Studies on entry and egress of poliomyelitis infection. III. Excretion of the virus during the presymptomatic period in parenterally inoculated monkeys

Excretion of poliomyelitis virus has been demonstrated in monkeys after four different parenteral routes of inoculation. Virus has been found in both the pharyngeal secretions and the stools after infraorbital nerve dip and after inoculation of the Gasserian ganglion; in the pharyngeal secretions after intrathalamic inoculation; and in the stools after inoculation of the celiac ganglion. Excretion began as early as the 2nd and as late as the 7th day after inoculation, in all instances before the onset of symptoms. The immediate source of the excreted virus appeared to be infected peripheral ganglia with neural connections to the mucous membranes of the upper and lower portions of the alimentary tract, notably the pharynx. Primary infection of the body surfaces was excluded in the experiments and therefore could not account for the excretion of virus. The mode of elimination was probably by centrifugal spread through axons of peripheral nerve fibers and not by way of the blood stream or lymphatics. Evidence was obtained that when excretion of virus has once occurred, reinvasion from the implicated surface to other, previously uninfected peripheral ganglia ensues, thus providing new sources for excretion and other potential pathways for invasion of the CNS. It is suggested that such reinvasion may occur serially until the immunological defenses come into play. Our experiments lend support to the view that during the initial stage of poliomyelitis, and perhaps throughout its course in some cases, e.g. the asymptomatic and the mild cases without central nervous symptoms, infection is confined to the peripheral nervous system. Involvement of the CNS when it occurs is a secondary phase of the infective process and is not a necessary prelude to elimination of the virus. Excretion is explainable on the basis of the established neurocytotropism and axonal conduction of the virus without resort to the hypothesis of extraneural infection.     

Characteristics of chief complaints of patients with temporomandibular disorders in a Brazilian population

summary A retrospective survey of 894 patients with temporomandibular disorders was conducted in order to analyse the characteristics of chief complaints. The patients presented complaints of pain (82.1%), functional disturbance (12.3%), articular sounds (5.0%) and swelling (0.6%). Unilateral occurrence (66.5%) was more frequent than bilateral. The most frequent location of pain was the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) (82.1%) followed by ear (10.8%), face (2.3%), head (2.3%), mandible (1.0%), neck (0.9%), temporal (0.4%) and frontal (0.1%) areas. Pain in the TMJ occurred in isolation (87.9%) or associated to other locations. The most frequent functional disturbance was limitation of jaw opening (32.1%).     

Abnormal sperm morphology and other semen parameters related to the outcome of the hamster oocyte human sperm penetration assay

A new method for evaluation of sperm morphology using strict criteria is currently used in the andrology laboratory at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. A prospective study was designed to evaluate the following semen parameters in samples of all patients over a set period of time: sperm concentration and motility, and normal sperm morphology. These factors were correlated with results of the hamster zona-free oocyte/human sperm penetration assay (SPA). One hundred patients with a sperm concentration ranging from 2 to 219 X 10(6)/ml, a motile sperm fraction ranging from 6.9 to 87%, and normal sperm morphology ranging from 1 to 39%, were evaluated. The statistical analysis system general linear model was used to judge the influence of the different variables. There was a statistically significant relationship between the per cent of sperm with normal morphology and penetration rate in the SPA (P = 0.001). Outcome of the SPA was also correlated with in vitro fertilization, retrospectively, in 84 patients. Thirty-eight patients had an SPA less than 10%, with no fertilization in vitro in 13 patients (33.3%) and fertilization in 25 (66.7%). Forty-five had an SPA greater than 10% with fertilization in 37 (82.2%) and no fertilization in eight (17.8%) patients.     

A Murine Model of Genetic Susceptibility to Lead Bioaccumulation

Previous reports have shown that blood lead levels in humansare associated with a polymorphic form of -aminolevulinate dehydratase(ALAD), an enzyme of heme biosynthesis that binds and is inhibitedby lead. We hypothesized that ALAD levels may influence thedistribution and accumulation of lead in the blood and targetorgans. To assess this, we studied strains of mice that differin the numbers of copies of the ALAD gene. Our findings showedthat mice with a duplication of the ALAD gene (DBA) accumulatedtwice the amount of lead in their blood and had higher leadlevels in kidney and liver than mice with a single copy of thegene (C57) exposed to the same oral doses of lead during adulthood.Hybrid animals showed intermediate blood lead levels. Levelsof blood zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) increased with lead exposurein C57 animals while they were not affected in DBA mice, suggestingprotection from production of this abnormal enzyme in mice witha duplication of the gene. Except for these protective effectsin the formation of ZPP in DBA animals, duplication of the ALADgene was found to increase lead accumulation. We conclude thatalthough these mouse strains do not precisely replicate thepolymorphism observed in humans, they may be used as a modelto study genetic influences in lead bioaccumulation. Understandinggenetic factors that affect susceptibility to lead-induced intoxicationcould have important implications for public health and interventioninitiatives. These mouse strains may represent a useful modelfor future study of the role of ALAD in lead intoxication.     

Chemical Nature of the Interaction between Macrophage Fusion Factor and Macrophage Membranes

Giant-cell formation induced by macrophage fusion factor (MFF) was not altered after pretreatment of macrophages with trypsin, chymotrypsin, pronase, neuraminidase, phospholipase C, or phospholipase D. Pretreatment of macrophages with either alpha-mannosidase or alpha-glucosidase completely inhibited giant-cell development, without altering macrophage viability. No alteration of giant-cell formation was observed when 0.1 M of L-fucose, N-acetyl-glucosamine, D-arabinose, D-xylose, melibiose, D-glucose, D-galactose, alpha-lactose, sucrose, D-fructose, or maltose was present during incubation of macrophages with MFF. Giant-cell formation was abolished when 0.1 M alpha-D-mannose was present during macrophage incubation with MFF. These results suggest that the protein moiety of MFF recognizes a specific receptor site on the macrophage membrane, one that is different from those described for other lymphokines and contains alpha-mannose.