[The epidemiological trends connected with detection of HIV, HCV, HBV and syphilis markers in blood donors in the years 2006-2009]. / Trendy epidemiologiczne zwiazane z wykrywaniem markerów zakazenia HIV, HCV, HBV i kily u dawców krwi w latach 2006-2009.

UNLABELLED: In the recent years a great progress has been documented in infection prevention. There is more possibilities responsible for infection and its transmission. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: To analyze obtained epidemiological data concerned to detected infection in blood donors in the area of Blood Bank in Katowice in the years 2006-2009. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Statistic calculations taking account of confirmed infections in the years 2006-2009 were analyzed in first-time donors and multiple donors, and for all donors. RESULTS: Tests confirming infection were performed in the IHiT in Warsaw, in RBC in Katowice, confirmation test for syphilis in the RBC in Warsaw. Only the positive confirmed results are taken into account and presented in summary. In first-time donors more frequently the markers of infection: HCV and HBV dozens of times, HIV and syphilis several times were detected. In the group of first-time donors a downward trend was detected in the number of detected infections HBV and HCV In the group of multiple donors the downward trend was documented in the number of detected antibodies associated to syphilis. In the group of multiple donors the number of detected HIV infections has been increased in the years 2008 and 2009. CONCLUSIONS: For monitoring trends of each type of infections, a period of four-years is not sufficiently long. This data needs a further observations.

[Subpopulations of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with non-toxic thyroid nodular goitre]. / Subpopulacje CD4 oraz CD8 limfocytów T krwi obwodowej u chorych z obojetnym wolem guzkowym tarczycy.

The aim of the research was to establish the role, which is played by the immune system is in the pathogenesis of non-toxic thyroid nodular goitre. For this purpose the expression of phenotypic markers of T-helper (CD4) and T-suppressor/cytotoxic (CD8) lymphocytes was estimated. The study was performed on 27 patients with histopathologically confirmed non-toxic thyroid nodular goitre. The control group consisted of 28 healthy blood donors. In patients with thyroid goitre the percentage of lymphocytes was significantly higher than in the control group (p < or = 0.0001). Likewise the percentage of T-helper (CD4) and T-suppressor/cytotoxic (CD8) lymphocytes as well as the CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly higher in patients with thyroid goitre. The results of this study show that the immune system has important role in pathogenesis and development of non-toxic thyroid nodular goitre.

Carrier-state of D allele in ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism is associated with coronary artery disease, in contrast to the C677-->T transition in the MTHFR gene.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE), which plays an important role in blood pressure regulation, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) involved in homocysteine metabolism belong to a large group of polypeptides which may be potential risk factors for atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). To assess whether polymorphisms of the genes encoding these peptides are associated with CAD in Silesian we conducted a study among 68 individuals suffering from CAD (including 52 cases after myocardial infarction), 51 subjects with positive family history of CAD and 111 controls. We analysed the distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies of the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in the ACE gene using PCR amplification, and the C677-->T polymorphism in the MTHFR gene using PCR-RFLP analysis. We found that D allele frequency was significantly higher in CAD patients (61%) than in controls (43%) (P = 0.001, OR = 2.06). The D allele carriers (DD + ID genotypes) were more frequent in the CAD patients (85%) compared to control group (65%) (P = 0.003, OR = 3.14), whereas the familial CAD risk group shows the highest frequency of the ID genotype (57% vs 43% in controls). In contrast, the MTHFR polymorphism does not seem to be associated with the disease. Our data indicate that in Silesian CAD patients the disease is strongly associated with carrier-state of the ACE D allele, but not with the C677-->T transition in the MTHFR gene.