新生期大白鼠皮下注射谷氨酸单钠对成年后下丘脑α-促黑素细胞激素神经元免疫反应性的影响

本文用免疫组化方法研究了新生期大白鼠注射谷氨酸单钠(MSG)对成年后下丘脑α-促黑素细胞激素(α-MSH)免疫反应神经元的影响,结果显示MSG处理以后下丘脑弓状核区α-MSII免疫反应神经元减少甚至完全消失,但不影响下丘脑背外侧区的α-MSH神经元群。文中还讨论了这两群α-MSH神经元的生理作用。     

Schistosoma mansoni: impairment of the cell-mediated immune response in mice.

Skin-graft rejection in mice experimentally infected with Schistosoma mansoni is delayed when grafting is performed 60 days after the infection. In mice infected 30 days prior to the grafting, the grafts were rejected at the same time both in infected and in control animals. This observation indicates that impairment of cell-mediated immune response occurs in mice with mature S. mansoni infections.     

Determination of rate-constants as a method to describe passive expiration

To describe the relaxed expiration by a two-compartment model, we introduced a gas/energy transfer between the lung compartment (V₁) and a second one (V₂). If V₂ were a real volume, the rate-constants (i.e. the flow/volume ratios) of the compartments would describe a real gas-exchange. Alternatively, if a viscoelastic behaviour of the lung or an energy-exchange between compartments was simulated, V₂ would become a "pseudo-volume". We studied nine mechanically ventilated subjects. Changes in volume were transduced by respiratory inductive plethysmography. The rate-constants were assumed (together with the initial volumes of the compartments) as parameters to fit the total volume [V₁(t)+V₂(t)]. Once the best fitting was performed using these "physiological" parameters, the system was directly identified and the compartments were independently analysed. The time profile of the second compartment showed a maximum that depended on the value of the rate-constants. Appropriate tests confirmed the reliability of our procedure. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrated that the energy/volume of the second compartment may increase at the beginning of expiration and then decrease, showing a maximum, even though the total curve can only be a decreasing one. In other words, the slowing down of the curve representing expiratory volume is due not only to the longer emptying of the second compartment, but also to the interaction between the two compartments. As presently proposed, this interaction can be represented by either a gas exchange between two actual volumes, or a mechanical energy transfer between the lung and the tissue compartment.     

First report of vancomycin-resistant staphylococci isolated from healthy carriers in Brazil

Reduced susceptibility or resistance to vancomycin has been reported among clinical isolates of staphylococci in previous studies. In the present study we report on the isolation of four vancomycin-resistant staphylococcal strains from healthy carriers inside and outside the hospital environment. These carriers did not receive treatment with any antibiotic. All coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains showed variable levels of resistance to several antimicrobial agents, including oxacillin, and unstable resistance to vancomycin, with decreased vancomycin MICs (<4 mg/liter) after 10 days of passage in a nonselective medium. However, exposure of these revertants to vancomycin selected staphylococcal strains resistant to vancomycin at very high frequencies (10(-2) and 10(-3)). The vancomycin resistance in these staphylococcal strains was not mediated by the van gene. The cell wall of the staphylococcal strains studied became thickest after culture in medium containing vancomycin, and the differences in cell wall thickness were statistically significant (P < 0.001). Thus, the thickening of the cell wall in these staphylococcal strains may be an important contributor to vancomycin resistance.     

Development of resistance to Trypanosoma cruzi in mice depends on a viable population of L3T4+ (CD4+) T lymphocytes.

Mice injected with monoclonal antibody to the L3T4+ (CD4+) cell membrane surface glycoprotein of T lymphocytes and immunized with antigens of Trypanosoma cruzi had reduced antibody and cell-mediated immune responses to the organism. Mortality in these mice was 100% following challenge with 1.5 x 10(5) trypanosomes, whereas controls had a 50% survival rate, indicating that T-cell activation and viable L3T4+ (CD4+) T lymphocytes are essential for the development of resistance.     

Three-dimensional modeling of the anatomy of the heart and great vessels

Summary The anatomic constraints imposed on a total artificial heart (TAH) require specific anatomic studies. A thoracic anatomic study was performed with a scanning device equipped with three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction software on 15 male patients, between the ages of 41 to 63 years (52 ± 6 years). All were candidates for heart transplantation. The 3-D reconstructions of the cardiovascular structures obtained from surgical anatomy data specific to TAH implantation allowed a volumetric measurement of these structures. A modeling diagram of these structures permitted reproducible quantitative measurements of the 35 geometrical parameters which characterized shape, orientation, and position of these structures within the thorax. Most of the measured parameters were characterized by low variability (coefficient of variation from 10 to 25%).

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Modélisation tridimensionnelle de l'anatomie du cur et des gros vaisseaux

Résumé Les contraintes anatomiques imposées au cur artificiel total (CAT) nécessitent des études anatomiques spécifiques. Une étude anatomique thoracique a été réalisée avec un scanner doté d'un logiciel de reconstruction tridimensionnelle (3-D) chez 15 patients, tous de sexe masculin, agés de 41 à 63 ans (52 ± 6 ans), et candidats à une transplantation cardiaque. Les reconstructions 3-D des structures cardio-vasculaires réalisées selon les données de l'anatomie chirurgicale propre à l'implantation du CAT ont permis la mesure volumétrique de ces structures. Un schéma de modélisation de ces structures a permis des mesures quantitatives reproductibles de 35 paramètres géométriques caractéristiques de la forme, de l'orientation, de la position de ces structures dans le thorax. Les résultats de ces mesures ont pu être exprimés en termes statistiques. La plupart des paramètres mesurés étaient caractérisés par une faible variabilité (coefficients de variations de 10 à 25%).

     

Influence of ionic disturbances produced by gastric washing on cortical spreading depression

Summary The ionic composition of the internal environment was altered in rabbits by means of gastric washing, combined with intramuscular administration of 3-Beta-aminoethylpyrazole. The effects of this treatment on cortical spreading depression (SD) were studied. C1^- and Na⁺ concentrations decreased significantly in serum and in cerebrospinal fluid after the treatment. This made the animals much more susceptible to SD, as established by the high incidence of spontaneous SD, increased SD velocity of propagation and facilitated its interhemispheric transfer. An intensification of the epileptiform activity associated with SD was also observed. Intravenous replacement of NaCl abolished the above effects on SD. When the intravenous replacement was done with Na-Isethionate, those effects were enhanced. It is concluded that chloride deficiency was the main factor responsible for the observed facilitating effects.This work was supported by grants from the BNDE (FUNTEC-74 e 143), CNP_q and CAPES     

Hepatitis B virus transmission in Brazilian hemodialysis units: serological and molecular follow-up

A serological and molecular study of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was carried out in dialysis units in Central Brazil. Between 1995 and 1999, serum samples from all HBsAg-positive hemodialysis patients (n = 43) were tested for HBeAg/anti-HBe and subtyping by monoclonal ELISA. HBV DNA was detected by PCR and positive samples were genotyped by restriction fragment polymorphism pattern (RFLP) methodology. TheHBsAg prevalence declined in this population during the survey period (12-5.8%). HBeAg and anti-HBe were detected in 23 (53.5%) and 18 (41.9%) sera, respectively. Thirty-six samples could be HBsAg subtyped: 21 were subtype ayw(3), 14 belonged to adw(2) and one was identified as adw(4). HBV DNA was present in 30 serum samples. Of these, 20 (66.7%) were genotype D, 9 (30%) genotype A, and 1 (3.3%) genotype F. In addition, the RFLP pattern could be determined in samples from 18/20 genotype D patients: D3 (10 strains), D7 (7 strains) and D4 (1 strain); from 8/9 genotype A patients: A1 (6 strains) and A3 (2 strains); and from the patient infected with genotype F: F1. Patterns D3 and D7 were associated closely with HBV infection in the two largest hemodialysis units studied. These findings confirm the value of the RFLP method as an effective molecular epidemiological tool for elucidating HBV transmission in hemodialysis units.