Impaired tactile pattern recognition in the early stage of primary degenerative dementia compared with normal aging

Tactile pattern recognition of ten different patterns which were engraved upon 4 x 4 cm plastic plaquettes with one hand and thereafter drawing with the other or the same hand was tested in 21 patients with a mild stage primary degenerative presenile onset dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT) and in 14 patients with a questionable dementia on the background of a chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD) in comparison to 15 healthy subjects of the same age (51 years old, elder controls, (EC)) and 16 younger subjects (22 years old, younger controls, (YC)). Patients made about four times more errors than the EC group. Duration from the begin of touching to the end of drawing was significantly longer in patients than in controls. In a second task the subjects had to recognize four subsequent patterns, then to perform a standard multiplication task and afterwards to draw all four patterns in their correct sequence. Patients made about ten times more errors in pattern recognition and series reproduction than age-matched controls.     

Muscle and liver glycogen,protein, and triglyceride in the rat

Summary We have previously found that during exercise net muscle glycogen breakdown is impaired in adrenodemedullated rats, as compared with controls. The present study was carried out to elucidate whether, in rats with deficiencies of the sympatho-adrenal system, diminished exercise-induced glycogenolysis in skeletal muscle was accompanied by increased breakdown of triglyceride and/or protein. Thus, the effect of exhausting swimming and of running on concentrations of glycogen, protein, and triglyceride in skeletal muscle and liver were studied in rats with and without deficiencies of the sympatho-adrenal system. In control rats, both swimming and running decreased the concentration of glycogen in fast-twitch red and slow-twitch red muscle whereas concentrations of protein and triglyceride did not decrease. In the liver, swimming depleted glycogen stores but protein and triglyceride concentrations did not decrease. In exercising rats, muscle glycogen breakdown was impaired by adrenodemedullation and restored by infusion of epinephrine. However, impaired glycogen breakdown during exercise was not accompanied by a significant net breakdown of protein or triglyceride. Surgical sympathectomy of the muscles did not influence muscle substrate concentrations. The results indicate that when glycogenolysis in exercising muscle is impeded by adrenodemedullation no compensatory increase in breakdown of triglyceride and protein in muscle or liver takes place. Thus, indirect evidence suggests that, in exercising adrenodemedullated rats, fatty acids from adipose tissue were burnt instead of muscle glycogen.     

Immunotopographic assessment of lymphoid and plasma cell malignancies in the bone marrow

To determine the utility of tissue section immunochemistry in the evaluation of bone marrow involved by lymphoid and plasma cell malignancies, snap-frozen, undecalcified bone marrow core and aspirate samples from 23 patients with these disorders were studied with a battery of monoclonal antibodies. With techniques that preserve architecture, difficult diagnostic cases characterized by core but not aspirate involvement, or the reverse, were resolved. By means of an extensive battery of monoclonal antibodies applied to serial sections, complex tumor cell phenotypes were established in all 23 cases. In addition to the identification of straightforward monoclonal surface immunoglobulin expression in small cleaved cell lymphomas (four cases), the battery approach added immunologic certainty in malignancies with unusual or difficult phenotypes: peripheral T-cell lymphomas with idiosyncratic antigen expression, and chronic lymphocytic leukemias and small cell lymphomas with faint surface immunoglobulin expression (four cases). For the chronic lymphocytic leukemias and the small cell lymphomas, the combined IgD+, B2+, B1+, Ia+, Leu-1+ phenotype taken as a whole had greater utility than any isolated marker. The acute lymphocytic leukemias and the myelomas studied demonstrate the wide range of B-cell antigens that must be detected to account for the variety of B-cell neoplasms encountered. Additionally, the previously undescribed phenotypic subset of CALLA+ myelomas, which is of prognostic relevance, was identified. Marrow frozen section immunotyping is a major asset in the evaluation of patients with lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma when special care is accorded to tissue handling and to treatment of endogenous peroxidase/pseudoperoxidase and interstitial immunoglobulin.     

Lack of influence of glucagon on glucose homeostasis after prolonged exercise in rats

Summary The significance of glucagon for post-exercise glucose homeostasis has been studied in rats fasted overnight. Immediately after exhaustive swimming either rabbit-antiglucagon serum or normal rabbit serum was injected by cardiac puncture. Cardiac blood and samples of liver and muscle tissue were collected before exercise and repeatedly during a 120 min recovery period after exercise. During the post-exercise period plasma glucagon concentrations decreased but remained above pre-exercise values in rats treated with normal serum, while rats treated with antiglucagon serum had excess antibody in plasma throughout. Nevertheless, all other parameters measured showed similar changes in the two groups. Thus after exercise the grossly diminished hepatic glycogen concentrations remained constant, while the decreased blood glucose concentrations were partially restored. Simultaneously concentrations in blood and serum of the main gluconeogenic substrates, lactate, pyruvate, alanine and glycerol declined markedly. During the post-exercise period NEFA concentrations in serum and plasma insulin concentrations remained increased and decreased, respectively, while plasma catecholamines did not differ from basal values. Muscle glycogen concentrations decreased slightly. These findings suggest that in the recovery period after exhaustive exercise the increased glucagon concentrations in plasma do not influence gluconeogenesis.     

Ultrastructure of canine type II pneumocytes during hypothermic ischemia of the lung: a study by means of conventional and energy filtering transmission electron microscopy and stereology

Alterations in pulmonary surfactant have been reported to be associated with ischemia/reperfusion injury in experimental and clinical lung transplantation. It is unknown whether these alterations are due to damage to surfactant synthesizing type II pneumocytes during hypothermic ischemic storage. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of hypothermic ischemic storage of the lung on canine type II pneumocytes by means of conventional (CTEM) and energy filtering TEM (EFTEM) and stereology. The lungs of 18 dogs were fixed for TEM immediately after cardiac arrest (6 double lungs) and after storage in Tutofusin at 4 degrees C for 20 min, 4 hr, 8 hr, and 12 hr (6 single lungs, respectively). Using a systematic uniform random sampling scheme, type II pneumocytes were analyzed qualitatively and stereologically. The relative phosphorus content of cell organelles, especially the surfactant containing lamellar bodies, was investigated by EFTEM. By CTEM, no major qualitative alterations could be observed in type II pneumocytes of the experimental groups. Stereologically, no significant changes in the volume densities or the volume-to-surface ratios of type II pneumocytes and their lamellar bodies were found. By EFTEM, the highest intracellular phosphorus signals were recorded over lamellar bodies in all experimental groups. No changes in the phosphorus signals were observed during ischemia. These results indicate that the ultrastructure of canine type II pneumocytes and their lamellar bodies is not affected by hypothermic ischemia of the lung up to 12 hr. Structural preservation of intracellular surfactant is possible during prolonged ischemic lung storage.     

Persistent infection of human lymphoid and myeloid cell lines with herpes simplex virus.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 replicated and persisted in human T, B, and myeloid cell lines with different patterns of viral replication and various effects on cell growth. T cell line CEM supported the replication of HSV for over 400 days without detectable differences in cell growth as compared with uninfected cells. HSV persisted in B cell line NC37 and myeloid cell line K562 for up to 222 and 374 days, respectively, but led to a significant decrease in the number of viable cells by 7 weeks of infection. The average number of cells producing infectious virus was very low in these cell lines (range, 0.5 to 2.7+) compared with a larger proportion of cells exhibiting HSV antigens by immunofluorescence (range, 24 to 58%). In contrast, null cell line LAZ 221 failed to replicate HSV even though the viral infection led to a cessation of cell growth.     

Serum-induced chronic pancreatitis

Summary Clinical research into patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis points to a possible immunopathogenetic process in a number of cases.In order to examine the behaviour between the exocrine pancreas under the influence of anti-rat-pancreas immune serum produced in rabbits, a 1.00 ml immune serum is administered once a week over a maximum 26 week period into Wistar-rats by intraperitoneal injection. By electrone-microscopy a much reduced production of enzymes apparently takes place, though to differing extent. There is also destruction of the basal membrane of acinocytes; the production of interstitial oedema, the new formation of collagen fibres and the proliferation of connective tissue cells. Under a conventional light microscope the first changes become noticeable after 8-12 weeks of study. These take the form of localised cell decay, deterioration and lysis of acinocytes; and an increasing non-specific inflammation. There is also the new formation of connective tissue. After 20–26 weeks the exocrine pancreas is characterised by reduction of parenchyma, acino-ductal metaplasia, chronic inflammatory infiltrates of differing density, fibrous and irregular calibres of the smaller and larger ducts.The findings are almost identical to the structural changes of chronic idiopathic pancreatitis in human beings. The results support the view of an immuno-pathologic aetiology for human chronic idiopathic pancreatitis.Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft     

Protocol for ultrarapid immunostaining of frozen sections

Rapid immunostaining of frozen sections within a tolerable time span would be very helpful for intraoperative diagnosis. A protocol was therefore established using the enhanced polymer one-step staining (EPOS) system (Dako) with antibodies against leucocyte common antigen (LCA), cytokeratin (CK), and anti-melanoma (MEL). Best results with reliable and specific immunostaining and a labelling intensity comparable to standard immunostaining protocols were achieved with fixation of samples in 100% acetone for 20 seconds (CK, LCA) or two minutes (MEL), followed by incubation of the primary antibody and development of the chromogen reaction with 3,3'diaminobenzidine (DAB) for three and five minutes at 37 degrees C, respectively. The total procedure takes only 12 minutes, thus enabling rapid immunostaining on intraoperative frozen sections. Apart from its use in tumour classification, this method is especially useful in detecting tumour cells in sentinel lymph nodes.