Primary tuberculous nasal polypi—A case report

Primary tuberculous pathology in nasolpolypi is a rare condition. A case of bilateral ethmoidal polypi with tubercular lesion diagnosed on histopathologlcal examination is being reported and the available relevant literature has been reviewed.     

Finding a place for needle exchange programs

Using the concepts of stigma, NIMBY and place, this paper examines the difficulties of finding a place for needle exchange programs (NEPs). Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews with NEP staff (Ontario, Canada) that focused on operational policies and routines. An iterative, inductive analytic process was used. NEPs, their staff and clients are not always welcome additions to organizations or communities because of concerns about the ‘dangerousness’ of clients and the potential contamination of communities and workplaces by stigmatized individuals and their artefacts (e.g. contaminated injection equipment). Public parks where a lot of drug ‘action’ takes place are good destinations for outreach workers but these places are contentious sites for NEP activities, particularly when residents do not perceive a need for the program and/or want to redefine their neighbourhoods. Issues of ‘place’ are further complicated when service delivery is mobile. Finding a place within organizations is difficult for NEPs because of concerns about the diversion of limited financial and spatial resources to ‘non-core’ activities and ‘undesirable’ clients. Workers respond to these challenges by contesting the social and spatial boundaries of who is an acceptable client or neighbour and refuting the perceived ‘differentness’ of injection drug users. Implementation of an unpopular service involves a delicate balancing act of interests, understanding of the dynamics of particular communities and a willingness to reinvent and redefine programs. The sociospatial stigmatization of injection drug use has had a negative impact on NEPs, and perhaps limits HIV prevention efforts.     

糖化血清蛋白测定对糖尿病监控临床意义的探讨

目的：对临床确诊糖尿病患同时测定血清葡萄糖(Glu)及糖化血清蛋白(GSP)的含量，观察二的关系，以及糖化血清蛋白水平对于评价近期(2—3周)糖尿病患血糖在体内变化的临床意义进行了观察。方法：血清葡萄糖、糖化血清蛋白测定均采用酶法测定。结果：178例糖尿病患Glu、GSP均正常3l例占17．4％；Glu、GSP均增高107例占60．1％；Glu正常、GSP增高15例占8．43％；Glu增高、GSP正常25例占14％。结论：糖化血清蛋白的含量不受即时血糖的影响，二的变化不成比例性，对评价糖尿病患2～3周病情的控制是一项灵敏可靠的指标，尤其对于住院病人的治疗与监控有一定的意义。     

Identification of non-amplifying CYP21 genes when using PCR-based diagnosis of 21-hydroxylase deficiency in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) affected pedigrees

Steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency is among the most common inborn errors of metabolism in man. Characterization of mutations in the 21- hydroxylase gene (CYP21) has permitted genetic diagnosis, facilitated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The most common mutation is conversion of an A or C at nt656 to a G in the second intron causing aberrant splicing of mRNA. Homozygosity for nt656G is associated with profoundly deficient adrenal cortisol and aldosterone synthesis, secondary hypersecretion of adrenal androgens, and a severe form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) characterized by ambiguous genitalia and/or sodium wasting in newborns. During the course of genetic analysis of CYP21 mutations in CAH families, we and others have noticed a number of relatives genotyped as nt656G homozygotes, yet showing no clinical signs of disease. A number of lines of evidence have led us to propose that the putative asymptomatic nt656G/G individuals are incorrectly typed due to dropout of one haplotype during PCR amplification of CYP21. For prenatal diagnosis, we recommend that microsatellite typing be used as a supplement to CYP21 genotyping in order to resolve ambiguities at nt656.      

Detection of human papillomavirus types 6 and 11 E4 gene products in condylomata acuminatum.

Polyclonal antiserum to an Escherichia coli-produced beta-galactosidase/E4 fusion protein of human papillomavirus type 6b (antiserum 256), and affinity purified HPV 11 anti-E4 antibodies were tested for reactivity in Western blots with bacterially expressed trpE/E4 fusion proteins of HPV types 6b, 11, 16, and 18. To further characterize the affinity purified anti-E4 antibodies, a dot-immunobinding assay was performed using overlapping synthetic HPV 11 E1E4 peptides as antigens. Protein extracts of condylomata acuminatum from 18 patients containing HPV type 6 or 11 DNA sequences were tested in Western blots using antiserum 256 or affinity purified HPV 11 anti-E4 antibodies. In the Western blots of the trpE proteins, antiserum 256 identified the HPV types 6b and 11 fusion proteins; the affinity purified HPV 11 anti-E4 antibodies identified only the HPV 11 fusion protein. In the dot-immunobinding assay, three HPV 11 peptides were recognized, each containing a shared 8 amino acid sequence that differs significantly from the corresponding sequences of HPV types 6b, 16, or 18. In the Western blots of protein extracts from 18 condylomata acuminatum samples shown to contain HPV types 6 or 11 DNA, putative E4 gene products were identified in six samples by antiserum 256. The affinity purified HPV 11 anti-E4 antibodies identified putative E4 gene products in one of these same six lesions, which was shown to contain HPV 11 sequences by the Southern blot method. All six samples containing E4 gene products were from women. Three of these women were pregnant, one had serum antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus, and one was a renal transplant recipient receiving glucocorticoids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

The GAP-related domain of tuberin, the product of the TSC2 gene, is a target for missense mutations in tuberous sclerosis

Tuberous sclerosis is an autosomal dominant trait in which the dysregulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation results in the development of hamartomatous growths in many organs. The TSC2 gene is one of two genes determining tuberous sclerosis. Inactivating germline mutations of TSC2 in patients with tuberous sclerosis and somatic loss of heterozygosity at the TSC2 locus in the associated hamartomas indicate that TSC2 functions as a tumour suppressor gene and that loss of function is critical to expression of the tuberous sclerosis phenotype. The TSC2 product, tuberin, has a region of homology with the GTPase activating protein rap1GAP and stimulates the GTPase activity of rap1a and rab5a in vitro. Here we show that the region of homology between tuberin and human rap1GAP and the murine GAP mSpa1 is more extensive than previously reported and spans approximately 160 amino acid residues encoded within exons 34-38 of the TSC2 gene. Single strand conformation polymorphism analysis of these exons in 173 unrelated patients with tuberous sclerosis and direct sequencing of variant conformers together with study of additional family members enabled characterisation of disease associated mutations in 14 cases. Missense mutations, which occurred in exons 36, 37 and 38 were identified in eight cases, four of whom shared the same recurrent change P1675L. Each of the five different missense mutations identified was shown to occur de novo in at least one sporadic case of tuberous sclerosis. The high proportion of missense mutations detected in the region of the TSC2 gene encoding the GAP-related domain supports its key role in the regulation of cellular growth.      

Watermelon mosaic virus-Morocco is a distinct potyvirus

Summary The relationship of the Morocco isolate of watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) to WMV 2, soybean mosaic virus (a virus closely related to WMV 2) and the W strain of papaya ringspot virus (PRSV-W), formerly WMV 1, was examined by comparing tryptic peptide profiles using high performance liquid chromatography. The profiles indicated that the coat protein sequence of WMV-Morocco differed substantially from those of the other potyviruses. This conclusion was supported by sequence data from five tryptic peptides from the coat protein of WMV-Morocco, which showed only 61–68% identity to equivalent sequences in PRSV-W, WMV 2 and zucchini yellow mosaic, another potyvirus infecting cucurbits. Based on the above data, and on known correlations between coat protein sequence similarities and potyvirus relationship, it is concluded that WMV-Morocco should be regarded as a distinct potyvirus.