The relation between lymphocyte profile in BALF and the course of sarcoidosis based on short term observation

The aim of this study was to assess how the extent of the number and percentage of lymphocytes in BALF and also the CD4 to CD8 ratio can help to predict the short outcome in sarcoidosis. Material consisted of 74 patients, 39 men and 35 women in the age from 23 to 58 years. 11 patients had chest lesions in stage I, 43 in stage II and 20 in stage III. Clinical markers of activity (fever, erythema nodosum) were present in 22 cases. Extrathoracic lesion were present in 31 and abnormal pulmonary function in 30. In all patients BAL was done before treatment and lymphocyte count, percentage and CD4/CD8 ratio was calculated. 50 patients were treated with corticosteroids and 24 were observed without treatment. After 6-12 month of observation regression of sarcoid lesions was observed in 46 of 50 patients treated with corticosteroids and in 17 out of 24 patients observed without treatment. There were no differences in lymphocyte count and percentage in BALF and in the short term outcome between group treated with corticosteroids and without treatment. The patients in whom regression of lesions was observed have however significantly higher CD4/CD8 ratio than others.     

Involvement of MMPs in delayed neuronal death after global ischemia

Spatial and temporal relations between metalloproteinase (MMP-2 and MMP-9) activation and laminin degradation in gerbil hippocampus after transient cerebral ischemia has been studied. Activity of MMPs was determined by gelatin zymography in homogenates from dorsal (DP, an equivalent of CA1 sector) and abdominal (AbP, containing CA2-4 and gyrus dentatus) parts of hippocampus. A significant activation of both investigated metalloproteinases was found at 72 h of recovery. Whereas MMP-2 up-regulation did not show any spatial preferences, the increase of MMP-9 activity was observed exclusively in DP. Activation of MMP-9 at this time point correlated spatially with degradation of laminin-protein of extracellular matrix. These results show that MMP pathway may function as a component of delayed neuronal death cascade in the apoptogenic CA1 sector after transient global ischemia.     

Acoustic startle response in the opossum Monodelphis domestica in comparison with the Wistar albino rat

The acoustic startle response (ASR) was studied in 20 gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica) and its characteristics were compared with those obtained from responses of 20 Wistar albino rats. The animals were exposed to 10 ms, 110 dB white noise acoustic pulses in the Coulbourn apparatus. Amplitude of ASR was normalized to the weight of animals and then analyzed. The results show that probability of a freezing response is much higher in the opossums that generally respond with lower startle amplitudes in comparison to rats. These differences may reflect different emotional characteristics of the two species, different reactions to fear in opossum and/or different ecological specializations of the two species.     

Reduction of soluble adhesion molecules (sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and sE-selectin) and vascular endothelial growth factor levels in serum of rheumatoid arthritis patients following multiple intravenous infusions of infliximab

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of repeated infusions of infliximab, a chimeric anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF)-alpha antibody, on the levels of soluble adhesion molecules and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The treatment design consisted of 9 infusions of infliximab (3 mg/kg) at weeks 0, 2, 6, and every 8 weeks thereafter. All patients had been receiving methotrexate (MTX; 7.5-20 mg/week). Serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM)-1, E-selectin (sE-selectin), and VEGF were measured by ELISA at weeks 0, 2, 6, 14, and 38 prior to infusion, and at week 62. RESULTS: A remarkable decrease in serum sICAM-1 (p<0.001), sVCAM-1 (p<0.01), sE-selectin (p<0.01) and VEGF (p<0.001) levels was observed in RA patients after the initial dose of infliximab. The second administration of the drug was followed by an even more significant suppression of serum sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, sE-selectin, and VEGF (p<0.001 in all cases). Further infliximab infusions also significantly reduced serum soluble adhesion molecules and VEGF concentrations, although these were less effective. Infliximab treatment induced a significant decrease in the number of monocytes observed until the end of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Our study, besides a rapid suppression of disease activity, showed that serum soluble adhesion molecules and VEGF concentrations are down-regulated following anti-TNF-alpha antibody therapy combined with MTX. Repeated doses of infliximab sustained the reductions in the soluble adhesion molecules and VEGF concentrations, although they were less effective than the first and second infusions of infliximab.     

Comparison of leukocyte populations from bronchoalveolar lavage and induced sputum in the evaluation of cellular composition and nitric oxide production in patients with bronchial asthma

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) or induced sputum (IS) techniques may provide leukocytes for the evaluation of airway inflammatory response in bronchial asthma. The aim of the present study was to compare features of leukocyte populations obtained by the two different methods regarding the cell types and their activity in patients with bronchial asthma. The nitric oxide (NO) level released from the cells was measured as a marker of their activity. Pulmonary leukocytes were obtained from the BAL and IS of 11 asthmatic patients in stable condition at the time of the study. The BAL and IS leukocyte populations varied in cell count and NO production. Macrophages were the predominant leukocyte population in BAL (median (Me) = 83.0%, range 67.9-88.4%), whereas sputum sediments were found to consist mainly of neutrophils (Me = 55.7%, range 29.0-64.9%). The IS leukocytes released much more NO (p = 0.0022) than the BAL leukocytes. In spite of these quantitative differences, a similar pattern of NO production was observed in BAL and in IS cells. Both BAL and IS leukocyte populations produced almost the same amounts of NO before and after lipopolysaccharide stimulation (p = 0.9063, p = 0.4801, respectively). Furthermore, a slight positive correlation Spearman's rank (RS) = 0.5578, p = 0.0594) was noticed between the neutrophil percentages and NO levels produced by BAL cells, whereas in IS a statistically significant correlation between the percentage of neutrophils and the levels of NO (RS = 0.6643, p = 0.0184) was observed. In conclusion, the BAL and IS leukocyte populations are different in cell type, their size and activity. Depending on the asthma severity and the type of cells needed in a study, either BAL or IS specimens may be chosen as a source of pulmonary leukocytes. The use of IS as a noninvasive technique is supposed to be potential value particularly in the study of the airway inflammatory response mediated mainly by neutrophils, i.e. during and/or after exacerbation of the disease. Based on our results, a possible contribution of neutrophils in the production of NO in the airways of asthmatic patients can be proposed apart from other cells such as macrophages.     

Localisation of myocardial ischaemia from the magnetocardiogram using current density reconstruction method: computer simulation study

A computer simulation study is performed to investigate the method of current density reconstruction to localise myocardial ischaemia. A computer model of the entire human heart is used to simulate the excitation and repolarisation process in eight topographically different cases of myocardial ischaemia. The associated magnetocardiogram is calculated at 37 positions of the KRENIKON^* biomagnetic measurement equipment. The method of current density reconstruction is applied at the S-point (the last discemible deviation from the ST-segment at the end of the QRS-complex) of the MCG to find characteristics of the myocardial ischaemia simulated by the model. The results show that it is possible to determine the location of the ischaemia. The current density distribution may be interpreted physiologically in terms of the so-called ‘injury current’. This indicates that magnetocardiography might be a suitable method for noninvasive ischaemia diagnosis, and further investigations of the current density reconstruction method for the injury current should be performed on patients with ischaemic heart disease.     

The cause of infection as the main or additional cause of death in patients treated for small cell lung cancer

In 116 out of 845 patients treated for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in the Institute of Tuberculosis and Chest Disease in Warsaw in the years 1980-1994 infection was the main or coexistent cause of death. In 4.1% infection was proved of bacterial origin and in further 6.5% of probable bacterial origin (in the later group cultures were negative or not done but fungal infection, pneumocystosis pneumonia and tuberculosis were excluded on autopsy). In 1.54% infection was of fungal origin, 1.2% patients died of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and 0.35% of tuberculosis. The majority of patients who died with and/or from infection had treatment-related leukopenia and 99 of them were treated with corticosteroids. Fungal infection, pneumocytosis and tuberculosis were found more frequently than bacterial infection in patients treated with cumulative dose of prednisone above 2000 mg. 33.62% patients had no symptoms or signs of infection. No connection was found between the absence of symptoms and treatment with steroids or the grade of leukopenia. In all cases infection was recognised very late, in 58 only at autopsy.     

Time course of changes in EMG activity of fast muscles after partial denervation

After partial denervation, the remaining motor units (MUs) of adult fast extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL) expand their peripheral field. The time course of this event was studied using tension measurement and recordings of electromyographic (EMG) activity. The results show that after section of the L4 spinal nerve, when only 5.3 ± 0.63 of the 40 MUs normally supplying EDL muscle remain, the force of individual motor units starts to increase between the 1st and 2nd week after the operation and continues to do so for a further week. The drastic reduction of the number of motoneurones supplying the fast EDL leads to an increase in activity of the remaining MUs. In the 1st week after partial denervation, there was a sharp increase in the EMG activity of remaining motor units. During the next 12 days, this increase became less marked, but EMG activity remained nevertheless significantly higher than that of the unoperated EDL muscle. Many MUs became tonically active during posture. The EMG activity pattern during locomotion was also altered, so that the burst duration was positively correlated with the step cycle duration. Moreover, shortly after partial denervation, the interlimb coordination was disturbed but returned to its original symmetrical use 1–2 weeks later. Received: 17 September 1996 / Accepted: 3 November 1997     

The copolymerization and 1,4-cycloaddition reactions of polar vinyl monomers with butadiene in the presence of Lewis acids as catalysts

The copolymerizations of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, methyl vinyl ketone, acroleine, and acrylic acid with butadiene were carried out in the presence of the Lewis acids ZnCl², BF³, CH₃AlCl₂, C₂H₅AlCl₂, AlCl₃, SnCl₄, and TiCl₄ and also in the absence of catalyst. Relative reactivity orders of the above polar vinyl monomers in the copolymerization and 1,4-cycloaddition reactions with butadiene and also the catalytic activity orders of Lewis acids in these reactions were determined. The composition of the polymers formed and the structure of their butadiene units were also determined. The mechanism of the copolymerization and 1,4-cycloaddition of the polar vinyl monomers with butadiene in the presence of Lewis acids is discussed.