IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION OF CANNABINOID CB 1 RECEPTOR IN THE RAT CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION OF CANNABINOID CB 1 RECEPTOR IN THE RAT CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM@邹冈     

Immunocytochemical profile of benign and carcinomatous effusions. A practical approach to difficult diagnosis.

One of the great challenges in the cytodiagnosis of effusions is the distinction between reactive mesothelium/histiocytes and cancer cells. This is notably true in patients having undergone radiation and/or chemotherapy. To establish whether monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) could be used as reliable diagnostic adjuvants, the authors retrospectively and blindly studied 60 cases diagnosed by standard cytologic criteria (malignant, benign, and equivocal), with a panel of seven readily available MoAbs (cytokeratins, vimentin, EMA, B72.3, alpha-CEA, HMFG-2, and Leu-M1) and the lectin Ulex europaeus I. All 18 (100%) malignant cases showed reactivity with EMA and HMFG, whereas 17 (95%) and 11 (61%) reacted with B72.3 and alpha-CEA, respectively. Combinations of (1) EMA + B72.3, (2) EMA + alpha-CEA, and (3) EMA + alpha-CEA + B72.3 displayed positivity in 17 (95%), 11 (61%), and 10 (56%) malignant cases, respectively. Of the 18 benign cases, 7 reacted with HMFG and 2 each with EMA and B72.3. Only one case (5.5%) reacted with both EMA and B72.3. Based on these results, the 24 equivocal cases were regrouped into 14 malignant and 10 benign cases. Follow-up effusions obtained within the ensuing three months in all these patients allowed the authors to unequivocally confirm the diagnosis in all but five. The combination of EMA and B72.3 MoAbs detected malignant cells in 95% of the cases, with a 3.5% incidence of false positive cases in this study. A panel of EMA, B72.3, and alpha-CEA MoAbs should prove the most useful and simple approach to the correct diagnosis in most questionable effusions. Some of the potential pitfalls are discussed.     

Prosthetic mitral valve endocarditis due to Ochrobactrum anthropi: case report

We describe a case of infective endocarditis in a prosthetic mitral valve due to Ochrobactrum anthropi. Although O. anthropi is an emerging pathogen in immunocompromised patients, infections with the bacterium have very rarely been documented in healthy hosts, and endocarditis is rare. To our knowledge, only two cases of O. anthropi endocarditis have been reported in the medical literature.     

Review of Technology: Planning for the Development of Telesonography

Teleradiology allows contemporaneous interpretation of imaging exams performed at some distance from the interpreting radiologist. The transmitted images are usually static. However, there is benefit to real-time review of full-motion ultrasound (US) exams as they are performed. Telesonography is transmission of full-motion sonographic data to a remote site. We hypothesize that US exams, read after having been compressed utilizing Motion Picture Experts Group version 4 (MPEG-4) compression scheme, transmitted over the Internet as streaming multimedia, decompressed, and displayed, are equivalent in diagnostic accuracy to reading the examinations locally. MPEG-4 uses variable compression on each image frame to achieve a constant output bit rate. With less compression, the bit rate rises, and the only way the encoder can contain bit rate within the set bandwidth is by lowering frame rate or reducing image quality. We review the relevant technologies and industry standard components that will enable low-cost telesonography.     

Identification of a fibronectin-binding protein from Staphylococcus epidermidis

Staphylococcus epidermidis has been reported to bind to a number of host cell extracellular matrix proteins, including fibronectin. Here we report the identification of a fibronectin-binding protein from S. epidermidis. A phage display library of S. epidermidis genomic DNA was constructed and panned against immobilized fibronectin. A number of phagemid clones containing overlapping inserts were identified, and one of these clones, pSE109FN, contained a 1.4-kb insert. Phage pSE109FN was found to bind to fibronectin but not to collagen, fibrinogen, laminin, or vitronectin. However, pSE109FN also bound to heparin, hyaluronate, and plasminogen, although to a lesser extent than it bound to fibronectin. Analysis of The Institute for Genomic Research S. epidermidis genome sequence database revealed a 1.85-kb region within a putative 30.5-kb open reading frame, to which the overlapping DNA inserts contained within the fibronectin-binding phagemids mapped. We have designated the gene encoding the fibronectin-binding domain embp. A recombinant protein, Embp32, which encompassed the fibronectin-binding domain of Embp, blocked the binding of S. epidermidis, but not the binding of Staphylococcus aureus, to fibronectin. In contrast, a recombinant protein, FnBPB[D1-D4], spanning the fibronectin-binding domain of the S. aureus fibronectin-binding protein FnBPB, blocked binding of S. aureus to fibronectin but had a negligible effect on the binding of S. epidermidis.     

Resident CD8+ T cells suppress CD4+ T cell-dependent late allergic airway responses

BACKGROUND: The role of CD8+ T cells in the immune response to airway challenge with an allergen is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that resident naive CD8+ T cells modulate the magnitude of CD4+ T cell-dependent allergic airway responses. METHODS: Cervical lymph node CD4+ T cells (2 x 10(6)) were harvested from ovalbumin (OVA)- or sham-sensitized rats and injected intraperitoneally into naive Brown Norway recipients. The recipients were treated with a CD8alpha mAb (OX-8) to deplete the resident CD8+ T cells (n = 12) or mouse ascites (n = 12). Two days after adoptive transfer, the recipient animals were OVA challenged, lung resistance was measured for 8 hours, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed. RESULTS: After OVA challenge, primed CD4-transferred CD8-depleted rats had larger early airway responses and late airway responses compared with primed CD4-transferred CD8-nondepleted rats (early airway responses: 158.6% +/- 19.2% vs 115.7% +/- 5.9%, P < .05; late airway responses: 8.5% +/- 1.7% vs 4.4% +/- 0.9%, P < .05). BAL eosinophilia was also greater (4.67% +/- 0.45% vs 2.34 +/- 0.26%, P < .01). The cells in BAL fluid expressing IL-4 mRNA were not significantly changed by CD8 depletion, but IL-5 mRNA+ cells were higher in number, and IFN-gamma mRNA+ cells were fewer in the CD8-depleted group. CONCLUSIONS: Resident CD8+ T cells downregulate the late allergic response and airway inflammation evoked by CD4+ T-cell transfers in Brown Norway rats. This downregulation does not require antigen priming.     

Microcomputer Automated System for Measuring Systolic Time Intervals in Response to Exercise and a Psychophysiological Task

A microcomputer automated system for measuring systolic time intervals is described. Electrocardiogram, phonocardiogram, and carotid pulse tracings were measured in 38 healthy male subjects during baseline conditions and during either exercise on a bicycle ergometer or a video-game task. These measurements were recorded on both a traditional 3-channel ECG recorder and the computerized system. Both methods of recording systolic time intervals were independently scored by two different experimenters. In this way, interrater reliability of hand-scoring, intermethod reliability between hand-scoring versus computer-scoring, and interrater reliability of computer-scoring could be assessed. The interrater reliabilities of hand-scored systolic time intervals were generally above .90, ranging from .73 for left ventricular ejection time to .99 for R-R intervals of the ECG, with a mean of .92. The intermethod reliability of the computer versus hand-scored systolic time intervals also proved to be generally above .90, ranging from .76 for S1-S2 components of the phonocardiogram to .99 for R-R, with a mean of .94. The interrater reliabilities of the computer-scored systolic time intervals were all above .90, ranging from .93 for S1-S2 to .99 for R-R, with a mean of .98. These data indicate that the computerized method of scoring systolic time intervals is at least as reliable as the more traditional scoring of paper tracing.