Alveolar hydatid disease of the liver: Brief review and spectrum of adjacent organ invasion

The purpose of this study is to show the spectrum of adjacent organ invasion and to make a brief review of hepatic alveolar hydatid disease (AHD), using CT and MR imaging. We retrospectively reviewed CT and MR images of three patients with various adjacent organ invasions surgically and histologically proven to be AHD. Local invasion to right kidney and adrenal, right hemidiaphragm and lung were detected in one patient, right adrenal in another patient and gall bladder, duodenum, gastric wall and pancreas invasion in the other. AHD may rarely extend to the gall bladder, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, right adrenal and kidney, diaphragm, pleura and lung. The extension of the disease outside the liver is usually encountered in patients with large, peripherally located masses in the advanced stage of the disease.     

Deprivation of form vision suppresses diurnal cycling of retinal levels of leu-enkephalin

Deprivation of form vision by the fitting of translucent occluders suppressed the diurnal cycling of enkephalinergic amacrine cells (the ENSLI amacrine cells), in the chicken. Daily periods of normal vision or enforcing temporal contrast using strobe lighting appeared to restore normal functioning of the ENSLI cells. These results suggest that the ENSLI cells are involved in retinal circuits that assess the quality of the visual image and control eye growth.     

Relationship between Intracranial Granulomas and Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Gamma Interferon and Interleukin-10 in Patients with Tuberculous Meningitis

Cerebrospinal fluid gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-10 levels in 39 patients with tuberculous meningitis were serially measured. Cytokine levels did not predict intracranial granuloma (IG) development, but IFN-γ levels in the top quartile after 1 month of therapy were highly associated (odds ratio = 18) with detection of an IG by computed tomography scanning.     

Immunodiagnosis of Prune dwarf virus using antiserum produced to its recombinant coat protein

Certification represents the first line of defense against fruit tree viruses. For certification or surveys dealing with large number of samples, ELISA is still considered the technique of choice and requires a continuous supply of good quality antibodies. Prune dwarf virus (PDV) is among the major viruses affecting stone fruits; it belongs to the genus Ilarvirus named so for its isometric labile particles. Recombinant DNA technology was investigated for production of PDV antiserum to avoid labile virus purification and virus maintenance problems. The PDV coat protein gene (CP) was cloned into a protein expression bacterial plasmid vector which allowed a good level of expression of up to 2mg native protein/L culture. The recombinant PDV CP was injected into rabbits and the crude antiserum was successfully used in indirect ELISA at dilutions of up to 1:5000 to detect PDV in infected leaf samples. Similar results were obtained in dot blot immunoassays (DBIA). The antibodies were used in double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) and results were comparable to a reference commercial kit. The crude antiserum was efficiently used for coating ELISA plates, thereby reducing test costs.