Expression of genes for interleukin-1 alpha and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in newborn mice.

Spleen cells from newborn mice are immunologically non-reactive and do not respond by proliferation to T- or B-cell mitogens. However, they synthesize significant levels of mRNA for interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) after mitogen stimulation. Since these two cytokines mediate many protective activities in the body, they may be important in ensuring the survival of immunologically immature newborns.     

The sensitivity of guinea pig mesenteric and pulmonary mast cells to some histamine releasers

The mesenteric and pulmonary mast cells of guinea pigs were obtained by enzymatic dispersion of the tissues with the enzyme collagenase. The guinea pig mast cells obtained by this method were morphologically intact, as judged by light microscopy. The mast cells from lung and mesentery of actively sensitized guinea pigs released histamine in a dose-dependent fashion after challenge with specific antigen. Both pulmonary and mesenteric mast cells of nonsensitized animals were unresponsive to the action of compound 48/80 and concanavalin A. Both populations of mast cells responded to polymyxin B, but the magnitude of histamine release was low. These cells responded strongly to the ionophore A23187; the mesenteric mast cells were markedly more reactive than pulmonary mast cells.     

Dermaprotecting properties of sodium succinate under conditions of impaired circulation

Sodium succinate improves the survival of a skin graft in mice, rats, and dogs normalizes histamine and serotonin concentrations in the epidermis and blood, exhibits antitoxic activity, improves microcirculation in the skin, brain, heart, kidneys, and testes without any appreciable effect on systemic arterial pressure, cardiac function, and liver blood flow in rats. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 126, No. 10, pp. 420–424, October, 1998     

HLA-Cw*1602: a new susceptibility marker of Behçet's disease in southern Spain

Abstract: Genotyping of the HLA-C locus by PCR-SSP in Behçet's disease patients from southern Spain reveals a statistically significant association with Cw*1602 (OR 20.15, corrected ρ<0.05). This is an uncommon allele absent from the healthy control group, which seems to confer higher relative risk than B51 in this study (OR 1.85). Stratified frequencies do not show statistically significant differences but suggest that the Cw*1602-B51 haplo-type could be the main HLA marker of Behçet's disease in the analyzed population.     

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.     

Rotavirus diarrhea severity is related to the VP4 type in Mexican children

This report is of a community-based case control study to assess whether the severity of acute diarrhea by rotavirus (RV) in young children is associated with a particular VP7 (G) or VP4 (P) RV serotype. Five hundred twenty children younger than 2 years of age with diarrhea lasting less than 3 days were age and gender matched with 520 children with no diarrhea. The G and P serotypes were determined with specific monoclonal antibodies, and the VP4 serotype specificity in a subgroup was confirmed by genotyping. Infection with a G3 serotype led to a higher risk of diarrhea than infection with a G1 serotype. Infection with a G3-nontypeable-P serotype was associated with more severe gastroenteritis than infection with a G3 (or G1) P1A[8] serotype. A child with diarrhea-associated dehydration was almost five times more likely to be infected with a G3-nontypeable-P serotype than a child without dehydration (P < 0.001). Moreover, the two predominant monotypes within serotype P1A[8] had significantly different clinical manifestations. In this study, the severity of RV-associated diarrhea was related to different P serotypes rather than to G serotypes. The relationship between serotype and clinical outcomes seems to be complex and to vary among different geographic areas.     

Precipitating antibodies to DNA induced by heat-denatured DNA-albumin conjugates in the rabbit

(1) Antibodies reactive with purified DNA in the complement fixation system and induced by active immunization of rabbits with methylated bovine serum albumin—DNA aggregate (MBSA—DNA) have been previously described. The present study demonstrates their reactivity in the quantitative and double diffusion preciptin systems. In these systems they have shown preferential reactivity with heat denatured DNA and great cross-reactivity with denatured DNA from various sources.

(2) Methylated rabbit serum albumin—DNA aggregate (MRSA—DNA) is an effective immunizing antigen resulting in the production of antibodies similar to those produced by MBSA—DNA.

(3) The precipitating antibodies in this system are 19S immunoglobulins and appear to be identical to the complement fixing antibodies.

(4) The precipitin reaction is not significantly inhibited by mono-nucleotides.

     

Utilization of carbohydrates and free fatty acids by the gastrocnemius of the dog during long lasting rhythmical exercise

Summary Utilization of carbohydrates and free fatty acids (FFA) has been investigated in gastrocnemii of dogs during long lasting isotonic rhythmical exercise induced by supramaximal stimulation of the sciatic nerve. Uptake or output of gases and substrates was determined according to the Fick principle. The first measurements were done at about 2 min after the beginning of work when blood flow has reached a steady state, and the latest at about 100 min after the beginning of exercise.During the first 7 min when the work performed exceeded 5 kg/100g×min and O₂ consumption exceeded 11 ml/100g×min, uptake of arterial glucose and FFA was low, accounting for less than 40% of the total O₂ consumption. Since the RQ values at the same time were about 1.0, glycogen must have been oxidized as the major aerobic energy source.About 13 min after the beginning of exercise, the work the muscles could perform declined to about half of the initial value and remained so for the following 90 min. During this time the oxygen extraction ratio of FFA was about 50% and of arterial glucose was 40–50%, while the RQ value was about 0.8.During initial strong exercise an output of lactic acid (LA) of about 10 mg/100 g×min was measured. With the decrease of work as a consequence of fatigue, LA output became negligible, and in many experiments small amounts of LA were taken up by the working gastrocnemii.It is concluded that glycogen is the major aerobic energy source for strong muscular exercise which cannot be substituted for by the oxidation of arterial glucose or FFA.Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.