Quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the most commonly-used technique to identify gene expression profiles. The selection of stably expressed reference genes is a prerequisite to properly evaluating gene expression. Here, the suitability of commonly-used reference genes in normalizing RT-qPCR assays of mRNA expression in cultured rat cortical neuro...

It is not known whether respiratory syncytial virus spreads beyond the respiratory tract. With the use of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, we found viral and transcribed RNA in cells from the arterial blood of four children with bronchiolitis but none in serum or cerebrospinal fluid. Respiratory syncytial virus might therefore spread outside the respiratory tract.

After the 1999 West Nile (WN) encephalitis outbreak in New York, 2,300 overwintering adult mosquitoes were tested for WN virus by cell culture and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. WN viral RNA and live virus were found in pools of Culex mosquitoes. Persistence in overwintering Cx. pipiens may be important in the maintenance of WN virus in the northeastern United States.

The Glu117stop mutation in the factor XI (FXI) gene is the most common cause of FXI deficiency and might cause the disease either by poor secretion/stability of the truncated protein or by decreased mRNA levels. Platelet- and lymphocyte-derived mRNA from three Glu117stop heterozygotes were analyzed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and sequencing, demonstrating allele-specific ...

On day 22 of illness, generalized tonic-clonic convulsion developed in a 32-year-old woman with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Cerebrospinal fluid tested positive for SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. SARS-CoV may have caused an infection in the central nervous system in this patient.

From July 25 to October 1, 1999, 826 patients were admitted to Volgograd Region, Russia, hospitals with acute aseptic meningoencephalitis, meningitis, or fever consistent with arboviral infection. Of 84 cases of meningoencephalitis, 40 were fatal. Fourteen brain specimens were positive in reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assays, confirming the presence of West Nile/Kunjin virus.

An aged Barbary ape (Macaca sylvanus) at the Toronto Zoo became infected with naturally acquired West Nile virus encephalitis that caused neurologic signs, which, associated with other medical problems, led to euthanasia. The diagnosis was based on immunohistochemical assay of brain lesions, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and virus isolation.

Seven neonates required intensive care at our institution with enterovirus myocarditis, 2001-2003. Presentation was at a median age of 9 days. All had ischaemic electrocardiograms, poor ventricular function, raised creatine kinase, and enterovirus RNA detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Four survived. Enterovirus myocarditis may be an under recognised cause of neonatal ...

A long-finned pilot whale with morbilliviral disease was stranded in New Jersey. An immunohistochemical stain demonstrated morbilliviral antigen. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for morbillivirus P and N genes was positive. Novel sequences most closely related to, but distinct from, those of dolphin and porpoise morbilliviruses suggest that this virus may represent a third membe...

BACKGROUND To profile the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their potential target genes in the gracilis muscles following ischemic injury in rats by monitoring miRNA and mRNA expression on a genome-wide basis. METHODS Following 4 h of ischemia and subsequent reperfusion for 4 h of the gracilis muscles, the specimens were analyzed with an Agilent rat miRNA array to detect the expressed miR...