The duration of capture and restraint during anesthesia and euthanasia influences glucocorticoid levels in male golden hamsters

Deep litter has been shown to decrease stereotypic wire-gnawing in male golden hamsters, suggesting that increased litter depth may be associated with decreased chronic stress levels. To determine the relationship between litter depth and stress levels in hamsters, the authors measured serum levels of corticosterone, cortisol, and ACTH in male golden hamsters kept in cages with three different depths of litter. The duration of handling the hamsters significantly increased the concentrations of corticosterone, cortisol, and the ratio of cortisol/corticosterone. It took longer to catch hamsters housed in cages with deep litter and the ACTH levels were higher in these hamsters. The positive effect of the enrichment (deep litter) was diminished by methodological problems during handling/anesthesia.

Surveillance systems for sexually transmitted diseases in Switzerland

BACKGROUND: In Switzerland (population 7.4 million), 3 different systems contribute to surveillance for sexually transmitted infections. GOAL: The goal of this study was to compare time trends from surveillance systems for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. STUDY DESIGN: We studied surveillance data (1997-2003) from laboratory reports in women and men, men attending dermatology clinics, and women attending gynecologists. RESULTS: Laboratory reports of episodes of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae increased by 31% (from 2573 to 3449 cases) and 104% (from 259 to 528 cases), respectively. Over the same period, chlamydia reports from men attending dermatology clinics and women attending gynecologists did not change and dermatology clinic-based reports of gonorrhea in men increased only slightly. Syphilis reports from dermatology clinics increased by 127% (from 22 to 50 cases). CONCLUSIONS: Increases in laboratory reports of chlamydia and gonorrhea were not consistently detected in sentinel populations. Numbers of cases reported to all 3 systems were low. The performance of surveillance systems for sexually transmitted infections should be evaluated regularly.

Assessment of recent HIV-1 infection by a line immunoassay for HIV-1/2 confirmation

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the number of recent HIV infections is important for epidemiologic surveillance. Over the past decade approaches have been developed to estimate this number by testing HIV-seropositive specimens with assays that discriminate the lower concentration and avidity of HIV antibodies in early infection. We have investigated whether this "recency" information can also be gained from an HIV confirmatory assay. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The ability of a line immunoassay (INNO-LIA HIV I/II Score, Innogenetics) to distinguish recent from older HIV-1 infection was evaluated in comparison with the Calypte HIV-1 BED Incidence enzyme immunoassay (BED-EIA). Both tests were conducted prospectively in all HIV infections newly diagnosed in Switzerland from July 2005 to June 2006. Clinical and laboratory information indicative of recent or older infection was obtained from physicians at the time of HIV diagnosis and used as the reference standard. BED-EIA and various recency algorithms utilizing the antibody reaction to INNO-LIA's five HIV-1 antigen bands were evaluated by logistic regression analysis. A total of 765 HIV-1 infections, 748 (97.8%) with complete test results, were newly diagnosed during the study. A negative or indeterminate HIV antibody assay at diagnosis, symptoms of primary HIV infection, or a negative HIV test during the past 12 mo classified 195 infections (26.1%) as recent (< or = 12 mo). Symptoms of CDC stages B or C classified 161 infections as older (21.5%), and 392 patients with no symptoms remained unclassified. BED-EIA ruled 65% of the 195 recent infections as recent and 80% of the 161 older infections as older. Two INNO-LIA algorithms showed 50% and 40% sensitivity combined with 95% and 99% specificity, respectively. Estimation of recent infection in the entire study population, based on actual results of the three tests and adjusted for a test's sensitivity and specificity, yielded 37% for BED-EIA compared to 35% and 33% for the two INNO-LIA algorithms. Window-based estimation with BED-EIA yielded 41% (95% confidence interval 36%-46%). CONCLUSIONS: Recency information can be extracted from INNO-LIA-based confirmatory testing at no additional costs. This method should improve epidemiologic surveillance in countries that routinely use INNO-LIA for HIV confirmation.

Diagnostic workup of patients with acute transverse myelitis: spectrum of clinical presentation, neuroimaging and laboratory findings

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective 9-year survey. OBJECTIVES: Clinical presentation of acute myelitis syndromes is variable, and neuroimaging and laboratory findings are not specific enough to establish the diagnosis with certainty. We evaluated the spectrum clinical features and paraclinical findings encountered during diagnostic workup and aiding the diagnosis. SETTING: Department of Neurology, Inselspital Bern, Switzerland. MATERIAL: Charts and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 63 patients discharged with the diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis. RESULTS: The diagnosis was supported by abnormal MRI and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings in 52 patients (82.5%) and suspected in the remaining either because of a spinal cord MRI lesion suggestive of myelitis (n=5), or abnormal CSF findings (n=4), or electrophysiological evidence of a spinal cord dysfunction (n=2). Clinical impairment was mild (ASIA D) in the majority. All patients had sensory disturbances, whereas motor deficit and autonomic dysfunction were less frequent. Neurological levels were mainly located in cervical or thoracic dermatomes. Spinal cord lesions were visualized by MRI in 90.4% of the patients and distributed either in the cervical or thoracic cord, or both. Multiple lesions were present in more than half of the patients, and lateral, centromedullary and posterior locations were most common. A high percentage of multiple sclerosis (MS)-typical brain lesions and CSF findings suggested a substantial number of MS-related myelitis in our cohort. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic workup of acute myelitis discloses a broad spectrum of CSF or MRI findings, and may be associated with diagnostic uncertainty due to lack of specific CSF or MRI features, or pathological findings.