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.

Proton NMR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry have been applied to study the stability of three gold(III) complexes with L-histidine-containing peptides, [Au(Gly-L-His-N,N’,N’’)Cl]NO3.1.25H2O (Au1), [Au(L-Ala-L-His-N,N’,N’’)Cl]NO3.2.5H2O (Au2) and [Au(Gly-Gly-L-His-N,N’,N’’,N’’’)]Cl.H2O (Au3) under physiologically relevant conditions. It was found that tridentate coordination of Gly-L-His and L-Ala-L-His dipeptides, as well as tetradentate coordination of Gly-Gly-L-His tripeptide in Au1, Au2 and Au3 complexes, respectively, stabilized +3 oxidation state of gold and prevented its reduction to Au(I) and Au(0). No release of the coordinated peptides from Au(III) was observed under these experimental conditions. Considering remarkable stability of Au1, Au2 and Au3 complexes, their cytotoxic activity was evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay toward five human tumor cell lines, MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma), HeLa (human cervix carcinoma), HL-60 (human promyelocytic leukemia), Raji (human Burkitt’s lymphoma) and one human normal cell line MRC-5 (human fetal lung fibroblasts). While the cytotoxic activity of Au1, Au2 and Au3 against investigated human malignant cell lines was strongly cell line dependent, none of these complexes was cytotoxic against normal MRC-5 cell line. This study can contribute to the future development of gold(III)-peptide complexes as potential antitumor agents.

Background: Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been reported to induce cytotoxicity in different cell lines. Although the mechanisms underlying cytotoxicity are not fully understood, accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative damage is considered to be a likely contributing factor. Methods: Human lung carcinoma cells, A549, and human fetal lung fibroblasts, MRC-5 were used to assess the cytotoxicity of SWCNT in the presence and absence of a redox status regulator, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), via the MTT assay. Results: SWCNT induced a nearly three-fold greater loss of viability in A594 vs. MRC-5 cells at ≤250 μg/ml. SWCNT cytotoxicity at higher concentrations was similar for both cell lines, while NAC alone was non-toxic. The cytotoxicity of SWCNT (250 μg/ml) in combination with NAC to A549 cells was significantly decreased at the lowest NAC concentration (1.5 µg/ml), and was similar to NAC treatment alone at that concentration. Higher concentrations of NAC in combination with SWCNT (250 μg/ml) resulted in increased cytotoxicity in both A549 and MRC-5 cells. Conclusion: A549 malignant lung cells are more susceptible to low concentrations of SWCNT vs. normal lung cells, and low concentrations of N-acetylcysteine appear to be cytoprotective, possibly due to its antioxidant properties. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 173014: Molecular mechanisms of redoxsignaling in homeostasis: Adaptation and pathology]