ABSTRACT The performance of the new Bio-Rad Geenius HIV-1/2 confirmatory assay was compared with that of the Chiron RIBA HIV-1/HIV-2 strip immunoblot assay using 166 samples from HIV-1-, HIV-2-, or HIV-1/2-positive and HIV-negative individuals and two quality control panels. Our results indicate that the Geenius assay is a suitable alternative for confirmatory HIV testing.

Introduction: Sideropenic anemia is a common pregnancy disorder. Depending on severity, maternal anemia can significantly influence morphometric characteristic of placental tissue, pregnancy course and outcome. Objectives: to estimate if maternal anemia a) results with significant placental changes; b) influence on newborn weight, length and vitality. Patients, material and methods: Research included 100 women and their newborns, 50 anemic, and 50 women in the control group. Sixty placentas were collected, placental mass and volume was determined, and blood vessels of terminal villi were stereologically analyzed. Newborns mass and body length, and Apgar scores within 1 and 5 minutes after delivery were recorded. The results: Placentas of anemic pregnant women showed significant increase of terminal villi blood vessels (224,18 vs. 197,00 cm3; p<0,0001), but total placental mass and volume did not differ significantly. Anemic mothers’ newborns were significantly shorter (51,76 vs. 55,54 cm; p<0,0001), smaller body mass (3048,00 vs. 3615,60 g; p<0,0001) and delivered one week early (38,2 vs. 39,2 GW; p<0,0001), but not significantly poorer vitality (p>0,05) comparing with the control group. Conclusion: Sideropenic anemia increase placental maturity, that could be a possible cause of earlier spontaneous delivery among anemic women. The anemic mothers’ newborns are shorter and lower body mass, but not poorer vitality index.

ABSTRACT Aim: The objective of the study was to examine whether cardiotocography can (CTG) predict asphyxia of the embryo, manifested as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and to what extent one can rely on CTG record. Material and methods: Retrospective research was carried out at the Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics UKC Tuzla and medical documentation from the history of mothers and newborns was used. The study group consisted of 68 pregnancies and newborns who developed HIE. The control group consisted of 40 pregnancies, which resulted in birth of healthy newborns – without signs of asphyxia. CTG records were analyzed, Apgar score, the ways of finishing delivery. Results: Pathological CTG records (bradycardia 100, tachycardia 180, silent type of curve, late decelerations) were found in 45 (66,17%) cases of the study group in comparison to 11 (27,5%) in the control group. In the study group Apgar score in 5th minute lower than 7 had 17,46% newborns and the highest incidence of the normally finished deliveries. We conclude that cardiotocography is one of the reliable methods of fetal monitoring in pregnancy and delivery, and that pathological CTG record very likely indicates the possible presence of perinatal asphyxia. Conclusion: Achieving a low degree of correlation between pathological intrapartum cardiotocography findings and long-term outcome of children can be achieved by rapid and adequate obstetric intervention and the relatively short duration of fetal acidosis, and optimal procedures during intensive care of newborns.

New compounds (II) and (III) show diverse growth inhibitory effects against selected tumor cell lines, but are devoid of any significant toxicity towards the normal foetal lung fibroblasts.

The cytotoxicity of 4′-leucine-avarone, amino derivative of the sponge Dysidea avara secondary metabolite avarone, was evaluated by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay in vitro against seven human solid tumours for the first time. The compound tested induced dose-dependent cytotoxic response in all cancer cells showing better activity towards the lung A-549 and colon HT-29 cell lines (IC50 7.40 μM and 9.62 μM, respectively) than towards the breast adenocarcinoma ER positive MCF-7 and ER negative MDA-MB-231 cells (IC50 11.64 μM and 17.31 μM, respectively), the prostate adenocarcinoma PC-3 and epiteloid cervix carcinoma HeLa cells (IC50 14.24 μM and 15.54 μM, respectively). No toxicity was found towards the foetal lung fibroblast MRC-5 cell line at the concentrations used. According to experimental data obtained, the sesquiterpenoid quinone structure of avarone may inspire development of new drug-like substances with improved cytotoxicity on lung cancer in humans.

INTRODUCTION Sideropenic anemia is a common pregnancy disorder. Depending on severity, maternal anemia can significantly influence morphometric characteristic of placental tissue, pregnancy course and outcome. OBJECTIVES to estimate if maternal anemia a) results with significant placental changes; b) influence on newborn weight, length and vitality. PATIENTS, MATERIAL AND METHODS Research included 100 women and their newborns, 50 anemic, and 50 women in the control group. Sixty placentas were collected, placental mass and volume was determined, and blood vessels of terminal villi were stereologically analyzed. Newborns mass and body length, and Apgar scores within 1 and 5 minutes after delivery were recorded. THE RESULTS Placentas of anemic pregnant women showed significant increase of terminal villi blood vessels (224.18 vs. 197.00 cm3; p < 0.0001), but total placental mass and volume did not differ significantly. Anemic mothers' newborns were significantly shorter (51.76 vs. 55.54 cm; p < 0.0001), smaller body mass (3048.00 vs. 3615.60 g; p < 0.0001) and delivered one week early (38.2 vs. 39.2 GW; p < 0.0001), but not significantly poorer vitality (p > 0.05) comparing with the control group. CONCLUSION Sideropenic anemia increase placental maturity, that could be a possible cause of earlier spontaneous delivery among anemic women. The anemic mothers' newborns are shorter and lower body mass, but not poorer vitality index.

OBJECTIVES A decreased ability to degrade neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) is seen in a subgroup of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and correlates with the presence of autoantibodies. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) can develop secondary to SLE or as a primary disease. In the current study we investigated the ability of sera from patients with APS to degrade NETs. The presence of antibodies against NETs and neutrophil remnants were also determined in the same patients. METHODS In the study, 106 patients with APS (73 primary and 33 secondary), 76 patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and 77 healthy donors as control samples were included. NETs generated from neutrophils isolated from healthy volunteers were incubated with patient sera, followed by measurement of degraded NETs or deposited IgG. RESULTS Sera of APS patients had a decreased ability to degrade NETs compared to healthy controls, with no difference between primary and secondary APS. Sera from SSc patients did not differ significantly from healthy controls in the ability to degrade NETs. A decreased degradation of NETs correlated weakly to increased levels of antibodies against NETs/neutrophil remnants in patients with primary APS, but stronger in patients with secondary APS. CONCLUSIONS The ability to degrade NETs is decreased in a subgroup of patients with APS and is associated with antibodies against NETs and specific clinical manifestations in those patients.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of leukemia of childhood. Over the last 50 years there have been tremendous scientific advances in understanding the pathogenesis and the mechanisms that control cellular proliferation in ALL. These discoveries led to the development of efficient therapeutic regimens that greatly improved survival of children with ALL. Recently, several genes have been demonstrated to play a key role in tumor suppression and that their deregulation leads to malignant transformation and can affect overall survival. This review summarizes the role of Ikaros (IKZF1) in tumor suppression and regulation of gene expression in leukemia. Deletions and/or mutations of Ikaros have been detected in a large percentage of pediatric and adult ALL and reduced Ikaros function has been associated with poor outcome in ALL. Ikaros function in chromatin remodeling and epigenetic regulation of gene transcription emphasizes the important role of this protein in controlling cellular proliferation. In this review, we particularly focus on the role of signaling pathways in the regulation of Ikaros activity and its transcriptional control in leukemia.

Introduction: Partial molar trophoblast degeneration is a benign disease characterised by numerous complications such as an invasive mole and malignant alteration.Methods: This was a retrospective study which recruited 70 pregnant women diagnosed with hydatidiform mole or with physiological pregnancy spontaneously aborted. The pregnant women had similar demographic features and were included in two groups. 35 pregnant women with a molar pregnancy diagnosed during the first trimester were included in the study group; while 35 pregnant women with miscarriages during the fi rst trimester were included in the control group.Results: Examined trophoblast changes were: type of atypia, amount and mass of trophoblast proliferation. Specifi c β HCG serum levels were observed in all pregnant women before the treatment. Pregnantwomen in the study group had statistically signifi cant higher levels of β HCG serum in comparison with the control group (both average levels 60191.37±49662.75 and levels according to gestational age). Statisticallysignifi cant changes of villous trophoblast were observed by the pathomorphological analysis: mild trophoblast atypia (57.14%); pronounced trophoblast mass (45.71%) and mild trophoblast proliferationamount (51.43%).Conclusion: Serum β-HCG level measurements and pathomorphological analysis of chorionic villi are reliable and effective methods in a partial mole diagnostics.

The objective of this study was to compare acceptance rate of immediate postpartum contraception and other characteristics among HIV-infected and HIV-non-infected parturients. Delivery logbooks from January 1990 to June 1994 were reviewed and 776 HIV -positive females  were identified. Data of these women were abstracted together with those of 1,552 HIV-negative women whose names were immediately before and after the HIV-Infected ones(1:2 ratio). HIV infected  women were more likely to be younger, have lower number of gravida, have baby with lower birthweight and lower first-minute APGAR score, and accept immediate postpartum contraception. However, the two groups did not differ in terms of mode of delivery.Stratification of acceptance rates of postpartum contraception revealed that the rates among multigravida were not different (39% vs 33%, OR = 1.30 [0.95-1.77)). However, HlV-infected primigravidous women were more likely than the non-infected to accept contraception (17.9% vs 0.9%, OR =  22.81(lO.03-54.65)).This was probably due to the policy of the hospital in encouraging HlV infected  mothers to adopt permanent or semipermanent methods of contraception.

Introduction: Hydatidiform mole is a gestational trophoblastic disease characterized by a range of disorders of abnormal trophoblastic proliferation.Methods: This was a retrospective study of 70 singletone pregnancies until the 12th week of gestational age diagnosed with hydatidiform mole or spontaneously aborted physiological pregnancy. The pregnantwomen had almost similar demographic features and were divided into two groups. 35 pregnant women with a molar pregnancy were included in the study group; while 35 pregnant women with physiologicalpregnancy spontaneously aborted were included in the control group. Analyzed parameters included a pregnant woman’s age, blood type, parity and previous pregnancies (course and outcomes).Results: In the study group 11.43% of cases had hydatidiform mola during previous pregnancies as well as the advanced average gestational age of an ongoing pregnancy (9.63±1.83 in contrast to 8.25±2.03in the control group). The pregnant women with the hydatidiform mole were reported to have statistically significantly greater number of irregular villous borders (71.43%); slightly enlarged villi (54.29%); moderatedpresence of cisterns (65.71%) as well as mild avascularisation of villi (57.14%).Conclusion: It was concluded that a previous molar pregnancy represents the highest risk for hydtidiforme mole and the pathomorphologic analysis of vilous changes can be a reliable parameter for establishingproper diagnosis of partial hydatidiform mole.