Damage to respiratory epithelium by guinea-pig eosinophils stimulated with IgG-coated Sepharose beads

Background There are no reports of respiratory epithelial damage induced by immuiioglobulin-stimulated eosinophils. Objective We tried to induce damage to respiratory epithelium by guinea-pig (GP) eosinophils stimulated with guinea-pig IgG (GP-lgG)-coated Sepharose 4B beads. Methods GP tracheal epithelium was cultured together with GP eosinophils that had been collected from the peritoneal cavity, purified on a Percoll gradient, and stimulated with GP-lgG-coated beads (GP eosinophils:beads = 20:1). Damage to the epithelium was observed with an inverted microscope. Results After 24 h of culture with three 10⁶ eosinophils. irregularity of the surface of the epithelium, desquamation. shedding of cilia, and abnormal beating of cilia were observed. This damage was first observed after 12 h of incubation, and was more severe at 24 h. No damage was found when beads coated with human serum albumin (HSA) were used. GP eosinophils stimulated with GP-IgG released significantly more EPO than those stimulated with HSA. at 6 and 24 h. Heparin and eatalase partially inhibited the epithelial damage. O₂-production by eosinophils was also enhanced with GP-IgG-coated beads. Conclusion Both granule basic proteins and reactive oxygen radicals may be responsible for epithelial damage, probably via an EPO + H₂O₂+ halide system. These results confirmed that stimulated eosinophils can damage respiratory epithelium.     

大鼠坐骨神经切断对后肢骨密度的影响

目的采用pQCT仪器,检测大鼠切断右侧坐骨神经后,左右后肢骨密度含量变化,为废用骨代谢研究提供参考。方法2个月龄的雌性SD大鼠用戊巴比妥钠麻醉后,做右侧坐骨神经切断术,每周称1次体重,6周后处死动物取股骨和胫骨,应用动物专用pQCT仪器,分别对骨骺线3.0和12.0mm处进行测定分析。结果手术后第1周,体重增长较慢,以后的增长速率两组相似;右侧坐骨神经切断引起肌肉明显萎缩,左侧代偿增大;右侧的股骨、胫骨松质骨部位总骨密度明显下降,无论与对照组、还是左侧的比较P<0.01。结论大鼠切断右侧坐骨神经后,通过pQCT仪器测定,能灵敏、精确地获得骨密度的变化,并有效地区分各个不同结构的特征。     

Idiopathic adulthood ductopenia

In 1981, a 26 year old man occasionally demonstrated elevated serum transaminase concentrations. He had no history of medication, or a personal or family history of jaundice, except for prolonged physiological jaundice as a neonate. Serum hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis C virus antibody and anti-mitochondrial antibody were absent. A wedge biopsy specimen revealed ductular proliferation, mild inflammation of the portal area and disappearance of bile ducts from 80% of the portal tracts. Serial sections demonstrated a vanishing bile duct. Endoscopic retrograde choledo-chopancreatography, portography and arteriography demonstrated no abnormalities. In 1994, the patient died of hepatic failure following a 12 year observation period. He was subsequently diagnosed with idiopathic adulthood ductopenia on the basis of the criteria proposed by Ludwig.     

Effects of intravenous administration of local anesthetics on the renal sympathetic nerve activity during nitrous oxide and nitrous oxide-halothane anesthesia in the cat

The effects of subseizure doses of lidocaine and bupivacaine administered intravenously (i.v.) on mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) were studied in cats anesthetized with nitrous oxide (N2O)-O2 and N2O-O2-halothane (1%). In cats anesthetized with N2O-O2, MAP decreased briefly (P less than 0.01) and then returned to the initial level within a minute after the i.v. injection of lidocaine (5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg). RSNA increased at first and then decreased slightly. In cats with denervated baroreceptors, the change in RSNA after lidocaine 5 mg/kg i.v. was similar to that in cats with intact baroreceptors. In contrast, MAP, HR and RSNA decreased significantly (P less than 0.01) after i.v. injection of lidocaine during N2O-O2-halothane anesthesia. The effects of bupivacaine on RSNA were similar to those of lidocaine. It is concluded that cardiovascular depression following intravenous local anesthetics during N2O-O2-halothane anesthesia may be caused by both a decreased sympathetic activity and a direct depressant effect on the myocardium.     

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Unresponsiveness Associated with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

ABSTRACT. The clinical and autopsy findings in a case of adrenocorticotropic hormone unresponsiveness associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are reported. A four-month-old female with feeding difficulties and skin hyperpigmentation from two months of age was admitted with convulsions. She was hypoglycemic with normal serum electrolytes and the presence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was indicated by electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. Cardiac arrest occurred on the second hospital day. Low serum Cortisol, high plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone, low urinary 17-ketosteroids, and normal urinary aldosterone excretion were documented after her death. Hypoplasia of the adrenal cortex with a persistent fetal zone and concentric hypertrophy of the heart were found at autopsy. We propose that the pathogenesis of this disease lies in impaired remodelling of the fetal adrenal cortex into the permanent cortex, and postulate an effect of adrenocorticotropic hormone on the myocardium as the cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.     

An Enzyme- and Immunohistochemical Study of Malignant Lymphomas

Thirty-three cases of malignant lymphoma were studied enzyme-histochemicallyin relation to their immunologically determined surface markersand tissue intracellular immunoglobulins by the peroxidase-antiperoxidasemethod. There were 18 B-cell derived, 11 T-cell derived andone nonT-nonB cell lymphomas and three cases of Hodgkin's disease.Two cases of infectious mononucleosis were also studied. Adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity was found in sixof the B-cell lymphomas. However, two of the T-cell lymphomasalso showed ATPase activity. One of seven follicular lymphomasshowed both ATPase and alkaline phosphatase activities. Acidphosphatase activity was seen in three of the T-cell lymphomas,whereas it was also present in one of the six B-diffuse largecell type lymphomas and one B-diffuse mixed type lymphoma. These results, in addition to other enzyme activities, indicatethat enzyme histochemical activity is not sufficient for identifyingthe T- or B-cell nature of the neoplastic cells. They seem ratherto indicate the functional status of neoplastic cells.     

Intracellular Transcobalamins in Various Cultured Cell Lines Established from Hematological Malignancies

Intracellular transcobalamins (TCs) in 17 cultured cells establishedfrom hematological malignancies were measured to solve the cellularorigin of TCs. The cultured cell lines used in this study areas follows: myeloid cell lines K-562, HL-60, NALM-1; T-celllines P12/lchikawa, MOLT-4B, CCRF-CEM, RPMI-8402, MT-1; B-celllines P3HR-1, Daudi, BALL-1; nonT, nonB cell lines NALM-16,KOPN-1, Reh, P30/Ohkubo, NALL-1; and, as control cells, P13/Koyamaderived from normal B-cells, normal human lymphocytes and granulocytes.The homogenized cytoplasmic fraction was incubated with ⁵⁷CoB₁₂ and subjected to DE₅₂ cellulose column chromatography andpolyacryla mide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) to separate TC₁₁from R-binders. In myeloid cell lines established from blasticcrises of chronic myeloid leukemia, K-562 had the highest TC₁₁/R-bindersratio, while NALM-1 had the lowest, suggesting that the myeloidand lymphoid crises of chronic myeloid leukemia may have differentTC₁₁/R-binders ratio. T and B cell lines showed no differencein intracellular TC levels. NonT, nonB cell lines had the lowestlevel of intracellular TC. ^*Present address: Department of Internal Medicine, JikeikaiUniversity Auto Hospital, Tokyo.     

Conjugates of catecholamines. VII. Synthesis and β-adrenergic activity of peptide catecholamine conjugates†

A series of novel catecholamine derivatives has been prepared in which one of the N-methyl substituents of isoproterenol has been extended by a spacer consisting of a chain of four methylenes which terminates with an amide linkage to a peptide, the point of attachment being via the aromatic amino group of p-aminophenylalanine. In one of the derivatives, two catecholamines are attached to the same peptide in this manner. The peptides, which range in size from three to eight amino acid residues and contain phenylalanine, glycine, and L-α-amino-δ-hydroxyvaleric acid, were synthesized via stepwise and fragment condensation techniques. The β-adrenergic agonist activities of the derivatives were evaluated in vitro by measuring the intracellular accumulation of cyclic AMP in S49 mouse lymphoma cells.