The applicability of anaphylactic tests in studies of antigen mixtures: I. The sensitivity of the tests

The sensitivity of two anaphylactic tests, the Dale—Schultz reaction and the measurement of histamine released from chopped lung, have been investigated and compared in model systems. Both tests proved to be highly sensitive in animals sensitized to a single antigen, the Dale—Schultz test being more sensitive on occasion, but less consistent than histamine-release from the lung. In general, the sensitivity to a particular antigen was decreased if more than one antigen was used for sensitization.     

Detection of human cytomegalovirus-specific iga antibodies in colostrum by enzyme-linked lmmunosorbent assay (elisa)

Fifty women were examined after delivery for the prevalence of antibodies to human cytomegalovirus in colostrum and sera. Eighty percent of them had specific CMV IgG antibodies in the sera, as determined by the immunoperoxidase antibody to membrane antigen (IPAMA) technique. Of the CMV-seropositive women, 60% had specific CMV IgA antibodies in high titer in the colostrum as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In only two of the seropositive women were specific CMV IgA antibodies detected in the sera as well. The significance of specific CMV IgA antibodies in colostrum as protection against perinatal infection and the mechanism of this production will be discussed.     

Utilizing Nottingham Prognostic Index in microarray gene expression profiling of breast carcinomas.

We report a novel approach to gene expression profiling using the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) to stratify 26 patients with invasive breast carcinoma. As an aggregate index of parameters reflecting metastatic potential, growth rate, and genetic instability the NPI has distinct advantages over other clinicopathologic features used to segregate breast cancer patients. As a continuous variable it offers a responsive and sensitive means of modeling a continuum of clinical aggressiveness. Using RNA extracted from 26 tumors and cDNA microarrays with 23 343 unique genetic elements, 84 genes and expressed sequence tags were identified whose expression patterns correlated with NPI. Differential expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) was also observed for two of three genes evaluated by this method. Correlation was determined by the Spearman rank correlation method with null distribution analysis. Among the 84 genetic elements were seven previously implicated in neoplastic progression (including the two demonstrating differential expression by IHC), 11 without specific cancer association but localized to chromosomal sites whose loss or gain has been identified in cytogenetic studies of breast carcinoma, and 73 not previously associated with breast carcinoma. Collectively, the expression patterns of these 84 elements have potential to distinguish high and low NPI patient samples. These data add support to the assertion that prognostic groups of breast carcinoma are reflected in distinguishable expression profiles of a limited set of genes.     

Carcinoma of the fallopian tube: Clinical management

From 1970 to 1986, 36 women were diagnosed to have primary fallopian tube cancer. Fifty-three percent of the patients were Stage III with a median adjusted survival of 27 months. Although varied adjunctive therapies were employed, none provided a clear survival benefit. Five “second-look” procedures were performed. Only one was negative, occurring in a Stage IIIC patient treated with combination chemotherapy. She has continued without evidence of disease 26 months following diagnosis. Recurrent disease was uniformly fatal, despite efforts at salvage therapy. Disease biology and response to therapy parallels that of similar stage epithelial carcinoma of the ovary.     

Treatment of tinnitus with gabapentin: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of gabapentin (Neurontin) improve the disease-specific quality of life in patients with moderate tinnitus. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. SETTING: Single-center academic outpatient otolaryngology practice. INTERVENTION: Gabapentin 1800 mg daily versus placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The study design is a randomized, double blind placebo controlled single site trial conducted in an academic medical center. Inclusion criteria included patients between ages 18 and 70 with a complaint of nonpulsatile, subjective tinnitus, bilateral or unilateral, greater than 3 months in duration. The primary outcome measure is the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory; secondary measures include the Profile of Mood States (POMS) rating scale, subjective tinnitus severity. The null hypothesis addressed in this study is that the drug would not result in significant alleviation of the symptom of tinnitus. RESULTS: Seventy-six patients completed the trial; of these 52 received the drug. No significant differences were found between the two groups after 5 weeks of treatment with gabapentin. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of gabapentin in the treatment of tinnitus.     

Measurements of the strontium plasma clearance rate in patients receiving 89Sr radionuclide therapy

The total strontium plasma clearance rate due to excretion through the kidneys and gut has an imporant influence on the absorbed does delivered to skeletal metastases and red bone marrow in patients receiving ⁸⁹Sr radionuclide therapy for disseminated prostatic carcinoma. Although a measurement of the renal strontium plasma clearance rate may readily be obtained through a 24-h urine collection, little information is available on the correlation between renal and total clearances. We describe a method of determining total strontium plasma clearance rate from whole body counter measurements of total body strontium retention and measurements of plasma strontium concentration following administration of a ⁸⁵Sr tracer dose at the time of ⁸⁹Sr therapy. Amongst the 26 patients whom we studied, the total clearance rate varied from 1.2–15.0 l/day, renal clearance rate from 0.1–11.5 l/day, and the mean gut clearance rate was 2.0 l/day. A close correlation was found between total and renal clearance, with the renal component accounting for 96% of the variance in total strontium plasma clearance. A weak collection may exist between gut and renal clearance.     

Membrane-bound choline acetyltransferase is a cell surface marker of the differentiated NS-20Y cholinergic cell line

When differentiated cells of the cholinergic NS-20Y type were incubated with an antiserum to choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), in the presence of complement, immunolysis occurred as demonstrated by release of 20% of total lactate dehydrogenase and 70% of total ChAT. No significant immunolytic effects were observed when either undifferentiated (dividing or non-dividing) or partially differentiated cells were incubated under identical conditions. When the Triton X-114 phase separation technique was employed using membranes from differentiated cells, a small but significant proportion of choline acetyltransferase was recovered in the detergent-rich phase. These results suggest that a membrane-bound form of ChAT is a surface marker of the NS-20Y cell line.