Cladophialophora bantiana as an Emerging Pathogen in Animals: Case Report of Equine Endometritis and Review of the Literature

We present an unusual equine endometritis case associated with Cladophialophora bantiana in a 15-year-old mare. The mare displayed infertility and uterine fluid accumulation with numerous black, hairy granules. Microscopically, the fluid revealed numerous septate, dark fungal hyphae and conidia in chains. Culture yielded C. bantiana (CBS 138271); the species was confirmed by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing. Treatment was unsuccessful. C. bantiana causes cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in humans, while animal cases are rare. Animal cases are reviewed.     

Association between the C957T polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor gene and schizophrenia

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the functional C957T single-nucleotide polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene and the risk for schizophrenia. We therefore conducted a case-control association study of 188 Finnish schizophrenia patients meeting the DSM-IV criteria and 384 healthy controls. The 5' nuclease assay (TaqMan) was used to determine genotypes. A greater proportion of patients with schizophrenia than healthy controls were C-allele carriers (odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-2.3, P=0.05). Our results are in agreement with an earlier association study suggesting that the C957T C-allele plays a role in the genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia and support the involvement of the DRD2 gene in schizophrenia pathogenesis.     

Biocompatibility of silicon carbide in colony formation test in vitro

We studied the results of different durations of application of the Pavlik harness for congenital dislocation or subluxation of the hip. For this, 110 hips in 106 patients were successfully reduced and examined when 6 years old. Dislocation and subluxation cases were divided into two groups: a long-term (4 months for dislocation and 3 months for subluxation) and a short-term (3 months for the former and 2 months for the latter) group. We compared them by roentgenographic analysis. The association between the long- and short-term groups was tested using statistical analyses. There were no significant differences between them, except for one item in subluxation. Therefore, we can say that the duration of application of the Pavlik harness should be reduced to 3 months for dislocation and 2 months for subluxation.     

Bronchoscopy in the diagnosis and surveillance of respiratory infections in lung and heart–lung transplant recipients

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial biopsies (TBB) is a widely used method to detect respiratory infections and to differentiate them from other postoperative complications in lung transplant (LTX) recipients, but the usefulness of surveillance FOBs is not yet established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of FOB in the diagnosis and surveillance of infections in LTX recipients. We reviewed all the consecutive 609 FOBs performed on 40 lung or heart-LTX recipients between February 1994 and November 2002. The overall diagnostic yield was 115/190 (61%) and 43/282 (15%) for clinically indicated and surveillance FOBs respectively (P < 0.001). Infection was established by bronchoscopic samples in 96/190 (50.5.%) of the clinically indicated FOBs and 34/282 (12.1%) of the surveillance FOBs (P < 0.001). The diagnostic yield of the clinically indicated FOBs was highest (72%) from 1 to 6 months post-transplant (P = 0.04). Pneumocystis carinii was detected in 23 (4.9%) of the bronchoscopic specimens and 15 (65%) of the P. carinii infections were detected during adequate chemoprophylaxis. To conclude, in LTX recipients clinically indicated FOB has a good diagnostic yield in detecting infections and other postoperative complications, whereas the information received from surveillance FOB has remained less significant. With current prophylaxis and screening strategies FOB is still required to detect P. carinii infections.     

Antacids and Sotalol Absorption

Abstract: The effect of concurrent administration of antacids on the relative bioavailability of sotalol has been examined in five healthy volunteers. Each subject received an oral 160 mg dose after an overnight fast in four different experimental schedules. Venous blood samples were drawn 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,12,24, and 32 hrs after the drug administration, and sotalol concentrations were determined fluorometrically. The results show that concurrent administration of calcium carbonate or aluminium hydroxide with sotalol has negligible pharmacokinetic consequences. The adsorption of sotalol onto magnesium hydroxide leads to somewhat decreased biovailability but in long term use the phenomenon is not likely to be of clinical importance.     

Body iron stores in relation to growth and pubertal maturation in healthy boys

During male puberty, erythropoiesis is exceptionally active. Pubertal development and iron status were followed in 60 healthy boys at 3-month intervals for 24 months to evaluate changes in body iron stores with the serum transferrin receptor–ferritin ratio. The estimated amount of stored iron declined by about 50% over a 2-year period. Remarkable changes in iron stores were found even after as short an interval as 3 months and pubertal development was closely linked with a decrease in stored iron. The annual increments of estimated red blood cell (RBC) iron showed strong positive correlations with velocities in testicular volume and certainly in body height and weight. In contrast, the estimated changes in individual iron stores were not associated with any of those parameters. The lacking associations between iron stores and growth parameters are probably indicative of increasing intestinal absorption. Despite the relatively small quantitative role of iron stores in supplying iron for growth, falling iron stores probably play a more important regulatory role by stimulating iron absorption.     

Pharmacokinetics and metabolism of selegiline

Abstract– Selegiline is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. It is distributed rapidly into the tissues, including the brain. It is the L-form of selegiline that is an active MAO-B inhibitor, the D-(+)-form being 25 times less active. Selegiline is metabolised into L-(−)-desmethylselegiline (DES), L-(−)-amphetamine (A) and L-(−)-methamphetamine (MA), mainly in the liver. We measured the steady state concentrations of the metabolites in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's diseases who were on continuous selegiline therapy. The mean concentrations in serum and CSF were similar, and were not affected by the addition of levodopa. The mean concentrations of patients with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease were 6.5±2.5 ng/ml for A, 14.7±6.5 ng/ml for MA and 0.9±0.7 ng/ml for DES. The metabolites of selegiline were excreted in urine, and the recovery as metabolites was 87%. Due to the stereospecificity and the low CSF concentrations of the (−)amphetamine metabolites during the therapy with 10 mg selegiline, these metabolites do not seem to contribute significantly to the clinical efficacy of selegiline.     

Health status and social conditions of the elderly in remote districts. Results of a screening programme

In 1978 a cohort of 1040 individuals aged 65 years or over was screened by public health nurses in Kuusamo. The screening produced basic data about health status and social conditions for an intervention of active medical care of the elderly by means of a mobile unit in rural districts. The response rate of the screening was 90%. 72% of the men and 35% of the women lived with their spouse; 6% of the men and 20% of the women lived alone. Poor health was assessed least commonly (36%) by those living alone, and most commonly by women living with their spouse (51%), even though 87% of them were under 75 years old. A visit to a physician during the past 12 months was more common among younger subjects. 15% of the men and 18% of the women had slightly restricted mobility. Men living alone had better mobility than women living alone.     

Bronchial stenosis after aspiration of an iron tablet

Stenosis of the right intermediate bronchus was found in a 60-year-old woman four months after aspiration of an iron tablet. Right middle and lower lobe lobectomies were performed. By light microscopy, small amounts of foreign, iron-positive material surrounded by giant cells, large collections of hemosiderin containing macrophages, and severe fibrosis with only minimal inflammation were observed in the bronchial wall. Early diagnosis and management are stressed in order to avoid the stenosing process which is also possible after aspiration of some tablets.     

Penetration of naproxen and salicylate into inflammatory exudates in the rat.

Acute inflammation was induced in rats by subcutaneous implantation of plastic sponges, and the penetration of salicylate and naproxen into the inflammatory exudate was studied after oral dosing with these compounds. The penetration of intravenously administered 22Na and 125I-albumin was also studied. It was found that salicylate and 22Na penetrated very rapidly, reaching maximum concentration in the exudate within 3 hours of administration. In contrast, naproxen and 125I-albumin penetrated much more slowly, maximum concentrations in the exudates not being reached until 5 hours after administration. The significance of these results and the role of protein binding is discussed.