An increase in water content of mouse erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium yoelii

Mean cell volume and mean cell water content were examined in Plasmodium yoelii-infected mouse erythrocytes by gas chromatography and 3H-sucrose. Mean cell volume increased by 16% in infected erythrocytes with late trophozoites and schizonts. Mean cell water content further increased by 23% in the infected erythrocytes. Measurement of the erythrocyte potassium and sodium concentrations by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer revealed that the infected erythrocytes contained highly elevated sodium and slightly reduced potassium levels when calculated per single erythrocyte. It is suggested that membrane transport processes of sodium and potassium are changed in P. yoelii-infected erythrocytes and that a passive inflow of sodium takes place, which results in an increase in intra-erythrocytic water content.     

The social consequence of wellness: a view of healing outcomes from micro and macro perspectives

Using field data from Mexican Spiritualist healing, this article focuses on the relationship between treatment outcomes at the individual and social levels. Two issues are explored 1) to what degree do persons treated by Spiritualist healing techniques fit into the wider society of which they are part, and 2) what effects does a given healing system exert on socioeconomic and political arrangements? The discussion brings into bold relief the contradictions embedded in Spiritualist healing techniques and rituals when studied from micro and macro perspectives. Using physiological and social analysis, the author addresses the reasons why individuals participate in Spiritualist healing and rituals, despite the resultant reproduction of socioeconomic and political forms that are contrary to the participants' concerns and interests and that may also be illness producing. By way of conclusion, it is suggested that, on a macro level, healing systems of the Spiritualist kind tend to perpetuate the socioeconomic and political systems.     

Behavioural, physiological and immunological consequences of social status and aggression in chronically coexisting resident-intruder dyads of male rats

The behavioural and physiological consequences of social status and reciprocal fighting in resident-intruder dyads of Long Evans male rats were evaluated. Before a chronic cohabitation of 10 days, residents and intruders were individually housed for one month to increase their aggressiveness. Control animals included isolates, i.e., animals kept individually housed throughout the experiment and pair-housed rats, i.e., pairs of rats housed together from their rats in the laboratory. In 19 out of 20 dyads, a clear dominance relationship developed with an advantage to the resident in 68% of the cases. Dominants showed more exploratory activity than subordinates in a open-field test at the end of the cohabitation period; subordinates groomed longer than animals from other experimental groups. Dominants had lower pain thresholds than individually and pair-housed animals. Both dominants and subordinates had higher tyrosine hydroxylase enzymatic activities in the left adrenal than isolated and pair-housed rats. Subordinates lost body weight and had higher plasma corticosteroid concentrations than animals from the other experimental groups. In addition, they had smaller thymus glands and reduced spleen lymphocyte responses to mitogenic stimulation in vitro, in comparison to dominant animals. These results show that subordination in the dyadic resident-intruder paradigm leads to a complex syndrome of behavioural and physiological changes, some of which may be modulated by the intensity of aggressive interactions.     

Surgery for morbid obesity

Although jejunoileal bypass surgery proved effective in controlling morbid obesity, the serious adverse effects from the operation were ultimately found to outweigh the benefits. Gastric partitioning results in weight loss by restricting the volume of food ingested rather than by interfering with absorption. Vertical banded gastroplasty has fewer complications than Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and is currently the surgical procedure of choice for morbid obesity.     

Clinical significance of quantitative studies of cell nucleus in lymphocytes of the cerebrospinal fluid in leukemia]

The nuclear content, area and perimeter of the nucleus of lymphocytes in the C.S.F. were determined quantitatively by means of image analysis technique. 26 cases of central nervous system lymphocytic leukemia (CNLL), and 8 suspected cases were studied, other 56 cases who did not have leukemic and neoplastic diseases and had normal C.S.F. lymphocytes were taken as a control. Our data showed that all the mean nuclear content (MNC), mean nuclear area (MNA), mean nuclear perimeter (MNP), and the maximum and minimum nuclear contents of the 2 groups of former patients were obviously higher than those of the contral (P less than 0.01). These results presented suggestion that the image analysis technique can be used for differentiating the leukemic lymphocyte from normal one especially in suspected cases, and thus the diagnosis of CNLL might be improved.     

Functional and immunohistochemical studies of cultured rat microglia

We studied functional and immunohistochemical characteristics of cultured rat microglia. Unstimulated microglia did not proliferate. Microglia stimulated with LCM (L929 conditioned medium: colony stimulating factor-1) had proliferative activity and increased acid phosphatase activity. LPS (lipopolysaccharide) and IFN gamma (interferon-gamma) but did not affect proliferative activity. Immunohistochemically, RCA-1 lectin and GS-1 lectin, which react to beta-D-galactose and alpha-D-galactose respectively, strongly reacted to the cytoplasm and membrane of unstimulated microglia. After stimulation with LCM, microglia elongated processes and decreased response to these lectins. On the other hand, microglia stimulated with LCM showed increased reactivity to monoclonal antibody of vimentin. Microglia stimulated with LPS had round shape and had response to these lectins and vimentin. Microglia stimulated with IFN gamma had adhesive activity and weakly stained with these lectins but not with vimentin. ED-1 (monoclonal antibody of rat monocytes/macrophages) reacted to unstimulated and stimulated microglia. In flow cytometry, unstimulated microglia expressed OX-18 (MHC class I) and W3/25 (CD4) antigen. After stimulation with IFN gamma, microglia were induced to express these antigens. CD4 antigen is a marker of helper/inducer T cells and thought to be a receptor of HIV. The results that microglia had CD4 antigen which was further induced with IFN gamma are important to investigate infection of the CNS with HIV. OX-6 (Ia) antigen was induced with IFN gamma. This indicates that the microglia plays a central role in the CNS immune reaction. These characteristics of cultured rat microglia provide useful informations to investigate the pathogenesis of the CNS disorders.     

Behavioral state-specific changes in human hippocampal theta activity

Although there has been extensive examination of the behavioral and physiologic correlates of hippocampal theta activity in animals, the human literature consists of a single case study. We investigated the differential effects of four behavioral states on human hippocampal theta activity in 16 epilepsy surgery patients. Behavioral conditions included resting eyes closed (RC), resting eyes open (RO), eyes open with auditory word activation (AW), and eyes open with visuospatial activation (VS). Hippocampal theta activity decreased during both RO and VS compared to both RC and AW. There were reciprocal changes in delta activity. Comparisons of RO to VS and of RC to AW were nonsignificant. The results demonstrate state-specific changes in human hippocampal theta and are consistent with the animal literature that relates hippocampal theta to sensorimotor integration and forebrain volitional mechanisms.