A protocol for the early initiation of enteral nutrition was applied to both groups, and insulin was infused to achieve normoglycemia.

Results

Patients in the late-initiation group had a relative increase of 6.3% in the likelihood of being discharged alive earlier from the ICU (hazard ratio, 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.13; P = 0.04) and from the hospital (hazard ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.13; P = 0.04), without evidence of decreased functional status at hospital AS1842856 supplier discharge. Rates of death in the ICU and in the hospital and rates of survival at 90 days were similar in the two groups. Patients in the late-initiation group,

as compared with the early-initiation group, had fewer ICU infections (22.8% vs. 26.2%, P = 0.008) and a lower incidence of cholestasis (P<0.001). The late-initiation group had a relative reduction of 9.7% in the proportion of patients requiring more than 2 days of mechanical ventilation (P = 0.006), a median reduction www.selleckchem.com/products/gw3965.html of 3 days in the duration of renal-replacement therapy (P = 0.008), and a mean reduction in health

care costs of ss1,110 (about $1,600) (P = 0.04).

Conclusions

Late initiation of parenteral nutrition was associated with faster recovery and fewer complications, as compared with early initiation.”
“A subtype-specific PCR approach is described for the identification of HIV-1 intersubtype CRF01_AE and BC recombinants, the two predominant subtypes in Southern China. Primers were designed based on the env and gag regions of the HIV-1 genome. Nested PCRs with primers targeting the env region were performed to amplify subtype C, CRF01_AE, or BC recombinants. To differentiate BC recombinants

from subtype C virus, a BC recombinant specific gag PCR was then performed. In order to identify the CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC recombinant forms, during an additional PCR step was included. Four HIV-1 samples of known subtype, 77 samples with unknown-subtype, and 30 HIV-negative control samples were tested by the new assay. The results of this PCR-based subtyping approach were compared with that of a sequence-based phylogenetic analysis. In total, 73 (94.8%) samples were amplified by the subtype-specific PCR reactions, of which 39 were identified as CRF01_AE, 14 as CRF07_BC, and 20 as CRF08_BC. The sensitivity of this assay was 90.7% for the CRF01_AE recombinant and 100% for BC recombinants. The specificity was 100% when used to identify 30 HIV-negative samples. The reproducibility was 93.8% for CRF01_AE, and 100% for BC recombinants. This subtype-specific PCR technique represents a simple, rapid, and low-cost assay for the identification of HIV-1 CRF01_AE and BC recombinants in Southern China. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.