Bronchial responsiveness and acute bronchodilator response in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diffuse panbronchiolitis.

BACKGROUND--Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is characterised clinically by chronic airflow limitation and respiratory tract infection, and pathologically by chronic bronchiolar inflammation. To elucidate the functional differences between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and DPB the bronchial responsiveness to methacholine was compared in 64 patients with COPD and 32 patients with DPB, and the bronchodilator response was compared in 72 patients with COPD and 49 with DPB. METHODS--Bronchial responsiveness to methacholine was determined by the dosimeter method and expressed as PD20FEV1, and bronchodilator response was measured as the change in percentage predicted response with 5 mg nebulised salbutamol. RESULTS--Baseline FEV1 was similar in the two groups of patients. Patients with COPD were more responsive to methacholine than were those with DPB (geometric mean PD20FEV1 8.87 v 48.0 cumulative units). Reversibility of air flow obstruction, expressed as the difference between the percentage predicted postbronchodilator FEV1 and prebronchodilator FEV1, was significantly larger in patients with COPD than in those with DPB (7.87 (6.52)% v 4.16 (4.43)%). CONCLUSIONS--The observation that patients with DPB differ substantially in bronchial responsiveness from those with COPD is thought to reflect the difference in the mechanisms of these two diseases--that is, airway disease in DPB and more parenchymal disease in the group of patients with COPD. The nature of bronchiolar inflammation in COPD and DPB is also different, possibly explaining the difference in bronchial responsiveness. More fixed airflow limitation as a result of structural bronchiolar lesions in DPB will explain the smaller reversibility of airflow obstruction.     

Periodic alternating nystagmus and rebound nystagmus in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6.

We report on a family with ataxia type 6 (SCA6) showing peculiar oculomotor symptoms. The proband presented with periodic alternating nystagmus (PAN), and her 2 brothers had rebound nystagmus and gaze-evoked nystagmus. They carried the identical mutation (the number of expanded CAG repeat, 24) in the CACNA1A gene. The intrafamilial variability of oculomotor symptoms may be ascribed to factors other than CAG repeat expansion size in SCA6.     

Spontaneous firing level distinguishes the effects of NMDA and non-NMDA receptor antagonists on the ganglion cells in the cat retina.

Different responses of retinal ganglion cells to iontophoretically applied NMDA receptor antagonists and non-NMDA receptor antagonists were studied in anaesthetized cats. Cells with normal range of spontaneous firing and those with abnormally high spontaneous firing levels showed a different response to these drugs. Both visually driven and spontaneous firing of cells with 'normal' spontaneous firing level were blocked by non-NMDA receptor antagonists, but not by NMDA receptor antagonists which often raised spontaneous firing. In contrast, the responses of cells with abnormally high spontaneous firing level were blocked effectively by NMDA antagonists including MK-801, an NMDA channel blocker, as well as by non-NMDA receptor antagonists. The results suggest that under normal physiological conditions, NMDA receptors which are not involved in synaptic transmission may play a role in reducing the resting discharge level of the retinal ganglion cells. NMDA receptors, however, appear to open ion channels in response to glutamate input when ganglion cells become abnormally depolarized.     

Fibrosarcoma of the breast: mammographic findings in five cases.

The mammographic features of fibrosarcoma of the breast, a rare malignant tumor, have not been described. Accordingly, we reviewed the mammograms, pathology reports, and medical records of five women with this tumor. All cases had surgical biopsies and a diagnosis made by histologic evaluation. The age of the patients ranged from 48 to 79 years. Histologically, three of the five fibrosarcomas were thought to have arisen from phyllodes tumor, and four were palpable. On mammograms, the tumors were dense masses with largely indistinct margins, ranging from 1.5 to 7.0 cm in diameter. One contained calcified osseous elements suggesting osseous trabeculae. Although the osseous trabeculae in that tumor strongly suggested sarcoma, most of the tumors had a nonspecific appearance on mammograms. Fibrosarcomas of the breast have a nonspecific mammographic appearance. Surgical biopsy and histologic evaluation are necessary for definitive diagnosis.     

Expression of Streptococcus mutans gtf genes in Streptococcus milleri.

The Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferase (GTF) genes gtfB and gtfC were ligated into Escherichia coli-streptococcus shuttle plasmids and introduced into Streptococcus milleri. gtfB transformant KSB8 formed an S. mutans-like rough colony on mitis salivarius agar and expressed an extracellular GTF-I, of 158 kDa, and two cell-bound GTF-Is, of 158 and 135 kDa. gtfC transformant KSC43 formed a semirough colony on mitis salivarius agar and expressed primarily an extracellular GTF-SI, of 146 kDa, and two cell-bound GTF-SIs, of 146 and 152 kDa. The extracellular GTFs from KSB8 and KSC43 were purified and characterized. The two types of GTF also reacted specifically with monoclonal antibodies directed against each enzyme. Both enzymes synthesized significant amounts of oligosaccharides, consisting primarily of alpha-1,6-glucosidic linkages, as well as water-insoluble glucans, containing alpha-1,3-glucosidic linkages. Insoluble-glucan-synthesizing activities of both enzymes were stimulated (three- to sixfold) by the addition of dextran T10 and were inhibited in the presence of 1.5 M ammonium sulfate. The Km(s) for sucrose and the optimal pHs were also similar for both enzymes. However, when the transformants were grown in Todd-Hewitt broth supplemented with sucrose, KSC43 cells, expressing GTF-SI activity, adhered to glass surfaces in vitro, while KSB8 cells, expressing GTF-I activity, did not. These results are discussed relative to the potential role of the gtfB and gftC genes in S. mutans cariogenicity.     

Toluene in blood as a marker of choice for low-level exposure to toluene

The validity of two new biological exposure markers of toluene in blood (TOL-B) and toluene in urine (TOL-U) was examined in comparison with that of the traditional marker of hippuric acid in urine (HA-U) in 294 male workers exposed to toluene in workroom air (TOL-A), mostly at low levels. The exposure was such that the geometric mean for toluene was 2.3 ppm with a maximum of 132 ppm; the workers were also exposed to other solvents such as hexane, ethyl acetate, styrene, and methanol, but at lower levels. The chance of cutaneous absorption was remote. Higher correlation with TOL-A and better sensitivity in separating the exposed workers from the nonexposed subjects were taken as selection criteria. When workers exposed to TOL-A at lower concentrations (< 50 ppm, < 10 ppm, < 2 ppm, etc.) were selected and correlation with TOL-A was examined, TOL-B showed the largest correlation coefficient which was significant even at TOL-A of < 1 ppm, whereas correlation of HA-U was no longer significant when TOL-A was < 10 ppm. TOL-U was between the two extremes. The sensitivities of TOL-B and TOL-U were comparable; HA-U showed the lowest sensitivity. Thus, it was concluded that TOL-B is the indicator of choice for detecting toluene exposure at low levels.