Library

Notes: Aim  To test the clinical performance of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (%CDT), γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT) and mean corpuscular erythrocyte volume (MCV) as biomarkers for alcoholism with a special focus on patients suffering from liver diseases.Design  Well-characterized collectives of alcohol-dependent patients with current consumption (ALC patients, n = 101), and relevant control groups (115 social drinkers, 46 patients with unspecifically increased γ-GT, 51 hepatitis patients and 20/31 patients with non-alcohol/alcohol-dependent liver cirrhosis) were included into the study. The Positive Alcohol Use Disorders Test (AUDIT) score, International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10)/Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM-IV) criteria and blood drawn within 4 days of last drinking were inclusion criteria for subjects with regular heavy drinking. %CDT was determined using an automated assay which recently had been completely modified.Findings  Median AUDIT scores of patients without/with regular heavy drinking were 1–3/27. The following medians/95th percentiles were obtained for %CDT: social drinkers 2.2/3.0, patients with unspecifically increased γ-GT 2.1/3.0, hepatitis 2.0/4.4, non-alcohol-dependent liver cirrhosis 2.4/4.8, alcohol-dependent liver cirrhosis 3.0/5.9, ALC patients 3.9/14.9. Differences between patients without and with alcohol abuse were highly significant (P 〈 0.001). No differences in CDT values were found between males and females. There was no correlation between %CDT values, γ-GT, MCV and the amount of alcohol consumed in ALC patients; 3.0%CDT (95th percentile social drinkers) is proposed as cut-off for the test used (Tina-quant®%CDT 2nd-generation). At this cut-off, the sensitivity for ALC patients was 73.3%, whereas γ-GT/MCV had a sensitivity of 71.3%/64.4%. Multivariate analysis performed at 95% specificity resulted in an improvement of the sensitivity by combining %CDT with γ-GT (83.2%). A further enhancement of the sensitivity to 88.1% was obtained by combination of %CDT, γ-GT and MCV. The diagnostic specificity of %CDT calculated at the cut-off of 3% was 93.5% in patients with unspecifically increased γ-GT, 88.2% in hepatitis patients and 70.0% in patients with non-alcohol-dependent liver cirrhosis. %CDT was more specific in these patient collectives than MCV, and especially more than γ-GT (specificity in hepatitis 52.9%, and 35.0% in non-alcohol-dependent liver cirrhosis).Conclusion  %CDT is of high diagnostic value to support diagnosis of alcohol-use disorders. The specificity of this marker in patient groups with liver disorders is superior to the biomarkers γ-GT and MCV.

Notes: Summary Peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) of DBA/2 mice, after 7 days ofin vitro preculture and consisting of virtually 100 per cent macrophages, were able to support the replication of Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 strain WAL (HSV). Using a standard medium based on Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (D-MEM), no virus replication was observed in freshly isolated PEC. However a medium based on RPMI1640 consistently yielded higher virus titres in precultured PEC than the D-MEM medium, and also allowed virus replication in freshly isolated PEC. Macrophages derived from the spleens or the bone marrow, and precultured in the same way as PEC represented a highly pure population and were permissive for infection with HSV. Titres of about 106 PFU HSV were observed in PEC 48 hours after infection with 103 or 106 PFU. However, whereas a complete destruction of the cell monolayer was observed 24 hours after infection with 106 PFU, complete cytopathogenicity in PEC infected with 103 PFU required at least twice this time. In the latter situation, plaque formation was observed 24 hours after infection. PEC of different strains of mice were compared. Of these, PEC of all mice that are susceptible to HSV infectionin vivo replicated HSV to the same degree as PEC of DBA/2 mice, whereas PEC of resistant C57 BL/6 and C3H/HeJ mice produced 1000 fold lower titres of viral progeny. Whereas the number of infectious centres were equal in PEC of DBA/2 and C57 BL/6 mice, the plaques observed after infection of confluent PEC with a low MOI were considerable smaller in cells from C57 BL/6 mice. Furthermore, significantly higher titres of interferon were measured in the supernatants of HSV-infected C57BL/6 macrophages than in those of DBA/2 macrophages, and the former were made fully susceptible by thein vitro addition of an anti-interferon serum.

Notes: Zusammenfassung An wachsenden und ausgewachsenen Ratten wurde die Wirkung von Dattelkernmehl auf Wachstum, Futterverwertung und Fettstoffwechselparameter untersucht. Als Vergleichssubstanz diente Cellulosepulver. Das Dattelkernmehl bewirkte im Gegensatz zu Cellulose eine Steigerung der Nahrungsaufnahme und der Gewichtszunahmen. Die Futterverwertung verschlechterte sich bei Verabreichung beider Ballaststoffträger. Dattelkernmehl bewirkte eine größere Erhöhung des Kotgewichts und -volumens als Cellulose; der Gehalt an Rohfaser im Kot stieg jedoch bei mit Cellulose ernährten Tieren stärker an. Vermutlich besteht die Rohfaser des Dattelkernmehls aus leichter spaltbaren Verbindungen wie z. B. Hemicellulosen. Dattelkernmehl verursachte bei wachsenden Ratten eine Zunahme der Serumgesamtlipide und des Serumcholesterins. Der Neutral- und Gesamtfettgehalt in der Leber stieg bei ausgewachsenen Ratten ebenfalls an. Bei den jüngeren Tieren wurde histologisch eine verstärkte Einlagerung von Triglyzeriden in der Leber nachgewiesen. Cellulose beeinflußte bei Ratten beider Altersgruppen den Lipidstoffwechsel nur geringfügig. Dattelkernmehl enthält eine Komponente, die eine lipidanabole Wirkung hervorruft. Sein hoher Ballaststoffgehalt kann diesen Einfluß nicht kompensieren.