Patients with erythrophobia (fear of blushing) show abnormal autonomic regulation in mental stress conditions

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to analyze the autonomic functions of patients with erythrophobia. METHODS: Forty patients with a diagnosis of erythrophobia (female/male ratio 18/22) without any other organic lesions and 20 healthy volunteers (female/male ratio 10/10) were assessed. Clinical evaluation was performed using a modified version of semistructured interviews. Autonomic testing was performed by means of spectral analysis of heart rate and continuous blood pressure by sparse discrete Fourier transformation at rest and under mental stress. RESULTS: There were no significant difference between the two samples in age, sex distribution, BMI, resting systolic, or diastolic blood pressure, nor was there a difference in autonomic baseline functioning between the 40 patients with erythrophobia and the control subjects. On the other hand, patients with erythrophobia consistently showed higher pulse rates (88 +/- 20 vs. 78 +/- 9 bpm, p <.05), higher total heart rate power values (8.40 +/- 0.63 vs. 8.07 +/- 1.02 p <.05), higher midfrequency spectral values (7.38 +/- 0.66 vs. 7.02 +/- 1.18, p <.01), higher high-frequency spectral values (6.89 +/- 0.86 vs. 6.48 +/- 1.44, p <.05), and lower baroreceptor sensitivity (8.62 +/- 8.16 vs. 11.65 +/- 4.42, p <.005) than the healthy subjects. ANOVA showed a significant group interaction (p <.0001) between the samples. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for abnormal autonomic functioning in patients with erythrophobia when under mental stress.     

Evaluation of a new cellulose sponge-tipped swab for microbiological sampling: a laboratory and clinical investigation

A new type of swab (Cellswab; Cellomeda, Turku, Finland), utilizing a highly absorbent cellulose viscose sponge material, was compared to some traditional swabs. The survival of 14 aerobic and 10 anaerobic and microaerophilic bacterial species in the Cellswab, two commercial swab transport systems (Copan, Brescia, Italy, and Orion Diagnostica, Espoo, Finland), and one Dacron swab (Technical Service Consultants Ltd. [TSC], Heywood, United Kingdom) was evaluated. Bacteria were suspended in broth, into which the swabs were dipped. The Cellswab absorbed 1.3 times more fluid and released 3.5 times more fluid upon plating than the other swabs. Aerobic bacteria were stored in dry tubes, the others in transport medium, at 4 degrees C and room temperature (RT), for up to 14 days. Swab samples were transferred to plates at 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14 days. For 10 strains the Cellswab yielded > or =10% of the original CFU for longer than all the other swabs. In the clinical study, the ability of the Cellswab to detect beta-hemolytic streptococci from throat samples (n = 995) was compared to that of the TSC Dacron swab. The swabs performed equally, both when their samples were transferred to plates immediately and after storage for 1 day at 4 degrees C or RT. The changes in normal microbiota after storage were also similar. The Cellswab was found to perform at least as well as ordinary swabs. It was better at storing fastidious strains, and at keeping bacteria viable for long storage times; it might well be a useful replacement or complement to ordinary swabs.     

Antitumour effect of RA 233 alone and combined with radiotherapy

The effect of RA233 alone or in combination with radiation was investigated in vivo on the S180 sarcoma, the B16 melanoma and the Lewis lung carcinoma. The combined treatment was a significant improvement over radiation alone for the B16 and S180 tumours. RA233 alone did not influence the growth of these tumours. When the primary 3LL was irradiated, tumour size was unaffected but the number of pulmonary metastases was reduced. They were further reduced by the combination of RA233 and radiation. The number, volume and cytokinetics of the B16 cells and the 3LL cells were affected to varying degrees by RA233. The significance of these changes relative to the effects of RA233 are discussed.     

Possible Relation of p53 and mdm-2 Oncoprotein Expression in Thyroid Carcinoma: A Molecular-Pathological and Immunohistochemical Study on Paraffin-Embedded Tissue

Routinely processed tissues from a series of benign and malignant thyroid lesions were immunohistochemically investigated with antibodies against p53 and mdm-2. p53 was immunolocalized in <10% of nuclei in 2/80 nodular goiters, 2/60 follicular adenomas, 26/68 follicular carcinomas, 7/40 papillary carcinomas, 3/10 “insular” carcinomas, and 10/31 anaplastic carcinomas. More than 10% positively stained nuclei were found in 2 widely invasive follicular, 2 insular, and 15 anaplastic carcinomas. All p53-positive cases showed a concomitant immunohistochemical mdm-2 expression; an immunohistochemical colocalization on serial section was demonstrated in 12 anaplastic carcinomas. Screening by polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis of these 12 cases revealed no relevant mutations in the coding regions of exons 2–11 of the p53 gene. Additionally, 1 follicular adenoma, 6 follicular carcinomas (4 minimally and 2 widely invasive), 1 papillary, and 2 poorly differentiated insular carcinomas were mdm-2 positive without immunohistochemically detectable p53 expression. These results provide evidence that wild-type p53 expression in thyroid carcinomas may be associated with mdm-2 induced formation of stable complexes. However, the role of p53 mutations and p53 protein inactivation owing to other factors (e.g., mdm-2) in the progression of thyroid carcinomas is still poorly understood.     

Tapping allergen repertoires by advanced cloning technologies

BACKGROUND: Complex allergenic sources such as moulds, foods and mites contain complex panels of IgE-binding molecules which need to be cloned, produced and characterized in order to mimic the entire allergenicity of whole extracts reconstituted by mixing single standardized recombinant allergens. METHODS: Phage surface display of cDNA libraries selectively enriched for allergen-expressing clones using IgE from allergic patients allows rapid isolation of large panels of allergens. For the characterization of all different clones present in enriched cDNA libraries in a fast and cost-effective way, high-throughput screening technology is required. RESULTS: The combination of selective enrichment of cDNA libraries based on biopanning against serum IgE from sensitized patients and automated robot technology for picking and high-density gridding of clones onto filter membranes, followed by hybridization, enables fast identification of all the different clones present in an enriched library. The consequent application of selective enrichment and robotic-based screening allows, within weeks, cloning and characterization of the whole allergenic repertoire of any organisms. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic-based high-throughput screening of clones selected for IgE-binding capacity from phage surface-displayed cDNA libraries of Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarum, Coprinus comatus, Malassezia furfur, peanut and human lung tissue allowed rapid characterization of 81, 28, 37, 27, 8 and 151 different sequences, respectively. All these cDNAs bear a high probability to encode allergens derived from the respective allergenic source.     

High frequency of gastric colonization with multiple Helicobacter pylori strains in Venezuelan subjects

Multiple Helicobacter pylori strains may colonize an individual host. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and line probe assay (LiPA) techniques, we analyzed the prevalence of mixed H. pylori colonization in 127 subjects from Venezuela, a country of high H. pylori prevalence, from three regions representing different population groups: the Andes (Merida), where Caucasian mestizos predominate, a major city near the coast (Caracas), where Amerindian-Caucasian-African mestizos predominate, and an Amazonian community (Puerto Ayacucho), where Amerindians predominate and mestizos reflect Amerindian and Caucasian ancestry. Among 121 H. pylori-positive persons, the prevalence of cagA-positive strains varied from 50% (Merida) to 86% (Puerto Ayacucho) by LiPA. Rates of mixed colonization also varied, as assessed by LiPA of the vacA s (mean, 49%) and m (mean, 26%) regions. In total, 55% of the individuals had genotypic evidence of mixed colonization. vacA s1c, a marker of Amerindian (East Asian) origin, was present in all three populations, especially from Puerto Ayacucho (86%). These results demonstrate the high prevalence of mixed colonization and indicate that the H. pylori East Asian vacA genotype has survived in all three populations tested.     

Transport, enzymatic activity, and stability of mutant sulfamidase (SGSH) identified in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type III A

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPSIIIA) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the N-sulfoglucosamine sulfohydrolase gene (SGSH; encoding sulfamidase, also sulphamidase) leading to the lysosomal accumulation and urinary excretion of heparan sulfate. Considerable variation in the onset and severity of the clinical phenotype is observed. We report here on expression studies of four novel mutations: c.318C>A (p.Ser106Arg), c.488T>C (p.Leu163Pro), c.571G>A (p.Gly191Arg), and c.1207_1209delTAC (p.Tyr403del), and five previously known mutations: c.220C>T (p.Arg74Cys), c.697C>T (p.Arg233X), c.1297C>T (p.Arg433Trp), c.1026dupC (p.Leu343fsX158), and c.1135delG (p.Val379fsX33) identified in MPSIIIA patients. Transient expression of mutant sulfamidases in BHK or CHO cells revealed that all the mutants were enzymatically inactive with the exception of c.318C>A (p.Ser106Arg), which showed 3.3% activity of the expressed wild-type enzyme. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the amounts of expressed mutant sulfamidases were significantly reduced compared with cells expressing wild type. No polypeptides were immunodetectable in extracts of cells transfected with the cDNA carrying the c.697C>T (p.Arg233X) nonsense mutation. In vitro translation and pulse-chase experiments showed that rapid degradation rather than a decrease in synthesis is responsible for the low, steady-state level of the mutant proteins in cells. The amounts of secreted mutant precursor forms, the cellular stability, the proteolytic processing, and data from double-label immunofluorescence microscopy suggest that the degradation of the majority of newly synthesized c.220C>T (p.Arg74Cys), c.571G>A (p.Gly191Arg), c.1297C>T (p.Arg433Trp), c.1026dupC (p.Leu343fsX158), and c.1135delG (p.Val379fsX33) mutant proteins probably occurs in the ER, whereas c.488T>C (p.Leu163Pro) mutant protein showed instability in the lysosomes.