New simple and low-cost methods for periodic checks of Cyclone® Plus Storage Phosphor System.

The recent large use of the Cyclone® Plus Storage Phosphor System, especially in European countries, as imaging system for quantification of radiochemical purity of radiopharmaceuticals raised the problem of setting the periodic controls as required by European Legislation. We described simple, low-cost methods for Cyclone® Plus quality controls, which can be useful to evaluate the performance measurement of this imaging system.

Gastric bypass does not normalize obesity-related changes in ghrelin profile and leads to higher acylated ghrelin fraction.

OBJECTIVE: Gastric bypass (GBP) lowers food intake, body weight, and insulin resistance in severe obesity (SO). Ghrelin is a gastric orexigenic and adipogenic hormone contributing to modulate energy balance and insulin action. Total plasma ghrelin (T-Ghr) level is low and inversely related to body weight and insulin resistance in moderately obese patients, but these observations may not extend to the orexigenic acylated form (A-Ghr) whose plasma concentration increase in moderate obesity. DESIGN AND METHODS: We investigated the impact of GBP on plasma T-, A-, and A/T-Ghr in SO patients (n = 28, 20 women), with measurements at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Additional cross-sectional comparison was performed between nonobese, moderately obese, and SO individuals before GBP and at the end of the follow-up period. RESULTS: Before GBP, SO had lowest T-Ghr and highest A/T-Ghr profile compared with both nonobese and moderately obese individuals. Lack of early (0-3 months from GBP) T-Ghr changes masked a sharp increase in A-Ghr and A/T-Ghr profile (P < 0.05) that remained elevated following later increments (6-12 months) of both T- and A-Ghr (P < 0.05). Levels of A-Ghr and A/T-Ghr at 12 months of follow-up remained higher than in matched moderately obese individuals not treated with surgery (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The data show that following GBP, early T-Ghr stability masks elevation of A/T-Ghr, that is stabilized after later increments of both T- and A-hormones. GBP does not normalize the obesity-associated elevated A/T-Ghr ratio, instead resulting in enhanced A-Ghr excess. Excess A-Ghr is unlikely to contribute to, and might limit, the common GBP-induced declines of appetite, body weight, and insulin resistance.

Estimating the integrity of aged DNA samples by CE.

A CE/UV method was developed to separate by a micellar system the four DNA bases and other five purinic-pyrimidinic compounds (5-methyl-cytosine, uracil, xanthyne, hypoxanthyne and 5-bromo-uracil). Selectivity, precision, accuracy and sensitivity were assessed and proved to be suitable for the analysis of the primary structure of DNA. This method was adopted to study 16 aged samples including two Egyptian mummies, formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and other forensic specimens. Lower relative values of the four canonical unmodified DNA bases (uDNAb) and more complex pherograms were found in the aged samples when compared with the modern controls. The results of the CE analysis, together with those obtained by classical molecular methods (agarose gel electrophoresis, DNase I and RNase A assays, and UV spectrophotometry), were finally evaluated for assessing the reliability of STR typing. Since samples with low uDNAb showed no amplification or unreliable STR profiles, the uDNAb value is discussed as a further quality criterion in the evaluation of the genetic data obtained from aged samples.

Molecular evolution of metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a nosocomial setting of high-level endemicity.

An outbreak of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains producing VIM-type metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) has occurred in an Italian hospital since 2000 (C. Lagatolla, E. A. Tonin, C. Monti-Bragadin, L. Dolzani, F. Gombac, C. Bearzi, E. Edalucci, F. Gionechetti, and G. M. Rossolini, Emerg. Infect. Dis. 10:535-538, 2004). In this work, using molecular methods, we characterized 128 carbapenem-resistant isolates (including 98 VIM-positive isolates) collected from that hospital from 2000 to 2002 to investigate the dynamics of the dissemination of MBL producers in the clinical setting. Genotyping by random amplification of polymorphic DNA and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that most VIM-positive isolates belonged to two different clonal lineages, producing either a VIM-1- or a VIM-2-like MBL, whose ancestors were detected for the first time in the hospital in 1999, suggesting that clonal expansion played a predominant role in the dissemination of these isolates. The 86 clonally related isolates carrying a blaVIM-1-like gene on an In70-like integron were clearly related to a VIM-1-positive P. aeruginosa clone circulating in various Italian hospitals since the late 1990s. VIM-negative P. aeruginosa strains related to the VIM-1-positive clone were detected during the same period, suggesting that the latter strain was derived from a clonal lineage already circulating in the hospital. In the VIM-2-like positive clone, the MBL gene was carried by an unusual class 1 integron, named In71, lacking the 3' conserved sequence region typical of sul1-associated integrons. A different class 1 integron with an original structure carrying a blaVIM-2 determinant, named In74, was detected in a sporadic isolate. A retrospective investigation did not reveal the presence of strains related to any of the VIM-producing isolates earlier than 1997.

Endemic carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa with acquired metallo-beta-lactamase determinants in European hospital.

Acquired metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) can confer broad-spectrum beta-lactam resistance (including carbapenems) not reversible by conventional beta-lactamase inhibitors and are emerging resistance determinants of remarkable clinical importance. In 2001, multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa carrying bla(VIM) MBL genes were found to be widespread (approximately 20% of all P. aeruginosa isolates and 70% of the carbapenem-resistant isolates) at Trieste University Hospital. Clonal diversity and heterogeneity of resistance determinants (either bla(VIM-1)-like or bla(VIM-2)-like) were detected among MBL producers. This evidence is the first that acquired MBLs can rapidly emerge and establish a condition of endemicity in certain epidemiologic settings.