A natriuresis receptor at the carotid bifurcation specifically activated by oxytocin

Summary Rats anaesthetised with Inactin, body temp. maintained at 37°C, were infused with mannitol-saline until both urine flow rate and conductivity reached a balanced state. In separate experiments under analogous conditions cardiac output was measured by dye dilution and organ flow rates by⁸⁶Rb distribution. Doses of oxytocin of 3 ng or less, injected at or just below the carotid bifurcation, caused a highly significant natriuresis with increased tubular rejection, but no measureable haemodynamic changes. The same oxytocin dose given into the internal or external carotid artery above the bifurcation caused neither haemodynamic changes nor natriuresis. Injection of vasopressin, angiotensin and -MSH at the sensitive site did not result in natriuresis in the same dosage range. Section of the sinus nerve significantly decreased the natriuretic response to oxytocin. It is suggested that the carotid body contains a specific oxytocin receptor capable of eliciting natriuresis in the rat.     

Species-specific identification of microsporidia in stool and intestinal biopsy specimens by the polymerase chain reaction

In view of the increasing number of cases of human microsporidiosis, simple and rapid methods for clear identification of microsporidian parasites to the species level are required. In the present study, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for speciesspecific detection ofEncephalitozoon cuniculi, Encephalitozoon hellem, Encephalitozoon (Septata) intestinalis, andEnterocytozoon bieneusi in both tissue and stool. Using stool specimens and intestinal biopsies of patients infected withEnterocytozoon bieneusi (n=9),Encephalitozoon spp. (n=2), andEncephalitozoon intestinalis (n=1) as well as stool spiked with spores ofEncephalitozoon cuniculi andEncephalitozoon hellem and tissue cultures ofEncephalitozoon cuniculi andEncephalitozoon hellem, three procedures were developed to produce PCR-ready DNA directly from the samples. Specific detection of microsporidian pathogens was achieved in the first PCR. The subsequent nested PCR permitted species determination and verified the first PCR products. Without exception, the PCR assay confirmed electron microscopic detection ofEnterocytozoon bieneusi andEncephalitozoon intestinalis in stool specimens and their corresponding biopsies and in spiked stool samples and tissue cultures infected withEncephalitozoon cuniculi andEncephalitozoon hellem. Moreover, identification ofEncephalitozoon spp. could be specified asEncephalitozoon intestinalis. Whereas standard methods such as light and transmission electron microscopy may lack sensitivity or require more time and special equipment, the PCR procedure described facilitates speciesspecific identification of microsporidian parasites in stool, biopsies, and, probably, other samples in about five hours.     

Epitope-mapped monoclonal antibodies as tools for functional and morphological analyses of the human urokinase receptor in tumor tissue.

uPAR (CD87), the receptor for the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) facilitates tumor cell invasion and metastasis by focusing uPA proteolytic activity to the cell surface. As uPAR exists in various molecular forms, it is desirable to use well defined antibodies for analyses of uPAR antigen expression in human malignant tumors by immunological methods. Therefore, twelve monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against uPAR were generated by using nonglycosylated, recombinant human uPAR (spanning amino acids 1 to 284), expressed in Escherichia coli, as the immunogen. The reaction pattern of these MAbs with the immunogen and a series of carboxyl-terminally truncated versions of uPAR demonstrated that at least six different epitopes of uPAR are recognized. All MAbs reacted under reducing conditions in immunoblot analyses with E. coli-expressed uPA and also with highly glycosylated, functionally intact, recombinant human uPAR expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Seven of the MAbs recognized CHO uPAR under nonreducing conditions as well. By flow cytofluorometric analyses, three of these MAbs were shown to bind to native human uPAR present on the cell surface of monocytoid U937 cells with MAb IIIF10 being the best. Saturation of uPAR with uPA on U937 cells completely blocked interaction of MAb IIIF10 with uPAR (mapped epitope, amino acids 52 to 60 of domain I of uPAR). In turn, preincubation of U937 cells with MAb IIIF10 efficiently reduced binding of uPA to uPAR, indicating that the epitope detected by MAb IIIF10 is located within or closely to the uPA-binding site of uPAR, and thus, this site may be a target to influence uPA/uPAR-mediated proteolysis in tumors. Binding of MAbs IID7 or IIIB11 (mapped epitope, amino acids 125 to 132 of domain II of uPAR) to uPAR is not affected when uPAR is occupied by uPA. As these MAbs reacted strongly with cellular uPAR antigen in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor sections, the domain-II-specific antibodies IID7 and IIIB11 may be useful for immunohistochemical studies of uPAR expression in tissue remodeling processes in tumor invasion. In conclusion, we have devised well defined and epitope-mapped MAbs to uPAR that are highly specific tools for detection and targeting of uPAR in tumor tissue.     

An unusual clinical presentation of bilateral schizencephaly

Summary We present a case with a characteristic magnetic resonance image (MRI) of bilateral open-lipped schizencephaly and atypical clinical presentation. The patient is still alive and in good health in her forties, she has never presented seizures, and although the motor dysfunction is well correlated with cerebral lobe involvement, neurobehavioral dysfunction is not proportional to the MR image of the cerebral malformation.

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Un cas inhabituel de schizencéphalie bilatérale

Résumé Nous présentons un cas de schizencéphalie bilatérale ouverte caractérisé par une présentation clinique atypique et une imagerie par résonance magnétique nucléaire caractéristique. La patiente est encore vivante, en bonne santé, à plus de 40 ans, elle n'a jamais présenté de crise comitiale et, bien que les troubles moteurs soient bien corrélés aux altérations cérébrales, les troubles neuro-comportementaux ne sont pas proportionnels aux images IRM de cette malformation cérébrale.

     

Infection of marmosets with parainfluenza virus types 1 and 3.

Infection of wild marmosets (Saguinus mystax) with strains of parainfluenza virus types 1 and 3 resulted in acute respiratory infection. Virus replication in the upper respiratory tract was of a degree similar to that seen in children acutely infected with parainfluenza viruses. Serum antibody developed with both virus types; however, local secretory antibody was not detectable. The infection was transmissible to susceptible animals up to 3 days inoculation of the primary animal.     

Morphometric observations on the rat heart after high-dose treatment with cortisol

Summary Male Wistar rats were treated with high cortisol doses for 1 week. The dose administered daily was 15 mg per animal in group 1 (7 animals) and 30 mg in group 2 (7 animals). 7 rats served as control group. After cortisol treatment the body weights decreased due to skeletal muscle catabolism and the heart weights increased. Morphometric analysis of the left ventricular posterior papillary muscles gave evidence that the increased heart weights resulted from an increased number of mitochondria and an increased volume of the cytoplasm, whereas the myofibrillar mass was not affected. The surface area of inner mitochondrial membranes (+cristae mitochondriales) per myofibrillar unit volume increased from 15.7 ²/³ to 21.3 ²/³ in group 1 and 21.4 ²/³ in group 2. Ultrastructural changes indicating myocardial cell damage were absent. Similar quantitative results have been reported to occur in the early phase of cardiac overload. For elucidating the hemodynamic effects of glucocorticoid a second experiment was performed: 7 Wistar rats were treated with cortisol in the same way as group 1, 7 others of the same body weight served as control. The systolic arterial pressure was significantly elevated in the cortisol group. Though myocardial tissue is known to be able to accumulate large quantities of glucocorticoids our results indicate that the application of high cortisol doses for a short time does not produce myocardial cell damage and does not suppress the myocardial adaption to the glucocorticoid-induced hypertension, i.e. hypertrophy. On the contrary, it seems to be possible that the adaption process is itself facilitated or accelerated by the presence of high cortisol concentrations in the heart. This thesis is supported by the considerably higher relative heart weights in the cortisol groups and is in agreement with observations reported by other authors.Dedicated to Professor Dr. W. Doerr on the occasion of his 65th birthdayThe results have been partially reported in 1977 (cf. G. Mall and H. Reinhard, Verh. Dtsch. Ges. Path. 61, 445)This investigation was supported by the Sonderforschungsbereich 90 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Association between bone mineral density (DXA), body structure,and body composition in middle‐aged men

The association between bone mass, body structure, and body composition was explored in 156 men, 40 years of AGE . Bone mineral density (total body, lumbar spine, left arm, and left leg) was obtained by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA; Hologic QDR 4500A). Body structure was determined from a battery of anthropometric dimensions with a principal components analysis. Body composition was estimated with DXA. From the 24 anthropometric dimensions, three components were extracted and identified as muscle, fat, and skeletal length. Significant correlations between the muscle component and all BMD measurements (r = 0.28–0.44) were obtained. Except for BMD of the left arm, which correlated significantly, but negatively, with the fat component (r = ?0.16), no significant relations were found between the fat component and BMD. There were significant correlations between lean mass, fat mass, and BMD measurements. The correlations were higher between lean mass and BMD (r = 0.22–0.44) than between fat mass and BMD (r = 0.08–0.24). The multiple regression analysis revealed that except for BMD of the left arm only lean mass or the muscle component, and not fat mass or the fat component, were independent predictors of BMD. It is concluded that the principal anthropometric determinant of BMD in middle‐aged men is lean mass or muscle. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:735–742, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Ectopic bone formation associated with mesenchymal stem cells in a resorbable calcium deficient hydroxyapatite carrier

Bone substitute materials can induce bone formation in combination with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). The aim of the current study was to examine ectopic in vivo bone formation with and without MSC on a new resorbable ceramic, called calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA). Ceramic blocks characterized by a large surface (48 m2/g) were compared with beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP), hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics (both ca. 0.5 m2/g surface) and demineralized bone matrix (DBM). Before implantation in the back of SCID mice carriers were freshly loaded with 2x10(5) expanded human MSC or loaded with cells and kept under osteogenic conditions for two weeks in vitro. Culture conditions were kept free of xenogenic supplements. Deposits of osteoid at the margins of ceramic pores occurred independent of osteogenic pre-induction, contained human cells, and appeared in 416 MSC/CDHA composites compared to 216 MSC/beta-TCP composites. ALP activity was significantly higher in samples with MSC versus empty controls (p<0.001). Furthermore, ALP was significantly (p<0.05) higher for all ceramics when compared to the DBM matrix. Compared to previous studies, overall bone formation appeared to be reduced possibly due to the strict human protocol. Ectopic bone formation in the novel biomaterial CDHA varied considerably with the cell pool and was at least equal to beta-TCP blocks.