Muscle function of the pelvic floor in healthy, puerperal women with pelvic floor dysfunction. / Función muscular del suelo pélvico en mujeres sanas, puérperas y con disfunciones del suelo pélvico.

OBJECTIVES: To understand the function of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) at different ages in healthy women and in puerperal women with pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFD) and to ascertain whether there are differences among them. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2014 and September 2016 and included 177 women, 70 of whom had no symptoms of PFD, 53 primiparous mothers in late postpartum and 54 with PFD. The function of the PFM was measured through vaginal palpation (quality of the contraction); manometry (force); dynamometer (tone, strength, and response to stretching), and surface electromyography (neuromuscular activity and resistance). RESULTS: The healthy women showed superior values for PFM tone, maximum strength, neuromuscular activity and resistance than the puerperal mothers and the women with PFD (P<.01). The puerperal women and those with PFD showed similar functional PFM values (P>.05). The muscle function of the healthy women did not vary significantly with age, except in the case of tone, which was lower in the women older than 46 years (P=.004). CONCLUSIONS: Age and births decrease the baseline tone of the PFM in healthy women. Therefore, lower strength, resistance and neuromuscular activity appear to be the main difference between the PFM of women with PFD and the PFM of healthy women.

Increased frequency of micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes of subjects infected with Helicobacter pylori.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a close association between infection with Helicobacter pylori and the development of gastric carcinoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas in humans. The cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes of H. pylori-infected patients in order to investigate the possible induction of genotoxic damage. The study group consisted of 70 infected subjects including 33 women and 37 men, and 66 healthy controls (37 females and 29 males). Our results indicate that in the infected group the overall frequency of binucleated micronucleated cells (BNMN) per 1000 cells was higher (17.65+/-1.55) than in the controls (7.39+/-0.66), this difference being statistically significant. No differences were found between the infected and control groups regarding the cytokinesis-block proliferation index (CBPI). When the effect of different counfounding factors was evaluated, mutivariate statistical analysis revealed that age and alcohol consumption modulated the frequency of BNMN in infected people, and the interaction between alcohol use-smoking-infection also affected the BNMN frequency in H. pylori patients. Our results indicate that infection by H. pylori is associated with an increased level of cytogenetic damage in the cells of the host.

Enfermedades micobacterianas diseminadas en pacientes con VIH/SIDA. Evaluación de los hemocultivos por método rápido / Disseminated mycobacterial infections in patients with HIV/AIDS. Evaluation of blood cultures

Mil cuarenta hemocultivos correspondientes a 451 enfermos uruguayos con SIDA y diagnóstico clínico de micobacteriosis diseminada fueron evaluados entre 1999 y 2003. Las muestras fueron procesadas en el Centro de Referencia Nacional para Micobacterias (Montevideo, Uruguay), utilizando el sistema de hemocultivos automatizado para micobacterias MB - BacT (BioMérieux). Se detectaron 45 muestras positivas (4,3%) correspondientes a 26 enfermos (promedio 2,3 muestras por paciente). En 10/26 casos se identificó M. avium complex (MAC) y en 13/26 el germen aislado fue M. tuberculosis. El tiempo medio de incubación fue de 12,4 días (intervalo 6-19 días) para MAC y de 22,6 días (intervalo 7-35 días) para M. tuberculosis. El hemocultivo ha demostrado ser la mejor muestra para la confirmación bacteriológica de las enfermedades micobacterianas diseminadas cuando se estudian por lo menos 2 muestras por paciente. La frecuencia de aislamientos de M. tuberculosis y MAC aislados en pacientes con SIDA en Uruguay, corresponde a la de un país con una moderada prevalencia de tuberculosis.

One thousand-forty blood cultures corresponding to 451 Uruguayan patients with AIDS and clinic diagnosis of disseminated mycobacterial infection were evaluated between 1999 and 2003. Samples were processed in the NationalReferenceCenter for Mycobacteria (Montevideo, Uruguay), using the automated blood culture system for mycobacteria MB -BacT (BioMérieux). Forty-five positive samples were detected (4.3%) corresponding to 26 patients with AIDS (average 2.3 samples per patient). In 10/26 patients M. avium complex (MAC) was identified and in 13/26 the isolated germ was M. tuberculosis. The average time of incubation was of 12.4 days (range 6-19 days) for MAC and of 22.6 days (range 7-35 days) for M. tuberculosis. Blood culture has demonstrated to be the best sample for the bacteriological confirmation of the disseminated mycobacterial infections when at least 2 samples by patient are studied. The frequency of isolates of M. tuberculosis and MAC in AIDS patients is according with a moderate prevalence of tuberculosis in Uruguay.

[Disseminated mycobacterial infections in patients with HIV/AIDS. Evaluation of blood cultures]. / Enfermedades micobacterianas diseminadas en pacientes con VIH/SIDA. Evaluación de los hemocultivos por método rápido.

One thousand-forty blood cultures corresponding to 451 Uruguayan patients with AIDS and clinic diagnosis of disseminated mycobacterial infection were evaluated between 1999 and 2003. Samples were processed in the National Reference Center for Mycobacteria (Montevideo, Uruguay), using the automated blood culture system for mycobacteria MB-BacT (BioMérieux). Forty-five positive samples were detected (4.3%) corresponding to 26 patients with AIDS (average 2.3 samples per patient). In 10/26 patients M. avium complex (MAC) was identified and in 13/26 the isolated germ was M. tuberculosis. The average time of incubation was of 12.4 days (range 6-19 days) for MAC and of 22.6 days (range 7-35 days) for M. tuberculosis. Blood culture has demonstrated to be the best sample for the bacteriological confirmation of the disseminated mycobacterial infections when at least 2 samples by patient are studied. The frequency of isolates of M. tuberculosis and MAC in AIDS patients is according with a moderate prevalence of tuberculosis in Uruguay.

Enfermedades micobacterianas diseminadas en pacientes con VIH/SIDA. Evaluación de los hemocultivos por método rápido. / [Disseminated mycobacterial infections in patients with HIV/AIDS. Evaluation of blood cultures]

One thousand-forty blood cultures corresponding to 451 Uruguayan patients with AIDS and clinic diagnosis of disseminated mycobacterial infection were evaluated between 1999 and 2003. Samples were processed in the National Reference Center for Mycobacteria (Montevideo, Uruguay), using the automated blood culture system for mycobacteria MB-BacT (BioMérieux). Forty-five positive samples were detected (4.3

) corresponding to 26 patients with AIDS (average 2.3 samples per patient). In 10/26 patients M. avium complex (MAC) was identified and in 13/26 the isolated germ was M. tuberculosis. The average time of incubation was of 12.4 days (range 6-19 days) for MAC and of 22.6 days (range 7-35 days) for M. tuberculosis. Blood culture has demonstrated to be the best sample for the bacteriological confirmation of the disseminated mycobacterial infections when at least 2 samples by patient are studied. The frequency of isolates of M. tuberculosis and MAC in AIDS patients is according with a moderate prevalence of tuberculosis in Uruguay.

Free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in sera of alcoholics.

We report the free, acyl-, and total carnitine contents of 49 clinically healthy volunteers and 167 chronic alcoholics with various clinically and/or anatomopathologically identified degrees of hepatic affection. There was a gradual upward trend in carnitine levels as the degree of hepatic affection increased. In cirrhotic patients, both free and acylcarnitine levels were significantly higher than normal, but there was no systematic hypercarnitinemia in other stages of alcoholism; on the contrary, noncirrhotic alcoholic patients accounted for 82.6% of all hypocarnitinemia cases. Hypercarnitinemia among cirrhotic alcoholics was due chiefly to increased free carnitine concentrations. Acylcarnitine levels in patients with hepatic steatosis were significantly higher than those in normal subjects (P less than 0.001), but there were no other statistically significant differences in either acyl- or free carnitine levels between normals on the one hand and, on the other, patients with hepatic steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, slight hepatopathy, or chronic hepatopathy without portal hypertension.

Urinary D-glucaric acid and serum hepatic enzyme levels in chronic alcoholics.

Urinary D-glucaric acid (DGA) and the activities of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and other hepatic enzymes in serum were determined in 33 noncirrhotic male alcoholics who had continued to consume alcohol until at least 24 h prior to the taking of samples. DGA excretion was significantly greater in them than in a group of 30 healthy controls (p less than 0.001), exceeding the upper reference level in 38% of the alcoholic cases (as compared with 88% for GGT). In the alcoholic patients, there was highly significant correlation between urinary DGA and serum GGT (r = 0.613, p less than 0.001), suggesting that in both cases the increased levels are due to enzyme induction. None of the biochemical variables studied were significantly correlated with estimated daily alcohol consumption. Urinary DGA levels fell off rapidly with abstinence, and in 31 alcoholic patients who had consumed no alcohol for 5 days, there was no statistically significant correlation between DGA excretion and serum GGT (r = 0.158, p congruent to 0.4).

[Macroglossia in apparently primary amyloidosis]. / Macroglossie au cours d'une amylose apparemment primitive.

The authors report a case of apparently primary amyloidosis in which macroglossia was the clinical presentation, confirmed by lingual biopsy. They take advantage of this case to review the therapeutic possibilities, though stating that from a stomatological standpoint there is virtually nothing available.

[The contractile filament system of carcinoma cells. Immunofluorescent and electron microscopic study]. / L'appareil filamenteux contractile des cellules carcinomateuses. Etude en immunofluorescence et en microscopie électronique.

Recent research has shown that the cytoplasm of several varieties of non muscular cells contains contractile proteins similar to those of striated muscle (actin and myosin, with the control complex of troponin and tropomyosin). Using indirect immunofluorescent staining with specific antisera, the authors demonstrate that the cytoplasm of the cells of oral squamous cell carcinoma contains actin, myosin and actinin (tropomyosin seems to be lacking). They have found these contractile proteins inconstantly in various precarcinomatous states, but never in normal epithelium, except in a few basal cells. In electronic microscopy, these contractile proteins correspond to a network of microfilaments of 40-80 A, more rarely 100-120 A, Clearly different from tonofilaments, located mainly in the peripheral part of the cytoplasm, just under the plasmalemmal membrane. It is tempting to speculate that the occurence of a contractile filamentous apparatus in the cells of oral carcinomas--already described in skin and mammal gland carcinomas--allows to these cells amoeboid movements and active migration, which might to some extent explain their tendency to invade surrounding tissues and to produce metastasis.