Bladder cancer and asbestos in Spain

The relationship between bladder cancer and occupational exposure to asbestos was investigated between 1978 and 1982 at La Paz Hospital in Madrid in a case-control study conducted among 353 male patients and 53 women with a diagnosis of urothelium carcinoma, and among an equal number of controls matched in age (decade of life), sex and date of admission to the hospital. The results showed that bladder cancer is associated with occupational exposure to asbestos.     

Association between the occurrence of antibodies to simian vacuolating virus 40 and bladder cancer in male smokers

An association between the occurrence of antibodies to simian vacuolating virus 40 and bladder cancer in male smokers was found in a case-control study conducted in 200 male patients with bladder cancer and 400 control men. The risk of bladder cancer increases with the years of cigarette smoking.     

Glucocorticoid-dependent complementation of a hepatoma cell variant defective in viral glycoprotein sorting.

We have utilized the rat hepatoma (HTC) cell sorting variant CR4 to examine the glucocorticoid-regulated pathways that localize mouse mammary tumor virus glycoproteins to the cell surface. The defective sorting of cell surface mouse mammary tumor virus glycoproteins in CR4 cells was complemented after fusion with either normal rat hepatocytes or uninfected HTC cells. Indirect immunofluorescence of transient heterokaryons revealed that the regulated localization of mouse mammary tumor virus glycoproteins was dependent upon glucocorticoid treatment and required de novo RNA and protein synthesis. Thus, a glucocorticoid-regulated trafficking activity, unrelated to mouse mammary tumor virus sequences, which is induced in both adult rat liver and cultured hepatoma cells, can act in trans to mediate an intracellular sorting pathway for membrane glycoproteins.     

P01Contact dermatitis from textile colours in three Spanish towns

Objective:  Prevalence of textile dye contact dermatitis (TD‐CD) are lacking in many countries. Our aim is to know the frequency of TD‐CD in three different areas of Spain.
Methods:  100 patients were tested with Spanish standard series and the five most frequent TD in each city. D. Orange 1, D. Orange 3, D. Blue 35, D. Blue 106, D. Blue 124 were included in Murcia and Seville, and the three last and D. Red 1, D. Red 17 in Santiago.
Results:  23/300 (15 women and 8 men) were positives to one or more TD. D. Blue 124 was the most frequent allergen (18/300), followed by D. Blue 106 (17/300). D. Red 1, D. Red 17 and D. Orange 1 were positives in 2/200. D. Orange 3 and D. Blue 35 were positives in 1/200. Eczema was located on hands in 13 cases. Clinical picture was variable. Origin of sensitization was clothing and occupational. Relevance was obtained in 20/23 cases.
Conclusions:  The study confirm an high frequency of disperse dye allergy in Spain with a very different prevalence in the three areas: Seville 14%, Murcia 5% and Santiago 4%, that are probably due to social and cultural factors. We recommend the inclusion of D. Blue 106, D. Blue 124, D. Blue 35, D. Red 1, D. Red 17, D. Orange 1 and D. Orange 3 in standard series in order to detect sensitivity to textile colours that is most frequent than previously suspected.     

Medulloblastoma in adulthood: Prognostic factors influencing survival and recurrence

Summary Thirty adult patients presenting with medulloblastoma between 1974 and 1991 were studied and treated at Puerta de Hierro Clinic. After diagnosis, all patients were treated by surgery followed by radiotherapy and eight of them received adjuvant chemotherapy. We have studied the influence of some factors such as age, sex, location of tumour in the cerebellum, amount of surgical resection and histological variants on survival and recurrence of the disease. Only the histological type has a statistically significant influence on survival and recurrence: we have found that patients presenting classic medulloblastoma have a long survival and a long relapse-free interval.     

Effect of family role on response to disaster

This study hypothesized that family role (marital and parental status) would moderate the effect of disaster exposure on the mental health of victims. The study included St. Louis residents exposed to floods and dioxin, as well as Puerto Rican respondents exposed to floods and mudslides. In St. Louis, worst outcomes were found for single and married parents exposed to disaster, substantially exceeding the symptomatology of all unexposed respondents except non-victim single parents. In Puerto Rico, victims without families had higher levels of alcohol abuse symptoms than did any other subgroup. Perceived emotional support was found to be an important moderator of disaster's effect on psychiatric distress in this site, generally overriding the effect of family role. Single parents in both sites who were exposed to disaster had substantially reduced levels of emotional support available to them, as compared to unexposed single parents, suggesting that single parents are at particularly high risk for losing access to emotional support following a disaster. This study suggests that both single and married parents constitute important high-risk victim groups. The findings also suggest that those perceiving they lack adequate emotional support, regardless of family role, may be in special need of services.     

Development and application of a nonradioactive nucleic acid hybridization system for simultaneous detection of four potato pathogens

cDNA clones of potato virus X (PVXcp strain), potato virus Y (PVYo strain), potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) and potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV) were used separately or combined for the detection of the corresponding RNAs in extracts of infected plants. A general method for the rapid preparation of RNA extracts without use of organic solvents (i.e. phenol) was developed for this purpose. Plant extracts from a range of field, artificially inoculated germplasm genotypes, micro-propagated and protoplast samples, as well as vector insect extracts, were dot-blotted onto nylon or nitrocellulose membranes, subjected to sandwich nucleic acid hybridization with non-labelled specific single-stranded DNA probes followed by a biotin-labelled second step hybridization probe. Each probe was virus-specific but not strain-specific. Healthy or non-related plant extracts developed very faint or no signals. Sensitivity was tested by slot-blot hybridization. Detection levels were between 1.5 to 6 pg of viral nucleic acids and between 20 to 50 times more sensitive than standard double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA). The assay developed was tested with material that was prepared for processing in the field (combination of fresh sap with extraction solution) and tested under simple laboratory conditions for detection. It was also successfully employed for screening of germplasm for virus resistance, detection of pathogens in vector insects, plantlets grown in vitro and in more sophisticated quantitative determinations of viral replication in artificially inoculated plants and protoplasts.     

Leydig cell types in primary testicular disorders

Ultrastructural study of testicular biopsy specimens from 67 adults with primary testicular disorders (Klinefelter's syndrome, XX male syndrome, Del Castillo's syndrome, and cryptorchidism) revealed the following four Leydig cell types: 1) normal or nearly normal Leydig cells with abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria with tubular cristae, lipid droplets, and Reinke's crystals; 2) abnormally differentiated Leydig cells without either lipid droplets or Reinke's crystals but with altered mitochondria, concentric unfenestrated cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and both paracrystalline and filamentous inclusions; 3) multivacuolated Leydig cells containing abundant lipid droplets; and 4) immature Leydig cells with scarce development of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, and numerous cytoplasmic microfilaments. Abnormally differentiated Leydig cells might represent dysgenetic cells, whereas immature, normal, and vacuolated Leydig cells might represent three progressive stages in the Leydig cell cycle (undifferentiated, mature, and old involuting Leydig cells). An inverse correlation between the proportion of abnormal Leydig cells and testosterone levels was observed in each of these testicular disorders.     

Vascular and adrenocortical responses to a specific antagonist of angiotensin II.

Angiotensin II receptors in vascular smooth muscle and adrenal cortex have been characterized in the dog. The evidence was derived chiefly from experiments that assessed the ability of a structural analog of angiotensin II, [Sar1, Ile8] AII, to antagonize the effects of exogenously administered angiotensin II on arterial pressure and aldosterone secretion. [Sar1, Ile8] AII is a potent and specific blocker of the pressor response to angiotensinII; in the adrenal cortex, it is a much less effective inhibitor of aldosterone biosynthesis. These results indicate differences in the receptor sites for angiotensin II in vascular smooth muscle and adrenal cortex. Further, they raise the possibility that angiotensin II stimulates aldosterone secretion by mechanisms other than have already been proposed.     

c-JUN-like immunoreactivity in the CNS of the adult rat: basal and transynaptically induced expression of an immediate-early gene

An immunocytochemical study of dorsal root ganglia, spinal cord and medulla oblongata was performed with antisera against the c-jun proto-oncogene encoded protein. The c-JUN-like immunoreactivity was restricted to the cell nucleus. In the CNS of untreated rats a basal c-JUN-like immunoreactivity was present in the nuclei of two types of neurons: motor and autonomic. Labelled nuclei could be seen in many motoneurons of the ventral horn of the entire length of spinal cord and the lower medulla oblongata, as well as in the area of the nucleus hypoglossus, the dorsal motor nucleus of nucleus vagus, nucleus ambiguus, nucleus facialis, nucleus abducens and motor nucleus of nucleus trigeminus. Additionally, labelled nuclei were found in the preganglionic sympathetic and preganglionic parasympathetic cells of the nucleus intermediolateralis and nucleus intercalatus in the spinal cord. In the medulla oblongata we found a cluster of cells with c-JUN-like immunoreactivity in an area between the dorsomedial part of the oral nucleus spinalis trigeminalis and the lateral border of the knee of facial nerve. Additionally, a second cluster of c-JUN-like immunoreactivity cells was visible between the ventromedial part of the oral nucleus spinalis trigeminalis and the lateral border of the rostral nucleus facialis. Examination of the characteristics of all cell groups with a basal c-JUN-like immunoreactivity in the spinal cord and lower brainstem revealed an overlapping distribution with cholinergic cell groups. Basal c-JUN-like immunoreactivity was also seen in the dorsal root ganglion cells. We examined the factors which can effect the expression of the c-JUN protein. Maximal expression of c-JUN-like immunoreactivity was observed after electrical stimulation of primary afferents. Stimulation of sciatic nerve at a strength sufficient to recruit A delta- and C-fibres produced c-JUN-like immunoreactivity in many nuclei of the ipsilateral dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord. c-JUN-like immunoreactivity was first detectable at 30 min following the end of stimulation, reached a maximum after 1 h, remained unchanged for another 1 h and declined to the basal level after 16 h. The distribution of c-JUN-like immunoreactivity in the lumbar cord coincided with the region of termination of sciatic nociceptive afferents. Contralateral c-JUN-like immunoreactivity appeared after 4 h. After noxious mechanical stimulation of the plantar hindpaw c-JUN-like immunoreactivity occurred in the spinal area of termination of nociceptive afferents of the tibial nerve. Noxious stimulation did not provoke additional c-JUN-like immunoreactivity in dorsal root ganglia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)