Solubility of neurofibrillary tangles and ultrastructure of paired helical filaments in sodium dodecylsulphate

Summary Temporal cortex from 14 cases of Alzheimer-type dementia and 6 cases of Down's syndrome, all selected for severe Alzheimer pathology, was homogenised in distilled water, NaOH, or sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) containing 0.1% -mercaptoethanol. The homogenates were stained with Congo red, and the neurofibrillary tangles and plaque cores were counted under crossed-polarisation microscopy. The number of tangles and plaque cores in the water-treated extracts was not related to age, sex, postmortem interval or duration of dementia. The number of tangles after extraction in SDS or NaOH, as a percentage of tangles in water-treated extracts, was 57±25 (mean±SD) for 1% SDS, 43±17 for 5% SDS and 37±22 for 0.2 M NaOH. Plaque cores were essentially insoluble in all three agents. The percentage of tangles insoluble in 1% SDS did not correlated with age or post-mortem interval but decreased with increasing duration of dementia. Enhanced tangle solubility with increasing duration of dementia suggests that the nature of tangles changes with time; one possibility is that this reflects transformation of intracellular to extracellular tangles. Paired helical filament (PHF) length and the number of repeats per PHF were measured in electron micrographs of PHF prepared with and without treatment by 1% SDS. There was no significant multimodality of PHF length to suggest that PHF broke at regular intervals. The mean repeat length (PHF length/number of repeats) was greater for PHF isolated in the presence of 1% SDS than in its absence, showing that SDS affects ultrastructure by untwisting PHF. An untwisting process may also occur in vivo producing the straight filaments found, together with PHF, in tangles and neurites.Supported by Miss E. Buchan (to the MRC Brain Metabolism Unit) and the British Foundation for Age Research and the Wellcome Trust (to P. A. M. Eagles). S. Hussey was in receipt of an MRC Partnership Award.     

Fixed prosthodontics in the elderly population. Life expectancy of fixed restorations, failures, and retreatment methods.

The restorative needs of older dental patients challenge the ingenuity, anatomic knowledge, artistic skills, occlusal philosophies, and material knowledge of the clinician. Achieving the most secure foundation while simultaneously eliminating imperfections and incorporating a design that promotes good oral hygiene and a natural and attractive appearance are significant contributors to a patient's welfare. The treatment decision regarding fixed prosthodontics for elderly patients requires the balancing of two opposing arguments: 1. In patients who are older, and who are perhaps medically or physically compromised, and, in addition, who may be on a limited budget (or perceived limited budget), it is important to fabricate dental prostheses that are as good as possible to minimize the likelihood that the prosthesis will need to be remade in the future when the patient is likely to be even more compromised financially, medically, or physically, and also to minimize the stress on the patient of accommodating to something that is less than an optimal dental solution. 2. Patients in this age group often anticipate financial strain in the future, perhaps realistically in view of the increasing percent of older adults who are institutionalized (5% of persons 65 years old or older, 20% of persons 80 years old or older). Also, many are reluctant to invest large amounts of money in their teeth when they are already quite elderly and realize they may not live long enough to make the investment "worthwhile." Educating the patient regarding average life expectancy is sometimes helpful, but the experience of many clinical dentists is that many elderly persons either do not believe the numbers, require greater certainty in their "investments," or do not place as high a value on their dental health as they do other aspects of their lives (in a context in which there are more needs than resources to pay for them). Finally, many older adults, contrary to the popular bumper sticker, are trying to preserve as many resources for their children and grandchildren as possible. The final decision should be made with sensitivity to the overall needs of the patient, and with the assistance of a well-informed patient or other responsible party.     

Quality care at risk in CMHCs: The need for Guidelines for Psychiatric Practice

The author discusses what he considers the inadequate attention paid to quality of care in many CMHCs. He suggests that the deterioration of quality is related to the exodus of competent psychiatrists. The Guidelines for Psychiatric Practice in Community Mental Health Centers should help to assure that quality care is delivered in a cost-effective manner. These guidelines should ultimately be incorporated into an accreditation process for CMHCs, and funding should be tied to such accreditation.This paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Mental Health Administration, Woodstock, VT, March, 1988.     

Desensitization of macrophages to stimuli which induce secretion of superoxide anion. Down-regulation of receptors for phorbol myristate acetate

The ability of cultivated mouse peritoneal macrophages (M phi) to release superoxide anion (O-2) after repeated stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or serum-treated zymosan (STZ) has been studied. After a maximal first stimulus bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-activated M phi released high levels of O-2, 2-fold more than thioglycollate-elicited M phi and the response ceased within 4 h. Both populations either responded again to a second challenge or displayed a refractory state which varied in duration and selectivity. Desensitization by STZ pretreatment was transient and selective whereas PMA could render M phi refractory for 3 days to PMA alone or to both agents, depending on the amount of PMA used and the conditions of stimulation. PMA induced a selective loss of specific saturable receptors for [3H]phorbol dibutyrate, a closely related agent, and receptor activity recovered with the ability to release O-2. Loss of receptors did not account for concomitant loss of the response to STZ after nonselective deactivation. Such M phi were fully viable and able to endocytose various soluble and particulate ligands vigorously, but without stimulation of the hexose monophosphate shunt or release of O-2. Our studies indicate that M phi activities can be profoundly altered by prior stimulation, that specific receptors play a role in ligand-induced desensitization and that agents such as PMA can selectively eliminate the cells' ability to generate a second respiratory burst.     

Rat sponge implant model: a new system for evaluating angiogenic gene transfer

Therapeutic angiogenesis, either by protein injection or gene therapy, holds considerable promise for the treatment of coronary and peripheral artery diseases. Given the large number of angiogenic genes available, a simple, well defined, standard system to compare the relative angiogenic efficacy of such genes would be valuable. We have employed a replication-deficient adenovirus vector (complete E1a-, partial E1b- and partial E3-) to deliver the beta-galactosidase (beta-gal, AdLacZ) reporter gene or the human VEGF121 gene (AdGV VEGF121.10) to a rat sponge implant model of angiogenesis. beta-gal staining results reveal a transfection efficiency as high as 60% 24 h after 2x1010 particle units AdLacZ injection. Our results also indicate that a single injection of 2x1010 particle units of AdGVVEGF121.10 in the sponge results in >10, 000 pg VEGF protein expression per milligram of sponge tissue 24 h later. VEGF121 protein concentrations decreased 10-fold within 3 days and 100-fold within 7 days after injection. Significant VEGF121 protein levels were still detectable 14 days after initial virus injection. The high level of gene transfection efficiency was accompanied by enhanced angiogenesis in the sponge, a tissue devoid of any vessels before implantation. Compared to control (AdNull: adenovirus vector without the VEGF gene), AdGVVEGF121.10 induced a 2- to 3-fold up-regulation of angiogenesis at 7 and 14 days post vector injection as determined by both increased capillary number and increased tissue ingrowth. The angiogenic effects of AdGVVEGF121. 10 were dose-related in this model system. These findings demonstrate a dose-related angiogenic response to adenovirus-mediated gene therapy in this model.     

Morphoea and Borrelia burgdorferi: results from the Scottish Highlands in the context of the world literature.

AIMS: Previous studies investigating the link between infection with Borrelia burgdorferi and morphoea have produced conflicting results. Often, these studies have been undertaken in patients from different regions or countries, and using methods of varying sensitivity for detecting Borrelia burgdorferi infection. This study aimed to establish whether a relation could be demonstrated in the Highlands of Scotland, an area with endemic Lyme disease, with the use of a sensitive method for detecting the organism. METHODS: The study was performed on biopsies of lesional skin taken from 16 patients from the Highlands of Scotland with typical clinical features of morphoea. After histological confirmation of the diagnosis, a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers to a unique conserved region of the Borrelia burgdorferi flagellin gene was performed on DNA extracts from each biopsy. A literature search was also performed for comparable studies. RESULTS: None of the 16 patients had documented clinical evidence of previous infection with B burgdorferi. DNA was successfully extracted from 14 of the 16 cases but all of these were negative using PCR for B burgdorferi specific DNA, despite successful amplification of appropriate positive controls in every test. The results were compared with those of other documented studies. CONCLUSIONS: Examination of the literature suggests that there is a strong geographical relation between B burgdorferi and morphoea. These results, in which no such association was found, indicate that morphoea may not be associated with the subspecies of B burgdorferi found in the Highlands of Scotland.