A case of Sturge-Weber syndrome in association with phacomatosis pigmentovascularis and developmental glaucoma.

Sturge-Weber syndrome is a rare neurocutaneous disorder characterized by a facial nevus flammeus and extensive angiomatous changes involving the leptomeninges, the dura, and vessels of the gray and white matter. Oculodermal melanocytosis is characterized by hyperpigmentation of the facial skin in the distribution of the ophthalmic, maxillary, and occasionally mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve.     

Preoperative assessment of parapharyngeal tumour

Due to deep seated location and presence of vital structures, the tumours of the parapharyngeal space poses difficulty in its early diagnosis, histological nature and surgical extirpation. Modes of radiological assessment in pre-computed tomography (GT) scan era were sialography of the parotid gland to see whether the tumour is of salivary origin and angiography to note the vascularity of the tumour. Post CT scan era has changed the assessment protocol. In this article, the authors have tried to make a comparative evalua?tion between non-contrast GT, GT with systemic contrast and GT sialogram in 14 cases of parapharyngeal tumours. Angiography was done only when the tumours showed marked enhancement with systemic contrast. Subsequently, 13 patients underwent surgery for removal of the mass. Application of high-resolution GT helped in not only to see the extent of the tumour but also to pinpoint the probable histologic nature.     

Gliding motility leads to active cellular invasion by Cryptosporidium parvum sporozoites

We examined gliding motility and cell invasion by an early-branching apicomplexan, Cryptosporidium parvum, which causes diarrheal disease in humans and animals. Real-time video microscopy demonstrated that C. parvum sporozoites undergo circular and helical gliding, two of the three stereotypical movements exhibited by Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. C. parvum sporozoites moved more rapidly than T. gondii sporozoites, which showed the same rates of motility as tachyzoites. Motility by C. parvum sporozoites was prevented by latrunculin B and cytochalasin D, drugs that depolymerize the parasite actin cytoskeleton, and by the myosin inhibitor 2,3-butanedione monoxime. Imaging of the initial events in cell entry by Cryptosporidium revealed that invasion occurs rapidly; however, the parasite does not enter deep into the cytosol but rather remains at the cell surface in a membrane-bound compartment. Invasion did not stimulate rearrangement of the host cell cytoskeleton and was inhibited by cytochalasin D, even in host cells that were resistant to the drug. Our studies demonstrate that C. parvum relies on a conserved actin-myosin motor for motility and active penetration of its host cell, thus establishing that this is a widely conserved feature of the Apicomplexa.     

Development of hatching blastocysts from immature human oocytes following in-vitro maturation and fertilization using a co-culture system

Recently, in-vitro maturation (IVM) of immature human oocytes recovered from non-stimulated follicles has been applied in the treatment of infertility. However, in previous reports, very few embryos cultured in conventional medium have reached the expanded blastocyst stage following in-vitro maturation and fertilization (IVM/IVF). The objective of this study was to investigate whether the developmental competence of human embryos following IVM/IVF could be enhanced by the use of a human ampullary cell co-culture system. Immature human oocytes were aspirated from small follicles at Caesarean section and then cultured in medium containing human menopausal gonadotrophin for 36 to 48 h, followed by insemination. Zygotes were randomly cultured either in conventional culture medium alone or in the co-culture system. Of 48 embryos cultured in conventional medium alone, all arrested at the 2-16- cell stage on day 3 after insemination. Of 46 embryos cultured in the co-culture system, 26 embryos (56.5%) arrested at the 2-16-cell stage. Six embryos (13%) developed to the morula stage. Fourteen embryos (30.4%) developed to expanded blastocysts and two blastocysts were hatching on day 7 after insemination. We conclude that co-culture significantly enhances the development of blastocysts in embryos resulting from IVM/IVF.      

Structures of Toxoplasma gondii Tachyzoites, Bradyzoites, and Sporozoites and Biology and Development of Tissue Cysts

Infections by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii are widely prevalent worldwide in animals and humans. This paper reviews the life cycle; the structure of tachyzoites, bradyzoites, oocysts, sporocysts, sporozoites and enteroepithelial stages of T. gondii; and the mode of penetration of T. gondii. The review provides a detailed account of the biology of tissue cysts and bradyzoites including in vivo and in vitro development, methods of separation from host tissue, tissue cyst rupture, and relapse. The mechanism of in vivo and in vitro stage conversion from sporozoites to tachyzoites to bradyzoites and from bradyzoites to tachyzoites to bradyzoites is also discussed.     

Sensitive and Specific Identification of Neospora caninum Infection of Cattle Based on Detection of Serum Antibodies to Recombinant Ncp29

Neosporosis is an economically important disease of dairy cattle caused by the protozoan Neospora caninum. Diagnostic tests for neosporosis are complicated by the potential for cross-reaction of antibodies to antigens that are similar between N. caninum and closely related parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis cruzi. To provide a sensitive and specific assay for detecting antibodies to N. caninum in the serum of infected animals, we have investigated a recombinant form of the antigen known as Ncp29 (rNcp29), which is a major surface protein of the parasite. Ncp29 is encoded by a gene that is homologous to the SAG1 gene previously characterized from T. gondii. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to screen animals for the presence of serum antibodies specific to rNcp29. The rNcp29 ELISA readily distinguished between cattle known to be infected with N. caninum (optical density [OD] > 1.2 at 1:500 or greater dilution) and negative controls (OD < 0.5 at 1:500). Additionally, sera from animals that were infected with T. gondii or S. cruzi were negative. The rNcp29 ELISA developed here provides a specific and sensitive assay for detecting neosporosis in cattle.     

A feasibility study to investigate the use of thin-plate splines to account for prostate deformation

Image registration is an important step in the radiotherapy treatment planning process. It provides a method of fusing different types of diagnostic imaging information. One such application is to combine magnetic resonance spectroscopic images (MRSI) of the prostate with anatomical MRI and/or computed tomography images that are routinely used in the radiation treatment planning of prostate cancer. MRSI provides in vivo information related to the underlying metabolic activity of tissues, and can be related to the presence of cancer. However, the inflated endorectal coil required during MRS imaging poses a potential problem by deforming the prostate when it is filled with approximately 100 cm3 of air during image acquisition. This pushes the prostate superiorly/anteriorly, deforming the prostate and consequently the spectroscopic imaging data in a nonlinear manner. In this application, the coil-deformed MRS images are warped back to a non-deformed state, using a single data set. A nonlinear warping algorithm is presented to achieve this. Results indicate that the algorithm attains an accuracy of 97% (4 cm3 difference) when reproducing the total prostate volume compared to a Radiation Oncologist defined prostate volume. This difference is slightly smaller than the measured intra-operator variance of +/-1.5 cm3 (deflated coil) and the measured algorithm variance of +/-1.0 cm3. Additionally, intraprostatic nodules were used to assess the accuracy of the warping algorithm in regions inside the prostate. While choosing anatomical tie points along the external prostate surface, analysis of the nodules revealed the algorithm accuracy reduced to 63-93%.     

Cholinergic and serotonergic alterations in the rat hippocampus following trimethyltin exposure and fetal neural transplantation

The M2 receptor (M2-mAChR) is quantitatively the dominant muscarinic subtype in animal bladders. The alterations in its protein quantity and biosynthesis during diabetic cystopathy were investigated. Three-month-old male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: (1) 2-week-old diabetics; and (2) normoglycemic control rats. Diabetes was induced by single intravenous injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin. The amount of M2 receptor protein in the rat bladder body tissue was measured by Western immunoblotting using monoclonal antibodies. For determination of M2 muscarinic receptor mRNA in the bladder tissue, the method of Northern blotting was employed. The results of the Western immunoblotting showed that the amount of M2-mAChR protein in the diabetic bladder was significantly increased by 40.0 +/- 6.2% when compared with the control bladder (P < 0.05, n = 8). The Northern blotting demonstrated a 69.3 +/- 8.5% increase of the M2-mAChR mRNA in the diabetic bladder (P < 0.05, n = 8). The findings of the present study demonstrated an up-regulation of M2-mAChR biosynthesis in the diabetic urinary bladder. This phenomenon could lead to increased reactivity to acetylcholine and thus results in detrusor instability.