Do women with idiopathic sensory urgency have early interstitial cystitis?

Interstitial cystitis is rarely considered as a cause of urinary symptoms in referrals to gynaecology clinics. Recent concepts in the diagnosis of this condition mean that it is emerging as a much more common entity, with both early and late forms of the disease being described. Mast cell density in the detrusor muscle has been reported to be useful as a disease marker to substantiate the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis where no classical diagnostic features exist. We assessed mast cell counts in bladder biopsies from 27 women with idiopathic sensory urgency and 10 control patients about to undergo a colposuspension procedure for pure genuine stress incontinence; 30% of the study group had a clear increase in the detrusor muscle mast cell population (detrusor mastocytosis). No control patient showed such an increase. Early interstitial cystitis should be considered as a possible cause of lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with apparently idiopathic sensory urgency.     

Murine eosinophils labeled with indium-111 oxine: localization to delayed hypersensitivity reactions against a schistosomal antigen and to lymphokine in vivo

We have evaluated a method for quantitation of eosinophil migration to stimuli in vivo. Upon transfusion into normal syngeneic mice, 111In- labeled eosinophils had an intravascular half-life of 9.5 hr and distributed predominantly into spleen, bone marrow, and liver. In either Schistosoma mansoni-infected mice or recipients of lymphoid cells from infected mice, intradermal (ear pinna) injection of the schistosomal egg antigenic preparation (SEA) elicited time-dependent accumulation of 111In-labeled eosinophils detectable by either gamma scintillation counting of tissue samples or by nuclear medicine external imaging. Intradermal administration of a lymphokine fraction (containing eosinophil stimulation promoter activity) similarly caused accumulation of 111In-labeled eosinophils. Both reactions depended on the concentration of stimulus (SEA or lymphokine). 111In-labeled neutrophils or macrophages or 125I-albumin did not preferentially accumulate at the reactions examined to the extent found with 111In- labeled eosinophils, indicating that localization of label depends on an active process and is due to eosinophils rather than a contaminating cell type. The method was used to estimate how long eosinotactic lymphokine remained at dermal sites: 60% of initial activity was present 12 hr after injection. The model is discussed with regard to the role of lymphokines in hypersensitivity reactions with eosinophil involvement, such as the granulomatous response to S. mansoni eggs.     

Antibody to liver membrane antigens in chronic active hepatitis. IV. Exclusion of specific reactivity to polypeptides and glycolipids by immunoblotting

The reactivity of sera was examined in patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis and other liver diseases by immunoblotting. Polypeptides and glycolipids of liver plasma membrane, liver-specific lipoprotein and kidney membrane were separated and probed with sera from patients and from a rabbit immunized with mouse liver plasma membrane. Chronic active hepatitis sera reacted with a number of polypeptides in the liver plasma membrane preparations; similar but weaker reactivity was observed with sera from patients with other diseases and in some healthy subjects. Chronic active hepatitis sera did not react with glycolipids from liver plasma membrane. The immune rabbit serum reacted with two polypeptides of 180 kd present in liver plasma membrane but absent from kidney membrane, with two polypeptides of 50 kd which were nonliver-specific but species-specific, and with three major glycolipid components of liver plasma membrane: this reactivity thus differed markedly from that of the chronic active hepatitis sera. In studies using dot-blotting, it was found that solubilization of liver plasma membrane in detergents resulted in a marked reduction of the reactivity to liver plasma membrane of chronic active hepatitis sera, but little change in the reactivity of the chronic active hepatitis and other sera with liver-specific lipoprotein by immunoblotting indicated that liver-specific lipoprotein consisted of constituents of liver plasma membrane together with intracellular proteins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Differences in NMR spectra between tumor clones of defined metastatic potential

NMR can discriminate between malignant and normal tissues. This study attempts to determine if NMR can discriminate between tumor clones of differing metastatic potential derived from the same parent tumor. Rat 13762NF mammary adenocarcinoma clones of either high (MTLn3), intermediate (MTC), or low (MTPa) metastatic potential were grown in roller-bottle tissue culture, harvested during exponential growth phase, centrifuged to form a 0.75-cm3 pellet, and analyzed in a Varian 360L spectrometer operating at 60.0 MHz. Dimethyl sulfoxide (10%) was used as an internal standard at 3.1 ppm downfield from tetramethyl silane (TMS). NMR spectra of replicate samples were analyzed and compared. The position of the water peak for MTLn3 (n = 7) was 5.14 +/- 0.0301 vs 5.07 +/- 0.0207 for MTC (n = 5) and 5.05 +/- 0.009 for MTPa (n = 5) (P less than or equal to 0.001). Integrated area of upfield peaks (where glycoproteins residues are expected to resonate) was 47.43 +/- 7.17 for MTLn3 (n = 6) and 40.95 +/- 5.48 for MTC (n = 4) vs 32.06 +/- 10.1 for MTPa (n = 5) (P less than or equal to 0.05). Previous work with these tumor clones suggests quantitative changes in surface glycoproteins are associated with differences in metastatic behavior. This study demonstrates differences in water peaks between cells of high, intermediate, and low metastatic potential and differences in the integrated area of upfield spectral peaks. How these observations relate to the biologic properties of the cells is uncertain. If they prove to have general validity, NMR could be used to profile biologic potential of human malignancies.     

The accuracy of measurement of residual urine in women by urethral catheterisation

Two potential sources of error in the measurement of residual urine volumes in women were quantified. These were (i) whether a diuresis is operating at the time of measurement, and (ii) the time between voiding and residual urine volume collection. A regime is suggested for the accurate measurement of residual urine in women by urethral catheterisation.     

Some adverse reactions to allopurinol may be mediated by lymphocyte reactivity to oxypurinol

Six of 9 patients with previously documented adverse reactions to allopurinol exhibited transformation of their peripheral blood lymphocytes when these were exposed in vitro to the allopurinol metabolite, oxypurinol. In 2 of these subjects, intradermal skin challenge was positive at 48 hours with either allopurinol or oxypurinol. The evidence presented suggests that some adverse reactions to allopurinol represent delayed-type hypersensitivity to oxypurinol.     

Liver iron concentrations in sudden infant death syndrome

To determine the biological significance of high concentrations of non-haem iron in the livers of infants dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), liver samples were obtained at necropsy from 66 infants who died from SIDS and 28 control infants who died before 2.5 years of age. All were full term deliveries. Liver iron concentrations decreased rapidly with age in the two groups. Liver iron concentrations in the SIDS infants and controls were compared for those infants who died between 1 month and 1 year of age. The median liver iron concentration in the SIDS infants was 296 micrograms/g wet weight; significantly higher than the median of 105 micrograms/g in controls. There was an inverse relation between iron concentration and age in the two groups, but an analysis of covariance confirmed the significantly lower values in controls. The frequency (22%) of HLA-A3 in SIDS infants was similar to that expected for the United Kingdom population (25%) and does not implicate the gene for haemochromatosis as a cause of high liver iron concentrations. These findings show that the peak incidence of SIDS occurs when mean concentrations of iron in liver tissue are higher than at any other time of life. Although a primary causal connection seems unlikely, high tissue iron concentrations may lower resistance to infection and enhance free radical formation, leading to tissue damage.     

Time trends in respiratory symptoms in childhood over a 24 year period

Two cross sectional surveys, 24 years apart, using the same respiratory questionnaire, were carried out to examine changes in prevalence rates of cough, phlegm, and wheeze and to relate changes in wheeze to objective peak expiratory flow rates (PEFRs). The surveys were done in towns in southern and northern England and South Wales in schoolchildren aged 6.0-7.5 years; n = 1655 in 1966 and n = 2323 in 1990. Parents reported on winter cough and winter phlegm (early morning or day/night) and wheeze; PEFRs were also measured. The proportion of children reported as wheezing on most days or nights increased from 3.9% to 6.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) for increase -0.2 to 4.6), with a smaller increase in the prevalence of those who had ever wheezed. The proportion of children with day or night time cough increased from 21.1% to 33.3% (95% CI for increase 3.8 to 20.6) and the proportion with day or night time phlegm increased from 5.8% to 10.0% (95% CI for increase 0.4 to 8.0). Smaller increases in the prevalence of persistent cough (from 9.0% to 12.4%) and persistent phlegm (from 2.4% to 3.5%) were also observed, while morning cough and morning phlegm showed little change. The increases in cough and phlegm were apparent in subjects with and without a history of wheeze. Both absolute and proportional changes in symptom prevalence were generally greater in the north than in the south. Similar social class trends were seen in each survey. The mean difference in PEFR between subjects with and without wheeze was smaller in 1990 than in 1966, but this result could be influenced by a greater proportion of subjects receiving antiasthmatic treatment in the 1990 survey. These apparent increases in the prevalence of persistent wheeze, day and night time cough and phlegm, occurring over a period during which outdoor air pollution levels have decreased substantially, deserve further investigation.