Intestinal neuronal disorders--a study of seven cases

Intestinal neuronal dysplasia (IND) has been reported as an innervation disorder that can present as isolated disease or may be associated with Hirschsprung's disease (HD). The interest in this disorder is growing as it mimics HD at clinical level but can be managed with a more conservative approach if an accurate diagnosis can be made. Many workers have tried to set up diagnostic criteria of this condition. But the importance of one criterion varied from one study to another. In our study we analysed seven cases of suspected innervation disorder that had undergone resection. A detailed histological study on these cases was performed and four of them were found to fulfill the diagnostic criteria of IND laid down by Kobayashi and his co-workers. These patients had hyperganglionosis, giant ganglia and ectopic ganglion cells in the lamina propria. In the other three cases some features were highly suggestive of the diagnosis of the IND and can be considered to be so if we follow other workers who have not given much importance to the simultaneous presence of all three criteria in a single case.     

Abuse of neuroleptic drug by psychiatric patients

Due to the depaminergic neurotrasmission in the mesocortical and mesolimbic reward systems, the neuroleptic drugs have been considered free from the risk of abuse or dependence because of their antidopaminergic properties. Here, two cases of neuroleptic abuse have been described and a possibility of reward circuits other than mesocortical and mesolimbic systems operational behind this phenomenon has been postulated. There is a need to clinically recognise the abuse potential of neuroleptic drugs.     

Parathyroid hormone related protein in hypercalcaemia of Hodgkin''s disease.

The role of parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHRP) as a humoral mediator of hypercalcaemia was investigated in a patient with lymphocyte depleted Hodgkin's disease during an episode of hypercalcaemia, using an immunohistochemical staining technique for PTHRP on the tumour tissue and an immunoradiometric (IRMA) assay for PTHRP1-86 on the patient's plasma. The plasma PTHRP was less than 0.23 pmol/l in the range found in normocalcaemic controls, and the immunohistochemical staining was not positive for protein. PTHRP did not have a role in the pathogenesis of hypercalcaemia in this patient.     

Identification, characterization, and expression pattern of the chicken EKLF gene.

EKLF/KLF1 was the first of the Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) to be identified in mammals and plays an important role in primitive and definitive erythropoiesis. Here, we identify and characterize EKLF in the chicken (cEKLF). The predicted amino acid sequence of the zinc finger region of cEKLF is at least 87.7% similar to mammalian EKLF proteins and is 98.8% and 95% similar to the EKLF orthologues in Xenopus and zebrafish, respectively. During early embryonic development, cEKLF expression is seen in the posterior primitive streak, which gives rise to hematopoietic cells, and then in the blood islands and in circulating blood cells. cEKLF mRNA is expressed in blood cells but not in brain later in chicken embryonic development. cEKLF mRNA is increased in definitive compared with primitive erythropoiesis. The conserved sequence and expression pattern of cEKLF suggests that its function is similar to its orthologues in mammals, Xenopus, and zebrafish.     

Domestic Violence Research: Methodological Issues Related to a Community‐Based Intervention With a Vulnerable Population1

Presently, in our society, thousands of children, adolescents, and adults are physically, mentally, and emotionally traumatized from exposure to domestic violence (DV). Exposure to DV, defined here as male violence against their female partners, occurs among all ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, geographical, and racial groups. DV can lead to depression, negative self‐esteem, and general psychological distress in women. Children exposed to DV have an increased risk of behavioral, emotional, and social problems. DV shelters often provide group counseling and support services for battered women, children, and adolescents residing there, but the programs do not reach the majority of women living in the broader community. Furthermore, few studies have examined the effectiveness and efficacy of support group treatment intervention programs for battered women and children. This is due, in part, to the methodological difficulties inherent in this design. As a way to meet the needs of families that have experienced DV, academic researchers from a Midwestern university and a director of counseling services from a local domestic violence agency have partnered to offer a psycho‐educational intervention designed to     

Modulation of Bcl-2 family proteins in primary endothelial cells during apoptosis

We studied the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins during cytokine- and verotoxin (VT)-induced apoptosis in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our experiments demonstrated that high initial expression of Bcl-2 protein was significantly downregulated in HUVECs treated with IFN-gamma whereas TNF-alpha gave a less pronounced decrease in Bcl-2 level. Treatment with the combination of cytokines was more efficient in downregulating Bcl-2 protein. HUVECs pretreated with cytokines and incubated with VT gave a further significant decrease in Bcl-2 level. Simultaneous measurement of Bcl-xl level did not reveal any significant changes. Bax protein was upregulated in HUVECs stimulated with TNF-alpha alone or in combination with IFN-gamma. However, addition of VT did not give any further increase in Bax level suggesting that Bax upregulation is more important for cytokine- rather than VT-mediated apoptosis. Total endothelial cell growth factor deprivation gave a significant increase in apoptosis accompanied by a decrease of Bcl-2 in apoptotic cells while Bcl-xl and Bax levels were unaffected. Our data indicate that anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and pro-apoptotic protein Bax are reciprocally regulated during apoptosis, whilst Bcl-xl is essentially unaffected. This implies that Bcl-2/Bax ratio rather than Bcl-xl controls apoptosis in primary endothelial cells.     

Substitution of carbonate buffer by water for IgG immobilization in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

The first step of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), namely, adsorption of antigen or antibody to the plastic microtiter well plate, was studied as a function of insolubility of IgG in water. Immobilization efficiency was assessed in terms of number of wells coated per milliliter of primary antiserum. We have compared different coating/immobilization protocols, i.e., direct and indirect immobilization of primary antibody to the plastic microtiter well plate using carbonate buffer and phosphate buffer with glutaraldehyde. We have observed efficient coating when the immobilization of primary antibody through an immunobridge technique was performed, where water was used as a coating medium. It gave a higher number of wells coated per milliliter of anti-serum (primary or secondary) than other compared coating protocols and it allowed the use of serum (non-immune) and anti-serum (primary and secondary antibody) dilutions, avoiding the need for gamma-globulin purification from normal and immunized serum.     

Astrocyte growth and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor secretion in three-dimensional polyethylene terephthalate fibrous matrices

The ability of human astrocytes grown in nonwoven fibrous matrices to produce glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) was studied. GDNF has the ability to selectively nourish and regenerate dopaminergic neurons and thus can provide a new treatment of Parkinson's disease. Compressed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics (porosity, 88.8%; mean pore diameter, 64 microm), treated with boiling NaOH, was effective in supporting high-density growth of astrocytes with stable GDNF production over the entire period of 18 days studied. Treatment of PET with NaOH renders the fiber surface more hydrophilic, thereby facilitating attachment and spreading of cells, whereas matrix compression allows cells to grow along and also between the fibers of these matrices to a higher density. The average production of GDNF by cells grown in these matrices (approximately 2 cm in diameter) was 21.7 pg/mL x day, with an average high concentration of 64.6 pg/mL, which is well above the effective concentration of 40 pg/mL. This work shows promise in culturing astrocytes in PET matrices as the first step in developing a potential implantable tissue-engineering device for treating patients with Parkinson's disease.