The adaptation of Polish version of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) for postpartum mothers

Objectives: The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) for postpartum women was developed and validated in the US in 2006. The aim of the research was to analyse the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) for subjective assessment of the bio-psycho-physical status of women after childbirth. Material and methods: After the preparation of the Polish-language version of the questionnaire, the study was conducted among 168 postpartum women on the day they were discharged from the hospital. For the analysis of the reliability of the questionnaire, the Cronbach Alpha test was used, where the index of values above 0.7 was assumed to mean the correct reliability of the scale. Results: Statistical analysis using the Alpha Cronbach test for the questions presented amounted to: 0.835, which indicates that the results are correctly aligned with one another. Conclusions: The conducted analysis confirms that the Polish-language questionnaire in its current form has high reliability for the assessment of readiness to discharge in postpartum women and may be used in Polish conditions

Apoptosis of HeLa and CaSki cell lines incubated with All-trans retinoid acid.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the concentrations of a soluble form of APO-1/Fas antigen (sFas, CD95) and a soluble Ligand for APO-1/Fas antigen (sCD95L, sFasL) in supernatants from CaSki and HeLa cell line cultures after the incubation with All-trans-retinoic acid. HPV-16 and HPV18 - positive cell lines were cultivated with All-trans-retinoic acid in concentrations of 1 x 10(-6) M/L and 1 x 10(-8) M/L. The cultures were incubated for 24 hours. Control culture with 3 microl of dimethyl-sulphoxide (DMSO) was incubated under identical conditions. The concentrations of soluble APO-1/Fas antigen and Fas Ligand in cell culture supernatants were estimated using immunoenzymatic methods. The obtained results showed significant decrease of concentrations of soluble APO-1/Fas antigen in supernatants from HeLa cell lines incubated with retinol in comparison with the control culture. Moreover, the concentrations of soluble Ligand for APO-1/Fas antigen in the supernatants of CaSki and HeLa cell lines were significantly lower in the culture incubated with All-trans retinoid acid when compared to the control culture. Higher concentrations of soluble APO-1/Fas antigen in supernatants from HeLa cell line without retinol may constitute a protective mechanism of the cells infected with the virus before undergoing Fas/FasL-dependent apoptosis. Lower concentrations of soluble APO-1/Fas antigen and soluble Ligand for APO-1/Fas in the supernatants from CaSki and HeLa cell cultures incubated with retinol suggest that retinoids can decrease the synthesis of soluble APO-1//Fas and soluble FasL in HPV-16 and HPV - 18 positive cells and that mechanisms protecting infected cells against Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis become defective under the influence of retinol

Uterine leiomyomas: correlation between histologic composition and stiffness via magnetic resonance elastography — a Pilot Study

Objectives: To evaluate magnetic resonance elastography as a tool for characterizing uterine leimyomas.Material and methods: At total of 12 women with symptomatic leiomyomas diagnosed in physical and ultrasound examinationswere enrolled in this pilot study. Before surgery, all patients underwent magnetic resonance elastography ofthe uterus using a 1.5 T MR whole-body scanner (Optima, GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI, USA). Surgical specimens wereforwarded for histological examination. The findings were allocated into 3 categories depending on the percentage contentof connective tissue: below 15%, from 15 to 30% and more than 30%. The median stiffness of leiomyomas for each of thegroup was calculated. The U-Mann Whitney test was used for statistical analysis.Results: The stiffness of the leiomyomas ranged between 3.7–6.9 kPa (median value 4.9 kPa). The concentration of extracellularcomponents in the leiomyomas did not exceed 40%. An increasing trend of the stiffness with the growing percentageof extracellular component was observed. Stiffness of the leiomyomas obtained by MRE varies depending on microscopiccomposition.Conclusions: The value of stiffness shows a trend of increasing with the percentage of extracellular component of theleiomyoma. Further studies are required to assess the usefulness of MRE in diagnostics of uterine leiomyomas

The expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 molecules on immature myeloid and lymphoid dendritic cells in cord blood of healthy neonates.

The aim of our study was to estimate both B7-H1 and B7-H4 molecules on immature myeloid and lymphoid dendritic cells in umbilical cord blood of healthy neonates in comparison with peripheral blood of healthy adults. Thirty nine healthy full-term neonates from physiological single pregnancies and 27 healthy adults were included in the study. The expression of B7-H1 and B7-H4 was revealed using the immunofluorescence method. Statistical analysis was performed using a non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U-Test). The percentages of BDCA-1+ dendritic cells with B7-H1 and B7-H4 expressions were significantly higher in peripheral blood of healthy adults (

Prevalence of regulatory T cell subtypes in preeclampsia

Problem: The prevalence of regulatory T cells (Tregs) is lower in preeclampsia (PE) compared to healthy pregnancy (HP). However, the proportion of recently described Treg subtypes has not been investigated. Method: Peripheral blood samples of 19 PE and 21 HP women in the third trimester were evaluated using flow cytometry for the prevalence of activated T cells and naive, effector, thymic, extrathymic, and exhausted Tregs. Results: The prevalence of activated T cells and exhausted Tregs was higher in PE than in HP. The prevalence of the functionally most active effector Tregs is decreased, while naive Tregs appear to be unaffected in PE compared to HP. No difference was detected between Tregs according to their origin (thymic or extrathymic). Conclusion: The combination of lower effector Treg and higher exhausted Treg prevalence may account for the decrease in the functionality of Tregs in PE

Antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptide don’t decrease after 6 months of infliximab treatment in refractory rheumatoid arthritis

Anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) and the rheumatoid factor (RF) are well-established serological markers for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ACPA are very useful in the diagnosis of RA, especially at the early stages of the disease when ACPA have a greater diagnostic value than RF. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of infliximab treatment on RF IgM and ACPA serum levels and RA activity during 6 months of treatment. Thirty-two patients with refractory RA were treated with infliximab during a 6-month period. At baseline, 3 and 6 months of treatment the patients were examined for the number swollen and tender joints out of 28 (SJC, TJC) and the visual analogue scale of arthritis activity according to the patient (VAS). Serum samples were tested for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein level (CRP), ACPA and RF IgM. The disease activity score (DAS-28) parameter was also calculated at the same time. During the course of our study, we observed statistically significant improvement in ESR, CRP, TJC, SJC, VAS DAS-28, and RF IgM after 3 and 6 months of infliximab treatment when compared to the baseline, whereas the ACPA level remained unchanged after 3 and 6 months of treatment (P = 0.96 and P = 0.85). The changes in the ACPA level are not a factor for evaluation of successful infliximab treatment but the changes in RF IgM are. According to different behavior of these antibodies during infliximab treatment, we suggest that the roles of ACPA and RF in the pathogenesis of RA are different

Differences in Circulating Dendritic Cell Subtypes in Pregnant Women, Cord Blood and Healthy Adult Women

Different subtypes of dendritic cells (DC) influence the differentiation of naíve T lymphocytes into T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 effector cells. We evaluated the percentages of DC subtypes in peripheral blood from pregnant women (maternal blood) and their cord blood compared to the peripheral blood of healthy non pregnant women (control). Circulating DC were identified by flow cytometry as lineage (CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD20, and CD56)-negative and HLA-DR-positive cells. Subtypes of DC were further characterized as myeloid DC (CD11c+/CD123±), lymphoid DC (CD11c-/CD123+++) and less differentiated DC (CD11c-/CD123±). The frequency of DC out of all nucleated cells was significantly lower in maternal blood than in control (P<0.001). The ratio of myeloid DC/lymphoid DC was significantly higher in maternal blood than in control (P<0.01). HLA-DR expressions of myeloid DC as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) were significantly less in maternal blood and in cord blood than in control (P<0.001, respectively). The DC differentiation factors, TNF-α and GM-CSF, released from mononuclear cells after lipopolysaccharide stimulation were significantly lower in maternal blood than in control (P<0.01). The distribution of DC subtypes was different in maternal and cord blood from those of non-pregnant women. Their role during pregnancy remains to be determined