Peritoneal and serum interleukin-18 levels are not increased in women with minimum or mild endometriosis

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a cytokine that belongs to the IL-1 family. Endometriosis is strongly associated with sub-fertility, and affects about 15 percent of women of reproductive age. IL-18 may favor the progression of endometriosis. The objective of the present study was to determine the concentration of IL-18 in the serum and peritoneal fluid of infertile women with endometriosis. Forty infertile and 25 fertile women were screened in a teaching hospital. Thirty-four infertile patients with minimal or mild endometriosis and 22 fertile controls were enrolled in the study. The primary outcome was the estimate of IL-18 levels and the secondary outcome was the correlation between serum and peritoneal levels of IL-18. There were no differences between the two groups regarding age, body mass index and levels of peritoneal fluid IL-18 (mean ± SD): 290.85 ± 173.02 pg/mL for infertile women vs 374.21 ± 330.15 pg/mL for controls; or serum IL-18: 391.07 ± 119.71 pg/mL for infertile women vs 373.42 ± 129.11 pg/mL for controls. However, a positive association was found between serum and peritoneal IL-18 levels in patients with endometriosis: r = 0.794, P = 0.0001. All measurements were carried out at the same time by the Human IL-18 Immuno Assay ELISA kit (MBL Co. Ltd., Japan). The present study did not find evidence supporting the hypothesis that IL-18 levels are associated with infertility in women with minimal and mild endometriosis, although a positive correlation was detected in these women between peritoneal and serum levels of IL-18.

Histerossonossalpingografia e histerossalpingografia no diagnóstico de permeabilidade tubária em pacientes inférteis / Histerosonosalpingography and Histerosalpingography in the Diagnosis of tubal patency in infertility patients

OBJETIVOS: Comparar a histerossonossalpingografia (HSS) em relaçäo à histerossalpingografia (HSG) na avaliaçäo de fator tubário em pacientes inférteis. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com 30 pacientes em investigaçäo de infertilidade, com idade inferior a 38 anos. As pacientes foram submetidas à HSS, HSG e videolaparoscopia (LPC) na primeira fase do ciclo menstrual. Foi comparada a avaliaçäo de permeabilidade tubária da HSS e da HSG, utilizando-se a LPC como padräo-ouro. Foi calculado o valor preditivo negativo (VP-) dos exames. A HSS utilizou como meio de contraste o Ecovist®, a HSG utilizou contraste iodado hidrossolúvel e a LPC utilizou a cromotubagem com azul de metileno. Foi considerada como diferença estatisticamente significativa um p<0,05. RESULTADOS: A amostra final de estudo foi de 26 pacientes (quatro abandonaram a investigaçäo). A idade média da amostra foi de 30,6 anos. A HSS demonstrou permeabilidade tubária em pelo menos uma das tubas em 24 pacientes (92,3 por cento). A HSG demonstrou permeabilidade em uma das tubas em 25 (96,2 por cento), e a LPC em 25 pacientes (96,2 por cento). O VP- da HSS foi de 92 por cento e o VP- da HSG foi de 100 por cento. Näo houve diferença estatística significante entre a HSS e a HSG (p=0,996, teste de Yates). CONCLUSÕES: A HSS é um método alternativo à HSG na avaliaçäo de permeabilidade tubária de pacientes inférteis

ATP diphosphohydrolase activity in synaptosomes from cerebral cortex of rats subjected to chemically induced phenylketonuria

ATP diphosphohydrolase (apyrase)(EC3.6.1.5) activity was measured in synaptosomes from cerebral cortex of Wistar rats of both sexes subjected to experimental phenylketonuria, i.e., chemical hyperphenylaninemia induced by subcutaneous administration of 5.2 µmol phenylalanine/g body weight (twice a day) plus 0.9 µmol p-chlorophenylalanine/g body weight (once a day). ATP diphosphohydrolase specific activity (nmol Pi min-1 mg protein-1) of synaptosomes was significantly decreased compared to controls for both ATp (from 147.6 to 129.9) and ADP (from 70.2 to 63.1) hydrolysis one hour after single administration of the drugs to 35-day old rats. Chronic treatment was performed from the 6th to the 28th postpartum day. The enzyme specific activity of synaptosomes was measured one week after the last administration of the drugs and was significantly reduced compared to controls for both ATP (from 164.1 to 150.2) and ADP (from 76.3 to 62.1) hydrolysis. The in vitro effects of the drugs on the synaptosome enzyme specific activity were also investigated. Phenylalnine alone or associated with p-chlorophenylalanine significantly reduced enzyme specific activity for both ATP (from 150.2 to 136.0) and ADP (from 70.5 to 59.3) nucleotides as substrates. Since ATP diphosphohrolase seems to play an important role in neurotransmission, these findings may be related to the neurological dysfunction characteristic of human phenylketonuria