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Fetalna in neonatalna aloimunska trombocitopenija (FNAIT) je posledica transplacentarnega prenosa in vezave aloimunskih protiteles na trombocitne antigene otroka, ki jih je podedoval od očeta. Do aloimunizacije matere proti trombocitnim antigenom lahko pride tekom nosečnosti, kot tudi ob transfuziji trombocitov. FNAIT je redka bolezen, ki lahko poteka popolnoma brez bolezenskih znakov ali pa ima otrok znake hemoraške diateze. Njen najhujši zaplet je znotrajlobanjska krvavitev, zato sta zgodnja diagnostika in v primeru indikacije ustrezno zdravljenje zelo pomembna. Po podatkih iz literature je ocenjena pojavnost FNAIT 1 na 1000-2000 živorojenih. Pojavnost FNAIT v Sloveniji ni znana. Namen opravljene retrospektivne raziskave je bil ugotoviti pojavnost in etiologijo FNAIT v Sloveniji ter klinično sliko bolnikov s FNAIT. Rezultati raziskave, v kateri smo analizirali izvide transfuzijskih preiskav za dokaz trombocitnih protiteles pri novorojenčkih ali materah, so pokazali veliko nižjo pojavnost. V obdobju od leta 1996 do leta 2016 je bilo v Sloveniji potrjenih 39 primerov FNAIT, povprečno 2 na leto, medtem ko je bilo prošenj za dokaz trombocitnih protiteles pri novorojenčku ali materi povprečno 9 na leto. Pojavnost FNAIT je torej v Sloveniji 1 na 10.000 živorojenih. Kljub temu, da je ocena pojavnosti zaradi retrospektivne analize najverjetneje podcenjena, menimo, da omenjeni rezultati potrjujejo naša klinična opažanja, da je FNAIT poddiagnosticirana. Prispevek zato, poleg rezultatov retrospektivne raziskave o pojavnosti, etiologiji in klinični sliki FNAIT v Sloveniji, predstavlja pregled trenutnega znanja o FNAIT, saj želimo, da se na omenjeno bolezen, ki je lahko življenje ogrožajoča, pogosteje pomisli in ustrezno ukrepa.

Background: The dogma that the total number of follicles and oocytes available for reproduction are determined at birth, and that one follicle and one oocyte are recruited from the existing pool to mature in each menstrual cycle still persists. There is an increasing experimental evidence that this might not be true. In the ovarian surface epithelium there might be nondifferentiated stem cells that might differentiate into oocytes also in adult life. In this research we aimed at isolating putative stem cells from the ovarian surface epithelium and at evaluating in vitro oogenesis in the ovarian cell culture in vitro in women without naturally present follicles and oocytes in their ovarian cortex – postmenopausal women and women with premature ovarian failure.Methods: Ovarian surface epithelium was scraped from the ovaries of 20 postmenopausal women and 5 women with premature ovarian failure. We tried to find putative stem cells in ovarian scraping and to confirm them by transcription markers Oct-4, Sox-2, and Nanog, and by surface antigen SSEA-4. Cell culture was set up by scraped cells in DMEM/F-12 medium with phenol red, which shows a weak estrogenic activity. Ovarian cell culture was cultured for 20 days in a CO2-incubator at 37 °C and 5 % CO2. Development of cells in the culture was followed and the presence of oocyte-like cells was evaluated by using different methods – evaluation of morphology, transcription markers, surface antigen markers, oocyte immunohistochemical markers, and flow cytometry after propidium iodide staining.Results: In all postmenopausal women and in 4 out of the 5 women with premature ovarian failure putative stem cells were isolated from the ovarian surface epithelium, which were positive for transcription markers of embryonic stem cells Oct-4, Sox-2, Nanog, and for surface antigen SSEA-4. In all these women ovarian cell culture was successfully established. In all cultures oocyte-like cells developed approximately on day 5 of culture, which were positive for transcription marker Oct-4 and immunohistological germ cell markers c-kit, Oct-4, ZP2, DAZL, and even meiotic marker SCP3. Marker SCP3 was expressed in oocyte-like cells developed in ovarian cell culture of postmenopausal women, but not in patients with premature ovarian failure. Flow cytometry after propidium iodide staining revealed a population of potentially haploid oocyte like cells in postmenopausal women. Stem cells developed also into some somatic cell types, including fibroblasts, neuron-, and mioblast-like cells. In patients with premature ovarian failure oocyte-like cells were developed only at the presence of autologous patient’s serum and mostly at the presence of heterologous follicular fluid serum, whereas they did not develop at the presence of fetal calf serum.Conclusions: First results are promising as they indicate the new insight into the physiology of the adult human ovary. In the ovarian surface epithelium putative stem cells with embryonic character are present, which can develop into the oocyte-like cells and other types of cells in vitro. Further research is required to understand better these new findings.

Background: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) was first recognized in the Netherlands in 2001. Since then, it has been documented all over the world as a cause of human respiratory infections in all age groups. The objective of this study was to introduce and optimize an assay for detecting hMPV in clinical material of our patients. To date, there has not been a report that describes the detection of this virus in Slovenia.Methods: A total of 58 specimens, randomly collected during 2003/2004 from the patients ≤ 19 years old with respiratory disease and 20 specimens collected in 1997 were tested for hMPV. Extraction of RNA from frozen specimens and subsequent single-step reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed. Human metapneumovirus amplicons were determined by electrophoresis in a 2 % (w/v) agarose gel.Results: Human metapneumovirus was detected in 13/58 (22 %) specimens; 10/40 (25 %) specimens were from the upper and 3/18 (17 %) from the lower respiratory tract. The mean age of infected patients was 3.2 ± 2.2 years. Out of 13 of the hMPV-positive specimens, 9 were positive also for another respiratory virus. Two of 20 (10 %) archival specimens were hMPV-positive.Conclusions: This study is the first report about hMPV in Slovenia. Human metapneumovirus was detected as the second most frequent virus after RSV in children < 3 years of age. The virus was not found in the specimens from the children younger than 2 months. Based on the hMPV-positive results in archival clinical material, it is suggested that hMPV had circulated in Slovenia before the time it was discovered.