastases. Survival of Group A patients was not related to conventional clinical prognostic factors. Inverse (nonsignificant) correlations were found for Group B patients between survival and WHO score, hCG level, size and number of metastatic lesions, but not type of prior therapy. Survival was higher in those with prior molar pregnancies (56%) as contrasted with aborted (50%) or term (27%) gestations. Selective use of craniotomy helped alleviate intracranial pressure and resect refractory foci. CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy in GTD patients with CNS metastases yields survival rates comparable to those reported for intrathecal methotrexate regimens. Tumor burden as indicated by hCG level and size/number of metastases in previously treated patients may correlate with survival. Patients who develop CNS metastases during active therapy have a very poor outcome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

An estrogen receptor genetic polymorphism and the risk of primary and secondary recurrent spontaneous abortion.

OBJECTIVE: A case-control study was undertaken to assess the association between an estrogen receptor gene variant and the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortions. STUDY DESIGN: The frequency of the estrogen receptor gene variant in blood lymphocyte deoxyribonucleic acid and other selected maternal characteristics was compared among 60 primary recurrent aborters, 61 secondary recurrent aborters, and 43 women who had had at least two live births but no spontaneous abortions. RESULTS: No association was evident between the estrogen receptor gene variant and the risk of either primary or secondary recurrent abortion. There were data suggesting that primary recurrent aborters in particular were more likely to report a family history of recurrent abortion and a family history of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the estrogen receptor polymorphism is not a genetic marker for recurrent spontaneous abortions. Therefore, as suggested by previous investigations, this polymorphism appears to be a marker for breast cancer risk only among the subgroups who have had a history of repeated abortions.

Abortion, Habitual↗
PubMed1997

Clinical studies of valproate for migraine prophylaxis.

Within the last decade our understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms which generate migraine has expanded considerably. Accompanying these advances in basic science, new agents designed to treat migraine acutely have exhibited unprecedented pharmacologic selectivity and clinical efficacy. While these abortive agents clearly can provide many migraine patients with a degree of headache control they previously have not enjoyed, such treatment typically will not provide lasting benefit to individuals whose headaches are more pervasive and may require stabilization through effective prophylactic therapy. Unfortunately, our arsenal of agents for migraine prophylaxis has not grown as rapidly as that of the abortive medications, and for the most part clinicians and patients are left to rely upon a small handful of "traditional" drugs for that purpose. One notable exception to this is divalproex sodium; the safety and efficacy of this new agent for migraine prevention have been documented consistently in a series of recent clinical trials.

Humans↗
PubMed2004

Intrinsic promoter recognition by a "core" RNA polymerase.

Two classes of RNA polymerases transcribe RNA from promoters on DNA templates: promoter recognition-competent single polypeptides and multisubunit enzymes that require separable promoter recognition factors. Eukaryotic mitochondria utilize an unusual hybrid of these classes composed of a "core" RNA polymerase related to the single polypeptide enzymes plus a "specificity factor" necessary for promoter utilization. Using supercoiled or premelted templates, we have discovered that the yeast core mitochondrial RNA polymerase (Rpo41) has the intrinsic ability to initiate from promoters without its specificity factor (Mtf1). Rpo41 requires the mitochondrial promoter sequence (ATATAAGTA) for this activity. On premelted templates addition of Mtf1 actually inhibits the promoter selective activity of Rpo41. Mtf1 increases abortive relative to productive transcription by Rpo41, possibly by stabilizing the promoter complex and reducing escape into elongation. The requirement for Mtf1 on closed but not open templates indicates that Mtf1 facilitates melting but not recognition of promoters.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1998

5HT1B and 5HT1D receptor mRNA differential co-localization with peptide mRNA in the guinea pig trigeminal ganglion.

To investigate the possible role of 5HT1B and/or 5HT1D receptors in controlling neurogenic inflammation, we performed a co-localization study of the mRNA for 5HT1B and 5HT1D receptors and of substance P or calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) mRNA in the guinea pig trigeminal ganglion using double labelling in situ hybridization techniques. The 5HT1D receptor mRNA is abundant whereas 5HT1B receptor mRNA is scarce. The vast majority of cells containing substance P mRNA also contained 5HT1B receptor mRNA, but very few cells expressed substance P mRNA and 5HT1D receptor mRNA. Both receptor mRNAs were co-localized with CGRP mRNA. Hence, 5HT1D receptors may control the release of CGRP only, whereas 5HT1B receptors may control the release of both substance P and CGRP. The question remains whether selective 5HT1D agonists will have migraine abortive properties.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Sex determination in the monoecious species cucumber is confined to specific floral whorls.

In unisexual flowers, sex is determined by the selective repression of growth or the abortion of either male or female reproductive organs. The mechanism by which this process is controlled in plants is still poorly understood. Because it is known that the identity of reproductive organs in plants is controlled by homeotic genes belonging to the MADS box gene family, we analyzed floral homeotic mutants from cucumber, a species that bears both male and female flowers on the same individual. To study the characteristics of sex determination in more detail, we produced mutants similar to class A and C homeotic mutants from well-characterized hermaphrodite species such as Arabidopsis by ectopically expressing and suppressing the cucumber gene CUCUMBER MADS1 (CUM1). The cucumber mutant green petals (gp) corresponds to the previously characterized B mutants from several species and appeared to be caused by a deletion of 15 amino acid residues in the coding region of the class B MADS box gene CUM26. These homeotic mutants reveal two important concepts that govern sex determination in cucumber. First, the arrest of either male or female organ development is dependent on their positions in the flower and is not associated with their sexual identity. Second, the data presented here strongly suggest that the class C homeotic function is required for the position-dependent arrest of reproductive organs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Male or female, we will create them: the ethics of sex selection for non-medical reasons.

The article examines the arguments for and against the practice of sex selection for non-medical reasons (e.g. parental preferences, family balancing, religious reasons) in light of the new technology of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). It distinguishes between arguments about the risks to the future child, the mother and society, on the one hand, and the inherent wrongness of the practice as an illegitimate interference in the natural course of reproduction, on the other. The article tries to show that at least in the well defined context of sex selection by PGD, when IVF was performed for independent medical reasons, there is no danger to either the child or the mother and hence that the practice should be permitted. Furthermore, the alleged dangers to society are demonstrated to be mostly illusory. On the one hand, the demographic danger is usually overstated and lacks historical support. On the other hand, the feminist claim that sex selection is necessarily discriminatory is found to be both theoretically and empirically groundless. The article's conclusion is that despite widespread intuitive objection to the practice of sex selection, it can be justified in terms of parental autonomy and falls within the value of family planning. This liberal view does not, however, imply that having a child of the desired sex is the parents' right, nor does it apply to sex selection in later phases of gestation (abortions and obviously, infanticide).

Choice Behavior↗
PubMed1987

The effect of fendiline on cAMP metabolism and activity of the isolated uterus of the rat.

Increasing concentrations of fendiline inhibit various types of muscle activation (KCl, oxytocin and electrical stimulation), as well as spontaneous rhythmic activity of the isolated uterus of the rat. Contrary to verapamil and nifedipine, fendiline in micromolar concentrations (from 1.5 to 15.5 mumol) affects various types of muscle activation almost to the same degree. Fendiline probably influences a common pathway in calcium metabolism in all types of muscle activation. The relaxant effect of fendiline does not depend on cAMP, being even associated with a significant decrease of the level of this nucleotide during electrical stimulation of the isolated uterus of the rat. Fendiline may have its place in the therapy of premature delivery and abortion, particularly because it exhibits lower selectivity in relation to the type of activation of the smooth muscle. Fendiline induces a stronger inhibition of the tonic than of the phasic component of contraction produced by oxytocin and KCl. Fendiline is more active against the oxytocin-induced contraction, probably due to an additional action on the fast Na+ channels. These findings indicate that KCl and oxytocin act through different calcium channels (voltage and receptor calcium channels). Our experiments in which fendiline inhibited more strongly the tonic than the phasic component of KCl-produced contraction also confirm the hypothesis on the existence of voltage calcium channels (or subtypes of one voltage calcium channel) in the isolated uterus of the rat. By adding calcium to the medium, almost all types of muscle activation are established, after the inhibitory action of fendiline, except its depressive action on the electrical stimulation of the isolated rat uterus. Calcium most effectively antagonizes the inhibitory effect of fendiline on spontaneous rhythmic activity. The finding that certain types of activation, after the inhibitory action of fendiline, occur to a different degree by addition of calcium to the medium, are also indirect confirmation of the existence of different calcium channels. Halothane, in a concentration of 1 vol %, did not change the relaxant action of fendiline during electrical stimulation and during spontaneous rhythmic activity.

Animals↗