Recruitment of fibre types and quadriceps muscle portions during repeated, intense knee-extensor exercise in humans

To investigate recruitment of slow-twitch (ST) and fast-twitch (FT) muscle fibres, as well as the involvement of the various quadriceps femoris muscle portions during repeated, intense, one-legged knee-extensor exercise, 12 healthy male subjects performed two 3-min exercise bouts at ~110% maximum thigh O₂ consumption (EX1 and EX2) separated by 6 min rest. Single-fibre metabolites were determined in successive muscle biopsies obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle (n=6) and intra-muscular temperatures were continuously measured at six quadriceps muscle sites (n=6). Creatine phosphate (CP) had decreased (P<0.05) by 27, 73 and 88% in ST fibres and 25, 71 and 89% in FT fibres after 15 and 180 s of EX1 and after 180 s of EX2, respectively. CP was below resting mean–1 SD in 15, 46, 84 and 100% of the ST fibres and 9, 48, 85 and 100% of the FT fibres at rest, after 15 and 180 s of EX1 and after 180 s of EX2, respectively. A significant muscle temperature increase (T_m) occurred within 2–4 s at all quadriceps muscle sites. T_m varied less than 10% between sites during EX1, but was 23% higher (P<0.05) in the vastus lateralis than in the rectus femoris muscle during EX2. T_m in the vastus lateralis was 101 and 109% of the mean quadriceps value during EX1 and EX2, respectively. We conclude that both fibre types and all quadriceps muscle portions are recruited at the onset of intense knee-extensor exercise, that essentially all quadriceps muscle fibres are activated during repeated intense exercise and that metabolic measurements in the vastus lateralis muscle provide a good indication of the whole-quadriceps muscle metabolism during repeated, intense, one-legged knee-extensor exercise.     

Ability of Staphylococcus aureus Cells to Bind Normal Human Immunoglobulin G

Staphylococcus aureus cells suspended in a human immunoglobulin G (IgG) solution adsorbed nearly 90% of the IgG; electron micrographs showed the cells enclosed in a thick, dense envelope of IgG.     

Inflammatory Responses in Blood Samples of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients with Pulmonary Infections

We analyzed the characteristics of the inflammatory response occurring in blood during pulmonary infections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. A prospective study of consecutive hospital admissions of HIV-infected patients with new-onset radiologic pulmonary infiltrates was carried out in a tertiary university hospital from April 1998 to May 2001. Plasma cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels were determined at the time of admission and 4, 5, and 6 days later. Patients were included in a protocol addressed to study etiology and outcome of disease. A total of 249 episodes of infection were included, with the main diagnoses being bacterial pneumonia (BP) (118 episodes), Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) (41 episodes), and mycobacteriosis (36 episodes). For these three patient groups, at the time of admission the median CRP and cytokine levels were as follows: CRP, 10.2, 3.8 and 5 mg/dl, respectively (P = 0.0001); IL-8, 19, 3, and 2.9 pg/ml (P = 0.045); and TNF-α, 46.4, 44, and 75 pg/ml, respectively (P = 0.029). There were no significant differences in levels of IL-1β, IL-6, or IL-10 among the patient groups. A total of 23 patients died. At the time of admission, HIV-infected patients with BP had higher plasma CRP and IL-8 levels than did PCP and mycobacteriosis patients. TNF-α levels were higher in patients with mycobacteriosis. An elevated IL-8 level (>61 pg/ml) at the time of admission was an independent factor associated with higher mortality (odds ratio, 12; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 235.5).     

Principal components of mania

OBJECTIVE: An alternative to the categorical classification of psychiatric diseases is the dimensional study of the signs and symptoms of psychiatric syndromes. To date, there have been few reports about the dimensions of mania, and the existence of a depressive dimension in mania remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the dimensions of manic disorder by using classical scales to study the signs and symptoms of affective disorders. METHODS: One-hundred and three consecutively admitted inpatients who met DSM IV criteria for bipolar disorder, manic or mixed were rated with the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-21). A principal components factor analysis of the HDRS-21 and the YMRS was carried out. RESULTS: Factor analysis showed five independent and clinically interpretable factors corresponding to depression, dysphoria, hedonism, psychosis and activation. The distribution of factor scores on the depressive factor was bimodal, whereas it was unimodal on the dysphoric, hedonism and activation factors. Finally, the psychosis factor was not normally distributed. LIMITATIONS: Patients of the sample were all medicated inpatients. CONCLUSIONS: Mania seems to be composed of three core dimensions, i.e. hedonism, dysphoria and activation, and is frequently accompanied by a psychotic and a depressive factor. The existence of a depressive factor suggests that it is essential to evaluate depression during mania, and the distribution of the depressive factor supports the existence of two different states in mania.     

Comparative evaluation of the new version of the INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria and genotype Mycobacterium assays for identification of Mycobacterium species from MB/BacT liquid cultures artificially inoculated with Mycobacterial strains

The performance of two DNA line probe assays, a new version of INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria (Innogenetics, Ghent, Belgium) and the GenoType Mycobacterium (Hain Diagnostika, Nehren, Germany), were evaluated for identification of mycobacterial species isolated from liquid cultures. Both tests are based on a PCR technique and designed for simultaneous identification of different mycobacterial species by reverse hybridization and line probe technology. The INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria v2 targeting the 16S-23S rRNA gene spacer region was developed for the simultaneous identification of 16 different mycobacterial species. The GenoType Mycobacterium, which targets the 23S rRNA gene, allows simultaneous identification of 13 mycobacterial species. Both tests were evaluated on 110 mycobacterial strains belonging to 22 different mycobacterial species (20 reference strains, 83 clinical strains, and 4 Mycobacterium kansasii strains isolated from tap water) that were previously inoculated into MB/BacT bottles. The sensitivity of both methods, defined as the number of positive results obtained with the Mycobacterium genus probe together with an interpretable result on the number of samples tested was 110 of 110 (100%) for INNO-LiPA and 102 of 110 (92.7%) for GenoType. For samples with interpretable results, INNO-LiPA was able to correctly identify 109 of 110 samples (99.1%), whereas the GenoType correctly identified 100 of 102 samples (98.0%). Both tests were easy to perform, rapid, and reliable when applied to mycobacterial identification directly from MB/BacT bottles.     

In vivo measurement of electrical parameters with alumina-covered stainless steel electrodes

An experimental method has been developed for in vivo measurement of electrical parameters. It is thus possible to evaluate not only the instantaneous corrosion rate of implants but also their susceptibility to pitting corrosion. It has also been shown that when the method is applied to stainless steel/ceramic electrodes, these remain in the passive condition. If an eventual breakdown of the passivating film occurs, it will quickly regenerate itself.     

Identification of recurrent and novel mutations in the LDL receptor gene in Spanish patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. Mutations in brief no. 135. Online

We used the single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method to investigate 13 apparently unrelated Spanish patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) for mutations in the promoter region and the 18 exons and their flanking intron sequences of the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene. We found 16 aberrant SSCP patterns, and the underlying mutations were characterized by DNA sequencing. Five novel missense mutations, Q71E, C74G, C95R, C281Y and D679E, and one nonsense mutation, Q133X, were identified. We also found six missense mutations, S156L, D200Y, D200G, E256K, T413K and C646Y, and one stop codon mutation, W(-18)X, that were previously described in patients from other populations. A new frameshift mutation, 2085del19, was found in one patient. We also identified three splicing mutations; two of them are novel mutations, 1706-10G->A and 2390-1G->A, and the other one has been reported recently, 313+1G->C. Four patients were found to carry two different mutations in the same allele: Q71E and 313+1G->C; C95R and D679E; W(-18)X and E256K, and C281Y and 1706-10G->A. Our results demonstrate that there is a broad spectrum of mutations in the LDL receptor gene in the Spanish population.     

Differential diagnosis of Taenia saginata and Taenia solium infection by PCR

We have designed species-specific oligonucleotides which permit the differential detection of two species of cestodes, Taenia saginata and Taenia solium. The oligonucleotides contain sequences established for two previously reported, noncoding DNA fragments cloned from a genomic library of T. saginata. The first, which is T. saginata specific (fragment HDP1), is a repetitive sequence with a 53-bp monomeric unit repeated 24 times in direct tandem along the 1, 272-bp fragment. From this sequence the two oligonucleotides that were selected (oligonucleotides PTs4F1 and PTs4R1) specifically amplified genomic DNA (gDNA) from T. saginata but not T. solium or other related cestodes and had a sensitivity down to 10 pg of T. saginata gDNA. The second DNA fragment (fragment HDP2; 3,954 bp) hybridized to both T. saginata and T. solium DNAs and was not a repetitive sequence. Three oligonucleotides (oligonucleotides PTs7S35F1, PTs7S35F2, and PTs7S35R1) designed from the sequence of HDP2 allowed the differential amplification of gDNAs from T. saginata, T. solium, and Echinococcus granulosus in a multiplex PCR, which exhibits a sensitivity of 10 pg.