ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: To indicate the simplicity and the feasibility of this new diagnostic technique for infertility investigation. Ferti-test is a technique which combines dye-test and pelvic post coital test, using inexpensive surgical material. Ferti-test allows to perform laparoscopy only in very necessary cases, without loosing diagnostic quality. METHODS: Up to September 2001, 30 patients aged from 24 to 46 years, with infertile problems were enrolled. All the patients, in a preovulatory period, underwent dye-test combined with pPCT. Before the operation, all the patients were investigated for endocrinological assessment; an evaluation of sperm liquid in all the partners and a PCT have been carried out. All these data were organized in a specific diagram, which allowed to recognize the normality or the specific class of pathology of infertile couple. RESULTS: The purpose of this study is to remark the simplicity and the feasibility of this new diagnostic method. In our study, no patients who underwent dye-test and pelvic PCT had any complications. Only 7 patients with negative dye-test and pelvic PCT underwent diagnostic laparoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that Ferti-test is an effective and reliable technique for the first level evaluation in infertile couples. Ferti-test is well tolerated and requires minimal cost. With Ferti-test it is possible to screen the patients who actually need laparoscopy and to reduce risks and costs.
Subject(s)
Fallopian Tube Diseases/complications , Fallopian Tube Diseases/diagnosis , Infertility, Female/etiology , Adult , Feasibility Studies , Female , Gynecology/methods , Humans , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The serpin antithrombin III (AT III) is reported to have hemostasis-regulating and anti-inflammatory properties. To determine its ability to influence thrombin-independent leukocyte responses, the direct effects of the AT III concentrate Kybernin P and a monoclonal antibody-purified AT III on neutrophil migration were studied. Chemotactic activity of human neutrophils isolated from the blood of healthy donors was determined in modified Boyden microchemotaxis chambers, and binding studies were performed according to standard experimental protocols. Preincubation in vitro of neutrophils with Kybernin P or immune-adsorbed AT III significantly deactivated migration toward fMet-Leu-Phe, or interleukin-8 (IL-8), in a concentration-dependent manner. In the absence of additional attractants, neutrophils exhibited a migratory response toward gradients of AT III preparations. True chemotaxis was confirmed in checkerboard assays. Analyses revealed that the AT III heparin-binding site interacts with neutrophil membrane-associated heparan sulfate proteoglycan receptors. Mechanisms of intracellular signaling differed; the deactivation of IL-8-induced chemotaxis resulted from tyrphostin-sensitive interactions of AT III-signaling with the IL-8 signal transduction pathway, whereas AT III-induced chemotaxis involved protein kinase C and phosphodiesterases. Signaling similarities between AT III and the proteoglycan syndecan-4 may suggest the binding of AT III to this novel type of membrane receptor. Under physiological conditions, AT III may prevent neutrophils from premature activation. Moreover, the systemic administration of AT III concentrate could have beneficial effects in combating systemic inflammation.
Subject(s)
Antithrombin III/pharmacology , Antithrombins/pharmacology , Chemotaxis, Leukocyte/drug effects , Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans/physiology , Neutrophils/drug effects , Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Antithrombin III/drug effects , Antithrombin III/immunology , Antithrombin III/isolation & purification , Binding Sites , Cells, Cultured/drug effects , Heparin Lyase/pharmacology , Heymann Nephritis Antigenic Complex , Hirudins/pharmacology , Humans , Immunosorbent Techniques , Interleukin-8/metabolism , Interleukin-8/pharmacology , Leukocyte Common Antigens/metabolism , Leukocyte Elastase/pharmacology , Membrane Glycoproteins/metabolism , Membrane Glycoproteins/pharmacology , N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine/antagonists & inhibitors , N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine/pharmacology , Neutrophils/cytology , Oligosaccharides/antagonists & inhibitors , Oligosaccharides/physiology , Peptide Hydrolases/pharmacology , Proteoglycans/metabolism , Receptors, Interleukin-8A/antagonists & inhibitors , Receptors, Interleukin-8A/immunology , Receptors, Interleukin-8A/metabolism , Receptors, Interleukin-8B/antagonists & inhibitors , Receptors, Interleukin-8B/immunology , Receptors, Interleukin-8B/metabolism , Sialyl Lewis X Antigen , Signal Transduction , Structure-Activity Relationship , Syndecan-4ABSTRACT
In our Centre for Prenatal Diagnosis, we undertook a punctuation of the umbilical cord on a pregnant woman infected with varicella, complicated by viral encephalitis, to diagnose a foetal viraemia. In cooperation with the Toma Laboratory and Clonit Ltd., who have long been working on the development of specific viral genome probes, we succeeded in proving, that the foetus had contracted varicella.
