The identification of an eosinophil differentiation factor in culture supernatant of mononuclear cells from asthmatics. Although peripheral eosinophilia is a common feature of bronchial asthma, the precise mechanism of its production is still unknown. It has recently been reported that murine interleukin-5 (IL-5) can cross-react with human cells and selectively stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of eosinophils. This study identified the IL-5-like activity in culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) from asthmatic patients. Murine recombinant IL-5 (rIL-5) was used as a positive control; the number of eosinophils was determined by both Wright's stain and eosinophil peroxidase measurement. Time course and dose response studies showed that rIL-5 at 40 U/ml induced a maximal eosinophil differentiation after a three week incubation with cord blood MNCs. Unstimulated MNC supernatants obtained from asthmatics possessed a higher eosinophil differentiation activity (OD490, 0.09 +/- 0.02, n = 23) than those obtained from the normals (0.03 +/- 0.01) (P < 0.02). This activity in unstimulated MNC supernatant can be neutralized by anti-IL-5 antibodies. Neither Bermuda grass- nor phytohemagglutinin-stimulated MNC supernatant showed a statistical significance between these two groups. The IL-5-like activity was associated with a protein of MW around 30kD as determined by Superose-12 PG gel filtration. In conclusion, MNC culture supernatants derived from asthmatics contained an eosinophil differentiation activity, which might be important for regulation of eosinophil generation and thus contribute to the asthma-related eosinophilia.


The lateralization of the grasp reflex in human newborns. The strength of the grasp reflex from the right and left hands was estimated in male and female newborns within the second day after birth. In the total sample (N = 121), the mean strength of the grasp reflex from the right hand was found to be significantly higher than that from the left hand. There was a significant positive linear correlation between reflex strengths from the right and left hands. The mean right minus left (R - L) reflex strength was found to be significantly larger than zero. There was a positive linear relationship between the R-L reflex strength and the reflex strengths from the right and left hands. This was more pronounced for the right hand than the left hand. The reflex strengths from the right and left hands were found to be positively linearly correlated with the weight of the newborn babies. These results indicated a grasp reflex lateralization in newborns. The right-bias in the grasp-reflex asymmetry established in this work would create a basis for the development of the right-hand preference in adulthood.


Abnormal EEG and calcification of the pineal gland in schizophrenia. Computed tomographic (CT) studies of the brain in schizophrenic patients have demonstrated a variety of structural abnormalities. We reported recently an association between pineal calcification (PC) and cortical and prefrontal cortical atrophy, and third ventricular size on CT scan in chronic schizophrenic patients. These findings indicate that in schizophrenia PC is associated with the morphological brain abnormalities associated with the disease. If PC is, indeed, related to organic cerebral pathology, then one would expect a higher prevalence of pineal gland pathology among patients with electroencephalographic (EEG) abnormalities by comparison to those with a normal EEG. To investigate this hypothesis, we studied the prevalence of PC on CT scan in a sample of 52 neuroleptic-treated schizophrenic patients (29 men, 23 women, mean age: 51.3 years SD = 9.1), of whom 10 (19.2%) had an abnormal EEG. The prevalence of PC in patients with EEG abnormalities was significantly greater by comparison to those with a normal EEG (90.0% vs. 54.8%, X2 = 4.24, p < .05). Since both groups did not differ on any of the historical and demographic data, and since PC was unrelated to neuroleptic exposure, these findings suggest that in schizophrenia PC may be related to the disease process and that it may be a marker of subcortical pathology.


Evoked otoacoustic emissions: relative importance of age, sex and sensorineural hearing-loss using a mathematical model of the audiogram. The influence of age, sex and of hearing loss on the EOAEs were studied in 140 subjects. The EOAEs were never found when hearing loss on the best hearing frequency was above 40 dB HL and when the threshold of intelligibility was above 45 dB HL. The presence of EOAEs therefore does not only give specific information on the midfrequencies, but also shows a hearing loss below or equal to 40 dB HL on at least one frequency. In addition, there is a relation between the audiometric curve and the spectrum analysis of EOAEs. These seem to be promising results for clinical applications.


The involvement of pineal gland and melatonin in immunity and aging: II. Thyrotropin-releasing hormone and melatonin forestall involution and promote reconstitution of the thymus in anterior hypothalamic area (AHA)-lesioned mice. A stereotactic electrolytic lesion of the anterior hypothalamic area in mice produces a rapid involution of the thymus and a reduction of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood. This effect on the thymus and blood lymphoid compartment can be prevented by postoperational administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) or melatonin. These activities of TRH or melatonin are antagonized by the opioid receptor blocker naltrexone. They do not seem to depend on stimulation of the thyroid gland or of the endogenous opioid system but rather on a direct activity of TRH on thymic targets or binding sites on lymphocytes.


The relationship between disability and memory dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. We examined the relationship between memory impairment and functional disability in multiple sclerosis. Tests of memory, sensorimotor ability, and functional capacity were administered to fifty-six subjects with chronic-progressive or remitting-relapsing MS. Sensorimotor impairment, functional disability, and chronicity predicted impairment on various measures of memory acquisition, while age and type of diagnosis did not. After accounting for the effects of initial acquisition, delayed-recall performance was weakly-associated with disability. We suggest that: (1) Functional disability is associated with memory loss in MS; (2) MS-forgetting is caused by defective acquisition, rather by a deficit in consolidation or storage; (3) Level of disease activity, rather than type of MS diagnosis, determines the degree of memory impairment; and (4) MS disability needs to be evaluated multidimensionally, to account for both neurologic and functional impairment.


Components of basal and GABA activated 36Cl- influx in rat cerebral cortex microsacs. The basal and GABA activated accumulation of labelled chloride in rat cerebral cortex microsacs has been studied as a function of incubation time. Basal accumulation has biphasic kinetics within 2 minutes of incubation with two components clearly visible. GABA activated stimulation has two phases as well, starting from (GABA) = 10(-5) M, one appearing within seconds of incubation range and the other one within tens of seconds. Both GABA-activated components are blocked by bicuculline methiodide (BMI). Practically no effect by 10(-3) M nipecotic acid was found on either the comparatively rapid or the slower phase. The two GABA activated components may correspond to two different populations of sealed vesicles with different receptor concentration per internal volume.


Attentional load and visual neglect.

Attentional load and visual neglect. Ten subjects suffering from left unilateral neglect carried out a letter cancellation task under normal conditions, while counting forward, and when generating random numbers, respectively. The index of neglect increased with each of these conditions, though only the normal-random difference was statistically significant. In a second study, four left unilateral neglect subjects and four right brain-damaged controls carried out a simple reaction time task, with stimuli appearing randomly to the left and right, with and without the simultaneous performance of a secondary task (counting backward in threes from 100). The discrepancy between left versus right latencies increased significantly in the secondary task condition for two patients in the neglect group but not for the other two. None of the control group showed this effect. Theoretical implications of these findings for understanding neglect are discussed.


Spontaneous eyeblinks and state anxiety following exercise. The purposes of this investigation were: (1) assess the impact of acute exercise on spontaneous eyeblink rate, and (2) determine the relationship between eyeblinks and state anxiety before and following exercise. Sixteen men performed a graded treadmill run for the purpose of assessing maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). On three separate days the subjects completed a 15 min run at 75% of VO2max, a 30 min run at 75% of VO2max, and a control condition which involved 15 min of imagined running. State anxiety and eyeblink rate were assessed immediately before as well as 5, 10, 20, and 30 min following each condition. Multivariate ANOVA (3 Conditions x 5 Trials) with repeated measures revealed a significant main effect for trials (Wilks' Lambda = .80; F = 2.5; df = 4.42; p = .05) for eyeblink rate. One-way ANOVA post hoc tests indicated that eyeblinks increased significantly following the imagined exercise condition only. A significant main effect for trials (Wilks' Lambda = .47; F = 12.1; df = 4.42; p < .001) was also found for state anxiety, and following all three conditions significant reductions in anxiety were observed when compared to precondition values. Significant correlations were not observed between eyeblink rate and state anxiety following any of the three conditions; however, a moderate relationship was found immediately prior to each condition (range: r = .30-.43). It is concluded that eyeblink rates are not influenced by treadmill running at 75% of VO2max for either 15 or 30 min, and that postexercise anxiety reductions are unrelated to eyeblink rates.


The pineal gland and the clinical course of multiple sclerosis. Clinical, epidemiological, biochemical, immunological, and radiological studies suggest that the pineal gland may be implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). The following communication is concerned with the association among MS, pregnancy, the postpartum period, and melatonin secretion and illustrates, based on a clinical case report, the influence of the pineal gland on the clinical course of MS. This association is noteworthy since MS may worsen during the postpartum period and melatonin secretion is reported to be altered most dramatically by pregnancy and delivery. Since melatonin secretion is cyclical, undergoing diurnal, weekly, seasonal, and annual variations, it is proposed that the pineal gland may be the "prime mover" underlying the spontaneous exacerbations and remissions in MS.


Relation of brain weight to body weight in cats to sex and paw preferences: anomalous results in left-preferent cats. The well known relationship between brain weight and body weight was restudied in cats considering paw preference assessed by the food reaching test. The brain weight was found to be directly related to the body weight in the total sample, males, females, right-preferents, ambidexters, male right-preferents, male left-preferents, and female right-preferents. There was, however, no significant correlation between these parameters in the left-preferent cats. As a further anomalous result, there was a negative linear correlation between brain and body weights in the left-preferent female cats. It was suggested that the well-known allometric law that brain size increases with body weight should be reanalyzed in studies of neural evolution considering cerebral lateralization and sex-related differences.


Dissociated hemispheric and stimulus effects upon affective choice and recognition. Following lateralized tachistoscopic presentations of faces and pronounceable nonsense words, subjects made two kinds of choices, affective (AFF) and recognition (REC). Subliminal presentations influenced later affective choices for faces (but not for nonsense words), while recognition was not influenced. Liminal presentations produced no effects. Supraliminal presentations influenced later affective choices for nonsense words (but not for faces), while recognition choices showed the expected LVF advantage for faces and a RVF advantage for nonsense words. Affective and recognition judgments appeared to be competing processes since only one or the other but not both differed significantly from chance in a visual field for a given stimulus type and exposure duration.


Is the pineal gland involved in the pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma. The pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma, which is the most common malignant neoplasm of the female genital tract, is unknown. It is believed that a prolonged period of increased estrogenic exposure unopposed by progesterone may underlie the malignant transformation of the endometrial cells. In the following communication, we propose that deficient melatonin functions may be an additional endocrine factor implicated in the pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma. This hypothesis is based on the observations that: (a) melatonin has antiestrogenic properties; (b) melatonin stimulates progesterone production which opposes the action of estrogens; (c) an increased rate of endometrial hyperplasia, a premalignant condition, has been noted during the winter, a time of year associated with diminished melatonin secretion; (d) an increased incidence of anovulatory cycles, which is a risk factor for endometrial carcinoma, occurs in the winter; (e) melatonin secretion decreases sharply during the menopause, a period associated with an increased risk of endometrial carcinoma; (f) obesity, which is a major risk factor for endometrial carcinoma, is associated with impaired circadian melatonin secretion; (g) diabetes mellitus, which is an additional risk factor for endometrial carcinoma, is associated with decreased melatonin secretion and an increased rate of pineal calcification; and (h) the prevalence of endometrial carcinoma is lower in the black population compared to the white population. Similarly, the incidence of pineal calcification, which reflects the secretory activity of the gland, is significantly lower in the African and American black populations as compared to the white population.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


There is a relatively left-biased grasp-reflex asymmetry in human newborns with familial sinistrality compared to those without familial sinistrality. Grasp-reflex asymmetry was studied in human newborns with regard to familial sinistrality (FS). In the total sample, the following results were obtained. The mean grasp-reflex strength from the right hand was found to be significantly greater than that from the left hand in FS- subjects. There was no significant difference between these parameters in FS+ subjects. The mean right minus left (R-L) reflex strength was significantly greater than zero in FS- subjects. The mean R-L reflex did not significantly differ from zero in FS+ subjects. The mean reflex strength from the right hand was found to be significantly greater in FS- subjects than FS+ subjects. There was no significant difference between the mean reflex strengths from the left hands of the FS- and FS+ subjects. The mean R-L reflex in subjects FS- was found to be significantly greater than that in FS+ subjects. Similar results were obtained from the male and female subjects. It was concluded that FS is an important factor determining the degree of the grasp-reflex asymmetry in newborns. The relatively left-biased grasp-reflex asymmetry under the influence of FS indicates a genetic origin of the motor asymmetry in newborns. This, in turn, suggests that cerebral lateralization inducing manual asymmetry in humans may have been preprogrammed genetically.


Lateral hemispheric asymmetries in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) assessed by I-123 IMP SPECT imaging: a preliminary report. Lateral hemispheric asymmetries (LHA) of I-123 IMP single photon emission tomography (SPECT) in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) were investigated. Significant left-right asymmetries were found by SPECT imaging in 13/17 SDAT patients. LHA were found in mild as well as in moderate or severe cases of SDAT. No relationships were found between LHA and the duration of illness or between LHA and the severity of disease, suggesting that LHA reflect subtypes more than the evolutive stages of the disease. LHA was more frequent in right hemisphere (10 of 17 cases) and all male subjects were right hemisphere damaged type which is not consistent with past reports.


Melatonin and maturation of REM sleep.

Melatonin and maturation of REM sleep. The discovery in 1953 of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the appreciation that sleep is a heterogeneous physiological state stimulated major research into sleep disorders. Electroencephalographic studies have shown that the amount of REM sleep changes with age. While newborns spend almost 50% of their sleep time in REM, the percentage of REM sleep decreases to 30% by the age of 3 months and to 20% by the age of 6 months. In addition, newborns enter REM sleep soon after the initiation of sleep, but by the age of 4 months entry into sleep assumes the adult pattern in which a significant period of non-REM sleep precedes the onset of REM sleep. Since reduction in the amount of REM sleep is associated with cerebral maturation and since the pineal gland has been implicated both in cerebral development and in the organization of REM sleep, the pineal gland may be involved in the maturation of the adult REM sleep pattern. Prior to the age of 3 months melatonin plasma levels are low and the characteristic circadian rhythms of melatonin are absent. Thereafter, melatonin secretion increases and circadian rhythmicity of melatonin becomes apparent. Thus, the abundance of REM sleep during the first 3 months of infancy is associated with deficient pineal melatonin functions, while the decline in the percentage of REM sleep coincides with the emergence of melatonin secretion coincident with the maturation of the pineal gland. I propose, therefore, that a state of low melatonin secretion is permissive for REM sleep and that maturation of the pineal gland retards REM sleep. This hypothesis is supported by the findings that melatonin suppresses REM sleep in cats and that in rats and humans pinealectomy induces a narcoleptic-like pattern of REM sleep which strikingly resembles that of the newborn and which is reversed by the administration of melatonin. A further hypothesis is advanced to explain the pathophysiology of narcolepsy in terms of a maturational defect of the pineal gland in infancy.


Attention deficit disorder, alcoholism, and drug abuse: MMPI correlates. Earlier research had demonstrated that alcoholics with attention deficit disorder residual type (ADDRT) differ from other alcoholics on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of drug abuse on the relationship of ADDRT and alcoholism as reflected on the MMPI. Groups of 48 male alcoholics, 28 ADDRT alcoholics, 25 ADDRT alcohol and drug abusers and 18 alcohol and drug abusers were all administered the MMPI. Significant differences were found between the alcoholic and ADDRT alcoholic groups on scales Pd, Sc, Si, F, and K. For the ADDRT alcohol and drug abusers versus the alcohol and drug abuser groups, they differed on scales K, Hs, D, Pd, Pa, Pt, Sc, Si, F, K, and L.


Melatonin as a proconvulsive hormone in humans. The pineal gland and melatonin exert a major influence in the control of brain electrical activity and have been shown to be involved in seizure and sleep mechanisms. Since pinealectomy has been reported to result in seizures in experimental animals, it is assumed that melatonin has anticonvulsant properties. Indeed, limited studies in humans with temporal lobe epilepsy indicate that melatonin attenuates seizure activity. In the present communication we present evidence, based on magnetoencephalographic (MEG) brain measurements, that melatonin may exert proconvulsive activity in humans as well. The proconvulsive properties of melatonin may explain several phenomena associated with epilepsy such as the increased occurrence of seizures at night when melatonin plasma levels are 5 to 8-fold higher than during the day and the observed exacerbation of seizures premenstrually and during pregnancy as well as the attenuation of seizures in the menopause. Furthermore, our findings suggest that anticonvulsants which decrease melatonin secretion, such as the benzodiazepines, may exert their antiepileptic activity by attenuating nocturnal melatonin secretion. Finally, we propose that patients with nocturnal epilepsy or those experiencing exacerbation of seizures premenstrually may benefit from the administration of agents which block the secretion or action of melatonin.


Magnetic fields in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Levodopa-induced dyskinesias are a common complication of chronic dopaminergic therapy in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The overall prevalence of levodopa-induced dyskinesias ranges from 40%-90% and is related to the underlying disease process, pharmacologic factors, and to the duration of high dose levodopa therapy. The mechanisms underlying the emergence of levodopa-induced dyskinesias are unknown, although most investigators favor the theory that striatal dopamine receptor supersensitivity is directly responsible for the development of these abnormal movements. In laboratory animals, the pineal hormone melatonin has been shown to regulate striatal dopaminergic activity and block levodopa-induced dyskinesias (Cotzias et al., 1971). Since the pineal gland is known to be a magnetosensitive organ and as application of external magnetic fields has been shown to alter melatonin secretion, we studied the effects of application of external artificial weak magnetic fields in a Parkinsonian patient with severe levodopa-induced dyskinesias ("on-off"). Application of weak magnetic fields with a frequency of 2 Hz and intensity of 7.5 picotesla (pT) for a 6 minute period resulted in a rapid and dramatic attenuation of Parkinsonian disability and an almost complete resolution of the dyskinesias. This effect persisted for about 72 hours after which the patient regressed to his pretreatment state. To ascertain if the responses elicited in the laboratory were reproducible, the patient was instructed to apply magnetic fields of the same characteristics daily at home. These subsequent treatments paralleled the initial response with a sustained improvement being maintained during an observation period lasting at least one month. This case demonstrates the efficacy of weak magnetic fields in the treatment of Parkinsonism and motor complications of chronic levodopa therapy.


Dichotic listening studies of hemispheric asymmetry in brain damaged patients. In the present paper we review the empirical evidence for structural versus attentional explanations of the right ear advantage (REA) phenomenon in dichotic listening (DL). The ear advantage in DL is a behavioral "marker" of language function in the cerebral hemispheres. Dichotic listening data from four brain-lesioned patients are presented. The patients had a tumor or cyst in the left Sylvian region (2 cases); hemorrhage in the left frontotemporal region (1 case); and severe destruction of the left hemisphere (1 case). The results from all four patients showed marked reductions in correct recall of the right ear items, while left ear recall was left unaffected. In two of the cases, the DL data showed an immediate reinstatement of the REA after neurosurgery. It is concluded that the results favor a structural/anatomical explanation of the ear advantage phenomenon in DL, rather than an attentional bias explanation.


Topographic brain mapping of emotion-related hemisphere asymmetries. The study used topographic brain mapping of visual evoked potentials to investigate emotion-related hemisphere asymmetries. The stimulus material consisted of color photographs of human faces, grouped into two emotion-related categories: normal faces (neutral stimuli) and faces deformed by dermatological diseases (emotional stimuli). The pictures were presented tachistoscopically to 20 adult right-handed subjects. Brain activity was recorded by 30 EEG electrodes with linked ears as reference. The waveforms were averaged separately with respect to each of the two stimulus conditions. Statistical analysis by means of significance probability mapping revealed significant differences between stimulus conditions for two periods of time, indicating right hemisphere superiority in emotion-related processing. The results are discussed in terms of a 2-stage-model of emotional processing in the cerebral hemispheres.


Good recovery in visual scanning in a patient with persistent anosognosia. A patient with hemineglect disturbance (N.G.) due to a right hemispheric lesion was admitted to rehabilitative training which featured the use of procedures devised in a previous study (Pizzamiglio et al., 1990) both in a standard way and with the addition of optokinetic stimulation. This latter paradigm produces an automatic reaction which favors the spatial orienting of the patient toward his (left) neglected side. N.G. showed good recovery in visual scanning and, by the end of training, reached a level of recovery similar to other neglect patients. However, his recovery was particularly slow and no change was observed in his attitude toward the visual disturbance. The conclusion is reached that recovery in visual scanning also can be obtained in patients with persistent anosognosic disturbances. Stimulations such as the optokinetic condition which influence patients' behavior at an automatic level may play an important role in this recovery. CBF studies obtained before and after training showed a CBF improvement mainly in the right temporoparietal regions, behind the lesion, and in the left frontal cortex. The implications of these findings on various theoretical interpretations of the hemineglect disturbance are briefly discussed.


Right and left hand skill in relation to cerebral lateralization in right-handed male and female subjects: the prominent role of the right brain in right-handedness. The associations between right and left hand skills to cerebral motor lateralization were studied in right-handed subjects with (FS+) and without (FS-) familial sinistrality. Hand preference was assessed by Oldfield questionnaire and hand skill by the peg moving task. The mean peg moving times (PMTs) and their standard deviations (SDs) were calculated for each hand. There was a significant positive linear correlation between the mean right and left hand PMTs. In males, the mean difference between the left and right PMTs (L-R) showed a significant negative linear correlation with the mean right hand PMTs. There was no significant correlation between these parameters in females. The mean L-R PMTs were found to be positively linearly correlated with the mean left hand PMT in FS- males, FS- and FS+ females (no correlation in FS+ males). The results indicated the contribution of the mean left hand PMTs to L-R hand skill is much higher than that of the mean right hand PMTs. In males, there was no significant correlation between SDs of the mean right and left hand PMTs. In females, SD of the mean right hand PMT was found to be positively linearly related to SD of the left hand PMT. In males, L-R SDs were found to be negatively linearly related to SDs of the mean right hand PMTs and positively linearly related to the SDs of the mean left hand PMTs. In females, only the mean left hand PMT positively linearly correlated with L-R SDs. Here again, the left hand prominently influenced the L-R SDs. In males, SD for the mean right hand PMT showed no relation to right hand PMT. There was, however, a negative linear correlation between SD of the mean right hand PMT and the left hand PMT (no correlations in female). It was concluded that the left hand (right brain) would be of higher significance than the right hand (left brain) in determining the degree of the right-bias in hand skill and its stability in right-handers.


"Exploring the potential of magneto-recrystallization of genes and associated structures with respect to nerve regeneration and cancer". Very weak magnetic fields have been shown to be associated with the human brain and heart. These fields, apparently physiologic, are about one million times weaker than the geomagnetic, the earth's steady magnetic field, which measures about 0.5 gauss. Fields of about 10(-8) gauss are perhaps correlable to genomic masses and associated structures like peptide hormone trophic factors. The connection between genes and magnetic fields is made from a new form of resonance called Jacobson Resonance. Jacobson Resonance, represented by the equation mc2 = Bvl coulomb, is explained. Indeed, we may view the possibility of linking human electromagnetic interactions with mechanical vibrations of the crystalline lattices of genes and associated critical molecules like growth factors. As these fields are applied to the equations for solenoidal models, currents of about a microampere are derived; in perfect accord with recent clinical data indicating the therapeutic efficacy of weak currents in repair and growth of soft tissue, bone and nerve. The mechanism of reorientation of spin angular momentum of electrons and protons influencing molecular magnetic domains to bring about 'particle jumps' is presented so that a clinical picture results. The clinical picture is that of an organism placed at right angles to flux lines in the midst of a solenoid immersed in water exposed then to exogenously applied resonant physiologic magnetic fields. They may convert malalligned atomic lattices of oncogenes and associated particles to homologous normal structures which may promulgate an adjustment to physiological homeostasis.


Relation of nonverbal intelligence assessed by Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test to latencies of the somatosensory evoked potentials elicited by stimulation of the posterior tibial nerves in right-handed male and female subjects. The association of nonverbal intelligence (NVI) with latencies of the somatosensory evoked potentials from the right and left posterior tibial nerves (PTNs) was studied in right-handed male and female subjects without familial sinistrality (FS-). There was a significant negative linear correlation between N49-P39 interpeak latencies from the right and left PTNs in females and a significant positive linear correlation between these parameters in males. There was no significant correlation between P58-N49 interpeak latencies and NVI in females, but a significant negative linear correlation in males. The N76-P58 interpeak latencies were found to be positively linearly related to NVI only in females; there was no correlation between these parameters in males. There was no significant correlation between IQ and side differences in SEP latencies in females. The right minus left P39 latencies from the right and left PTN were found to be negatively linearly related to IQ in males. In females with nearly equal heights, latencies of N49 waves were found to be negatively linearly related to IQ. In males with nearly equal heights, only P39 and P58 waves from the right PTN were found to be negatively linearly related to IQ. These results did not support the hypothesis of speed of information processing by the brain in behavioral intelligence. An asymmetrical organization of the male brain seems to be disadvantageous for nonverbal intelligence; the female brain appeared to be independent of the degree of asymmetrical organization of the brain in this respect.


Firing rate interactions among human orbicularis oris motor units. Groups of human motor units from the same muscle exhibit joint fluctuations in firing rate during voluntary muscle contraction. In an effort to determine whether similar behavior would be observed in a muscle lacking muscle spindles, motor unit firing behavior was examined in the human orbicularis oris inferior (OOI) during mild voluntary effort. Motor unit activity was recorded with a quadrifilar needle inserted in the OOI. Firing occurrences were identified using a motor unit decomposition procedure. Cross-correlation of motor unit firing rates revealed a tendency for motor unit firing rates to covary, although the effect was somewhat more variable than that observed previously in other skeletal muscles. There was also a statistically significant tendency for pairs of motor units to fire at simultaneous or near-simultaneous (+/- 5 ms) intervals (synchronization). Firing rate variability in OOI motor units was not significantly different (p > .05) from that observed in the FDI. Thus, the present results suggest that the common drive of human motor unit activity may not depend on the presence of muscle spindles.


Antinociception produced by 2 and 5 KHz peripheral stimulation in the rat. Recently a "medium frequency" electric stimulator (LIKON) was marketed, which delivers 2000-5000 Hz square waves and was claimed to induce a strong clinical analgesic effect. The aim of this study was to clarify whether electric stimulation over 1000 Hz would induce any antinociceptive effect in the rat. Tail flick latency (TFL) was taken as the nociceptive index. Electrical stimulation was applied via stainless steel pins inserted into the acupoint ST 36 located near the knee joint and SP 6 located near ankle joint on both hind legs. Significant increase of TFL (ANOVA, p < .01) was obtained after 2 or 5 kHz stimulation for 10 min, and lasted for the whole stimulation period of 30 min. No significant difference was observed whether the amplitude remained constant (5 V) or was modulated at 5 or 100 cycles/s. Opioid antagonist naloxone (20 but not 10 mg/kg, sc) produced a 50% blockade of the antinociception induced by 2 kHz, but not 5 kHz stimulation. The results suggest that 2 kHz peripheral stimulation was capable of inducing an opioid mediated antinociception in the rat, whereas a less marked antinociception induced by 5 kHz stimulation was nonopioid in nature.


Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test performance of a Federal corrections sample with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) was administered to 30 inmates from three United States Federal corrections facilities. Fifteen were HIV seropositive and carried a diagnosis of AIDS; 15 were seronegative controls. The groups were comparable in age, education, sex, estimated premorbid IQ, and ethnic make-up. Both groups learned across trials, and produced similar acquisition curves. They also showed equivalent registration, but controls performed significantly better than subjects with AIDS on AVLT Trials II, IV, V, Recognition, and sum of I through V. AIDS subjects made significantly more intrusion errors than controls, suggesting that seropositive inmates performed more poorly, at least in part, because they experienced difficulty discriminating relevant from irrelevant responses during recall. Evaluation of serial position effects suggested that AIDS subjects experienced recall problems only with the middle segment of the word list. This finding may be unique to persons with AIDS and is consistent with the view that distinct clinical groups produce different recall patterns.


Ontogeny of cholecystokinin-immunoreactive structures in the primate cerebral neocortex. Distribution of cholecystokinin (CCK)-immunoreactive structures was studied in various neocortical areas of macaque monkeys during prenatal and postnatal development. The largest number of CCK-immunoreactive cells was observed at embryonic day 140, and subsequently they decreased in number until postnatal day 60. A few cells which were presumably degenerated neurons were observed during postnatal development. A higher density of CCK-immunoreactive cells was observed in the supragranular layers (layers II and III) than in the infragranular layers (layers V and VI). The number of CCK-immunoreactive cells was larger and changed more conspicuously in the association areas than in the other areas during development. In contrast, in the occipital area, the number of such cells was small and changed only a little. These findings suggest that CCK may be involved in the development and special function of each neocortical areas of the primate.


Cocaine addiction: relationship to seasonal affective disorder. We report a 25 year-old patient with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and cocaine abuse who experienced cyclical fluctuations in cocaine craving which were concomitant with seasonal alterations in mood. The temporal association of both disorders in this patient suggests that they may share a common underlying pathophysiology. Since disturbances in circadian rhythms and pineal melatonin functions may in part underlie the pathophysiology of SAD and the psychomimetic effects of cocaine are mediated in part through the pineal gland, we propose that dysfunction of circadian rhythms and pineal melatonin functions may partly mediate the association of SAD with cocaine abuse. This hypothesis may have potential clinical and therapeutic implications for a subgroup of cocaine abusers with SAD since light therapy, which is efficacious in the therapy of SAD, may also prove to be beneficial in reducing cocaine addiction. Furthermore, the report illustrates the need for investigations of environmental cues for cocaine abuse with specific attention given to the effects of light on circadian mood changes.


Neuropsychological impairment among intravenous drug users in pre-AIDS stages of HIV infection. While much of the current literature concurs that neuropsychological decline does not occur among gay men in the early stages of HIV infection, there is no comparable body of evidence with regard to seropositive intravenous drug users (IVDU). In this study, 45 seropositive (CDC groups 2, 3, and 4a) IVDU in recovery and 55 seronegative IVDU in recovery were given a complete battery of neuropsychological tests measuring attention, language, visual-motor, memory, and conceptual skills. The groups were not significantly different in age, incidence of childhood and adult head injury, types of drugs used, length of use of cocaine, crack, amphetamines and hallucinogens, overdose history, and length of time in recovery. In addition, groups were statistically corrected for education level and length of heroin use. Results indicate that the seropositive participants scored significantly lower on measures of divided attention, visual short-term memory, graphomotor speed and accuracy, auditory language shortterm memory and abstract concept formation. Further analyses revealed that 18% of participants with Persistent Generalized Lymphadenopathy (CDC group III) and 27% of those with constitutional disease (CDC group IVa) were neuropsychologically impaired, as their performance was two standard deviations or more below the normative mean on two or more measures. These results are similar to the reported performance of gay men with full-blown AIDS in a number of studies. It is hypothesized that because of premorbid neurological insult, the toxic effects of drug abuse on brain tissue, and the immunosuppressive effects of the drugs, subcortical brain cells of IVDU are more vulnerable to the invasion of HIV, and neurological deterioration may occur at earlier stages of HIV Spectrum Disease in IVDU than in gay men.


There is a direct relationship between nonverbal intelligence and serum testosterone level in young men. It was confirmed that there is a direct relationship between serum testosterone level and nonverbal intelligence (Cattel's Culture Fair Intelligence Test) only in right-handed male subjects without familial sinistrality (FS-), with right eye preference. There was no significant correlation between these variables in young women and young men with mixed eye preference. It was concluded that testosterone would be an important factor which affects cognitive development in men.


Dysautonomia in Parkinson's disease: relationship to motor disability. Disturbances of autonomic nervous system functions are common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and may develop as a result of pathology in centers of autonomic regulation such as the hypothalamus, brainstem, and sympathetic ganglia. We examined the relationship between the degree of motor disability, as determined from the Hoehn and Yahr scale (1967), and the presence of pandysautonomia, as determined by the assessment of noninvasive cardiovascular reflexes, in 29 unmedicated PD patients (mean age: 72.0 years, SD = 8.9). In addition, we investigated the relationship of pandysautonomia to CT scan measures of cerebral atrophy and to the presence or absence of pineal calcification. Nine patients (31.0%) were found to have pandysautonomia with deficits in both sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular functions. Pandysautonomia was statistically related only to the degree of motor disability (p < .01). These findings demonstrate a significant association between motor disability and objective impairment of central cardiovascular functions in PD.


White noise effects on pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded in 9 subjects from occipital and temporal leads. The stimulus was a checkerboard phase-reversed at the frequency of 1 Hz, binocularly viewed by the subject. VEPs were recorded during white noise stimulation (9 different levels of intensity) and without noise stimulation. P100 latency was not affected by the white noise stimulation, whereas the N75-P100 amplitude turned out to be affected by the simultaneous auditory stimulation with different patterns in relation to the site of the recording. The results are discussed in terms of general activation aroused by the white noise on visual information processing.


Hemispheric asymmetry in the effects of substantia nigra lesioning on lymphocyte reactivity in mice. Asymmetry in brain modulation of the immune system has previously been demonstrated at the neocortex level. In these experiments, the possibility of subcortical immunomodulation was investigated. In mice the substantia nigra was lesioned using the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. Four and six weeks after left or right lesions of the substantia nigra, spleen lymphocyte mitogenesis was slightly depressed or enhanced respectively as compared to sham operated controls. Differences appeared when comparing left and right lesioned groups. However, natural killer cell activity was unaffected by unilateral lesions of the substantia nigra. These results show that asymmetrical brain modulation may occur at the sub-cortical level and suggest that central dopamine is involved in neuroimmunomodulation.


Neural modulation of immunity: conditioning phenomena and the adaptability of lymphoid cells. The behavioral conditioning of alterations in the immune response is one pillar supporting the growing edifice of central nervous system (CNS) modulation of immunity. The mechanisms underlying such conditioning phenomena are not understood. In this communication, we attempt to develop a theoretical position based on the concept of phenotypic and functional adaptability of lymphoid cells. We propose that these cells can learn to associate responsiveness to antigens and to other "immunoactive" agents, with responsiveness to signals originating in the CNS delivered via neuroendocrine or autonomic nervous channels. Neural/endocrine signals act on the immune system in conjunction with immunological stimuli, in a way that leads to "storage" of the association (memory) of these two kinds of stimuli in the immune system rather than in the brain.


Primary or depressive dementia: mental status screening. In the course of interviewing a patient, several aspects of everyday functioning must be covered to provide a range of observations necessary to suggest a provisional diagnosis. First organized by Adolf Meyer, the mental status examination consists of several techniques which, in recent times, have been shortened, structured and standardized to cover maximal ground in minimal time. In this article, the most popular scales are reviewed psychometrically for their capacity to detect, as first-stage instruments, cognitive impairment suggestive of primary dementia in the context of varying prevalence rates and confounding factors like sensory impairments, sociodemographics and depressive states. Several of the measures are found adequate in some respects though not in others, but all of the better ones, when used as front line implements during clinical intake, regularly improve detection over base rates. An analytical method modelled on ROC procedures is then described contrasting two of them before newer instruments are considered which aim to improve sensitivity at relatively little cost to specificity.


Differential maturation of brainstem auditory evoked potentials in preterm infants according to birthweight. Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) were recorded from 39 preterm infants, divided into 3 groups: small-for-gestational-age, with a birthweight less than or equal to 1500 g (SGA); appropriate-for-gestational-age, with a birthweight less than or equal to 1500 g (AGA1); and appropriate-for-gestational-age, with a birthweight higher than 1500 g (AGA2). A significant shortening of the I-V interval due to an increase in wave I latency was found in the SGA group. The lower-weight AGA group (AGA1) was never significantly different from the SGA group. Although there was no correlation between conceptional age and weight at the time of the examination for the studied population, negative correlations were found between wave I latency and weight at the time of the examination. These findings confirm previous research and suggest the existence of a link between weight and basal cochlear maturation.


Recession of periodontal ligament as an indicator of age. The recession of the periodontal ligament has been used as one of several indicators of age in methods for age estimation. In a sample of 1000 teeth the relationship between age and periodontal recession was studied for each type of tooth. Only a weak correlation was found, the least weak being for premolars. The mean of the periodontal recession measured in mm showed approximately the same correlation as when assessed by scoring systems. Logarithmic transformation of the mean of the recession resulted in a stronger correlation with age. The use of tooth age rather than individual age did not have the same effect. Periodontal recession tended to be more rapid in males than in females. The reason for extraction was not found to be significantly correlated with periodontal recession. In conclusion, periodontal recession was not sufficiently accurate to be used as a sole indicator of age. However, in multiple regression methods for age estimation it might contribute significantly to the age equation, especially for premolars.


Accuracy of dental registrations in forensic odontology among dental students. The registration of dental characteristics in forensic work is crucial to the identification procedure and because of this, standardised recordings of dental characteristics should be applied. In order to improve accuracy in identification it is important to evaluate the types of errors that are made during the different steps of the procedure. Attempting to identify the most common interindividual variations, twelve dental students made recordings on excised, macerated jaws at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Göteborg as a part of the course in Forensic Odontology. The most common error was incorrect judgement of the extent of single restorations. Furthermore, the students had difficulty in identifying premolars and molars, especially in the mandible, confusing the two groups of teeth. This study emphasises the importance of carefully re-examining the postmortem dental findings by an experienced forensic odontologist before comparing them with the antemortem data.


Autonomic functions in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. Disturbances of autonomic nervous functions are common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and may develop as a result of pathological changes in centers of autonomic regulation such as the hypothalamus, brainstem, and sympathetic ganglia. We examined cardiovascular reflexes using bedside, noninvasive procedures in 20 unmedicated PD patients with early stages of the disease (stages 1 and 2 on the Hoehn and Yahr's scale). Sixteen patients (80%) exhibited some degree of autonomic nervous system dysfunction. These included predominantly cardiovascular functions mediated via the parasympathetic system. Our findings demonstrate: (a) a high prevalence of autonomic disturbances in early stage PD, and (b) that dysregulation of parasympathetic cardiovascular control mechanisms is a major feature of dysautonomia in early, unmedicated PD patients.


Ten years of forensic odontology: a report from the Department of Forensic Odontology, Stockholm, Sweden. The practical activities of the Department of Forensic Odontology at the National Board for Forensic Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, have been reviewed over a ten year period (1980-1989). The number of cases has increased from 72 in 1980 to 278 in 1989, and a total of 1402 tasks have been carried out. Seventy-five per cent of the cases have concerned identification of single individuals, 14% have involved the National Register of Missing Persons with the remaining cases being age determination (34), bite marks (27), oral examination after criminal assault (69), examination of skeletal remains, dentures, restorative materials (33) and written reports to be presented at court (159).


Time-of-day-induced priming effects on verbal and nonverbal dichotic tasks in male and female adult subjects. Normal adults (32 males and 32 females) were tested for time-of-day related shifts in laterality and priming on two dichotic listening tasks using consonant-vowel combinations (CVs) and musical melodies. The predicted time-of-day effect on melodies was due to males showing low report in the morning, but not the afternoon, suggesting increased right hemisphere involvement in the afternoon. A time-of-day-induced priming effect on the laterality index for CVs differentiated males and females. Males tested morning-first were more lateralized than females, who in turn were more lateralized when tested afternoon-first. A time-of-day-induced priming effect on the laterality index for music indicated those tested afternoon-first showed an overall left ear advantage (LEA), whereas those tested morning-first showed an overall right ear advantage (REA). On raw music scores a sex-linked, time-of-day-induced priming effect was due to the prior presentation of CVs--that is, cognitive priming. Other priming effects on music were evident for order of stimulus presentation and order of ear attended. Implications for theory, research and pedagogy are discussed.


Phencyclidine treatments differentially affect dopamine and D-aspartate release from frontal cortical and striatal slices from mice. Adult mice were exposed to long-term phencyclidine (PCP) treatments as animal models for psychosis. The drug was administered via osmotic minipumps implanted subcutaneously in the backs of the mice. The treatments for 7 days with 2.5 and 1 mg/d/mouse and the treatment for 3 days with 1 mg/d/mouse differentially affected the release of dopamine and D-aspartate from striatal and frontal cortical slices. In frontal cortical slices the potassium-stimulated release of dopamine increased, whereas the release of D-aspartate varied with the PCP dose. In striatal slices the release of D-aspartate was either decreased or unchanged, whereas the release of dopamine was mostly unchanged. The 3-day treatment with PCP followed by the 3-day period of withdrawal increased the potassium-stimulated release of dopamine from frontal cortical slices and decreased that from striatal slices. In brain slices from untreated mice PCP increased the release of dopamine in vitro, whereas the release of D-aspartate was not affected. It seems that PCP has region-specific effects on both dopaminergic and glutamatergic transmission in the central nervous system, and it may thus serve as an interesting experimental model for further research on psychosis.


The management of pediatric brain tumors in a tertiary center. Between January 1982 and January 1990, 120 newly diagnosed pediatric patients were treated at The Chaim Sheba Medical Center. Sixty three (52.5%) tumors arose in the posterior fossa and 57 (47.5%) appeared supratentorially. A wide variety of histologic subtypes was seen, each requiring tumor-specific treatment. The modern imaging techniques-CT and MRI-offered better planning of operation, treatment and follow up. All children with highly malignant tumors were treated with combination chemotherapy besides the 'conventional radiotherapy'. Since 1987 the "eight in one day" protocol has been used extensively pre- and post-irradiation. Five-year survival, varied significantly according to tumor type, location and stage. The average delay from presentation of symptoms to diagnosis was 6 months. A multidisciplinary approach has been used in the treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up of these children. In this study, the results of treatment are presented and the role of chemotherapy is discussed.


Weekly 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid plus escalating doses of cisplatin with glutathione protection in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Twenty-two patients with advanced head and neck carcinoma were treated with 5FU 400 mg-2 m-1 week and folinic acid 500 mg m-2 week-1 plus CDDP in escalating doses from 20 to 40 mg m-2 week-1 without forced diuresis. Reduced glutathione at the dose of 1.5 g m-2 was employed to protect patients from CDDP-related nephrotoxicity. The aims of the study were: a) to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of this schedule, and b) to evaluate reduced glutathione as uroprotector. Out of 20 evaluable patients 14 (70%) had a major objective response. A CR with a mean duration of 9.0+ months was achieved in 15% of the patients, a PR of 5.8+ months in 55% of the patients, while 3 patients had stable disease and 4 progressed. It was possible to escalate CDDP up to 35 mg m-2 week-1, but at the dose of CDDP 40 mg m-2 week-1 the occurrence of grade 2 renal toxicity provoked a severe reduction of dose-intensity. Overall, this treatment has been very well tolerated by most patients with few cases of grade 3 gastrointestinal or hematological toxicity. In conclusion, the schedule seems effective and may be safely given to patients with advanced head and neck cancer on outpatient basis. Reduced glutathione seems to be able to reduce, at least partially, CDDP-related nephrotoxicity permitting the delivery of higher CDDP doses.


A ten-year follow-up on stage II malignant melanoma patients treated postsurgically with Newcastle disease virus oncolysate. Newcastle disease virus oncolysate was examined as an adjunctive immunotherapeutic agent in the postsurgical management of 83 cases of Stage II malignant melanoma. At this time, all the patients have been under observation for at least 10 years, and over 60% are alive and free of recurrent disease. Older studies in the United States report postsurgical survival figures for Stage II cases of 5-15%. More contemporary studies indicate a 33% survival at 10 years. The unusual disease-free survival periods in the present study, including exceptional survivals in 21 patients with head and neck disease and six cases with cerebral metastases, suggest a unique role for the administration of Newcastle disease virus oncolysate in the management of Stage II malignant melanoma patients.


Coping styles, cortisol reactivity, and performance in a vigilance task of patients with persistent postconcussive symptoms after a mild head injury. Some patients experience persistent postconcussive symptoms (PCS) after a mild head injury (MHI). According to the coping hypothesis, PCS result from the increased stress that head-injured patients experience when they are not able to cope with environmental demands. This study examined the coping ability and cortisol reactivity of MHI patients with and without PCS and in uninjured controls. Patients with PCS 12-34 months after injury were individually matched with MHI patients without PCS (N = 11) and healthy controls (N = 11) for the time elapsed since the injury, age, sex, education, and IQ. First, we found that patients with PCS reported being less able to cope with problems. These patients appeared to be inferior in active problem solving and had a more depressive attitude toward problems than subjects of the two control groups. Second, we found no differences between the three groups in the mean cortisol response during a vigilance task. These results only partly support the coping hypothesis. With respect to cognitive performance, we found that decrements in a vigilance task were related to an increased cortisol response during this task, especially in apparently "recovered" (asymptomatic) MHI patients. The latter finding may point to an increased cognitive vulnerability of apparently recovered MHI patients when exposed to a CNS stressor.


Cytosine arabinoside and etoposide (CARE) in relapsed and refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Twelve patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) were treated with a 5 day protocol of high dose cytosine arabinoside 3 g/m2 and etoposide 200 mg/m2 (CARE) daily for 4 days for either 1 or 2 cycles together with alternating intrathecal cytosine arabinoside and methotrexate. Seven men and 5 women aged 18 to 65 years (median age 47.5 years) have received a total of 19 cycles. Six patients had Stage III and 6 had Stage IV disease, all with marrow involvement. Three patients had diffuse small lymphocytic NHL, 3 had diffuse large cell NHL, 3 had diffuse small cleaved NHL and 3 remaining patients had diffuse mixed small and large cell NHL, lymphoblastic NHL and Burkitt's. Six patients (50%) achieved complete remission (3-44 months), four of whom subsequently underwent successful autologous bone marrow transplantation and a fifth has had marrow harvested in preparation for ABMT. One patient achieved partial remission and 5 patients had no response to CARE. Ten patients had nadir granulocyte counts less than 0.5 x 10(9)/l and all required red cell (range 2-11 units) and platelet (range 6-130 units) transfusions. The platelet nadir was less than 20 x 10(9)/l in all patients. One patient with refractory disease succumbed to pulmonary haemorrhage while three other patients developed reversible toxicity with serve mucositis, prolonged diarrhoea and acute renal failure. One patient with refractory disease died with a progressive neuropathy.


Treatment of malignant peritoneal effusion in digestive and ovarian cancer. Intra Peritoneal Chemo Hyperthermia (IPCH) with Mitomycin C (MMC) or Cisplatinum (CP) was used to treat 32 patients with far advanced digestive or ovarian cancers and peritoneal carcinomatosis. Surgical resection of the primary tumor has been possible in 18 cases. After closure of the abdominal wall, a 90 minutes IPCH as performed under general anaesthesia and 32 degrees C general hypothermia, through 3 intraperitoneal drainages realizing a closed circuit, using 10 mg/l of MMC or 15 to 25 mg/l of CP in 6 l of peritoneal dialysate heated at the inflow temperature of 46 to 49 degrees C. The mortality rate was 3% and the morbidity rate was 3%. In 11 out of 12 patients with preoperative malignant ascites, no more ascites could be found after IPCH. For peritoneal carcinomatosis from digestive origin, median survival was 11.2 months and 1 year survival rate was 46.9%. These encouraging preliminary results show that IPCH is a safe and reliable treatment for peritoneal carcinomatosis in far advanced digestive or ovarian cancers.


Radiation-induced thyroid cancer.

Radiation-induced thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer was the first solid tumor that showed an increased incidence among the Japanese A-bomb survivors and recently published data indicated an increase of thyroid cancer among children in Belarus. The annual thyroid cancer rate between 1986 and 1989 was 4 cases and 2 years later a 14-fold increase was found. That study has several methodological weaknesses but is nevertheless alarming. The present paper reviews the current epidemiological knowledge on radiation-induced thyroid cancer, and discusses the methodological difficulties. It is concluded that low doses of brief gamma radiation induce thyroid cancer in juveniles. No study has yet proven a relationship between protracted low dose exposure and thyroid cancer or an increased thyroid cancer risk among adults after exposure to any form of ionizing radiation. Thyroid cancer seems to have a somewhat shorter latency period than other solid tumors and the dose-response relationship seems to be linear. The most important issues in radiation protection concerning thyroid cancer are the risk of a thyroid cancer following low dose and/or protracted exposure to ionizing radiation and following 131I exposure in childhood.


The monocyte tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in patients with acute leukemia in complete remission. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production by unstimulated and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated peripheral monocytes has been studied in 17 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, 54 AML patients in complete remission (AML-CR), 9 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients and 13 ALL patients in complete remission (ALL-CR). TNF-alpha production by the unstimulated monocytes in ALL patients (n = 6, mean: 6.6 +/- 4.9 u/ml) was higher than that of normal controls (n = 13, 0.9 +/- 0.7 u/ml), AML patients (n = 14, 2.0 +/- 2.1 u/ml) and AML-CR patients (n = 21, 1.4 +/- 1.2 u/ml). TNF-alpha production by the LPS-stimulated monocytes of the AML-CR patients (n = 54, 12.4 +/- 13.4 u/ml) was significantly higher than that of the normal controls (n = 21, 3.5 +/- 2.5 u/ml) and the AML patients (n = 17, 2.6 +/- 2.4 u/ml), p < 0.01, but there were not any significant differences among the AML-CR patients and the ALL patients or the ALL-CR patients. We separated the AML-CR patients into 3 groups, depending on the length of their remission, and found that AML-CR patients with longer than 6 months (M) but less than 60 M (n = 21, 15.7 +/- 16.9 u/ml) and the patients with a remission longer than 60 M (n = 11, 18.2 +/- 15.9 u/ml) had significantly higher TNF-alpha production than that of the controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Dexamethasone reverses glucocorticoid receptor RNA depression in multi-drug resistant (MDR) myeloma cell lines. Glucocorticoid receptors and glucocorticoid receptor RNA (GR RNA) were measured in doxorubicin resistant myeloma cell lines to investigate the relationship between multi-drug resistance and glucocorticoid sensitivity. Glucocorticoid binding sites and GR RNA were found to be lowered in all the tested doxorubicin resistant cell lines: R10, R40 and R60 compared to the untreated wild type RPMI 8226 cells (Dalton, et al., 1984). The least resistant cell line, R10, maintained a down regulation of GR RNA after 48 hours of dexamethasone (10(-6) M) treatment of the cells. Interestingly, the R10 cell line has been reported to be very sensitive to dexamethasone treatment. However, the GR RNA levels increased in presence of dexamethasone in the most resistant cell line, R40, R60 by comparison to the wild type. Thus, the reduction of GR RNA by doxorubicin treatment appears to be overcome by dexamethasone in the most resistant cell lines. Steroids may be helpful in reversing resistance and maintaining drug sensitive human tumor populations that will continue to respond to cancer chemotherapeutic agents.


Structural alterations of the ribosomal RNA genes in leukemic cells. Cloned 6.7 kb EcoR1 fragment of mice rDNA was used as a hybridization probe for rDNA structure analysis in mice, rat and calf haemopoietic tumor and normal cells. EcoR1, BglII and Pst1 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was found in neoplastic rDNA and was not revealed in normal ones. The rRNA gene rearrangements were observed not only in spacer region but in coding sequences of the genes. Leukemic cells reveal also rDNA amplification. A role of genetic rearrangements of rDNA for mechanisms of carcinogenesis is suggested.


Evaluation of temporal, seasonal and geographic stability of the molluscicidal property of Euphorbia splendens latex. Laboratory tests with aqueous solutions of Euphorbia splendens var. hislopii latex have demonstrated seasonal stability of the molluscacidal principle, with LD90 values of 1.14 ppm (spring), 1.02 ppm (fall), 1.09 ppm (winter), and 1.07 ppm (summer) that have been determined against Biomphalaria tenagophila in the field. Assays on latex collected in Belo Horizonte and Recife yielded LD90 values similar to those obtained with the reference substance collected in Rio de Janeiro (Ilha do Governador), demonstrating geographic stability of the molluscacidal effect. The molluscacidal action of aqueous dilutions of the latex in natura, centrifuged (precipitate) and lyophilized, was stable for up to 124 days at room temperature (in natura) and for up to 736 days in a common refrigerator at 10 to 12 degrees C (lyophilized product). A 5.0 ppm solution is 100% lethal for snails up to 13 days after preparation, the effect being gradually lost to almost total inactivity by the 30th day. This observation indicated that the active principle is instable. These properties together with the wide distribution of the plant, its resistance and adaptation to the tropical climate, its easy cultivation and the easy obtention of latex and preparation of the molluscicidal solution, make this a promising material for large-scale use in the control of schistosomiasis.


Renal involvement in prolonged Salmonella bacteremia: the role of schistosomal glomerulopathy. Renal involvement has been well documented in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and in patients with prolonged Salmonella bacteremia (PSB). Whether there is a specific renal lesion related to PSB or the chronic bacterial infection aggravates a pre-existing schistosomal glomerulopathy has been a matter of controversy. To analyze the clinical manifestations and histopathological findings of the renal involvement, 8 patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and PSB (group I) were compared with 8 patients with schistosomal glomerulopathy (group II) matched by sex and glomerular disease. The mean age in group I was 17.7 years. All patients presented with hematuria, in 4 cases associated with non-nephrotic proteinuria. In group II the mean age was 23 years; nephrotic syndrome was the clinical presentation in 7 of the 8 patients in the group. All patients in group I experienced remission of the clinical and laboratory abnormalities as the salmonella infection was cured; in group II the patients had persistent, steroid-resistant, nephrotic syndrome. On histological examination, no difference was noted between the two groups, except for pronounced glomerular hypercellularity and interstitial mononuclear cell infiltration in group I. These observations strongly suggest that PSB exacerbates a pre-existing sub-clinical schistosomal glomerulopathy by the addition of active lesions directly related to the prolonged bacteremia.


Biological and morphological characteristics of Schistosoma mansoni from Ribeira Valley, state of São Paulo, Brazil I--Susceptibility of Biomphalaria tenagophila snail to sympatric S. mansoni strain. In the São Paulo State, Brazil, where the Biomphalaria tenagophila is the intermediate host, the Ribeira Valley is an important endemic schistosomiasis mansoni area. During last eleven years there has been intense control measures focusing on schistosomiasis. The efforts have been concentrated in the municipalities of Pedro de Toledo and Itariri. We determined the susceptibility of B. tenagophila to sympatric strain of S. mansoni, both recently isolated from Itariri field. In 1988, this strain was isolated and maintained in the experimental model: Swiss mice--sympatric B. tenagophila. The second generation of the worm was evaluated. The snail were divided in the three groups of 60 snails each. One group was exposed to 1 miracidium and other to 10. The third group was the control. The mortality and the shedding of cercariae were checked during 78 days. After that, the positive snails were observed until they ceased to shed cercariae. The exposed molluscs showed mortality rates of 23% and 31% and infection indexes were of 8% and 60% to 1 and 10 miracidia respectively. The mortality was of 22% in the control group. The periods of shedding cercariae in the two groups were 82 and 104 days. We can conclude that B. tenagophila is an effective intermediate host to the sympatric strain of S. mansoni sympatric strain.


Schistosoma mansoni: host cell adhesion to the different stages of the parasite, in vivo. The peritoneal cavity of laboratory mice was used to study the phenomenon of host cell adhesion to different evolutive stages of the Schistosoma mansoni (cercaria, adult worm, developing and mature eggs, miracidium, young and mature daughter sporocysts). Material recovered from the peritoneal cavity 30 and 180 min after the inoculation of each evolutive form was examined with the help of a stereomicroscope. The free swimming larvae (cercaria and miracidium), and the evolutive forms producing such larvae (mature egg and mature daughter sporocyst) elicited the host cell adhesion phenomenon. In all forms but cercariae the adherent cells remained as so till 180 minutes after inoculation.


Embryology of Triatoma infestans (Klug), (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), a Chagas' disease vector. This study reports the embryogenesis of T. infestans (Hemiptera, Reduviidae). Morphological parameters of growth sequences from oviposition until hatching (12-14 d 28 degrees C) were established. Five periods, as percent of time of development (TD), were characterized from oviposition until hatching. The most important morphological features were: 1) formation of blastoderm within 7% of TD; 2) germ band and gastrulation within 30% of TD; 3) nerve cord, limb budding, thoracic and abdominal segmentation and formation of body cavity within 50% of TD; 4) nervous system and blastokinesis end, and development of embryonic cuticle within 65% of TD; 5) differentiation of the mouth parts, fat body, and malpighian tubules during final stage and completion of embryo at day 12 to day 14 around hatching. These signals were chosen as appropriate morphological parameters which should enable the evaluation of embryologic modifications due to the action/s of different insecticides.


[The serovars of Leptospira interrogans isolated from cases of human leptospirosis in São Paulo, Brazil]. Eighteen strains of L. interrogans isolated from human cases were serotyped by the agglutinin-absorption test at Instituto Adolfo Lutz in São Paulo, Brazil. Fourteen were identified as serovar copenhageni (icterohaemorrhagiae serogroup), 2 as canicola (canicola serogroup), 1 as castellonis (Ballum serogroup) and 1 as pomona serogroup (serovar not yet defined). The frequency of serovar copenhageni in 100% of the isolates in icterohaemorrhagiae serogroup is emphasized and more studies to verify the real serovars prevalence as subsidy to the epidemiology of this infection are suggested by the authors.


Exposure to acellular blood products and risk of HIV infection in hemophiliacs from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Results of a HIV prevalence study conducted in hemophiliacs from Belo Horizonte, Brazil are presented. History of exposure to acellular blood components was determined for the five year period prior to entry in the study, which occurred during 1986 and 1987. Patients with coagulations disorders (hemophilia A = 132, hemophilia B = 16 and coagulation disorders other than hemophilia = 16) were transfused with liquid cryoprecipitate, locally produced, lyophilized cryoprecipitate, imported from São Paulo (Brazil) and factor VIII and IX, imported from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Europe, and United States. Thirty six (22%) tested HIV seropositive. The univariate and multivariate analysis (logistic model) demonstrated that the risk of HIV infection during the study period was associated with the total units of acellular blood components transfused. In addition, the proportional contribution of the individual components to the total acellular units transfused, namely a increase in factor VIII/IX and lyophilized cryoprecipitate proportions, were found to be associated with HIV seropositivity. This analysis suggest that not only the total amount of units was an important determinant of HIV infection, but that the risk was also associated with the specific component of blood transfused.


Intestinal parasites among Karitiana Indians from Rondônia State, Brazil. Gravity sedimentation parasitological examinations were performed in stool samples from 111 Karitiana Indians from Rondônia State, Brazilian Amazon Basin. Intestinal parasites were found in 43 samples (38.7%). Ascaris lumbricoides was the most prevalent helminth species (18.9%). Egg counts in samples positive for Ascaris suggested an overdispersed distribution of worm burdens in the host population. Age-distribution pattern of intestinal parasites among Karitiana Indians was found to be rather unusual: the highest prevalence (60.0%) was detected in the 12- to 16-year-old age group.


[An immunoenzyme test (ELISA) for the detection of circulating class-IgA antibodies in human leptospirosis]. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA was evaluated for the detection of IgA antibodies in the human leptospirosis. The assay proved to be sensitive and specific when compared with the ELISA-IgM, in the examined serum samples. The results found suggest that IgA antibodies became positive later in leptospirosis, and will can be an evolutive indicator in the development of the disease.


Outbreak of tinea capitis by Trichophyton tonsurans and Microsporum canis in Niterói, RJ, Brazil. 18 girls from an orphanage (Orfanato Santo Antônio) in Niterói presented tinea capitis due to Trichophyton tonsurans (15 cases-83.3%) and Microsporum canis (3 cases-26.7%). Comments are made about clinical, mycological and therapeutic aspects of this microepidemic.


[The sensitivity of yeasts from the Candida genus isolated from cancer patients to polyene antifungals]. Candida strains susceptibility from cancer patients were compared with Candida strains susceptibility from patients, without cancer by MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) and MFC (minimal fungicidal concentration) to Amphotericin B and Nystatin. Broth dilution method and agar dilution method were the procedure employed. The authors find no significant differences between the studied groups. The problem of Candida resistance to polyene antifungals is discussed.


Sedimentation in parasitological coproscopy. A sedimentation technique is described, in which a fecal suspension is placed on top of an aqueous sucrose solution of specific gravity 1.015 g/cm3. Using 100 by 15 mm test tubes, duplicate gravity sedimentation experiments were made using homogenized fecal suspensions (single-columns) and fecal suspensions placed on top of clear columns (double-columns). Egg and cyst counts, and turbidity determinations were made in the sediments obtained after definite time intervals. Most Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Ancylostomidae eggs sedimented within 20 minutes in single-and between 30 and 60 minutes in double-columns. Giardia duodenalis cysts required longer periods to sediment in double-than in single-columns; after 180 minutes (the maximum period of observation), double-column sediments produced 60.0% of the counts of single-columns. Double-column sediments were consistently less turbid than single-column ones.


[A comparative study between broth dilution and agar dilution technics in antibiograms for Candida]. The performance of broth dilution method and agar dilution method were compared by MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) and MFC (minimal fungicidal concentration) from Candida strains to polyene and imizadole antifungal agents. The concordance between these methods was drug dependent. The best percent of concordance were showed when the polyenes were tested. The problems of sensitivity test for yeasts to antifungal drugs are discussed.


Evaluation of different immunization protocols with P. brasiliensis antigens in guinea pigs. The objective of the present study was to develop an efficient and reproducible protocol of immunization of guinea pigs with P. brasiliensis antigens as an animal model for future studies of protective immunity mechanisms. We tested three different antigens (particulate, soluble and combined) and six protocols in the presence and absence of Freund's complete adjuvant and with different numbers of immunizing doses and variable length of time between the last immunizing dose and challenge. The efficacy of the immunizing protocol was evaluated by measuring the humoral and cellular anti-P. brasiliensis immune response of the animals, using immunodiffusion, skin test and macrophage migration inhibition test. It was observed that: 1. Three immunizing doses of the antigens induced a more marked response than two doses; 2. The highest immune response was obtained with the use of Freund's complete adjuvant; 3. Animals challenged a long time (week 6) after the last immunizing dose showed good anti-P. brasiliensis immune response; 4. The particulate antigen induced the lowest immune response. The soluble and the combined antigens were equally efficient in raising good humoral and cellular anti-P. brasiliensis immune response.


Nephrotic syndrome associated with hepatointestinal schistosomiasis. Schistosomal nephropathy has long been related to the hepatosplenic form of schistosomiasis. In the last few years, 24 patients with hepatointestinal schistosomiasis and the nephrotic syndrome were studied. Aiming at evaluating a possible etiologic participation of schistosomiasis in the development of the nephropathy, this group was comparatively studied with a group of 37 patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. Both groups had a different distribution of the histologic lesions. In the group with schistosomiasis there was a statistically significant prevalence of proliferative mesangial glomerulonephritis (33.3%), whereas in the control group there was prevalence of membranous glomerulonephritis (32.4%). On immunofluorescence, IgM was positive in 94.4% of the patients with schistosomiasis versus 55.0% in the control group (P < 0.01). In the group with schistosomiasis, 8 patients evidenced mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis and 5, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. In both histological types immunofluorescence showed IgM and C3 granular deposits in the glomeruli. The data in this study suggests that mesangial proliferative and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, with glomerular granular IgM and C3 deposits, represent the renal lesions of the schistosomiasis associated nephropathy.


Experimental life cycle of Lagochilascaris minor Leiper, 1909. The life cycle of Lagochilascaris minor was studied using material collected from human lesion and applying the experimental model: rodents (mice, hamsters), and carnivores (cats, dogs). In mice given infective eggs, orally, hatch of the third stage larvae was noted in the gut wall, with migration to liver, lungs, skeletal musculature and subcutaneous tissue becoming, soon after, encysted. In cats infected with skinned carcasses of mice (60 to 235 days of infection) it was observed: hatch of third stage larvae from the nodules (cysts) in the stomach, migration through the oesophagus, pharynx, trachea, related tissues (rhino-oropharynx), and cervical lymph nodes developing to the mature stage in any of these sites on days 9-20 post inoculation (P.I.). There was no parasite development up to the mature stage in cats inoculated orally with infective eggs, which indicates that the life cycle of this parasite includes an obligatory intermediate host. In one of the cats (fed carcass of infected mice) necropsied on day 43 P.I., it was observed the occurrence of the self-infective cycle of L. minor in the lung tissues and in the cervical region which was characterized by the finding of eggs in different stages of development, third stage larvae and mature worms. It's believed that some component of the carnivore gastrointestinal tracts may preclude the development of third stage larvae from L. minor eggs what explains the interruption of the life cycle in animals fed infective eggs. It's also pointed out the role of the intermediate host in the first stages of the life cycle of this helminth.


Pathology of periportal fibrosis involution in human schistosomiasis. Optical and electron microscopical evidences of focal matrix degradation were frequently seen in liver sections of periportal fibrosis caused by schistosomiasis mansoni in man. The material came from 14 wedge hepatic biopsies taken from patients with chronic advanced hepatosplenic disease and undergoing operations for the relief of portal hypertension. Besides the presence of focal areas of rarefaction, fragmentation and dispersion of collagen fibers, the enlarged portal spaces also showed hyperplasia of elastic tissue and disarray of smooth muscle fibers following destruction of portal vein branches. Eggs were scanty in the tissue sections, and matrix degradation probably represented involuting changes related to the progressive diminution of parasite-related aggression, which occurs spontaneously with age or after cure by chemotherapy. The changes indicative of matrix degradation now described are probably the basic morphological counterpart of periportal fibrosis involution currently being documented by ultrasonography in hepatosplenic patients submitted to curative chemotherapy.


Experimental coccidioidomycosis in the immunosuppressed rat. C. immitis inoculated rats are known to develop infection restricted to lung whereas cyclophosphamide (CY) treatment leads to widespread dissemination with considerable mortality. In this study, an attempt was made to elucidate the mechanisms involved in such behaviour. With this aim, spleen cells were transferred from infected CY-treated to infected untreated rats, achieving significant specific inhibition in footpad swelling to coccidioidin in recipients, attributable to a suppressor T cell subpopulation induced by greater fungal antigen concentration arising from widespread C. immitis dissemination in immunosuppressed animals. NK activity proved similar regardless of CY treatment. Lastly, chronically infected rats presented increased colony forming units count after several weekly doses of CY, as happens in immunosuppressed patients harbouring a previous infection.


Natural and experimental infection of planorbids from the Island of Santa Catarina (Brazil). Studies of eight localities on the Island of Santa Catarina revealed the presence of three species of the molluscan family Planorbidae: Biomphalaria tenagophila, Drepanotrema cimex and Biomphalaria oligoza, the first one being naturally infected by Cercaria ocellifera, a furcocercaria with morphological characteristics of Cercaria caratinguensis, and by an unknown furcocercaria. Drepanotrema cimex was infected by a furcocercaria with characteristics of C. caratinguensis and by C. macrogranulosa. No natural infection was found in B. oligoza. B. tenagophila showed no susceptibility to the experimental infection by the BH-MG strain of Schistosoma mansoni from Belo Horizonte and maintained at laboratory in B. glabrata snails.


Prevalence of HTLV-I antibody among two distinct ethnic groups inhabiting the Amazon region of Brazil. HTLV-I seroprevalences of 3.63% (02/55), 12.19% (10/82) and 13.88% (10/72) were demonstrated among Tiryio, Mekranoiti and Xicrin Amazonian Indians, respectively, by the Western blotting enzyme assay (WBEI). By indirect immunoelectron microscopy (IIEM), 2 Tiriyo, 9 Mekranoiti and 6 Xicrin Amerindians were reactive. Of 44 serum samples from Japanese immigrants, none reacted by any of the techniques before mentioned. One, 8 and 6 serum samples from Tiryio, Mekranoiti and Xicrin Indians, respectively, were both WBEI and IIEM positive. Our results strongly suggest that HTLV-I and/or an HTLV-I antigenic variant circulate (s) among populations living in the Amazon region of Brazil.


[Differences in the adhesive properties of Staphylococcus saprophyticus to HEp-2 cells and erythrocytes]. S. saprophyticus has been frequently isolated from urinary tract infections in young women. In contrast with S. aureus, no defined virulence factors have been recognized for the coagulase negative Staphylococcus species. The objective this study was to analyze the adherence of S. saprophyticus to HEp-2 cells and sheep erythrocytes. The sample were isolated from urine of patients with urinary infection. Hemagglutination, adherence to HEp-2 cells tests and inhibition by specific carbohydrates of the interactions between these cells were analyzed. Most of the strains were hemagglutinating whose properties was inhibited by mannose (100mM). There was a high adherence level to HEp-2 cells. The differences in specificity and attachment level noted in this study suggest that multiple adhesins are involved in the mechanism of cellular interaction.


Human papillomavirus detection in cervical dysplasias or neoplasias and in condylomata acuminata by in situ hybridization with biotinylated DNA probes. Specimens from cervical dysplasias or carcinomas and genital condylomata acuminata were retrospectively analysed by in situ hybridization (ISH) with biotinylated DNA probes for human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16 and 18. In the control group no case was positive for HPV DNA. In mild/moderate dysplasias, 4 cases (14%) were positive for HPV 6 or 11 and 2 cases (7%), for HPV 16. In the severe dysplasia/in situ carcinoma group, 9 cases (31%) showed presence of DNA of HPV types 16 or 18. Six invasive carcinomas (20%) were positive for HPV type 16 or 18. Among condylomata acuminata, 22 cases (73%) were positive for HPV types 6 or 11. In all ISH-positive cases only one viral type was detected. No correlation between HPV DNA positivity and histological findings of HPV infection was observed. Although less sensitive than some other molecular biology techniques, in situ hybridization with biotinylated DNA probes proved to be simple and useful for detecting and typing HPV in samples routinely received for histopathological analysis.


[Histoplasmin reactivity in poultry farm workers in the province of Ciego de Avila, Cuba]. An epidemiological survey with histoplasmin skin test was performed in 392 poultry farmers and 265 workers considered without occupational risk of exposition to Histoplasma capsulatum, etiologic agent of histoplasmosis. The results were positive in 28.8% and 13.2% in both groups respectively. Statistically, there was a significant difference between the two groups, so it can be considered that poultry farmers are in occupational risk of infection with H. capsulatum. In the first group, the workers which are more closely related with chicken manure showed a higher reactivity to histoplasmin skin test. The working time in the farms seems to influence in the test reactivity too.


[The epidemiological characteristics of 105 cases of cryptococcosis diagnosed in the Republic of Argentina between 1981-1990]. Some epidemiological characteristics of 105 cases of cryptococcosis diagnosed in Argentina, between 1981-1990, were studied. Until 1987, the annual number of cases was 4-8. It has increased since 1988 by AIDS influence and reached 35 cases in 1990. The annual number of cases non associated with AIDS has remained in 3-7 cases. The age median of the all patients, AIDS and non AIDS associated cases was 30, 30 and 45 years old, respectively. The 20-39 years old group was the most affected and the age distribution was different in AIDS and non AIDS population. Masculine predominance was more evident in AIDS than in non AIDS associated cases. The predisposing factor was AIDS in 57 patients, another different factor in 20 and unknown in 28 cases. The indirect estimation of the percentage of AIDS cases with cryptococcosis was > or = 6.19% (57 cases in 920 HIV+) during 1981-1990 this period. Cryptococcus neoformans variety neoformans was isolated from 101 cases and the gattii variety (serotype B) from only 4. The obtained data are similar to those observed in Europe and United States.


[The epidemiology and clinical picture of an accidental bite by the South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus)]. Under study were two hundred and forty-nine cases of accidents caused by South American rattlesnakes (Crotalus durissus) admitted to the Vital Brasil Hospital, São Paulo, Brasil, from 1974 to 1990. The accidents were more common in the afternoon, from January to April and from October to December. Ninety nine out of 100 snakes classified as subspecies were C. d. terrificus. Most of the patients were males (80.7%). The inferior and superior limbs were bitten in 66.4% and 29.2% of the cases, respectively. The more frequent clinical manifestations were pain (61.0%) and edema (55.0%) at site of the bite, palpebral ptosis (75.9%), darkening of the urine due to myoglobinuria (38.6%) and myalgia (36.1%). Nine (3.6%) out of 32 patients with acute renal failure were submitted to dialysis, three presented respiratory failure treated with intubation and/or tracheotomy and one presented an ischemic cerebral stroke. Alteration of the blood coagulation was present in 48.1% of the patients. The blood picture of some patients several hours after the accident showed leucocytosis with a left shift and a tendency to normal values with eosinophilia. Serum creatine kinase activity was increased in 20 of 21 patients, with higher values 24 hours after the bite reaching 2,377 times the reference value. Lethality was 0.8%.


[Cryptosporidium parasitism in children with acute diarrhea]. During the period from August 1987 to July 1990, 241 fecal samples collected from 1 to 48 months old children with acute diarrhea and examined in the Child's Institute of Hospital das Clínicas of Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, were submitted to parasitological tests in the Enteroparasitosis Section of the Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Fourty two (17.43%) fecal samples showed Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts by carbol-fucsin stain. Parasitism by Cryptosporidium sp. was more frequent during the period comprised from March to May, in the studied three years. The authors discussed the Cryptosporidium sp. in association with other agents.


[Mycetoma due to Actinomadura madurae. A report of 2 cases]. Actinomadura madurae mycetoma was diagnosed in two patients by the dermatologic outpatient clinic of the Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital (UFRJ) and the Antonio Pedro University Hospital (UFF). The first case was a 27-year-old Negro male from the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, who was injured prior to the onset of the disease in 1988. The affected left foot showed swelling, nodules, sinus tracts, purulent discharge containing grains, and serious bone involvement with lytic lesions. Histological examination showed deeply basophilic stained grains with typical wide-fringed borders. The mycological examination revealed an actinomycete identified as A. madurae by culture. Oral tetracycline for six months did not improve the clinical-radiological picture and the patient was submitted to amputation. The second case was a 70-year-old white male, with previous injury in 1974, which occurred in Pernambuco State. Enlargement of the right foot draining sinuses formation with discharge of pus and grains. In tissue sections the grains were large and surrounded by amorphous eosinophilic clubs radially oriented. There was discrete improvement by tetracycline and sulfonamide. No follow-up.


[The early diagnosis of leptospirosis by demonstrating antigens via an immunohistochemical exam of the hamstring muscle]. Establishing an early and certain diagnosis of leptospirosis has been a difficult task. So, we analysed the histopathological alterations of the gastrocnemius muscle, and studied, for the first time, the usefulness of the immune histochemical method of peroxidase-antiperoxidase for the demonstration of the spirochete and of its products in this tissue. Histopathological observations have shown a picture of myositis, characterized by interstitial inflammatory infiltrate and necrotic-degenerative abnormalities of muscle fibers. The lesions were considered minimal in 69.45% of the patients, moderate in 19.45%, severe in 5.55% and absent in the remaining. On the other hand, the immune histochemical method identified the etiology in 94.45% what was considered very expressive.


Possibility of in-hospital infection by Cryptococcus neoformans in patients with AIDS. The objective of the present work was to carry out a survey of soil samples taken from different areas of a hospital of infectious disease located in the city of Córdoba, where three AIDS patients were hospitalized during different periods in the same ward. The three of them returned with meningeal cryptococcosis between three or five months after having been discharged. Cryptococcus neoformans was isolated in 8/10 samples collected outside the hospital, near the pigeon house. The samples collected from the AIDS patients ward and its surroundings were negative. These findings suggest that the patients may have been infected by the fungus during their first stay in hospital.


[An evaluation of the ELISA-IgM test in the early diagnosis of human leptospirosis]. Thirty-seven sera samples from patients with leptospirosis icterohaemorrhagic form were studied with a time interval of 2 to 12 days between the beginning of the symptoms and the collection blood samples. It was isolated leptospira of 5 patients' hemocultures (13.5%) and from 4 of these the etiological agent pertained to the serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae serovar copenhageni. Thirty-five of them (94.6%), including the four patients whose the etiological agent was isolated, showed reactivity in the enzyme linked immunosorbent (ELISA) IgM test. By this way, it was demonstrated that this test is important for a rapid diagnosis of human leptospirosis, even in the beginning of the disease, when there is still leptospiraemic phase.


[The isolation and evaluation of Aspergillus fumigatus antigens]. Antigens from three strains of Aspergillus fumigatus (354, 356, and JIG) and an antiserum against the mixing of these antigens have been produced, and evaluated immunochemically. The antigens were obtained through a modified Coleman & Kaufman technique (culture filtrate concentrated by acetone). Analysis by the immunodiffusion test (ID) against homologous serum has yielded 100% sensitivity (with the studied sera). Concerning heterologous sera we found reactivity with a serum of a patient of candidiasis and another with histoplasmosis. The same result was obtained with a reference antigen in immunodiffusion, showing similar standards of response. Titration of the antiserum by ID and counterimmunoelectrophoresis showed a title of 1:32, and by complement fixation (micro-technique) a title of 1:128. Using immunoelectrophoresis (IEF), the produced antiserum yielded 8 lines of precipitation (5 in the anodic pole and 3 in the cathodic one). In SDS-PAGE at 12.5% the antigen has presented a rather complex electrophoretic profile (26 proteic subunits with a molecular weight ranging from 18 a > 100 kDa). Immunogenicity of the antigen was observed in all fractions of SDS-PAGE when the immunoblotting against the antiserum was carried out.


Immune response in mice immunized with acidic antigenic fractions from Trypanosoma cruzi cytosol. The humoral and cellular immune responses as well as the resistance to infection with bloodstream forms of T. cruzi were studied in mice immunized with acidic antigenic fractions from parasite cytosol, F III and F IV, plus Bordetella pertussis as adjuvant. The immunization with F III induced positive ITH and DTH responses to homologous antigens. In mice immunized with F IV, the ITH was negative and four out of six animals presented positive DTH reactions. In both groups of mice the analysis of IgG against T. cruzi showed that the major isotype elicited was IgG1. Specific IgE was also detected in sera from F III immunized mice, thus confirming the presence of homocytotropic antibodies. The parasitemias reached by F III and F IV immunized mice after challenge were lower than those of the controls showing in this way a partial protection against the acute infection. The histological studies of heart and skeletal muscle performed two months after the infection revealed variable mononuclear infiltration in all infected mice despite immunization.


[The evaluation of the specific gravity of Giardia duodenalis and Entamoeba coli cysts]. Cysts of Giardia duodenalis and Entamoeba coli were observed as for floatability in sucrose solutions of different specific gravity, contained in counting-chambers of 0.17 mm height. The cysts that floated and those that sedimented were counted and then calculated the respective percentage. Floatability differences of the cysts of each species were not considerable. Solutions of specific gravity 1,200 kg/m3 made 88.49% of G. duodenalis cysts and 95.71% of E. coli cysts float. The greater values of floatability were associated to specific gravity 1,250 kg/m3 and were 89.15% and 98.59% for cysts of G. duodenalis and E. coli, respectively.