Interstitial long-arm deletion of chromosome 7 and ectrodactyly

An interstitial deletion of 7q21 was found in a boy with mental retardation, microcephaly, convergent strabismus, micrognathia, genital anomalies, and other findings, including ectrodactyly.

Carbachol injection into the medial preoptic area induces natriuresis, kaliuresis and antidiuresis in rats

The microinjection of carbachol into the medial preoptic area (MPO) of the rat induced natriuresis, kaliuresis and anti-diuresis in a dose-related manner. Atropine blocked all responses to carbachol. Hexamethonium impaired the dose-response effect of carbachol on kaliuresis, but had no effect on natriuresis and enhanced the antidiuretic effect of carbachol. Nicotine alone had no effects, but pre-treatment with nicotine enhanced the responses to carbachol. These data show that activity of the muscarinic receptors of the MPO increases renal electrolyte and reduces water excretion. They also suggest that nicotinic receptors have an inhibitory effect on water excretion. Nicotine could act through mechanisms unrelated to nicotinic receptors to enhance the effect of the carbachol. © 1989.

Detection of the 43,000-molecular-weight glycoprotein in sera of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis

The 43,000-molecular-weight (43K) soluble glycoprotein was detected in sera of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis by the immunoblot technique by using as the probe rabbit monospecific antisera to this fraction. The 43K antigen was present before treatment in sera of patients with the acute (juvenile) form; it started to disappear from circulation after 10 months of chemotherapy, and it was undetectable afer 2 years of treatment. In the chronic cases, the 43K antigen was detected in patients without treatment, and it was absent in the healed cases. The detection of the 43K protein specific to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis may be important for its diagnostic value as well as for modulation of the host immune response.

Techniques in electromanometry of the upper esophageal sphincter

The various pull-through techniques used to measure pressure and length of the upper esophageal sphincter have not been studied in depth. Because of the importance of obtaining further information about these techniques, a group of 25 dogs was submitted to upper esophageal sphincter pressure and length measurements by three different pull-through techniques (two of the continuous type and one of the station type), each with three replications per animal, to determine possible differences among techniques. A single introduction provided reliable results, with no sequential effect of the measurements or of any one technique on resting pressure. However, each technique yielded different sphincter lengths, higher values being obtained when the continuous techniques were used.

Changes in sensitivity of the isolated guinea-pig vas deferens induced by a lyophilized Phoradendron latifolium leaf infusion

The effect of a lyophilized mistletoe infusion (LMI) was studied on isolated guinea-pig vas deferens. LMI caused a contraction which was partially blocked by phentolamine but not by atropine. LMI caused a shift to the left of the norepinephrine concentration-effect curve (CEC), an effect which appeared to be blocked by atropine and was absent in animals previously treated with reserpine and α-methyl-para-tyrosine. The increase of the norepinephrine maximal response induced by LMI was not blocked by atropine or pharmacological denervation. LMI caused a shift to the right of the acetylcholine CEC and had no effect on the acetylcholine maximal response. These results suggest that the effects seem to be due mainly to the presence of potassium ion in the LMI; however, the participation of muscarinic agonist(s) of reduced intrinsic activity or some tyramine-like substance could not be ruled out.

New treatment for frontal sinus hypertrophy

A new treatment of frontal sinus hypertrophy is described. The anterior wall is removed, inverted, and attached again. The resulting depression is filled with bone dust. Details are discussed, and a case is presented.

Micellar modification of drug stability: analysis of the effect of hexadecyltrimethylammonium halides on the rate of degradation of cephaclor

The intra- and intermolecular rates of degradation of cephaclor were determined with and without hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr). Micellar-derived spectral shifts were used to measure the association of the ionic forms as well as to determine the effect of CTABr on the apparent acid dissociation constant of the antibiotic. The rate of degradation of cephaclor increased with detergent and was salt sensitive. Micellar effects were analyzed quantitatively within the frame-work of the speudophase ion exchange model. All experimental data were fitted to this model which was used to predict the combined effects of pH and detergent concentration. Micelles increased the rate of OH- attack on cephaclor; most of the effect was due to the concentration of reagents in the micellar pseudophase. The intramolecular degradation was catalyzed 25-fold by micelles, and a working hypothesis to rationalize this effect is proposed. The results demonstrate that quantitative analysis can be utilized to assess and predict effects of detergents on drug stability.

Fever response induced by intravenous and intracerebrovascular injection of pyrogen in thyroidectomised and protein-calorie malnourished rabbits

The development of a fever in response to intravenous (IV, 1.5 μg/kg body mass) and intracerebroventricular (ICV, 1.5 μg/animal) injections of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was studied in control, thyroidectomised and protein-calorie malnourished rabbits (New Zealand Whites, n = 55). ICV injection of LPS is control rabbits produced a fever response, the characteristics of which differed from those obtained after IV pyrogen injection. Thyroid deficiency caused an attenuated fever response, irrespective of whether LPS had been administered by IV or ICV injection. Protein-calorie malnourished rabbits showed a smaller fever response after IV or ICV pyrogen injections. Malnourished rabbits, refed over a period of 15 days, showed a typical biphasic fever response, but with lower magnitude than controls. The results of these experiments suggest that ICV injection of LPS is not an appropriate model for the study of fever mechanisms in disease states, and that the attenuated fever response observed in protein-calorie malnourished rabbits may be related, at least in part, to a decreased ability to produce the endogenous pyrogen interleukin-1.

Natriuresis induced by cholinergic stimulation of the locus coeruleus in the rat

Carbachol injected into the locus coeruleus (LC) induced a dose-dependent natriuresis in the rat. This natriuresis was maintained above control levels during the 120 min of urine sampling. Seizures and arterial blood pressure increase were also observed but they disappeared within 20 min after carbachol injection. Natriuresis was not obtained with either injections of carbachol outside the LC or with hypertonic solutions injected into the LC. Injection of atropine into the LC blocked the natriuresis induced by carbachol. In summary, our data show that carbachol induces natriuresis by an action on muscarinic receptors located in the LC region. © 1990.

Hydration-dependent conformational states of hemoglobin. Equilibrium and kinetic behavior

The equilibrium and kinetics of methemoglobin conversion to hemichrome induced by dehydration were investigated by visible absorption spectroscopy. Below about 0.20 g water per g hemoglobin only hemichrome was present in the sample; above this value, an increasing proportion of methemoglobin appeared with the increase in hydration. The transition between the two derivatives showed a time-dependent biphasic behavior and was observed to be reversible. The rates obtained for the transition of methemoglobin to hemichrome were 0.31 and 1.93 min-1 and for hemichrome to methemoglobin 0.05 and 0.47 min-1. We suggest that hemichrome is a reversible conformational state of hemoglobin and that the two rates observed for the transition between the two derivatives reflect the α- and β-chains of hemoglobin.

Antibody response to the 43 kDa glycoprotein of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis as a marker for the evaluation of patients under treatment

Sera of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis contained IgG-, IgA-, and IgM-specific antibodies to a 43 kDa antigen contained in the filtrate of a culture of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. IgG- and IgA-specific antibodies were present in all observed patients. The IgM response was more frequent in acute cases, and the mean titers of IgG- and IgM-specific antibodies were higher in the acute forms. By the fourth month of chemotherapy, there was a decay of IgG, IgA, and IgM antibody titers to this antigen in acute cases, correlating with clinical improvement. The detection of IgG and IgA antibodies and the sequential determination of antibodies to the 43 kDa glycoprotein may be useful tools for serodiagnosis and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.

Study of the contraction induced by norepinephrine and clonidine in the isolated guinea-pig ileum

Norepinephrine (NE) and clonidine produce a phasic, dose-dependent contraction of the isolated guinea-pig terminal ileum. The effect of NE was blocked by prazosin which produced a parallel rightward shift of the concentration-effect curve to NE, with a significant depression of maximum effects. Yohimbine and indomethacin noncompetitively blocked, whereas practolol potentiated, the contractile effect of NE. The contractile effect of clonidine was not antagonized by indomethacin or atropine. These results suggest that the isolated guinea-pig terminal ileum has excitatory receptors sensitive to clonidine stimulation and excitatory alpha receptors sensitive to blockade by prazosin, and that the activation of the latter may be related to the activation of endogenous prostaglandin synthesis.

Multiple cytogenetic clones in a basal cell carcinoma

Chromosome analysis of short-term culture of a basal cell carcinoma showed five clonal chromosome abnormalities, t(9;14)(q12 or q13;p11), del(1)(q23 or q25), trisomy 5, trisomy 7, and monosomy X. In addition, several nonclonal structural and numerical changes were seen in the tumor cells.

In vitro characterization of intra-generic inhibition of growth in Salmonella typhimurium

The intra-generic inhibition of bacterial growth observed previously in vivo and in vitro with strains of Salmonella, Citrobacter and E. coli was studied in vitro using S. typhimurium strain F98. There was complete inhibition of multiplication of S. typhimurium when it was added to stationary-phase broth cultures of different Salmonella serotypes, but only partial inhibition when added to broth cultures of E. coli. The degree of inhibition between different mutants of F98 was affected by the numbers of bacteria of the inhibiting strain, but this was not the only factor, since exponential-phase bacterial cells were less inhibitory than stationary-phase cells. The inhibitory effect was produced at temperatures between 20°C and 40°C. The complete inhibition of growth observed between F98 mutants was abolished by ampicillin, rifampicin and streptomycin, but not by nalidixic acid. Inhibition was also prevented by separating the two cultures by a dialysis membrane. A Tnpho A Insertion mutant of F98 was produced which did not show inhibition in vitro but was still inhibitory in vivo. It is suggested that this complete inhibition of bacterial multiplication between organisms of the same genus, which is greater than that produced between organisms from different genera, is mediated by a cell surface protein.

Cytogenetic analysis of a multinodular thyroid goiter

Short-term cultures of a collagenase disaggregated multinodular goiter was shown by cytogenetic analysis to have the mosaic karyotype 47,XX,+7/48,XX,+7,+17/49,XX,+7,+10,+17. No cytogenetic data on goiter are available for comparison with the present case.