Fatal fat embolism following amphotericin B lipid complex injection

A case of amphotericin B lipid complex induced fatal fat embolism is described. A 41-year-old Caucasian man with AIDS was undergoing treatment for cryptococcal meningitis with amphotericin B. His course was complicated by renal failure necessitating a change in therapy to amphotericin B lipid complex (Abelcet). At approximately 48 h, the patient developed tachycardia, tachypnea, respiratory failure, decline in hematocrit, thrombocytopenia, and alteration in mental status. Autopsy findings included fat emboli involving heart, lungs, kidney, and brain. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a fatal fat embolism caused by intravenous liposome drug delivery.     

胃癌的细胞增殖、DNA增殖分数和倍性与患者生存的关系

目的：探讨胃癌细胞增殖、DNA增殖分数(S+G2/M期)和倍性与胃癌患者生存和生物学特性的关系。 方法： 应用流式细胞术，分别分析胃癌细胞群体的增殖、DNA增殖分数和倍性。 结果： 胃癌细胞群体的增殖和增殖分数之间无明显相关关系(P>0.05)；它们与胃癌患者的生存亦无明显相关关系(P>0.05)。胃癌细胞群体的增殖和DNA倍性与胃癌临床病理参数之间无明显相关关系(P>0.05)。胃癌患者DNA二倍体组和异倍体组Kaplan-Meier生存曲线经Log-rank检验有统计学差异（P<0.05）。 结论： 胃癌细胞的增殖和增殖分数与胃癌患者的生存无明显关系； DNA倍性分析对胃癌预后的判断具有重要参考价值。     

Human placentae membrane receptor for IgG—i. Studies on properties and solubilization of the receptor

Characterization of the human placental membrane receptor for human ¹²⁵I-IgG is described. The receptor bound specifically both monomers and aggregates of human IgG. Human colostral IgA, bovine, sheep, pig, and horse IgG were not bound. No effect of pH in the range 6.6–7.4, ionic strength in the range 0.1–0.5, and temperature between 4 and 45°C on the binding was found. A water-soluble fraction containing the active receptor (glycoprotein fraction-PGP) was obtained from the placental membranes using lithium diiodosalicylate. The solubilized receptor interacted with IgG better at 4°C than at 20°C or 37°C. The results on replacement of monomeric IgG by aggregated IgG, and vice versa, suggest that both monomers and aggregates of human IgG, were bound to the same receptor sites. The apparent association constant for monomeric human IgG was 0.86 ± 0.2 × 10⁷ mole^?1, and 2.0 ± 0.16 × 10¹⁵ IgG molecules were bound per l mg of the membrane protein. Formaldehyde (0.1%), 2-mercaptoethanol (50 mM), and periodate (4 mM) showed no effect on the binding properties of the membrane-bound and on the solubilized receptor, as well. Higher concentrations of periodate (10 mM or 20 mM) decreased the binding of IgG to membranes but showed no effect on the water-soluble receptor. Both the membrane-bound and the solubilized receptor were sensitive to papain. Pronose abolished the receptor activity after prolonged proteolysis only. Neuraminidase did not affect the activity of the receptor. The decrease of the binding activity of the membrane-bound receptor by trypsin and phospholipase C was due to a release of a material containing an active receptor. No effect of trypsin or phospholipase C on the activity of solubilized receptor was observed. The results obtained suggest a protein character of the placental Fc receptor. After electrophoresis of ¹²⁵I-labeled solubilized receptor in polyacrylamide gel in the presence of SDS, 2 major protein peaks with molecular weights of 74,000 and 104,000 and 3 minor peaks with molecular weights of 56,000, 144,000, and 163,000 were found.     

Effect of age on cardiac index,stroke index and left ventricular ejection fraction at rest and during exercise as studied by radiocardiography

Radiocardiography was used to measure cardiac output, stroke volume and left ventricular ejection fraction at rest and during muscular exercise in relation with age in 148 healthy subjects (age range: 6–78 years). A clear dependence of these parameters on age was found. The mean annual decrease at rest was 22±9 ml/min/m² for cardiac index, 0.22±0.04 ml/m² for stroke index and 0.0017±0.0003 for left ventricular ejection fraction. Male subjects had significantly (p < 0.001) greater cardiac (9±4%) and stroke indices (11±23%) than females. During submaximal exercise cardiac index increased from 3.5±0.7 l/min/m' to 8.1±1.6 l/min/m² in male subjects (mean age: 32 years) and from 3.1±0.4 l/min/m² to 7.2±1.2 l/min/ m² in female subjects (mean age: 29 years). The corresponding increases in stroke index and left ventricular ejection fraction were: from 52±7 ml/m² to 62±9 ml/m². from 46±7 ml/m² to 51±9 ml/m² and from 0.66±0.08 to 0.79±0.05 and from 0.64±0.10 to 0.72±0.10. In subjects who were 60 years and older the increases of these parameters during exercise were considerably smaller.     

Effects of fat content on fat hedonics: cognition or taste?

Understanding and perhaps overriding preferences for fat is important, given the relationship between higher dietary fat consumption and poorer health. We have examined the roles of potential mechanisms for differences in fat preference: actual fat content and expected fat content. The subjects were women (n=192, ages=50-69) recruited to a study of low-fat dietary change. Subjects were randomized to one of the four cells: participants received either a high- or low-fat milkshake at baseline, and half of each group was told that their milkshake was low in fat and the other half high in fat. Women who received a high-fat milkshake consumed more grams than women who received a low-fat milkshake. Women who expected low-fat shakes reported liking them more than those who expected high-fat milkshakes. These data indicate that both physiology and cognition play a role in determining consumption of high- and low-fat foods.     

Self-selecting albino rats exhibit differential preferences for pure macronutrient diets: Characterization of three subpopulations

Analyses of natural feeding behavior in albino male Sprague-Dawley rats demonstrate that, when allowed to self-select from pure macronutrient diets (protein, carbohydrate and fat), these rats of the same genetic strain can be categorized into 3 subpopulations according to either their 24-h or their 12-h nocturnal patterns of nutrient intake. A majority of the animals (HC for high carbohydrate, 50% of the total population) consumed a diet rich in carbohydrate relative to protein or fat, while a smaller population of rats (HF, 30%) preferred the fat diet, and an even smaller population (HP, 20%) chose a high-protein diet. These 3 subpopulations, after a few weeks of maintenance on the diets, differed in their body weight, with the HF rats having a higher body weight than the HP animals, who tended to weigh more than the lightest HC rats. Whereas all subgroups exhibited a similar bimodal distribution of feeding during the nocturnal cycle, with peaks during the early and late dark periods, they were distinguishable on the basis of their nutrient consumption during specific phases of the dark cycle. This difference was most apparent in the early dark phase, when the 3 subgroups exhibited exaggerated preferences for the specific nutrient that was generally preferred over the 24-h cycle. This is in contrast to the middle dark phase, when diet preferences were attenuated or lost, and the late dark phase, when most rats were similar in showing an increased preference for protein and fat and a decreased preference for carbohydrate. The HF group was further distinguished by an unusually strong burst of feeding during the first 2 h of the dark period and an extra peak of feeding in the middle dark period (7th h), both of which were relatively high in fat content.     

Trabecular Shear Stresses Predict <Emphasis Type="Italic">In Vivo</Emphasis> Linear Microcrack Density but not Diffuse Damage in Human Vertebral Cancellous Bone

Linear microcracks and diffuse damage (staining over a broad region) are two types of microscopic damage known to occur in vivo in human vertebral trabecular bone. These damage types might be associated with vertebral failure. Using microcomputed tomography and finite element analysis for specimens of cancellous bone, we estimated the stresses in the trabeculae of human vertebral tissue for inferosuperior loading. Microdamage was quantified histologically. The density of in vivo linear microcracks was, but the diffuse damage area was not, related to the estimates of von Mises stress distribution in the tissue. In vivo linear microcrack density increased with increasing coefficient of variation of the trabecular von Mises stress and with increasing average trabecular von Mises stress generated per superoinferior apparent axial stress. Nonlinear increase in linear crack density, similar to the increase of the coefficient of variation of trabecular shear stresses, with decreasing bone stiffness and bone volume fraction suggests that damage may accumulate rather rapidly in diseases associated with low bone density due to the dramatic increase of shear stresses in the tissue. © 2003 Biomedical Engineering Society. PAC2003: 8719Rr, 8719Xx, 8759Ls, 8759Fm, 8710+e     

Human acute pancreatitis: Its pathogenesis in the light of immunocytochemical and ultrastructural findings in acinar cells

Summary Human acute pancreatitis results from an autodigestive process frequently associated with alcohol abuse, gall stone disease and shock. Peripancreatic fat necrosis was identified as one of the earliest visible lesions, whereas acinar cell necrosis and haemorrhage were regarded as secondary changes. To examine the alterations in acinar cells in more detail, their enzyme content and fine structural features were studied immunocytochemically using antisera against -amylase, lipase, trypsin, chymotrypsin and pancreatic stone protein, and electronmicroscopically in pancreatic tissues from patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Peripheral acinar cells in the immediate vicinity of fat necrosis were found to be heavily degranulated, while acinar cells at some distance of necrosis fully retained their enzyme content. Other frequent changes of the acinar cells included cuboidal transformation, loss of microvilli, increased occurrence of autophagosomes, and formation of enlarged acinar lumina. As there was no apparent cell membrane leakage or rupture of duct lumina, it is concluded that the acinar cells adjacent to fat necrosis release their granules by undirected basolateral extrusion. The findings thus suggest that one of the basic defects in acute pancreatitis is the uncontrolled release of enzymes from peripheral acinar cells into the interstitial space which, in turn, presumably by the action of lipase, leads to autodigestive fat necrosis.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. G. Seifert on the occasion of his 65th birthdayPresented in part at the Second International Symposium on the Classification of Pancreatitis, Marseille, 1984, and at the Meeting of the European Pancreatic Club, Manchester, 1985     

Differences in protein synthesized in vivo and in vitro by cells associated with the cerebral microvasculature. A protein synthesized in response to trauma?

A protein of molecular weight 71,000 (P₇₁) was synthesized by cells associated with the cerebral microvasculature in telencephalon slices incubated in vitro. This protein, however, was not synthesized in vivo. There was a 30 min delay in the synthesis of P₇₁ by brain slices. During this lag period a new ribonucleic acid species which was required for P₇₁ synthesis was produced in the slices. After this delay P₇₁ became a major product of protein synthesis. P₇₁ was also produced by microvasculature enriched fractions isolated from telencephalon.This protein may be involved in the initial response of the vascular system to injury.     

A method for the accurate determination of anti-hapten cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors: correction for apparent 'anti-self' reactivity

A method is described for accurately determining the frequency of precursors of hapten specific cytotoxic T cells. The method is based on a standard Poisson analysis of limit dilution cultures, but makes a correction of 'anti-self' reacting clones and for spontaneously arising clones that recognise modified self. These corrections are shown to be especially important when low hapten densities are used, where there may be more than a 10-fold difference between the corrected and uncorrected frequency estimates. Determined levels of antigen specificity and of H-2 restriction are significantly enhanced by application of this method.