The role of calcium in parotid amylase secretion evoked by excitation of cholinergic, α- andβ-adrenergic receptors

Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology -     

Untersuchungen über die Streptokokken-Diphosphopyridinnucleotidase

Zusammenfassung Es wurden Untersuchungen über die Einwirkung von Nicotinsäureamid und einiger Strukturanaloga (Nicotinsäure, Isonicotinsäurehydrazid, p-Aminosalicylsäure, p-Aminobenzoesäure) auf die durch die Streptokokken-DPNase katalysierte DPN-Spaltung angestellt. Dabei konnte lediglich durch Nicotinsäureamid eine Hemmung der Enzymaktivitäterzieltwerden, allerdingserst in Konzentrationen über 10^–2Mol/l.Bei Versuchen unter Verwendung des kinetischen Tests ergab sich als Nebenbefund, daß Isonicotinsäurehydrazid in ähnlicher Weise wie Semicarbacid als Aldehydfänger (wahrscheinlich unter Bildung von Acetaldehyd-isonicotinsäurehydrazon) fungiert.Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

HIV infection among patients in U.S. acute care hospitals. Strategies for the counseling and testing of the hospital patients. The Hospital HIV Surveillance Group.

BACKGROUND. Routine, voluntary testing of hospital patients for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been proposed in order to identify those with early HIV infection in a setting where there is ready access to counseling, appropriate clinical referral, evaluation, and therapy. We studied the pattern of HIV infection among patients in 20 U.S. hospitals, in order to evaluate possible national strategies for the routine, voluntary HIV counseling and testing of hospital patients. METHODS. Blood specimens remaining after clinical use from a systematically selected sample of patients at 20 hospitals in 15 U.S. cities were tested anonymously for antibody to HIV type 1 (HIV-1). Multivariate regression was used to determine which variables best predicted HIV seroprevalence in individual hospitals. Using these data, we estimated the number of HIV-positive patients in all U.S. hospitals and considered the efficiency of routine counseling and testing in different subgroups of patients and hospitals. RESULTS. From September 1989 through October 1991, 9286 of 195,829 specimens (4.7 percent) were positive for HIV-1 in the 20 hospitals. The seroprevalence of HIV at these institutions ranged from 0.2 percent to 14.2 percent. Among HIV-positive patients, 32 percent had symptomatic HIV infection or the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) at the time of admission or evaluation. In the 20 hospitals, HIV seroprevalence was 10.4 times (95 percent confidence interval, 8.8 to 12.0) the AIDS-diagnosis rate (the annual number of patients with new diagnoses of AIDS per 1000 discharges in 1990). In a multivariate model that included 13 hospital-specific variables, only the AIDS-diagnosis rate was associated with the hospital-specific HIV-seroprevalence rate (P less than 0.001). Using these data and the AIDS-diagnosis rates for all U.S. acute care hospitals, we estimated that 225,000 HIV-positive persons were hospitalized (95 percent confidence interval, 190,000 to 260,000) in all 5558 such hospitals in 1990, including 163,000 persons presenting with conditions other than HIV or AIDS (95 percent confidence interval, 130,000 to 196,000). In 1990, in 593 U.S. hospitals with AIDS-diagnosis rates of 1.0 or more per 1000 discharges, HIV testing of patients 15 to 54 years old (3 million patients, or 12.0 percent of all patients in U.S. acute care hospitals) would have identified an estimated 68 percent of all HIV-positive patients (110,000 patients) who were admitted with conditions other than symptomatic HIV infection or AIDS. CONCLUSIONS. We estimate that about 225,000 HIV-positive persons were hospitalized in 1990, of whom only one third were admitted for symptomatic HIV infection or AIDS. Routine, voluntary HIV testing of patients 15 to 54 years old in hospitals with 1 or more patients with newly diagnosed AIDS per 1000 discharges per year could potentially have identified as many as 110,000 patients with HIV infection that was previously unrecognized.     

Role for interleukin-1 beta in Trypanosoma cruzi-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy

Chagas' disease, the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America, results from infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Host cell responses elicited in the myocardium early in the infective process are thought to be critical for establishment of infection by this pathogen; however, these changes have not been well characterized. We report here that primary cardiomyocytes undergo hypertrophy as an early response to T. cruzi infection. The T. cruzi-elicited hypertrophic response is characterized by increased expression of genes encoding the contractile proteins MyHC beta and MyHC alpha, followed by an approximately twofold increase in cell size. Hypertrophy was observed in both parasite-containing and noninfected cell populations represented in T. cruzi-infected cultures, indicating the involvement of a soluble mediator in this process. Conditioned medium harvested from T. cruzi-infected cultures, which contained significant levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) but not endothelin-1 or tumor necrosis factor alpha, was sufficient to induce hypertrophy in isolated cardiomyocytes. Addition of a high-affinity receptor chimera, IL-1 trap, to cardiomyocyte cultures blocked the overall increase in cell size elicited by T. cruzi. These novel findings indicate that IL-1 beta, which is rapidly induced in response to T. cruzi, promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy early in the infective process and may contribute to maintenance of cardiomyocyte function during establishment of T. cruzi infection in the heart.     

Measuring contraceptive values: An alternative approach

Previous assessments of individuals' values for various contraceptive consequences have employed one of four methodologies: free elicitation, direct ratings, multiple regression, or factor analysis. All four methodologies are flawed because they produce group rather than individual values, rely on rating scales, and fail to incorporate information regarding consequence trade-offs. Axiomatic conjoint measurement is proposed as an alternative methodology and used to determine individuals' values for a selected set of contraceptive consequences at two stages of the family-planning career.Preparation of this paper was supported in part by Grants HD-10802 and HD-14403 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Appreciation is due the Statistical Computing Facility of the University of California at Berkeley. Requests for reprints should be sent to the Publications Librarian, Center for Research on Judgment and Policy, Muenzinger Psychology Building, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0344.     

Immunotherapy with partially purified and standardized tree pollen extracts

Patients allergic to pollen from alder, birch and hazel were hyposensitized during a 3-year period with either birch pollen extract alone (n = 24) or a mixture of one or more of alder, birch and hazel pollen extracts (n = 27). The effect of the treatment was evaluated by RAST and tandem crossed-radioimmunoelectrophoresis (tandem-CRIE). The patient' specific IgE response to the major allergens of alder (Aln g I), birch (Bet v I) and hazel (Cor a I and Cor a II), as measured by tandem-CRIE, and the total specific IgE response, measured by RAST, decreased significantly (Pc less than 0.05) during immunotherapy, irrespective of the extract used during the treatment. There was no significant difference (Pc less than 0.05) between the two treatment groups. The results obtained indicate either that birch pollen extract alone is adequate in the treatment of the studied patient group or the patients had been sensitized towards birch pollen alone.     

In vivo administration of anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody prolongs survival in longtailed macaques with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

The in vivo administration of monoclonal antibody (mAb) to the CD4 antigen associated with helper T cells has been successful in prolonging the survival of nonhuman primates with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). EAE was induced in 17 outbred longtailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) by inoculation of homologous myelin basic protein (BP) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Treatment was begun at the onset of clinical signs. Eleven animals were treated with anti-CD4 mAb Leu3a (eight) or OKT4a (three). Of the six control animals, two received anti-CD8 mAb (Leu2a), and four were treated with saline. Specific T- and B-cell subsets which have been implicated in the development of EAE were monitored throughout the course of the disease by one- and two-color immunofluorescence (IF). The monkey anti-BP antibody and anti-mouse immunoglobulin (IgG) responses were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) techniques, as were the levels of free-circulating murine IgG. The nature of the infiltrating lymphocytes in the brain was evaluated histologically post mortem. Our results indicate that anti-CD4 mAb can prolong survival and in some cases completely reverse the clinical appearance of the disease; however, relapses did occur. Treatments with Leu3a or OKT4a anti-CD4 mAbs reversed the ongoing depletion of CD4+ and CD8+ cells caused by the development of EAE and appeared to reduce the size and degree of inflammation in brain lesions. These treatments did not induce immunologic tolerance to mouse IgG since all of the anti-CD4-treated animals produced high titers of anti-mouse IgG antibodies. Treatment with Leu2a (anti-CD8) had no effect on the development of EAE. These results suggest that CD4+ cells are important to the pathogenesis of EAE in macaques and that manipulation of this subset with monoclonal antibodies may provide effective treatment of human demyelinating disease.     

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of immunoglobulin M antibody against the Reiter treponeme flagellum in syphilis

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against the periplasmatic flagellum of the Reiter treponeme is described. IgM in the test samples was bound to anti-IgM-coated microtest plates, and flagellum-specific IgM antibody was subsequently detected by incubation with a purified flagellum preparation and monospecific anti-flagellum conjugate. Rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibodies, or flagellum-specific IgG did not interfere. The specificity of the ELISA for IgM antibodies was 99.5% for sera from 200 blood donors and 98.6% for 147 patient sera that gave false-positive reactions in other syphilis serological tests. The sensitivity was 88.5% for sera from 87 patients with first-time primary syphilis, 93.5% for sera from 62 patients with first-time secondary syphilis, 21.4% for sera from 42 patients who were reinfected, and 0% for sera from 13 patients with late syphilis. Of the sera from 153 patients with treated syphilis, 7.2% had IgM antibodies, and sera from patients with primary or secondary syphilis generally had no IgM antibodies 6 months after treatment. The finding of IgM antibodies indicates that patients should receive antisyphilis treatment if they have not been treated recently, but a negative result does not exclude the possibility of active syphilis. The method may prove useful for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis in newborns.     

Effects of pelvic and lower extremity stabilization on isometric trunk extension and flexion muscle strength*

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of varying the type of pelvic and lower extremity stabilization on isometric trunk extension and flexion muscle strength measurements. Two pelvic stabilization systems, one consisting of fixation of the anterior superior iliac spines and sacrum (pelvic fixation) and the second, a strap across the anterior superior iliac spines and a posterior pad at the sacrum (pelvic strap) were compared. The lower extremities were or were not strapped at the thigh, calf, and feet. Torque values for the pelvic fixation system were not different from the pelvic strap system with lower extremity stabilization. Torque values were less with no lower extremity stabilization with both pelvic stabilization systems for flexion but not for extension muscle contractions. The use of an extensive pelvic stabilization system did not produce greater isometric force output than the use of a simple pelvic strap. The use of lower extremity stabilization did produce greater isometric flexion force output than the use of no lower extremity stabilization. J Ortho Sports Phys Ther 1987;9(3):111-117.