Antibodies to brain proteins in paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration

A 68-year-old man had subacute cerebellar degeneration and a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Using an immunoblotting method, we found serum antibodies to rat cerebral 250-kd and 110-kd and cerebellar 110-kd acidic cytoplasmic proteins. The antibodies did not react unless the antigens were prepared soon after death with protease inhibitors. Two hundred fifty-kd and 110-kd proteins are minor components of soluble cytoplasmic proteins of the brain. The molecular weights differed from other soluble brain-specific proteins already characterized.     

Predicting cerebral ischemia during carotid endarterectomy

We reviewed 86 consecutive patients undergoing elective carotid endarterectomy to determine whether preoperative clinical and angiographic data could be used to predict the risk of intraoperative cerebral ischemia during carotid occlusion. Electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring with on-line Berg-Fourier transformation was carried out in all patients. A total of 32 patients (37.2%) underwent intraoperative shunting. Of these, 13 had no EEG changes but underwent shunting because of the surgeon's preference, while 19 patients underwent shunting because of EEG changes consistent with cerebral ischemia. There was one permanent (1.2%) and one transient (1.2%) neurologic deficit. Angiographic findings, clinical histories, and intraoperative EEGs were retrospectively reviewed to determine which risk factors best predicted the occurrence of intraoperative cerebral ischemia. Stroke within six weeks increased the risk of intraoperative cerebral ischemia 20-fold. Intracranial disease and contralateral carotid stenosis increased the risk of ischemia 17-fold and 16-fold, respectively. Statistical summation of all risk factors yielded a probability equation for EEG change that accurately quantitated pre-operative risk. Prospective application of this probability equation may simplify operative decision making if EEG monitoring is not available.     

Early indices of warm ischemic damage in autotransplanted canine kidneys preserved by simple hypothermic storage

After measurement of normal renal function, dog kidneys (n = 52) were subjected to 3, 15, or 30 min of normothermic warm ischemia (WI). After 24 hr of preservation by simple hypothermic storage (SHS) in a modified Collins solution, autotransplant was done and renal function was again measured beginning at 1 hr. Compared with preharvest values, kidneys with minimal (3 min) WI had significantly decreased clearances of creatinine (Cr) and para-aminohippuric acid (PAH), PAH extraction, absolute and fractional Na reabsorption, Na excretion, and urinary Na concentration; no change in urine flow rate or K excretion; and significantly increased fractional excretion of Na, K, and H2O. Compared with minimal WI, 30-min WI produced further significant decreases in clearances of Cr, PAH, and PAH extraction; and further increases in fractional excretion of Na, K, and H2O. Urine flow was also decreased by about half and urine Na concentration rose significantly. Several parameters were very significantly correlated with the length of WI, but the most reliable index was the fractional reabsorption of Na. When several functional parameters were used together, kidneys with significant (30 min) WI prior to preservation could be identified with a high degree of statistical reliability.     

Immunity after treatment of human schistosomiasis mansoni. III. Long-term effects of treatment and retreatment

Group mean Schistosoma mansoni reinfection patterns are presented for 2 years after treatment with oxamniquine in 1981 of over 100 9- to 16-year-old Kenyan schoolchildren, and for one year after retreatment in 1983 with either oxamniquine or praziquantel when most (nearly 700) infected people in the whole community were treated. Quality control confirmed comparable Kato egg counts throughout the study. Continuing transmission after 1981 raised prevalence to nearly its original level within 6 months, but intensity remained suppressed throughout the 2 year follow-up and very few children reacquired heavy infections (greater than 400 eggs/g). Age and sex had significant effects: reinfection diminished with age, especially among boys--a pattern not apparently attributable to differential water contact. Children with heavy pretreatment infections tended to develop heavy reinfections but this trend was not statistically significant on a group basis, nor were similar trends during the period of less pronounced transmission following the 1983 community treatment. Oxamniquine was equally effective in children receiving it in both 1981 and 1983, and the efficacy of praziquantel resembled that of oxamniquine. In this area of Kenya, repeated chemotherapy will be needed to contain transmission, probably annually or biennially, unless supplemented with other, effective control measures. These findings confirm the beneficial effects of treating even a limited segment of a community at intervals of a year or more without necessarily stopping transmission. They are also compatible with recent findings on potential immune mechanisms in man.     

Undergraduate psychiatry teaching in Ethiopia

Many epidemiological studies have shown the magnitude and seriousness of mental disorders in developing countries. However, mental health care remains unsatisfactory owing to lack of skilled manpower and many other social and medical priorities. General practitioners and other health personnel can significantly help in extending mental health care provided they receive adequate training during their medical curriculum. With this aim, the Department of Psychiatry at Addis Ababa University runs a 6-week full-time course for undergraduate medical students. Its chief objectives, teaching methods, achievements and shortcomings are discussed in the paper.     

Further evidence of preserved memory function in Alzheimer's disease

Memory performance of elderly patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (DAT) was compared with that of elderly control subjects. In explicit tests of recognition memory, which involve conscious recollection, the DAT patients were grossly impaired. In implicit tests of anagram solution and wordstem completion, which do not require conscious recollection, the DAT patients were not impaired. These findings further support the idea that a separate memory system, episodic memory, underlies conscious recollection, that it is this system which is most commonly damaged in amnesia, and that memory systems not involving conscious recollection may be spared in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.     

Detection of urinary polyamine by a new enzymatic differential assay. (II). Comparison with conventional method

A new method of determining urinary polyamine concentration was compared with other techniques, namely, high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a polyamine test-enzyme kit. The values obtained by the new method, HPLC, and polyamine test-enzyme kit correlated well for all the fractions: diamine, spermidine and spermine. The correlation between the new method and the polyamine test-enzyme kit gave r = 0.9702, y = 1.1359x + 5.1266 (n = 48).     

Prevention of diabetes in BioBreeding/Worcester rats with monoclonal antibodies that recognize T lymphocytes or natural killer cells

Diabetes-prone BioBreeding/Worcester (BB/Wor) rats received thrice weekly injections of mAb against antigens expressed on the surface of all T cells (OX19), cytotoxic/suppressor, and NK cells (OX8), helper/inducer cells (W3/25, OX35, OX38), and Ia+ cells (OX6, 3JP, OX17). Treatment with OX8 or OX19 achieved stable reductions of splenic and peripheral blood NK cells and helper/inducer T lymphocytes, respectively, and protected against diabetes. OX19 injections also prevented lymphocytic insulitis, thyroiditis, and the synthesis of autoantibodies to thyroid colloid and smooth muscle antigens. OX8 injections reduced splenic NK-mediated YAC-1 cell lysis, but did not prevent insulitis, thyroiditis, or autoantibody synthesis. Injections of mAb specific for antigens on the surface of helper/inducer cells, and for cells expressing IaE antigens provided marginal protection against diabetes without reductions of phenotypic subsets. These findings suggest that pancreatic beta cell destruction in the spontaneously diabetic BB/Wor rat is mediated by the combined action of NK and helper/inducer cells.