Factors that influence Greeks' decision to register as potential bone marrow donors.

Hemopoietic stem cells can be used from bone marrow or blood or umbilical cord blood of matched siblings or appropriately matched unrelated volunteers. Today, large bone marrow registries have been established to help identify volunteer unrelated bone marrow donors for patients lacking a family donor. Despite there being almost 10 million registered potential bone marrow donors (PBMD) worldwide, only 50% of white patients have a suitable bone marrow match. Growth in the number of PBMD increases the likelihood of finding a compatible donor for a patient. The attitudes and knowledge of 250 registered PBMD and 315 not registered PBMD toward bone marrow donation, tissues and organs donation, and blood donation were surveyed, using a questionnaire with 27 items. Multivariate logistic regression identified gender (females more often than males), regular blood donation, having a relative or a friend who has already been registered as PBMD, having a relative or a friend who needs bone marrow transplantation, family discussion about tissue and organ donation, knowledge about bone marrow transplantation, information about bone marrow transplantation, and trust in health professionals were independent predictive factors influencing people's decision to register as PBMD. Knowledge of these factors is important to target recruitment efforts.

Coffee intake and other factors in relation to multiple deliveries: a study in Greece.

We conducted a case-control study of factors that may be related to the prevalence of multiple births with at least one liveborn. Over a period of 15 months during 1991-1992 in Athens, Greece, we identified 380 women who had a multiple birth that was delivered in one of the six larger maternity hospitals in the area. We selected as controls 380 livebirth singleton pregnancies delivered at the same hospitals immediately following a multiple pregnancy. All mothers were interviewed in the maternity wards or at home, and zygosity was ascertained through the similarity method. The odds ratio for ovulation-inducing drugs was not elevated for monozygotic twins, but it was 9-fold for dizygotic twins and 90-fold for triplets or quadruplets. We excluded drug-induced pregnancies, twins of indeterminable zygosity, and all triplets from further analyses. We found no remarkable association between any of the study variables and the occurrence of monozygotic twins, with the exception of an increasing trend with age. For dizygotic twins, we found weak associations in the expected directions with maternal age (positive) and height (positive) as well as with parity and number of induced abortions (positive). A history of oral contraceptive use was inversely, but weakly, associated with dizygotic twinning. Each cup of coffee per day was associated with an increment in the odds ratio of 1.23-fold. (95% confidence interval = 1.05-1.43). Restriction of the analysis to dizygotic twins of different gender increased the point estimate of the odds ratio to 1.31 for each cup of coffee consumed daily.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effect of Mycoplasma arthritidis infection on the kinetics of colloidal carbon clearance in mice.

The activity of phagocytes from A/J mice was estimated by the carbon clearance test following injection of Mycoplasma arthritidis. Phagocytic activity was significantly depressed 12 h post-infection (P = 0.001) and returned to normal values at 24 h. For animals examined 2 and 7 days post-infection, the overall phagocytic activity increased significantly (P < 10(-4). Phagocytic activity gradually decreased and returned to that of the control group by the end of the fourth week. The relative weights of liver and spleen were significantly increased from the 2nd day post infection (P = 0.0028 and P = 0.0014 respectively) and remained increased until the end of the experiment. The early depressive effect on phagocytic activity may be related to superantigen activity with the production of mediators such as macrophage deactivating factor. The later expansion of the macrophage population might bring about the stimulation of autoreactive clones of T and B cells and be responsible for the chronic arthritis that developed in the mycoplasma treated mice.

The effect of Mycoplasma arthritidis infection on the phagocytic activity of macrophages in rats and mice.

The phagocytic activity of mononuclear phagocytes of A/J mice and Wistar rats was estimated by the carbon clearance test following injection of Mycoplasma arthritidis. In mice, the overall phagocytic activity was significantly increased at the end of the first week (P less than 0.0001), but the increase was marginal by the third and fourth weeks after injection. A significant increase in the relative weight of liver and spleen was observed even when phagocytic activity had returned to levels similar to those of controls (P less than 0.001). In rats, the overall phagocytic activity was significantly increased until the fourth week (P less than 0.00001). There was not, however, an increase in the relative weight of liver and spleen as observed for the mice. The results are discussed in the context of factors contributing to the pathogenic mechanisms responsible for differences in the patterns of arthritis due to mycoplasma observed in mice and rats.

[Determinative factors in nosocomial pneumonia in patients with mechanical ventilation in the respiratory care unit]. / Prosdioristikoi paragontes tes epiptoses tes nosokomeiakes pneumonias se arrostous me mechanike anapnoe sten anapneustike monada entatikes therapeias.

We studied risk factors for nosocomial pneumonia in 192 intubated patients. Nosocomial pneumonia was diagnosed in 50 (26%) of the 192 patients. The patients receiving mechanical ventilation and the ventilators were colonised with Gram negative bacteria, mainly Actinetobacter and Pseudomonas. The duration of mechanical ventilation and the bacterail colonization of ventilators were associated with the development of pneumonia.

Alpha 1-antitrypsin and survival in pancreatic cancer.

The association between serum levels of alpha 1-antitrypsin (a1AT) at the time of diagnosis and survival was studied in a group of 44 patients with confirmed pancreas cancer. All 44 patients were followed until time of death, which occurred in all cases from pancreas cancer, with a median time of 3 months and a range of 0.5 to 16 months. Cox's proportional hazards model was utilized in the analysis controlling for sex, age and tobacco smoking. Males, older patients and smokers have higher fatality rates, but none of these relations was statistically significant. By contrast, there was a statistically highly significant association of increased levels of serum a1AT, at the time of diagnosis of the cancer of pancreas, with shorter survival; patients with serum a1AT higher by 100mg/100ml had a 57% higher fatality rate. These results indicate that serum a1AT represents a clinically interesting prognostic factor in pancreas cancer.

Alpha 1-antitrypsin and survival in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The association between serum levels of alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) at the time of diagnosis and survival was studied in a group of 78 patients with confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). All 78 patients were followed until the time of death, which occurred in all instances from HCC, with a median time of 6 months and a range of 1-117 months. Cox's proportional hazards model was utilised in the analysis controlling for sex, age, HBsAg status and logarithmically transformed values of alpha-fetoprotein (alpha-FP). Older patients and patients positive for HBsAg have suggestively higher fatality rates (0.05 less than P less than 0.10) whereas in these data sex and AFP levels were not important prognostic factors. Increased levels of serum at alpha 1AT at the time of diagnosis of HCC were statistically significantly (P less than 0.05) related with shorter survival, patients with higher serum alpha 1AT by 200 mg 100 ml-1 having an expected survival time shorter by about 25%.

Delta agent and the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sera from 87 patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and from 29 HBsAg-positive hospital controls were tested for delta (delta) antigen with an immunoenzymatic procedure and for anti-delta antibody, hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) and antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe) by radioimmunoassay. All the sera, from both the HCC cases and the control patients, were negative for delta-antigen. Among the HCC cases 9 were positive for serum anti-delta (10%) whereas among the controls none was positive for this antibody (p = 0.067); the anti-delta-positive cases were found only among HCC patients negative for HBeAg. The lower prevalence of anti-delta among HBsAg-positive HCC patients, as compared to the corresponding prevalence among HBsAg-positive patients with chronic active hepatitis or cirrhosis (reported in the literature) indicates that the pathogenesis of HCC is frequently independent of the pathogenesis of the other HBsAg-positive common chronic liver diseases. By contrast, the higher prevalence of anti-delta among HBsAg-positive HCC cases than among HBsAg-positive controls may reflect the longer average duration of the carrier state in HCC patients (until integration is accomplished and the induction period completed). Serum HBeAg was higher among HBsAg-positive HCC patients with cirrhosis (23%) than among HBsAg-positive HCC patients without cirrhosis (6%) or HBsAg-positive controls (3%); thus, the conflicting results in the literature concerning the association of the HBeAg/anti-HBe system with HCC may be accounted for, in part, by the variable association of HCC with an underlying cirrhosis.

Enhanced phagocytosis of mononuclear phagocytes in pregnancy.

The phagocytic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear phagocytes for Staphylococcus epidermis of healthy non-pregnant and pregnant women throughout pregnancy was examined in relation to gestational age. The study included 30 healthy non-pregnant women and 90 healthy pregnant women equally distributed across the three trimesters. Two variables were investigated: the number of mononuclear cells in phagocytosis and the average number of bacteria per monocyte in phagocytosis. As pregnancy progressed a gradual and significant increase was found in the number of monocytes in phagocytosis and a significantly higher proportion of macrophages with six or more bacteria per phagocyte.

Alpha 1-antitrypsin and cancer of the pancreas.

Serum levels of alpha-1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) were measured and phenotypes were determined in 47 patients with cancer of the pancreas and in 160 hospital controls. The mean value of alpha 1-AT (+/- SEM) in cases with cancer of the pancreas was 486 (+/- 18) mg/100 ml, and it was significantly higher than the corresponding mean value in controls, which was 434 (+/- 13) mg/100 ml (p approximately 0.02). The frequency distribution of the cases of pancreatic cancer by alpha 1-AT phenotype was: M1M1 49%, M1M3 21% and other phenotypes 30%, whereas the corresponding frequency distribution among controls was: M1M1 53%, M1M3 21% and other phenotypes 26%; the two distributions are clearly compatible (p greater than 0.50).

Alpha 1-antitrypsin levels and phenotypes and hepatitis B serology in liver cancer.

Serum levels of alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) were measured by radial immunodiffusion and phenotypes were determined by electrofocusing in acrylamide gel in 39 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) positive for serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), 41 patients with HCC negative for serum HBsAg, and 160 age- and sex-matched hospital controls. There was no difference between the control series and either of the two HCC groups with respect to alpha 1 AT phenotype pattern; also, there was no evidence of association between HCC and either the M2 allele or any of the alpha 1 AT deficiency phenotypes. However, HCC cases negative for HBsAg had significantly higher serum alpha 1 AT values (mean 665 +/- 26 mg 100 ml-1) than HCC cases positive for HBsAg (mean 571 +/- 23 mg 100 ml-1), who in turn, had significantly higher alpha 1 AT values than hospital controls (mean 434 +/- 13 mg 100 ml-1). These results indicate that in Greece, as in other high HCC incidence countries, genetically determined alpha 1 AT deficiency is not aetiologically important; the increase of serum alpha 1 AT is an important correlate of HCC with possible aetiologic significance and diagnostic potential and HBsAg-positive HCC and HBsAg-negative HCC are manifest differently as well as being aetiologically distinct.

Effect of corynebacterium parvum in the induction and course of mycoplasma arthritis of mice.

The effect of the immunostimulant C. parvum on the establishment and course of mycoplasma arthritis of mice was investigated. Male Swiss albino mice were injected intra-venously with M. arthritidis culture and intraperitoneally with C. parvum. It was shown that mice immunostimulated with C. parvum were significantly protected against the establishment of arthritis if the mycoplasma was given 9 days after the immunostimulant. However, when the arthritis was established C. parvum had no effect on the course of the arthritis. A close association between mycoplasma arthritidis and synovial cells in proposed as a possible explanation of this observation.