Relation between recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, vaginal concentrations of mannose-binding lectin, and a mannose-binding lectin gene polymorphism in latvian women

Funding Information: Financial support: FIGO/Schering Research Foundation Fellowship (O.B.).Vaginal concentrations of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and possession of a polymorphism in codon 54 of the MBL gene were determined in 42 women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) and 43 control subjects. Reduced vaginal MBL levels and an increased occurrence of the polymorphism were present in women with RVVC.Peer reviewe

Frequency of interleukin-4 (IL-4) -589 gene polymorphism and vaginal concentrations of IL-4, nitric oxide, and mannose-binding lectin in women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis

Background. A C→T substitution at position -589 in the interleukin-4 (IL-4) gene is associated with increased production of IL-4. Associations between this polymorphism and recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC), as well as vaginal concentrations of IL-4 and the anticandidal compounds nitric oxide (NO) and mannose binding lectin (MBL), were evaluated. Methods. Vaginal samples obtained by lavage from 42 women with RVVC during the acute stage of the disease and 43 control samples were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for IL-4 and NO metabolites. The -589 IL-4 gene polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction and endonuclease digestion. Data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test, the nonparametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and Spearman rank correlation. P < .05 was considered significant. Results. Candida albicans was identified in 38 patients with RVVC; 3 others had infection due to Candida tropicalis, and 1 had infection due to Candida krusei. The IL-4 T,T genotype was detected in 59.5% of patients with RVVC and in 7.0% of control subjects (P < .0001). The frequency of IL-4*T was 76.2% in patients with RVVC and 23.3% in control subjects (P < .0001). The median concentration of vaginal IL-4 was elevated in patients with RVVC, compared with control subjects (P < .0001). Conversely, vaginal concentrations of NO metabolites (P = .02) and MBL (P < .0001) were reduced in patients with RVVC. There was a positive association between IL-4*T homozygosity and vaginal IL-4 levels (P < .0001) and negative associations between this genotype and vaginal NO (P = .01) and MBL (P < .0001) concentrations. Conclusions. Reduced vaginal levels of anticandidal factors in IL-4*T homozygotes may increase susceptibility to RVVC.Peer reviewe

Fortune or Fate: Ambiguity in Robert Greene's 'Orlando Furioso'

Modern Humanities Research AssociationIn a recent essay Norman Gelber recognizes a certain degree of ambiguity in\ud Greene's Orlando Furioso, and suggests that this ambiguity is created by the\ud dramatist's treatment of women. Yet Greene's dramatic handling of women in\ud this play based on Ariosto's heroic romance appears to be only superficially\ud ambiguous. While Gelber points out that there are three anti-feminine speeches in\ud the romance, he admits (p. 266) that they only provide a 'topical framework and\ud moral foil for the heroine'. The anti-feminine comments 'are negated by the\ud exemplary conduct of the heroine' (p. 264). While Greene is concerned with\ud women in the play, it is hard to agree that the 'major theme concerns the moral\ud quality of the heroine Angelica' (p. 264). There really is no problem with an\ud Angelica whose main qualities are 'fidelity, patient sufferance, and forgiveness'\ud (p. 266). This hardly seems to represent a serious division in Greene's dramatic\ud presentation. However, there is another kind of thematic ambiguity that Gelber\ud does not note, and which is not so readily resolved. In fact, Greene may not be able\ud to resolve it at all

If I Dream Not: Unity in "The Comedy of Errors"

University of North Carolina PressThe unity of The Comedy of Errors lies in the baffling contexts\ud surrounding Aegeon, the boys from Syracuse, and the boys\ud from Ephesus and in their responses to those contexts. Obviously,\ud there are certain differences among these contexts that cannot be\ud ignored. There are differences in the time spans that matter to\ud the play: over twenty-five years for Aegeon, one week in particular\ud for Antipholus and Dronmio of Ephesus, and one day for the Syracusans.\ud The degree of seriousness with which Shakespeare handles\ud Aegeon and each of the pairs varies greatly as well. There are\ud differences in temperament. Yet, despite these differences, there is\ud an ultimate similarity of situation and response which binds all\ud five characters into the larger unity of this early comedy

Claribel, Tunis, and Greenaway???s Prospero???s Books

In Prospero???s Books, the Peter Greenaway film adaptation of\ud Shakespeare???s romance The Tempest, the arranged and apparently\ud consummated marriage of Claribel and the African King Tunis is\ud depicted in the most grotesque fashion. A miserable and sexually\ud abused Claribel is shown with a bloody pudendum while nude white\ud slave girls attend to the obviously polygamous Tunis. Since in\ud Shakespeare???s play there is no scene set in Tunis, and neither Claribel\ud nor Tunis ever actually appears on stage, can the Greenaway\ud depiction be justified by comments in the text about them and\ud about their marriage made by the other characters? And can this\ud terrible depiction be further supported by references to the negative\ud early modern English stage history of the African, to the\ud comparable stereotypes of Africans presented in travel literature\ud of the time, and by the possibility that Caliban, with all of his\ud negative baggage, is, like Tunis, an African? Probing into these\ud elements, this paper attempts to determine the validity of\ud Greenaway???s brutal vision of the marriage, while recognizing that\ud The Tempest itself is an indeterminate and uncertain text and,\ud possibly for this reason, the definitive Shakespeare play for the\ud post-modern twenty-first century