Characteristics of protective immunity engendered by vaccination of mice with purified culture filtrate protein antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In this study highly purified culture filtrate proteins obtained from Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains Erdman and H37Rv were tested for their capacity to stimulate immune T cells in vitro, and to immunize mice in vivo. Analysis of the culture filtrate antigen pool revealed a complex mixture of proteins; after separation of this pool into fractions of defined molecular size using an electrophoretic method, it was found that multiple fractions strongly stimulated interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion by immune CD4 T cells in vitro. In a further series of experiments mice were given multiple immunizations with the culture filtrate protein pool suspended in emulsions of incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Such mice were as resistant as mice given live bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to a low dose aerosol challenge infection with M. tuberculosis, but this resistance waned to low levels by 5 months post-vaccination. Furthermore, experiments using the filtrate antigens to boost or augment immunity induced by the BCG vaccination itself were unsuccessful. These data therefore support the hypothesis that the culture filtrate proteins of M. tuberculosis contain multiple antigens that are strongly recognized by T cells acquired during the initial expression of protective immunity to tuberculosis. Conventional immunization with these purified protein antigens can engender a strong degree of protective immunity, but this immunity is apparently not sustained at the same level as that induced by the live vaccine, perhaps suggesting a lack of suitable stimulation of memory immunity.     

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.

     

Ultrastructural Pathology of Murine Cytomegalovirus Infection in Cultured Mouse Nervous System Tissue

Mouse spinal cord-ganglia cultures were innoculated with murine cytomegalo-virus 14 days after explantation. Intranuclear virus was first observed 4 days after infection. The viruses, which occurred in four forms, were observed in increasing numbers during the ensuing 4 days. Differences were noted in the relative prevalence of certain of these forms in older as compared to younger cultures. This suggests that variations in virus form are related to virus maturation. Cytoplasmic viruses were occasionally observed, but their site of origin is not certain. A variety of cytoplasmic inclusions were seen, particularly in the older cultures. It seems likely that they represent specific cell responses to the presence of the virus. They were not observed in the control cultures, even though some of the latter did show severe degenerative changes.     

The infrapyloric artery and cephalic pancreatoduodenectomy with pylorus preservation: preliminary study

Summary Cephalic pancreatoduodenectomy (CPD) with pylorus preservation has been suggested to improve the functional and nutritional result of surgery. At operation, the first two centimeters of the duodenum are preserved, the vascular arch of the lesser gastric curvature is saved and the right gastroepiploic artery is resected at its origin. The aim of this study on 15 fresh cadavers was to determine the origin of the vascularization of the remaining duodenum and also the possibilities of preserving an optimal vascularization after CPD and pylorus preservation. All of the arteries supplying the remaining duodenum and arising either from the right gastric artery or the right gastroepiploic artery were identified. The distances between the origin of the infrapyloric artery and the termination of the gastroduodenal artery on the cranial and ventral pancreaticoduodenal artery and the left gastroepiploic artery were measured. At CPD with pylorus preservation, the study demonstrated that: 1) the cranial side of the remaining duodenum remains vascularized in 80% of the cases by one or two supraduodenal branches coming from the right gastric artery; 2) ligation of the right gastroepiploic artery eliminates all vascular supply to the caudal side of the remaining duodenum in almost half of the cases; 3) in these cases, the dissection of the bifurcation of the gastroduodenal artery and the vascular section beyond the origin of the infrapyloric artery allowed a direct vascular supply to the remaining duodenum to be preserved.This work was presented at the French Section of the European Association of Clinical Anatomy meeting, Bobigny, France, 1992