Hepatitis B and C serologic profiles of Canadian organ donors and recipients: retrospective 10-year review at a single center.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are important causes of hepatitis and can be transmitted from organ donor to recipient. This study aimed to determine HBV and HCV serologic profiles of a population of Canadian solid organ transplant (SOT) donors and recipients, including prevalence of recipient HBV immunity. METHODS: Data on age, gender, organ transplanted, and pre-transplant HBV and HCV serology for SOT donors and recipients at a Canadian hospital from 2001 to 2011 were obtained from a transplant database. RESULTS: There were 2455 recipients (2205 adults, 250 children), and 1559 donors. Over 50% of adult and 44% of pediatric recipients were HBV non-immune pre-transplant. Pediatric recipients were more likely to have HBV vaccine immunity than were adult recipients (48.8% vs. 28.9%, P < 0.001). Prevalence of HBV vaccine immunity was highest in renal recipients (48.3% in adult, 63.2% in pediatric recipients). Recipient HBV vaccine immunity increased from 5.8% in 2001 to 44.5% in 2011 (P < 0.001). Of 134 adult recipients with prior HBV infection, 59 (44%) were co-infected with HCV. Only 0.6% of adult non-liver recipients had acute or chronic HBV infection and 3.2% were anti-HCV positive. Only 2 donors had acute or chronic HBV infection, 29 had prior HBV infection, 9 were isolated hepatitis B core antibody positive, and 15 were anti-HCV positive. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HBV vaccine immunity in SOT candidates is low, but increased from 2001 to 2011. Opportunities for quality improvement in pre-transplant HBV immunization exist. HCV co-infection is common in recipients with prior HBV infection. Prevalence of HCV infection in non-liver transplant recipients is low.

On supplementing the selenium intake of New Zealanders. 1. Short experiments with large doses of selenite or selenomethionine.

1. Urinary and faecal excretion of single oral doses of 1 mg selenium or 0.1 mg Se as selenomethionine (Semet-Se) in solution were studied in two women. Most of the Se was absorbed and little was eliminated in the urine (0.05-0.22 dose). 2. The results have been compared with those from an earlier study (Thomson, 1974) on the same two women after similarly sized doses of sodium selenite (selenite-Se) in solution. Although selenite-Se was almost as well absorbed as Semet-Se more was excreted in the urine (0.41-0.85 dose). 3. Repeated dosing with 1 mg selenite-Se on five consecutive days in one of the women indicated that 1.1 mg had been retained. 4. Twenty patients with muscular complaints from Tapanui (South Otago, New Zealand), a low-Se soil area, ingested 0.5 mg selenite-Se daily for 20 d. Blood Se increased rapidly to almost twice the initial concentration but reached a plateau well below most values reported for residents outside New Zealand. No difference in blood Se concentration was found between those who did or did not report improvement. 5. Spasmodic medication with selenite-Se by some residents near Lincoln (Christchurch, New Zealand) for periods of up to 10 years or more had increased the blood Se somewhat.

Diet-induced alterations of hGH secretion in man.

Studies were designed to determine whether variations in diet composition could modify the secretion of human growth hormone. Eight men and seven women ingested experimental diets for 10-12 days. Each experimental diet was preceded by a control diet for five days. Experimental diets studied in men were a) 2300 calorie, 80% carbohydrate (8 men); b) 2300 calorie, 75% high-fat (7 men); c) 2300 calorie, 70% high-protein (5 men); d) 3600 calorie, "control" (40% carbohydrate, 40% fat, 20% protein) (5 men); and e) 3600 calorie, 80% high-carbohydrate (5 men). A control diet and a high-carbohydrate (5 men). A control diet and a high-carbohydrate diet at the 2300 calorie level were studied in women. Each diet study was terminated by a 72 hour fast. Serum samples were collected hourly for 24 hours after each control period, on the eigth, ninth, or tenth day of each study, and during the final day of each fast. High-carbohydrate diets at the 2300 calorie level caused a significant decrease of growth hormone values in serum in each of eight men (sign test of significance, P less than .01). The mean figures were likewise significantly decreased. Isocaloric diets of high fat and high protein did not alter growth hormone concentrations in serum. A high-caloric diet similar to the control diet in composition was without effect on growth hormone secretion in men; however, a high-carbohydrate diet at the higher caloric level again depressed growth hormone values in plasma. On the third day of a 72 hour fast, growth hormone values in serum increased 287% in men, from a mean control serum concentration of 4.4 +/- 0.8 ng/ml to 11.9 +/- 5.0 ng/ml (P less than .01). Women, unlike men, had no significant decrease in growth hormone concentrations in serum over a 24 hour period after the high-carbohydrate diet, and the increase after starvation was significantly less than that in men, achieving significance only when evaluated by paired analysis. Growth hormone values in serum after the infusion of arginine followed a similar pattern, i.e., decreased after high carbohydrate but unaffected by other diets in men; high carbohydrate diets did not alter the growth hormone response of women to arginine.

An algorithm for on-line, real-time computer detection of ECG changes.

An algorithm for detection of ECG changes based on the Fourier transform is presented. The realisation of the algorithm was programmed on a minicomputer and could detect both large and subtle changes in an ECG waveform. The cardiac arrhythmias used in the study included normal sinus rhythm; premature atrial contraction; premature ventricular contraction; first, second, and third degree blocks; atrial and ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. The algorithm was used to detect rhythm changes, but it is possible that, using it, a unique specification for a waveform at any frequency could be obtained.