Thrombocytopoietic properties of oncostatin M

Oncostatin M (OM) is a 28-kD glycoprotein that exhibits a panoply of biologic effects. Based on histologic observations of increased splenic megakaryocytes in nude mice implanted with an OM-secreting cell line, the thrombocytopoietic properties of OM in mice were investigated in culture and in vivo. Alone, OM did not induce megakaryocytic colony formation, but in combination with murine interleukin-3 (IL-3), OM markedly enhanced colony formation. The effects of OM on colony formation were similar to those of IL-6. OM alone augmented acetylcholinesterase in short-term marrow cultures. In normal mice, the administration of OM augmented platelet counts without increasing other circulating blood cell counts. The increment in counts exceeded that observed with IL-6. The kinetics of the OM response suggested that maximal increases in platelets occurred 3 days after the cessation of OM administration, irrespective of the duration of administration. In irradiated mice, OM administration accelerated platelet recovery and prevented the decrease in red blood cells observed in irradiated control animals. The data show that OM behaves as a megakaryocytic maturation factor in vitro and augments platelet production in vivo. Based on these animal data, OM may have potential clinical utility as a thrombocytopoietic agent.     

Hereditary Hemolytic Disease Secondary to Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency: Report of Three Cases with Special Emphasis on ATP Metabolism

1. Three cases of hereditary hemolytic disease secondary to G-6-PD deficiency are described. Two of the cases were first cousins of Scotch-Irish-English descent and the mode of inheritance was believed to be sex-linked.The third case was of Turkish origin; no family studies were availale.

2. The mothers, who were heterozygous for G-6-PD deficiency, showed onlyminimal expression of the defect, which was manifested by a slightly decreasedred cell survival in both mothers and an abnormal methemoglobin reductiontest in one of them.

3. All three cases showed a more pronounced fall in erythrocyte ATP afterincubation with phenylhydrazine than that observed in primaquine-sensitiveNegroes whose red cells were less deficient in G-6-PD.

4. It is suggested that the inability of the G-6-PD-deficient erythrocyte tomaintain adequate levels of ATP may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of the hemolytic process.

Submitted on August 26, 1963 Accepted on October 24, 1963     

Suppression of ongoing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in DA rats by novel peptide drug,structural part of human myelin basic protein 46–62

Previously, we demonstrated that autoantibodies (AAb) in multiple sclerosis (MS) reveal site-specific binding and cleavage toward myelin basic protein (MBP) epitope library. We have found several fragments of MBP immunodominant in terms of AAb binding. Here, we applied these peptides to DA rats with induced protracted relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) most closely related to MS. DA rats with EAE induced by syngenic spinal cord homogenate in complete Freund's adjuvant were treated by nasal route with human MBP 46–62, 81–102, 124–139, 147–170, and Copaxone®. MBP 124–139 and 147–170 displayed only mild therapeutic effects but MBP 46–62 significantly reduced EAE, reflected by lower clinical scores and shorter EAE duration compared to controls.     

Crohn''s Disease of the Colon

Retroperitoneal lumbocrural abscess occurred in 12 patients of 231 with Crohn's colitis or ileocolitis. Although all patients with this complication fell within the group of 175 ileocolitis patients, at least four originated in fistulous tracts of the colon. Eleven of the 12 abscesses developed spontaneously as the first major complication of the disease. The prominent clinical features included pain radiating down the thigh, hip joint flexion, difficulty in walking, hydronephrosis and hydroureter. Internal and external fistulas were significantly more common in the abscess group of 12 patients than in the 219 patients without retroperitoneal abscess. Radiological evidence of granulomatous disease was found in all patients; fistulous tract formation was characteristic and the development of extraperitoneal gas bubbles, in four patients, pathognomonic of abscess with gast-forming organisms. In the presence of established retroperitoneal abscess, the surgical sequence suggested is drainage synchronous with, or followed by diversion and ultimately definitive resection. Resection with anastomosis should not be carried out in the presence of an acute inflammatory process with frank abscess or free pus communicating with the peritoneal cavity. The spontaneous development of retroperitoneal abscess is a serious development in the natural history of Crohn's (ileo) colitis. It frequently heralds the first of a series of operative procedures to deal with the abscess. It sequels are enterocutaneous fistulas and further extension of the disease process.     

Crohn's Disease of the Colon

Using accepted diagnostic criteria we have selected, for study, 160 patients with Crohn's disease involving the colon. There is a remarkable discrepancy between the clinical diagnosis prior to or at the time of initial admission to this hospital and the diagnosis following definitive investigation and observation of the progression of disease.
The peak age incidence occurred in the second decode The colitis group showed a greater percentage of patients over 30 years of age. Although histopathology was not obtained in all patients, there appeared to be sparing of the ascending colon in a small percentage (9%) of patients with ileocolitis.
Comparison of the clinical features of granulomatous disease limited to the colon and granulomatous ileocolitis shows a significantly greater incidence of extraintestinal symptoms and overt bleeding in the former. Nausea, vomiting, subacute obstruction, abdominal mass and internal fistulas were substantially more common in ileocolitis but the difference was not statistically significant. In this series retroperitoneal abscess did not occur in patients with disease localized to the colon. In the 10 patients with ileocolitis who developed an abscess, however, the site of fistula was the colon in four patients. In one of these, the abscess was left-sided.