Andrologische Diagnostik

Andrology was included as a further subject for continuing education in the Model Ordinance on Continuing Education at the 106th German Physicians’ Meeting in Cologne in 2003. In addition to fertility disorders, this discipline comprises medical care for men with fertility disorders, erectile dysfunction, disorders of libido, ejaculation, and coitus, various forms of hypogonadism, and delayed puberty. Furthermore, this field also covers questions concerning male contraception, gynecomastia, and male senescence. Diagnostic procedures in andrology require close interdisciplinary cooperation with practitioners of gynecology, human genetics, and psychosomatic medicine. It includes medical history, clinical examination, and laboratory analyses. Except to confirm azoospermia, it is not possible to make a definitive prognosis for fertility based on semen analysis. Functional tests allow a better assessment of the spermatozoa’s fertility since 25–30% of men desiring a child exhibit reduced spermatozoal functions, which cannot be verified on routine semen analysis.     

Repeated measurements of mite and pet allergen levels in house dust over a time period of 8 years

BACKGROUND: Studies of the association between indoor allergen exposure and the development of allergic diseases have often measured allergen exposure at one point in time. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the variability of house dust mite (Der p 1, Der f 1) and cat (Fel d 1) allergen in Dutch homes over a period of 8 years. METHODS: Data were obtained in the Dutch PIAMA birth cohort study. Dust from the child's mattress, the parents' mattress and the living room floor was collected at four points in time, when the child was 3 months, 4, 6 and 8 years old. Dust samples were analysed for Der p 1, Der f 1 and Fel d 1 by sandwich enzyme immuno assay. RESULTS: Mite allergen concentrations for the child's mattress, the parents' mattress and the living room floor were moderately correlated between time-points. Agreement was better for cat allergen. For Der p 1 and Der f 1 on the child's mattress, the within-home variance was close to or smaller than the between-home variance in most cases. For Fel d 1, the within-home variance was almost always smaller than the between-home variance. Results were similar for allergen levels expressed per gram of dust and allergen levels expressed per square metre of the sampled surface. Variance ratios were smaller when samples were taken at shorter time intervals than at longer time intervals. CONCLUSION: Over a period of 4 years, mite and cat allergens measured in house dust are sufficiently stable to use single measurements with confidence in epidemiological studies. The within-home variance was larger when samples were taken 8 years apart so that over such long periods, repetition of sampling is recommended.     

Sodium MRI of the human kidney at 3 Tesla.

The sodium concentration gradient in the kidney (from the cortex to the medulla) serves to regulate fluid homeostasis and is tightly coupled to renal function. It was previously shown that renal function and pathophysiology can be characterized in rat kidneys by measuring the sodium gradient with (23)Na MRI. This study demonstrates for the first time the ability of (23)Na MRI to map the distribution of sodium in the human kidney and to quantify the corticomedullary sodium gradient. The study was performed on a 3T Signa LX scanner (GE) using an in-house-built quadrature surface coil. (23)Na images of volunteers were acquired using a 3D coronal gradient-echo sequence at a spatial resolution of 0.3 x 0.3 x 1.5 cm(3) in a 25-min scan time. The signal intensity (relative to the noise) increased linearly from the cortex to each of the medullae with a mean slope of 1.6 +/- 0.2 in relative arbitrary units per mm (Rel.u./mm, N = 6) and then decreased, as expected, toward the renal pelvis. Water deprivation (12 hr) induced a significant increase of 25% (P < 0.05) in this gradient. Based on these results, we suggest that sodium MRI can serve as a valuable noninvasive method for functional imaging of the human kidney.     

The inhibitory effect of polysaccharide on mumps virus multiplication

Polysaccharides derived from type-specific Friedl?nder bacilli cause inhibition of the multiplication of mumps virus in the allantoic sac of the chick embryo. As little as 5 microg. of polysaccharide is effective as an inhibitor. Inhibition of multiplication is obtained when polysaccharide is injected as long as 4 days after inoculation of virus. Chemical studies have shown that the structural configurations of the polysaccharide responsible for specific serological activity are not identical with those which determine the inhibitory effect relative to mumps virus. The possible mechanisms of the inhibition of viral multiplication by means of polysaccharides are discussed.     

The antibody response in rabbits to killed suspensions of pathogenic T. pallidum

The intravenous injection into rabbits of suspensions of dead T. pallidum derived from rabbit testicular chancres regularly caused the appearance of Wassermann and flocculation antibodies in significantly increased titer. Control suspensions of cultured treponemes (Reiter strain) added to extracts of normal testes were ineffective. This suggests that the Wassermann and flocculation reagin elaborated during syphilitic infection may be an antibody to T. pallidum which happens to cross-react with alcoholic extracts of mammalian tissue. The antisera did not cause the agglutination of suspensions of pathogenic T. pallidum, living or dead, did not give specific complement fixation with those suspensions, and did not usually cause the living treponemata to lose their infectiousness. Animals immunized with such aqueous suspensions for as long as 4 months, or with organisms suspended in a water-in-oil emulsion, were not demonstrably resistant to infection. As few as ten living organisms inoculated intradermally into animals "immunized" with as many as 38 billion dead treponemata regularly produced typical darkfield positive infections; and two of five animals inoculated intratesticularly with ten organisms were also infected. The contradiction involved in the production of antibodies cross-reacting with a non-specific antigen, and the non-appearance of specific antibodies against the organism used as antigen, is discussed in the text.     

Über Schwindler und pseudologische Phantasten

Ohne ZusammenfassungReferat.HerrBuhtz-Breslau berichtet über den Fall Wolff-Breslau. Die klar überlegte Mordtat des frühreifen Jugendlichen hatte den Anlaß zu dem Gesetz über jugendliche Schwerverbrecher gebildet.HerrRücker-Hamburg berichtet über einen Arzt, der das Opfer einer Hysterica geworden war. Bei einer erregten Auseinandersetzung hatte er die Frau mit dem ihr entrissenen und gegen ihn gezückten Dolch niedergestoßen und getötet. Der Täter hatte 18 Jahre unter fremdem Namen in China das große Hospital einer deutsch-evangelischen Mission geleitet. Nach Verurteilung zu 2 Jahren Gefängnis und erlangter Bewährungsfrist ist er nach China zurückgekehrt.