Renal artery aneurysm endovascular repair.

A 68-year-old woman with a left renal artery aneurysm underwent successful endovascular repair with the use of a commercial type self-expanding stent-graft. Complete aneurysm exclusion was achieved after stent-graft expansion. A side branch vessel was occluded after stent-placement, resulting in a small upper lobe renal perfusion defect. There were no other complications. The aneurysm remained excluded and its greatest diameter has been reduced from 2.6 cm to 1.95 cm, 10 months after treatment. Renal function remained normal.     

Zur Physiologie der Thränensecretion

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

A colorimetric assay for the determination of 5'-nucleotidase activity

A rapid, simple, quantitative and sensitive assay for the determination of 5'-nucleotidase has been developed. The method can be applied to both soluble and membrane bound forms of the leukocyte enzyme. Enzyme activity is determined by colorimetric estimation of NH3 released from adenosine, the product of 5'-nucleotidase activity in the presence of adenosine deaminase. The assay may be performed in microtitre plates and read with an automatic multiscan spectrophotometer. Thus it can be applied to a large number of samples for routine medical and research purposes.     

Dopamine transporters, D2 receptors, and glucose metabolism in corticobasal degeneration.

Alterations in presynaptic and postsynaptic dopaminergic system and cerebral glucose metabolism in corticobasal degeneration (CBD) were assessed to evaluate the potential usefulness of different imaging methods for CBD. (123)I-FP-CIT/(123)I-beta-CIT SPECT and (123)I-IBZM SPECT as well as (18)F-FDG PET were performed in eight CBD patients. Decreased presynaptic dopamine transporter binding was found in all CBD patients while D2 receptor binding was reduced in only one patient. (18)F-FDG PET displayed a contralateral hypometabolism in cortical and subcortical areas in seven out of eight patients. Our results demonstrate that glucose metabolism and DAT are reduced, while D2 receptors may be frequently preserved in CBD.     

Endoscopic diode laser welding of mucosal grafts on the larynx: A new technique

Epithelial coverage of a laryngotracheal wound is an important factor in preventing stenosis, and endoscopic transplantation of a free mucosal graft without stents or sutures would be a significant therapeutic advance. In vitro and in vivo canine studies were performed to explore the feasibility of transplantation with a low-power diode laser (400 mW) enhanced by indocyanine green dye-doped albumin. The tensile strength of graft adherence in 10 cadaver larynges was strong (35.25 ± 10.39 g). Survival studies in live canine models with a specially designed endoscopic instrument set showed excellent healing at 6, 14, and 28 days. Healing was documented with photography and by histologic examination. Successful endoscopic transplantation of a free mucosal graft should improve results of treatment for laryngotracheal stenosis and laryngeal reconstructive surgery.     

Evidence for distinct epitopes on human IgG with T cell proliferative and suppressor function

The Fc or pFc' fragments of the human IgG were demonstrated to exert different effects on murine T lymphocyte subsets. Thus, murine lymph node (LN) T cells were specifically induced to proliferate in vitro to pFc' after priming in vivo. This proliferation could be inhibited, either by depleting the responding LN population of macrophages, or by monoclonal antibodies specific for responder haplotype Ia antigenic determinants. Priming in vivo and subsequent restimulation in vitro with Fc resulted in the activation of a suppressor T cell subpopulation which, in an antigen-specific manner, could highly suppress proliferative responses. T cell subset isolation showed that the pFc'-specific proliferation was performed by Lyt-1+2- cells whereas the suppressor Fc-specific cells were of Lyt-1-2+ phenotype. Our data demonstrate that distinct epitopes on the human gamma chain induce either Ir gene-restricted T cell proliferation (pFc' fragment) or T cell suppressor function (Fc fragment).     

Effect of two thymosin fraction 5 polypeptides on human peripheral blood lymphocytes

Thymosin fraction 5 polypeptides beta 4 and alpha 1 were tested for their ability to affect certain immunological parameters of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). PBL were cultured with various concentrations of the peptides for 24 hours. Thymosin beta 4 was found to induce a significant decrease in the expression of the Fc alpha receptors of PBL, as well as in their ability to express antibody dependent cellular cytotoxic (ADCC) activity. In addition, this peptide had the ability to increase the percentage of T4 lymphocytes in normal and immunosuppressed donors and to decrease the percentage of T8 positive cells in normal donors. Finally, beta 4 peptide caused a small increase in the capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes to form sheep red blood cell (SRBC) rosettes (ER). In parallel experiments thymosin alpha 1 was found inactive. The results presented here indicate that thymosin beta 4 may be used as an immunoregulatory molecule in patients with immunodeficiencies.     

Multiple sclerosis: II. Effects of prothymosin alpha on the autologous and allogeneic MLR in patients with multiple sclerosis.

We have recently demonstrated that peripheral blood monocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a defect in stimulating autologous and allogeneic T lymphocytes. This defect was found to correlate with disease activity. In this report we demonstrate that prothymosin alpha (ProT alpha), a rat thymus fraction 5 polypeptide, restores the MS monocyte stimulatory defect. The concentrations of ProT alpha which induced optimal enhancement of the mixed lymphocyte responses (MLR) were significantly higher when monocytes from patients with active disease were used as stimulators than when monocytes from patients with inactive disease were used. T4+ cells tested with autologous stimulatory monocytes harvested from an inactive stage of MS exhibited considerably higher proliferative responses than when stimulated with autologous monocytes obtained from an acute relapse. The decreased autologous proliferation of T4+ cells in MS patients was restored to normal levels after preincubation with ProT alpha in the environment of autologous monocytes. Our results demonstrate that ProT alpha is capable of fully restoring the deficient stimulatory function of MS monocytes and monocyte-associated functional defects of MS-derived T4+ cells.     

Frequency and species distribution of gliotoxin-producing Aspergillus isolates recovered from patients at a tertiary-care cancer center

Aspergillus isolates (n = 103) collected from cancer patients were screened to determine the taxonomic distribution and quantity of gliotoxin production. Gliotoxin was detected in 93% of Aspergillus fumigatus, 75% of A. niger, 25% of A. terreus, and 4% of A. flavus cultures. Gliotoxin concentrations were highest in cultures of A. fumigatus.