[Human umbilical cord blood as a source of hematopoietic progenitor cells for transplantations].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Peleg.
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Mammalian liver development is accompanied by a transition from rapid growth in the fetus to a quiescent state in the adult. However, extensive proliferation can be induced in the adult liver by partial hepatectomy. In this study, we examined the regulation of ribosomal protein (rp) gene expression in the developing and regenerating rat liver. Our results indicate that the translation of rp mRNAs is selectively repressed by about 70% upon development from fetal to adult life, as illustrated by the decrease in ribosomal loading. In addition, the relative abundance of these mRNAs, like that of several other, but not all, housekeeping mRNAs, declines during development through a posttranscriptional mechanism. When liver cells commence growth following partial hepatectomy, translation of rp mRNAs is resumed to near-maximal capacity, as judged by their very efficient recruitment into polysomes. The concomitant increase in the abundance rp mRNAs under these circumstances is achieved by a posttranscriptional mechanism. The apparent fluctuations in the translation efficiency of rp mRNAs are accompanied by parallel changes in the expression of the genes encoding the initiation factors eIF-4E and eIF-4A. Our results indicate that selective translational control of rp mRNAs in mammals is not confined to manipulated cells in culture but constitutes an important regulatory mechanism operating in vivo in the course of liver development and regeneration.
A 23 year old woman, who was known to be in remission from thymic carcinoma, presented in her first trimester. She had previously been treated with radiation and chemotherapy. Her pregnancy was complicated by fever and contractions at 30 weeks and ended with the birth of a live preterm male infant. Subsequent investigation revealed a massive relapse of her mediastinal tumor. This case reinforces the devastating consequences that pregnancy has on thymic hyperplasia. Of nine previously reported cases, five of the women died either during pregnancy or within six months and only one was alive longer than five years. Therapeutic abortion should be considered in the pregnant woman with known thymic neoplasia.
Seven hundred and sixty seven Doppler umbilical artery velocity waveform analyses were performed in 108 pregnant insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) women. No significant correlation between mean third trimester systolic to diastolic (S/D) ratio and either mean blood glucose (r = 0.19) or glycosylated hemoglobin levels (r = 0.28) was found. Mean second and third trimester S/D ratios differed significantly in patients with or without vascular disease (P less than 0.05). Furthermore, women without vasculopathy who demonstrated an elevated S/D developed preeclampsia and delivered appropriate for gestational age infants while patients with vascular disease or chronic hypertension and elevated third trimester S/D (greater than 3) delivered intra uterine growth retarded (IUGR) infants. Moreover, in most of the latter group elevated S/D ratios were recorded in the second trimester prior to ultrasound documentation of IUGR. Our data suggest that in the absence of vasculopathy normal fetal placental resistance can be expected in most pregnancies complicated by diabetes. Patients with vasculopathy are at higher risk for fetal IUGR, which may be identified by early umbilical artery velocimetry.
Successful pregnancies in women on regular hemodialysis treatment are infrequent but increasing. We present two such cases; both pregnancies were diagnosed early, and hemodialysis was intensified, leading to significant reductions in predialysis serum urea levels (70-100 mg/dl). One case was particularly unusual in that systemic lupus erythematosus was the underlying disease, and the patient had no residual renal function at the time of conception. Both patients delivered by cesarean section at 32 and 35 weeks, and their infants are well at ages 2 years and 18 months, respectively. The management and the complications associated with such pregnancies are discussed.
Chronic asthma has an obligatory influence on the emotional state of children with this disease. The disease has psychosomatic components and stress can be the principal cause of the attacks of dyspnea. 50 asthmatic children, 8-14 years of age, were examined and their drawings were compared with those of 20 control children. The drawings of 60% of the asthmatic children were interpreted as showing that they regarded themselves as ill and that they underestimate their self-image. Half of the group use the disease for secondary gain from their peers, and especially from their parents. The rest feel themselves to be healthy without restriction in their daily lives. The prognosis for asthmatic attacks in this group is good.
The main complication in multiple gestation with more than two fetuses is prematurity, with its concomitant increase in perinatal mortality and morbidity. Clearcut indications as to management of these pregnancies are lacking, and the efficiency of elective cerclage is controversial. Twelve triplets and three quadruplets out of 27 multiple pregnancies were electively sutured and compared to 10 triplets and two quadruplets without this procedure. Otherwise, both groups were managed uniformly regarding bed-rest, beta-mimetic drugs and dexamethasone for the enhancement of fetal lung maturity. Mean duration of pregnancy in patients with cerclage was 35 weeks, significantly longer than those who did not undergo this procedure (30.7 weeks) (p < 0.01). Furthermore, in the former group, the mean neonatal weight was significantly higher (p < 0.01), mean Apgar scores were better, significantly lower rates of respiratory distress syndrome occurred (p < 0.05), perinatal mortality rate was significantly reduced (p < 0.01) and the mean hospitalization period was shorter (p < 0.025). It seems that elective cervical suture is a definite contribution to the successful management of multiple pregnancies with more than two fetuses.
Ninety-eight insulin-dependent diabetic pregnancies underwent monitoring by means of 978 biophysical profiles from 28 weeks' gestation until parturition. Only 2.9% of the 978 tests had abnormal results (score less than or equal to 7). When performed within 2 days before birth, a normal biophysical profile predicted the 1-minute Apgar score to be normal in 92% and 5-minute Apgar score in 99%. When all biophysical profiles ever performed were included, the predictive value improved to 100%. The baby's first cry within 1 minute after birth was predicted in 95%. Furthermore, the predictive value of a normal biophysical profile regarding the absence of ominous intrapartum cardiotocographic patterns was excellent (95%). The specificity was in general good (80% to 90%), but the predictive value of abnormal test results and sensitivity were almost without exception poor. It seems that the very low rate of abnormal biophysical profiles indicates that obstetric interventions were made immediately after the occurrence of the first sign of fetal jeopardy; thus improved results were obtained.
Venous blood from 24 healthy volunteers, 20-40 years old, and umbilical cord blood from 28 healthy full-term neonates, immediately after delivery, was used for the determination of lymphocyte sialic acid content and sialyltransferase activity. A significantly increased content of lymphocyte sialic acid and an increased sialyltransferase activity were observed in neonates as compared to adults. It is suggested that the increased sialic acid content of fetal lymphocytes may contribute to a possible masking effect of antigenic sites on fetal immunocompetent cells.
Angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) activity was measured by a fluorimetric technique in serum samples taken from rat fetuses and their mothers. The samples were collected from anesthetized rats on consecutive days from day 18 of gestation to day 22 (day of delivery) and one day after birth. Fetal ACE activities were significantly higher than the corresponding maternal values which remained nearly unchanged during pregnancy. No dramatic changes in serum ACE activity of the developing fetuses could be observed.
Two groups of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) parturients were managed according to different intrapartum protocols and compared with a control group of normal women in labor. Thirty-seven patients received conventional intensified insulin therapy during pregnancy and intravenous continuous insulin infusion during labor. Twenty-eight women were managed by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion pump (CSIIP) throughout gestation and this therapeutic approach was continued during labor. When the two glucose control techniques were compared, CSIIP was superior to achieving and maintaining intrapartum optimal metabolic control, reducing significantly the incidence of acute fetal distress, thus lowering the cesarean section rate and neonatal hypoglycemia. Consequently we concur with the recommendation that firm prepartum as well as intrapartum diabetic control is mandatory for successful management of labor in IDDM patients.
The covalent structure of rat ribosomal protein L7 was determined in part from the sequence of nucleotides in a recombinant cDNA and in part from the sequence of amino acids in portions of the protein. The complementary analyses supplemented and confirmed each other. Ribosomal protein L7 contains 258 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 30,040. The protein has an unusual and striking structural feature near the NH2 terminus: five tandem repeats of a sequence of 12 residues. Rat L7 appears to be related to ribosomal protein L7 from the moderate halophile Vibrio costicola and perhaps to L30 from Bacillus stearothermophilus, to L7 from the moderate halophile NRCC 41227, and to L22 from Nicotinia tobaccum chloroplast. In addition, there is a sequence of 24 amino acids in rat protein L7 that may be related to segments of the same number of residues in Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins S10, S15, L9, and L22.
The covalent structure of rat ribosomal protein L19 was inferred from the sequence of nucleotides in a recombinant cDNA and confirmed from the sequence of amino acids in a portion of the protein. Ribosomal protein L19 contains 196 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 26,971. There are indications that a segment of 23 residues in rat L19 is related to sequences of the same length in Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins L30, L18, and S2.
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A case of pneumococcal peritonitis associated with an IUD is presented and four previously reported cases of pneumococcal peritonitis with IUD are reviewed. The infection may occur in previously healthy women who were fitted with an IUD, possibly by ascending infection from the genital tract via the fallopian tubes. The condition is usually accompanied by bilateral salpingitis and may be severe, with fatal outcome. We suggest that any woman over 30 using an IUD, who presents with peritonitis without obvious cause, should be given antibiotics with activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, following removal of the IUD.
This study was undertaken to determine the differential distribution of catecholamines, in particular L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) and dopamine, between the fetal and maternal compartments during human pregnancy. Amniotic fluid and fetal and maternal blood were obtained from two groups of pregnant women with uncomplicated pregnancies. One group was at 15-20 weeks of gestation and the second group was in labor after 36-41 weeks of gestation. Samples were analyzed for L-dopa, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine by radioenzymatic assays. L-Dopa constituted about 80% of the total circulating fetal catecholamines, and levels were 2- to 3-fold higher in fetal than maternal plasma. Marked increases in norepinephrine, small rises in epinephrine, but no changes in L-dopa or dopamine concentrations occurred in fetal plasma from mid- to late gestation. Maternal plasma catecholamines did not change. Towards the end of gestation, dopamine in the amniotic fluid increased 15-fold, and norepinephrine increased 5- to 6-fold; L-dopa remained high and unchanged. We conclude that L-dopa is the predominant catecholamine in fetal plasma and amniotic fluid during human pregnancy. No significant changes in its concentrations occur in either compartment between mid- and late gestation. In contrast, dopamine levels, which are 30- to 50-fold lower than those of L-dopa in amniotic fluid during midgestation, show a striking elevation toward the time of labor. Neither the sources nor the possible physiological functions of either L-dopa or dopamine during fetal life are known.
Diabetes mellitus is a high risk complication of pregnancy and this is particularly true whenever long standing diabetes is complicated by diabetic nephropathy. Five cases are reported of diabetic pregnancy complicated by nephropathy. Four women delivered healthy babies, and one patient aborted spontaneously in the 9th week of gestation. It is suggested that first and foremost in complicated diabetic pregnancy strict normoglycemia should be adhered to prior and all through pregnancy. Our findings based on these cases also suggest that: Pregnancy does not adversely affect the renal status of a diabetic woman or vice versa. Creatinine clearance is not worsened by the course of pregnancy in the majority of these patients and proteinuria per se does not add additional risks to pregnancy or outcome. Hypertension is a separate risk factor affecting the pregnancy despite normoglycemia. Motivation of these patients to maintain normoglycemia as well as bed rest for prolonged periods, intensive use of fetal monitoring, evaluation of fetal lung maturity and improved neonatal care may contribute to improved perinatal outcome.