Anthrax toxin

Anthrax is primarily a disease of herbivores caused by gram-positive, aerobic, spore-forming Bacillus anthracis. Humans are accidental hosts through the food of animal origin and animal products. Anthrax is prevelant in most parts of the globe, and cases of anthrax have been reported from almost every country. Three forms of the disease have been recognized: cutaneous (through skin), gastrointestinal (through alimentary tract), and pulmonary (by inhalation of spores). The major virulence factors of Bacillus anthracis are a poly-D glutamic acid capsule and a three-component protein exotoxin. The genes coding for the toxin and the enzymes responsible for capsule production are carried on plasmid pXO1 and pXO2, respectively. The three proteins of the exotoxin are protective antigen (PA, 83 kDa), lethal factor (LF, 90 kDa), and edema factor (EF, 89 kDa). The toxins follow the A-B model with PA being the B moeity and LF/EF, the alternative A moeities. LF and EF are individually nontoxic, but in combination with PA form two toxins causing different pathogenic responses in animals and cultured cells. PA + LF forms the lethal toxin and PA + EF forms the edema toxin. During the process of intoxication, PA binds to the cell surface receptor and is cleaved at the sequence RKKR (167) by cell surface proteases such as furin generating a cell-bound, C-terminal 63 kDa protein (PA63). PA63 possesses a binding site to which LF or EF bind with high affinity. The complex is then internalized by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Acidification of the vesicle leads to instertion of PA63 into the endosomal membrane and translocation of LF/EF across the bilayer into the cytosol where they exert their toxic effects. EF has a calcium- and calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase activity. Recent reports indicate that LF is a protease that cleaves the amino terminus of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases 1 and 2 (MAPKK1 and 2), and this cleavage inactivates MAPKK1 and thus inhibits the mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction pathway. We describe in detail the studies so far done on unraveling the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis of Bacillus anthracis.     

Interaural phase-sensitive units in the inferior colliculus of the unanesthetized rabbit: effects of changing frequency

We studied the interaural phase sensitivity of 85 units in the inferior colliculus (IC) of the unanesthetized rabbit. We assessed this sensitivity at several frequencies within each unit's responsive range. The interaural phase disparity was varied by delivering tones that differed by 1 Hz to the two ears, resulting in a 1-Hz binaural beat. We analyzed each unit's response to different frequencies by calculating four measures: characteristic delay (CD), characteristic phase (CP), composite peak delay, and mean peak delay. We estimated the CD and CP from the slope and phase intercept, respectively, of the regression line fitted to a plot of the mean interaural phase against stimulating frequency. The composite peak delay was estimated from the peak of a composite delay curve. This was generated by replotting the response to changes in interaural phase, as a function of the equivalent interaural delay and averaging the resultant interaural delay curves. The composite delay curve reflects the unit's average response to interaural delays across frequencies. Last, we calculated a mean peak delay, derived by converting the mean interaural phase of the response at each frequency to an equivalent delay and then averaging these delays. Interaural phase sensitivity was observed to frequencies as high as 2,150 Hz. However, the majority of units showed such sensitivity below 1,500 Hz. For most units, the interaural delay curves measured at several frequencies coincided near the peak discharge. This result is consistent with a neural model, where excitatory inputs from each ear converge upon a binaural cell, evoking maximum discharge only when the two inputs arrive simultaneously. As a first approximation, our data fit this model, indicating that IC neurons can act like coincidence detectors or cross-correlators. The distributions of CD, composite peak delay, and mean peak delay showed that most units preferred ipsilateral stimulus delays, which in the natural situation corresponds to sounds emanating from the contralateral field. Moreover, most units preferred delays that were within the estimated physiological range of the rabbit. These results support the viewpoint that neurons in the IC participate in sound localization. The distributions of CP and CD differ substantially from those found in the IC of the anesthetized cat. These differences may reflect species differences, the effects of anesthesia, or a difference in the population of units sampled. For each unit, we assessed the linearity of the plot of mean interaural phase against frequency of stimulation using a chi 2 method. For most units the plots were significantly nonlinear.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Psammoma bodies in cervicovaginal smears: significance and practical implications for diagnostic cytopathology

The traditional association of psammoma bodies with some malignancies of the gynecologic tract raises potentially significant management difficulties when such bodies are identified on routine cervicovaginal smears. This review summarizes the reported cases of psammoma bodies identified on cervicovaginal smears in the world literature (a total of 140 cases, 113 (81%) of which had sufficient clinicopathologic information). Our conclusions are as follows: (1) The finding of psammoma bodies in this setting is distinctly unusual with an incidence of less than 0.001% on consecutively screened smears. (2) On consecutively screened smears, patients with psammoma bodies have an associated malignancy or ovarian borderline tumor 0-22.7% of the time, depending on the series; this figure climbs to 38% when all the case reports and small series in the literature are included. (3) The most reliable predictor of a malignancy in these patients is the finding of cells on the smear that by themselves are diagnostic of malignancy on cytologic grounds. (4) Other factors that, on a purely statistical basis, appear to increase the likelihood of a synchronous or metachronous malignancy or borderline tumor include an older age at diagnosis and/or clinical presentations such as postmenopausal bleeding. (5) When 1 or more psammoma bodies are identified on a cervicovaginal smear, this finding should not be ignored and should generate some clinical investigation to identify its source.     

Significance and clinical impact of routinely tested urinary ethyl glucuronide after liver transplantation – development of a risk score

Alcohol abuse after liver transplantation can seriously impact graft and patient survival. However, to date, there is no defined standard procedure to identify patients consuming alcohol after liver transplantation. The aim of this study was to analyze the diagnostic value and clinical impact of routinely measured urinary ethyl glucuronide (uEtG) – a metabolite of ethanol – in patients after liver transplantation. Data of 362 consecutive patients after liver transplantation who visited the University Hospital of Tuebingen for outpatient follow-up were analyzed. Forty-eight patients (13%) displayed positive uEtG results. The uEtG positive group contained significantly more patients with pretransplant alcoholic liver disease. However, two thirds of the uEtG positive patients had no history of pretransplant alcoholic liver disease. Several clinical parameters were significantly associated with positive uEtG. In order to enable a more cost-effective application of uEtG in the future, a clinical risk score was developed (specificity 0.95). In conclusion, routine testing for uEtG reveals a considerable percentage of patients practicing alcohol intake after liver transplantation. Application of our proposed risk score could help focusing uEtG testing on patients at risk.     

Induction of rat liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase by thiazole and pyrazine: hydrolysis of 2-cyanoethylene oxide

Liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) is active in the detoxificationof epoxide-containing carcinogens. The effects of thiazole andpyrazine, constituents of tobacco and tobacco smoke as wellas of a variety of foods, on the expression and regulation ofmEH were examined in rats (200 mg/kg body wt/day, i.p., 1/emdash3 days). Immunoblot analyses using rabbit anti-rat mEH antibodyrevealed a significant increase in mEH levels in hepatic microsomesisolated from either thiazole- or pyrazine-treated animals.Another protein (43 kd) cross-reacting with polyclonal mEH antibodywas found to be increased concomitantly following pyrazine treatment.Northern and slot blot analyses showed substantial increasesin mEH mRNA following either thiazole or pyrazine treatment.The level of mEH mRNA increased 17-fold at 24 h following thiazoletreatment, relative to control. Approximately 20- and 16-foldincreases in mEH mRNA were also observed at 48 and 72 h respectivelyfollowing treatment with pyrazine. The level of polymerase chainreaction (PCR)-amplified mEH DNA derived from poly(A)+ RNA wasclearly elevated following either thiazole or pyrazine treatmentrelative to that from untreated animals. Both sense and antisensestrands of PCR-amplified mEH DNA were cloned into an M13mpl9phage vector in order to examine the nucleotide sequences ofPCR-amplified mEH DNA derived from the poly(A)+ RNA isolatedfrom thiazole- or pyrazine-treated animals. Sequence analysesrevealed that the sequence of PCR-amplified DNA from the inducedmRNA was identical to that published for mEH cDNA. Epoxide hydrolaseactivity toward the hydrolysis of 2-cyanoethylene oxide (CEO),the epoxide metabolite of the rat carcinogen acrylonitrile,was not significant in hepatic microsomes from untreated rats,but was substantially induced by treatment with thiazole orpyrazine. Microsomal hydrolysis activity was heat-sensitiveand potently inhibited by l, l, l-trichloropropene-2, 3-oxide,indicating that mEH was the catalyst. The V_max for the hydrolysisof CEO by hepatic microsomes from thiazole-treated rats (13.4nmol/min/mg protein) was 1.5-fold greater than that with microsomesfrom pyrazine-treated rats, whereas similar K_m values ( 1 mM)were observed for both microsomal preparations. These kineticdata correlate well with the increases in mEH mRNA observedafter administration of thiazole or pyrazine to rats. Theseresults provide evidence that administration of thiazole orpyrazine induces mEH with a large increase in mEH mRNA, andthat the induced mEH catalyzes the hydrolysis of CEO.     

Anaesthesia and the Sturge-Weber syndrome

We report a series of 13 patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome anaesthetised on 17 occasions. Anaesthesia management varied depending on the clinical manifestations which ranged from localized, superficial skin lesions to extensive systemic involvement. These patients tolerate anaesthesia well but anaesthetic management includes evaluation for associated anomalies. Difficulty with intubation may occur due to angiomas of the mouth and upper airway. Anaesthesia should be planned to avoid trauma to the haemangiomata and increases in intraocular and intracranial pressure. Nous rapportons une série d’observations concernant des porteurs du syndrome de Sturge-Weber anesthésiés à 17 occasions. L’anesthésie a varié selon les manifestations cliniques qui allaient de la lésion superficielle localisée à l’atteinte systémique grave. Ces patients tolèrent bien l’anesthésie mais celle-ci nécessite une recherche des anomalies associées pour fin d’évaluation. La présence d’angiomes de la bouche et des voies respiratoires supérieures peut rendre l’intubation difficile. La planification de l’anesthésie doit inclure la prévention du traumatisme aux hémangiomes et de l’augmentation de la tension intraoculaire et cérébrale.     

Peripheral benzodiazepine receptors in androgen sensitive dunning rat prostatic adenocarcinoma

Several lines of evidence implicate the ras oncogene in tumorigenesis. However, changes in ras oncogene is uncommon in prostate cancer. We evaluated tumors from 55 patients with metastatic prostate cancer (50 lymph nodes, 5 bone metastases), 10 patients with localized cancers and 35 diethylstilbestrol treated primary tumors. Also, 15 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and 23 with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) were investigated for ras p21 expression. Avidin biotin immunoperoxidase was used on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues with the Pan-ras (Ab-1) monoclonal antibody. Antibody titration demonstrated expression of ras p21 in none of the benign, PIN or DES-treated primary tumor specimens. However, 30% of untreated primary tumors and 94.5% of metastatic tumors (94% of lymph node metastases, 100% of bone metastases) showed expression (p=0.00002). Semi-quantitative evaluation of ras protein expression revealed a significant correlation with Gleason score in lymph node metastases (p=0.001). This study suggests a possible role of ras oncogene in prostate cancer progression, metastasis and androgen independency.     

Muscarinic acetylcholine and histamine-receptor mediated calcium mobilization and cell-growth in human ovarian-cancer cells

The effects of carbachol and histamine on changes in cytosolic-free calcium ([Ca2+]i) and cell proliferation have been characterized in human ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR-3) and non-tumourigenic Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO). The muscarinic agonist carbachol increased [Ca2+]i significantly with a rapid biphasic response due to both influx of extracellular calcium and release of calcium from intracellular stores. None of these effects were however seen in CHO cells. The increase in cellular calcium by carbachol was also confirmed by calcium uptake experiments using Ca-45. Carbachol increased Ca-45 uptake by 25% in OVCAR-3 cells but had no effect in CHO cells. Histamine also stimulated calcium mobilization in OVCAR-3 cells but had no effect in CHO cells. The response to histamine was also biphasic although the calcium increase was smaller than with carbachol. Data obtained with selective histamine antagonists showed that the response to histamine was mediated by H-1 histaminergic receptors. Both carbachol and histamine also stimulated cell growth of OVCAR-3 cells but were without effect on CHO cells. The cell proliferating effect of carbachol and of histamine on OVCAR-3 cells as well as the increase in [Ca2+], was totally blocked by atropine and selective H-1 histaminergic receptor antagonist pyrilamine, respectively. Fetal calf serum (FCS) which increased [Ca2+]i in both cell lines also caused a substantial increase in cell growth in the two cell lines. Verapamil partially and TMB-8 totally blocked carbachol stimulated release of calcium from intracellular stores, whereas prenylamine had only a minor inhibitory effect on calcium influx. The effect of verapamil and TMB-8 were most likely resulted from their inhibition of cholinergic receptors rather than a direct inhibition of intracellular calcium release. The carbachol induced effects on calcium transients were also partially inhibited by pertussis toxin and the phorbol ester PMA. Our data suggest that the mitogenic action of carbachol occurs through an increase in [Ca2+]i which promote DNA synthesis and cell growth. These data also indicate the involvement of both a pertussis toxin sensitive and insensitive G-protein as well as protein kinase C in the signal transduction pathway induced by carbachol.