Restoration of limb long bone defects after gunshot osteomyelitis

The authors analyze treatment results of 116 patients with gunshot osteomyelitis in conditions of military hospital. The positive and negative aspects of the surgical methods used were discussed. The operative treatment included sequestrnecrectomy, perosseous osteosynthesis by Ilizarov's method, auto- and alloplasty with demineralized bony implants. The method of two-stage treatment of long bone gunshot osteomyelitis with osteoplastic operations after relief of inflammatory process in the focus before development of rough scarring changes in the tissues was proposd.     

Rheograph linear-distortion estimation

Conclusions 1. Estimators for the dynamic error of a rheograph can be used in optimizing and standardizing the major metrological characteristics. 2. It is best to use a Butterworth filter for low-pass purposes. 3. The following parameters should be standardized metrological characteristics because they govern the dynamic error: the upper cutoff frequency, the deviation from flatness in the frequency response, the steepness of the upper cutoff, and the equivalent time-constant. All-Union Biomedical Engineering Research and Development Institute, Moscow. Translated from Meditsinskaya Tekhnika, No. 3, pp. 13–17, May–June, 1979.     

Elemental analysis of the new biologically active natural substance klimont by laser mass spectrometry

The elemental composition of klimont — a new native biologically active substance — has been determined by laser mass-spectrometry. It is established that klimont is characterized by a very low content of toxic elements such as As, Cd, and virtually complete absence of Pb and Hg. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 10, pp. 51–53, October, 2007.     

Reduced intracellular magnesium concentrations in asthmatic patients.

Magnesium is important in the regulation of bronchomotor tone, and low dietary intake of magnesium has been associated with airway hyperresponsiveness in epidemiological studies. The concentration of magnesium in serum, erythrocytes and urine in 49 patients with asthma (29 males, aged 15-65 yrs) and in 25 normal subjects (15 males, aged 17-36 yrs) was studied by atomic absorption. Magnesium concentrations were significantly lower in erythrocytes and urine in both atopic (n = 26) and nonatopic (n = 23) asthmatic patients as compared with the control group, whereas serum concentrations did not differ. The concentration of magnesium in erythrocytes was not related to the degree of airway obstruction as measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) but was significantly correlated with airway hyperresponsiveness measured as the provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 to inhaled acetylcholine (r = 0.64; p<0.05). In addition, a magnesium tolerance test showed increased retention of magnesium (58.9% of administered dose in asthmatic patients compared with 8.9% in normal subjects, p<0.05). In conclusion, the low cellular concentration of magnesium may be associated with airway hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic patients.     

The immunosuppressant rapamycin blocks in vitro responses to hematopoietic cytokines and inhibits recovering but not steady-state hematopoiesis in vivo

The immunosuppressive drug rapamycin suppresses T-cell activation by impairing the T-cell response to lymphokines such as interleukin-2 (IL- 2) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). In addition, rapamycin blocks the proliferative response of cell lines to a variety of hematopoietic growth factors, including interleukin-3 (IL-3), interleukin-6 (IL-6), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage- colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and kit ligand (KL), suggesting that it should be a strong inhibitor of hematopoiesis. In this report, we studied the effects of rapamycin on different hematopoietic cell populations in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, rapamycin inhibited the proliferation of primary bone marrow cells induced by IL-3, GM-CSF, KL, or a complex mixture of factors present in cell-conditioned media. Rapamycin also inhibited the multiplication of colony-forming cells in suspension cultures containing IL-3 plus interleukin-1 (IL-1) or interleukin-11 (IL-11) plus KL. In vivo, treatment for 10 to 28 days with high doses of rapamycin (50 mg/kg/d, orally) had no effect on myelopoiesis in normal mice, as measured by bone marrow cellularity, proliferative capacity, and number of colony-forming progenitors. In contrast, the same treatment strongly suppressed the hematopoietic recovery normally seen 10 days after an injection of 5-fluorouracil (5- FU; 150 mg/kg, intravenously [i.v.]). Thus, rapamycin may be detrimental in myelocompromised individuals. In addition, the results suggest that the rapamycin-sensitive cytokine-driven pathways are essential for hematopoietic recovery after myelodepression, but not for steady-state hematopoiesis.     

Antibodies to myeloid precursor cells in autoimmune neutropenia

Antibodies to mature blood neutrophils and to bone marrow myeloid cells have been described in the sera of some patients with apparent autoimmune neutropenia. To further explore the prevalence and specificities of antibodies to myeloid precursor cells, we evaluated sera from 148 patients with suspected autoimmune neutropenia for the presence of antibodies to neutrophils, to cultured myeloid cell lines, and to highly purified bone marrow myeloid progenitor cells. Using an immunofluorescence flow cytometric assay, we identified IgG antibodies in 42 (28%) of these sera that bound specifically to K562 cells, a multilineage cell line originally derived from a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia. Twenty-two (15%) of the sera also contained IgG antibodies that bound specifically to the primitive myelomonocytic leukemia cell line KG1a. Twenty-five (17%) of the sera had IgG antibodies to myeloid cell lines in the absence of antibodies to mature neutrophils. There was a trend toward more severe neutropenia in patients with antibodies to K562 cells, without antineutrophil antibodies. In further studies, antibodies from 12 sera bound to mononuclear CD34+ cells that had been purified from normal human bone marrow by an immunomagnetic separation procedure. Moreover, two of these sera suppressed the growth of granulocyte-macrophage colony- forming units (CFU-GM) in methylcellulose cultures. The presence of antibodies to primitive hematopoietic cells in the sera of some patients with suspected immune neutropenia suggests that these antibodies may have a role in the pathogenesis of the neutropenia observed.     

Hemoglobin E trait reexamined: a cause of microcytosis and erythrocytosis

The current Indochinese resettlement program in the United States has resulted in an increase in the number of persons with hemoglobin E trait. American physicians should be aware of the hematologic expressions of this innocuous condition. The hematologic manifestations of 21 persons with hemoglobin E trait were evaluated. The subjects were of Tai-dam, Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian, and European origin. These studies showed uniform hematologic manifestations in hemoglobin E trait, characterized by slight microcytosis, by morphologic features resembling those of thalassemia minor, and often by increased erythrocyte count. Hemoglobin instability also was confirmed.     

Unequal crossing-over: a common basis of single alpha-globin genes in Asians and American blacks with hemoglobin-H disease

The alpha-globin genes of five black Americans, two Chinese, and five Filipinos with HbH disease (an alpha-thalassemia state in which there is a single functional alpha gene) were analyzed by restriction endonuclease techniques. All subjects were found to have one chromosome 16, lacking both alpha genes, and another containing a single alpha gene (--/-alpha). Restriction endonuclease patterns of the DNA obtained from all 12 subjects were identical and compatible with unequal crossing-over as the mechanism of origin of the single alpha gene in these individuals.     

The prognostic significance of changes in the level of natural antibodies to thrombin in stenocardia patients]

Coagulation in angina pectoris has been analyzed in a normal and elevated level of natural antibodies (nAb) to thrombin. A correlation was found between the level of nAb to thrombin and hemostatic shifts. The correlation of a nAb rise was attempted by means of plasmapheresis (PA) or plasmosorption (PS), altering coagulation potential. PA and PS produced more pronounced anticoagulative effects in patients with a normal baseline level of nAb to thrombin. When the latter levels tended to reduction from initially high, hemostatic processes improved. It is concluded that nAb to thrombin levels have prognostic potential as an indicator of coagulation activity and efficacy of anticoagulant therapy in extracorporeal interventions.     

Quantitative Analysis of Some Impurities in Klimont Enterosorbent by Atomic Absorption Spetrophotometry

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal -