Effects of Colloidal Resuscitation Fluids on Reticuloendothelial Function and Resistance to Infection after Hemorrhage

The effects of three resuscitation fluids, hydroxyethyl starch (HES), Haemaccel, and fresh autologous blood, on reticuloendothelial system phagocytic and catabolic functions and resistance to infection after 40% hemorrhages in BALB/c mice were studied. The mice, anesthetized with isoflurane, were bled over a 10-min period, left hypovolemic for 30 min, and then resuscitated with their shed blood or the same volume of asanguineous fluid. Normothermia was maintained throughout the experiments. The uptake and catabolism of intravenously injected double-labelled sheep erythrocytes (⁵¹Cr-¹²⁵I-SRBC) in liver and spleen were determined at 1 and 48 h after hemorrhage. No significant changes in the uptake or catabolism of SRBC in liver or spleen were found at 1 h after hemorrhage and resuscitation with any of the fluids. However, at 48 h a significant increase in liver uptake of SRBC was seen in animals resuscitated with either Haemaccel or HES compared to that in animals resuscitated with shed blood or in animals subjected to a sham operation. The increase in liver uptake was accompanied by a small decrease in spleen uptake in animals resuscitated with Haemaccel but not with HES. No great changes in catabolic activity were seen at 48 h, although activity levels tended to be higher in animals resuscitated with Haemaccel. Separate groups of animals were challenged by an intraperitoneal injection with live Escherichia coli at 1 or 48 h after hemorrhage and resuscitation. Sixty-four percent of the animals resuscitated with shed blood survived the challenge with E. coli at 1 h after hemorrhage, whereas only 10 and 0% survival was seen for animals resuscitated with Haemaccel and HES, respectively. At 48 h survival was 80% for shed-blood-resuscitated animals and 60 and 70% for Haemaccel- and HES-resuscitated animals, respectively.     

Complementation studies in Niemann-Pick disease type C indicate the existence of a second group.

Niemann-Pick disease type C is a clinically heterogeneous storage disorder with an unknown primary metabolic defect. We have undertaken somatic cell hybridisation experiments using skin fibroblast strains from 12 patients representing a wide clinical spectrum. Preliminary experiments using filipin staining of free cholesterol as a marker for complementation indicated the existence of one major group (group alpha) and one minor group (group beta) represented by one mutant strain. Subsequent experiments in which sphingomyelinase activity was measured as a marker for complementation using five mutant strains showing activity consistently < 40% control levels confirmed the existence of the second group.     

Serological Cross-Reaction between Legionella pneumophila and Citrobacter freundii in Indirect Immunofluorescence and Rapid Microagglutination Tests

We describe the first case in which a diagnostic rise in titers of antibody to formalinized Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 yolk sac antigen was shown to be caused by a cross-reaction between L. pneumophila and another organism, Citrobacter freundii.     

Antibody-mediated neutralization of pertussis toxin-induced mitogenicity of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Antibody-mediated neutralization of pertussis toxin-induced proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was assessed using alamarBlue and compared with results from the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell assay using sera from vaccinated adults and convalescent children. Neutralization values for the CHO assay were similar for vaccinated and convalescent subjects; however. the convalescent group had higher titers in the PBMC assay. Results for pertussis toxin neutralization with the CHO assay appear to be distinct from those with the PBMC assay.     

Prevention of surface-to-human transmission of rotaviruses by treatment with disinfectant spray.

A model was developed to examine the effects of disinfectants on the transmission of infectious rotavirus from a dried surface to humans. The initial experiments were designed to find a method of preserving rotavirus infectivity during drying. Culture-adapted human rotavirus (CJN strain) was dried at room temperature in different organic suspensions, including fecal matter, several laboratory media, and nonfat dry milk (NDM). Recoveries of infectious virus were then compared. Fecal matter provided little protection in this study relative to distilled water, but the other suspensions were quite protective, especially NDM, which consistently allowed recoveries of greater than 50%. When 10(3) focus-forming units of unpassaged CJN virus were dried in NDM and administered to subjects who licked the dried material, 100% (8 of 8) became infected. The effect of Lysol brand disinfectant spray (LDS) was next examined. Although NDM provided some protection against inactivation by LDS, spraying under conditions recommended by the manufacturer consistently caused the CJN virus titer to decrease greater than 5 log10. Consumption of CJN virus (10(3) focus-forming units) sprayed with LDS caused no infection in 14 subjects, whereas 13 of 14 subjects who consumed the unsprayed virus became infected (P less than 0.00001). The methods developed in this study could be used to test the effects of other disinfectants on the spread of infectious rotavirus from inanimate surfaces to humans.     

Prediction of sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim synergistic action against members of the family Enterobacteriaceae with a two-plate agar dilution breakpoint MIC system.

Synergy between sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) and trimethoprim (TMP) was predicted by a two-plate agar dilution breakpoint MIC system. Comparison of the results of this new system with those of the disk diffusion system (P.M. Waterworth, Postgrad. Med. J. Suppl. 45:21-27, 1969) after tests with 1,518 Enterobacteriaceae isolates showed an overall correlation of 99.8%, a sensitivity of 99.7%, and a specificity of 100%. The method involves spot inoculation of 10(3) organisms onto each of two plates, one containing 160 micrograms of SMZ per ml and the other 8 micrograms of TMP per ml (in Oxoid IsoSensitest medium with 3% agar supplemented with 7% saponin-lysed horse blood), and then incubation overnight at 37 degrees C in air. All but three organisms for which SMZ-TMP was found to be synergistic by disk testing were inhibited on both plates. Three isolates of Proteus mirabilis, which failed to correlate with disk testing by this new system, all showed SMZ MICs of 1,000 micrograms/ml. The SMZ-TMP combination was falsely predicted to be nonsynergistic against these three organisms. There were no false synergy predictions by the breakpoint MIC system. Laboratories should report susceptibility to the SMZ-TMP combination only when there is synergy between the constituents. This simple, reliable agar dilution technique enables laboratories to accurately report synergy between SMZ and TMP.     

Comparison of the chemotactic responsiveness of two fibrosarcoma subpopulations of differing malignancy.

There are several points of similarity between the processes of cancer metastasis and inflammation. In both, cells circulate in the vasculature, arrest, and cross vessel walls, thereby entering the extravascular tissues. In vitro, leukocytes and some, but not all, tumor cells exhibit chemotaxis. Since the chemotactic response of leukocytes effect their transvascular migration, we propose that chemotactic responsiveness contributes to the ability of circulating tumor cells to localize in extravascular tissues. This study was done to seek a relationship between chemotactic responsiveness of tumor cells and their behavior in vivo. Two subpopulations of cells were isolated from a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma. The two cell lines were compared with regard to their biologic behavior in vivo and their chemotactic responsiveness in vitro. In vivo one subpopulation was highly malignant. An injection of 2.0 x 10(5) cells into the footpad of syngeneic mice led to the development of primary tumors in 87% of the animals and lung metastases in 61% of the animals with primary tumors. This line demonstrated chemotaxis to a factor that behaved similarly in gel filtration and showed immunologic reactivity similar to that of a previously described tumor cell chemotactic factor derived from the fifth component of complement. In contrast, an injection of the same number of cells from the second subpopulation of fibrosarcoma cells led to the development of primary tumors in only 12% of syngeneic mice, and lung metastases did not occur. Neither this subpopulation nor normal embryonic fibroblasts demonstrated chemotactic responsiveness. We postulate that the ability of tumor cells to respond to specific chemotactic stimuli may be one of the many unique properties which distinguish malignant from benign tumor cells. This is the first report documenting the chemotactic responsiveness of non-ascites tumors and fibrosarcomas.     

Characteristics of the chemotactic response of neoplastic cells to a factor derived from the fifth component of complement.

Chemotactic factors for malignant neoplastic cells can be generated from either the fifth component of complement or from leukotactic fractions obtained from zymosanactivated serum. Digestion of the fifth component of complement by trypsin initially produced leukotactic activity, but as digestion continues, leukotactic activity is lost and tumor cell chemotactic activity is generated. Separation of the leukotactic activity is lost and tumor cell chemotactic activity is generated. Separation of the leukotactic activity and tumor cell chemotactic activity can be accomplished by gel filtration or isoelectric focusing. Gel filtration indicates that the tumor cell chemotactic factor has a molecular weight of approximately 8000 daltons. Tumor cell chemotactic activity can be generated by trypsinizing the leukotactic fractions isolated by isoelectric focusing. The responses of cultured Walker tumor cells or of Walker ascites tumor cells are dose-dependent and truly chemotactic. Cells from a murine malignant lymphoma do not respond to the complement-derived chemotactic factor for tumor cells, indicating that not all malignant cells share this functional property.     

United we stand? The effects of a couple-coping intervention on adjustment to early stage breast or gynecological cancer

Cancer diagnosis affects the psychological well-being of both patients and their partners, and effective coping has been suggested to be a conjoint process of mutual support. Ninety-four married women with early stage cancer and their partners were randomly assigned to couples-based coping training (CanCOPE), individual coping training for the woman, or a medical education control. Couples' observed support communication and self-reported psychological distress, coping effort, and sexual adjustment were assessed at diagnosis, after cancer surgery, and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. CanCOPE produced significant improvements in couples' supportive communication, reduced psychological distress and coping effort, and improved sexual adjustment. Training in couples rather than individual coping was more effective in facilitating adaptation to cancer.