Influence of human leukocyte interferon on IgG on the replication of herpes simplex virus in nervous tissue in vitro.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replicated productively in rabbit and guinea pig ganglia and nerve organ cultures when inoculated in high titres. Treatment with IgG 20 hr before and 48 hr after infection produced a delay of 4 to 7 days in the recovery of HSV-1 by the method of co-cultivation. The same result was obtained when IgG was combined with human leukocyte interferon. There was no difference in the period up to HSV recovery between the groups treated with interferon alone and the HSV control. Morphological evidence by light and electron microscopy of viral productive infection was obtained in all the cell types of nervous tissues infected in vitro.     

TT virus infection in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infected mothers and their infants

Serum TT virus (TTV) DNA was determined in 83 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV 1) infected mothers [46 intravenous drug user and 37 non-intravenous drug user women] and their infants. Twenty-nine (34.9%) mothers were TTV infected. Infection was more frequent among intravenous drug user than non-intravenous drug user mothers [21/46 (45.6%) vs. 8/37 (21.6%); relative risk (RR): 2.1; 95% confidence limits (95% CL): 1.1-4.2; P = 0.023] and among intravenous drug users who carried on injecting than in those who had given it up [10/14 (71.4%) vs. 11/32 (34.3%); RR: 2.1 (95%CL: 1.2-3.7); P = 0. 021]. Infection was not related to age, CD4-positive T-lymphocyte counts, HIV 1 load, hepatitis B (HBV), G/GB-C (GBV-C/HGV), C (HCV) virus exposure. Eight (27.5%) infants born to TTV infected (but none of those born to TTV uninfected) mothers were TTV infected at a median age of 1.5 (range: 0.6-2.8) months. Infants born by vaginal/emergency caesarean delivery were more frequently infected than those born by elective caesarean delivery [7/16 (43.7%) vs. 1/13 (7.6%); RR: 2.1; 95%CL: 1.2-3.5; P = 0.033]. Infection in infants was not related to maternal CD4-positive T-lymphocyte counts, HIV 1 load, and HIV 1, HBV, GBV-C/HGV, or HCV transmission. No infant became TTV infected thereafter. No TTV infected child [follow-up: 31 (median; range: 6-60) months] showed signs of liver disease; five infants cleared TTV DNA after 22 (median; range: 6-60) months. TTV infection in HIV 1 infected women is prevalently related to intravenous drug user. The findings suggest that infants may acquire TTV at birth. Infection may persist without evident liver disease.     

Severe intrauterine growth retardation,blepharophimosis, and cylindrical nose with midline groove: a new syndrome?

A malformed female infant is described. In addition to cardiac, renal, and skeletal (rib) anomalies, severe intrauterine growth retardation and distinct facial dysmorphism were present. The question is raised whether this child represents a new syndrome.     

Contribution of molecular analyses to the estimation of the risk of congenital myotonic dystrophy.

A molecular analysis of the maternal and child CTG repeat size and intergenerational amplification was performed in order to estimate the risk of having a child with congenital myotonic dystrophy (CMD). In a study of 124 affected mother-child pairs (42 mother-CMD and 82 mother-non-CMD) the mean maternal CTG allele in CMD cases was three times higher (700 repeats) than in non-CMD cases (236 repeats). When the maternal allele was in the 50-300 repeats range, 90% of children were non-CMD. In contrast, when the maternal allele was greater than 300 repeats, 59% inherited the congenital form. Furthermore, the risk of having a CMD child is also related to the intergenerational amplification, which was significantly greater in the mother-CMD pairs than in the mother-non-CMD pairs. Although the risk of giving birth to a CMD child always exists for affected mothers, our data show that such a risk is considerably higher if the maternal allele is greater than 300 repeats.     

Role of interleukin 1 in antigen-induced exacerbations of murine arthritis.

The mechanism underlying the chronic and intermittent course of rheumatoid arthritis is not elucidated. In the present study, the role of interleukin 1 (IL-1) was investigated in exacerbations of antigen-induced arthritis in mice. A flare-up of smoldering inflammation (weeks 3 to 4 of antigen-induced arthritis) was inducible by injection of a small amount of methylated bovine serum albumin into the hypersensitive knee joint. Immunohistochemistry showed IL-1 expression in the synovial lining layer and in focal areas of the inflamed synovium during the flare-up. IL-1 was also measured in 1-hour culture supernatant of synovial tissue taken during the flare-up by a bioassay. The expression of both immunoreactive and bioactive IL-1 in the hypersensitive joint peaked around 6 hours after antigen (2 micrograms of methylated bovine serum albumin) injection and declined thereafter. Antigen rechallenge induced an acute joint swelling of the arthritic joint but not in the naive joint of the sensitized mouse, yet synovia of both joints produced IL-1 after antigen injection. Remarkably, a single intravenous injection of rabbit anti-IL-1 alpha and -beta antibodies 1 hour before antigen rechallenge neutralized IL-1 in the joint. Anti-IL-1 treatment significantly reduced the antigen-induced joint swelling (30 to 40%) but did not affect the profound influx of polymorphonuclear cells in the onset of the exacerbation. However, a profound relief of the inflammation (synovitis) was obtained by IL-1 blockade on day 4 of the exacerbation. Chondrocyte proteoglycan synthesis was markedly suppressed in the antigen-challenged naive knee joints suggesting that this was a direct IL-1 effect as the inflammation was insignificant. Anti-IL-1 treatment was able to maintain chondrocyte proteoglycan synthesis in the antigen-rechallenged joint, which was highly suppressed in the control group. Furthermore, the enhanced proteoglycan breakdown in the antigen-rechallenged joints was significantly decreased in the anti-IL-1 group. We concluded that IL-1 is an important mediator in exacerbations of murine arthritis, and amelioration of cartilage pathology was obtained with anti-IL-1 antibody treatment.     

Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Denmark in 1992.

The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is increasing all over the world, including in countries with a high standard of living and good social security. Denmark represents such a region. Furthermore, it is a small country (5 million inhabitants) with a long tradition in TB control, including a centralization of the bacteriological diagnostic facility. The present study was intended to analyze the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a country in which TB has low endemicity by a combination of conventional epidemiological approaches and DNA fingerprinting techniques, whereby individual bacterial strains can be traced. M. tuberculosis isolates from 92% of all new cases of bacteriologically verified TB in Denmark during 1992 were subjected to IS6110 DNA fingerprinting to visualize the DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of the isolated strains. The data obtained from the RFLP analyses were interpreted by using demographic data, such as age, sex, ethnicity, and residence, for the patients. The risk factors among the patients for being part of an active chain of transmission, as opposed to demonstrating reactivation of a previously acquired latent infection, were estimated by statistical analyses. The magnitude of TB transmission in 1992 in Denmark was determined, and transmitted infections were shown to comprise at least one quarter of the total number of cases. Almost half of the TB cases involved patients of foreign origin. However, most of these isolates showed unique DNA fingerprint patterns and were rarely part of an active chain of transmission. The major chains of recent transmission were localized to distinct geographical regions in the country.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Inhibitory effects of rat alpha2 macroferoprotein (alphaMFP), an acute phase globulin, on galactosamine hepatitis.

Refractoriness to Gal N toxicity occurs especially in fetal rats, newborn rats, and in rats after partial hepatectomy. An injury however (laparotomy, incision on the back or ip BaSO₄ suspension), prior to Gal N administration, also inhibits Gal N toxicity. In all these circumstances high levels of rat α₂-macrofetoprotein (α_MFP) occur. This protein is an acute phase reactant and is identical to rat α₂-macroglobulin. α_MFP isolated from the serum of injured rats and then administered to normal rats strongly inhibits Gal N toxicity. When time interval between the preceding injury, provoking α_MFP production and Gal N administration shortens, the inhibiting effects are less and α_MFP production remains low.During resistance to Gal N, the primary and secondary biochemical lesions of Gal N persist and the protecting effect of α_MFP must be due to another mechanism, operating in later phases of cell injury. Very probably this is attributable to the stabilizing effect on membranes of hepatocytic organelles and the plasma membranes. As α_MFP is an acute phase reactant the importance of these proteins to the course of hepatitis must be considered.     

In vitro andin vivo inhibition of virus multiplication by microwave hyperthermia

Summary The effects of microwave hyperthermia (41° and 43° C) on virus multiplication have been exploredin vitro (HSV-1 infected primary rabbit kidney cultures) andin vivo (mice infected with HSV-1 or vaccinia). In vitro the cells were inoculated with HSV-1 and heated to 41° or 43° C either before or after infection. Virus yields were significantly decreased when the cells were exposed to hyperthermia within the first few hours after infection, while hyperthermia was without effect when applied before infection or with several hours delay after infection.In mice inoculated intranasally with HSV-1, mortality due to herpes encephalitis was significantly reduced upon daily exposure to microwave hyperthermia from the day of infection onward.In mice inoculated intravenously with vaccinia, a significant decrease in the number of specific tail lesions was observed if the animals were exposed to microwave hyperthermia within the first three days after infection, while irradiation prior to infection or delayed until several days after infection did not exhibit an appreciable effect.Our data suggest that microwave hyperthermia interferes directly with the virus multiplication cycle bothin vitro andin vivo.With 3 Figures     

Accuracy of a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for CagA in patients from Brazil with and without gastric carcinoma

We validated a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of anti-CagA antibodies in Brazilian patients with Helicobacter pylori infection. The test presented high sensitivity (97.4%) and specificity (88.9%) when employed in patients without gastric carcinoma. However, in gastric carcinoma patients, the test was neither sensitive nor specific enough to detect cagA-positive H. pylori infection.