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Essentials Patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) develop dense clots that are resistant to lysis. This study explores the role of thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) in human AAA. There is evidence of chronically increased TAFI activation in patients with AAA. TAFI may represent a pharmacological target for cardiovascular risk reduction in AAA., Summary: Background Intra-luminal thrombosis is a key factor in growth of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Patients with AAA form dense clots that are resistant to fibrinolysis. Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) has been shown to influence AAA development in murine models. Objective The aim of this study is to characterize the role of TAFI in human AAA. Methods Plasma levels of TAFI, TAFI activation peptide (TAFI-AP), activated/inactivated TAFI (TAFIa/ai) and plasmin-α2-antiplasmin complex were measured by ELISAs in patients with AAA (n = 202) and controls (n = 188). Results TAFIa/ai and TAFI-AP levels were higher in patients than controls (median [IQR], 20.3 [14.6-32.8] ng mL -1 vs. 14.2 [11.2-19.3] ng mL -1 and 355.0 [232.4-528.1] ng mL -1 vs. 248.6 [197.1-328.1] ng mL -1 ). TAFIa/ai was positively correlated with TAFI-AP (r = 0.164). Intact TAFI levels were not different between patients and controls (13.4 [11.2-16.1] μg mL -1 vs. 12.8 [10.6-15.4] μg mL -1 ). Plasmin-α2-antiplasmin was higher in AAA patients than controls (690.0 [489.1-924.3] ng mL -1 vs. 480.7 [392.6-555.3] ng mL -1 ). Conclusions The increase in TAFIa/ai and TAFI-AP suggests an increased TAFI activation in patients with AAA. Prospective studies are required to further elucidate the role of TAFI and fibrinolysis in AAA pathogenesis., (© 2017 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.)

Objective: Current screening protocols for cervical cancer dictate that patients with smears read as mild or moderate dysplasia of the uterine cervix undergo colposcopy, although approximately half these women do not prove to have high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. The aim of this study was to determine whether human papillomavirus testing is capable of discriminating between high- and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions so as to be useful in reducing the number of colposcopic examinations., Study Design: We tested 190 consecutive patients with smears read as mild or moderate dysplasia for the presence of human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid by use of two different polymerase chain reactions with the consensus primer pairs CPI/IIG and MY09/11. Typing was carried out by direct sequence analysis of the CPI/IIG amplimers. The MY09/11 amplimers were detected in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay format with the SHARP (Solution Hybridization Assay for PCR Products) Signal System with two probe mixtures (A and B) to detect nononcogenic and oncogenic human papillomavirus types. The human papillomavirus test results were compared with the histologic diagnosis, which was regarded as the reference standard., Results: Fifty-six of the 190 patients had high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. The sensitivity was 96% for the CPI/IIG test and 95% for the MY09/11 polymerase chain reaction plus SHARP Signal System when probe B only was used. The specificity was 33% for the CPI/IIG test and 40% for the MY09/11 polymerase chain reaction plus SHARP Signal System when probe B was used., Conclusion: A negative CPI/IIG or SHARP Signal System probe B test can select, respectively, 44 or 54 of the 134 patients without high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. The use of these human papillomavirus tests as a secondary triage in patients with smears that were read as mild or moderate dysplasia could prevent those patients from undergoing unnecessary colposcopy. However, respectively, 2 or 3 of the 56 patients who have high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions would be missed by human papillomavirus testing.

The antibody response in rabbits and chickens (serum and egg yolk) immunized with human immunoglobulin G was studied during a 1-year immunisation period comparing the efficacy of three adjuvants: Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA) and Hunter's TiterMax adjuvant (HTM). Monthly boosters of the antigen in saline were administered. Adjuvants were used in the initial immunisation and in a booster at week 26. FCA was found to result in the highest titre in both species. FIA was more efficient than HTM in mediating an antibody response in rabbits. In chickens, FIA resulted in similar antibody titres in serum and egg yolk. The effect of HTM was similar to FIA in chicken serum but lower in egg yolk. The titres obtained in rabbits were approximately a factor 1.5-2.0 higher than in the corresponding chicken groups. However, the antibody productivity of the chicken, when using the egg yolk as the antibody source, was a factor 5-10 higher than that of the rabbit depending on the adjuvant used. FCA and FIA resulted in similar antibody avidity in rabbits whereas HTM had a lesser effect. In chickens FCA initially resulted in the highest antibody avidity in both serum and egg yolk, but after the booster with adjuvant the antibody avidity became similar for all three adjuvants.