ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of normal use on latex glove integrity in a flow cytometry laboratory. The gloves were tested using the 1,000 microL water-tight test and met industrial standards (less than 4% leakage) before, but not after use. More durable gloves, or more frequent changes of gloves, may be needed to ensure adequate barrier protection for laboratory workers during routine procedures.
Subject(s)
Gloves, Protective/standards , Infection Control/methods , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Latex , Materials Testing , Medical Laboratory Personnel , Equipment Failure , HumansABSTRACT
We investigated whether reduction of the phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced proliferative response of lymphocytes from HIV type-1 (HIV-1)-infected (HIV+) individuals could be explained by overproduction of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), a strong inhibitor of T cell proliferation. PHA-stimulated PBMC from 40 HIV- and 42 HIV+ homosexual men from the Baltimore Center of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) were studied using Northern blot analysis of expression of TGF-beta 1 mRNA and determining the effects of anti-TGF-beta 1 neutralizing antibody on PHA-induced proliferative responses. Compared to the HIV- donors, HIV+ donors did not show increased expression of TGF-beta 1 mRNA in unstimulated or PHA-stimulated PBMC. Furthermore, a neutralizing antibody to TGF-beta 1 did not reverse the decreased proliferative response of PBMC from HIV+ individuals to PHA or interleukin-2. These results indicate that TGF-beta 1 is not involved in T cell proliferation defects seen in HIV+ donors.
