Low-dose nitric oxide therapy for persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Clinical Inhaled Nitric Oxide Research Group

BACKGROUND: Inhaled nitric oxide improves gas exchange in neonates, but the efficacy of low-dose inhaled nitric oxide in reducing the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has not been established. METHODS: We conducted a clinical trial to determine whether low-dose inhaled nitric oxide would reduce the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in neonates with pulmonary hypertension who were born after 34 weeks' gestation, were 4 days old or younger, required assisted ventilation, and had hypoxemic respiratory failure as defined by an oxygenation index of 25 or higher. The neonates who received nitric oxide were treated with 20 ppm for a maximum of 24 hours, followed by 5 ppm for no more than 96 hours. The primary end point of the study was the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. RESULTS: Of 248 neonates enrolled, 126 were randomly assigned to the nitric oxide group and 122 to the control group. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was used in 78 neonates in the control group (64 percent) and in 48 neonates in the nitric oxide group (38 percent) (P=0.001). The 30-day mortality rate in the two groups was similar (8 percent in the control group and 7 percent in the nitric oxide group). Chronic lung disease developed less often in neonates treated with nitric oxide than in those in the control group (7 percent vs. 20 percent, P=0.02). The efficacy of nitric oxide was independent of the base-line oxygenation index and the primary pulmonary diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Inhaled nitric oxide reduces the extent to which extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is needed in neonates with hypoxemic respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension.     

Cytogenetic diagnosis using midtrimester fetal blood samples: Application to suspected mosaicism and other diagnostic problems

Cytogenetic studies on fetal blood cells obtained at 18–25 weeks gestation have provided information for decision making in 25 cases identified as being at high risk of having an abnormal fetus. In particular, in the 21 cases studied to consider the possibility of true mosaicism, confirmation in fetal blood was obtained in three, one of which presented as a pseudomosaic on the original amniotic fluid cell study. Fetal blood was also informative in two cases (one positive and the other negative) in which a diagnosis of the fragile X syndrome was being considered. Furthermore, when high risk pregnancies presented late in gestation (21–24 weeks), these methods allowed for a rapid cytogenetic diagnosis. The procedure has proved useful in most of these cases since the couples involved had indicated that they would probably have terminated the pregnancy without the reassurance of normal fetal lymphocyte studies. Since the technique carries a much higher risk of pregnancy loss than does amniocentesis, its use should only be considered when there are compelling indications.     

Inflammatory and immunological responses in skin and peripheral lymph of sheep following intracutaneous injection ofStaphylococcus aureus

The cellular response within lesions and in draining lymph was examined in sheep following a primary intracutaneous injection of live or killedS. aureus. Microscopic examination of sections from liveS. aureus lesions (12, 24, 48, and 96 h following vaccination) revealed a high ratio of neutrophils to macrophages at all times. This ratio was initially high following inoculation of killedS. aureus but decreased steadily at successive sampling times. Representative sections from lesions were subjected to indirect immunofluorescent staining to identify IgM-, IgG₁-, and IgG₂-containing cells. The ratio of IgG₂- to IgG₁-containing cells in lesions produced following liveS. aureus vaccination was significantly greater than the ratio in lesions produced by killed staphylococci. Lesions induced by liveS. aureus recruited significantly greater numbers of⁵¹Cr-labeled allogeneic neutrophils from blood than did lesions induced by killedS. aureus. During the first 6 h this difference was approx. 20-fold. The volume of lymph and the number of leukocytes draining liveS. aureus lesions was considerably greater than from lesions produced by killed staphylococci. The proportion of neutrophils in lymph draining both types of lesions increased markedly during the first two days of the response but was observed to be greater and remained higher for a longer period of time in lymph draining vaccine lesions produced following injection of live staphylococci. The increase in proportion of neutrophils in lymph was accompanied by a concomitant decrease in proportion of lymphocytes and macrophages. No immunoglobulin-containing cells or anti-staphylococcal antibody production was detected in lymph draining either type of lesion. These differences in inflammatory responses may contribute to the documented differences in immune responses to live and killed staphylococcal vaccines.     

Coronary artery lesions in Takayasu's arteritis--clinical and angiographic study

Two hundred and twenty five patients of Takayasu's arteritis were studied over 13 years. Male:Female ratio was 1:7. Mean age of the study population was 19 +/- 4 years. Of these 225 patients, 75 patients had symptoms and/or signs of cardiac involvement and these patients were subjected to coronary angiography. Significant coronary artery occlusion (i.e. more than 50% narrowing of luminal diameter) was present in 9 patients. Incidence of coronary artery lesions in Takayasu's arteritis is 12% in this study. The proximal segments of coronary arteries were involved while the distal segments were spared. Out of 34 patients with angina pectoris, only 3 patients had significant coronary arterial narrowing.     

Characterization of the Interaction between Yersinia enterocolitica Biotype 1A and Phagocytes and Epithelial Cells In Vitro

Yersinia enterocolitica strains of biotype 1A are increasingly being recognized as etiological agents of gastroenteritis. However, the mechanisms by which these bacteria cause disease differ from those of highly invasive, virulence plasmid-bearing Y. enterocolitica strains and are poorly understood. We have investigated several biotype 1A strains of diverse origin for their ability to resist killing by professional phagocytes. All strains were rapidly killed by polymorphonuclear leukocytes but persisted within macrophages (activated with gamma interferon) to a significantly greater extent (survival = 40.5% +/- 17.4%) than did Escherichia coli HB101 (9.3% +/- 0.7%; P = 0.0001). Strains isolated from symptomatic patients were significantly more resistant to killing by macrophages (survival = 48.9% +/- 19.5%) than were strains obtained from food or the environment (survival = 32.1% +/- 10.3%; P = 0.04). Some strains which had been ingested by macrophages or HEp-2 epithelial cells showed a tendency to reemerge into the tissue culture medium over a period lasting several hours. This phenomenon, which we termed "escape," was observed in 14 of 15 strains of clinical origin but in only 3 of 12 nonclinical isolates (P = 0.001). The capacity of bacteria to escape from cells was not directly related to their invasive ability. To determine if escape was due to host cell lysis, we used a variety of techniques, including lactate dehydrogenase release, trypan blue exclusion, and examination of infected cells by light and electron microscopy, to measure cell viability and lysis. These studies established that biotype 1A Y. enterocolitica strains were able to escape from macrophages or epithelial cells without causing detectable cytolysis, suggesting that escape was achieved by a process resembling exocytosis. The observations that biotype 1A Y. enterocolitica strains of clinical origin are significantly more resistant to killing by macrophages and significantly more likely to escape from host cells than are strains of nonclinical origin suggest that these properties may account for the virulence of these bacteria.     

H-Y antigen expression in patients with X-autosomal translocations and gonadal dysgenesis

Cells from three patients with early gonadal failure and a balanced reciprocal translocation involving the long arm of the X chromosome and an autosome were studied. Fibroblasts from a patient with a similar balanced reciprocal translocation but normal reproductive capabilities were also studied. Two of the four patients were found to have serologically detectable H-Y antigen on their cells. Since H-Y antigen has been found on the cells of other patients with X chromosome abnormalities but without a Y chromosome, it is thought that the X chromosome plays a role in the regulation of H-Y antigen expression. This study suggests that the long arm of the X chromosome may be involved but the location of a regulatory gene cannot be identified in these studies. These cases do not permit us to implicate H-Y antigen as a cause of gonadal dysgenesis and early gonadal failure in females who have structurally abnormal X chromosomes.     

Homologues of insecticidal toxin complex genes in Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A and their contribution to virulence

Yersinia enterocolitica is an enteric pathogen that consists of six biotypes: 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Strains of the latter five biotypes can carry a virulence plasmid, known as pYV, and several well-characterized chromosomally encoded virulence determinants. Y. enterocolitica strains of biotype 1A lack the virulence-associated markers of pYV-bearing strains and were once considered to be avirulent. There is growing epidemiological, clinical, and experimental evidence, however, to suggest that some biotype 1A strains are virulent and can cause gastrointestinal disease. To identify potential virulence genes of pathogenic strains of Y. enterocolitica biotype 1A, we used genomic subtractive hybridization to determine genetic differences between two biotype 1A strains: an environmental isolate, Y. enterocolitica IP2222, and a clinical isolate, Y. enterocolitica T83. Among the Y. enterocolitica T83-specific genes we identified were three, tcbA, tcaC, and tccC, that showed homology to the insecticidal toxin complex (TC) genes first discovered in Photorhabdus luminescens. The Y. enterocolitica T83 TC gene homologues were expressed by Y. enterocolitica T83 and were significantly more prevalent among clinical biotype 1A strains than other Yersinia isolates. Inactivation of the TC genes in Y. enterocolitica T83 resulted in mutants which were attenuated in the ability to colonize the gastrointestinal tracts of perorally infected mice. These results indicate that products of the TC gene complex contribute to the virulence of some strains of Y. enterocolitica biotype 1A, possibly by facilitating their persistence in vivo.