Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension and Histologic Chorioamnionitis in Preterm Infants: Controlled Study.

Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) of the newborn is one of the most challenging acute disorders of postnatal transition with substantial morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study was to find if there is an association between persistent pulmonary hypertension and histologic chorioamnionitis in preterm infants. 27 preterm infants with echocardiographic evidence of PPHN within the first 3 days of life were eligible for the study. A matched control group of 27 patients was chosen according to gestational age, date of birth, and gender. Data collection included the need for respiratory support, use of nitric oxide oxygen supplementation, duration of rupture of membranes, blood culture, blood count, and C-reactive protein levels at birth and 12 h. Maternal clinical and laboratory data suggesting clinical chorioamnionitis Placentas of both groups were examined. Differences between groups were analyzed using two-tail t test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Chi-square test. No statistically differences were found in all parameters compared between groups, except for a higher number of patients in the PPHN group who were treated by oxygen supplementation. An association was not found between the incidence of HCA and echocardiographic PPHN in preterm infants in the first 3 days of life.

Characterization of Macromolecular Flocculants Produced by Phormidium sp. Strain J-1 and by Anabaenopsis circularis PCC 6720.

Several benthic cyanobacteria were found to produce significant amounts of extracellular flocculants. The macromolecular flocculants produced by Phormidium sp. strain J-1 and Anabaenopsis circularis PCC 6720 were characterized. The Phormidium flocculant is a sulfated heteropolysaccharide to which fatty acids and protein are bound. The polysaccharide backbone is composed of uronic acids, rhamnose, mannose, and galactose. The A. circularis flocculant is also an acidic polysaccharide containing keto acid residues and neutral sugars, but to which no fatty acids, proteins, or sulfates are linked. Both flocculants could be recovered from growth medium by precipitation with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and were found to bind the cationic dye Alcian-blue in a linear proportion to their concentration in solution. The latter property was used to quantify flocculant concentrations in culture supernatants and natural water samples and to compute their anion densities.