Abstract: The hypothesis of the prenatal programming of adult diseases took on increasing interest from the moment that, in the 60s, an epidemiological association was proposed between low birth weight and cardiovascular diseases. In the last 20 years it has been demonstrated that individuals with low weight, low stature and thinness at birth have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Animal and clinical studies are casting light on the biological mechanisms underlying the association between modified development in the uterus and diseases, and on how growth in adolescence and in adult life can modulate this initial proneness to disease. One of the mechanisms that has aroused most interest among researchers is the reduced number of nephrons, associated with low birth weight, which predisposes to glomerulosclerosis and increased systemic arterial pressure in adult life. A correlation has also been found between low weight at birth and peripheral resistance to insulin. Nevertheless, it is thought that modified prenatal development is only a predisposing factor, open to profound influences in the course of postnatal development. It has in fact been demonstrated that accelerated development in the period of infancy and adolescence can extend the initial condition of neonatal suffering. Indirectly these studies renew and at the same time extend the concept of prevention, a priority aim of the physician of the third millennium.
Abstract: Procalcitonin (PCT) is the precursor of calcitonin, normally synthesized in the C-cells of the thyroid gland. Systemic inflammation and sepsis induce PCT production by various cell types, including hepatocytes, nephrons, monocytes. PCT begins to rise four hours after exposure to bacterial endotoxins, peaking at six to eight hours, and remaining raised for at least 24 hours with a half-life of 25-30 hours. Serum PCT levels significantly increase in systemic bacterial infection, necrotizing enterocolitis, and during both early and late onset neonatal sepsis. By using a cut-off limit of 0,5 microg/L, the PCT positive likelihoud ratio was found of 12.5. PCT has a theoretical advantage as a marker of systemic induction in sepsis and its half-life suitable for daily monitoring of disease progress. PCT may be useful in assessing the severity of infection, following the progress of treatment, and predicting outcomes.
Abstract: Nephrogenic rests (NRs) are considered to be precursor lesions of Wilms tumor, the most common malignant neoplasm of the urinary tract in children. We have previously reported on 2 cases of NRs, incidentally diagnosed at 2 to 3 months of age during an ultrasound mass screening for urinary tract malformations between 1992 and 2006. As the screened population consisted of 17,065 infants, the observed prevalence of NRs in our area in the examined time period was of 1.17/10,000. This is the first reliable estimate of the frequency of clinically appreciable NRs in infants. Microscopic NRs have been found at autopsy in about 1% of infants. Our data are, therefore, helpful in the assessment of the proportion of NRs that disappear spontaneously in the childhood age group. To the best of our knowledge, no false-negative cases were found. Our observations indicate that our policy of "wait and see" is appropriate when NRs are identified incidentally during ultrasonographic screening done for whatever purpose.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress has recently been found to play a key role in post-ischemic kidney damage. We tested the hypothesis that oxidative kidney damage due to perinatal hypoxia in preterm newborns is associated with an increased production of oxidative free radicals in plasma. METHODS: Blood and urine samples were obtained at birth and on days 7 and 14, from 55 preterm newborns, without any known congenital abnormalities. Total hydroperoxides (TH) and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) as indices of oxidative stress, xanthine (Xa) and hypoxanthine (Hx) as indices of hypoxia, alpha1-microglobulin and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) as indices of kidney damage were assayed. RESULTS: Statistically significant correlations (p<0.05) were found between biochemical markers of hypoxia, oxidative stress and proximal tubules damage at days 7 and 14. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal oxidative stress is associated with a variable degree of kidney damage detectable at birth and continuing up to 14 days.
Abstract: A simple and reliable analytical procedure using capillary electrophoresis with UV absorbance detection for the direct enantiomeric resolution and quantitation of chiral fungicide metalaxyl is described. Several native cyclodextrins and modified beta-cyclodextrins were investigated as chiral additives to 50 mM sodium tetraborate buffer pH 9.3. The effect of their concentration on the resolution of metalaxyl enantiomeric forms was studied. The best results were achieved when 55 mM succynyl-beta-cyclodextrin in 50 mM sodium tetraborate buffer pH 9.3 was used. The optimized method showed satisfactory intraday repeatability as far as relative migration times and relative peak areas are concerned, with a detection limit of 0.1 mM for both enantiomers, and has been successfully applied to the analysis of a real plant protection product containing metalaxyl-M (metalaxyl R-form) as active ingredient.
