Severity of precapillary pulmonary hypertension: Predictive factor.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) require risk assessments for prognosis and appropriate therapy. These assessments need to be improved by incorporating clinical and laboratory data such as the analysis of the right ventricle. We aim to establish echocardiographic morphometric data of the right ventricle and its relationship with the left ventricle, to estimate the hemodynamic severity of precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PHprecapillary). METHODS: This cohort, prospective, observational, and cross-sectional study included 41 consecutive patients with PHprecapillary using echocardiographic study and cardiac catheterization. RESULTS: Patients' mean age was 44.0±16.4 years, and 37 were women (90.2%). Idiopathic PAH was diagnosed in 18 patients (43.9%). The World Health Organization/New York Association functional class was III or IV in 31 patients (75.6%). The ratio of the right to left ventricles (RV/LV) echocardiographic diastolic diameters was associated with pulmonary arterial pressures in cardiac catheterization, with the best cutoff per receiver operating characteristic curve being 0.8 for systolic pressure (sensitivity 90.0%, specificity 78.3%, area under the curve [AUC] 0.882) and mean pressure (sensitivity 60.0%, specificity 95.7%, AUC 0.823). Spearman's correlation (R) of RV/LV echocardiographic ratio and the hemodynamic variables was significant for systolic pressure (R = 0.7015, p < 0.0001), mean pressure (R = 0.6332, p < 0.0001), transpulmonary pressure gradient (R = 0.6524, p < 0.0001), pulmonary vascular resistance (R = 0.6076, p = 0.0021), and pulmonary vascular resistance index (R = 0.6229, p = 0.0014). CONCLUSION: The ratio of RV/LV echocardiographic diastolic diameters contribute to the estimates the hemodynamic severity of precapillary pulmonary hypertension. The best cutoff for this assessment was RV/LV of 0.8.

Testicular testosterone: estradiol ratio in domestic cats and its relationship to spermatogenesis and epididymal sperm morphology.

The phenomenon of teratozoospermia in felids is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the testicular androgen:estrogen balance in domestic cats and correlated these data with epididymal sperm morphology and the degree of spermatogenic activity. During spring and summer, testes and blood samples were obtained from 37 mixed-breed domestic cats (12 to 48 mo). The epididymal sperm were harvested and evaluated for sperm counts, motility, and morphology. Distal cytoplasmic droplets were not considered a defect, and samples were considered normozoospermic if they contained more than 60% normal sperm (N = 25) or teratozoospermic if they contained less than 45% normal sperm (N = 12). The testicular and serum concentrations of testosterone (T) and 17ß-estradiol (E2) were determined with an enzyme immunoassay. The gonadosomatic index and epididymal sperm numbers and motility did not differ between groups. The percentage of normal sperm was higher in normozoospermic (74.3 ± 2.0, mean ± SEM) than in teratozoospermic samples (43.1 ± 1.4). The most prevalent sperm defects in the teratozoospermic group were abnormal acrosomes (9.7 ± 2.0) and bent midpieces (12.2 ± 2.0) or tails (24.0 ± 2.7) with cytoplasmic droplets. Histomorphometric data were similar between groups, although there was a lower Leydig cell nuclear volume in teratozoospermic samples. Normozoospermic samples contained a higher percentage of haploid cells and had a higher index of total spermatogenic transformation than teratozoospermic samples. Serum concentrations of T (0.5 ± 0.1 vs. 0.8 ± 0.4 ng/mL) and E2 (9.5 ± 1.2 vs. 11.4 ± 2.3 pg/mL) and testicular T concentrations (471.6 ± 65.3 vs. 313.4 ± 57.6 ng/g) were similar between groups. However, compared with normozoospermic samples, teratozoospermic samples had higher testicular E2 concentrations (8.5 ± 3.6 vs. 5.4 ± 0.5 ng/g) and a lower T:E2 ratio (31.8 ± 4.1 vs. 87.2 ± 11.6). There were significant correlations between testicular E2 values and percentages of normal sperm (r = -0.55) as well as those with primary sperm defects (r = 0.58) or abnormal acrosomes (r = 0.64). The T:E2 ratio was also correlated with meiotic index (r = 0.45) and percentage of normal sperm (r = 0.58). In conclusion, a high testicular E2 concentration and a reduced T:E2 ratio were significantly associated with higher ratios of abnormal sperm types, suggesting that the balance between androgens and estrogens is an important endocrine component in the genesis of teratozoospermia in felids.

Comparison of a retrotransposon-based marker with microsatellite markers for discriminating accessions of Vitis vinifera.

Identification and knowledge concerning genetic diversity are fundamental for efficient management and use of grapevine germplasm. Recently, new types of molecular markers have been developed, such as retrotransposon-based markers. Because of their multilocus pattern, retrotransposon-based markers might be able to differentiate grapevine accessions with just one pair of primers. In order to evaluate the efficiency of this type of marker, we compared retrotransposon marker Tvv1 with seven microsatellite markers frequently used for genotyping of the genus Vitis (VVMD7, VVMD25, VVMD5, VVMD27, VVMD31, VVS2, and VZAG62). The reference population that we used consisted of 26 accessions of Vitis, including seven European varieties of Vitis vinifera, four North American varieties and hybrids of Vitis labrusca, and 15 rootstock hybrids obtained from crosses of several Vitis species. Individually, the Tvv1 and the group of seven SSR markers were capable of distinguishing all accessions except 'White Niagara' compared to 'Red Niagara'. Using the Structure software, the retrotransposon marker Tvv1 generated two clusters: one with V. vinifera plus North American varieties and the other comprising rootstocks. The seven SSR markers generated five clusters: V. vinifera, the North American varieties, and three groups of rootstock hybrids. The percentages of variation explained by the first two components in the principal coordinate analysis were 65.21 (Tvv1) and 50.42 (SSR markers) while the Mantel correlation between the distance matrixes generated by the two types of markers was 42.5%. We conclude that the Tvv1 marker is useful for DNA fingerprinting, but it lacks efficiency for discrimination of structured groups.