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Asparagine levels in cerebrospinal fluid and serum asparaginase activity were monitored in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with pegylated-asparaginase. The drug was given intravenously at a dose of 2,500 IU/m 2 on days 12 and 26. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples obtained on days 33 and 45 were analyzed centrally. Since physiological levels of asparagine in the cerebrospinal fluid of children and adolescents are 4-10 μmol/L, in this study asparagine depletion was considered complete when the concentration of asparagine was ≤0.2 μmol/L, i.e. below the lower limit of quantification of the assay used. Over 24 months 736 patients (AIEOP n=245, BFM n=491) and 903 cerebrospinal fluid samples (n=686 on day 33 and n=217 on day 45) were available for analysis. Data were analyzed separately for the AIEOP and BFM cohorts and yielded superimposable results. Independently of serum asparaginase activity levels, cerebrospinal fluid asparagine levels were significantly reduced during the investigated study phase but only 28% of analyzed samples showed complete asparagine depletion while relevant levels, ≥1 μmol/L, were still detectable in around 23% of them. Complete cerebrospinal fluid asparagine depletion was found in around 5-6% and 33-37% of samples at serum asparaginase activity levels <100 and ≥ 1,500 IU/L, respectively. In this study cerebrospinal fluid asparagine levels were reduced during pegylated-asparaginase treatment, but complete depletion was only observed in a minority of patients. No clear threshold of serum pegylated-asparaginase activity level resulting in complete cerebrospinal fluid asparagine depletion was identified. The consistency of the results found in the two independent data sets strengthen the observations of this study. Details of the treatment are available in the European Clinical Trials Database at https://www.clin-icaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2007-004270-43/IT ., (Copyright© 2019 Ferrata Storti Foundation.)

In order to evaluate the epidemiological importance of Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) as a genital microorganism, data were obtained from 3,367 patients with sexually transmitted diseases in Vienna and analyzed by computer-assisted methods. C. trachomatis was cultured in 26.1% of 2,594 patients investigated for the first time. The microorganism was found more often in male patients (31.3%) than in female patients (21%). 32.2% of positive Chlamydia cultures were obtained from patients with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) and 64% from postgonococcal urethritis (PGU) patients. A high coincidence with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N. gonorrhoeae) was detected in males (31.2%) and females (43.5%). Data on Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis), and Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum) show that, in contrast to the low incidence of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in males, the organisms were found predominantly in females.