Abdominal scintiphotography with 99mtechnetium-labelled albumin in acute gastrointestinal bleeding. An experimental study and a case-report. In a new diagnostic method in acute gastrointestinal bleeding, after an intravenous injection of 99mtechnetium-labelled albumin, the distribution of radioactivity in the abdomen is followed for 40-60 minutes by sequential scintiphotography. The site of simulated gastrointestinal bleeding could be identified in all five volunteers. In a patient with severe bleeding from diverticula in the sigmoid colon the method gave a correct estimate of the site of the bleeding and of its rate.


Predicting patients' warfarin requirements. In 34 patients undergoing anticoagulant therapy with warfarin a close relationship has been observed between the logarithm of the 'Thrombotest' response to a loading dose (10 mg/day for three days) and the maintenance dose required to achieve an anticoagulant response of 8-12% (thrombo-test). This relationship appears to be close enough to enable maintenance dosages to be predicted.


Pseudoepidemics in hospital.

Pseudoepidemics in hospital. 20 (11%) of 181 nosocomial epidemics investigated by the Center for Disease Control during 1956-75 were actually false outbreaks. In each pseudoepidemic, on-site investigation showed that errors in specimen processing (11), surveillance artefacts (6), or clinical misdiagnosis (3) had resulted in real clusters of false infections or artefactual clusters of real infections. Specimen-processing errors included contamination during collection or transport, cross-contamination in the laboratory, and incorrect identification of organisms. Prevention of pseudoepidemics depends on quality control aimed at avoiding such errors and on close cooperation between laboratory workers and clinicians, to ensure systematic review of incongruous laboratory results.


Oral disopyramide for the prevention of arrhythmias in patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted to open wards. Patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted to open wards of three hospitals were given either oral disopyramide (100 mg four times daily) or matching placebo, prophylactically, for seven days. The drug was associated with a significant reduction in mortality (p = 0-0025) and in incidence of extension of infarction (p = 0-01), ventricular fibrillation (p = 0-05), and ventricular tachycardia (p = 0-01). Disopyramide was not associated with any particular complication or side-effect. Unitl information is available to the contrary, oral disopyramide should be given for the first seven days after myocardial infarction to all patients not managed in an intensive-care unit.


Proposed metabolic vicious circle in patients with large myocardial infarcts and high plasma-free-fatty-acid concentrations. The relation between peak plasma-free-fatty-acid (F.F.A) concentration and size of infarct--as estimated by the plasma-creatine-kinase technique--was investigated in twenty patients with acute myocardial infarction. In eight patients with large infarcts (more than 65 g equivalents) mean infarct size was 136+/-21 g equivalents and mean peak F.F.A. value in the first 12 h was 1-99+/-0-14 mmol/l (mean +/-S.E.M.). In twelve patients with small infarcts, mean infarct size was 36+/-5 g equivalents and mean peak F.F.A. was 1-22+/-0-13 mmol/l (P less than 0-001). Experimental evidence suggests that high circulating F.F.A. concentrations could further extend ischaemic damage. The association between high plasma-F.F.A. and infarct size may give rise to a vicious circle which increases the severity of the ischaemic process in patients with high plasma-F.F.A.


An experiment to determine the active therapeutic moiety of sulphasalazine. Sulphasalazine (S.A.S.P.) is of proven value in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, but its mode of action is unknown. When it is taken by mouth, nearly all the dose reaches the colon intact, where it is split by bacteria into sulphapyridine (S.P.) and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-A.S.A.). An experiment was devised to determine whether the therapeutic property of S.A.S.P. is a function of the parent molecule or of these two principal metabolites. Retention enemas of S.A.S.P., S.P., and 5-A.S.A. were administered to volunteer patients with sigmoidoscopic evidence of active ulcerative colitis. The experiment was conducted as a blind controlled therapeutic trial, each patient having one of the test enemas daily for two weeks. Pronounced histological improvement was observed in approximately 30% of the patients receiving S.A.S.P. or 5-A.S.A., and in only 5% of those receiving S.P. It is concluded that the active therapeutic moiety of S.A.S.P. IS 5-A.S.A. and that the S.P. functions as a carrier ensuring that the 5-A.S.A. is liberated within the colon.


Reversal of uraemic impotence by zinc.

Reversal of uraemic impotence by zinc. In eight impotent haemodialysed men with low plasma-zinc levels sexual function, including potency, frequency of intercourse, libido, and plasma testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinising hormone levels, was determined before and after therapy with zinc (four patients) or placebo (four patients). Dialytic administration of zinc strikingly improved potency in all patients and raised the plasma-testosterone to normal in the two with low pretreatment plasma-testosterone levels. Placebo did not improve sexual function in any patient. Zinc deficiency is a reversible cause of gonadal dysfunction in uraemia.


Correlation of HLA and thyroid antibodies with clinical course of thyrotoxicosis treated with antithyroid drugs. The prevalence of HLA-B8 in thyrotoxic (Graves' disease) patients who relapsed after withdrawal of antithyroid drugs was high (69%) compared with that in patients who remained in remission (40%) and in healthy controls (28%). B8-positive patients were 1-8 times more likely to relapse after withdrawal of drug therapy than B8-negative patients. The persistence of thyroid microsomal antibodies after withdrawal of therapy correlated significantly with the presence of HLA-B8. This association was more pronounced in patients who remained in remission. From this it might be assumed that B8 is also associated with the persistence of thyroid T.S.H. (thyroid-stimulating hormone) receptor stimulating antibodies. In view of these findings, it is suggested that patients who are thyrotoxic might be typed for HLA, and those who are B8-negative could be given a trial of long-term antithyroid drug therapy.


Hodgkin's disease occurring during acute leukaemia in remission. Three patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia are reported in whom Hodgkin's disease developed during chemotherapy-maintained remission. This association has been reported only once before. The pathogenesis of the Hodgkin's disease in these patients is discussed, including the possible role of anti-leukaemic therapy.


Effect of haematocrit on cerebral blood-flow in man. Cerebral blood-flow (C.B.F.) was measured in 38 patients with haematocrit values (Hct) in the range 0-47--0-53 and was found to be significantly lower than in 43 patients with Hct in a lower range (0-36--0-46). After reduction of Hct in the higher Hct group by venesection, flow increased by a mean of 50%. This improvement in flow was largely due to a reduction in viscosity. Hct around the generally accepted upper limit of normal may be an important factor in the causation of occlusive vascular disease.


Blood viscosity, red-cell flexibility, haematocrit, and plasma-fibrinogen in patients with angina. Whole-blood viscosity, haematocrit and plasma-fibrinogen concentration were measured in 22 patients with angina and 22 controls. All four variables were significantly higher in patients with angina. When the viscosity was corrected to a standard haematocrit (45%), however, there was no significant difference in the mean viscosity of the two groups, indicating that the higher viscosity in patients with angina is the result of the higher haematocrit. Increased red-cell flexibility tends to counteract the effect of increased plasma-fibrinogen concentration, which tends to increase blood-viscosity.


Injectable contraception (medroxyprogesterone acetate) in rural Bangladesh. 1601 women used the injectable contraceptive agent medroxyprogesterone acetate for up to 3 years. The programme was conducted by a rural health centre with detailed follow-up. While the continuation-rate, 56% after 1 year, compared favourably with that of other contraceptive methods in Bangladesh, at least half the women experienced troublesome menstrual side-effects and there were indications that milk yield was adversely affected in 147 out of the 1020 women who received the first injection while lactating.


Haemostatic, lipid, and blood-pressure profiles of women on oral contraceptives containing 50 microgram or 30 microgram oestrogen. In 15 women on oral contraceptives containing 30 microgram oestrogen, mean values for factors II, VII, and X, fibrinogen, fibrinolytic activity, antithrombin III, cholesterol, and fasting triglycerides were intermediate between values for 63 women on preparations containing 50 microgram oestrogen and those for 243 premenopausal women not on oral contraceptives. Mean blood-pressure levels, however, were higher in women on 30 microgram than in those on 50 microgram preparations. In 28 women on 50 microgram preparations containing 3 mg or 4 mg norethisterone, mean values of factor VII, fibrinogen, fibrinolytic activity, cholesterol, fasting triglycerides, and systolic blood-pressure were higher than in 15 women whose preparations contained only 1 mg of norethisterone. A less consistent picture was found in women on 30 microgram oestrogen preparations containing either 250 microgram (10 women) or 150 microgram (5 women) d-norgestrel. It is concluded that 30 microgram oestrogen preparations probably result in smaller hemostatic and lipid changes than 50 microgram preparations but that they may have a blood-pressure-raising effect attributable to the particular progestagen, d-norgestrel, used in 30 microgram preparations. The safety of these 30 microgram oestrogen preparations may thus depend partly on the balance between these two sets of effects. It is also concluded that norethisterone may have effects similar to those attributed to oestrogens.


Effect of oxprenolol on stage-fright in musicians. The effect of 40 mg oxprenolol on stage-fright was assessed in 24 musicians in a double-blind crossover trial. Musical performance judged by two professional assessors was found to improve. Greatest improvement was seen on the first performance and in those most affected by nervousness.


Secondary pituitary hyperplasia in Addison's disease. In patients with Addison's disease, whether treated or untreated for the previous 24 hours, hydrocortisone produced only a partial suppression of their elevated adrenocorticotrophic-hormone (A.C.T.H.) levels. This is comparable to untreated myxoedema, in which administration of triiodothyronine fails to inhibit secretion of thyrotrophin (T.S.H.). In myxoedema, however, continued treatment produces normal T.S.H. levels. Inadequate A.C.T.H. suppressibility in patients with Addison's disease while on treatment may be due to the maintenance of a secondary pituitary hyperplasia by inadequate replacement therapy. This may be clinically important, especially in the genesis of Nelson's syndrome.


Free fatty acids, complement activation, and polyclonal B-cell stimulation as factors in the immunopathogenesis of African trypanosomiasis. Human and animal forms of African trypanosomiasis are characterised by sustained hypocomplementaemia, gross hypergammaglobulinaemia M, and profound immunosuppression. It is suggested that this hypocomplementaemia is probably due to the action of a trypanosome-derived complement-activating factor and that the elevated IgM levels may be the combined result of this decomplementation, together with a subsequent failure of the normal IgM-to-IgG antibody switch mechanism and polyclonal B-lymphocyte activation by a trypanosome-generated mitogen. The immunosuppression in this disease may be a result of the collective immunosuppressive effects of trypanosome-derived immune-modulating free fatty acids, polyclonally stimulating B-cell mitogen, and complement-activating factors.


System for long-term review of patients at risk of becoming hypothyroid. Further experience. 8 years' experience of a computer-assisted system for long-term follow-up of patients at risk of hypothyroidism shows that the system is reliable, efficient, and economical. Less than 0.1% of registered patients are now lost to follow-up and less than 2% of patients need to be seen by the medical staff each year. Changes have been made in registration procedures and in the methods of finding patient who fail to attend. Improvements in the laboratory screening of thyroid function have also been introduced. The need to follow-up patients already under treatment with thyroxine has been recognised and the importance of a reliable system is reaffirmed.


Immunisation levels---need they all decline? Immunisation levels in West Sussex for the period 1970 to 1976 were reviewed. The national decline in immunisation against whooping cough was reflected locally in 1974, 1975, and 1976 but, in contrast to the national experience, levels of immunisation against diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, or measles did not decline. It is suggested that this difference is accounted for by the use of a computer system which keeps an "immunisation diary" for parents and for medical and nursing staff.


Effect of extended hypocholesterolemic drug treatment on peripheral and central nervous system sterol content of the rat. Extended treatment of developing or adult rats with a variety of hypocholesterolemic drugs has shown that both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) sterol content could be affected in both age groups by this type of treatment. Treatment of developing animals was begun at 5 days of age and continued for 45 days. Adult rats, 300 g at onset, were treated for 35 days. The influence of these drugs on PNS sterol composition has not been previously examined. Diazacholesterol administration caused an accumulation of desmosterol in the CNS and 7-dehydrodesmosterol and desmosterol in the PNS. Zuclomiphene induced a build-up of desmosterol in either tissue. Both of these drugs had a more pronounced effect on developing CNS and PNS than on adult CNS and PNS. Addition of AY-9944 or Triparanol to the zuclomiphene treatment of the developing animals reduced desmosterol accumulation but brought about a build-up of 7-dehydrocholesterol and 7-dehydrodesmosterol.


[Structure and function of virus-induced antigens in cultured cells infected with Marek's disease and turkey herpes viruses. I. Alteration of the immunological specificity of plasma membranes in infected cells (author's transl)]. Virus-induced proteins were detected in the plasma membranes of cells infected with Marek's disease (MDV) and turkey herpes (HVT) viruses and analyzed by biochemical and serological methods. The virus-induced membrane proteins were shown to induce virus-neutralizing antibodies and to protect inoculated chickens against the challenge infection with oncogenic MDV. Two virus-induced proteins at least were also demonstrated by the SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the purified plasma membranes from infected cells. The solubilized membrane proteins formed two precipitin lines if reacted with MDV antisera. Hyperimmune sera prepared in rabbits against the membrane antigens neutralized infectious cell-free HVT. By binding of specific immunoglobulins the buoyant density of the plasma membranes was found to be increased by 30 mg/ml to 1.08  g/ml. In protection experiments the specific mortality and lesions of chickens vaccinated with purified plasma membrane preparations from HVT-infected cells was reduced by 94%. Analogous membrane alterations, however, have never been observed in the membranes of Marek's diseases lymphoblastoid tumour cells.


Species specificity of informatin.

Species specificity of informatin. Informatin, the protein moiety of nuclear pre-mRNA containing particles, exhibits species specific antigenic properties but shows also some interspecies cross-reactivities.


Anaphylactoid reactions due to non-immune complex serum protein aggregates. The infusion of aggregate-containing i.v. human gamma-globulin as well as human serum albumin can lead to severe anaphylactoid reactions with decrease in mean arterial pressure, increase in pulmonary artery pressure and decrease in cardiac output in unsensitized dogs, while the deaggregated solutions are well tolerated. During these anaphylactoid reactions, no significant changes in the serum complement activity of the dogs were observed. In clinical human serum albumin incompatibility, stimulation with albumin aggregates led to a high response in the lymphocyte culture, whereas deaggregated albumin had no stimulatory effect. By deaggregation of horse anti-human lymphocyte globulin prior to clinical administration, the compatibility of ALG therapy was improved.


[Fluorescence microscopy on embryonic and fetal cell degeneration]. Fluorochromes (acridin orange, quinakrin, koriphosin, auramin) introduced into the embryonic or foetal blood stream induce in the normal areas of cell death an elective fluorescence, as attested by experiments carried out on chick and rat embryos and foetuses. This vital method may serve as an experimental model for investigations concerning the transfer from the mother to the embryo or foetus of teratogenic substances as well as of their persistance and distribution--under certain experimental conditions--within the organism of the embryo or foetus.


Tissue antigens in ovarian carcinoma.

Tissue antigens in ovarian carcinoma. Five tissue antigens have been identified which appear in carcinoma arising in the ovary. Antisera to a variety of human tissues were absorbed with a saline extract of normal ovary as well as plasma; five distinct antigens (A1-A4, TA) were detected in ovarian tumor extracts as well as in normal tissues. A1, A2, and A3 were widely distributed in normal tissues while A4 was found principally in buffy coat blood cells and spleen, and Ta was mainly associated with normal cervix but was variably detected in liver and lung. Heating the tumor extract to 56 degrees resulted in inactivation of A1, A2, and A3. A4 was inactivated at 80 degrees, whereas TA was stable at 100 degrees. Pronase treatment readily abolished A3 activity, more slowly inactivated A1, A2, and A4, and only very slowly destroyed TA. Partial separation of the antigens was obtained by Sephadex G-200 chromatography. TA from individual benign and malignant tumors as well as normal cervix appears to be the same molecule by criteria of immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, and gel filtration. The potential use of these antigens as tracers of ovarian carcinoma is indicated.


Quantitation of renal antigen excretion in the urine of normal children and of children with various renal diseases. I. Quantitation of renal antigens in random urine samples. This study reports a serologic method for the measurement of kidney-derived antigens in the urine of healthy children and of children with renal diseases. Two hundred twenty patients were studied. Four groups were recognized: group A, patients with no evidence of renal disease; group B, patients with past history of active urinary tract infection; group C, patients with active urinary tract infection; group D, patients with other renal diseases. Urinary renal antigen concentration was tested by the complement fixation method, in which titers of antigens in the urine were compared with a standard human renal antigen extract. The distribution of renal antigen concentrations in group C differed significantly (P(X2Y less than 0.001) from the other three groups. About 85% of patients in groups A, B, and D had levels below 0.6 mg/ml, whereas in group C only 53% of patients had similar concentrations. After factoring the results by the urinary concentration of creatinine, 85% of patients in group C had antigen levels above 0.6 mg/ml as opposed to 24%, 44%, and 27% in groups A, B, and D, respectively. The results of the study are consistent with the assumption that the rate of discharge of renal antigenic material in the urine is accelerated in certain renal diseases.


[Treatment of agammaglobulinemia in the adult; report of 9 cases]. The study of 9 cases of agammaglobulinemia in the adult shows the classical symptomatology of these diseases. The evolutive study deals with too small a series to demonstrate statistically the superiority of the substitutive treatment over a simple chemo-therapeutic prevention of the infection, but nevertheless it shows : 1) that prognosis is bad only in cases of gross anatomical and physiological alterations and when they are the sole responsible for a fatal evolution; 2) that the substitutive treatment is only really efficient when given at high doses; the minimum dose of 250 mg per day seems advisable.


[Psychosocial development of an opiate addict--a catamnestic study]. In the summer of 1974, 204 opiate users in West Berlin were extensively interviewed in regard to their present living conditions (housing situation, employment, social contacts, use of drugs, subjective complaints, vocational goals, political und ideological orientation), their family background (education of parents, occupation of parents, intactness of family, family atmosphere, type of child rearing methods used by the parents, other addicts in the family), and the development of the opiate addict himself (significant personal relationships in childhood and adolescence, psychosocial disturbances prior to use of drugs, addictive behavior prior to use of drugs, educational and vocational background). The results of this catamnestic study were presented and discussed.


[Studies on human proinsulin C-peptide radioimmunoassay method--preparation of antiserum and its specificity-- (author's transl)]. The antisera using at final dilution of 1 : 10,000 have been prepared by immunizing synthetic human proinsulin connecting peptide to rabbits for human proinsulin C-peptide radioimmunoassay. The cross reactivities of human proinsulin C-peptide derivatives with the prepared antisera were reduced by leaving amino acid residues from N terminal, although this phenomenon was a little different among antisera. Those results suggested that main antigen determinant in N terminal 31-38 of human proinsulin connecting peptide. The cross reactivities of other animal proinsulin C-peptide and other peptide hormones with the prepared antissera were not recognized at 10(3) p mole/ml.


Tumour rejection antigens associated with carcinogen-induced tumours. The most important immunological characteristic of tumours induced with chemical carcinogens is the expression of highly polymorphic tumour specific antigens. These cell surface components are primarily concerned with immune rejection reactions to these types of tumour, and current evidence strongly suggests that they are related to normal alloantigen.


Diagnosis of intravascular haemolysis using starch gel electrophoresis. Starch gel electrophoresis was used to screen for intravascular haemolysis in 15 patients with clinical disorders known to be characterized by intravascular haemolysis. Decreased serum haptoglobins, increased free plasma haemoglobin and the presence of methaemalbumin was documented in all 15 patients. It is suggested that  starch gel electrophoresis and staining with haem specific stain is a simple and reliable method for confirming intravascular haemolysis.


Independent segregation of two functional markers expressed on the same B-cell subset in the mouse: the Mls determinants and LPS receptors. Mice of the C3H/Tif strain display a mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) with all H-2k strains carrying any of the known alleles of the Mls locus. In particular, C3H/Tif is incompatible with the related substrain C3H/HeJ, from which it also differs at the locus responsible for the recognition of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) as B-cell mitogens, and at the Mod-1 locus. Our genetic analysis indicates that the MLR incompatibility between these strains is not H-2-linked and segregates as controlled by a single locus, most probably identical to Mls, for which the C3H/Tif strain expresses a previously unidentified allele, Mlse. Moreover, segregation data show that this locus assorts independently of LPS responsiveness and that neither marker is closely linked to the Mod-1 locus in linkage group II.


Radionuclides in oncology.

Radionuclides in oncology. Radionuclides already have a major role in the daily practice of oncology and will, undoubtedly, be of even greater importance in the future. The variety of current and potential applications is shown in tab. 1. Their major use at this time is, in the broadest sense, for 'tumour scanning', which includes the evaluation of specific organs for the presence of tumour (usually with different radiopharmaceuticals for each organ) and the entire body (generalized tumour searches with radiopharmaceuticals like 67Ga-citrate or 111In-labeled bleomycin). The clinician uses these agents in the initial evaluation of extent of tumour (staging) and in the subsequent management of the patient with cancer to assess response to treatment, to reveal early relapse, and to assist in making decisions concerning treatment. The other potential roles for radionuclides are also briefly considered in this review.


Removal and refixation of surface Ig from isolated rat mast cells. This study showed that under well-defined conditions all immunoglobulins could be removed from the rat mast cell surface. Surface immunoglobulins were examined by immunofluorescence technique, and cell function by the allergic reaction to antigen as judged by histamine release. Refixation of eluted surface Ig to the mast cell was easily accomplished. Furthermore, fixation of specific surface Ig to already sensitized cells resulted in increased cell sensitivity to antigen, whereas fixation of nonspecific surface Ig resulted in decreased sensitivity. The results indicate that removed immunoglobulins are intact, have affinity for mast cells, and are able to compete with cell-bound Ig.


Relationships between the small ions in the atmosphere and the circadian and circannual biorhythm of the rabbit and rat thyroid. Studies on rats and rabbits revealed the reverse type of correlation existing between the amount of small ions in the atmosphere and the circadian and circannual biorhythm of thyroid RNA and blood PBI. Besides other factors of the climatic-meteorologic complex the ionic charge of the surface air seems to be implied in maintaining and synchronizing the basic thyroid biorhythm genetically determined.


Quantitative and qualitative estimations of IgE bound to basophil leukocytes from hay fever patients. IgE was removed from human basophils of 4 nonatopic persons and 10 hay fever patients allergic to timothy grass pollen by treating the cells with buffer adjusted to pH 4. IgE could be removed and refixed to the same cells. Refixation was demonstrated by immunofluorescence and by the ability of basophils to release histamine on exposure to timothy pollen. Removed total IgE and specific IgE directed against timothy pollen were estimated, and a linear correlation to the level of total IgE and specific IgE in serum was found. The total number of IgE molecules per basophil was calculated to be in the range of 30,000 to 300,000, and timothy-specific IgE constituted 4%-15% of the total IgE molecules on the cells. It was furthermore established that specific cell-bound IgE was linearly correlated to the pollen concentration releasing 20% of the histamine contents of the basophils. Separated 2gE from sensitized and nonsensitized basophils could be bound to basophils from other patients, resulting in a change in cell sensitivity. This could be ascribed to additional binding to free cell receptors as well as to a partial replacement of bound IgE. Basophils from non-atopic persons could not be sensitized by incubation with surface IgE from atopic persons. The results indicate that acid treatment is a simple method suitable for removing IgE from basophils. This IgE is intact and can be quantitated.


Relationships between beta2-microglobulin and alloantigens coded for by the major histocompatibility complexes of the rabbit and the guinea pig. Treatment of rabbit and guinea pig lymphocytes with Fab' fragments of anti-beta2-microglobulin completely inhibited the cytotoxic effects of alloantisera to RLA or GPLA antigens, respectively. Aggregation of beta2-microglobulin on the lymphocyte surface by successive incubations with goat anti-beta2-microglobulin on the lymphocyte surface by successive incubations with goat anti-beta2-microglobulin and F(ab')2 fragments of rabbit anti-goat IgG also made rabbit lymphocytes resistant to lysis by anti-RLA, and guinea pig lymphocytes resistant to lysis by anti-RLA, and guinea pig lymphocytes resistant to lysis by anti-GPLA. The two kinds of pretreatment of guinea pig lymphocytes did not affect the cytotoxicity of antisera directed against guinea pig Ia antigens. These results in conjunction with previous findings in the mouse and in man suggest that beta2-microglobulin on the lymphocyte surface in mammals is generally associated with major serologically defined histocompatibility antigens but not with I-region-associated antigens.


Immunological events at the surface of basophil granulocytes and mast cells which induce degranulation. IgE molecules combine with basophil granulocytes and mast cells through the Fc portion and sensitize these cells for reaginic hypersensitivity reactions. The number of receptors for IgE per human basophil granulocyte is estimated to be 40,000 to 100,000 and those on rat mast cells is about 300,000. The binding of IgE with the receptor is reversible and does not involve covalent bonding. The affinity of IgE molecules for the receptors is high; the equilibrium constant of the reaction is in the order of 10(9)/mole for both human basophils and rat mast cell systems. Such a high affinity will explain why a minute amount of IgE antibody can sensitize the target cells and why sensitization with the antibody is so persistent. The initial step of the reaginic hypersensitivity reactions is probably bridging of cell-bound IgE molecules by antigen, which activates enzymatic sequences. The release of chemical mediators, however, is controlled by pharmacological factors which have most important rôles in transducing immunological signals into intracellular signals and subsequent biochemical processes.


Effects of the released mediators of anaphylaxis on the target organs. The antigen-antibody union initiates the release of mediators; the reactions and interactions of these mediators in the lung appear to include negative feedback mechanisms. During anaphylactic bronchoconstriction catecholamines are released from the adrenal medulla. These act as physiological antagonists and tend to reverse the bronchoconstriction. In guinea-pig and human lung fragments, catecholamines and PGs increase cyclic AMP levels and inhibit the release of histamine, SRS-A and ECF-A following antigen challenge. EFC-A is chemotactic to eosinophils which contain arylsulphatase which destroys SRS-A. Aanphylactic bronchoconstriction seems to be a defense mechanism to limit further inhalation of antigen by the animal. It then seems that a series of negative feedback mechanisms may be triggered to terminate and reverse the bronchoconstriction and prevent further release of mediators.


[Interstial pneumopathy after low dose bleomycin therapy]. The case is report of a 52-year-old woman who died of interstitial pneumopathy following treatment for an unclassifiable neoplasm of liver, spleen and bone marrow with a total dose of 97 mg/m2 bleomycin. The development of interstitial pneumopathy after this low bleomycin dosage may have been favored by a previous thorax irradiation 22 years earler for round cell sarcoma.


Viruses and the pathogenesis of human leukemia. The first part of this review deals with some new ideas on the nature of acute myelogenous leukemic cells. It is shown that the bloc in the differentiation process which characterizes these malignant cells can, to a certain extent, be overcome by some differentiation promoting proteins which are described. The finding that leukemic cells may respond to these "factors" indicates that these cells are not completely autonomous. Further studies in this field will clarify some biochemical and virological questions related to malignant transformation. In the second part, information on RNA tumor viruses is presented and their role in animal leukemias and possible involvement in humans are discussed. Whereas there is firm evidence for the presence of oncornavirus-related information in the human population, no cohesive pattern has emerged allowing definitive etiological inferences.


[Clinical physiology and physiopathology of the atrioventricular node]. The functional behaviour of the healthy and sick human AV-node under various clinical-experimental conditions is described with special reference to (1) AV-nodal conduction, (2) AV-nodel refractoriness, (3) influence of autonomic tone and (4) role of the AV-node in the initiation of rhythm disturbances.


The binding of phenobarbitone and phenytoin to kwashiorkor serum. The binding of phenytoin and phenobarbitone to the serum of kwashiorkor patients and normal serum has been investigated. There was no alteration in the binding of phenytoin. However, there was a decrease in the binding of phenobarbitone to kwashiorkor serum, and this was particularly striking in the presence of added phenytoin. It was confirmed that phenytoin was almost exclusively albumin-bound, while phenobarbitone was bound to albumin, alpha 1-and alpha 2-globulin in almost equal proportions.


Clinical ophthalmology instruction for medical students. A ten-day ophthalmology clerkship for third-year medical students is described. The curriculum, detailed in a day-by-day syllabus, sets specific student goals, evaluates attainment of the goals by a pre-post test, utilizes a student-oriented study guide keyed to major textbrooks as core material with slide-tape and videotape supplements, and emphasizes daily supervised patient examinations. Constant modification of the clerkship on the basis of student assessment has sustained it as a popular workable clinical experience.


[A comparative study of some forms of treatment in cystic ovarian follicles of cattle (author's transl)]. Various drugs were used in the treatment of 140 cows with cystic ovarian follicles (2.9 per cent of the population) on twenty-five dairy farms during a four-year period. This was done as part of a herd fertility programme. Aanoestrus (approximately sixty days after parturition) was found to be due to cystic follicles in fifty-three cows (7 per cent of the cows examined for anoestrus). An irregular cycle or nymphomania was found to be present in eighty-seven cows (62 per cent). Treatment consisted in intravenous injection of 3,000 I.U. of human chorionic gonadotrophin plus 125 mg. of progesterone (Nymfalon" or intramuscular injection of 0.2 mg. of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Lutal". There were no significant differences between the results of the two forms of treatment (Tables 1 and 2), neither as regards becoming pregnant nor where the interval between injection and the next oestrus was concerned. Nine cows which failed to respond to several courses of treatment with Nymfalon or Lutal, were treated with chlormadinone acetate (oral administration of 20 mg. daily for sixteen days). Only two animals became pregnant. Abortion occurred in one of the animals within three months (Table 3).


Polio antibodies and HLA antigens in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, progressive disease of the central nervous system. Its possible association with poliomyelitis was studied by measuring neutralizing antibodies against polio virus types 1, 2 and 3 in the sera and cerebrospinal fluids of 11 ALS-patients, but antibody titers did not markedly differ from those of the controls. The HLA antigens of 12 ALS patients were also determined, in order to reveal any possible genetically-determined susceptibility to the disease. Possible association of ALS with HLA-Bw40 was noted. In addition, the Bw40 antigen seemed to be associated with milder progression of the disease. The lymphocytes of the ALS patients seemed defective in their capacity to stimulate allogenic lymphocytes, possibly due to a relative decrease of B cells in the peripheral blood. Joint efforts of study groups of neuroepidemiology, immunology and genetics should be mobilized to reveal the true nature of these findings.


Histocompatibility determinants in Israeli Jewish patients with multiple sclerosis. The distribution of 24 HLA antigens of the A and B loci was investigated in 197 Israeli Jewish patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) from various Jewish ethnic origins including central and eastern Europe, countries bordering the Mediterranean, the Middle East and from native-born Israelis. The results were compared with the HLA antigen frequencies in a control sample of 455 unrelated individuals representing the general Jewish population. The frequency of HLA-Bw40 among all MS patients (15%) was significantly greater (P less than 0.001) than among the controls (7%). In contrast to the findings in MS patients from other populations, there was no increased frequency of A3 and B7 and Dw2 was present in only one out of 28 patients. The study showed a similar distribution of HLA-A and -B locus antigens, especially of Bw40, in Jews of diverse ethnic origins represented in the control group.


Stimulation of human lymphocytes by allogenic macrophages in vitro. Macrophages were obtained from human peripheral blood by incubating mononuclear cells in plastic tissue culture flasks. After 1-14 days, the cells were used in mixed lymphocyte macrophage cultures. Macrophages could not, themselves, be stimulated to proliferation by allogenic cells, but stimulated allogenic lymphocytes. By the use of responding cells and stimulating macrophages from HLA-D homozygous individuals, the HLA-D determinants could be shown to be responsible for the stimulation of allogenic lymphocytes.


Relationship between the HLA associated specifities 4a and 4b and the lymphocyte C3 receptor. Contrary to previous reports, we have obtained no evidence that 4a and 4b antisera specifically inhibit C3 rosette formation by human lymphocytes. Pretreatment of lymphocytes with various whole 4a and 4b antisera resulted in partial inhibition which was often nonsepcific. Ultracentrifugation of the sera to remove immune complexes removed C3 rosette inhibitory activity although specific cytotoxic activity remained. It is probable that immune complexes in antisera will have fixed C3 which will have been converted to C3d and so be able to block the C3d receptor. This is the receptor mainly measured in these and in the previous experiments.


HLA antibodies cytotoxic only for B lymphocytes. Of 28 unabsorbed sera from polytransfused individuals or multiparous women, which were not cytotoxic for total peripheral blood lymphocytes, 13 were found to react positively against B cell-enriched suspensions. These 13 sera were further characterized after platelet absorption-elution, as well as by pretreatment with turkey anti-human-beta2-microglobulin serum. Different patterns were found: five sera behaved as pure anti-B cell reagents; four seemed to contain different antibody populations, directed against both B cell determinants and HLA-A, -B or -C antigens; four only contained antibodies directed against HLA-A, -B or -C specificities. Absorption experiments with purified T and B lymphocytes, showed that these last sera, although noncytotoxic for T cells, can be absorbed by them. It was concluded that not all sera reacting only with B lymphocytes recognize specifities absent from T cells, and that all sera should be exhaustively absorbed with platelets before being tested as anti-B cell-specific reagents.


Detection of HLA-D clusters and segregation studies using primed LD typing. By testing a group of PLT cells over a panel of unrelated restimulating cells, the PLT's could be grouped into clusters according to their ability to discriminate antigen(s) in unrelated cells. The PLT clusters broadly correlated with the homozygous typing cell-defined HLA-D clusters represented on the panel. The PLTs grouped together clearly segregate with a particular HLA haplotype when tested in both unrelated families not possessing the sensitizing haplotype and in the family with the sensitizing haplotype. No influence of HLA SD antigens could be observed in PLT restimulation in the segregation studies.


Pregnancy-associated globulin in body fluids of pregnant women. Pregnancy-associated globulin (PAG) in saliva, urine and amniotic fluid was investigated just before and after delivery by Ouchterlony's method and immunoelectrosyneresis. In saliva, the incidence was more than 60 percent; 12 out of 18 samples by immunoelectrosyneresis and 11 out of 18 by Ouchterlony's method. In urine, 8 (33 percent) and 6 (25 percent) out of 24 samples were positive by immunoelectrosyneresis and Ouchterlony's method, but 19 out of 21 samples (91 percent) were positive by immunoelectrosyneresis. Of 12 pregnant women in whom serum, saliva, urine and amniotic fluid were tested by immunoelectrosyneresis, four showed positive reaction in the above four samples and 11 in three samples except urine.


Incidence of pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein in sera of malignant tumor patients. Pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein (SP1) is said to be found only in sera of pregnant females. In this paper, SP1 in the sera of malignant tumor patients was investigated by means of Ouchterlony's method and counter immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP). On the examination by Ouchterlony's method, all samples were negative, but by CIEP, 34 out of 90 samples (38 percent) showed positive reaction; 25 out of 61 (41 percent) in males and 9 out of 29 (31 percent) in females. There was no indication that the patients with a certain type of cancer tend to have a high incidence of SP1, but the examination of SP1 in the sera of patients with cancer or suspicious cancer had some clinical significance.


Diagnostic significance of the sudan III staining for fecal fat. To evaluate the diagnostic significance of the Sudan III staining for the fecal fat, the quantitative relationship between the number of fecal fat droplets examined microscopically and the amount of the fecal fat determined chemically was examined. In 43 out of 60 cases, the results of the chemical determination and the microscopic examination were in agreement and the accuracy was 72 percent. On the other hand, the false positive cases totaled 9 out of the 24 cases (37 percent) and 8 out of 9 false positive cases were diagnosed as showing a slight increase. In contrast, the false negative cases were only 2 out of 36 cases (6 percent). In addition, the comparative study of the various procedures of the Sudan III staining indicated the importance of the processing with acid and heating even in cases of steatorrhea caused by pancreatic insufficiency.


Freezing index in cryosurgery on the prostate gland. Cryosurgery has been performed on 18 patients with prostatic hypertrophy, and the following conclusions are reached: The quotient obtained by dividing the estimated weight of the prostate gland by the frozen weight obtained by an equation is called the freezing index, and this index can be introduced into the evaluation of the results of cryosurgery on the prostate gland. Cryosurgery was not markedly effective in cases of freezing indices over 0.76, and the incidence of complications was high in cases of freezing indices not more than 0.5. The ideal freezing index obtained empirically was 0.6. No dysuria has recurred during past three years in the cases where cryosurgery was assessed satisfactory in effect within two to three months.


Stable chimerism induced in noninbred rabbits by neonatal injection of spleen cells from allotype-suppressed adult donors. I. Replacement of hemopoietic tissue by donor cells. In the course of experiments designed to demonstrate an active mechanism of allotype suppression in rabbits, spleen cells from adult donors were transferred to newborn recipients. Among 23 rabbits that received injections, 4 stable chimeras were formed, as determined by the production of serum immunoglobulins marked with light and heavy chain allotypes. The other rabbits that survived the immediate postinjection period displayed a temporary chimeric state lasting up to several weeks, after which they either succumbed to graft-versus-host disease or rejected the donor cells. One chimeric animal was apparently repopulated by the hemopoietic cells of the donor's spleen. Insofar as could be determined, the recipient's blood cells became phenotypically identical to those of the donor. This condition manifested itself as a loss of the recipient gene products associated with both lymphocyte and erythrocytes, accompanied by a seemingly total replacement with those of the donor.


Anti-immunoglobulin as an adjunct in producing long-term antigen-specific allograft survival. Organ localization of immune complexes. Heterologous anti-immunoglobulin is a potent immunosuppressive agent that prolongs H-2- and H-3-incompatible skin graft survival. In conjunction with antithymocyte serum, anti-immunoglobulin promotes greater graft life than either antiserum used alone, without evidence of toxicity to recipient animals. Combination treatment with anti-immunoglobulin, antithymocyte serum, and donor spleen cells produces long-term allograft survival to the lifetime of the host and can result in antigen-specific immune unresponsiveness of sufficient strength to permit acceptance of a second-set graft. Anti-immunoglobulin complexes formed in treated mice appear to be localized primarily in the lymphatic reticuloendothelial system.


[Staining of interphase and metaphase chromosomes with Procion Yellow 4RS]. A method for staining proteins by procion yellow 4RS on preparates of metaphase and interphase chromosomes is suggested. It is shown that the dye is not bound to either native or denatured DNA in solution.


Real-space filtering of electron images from optical autocorrelation patterns. The capability for filtering electron images, in real space, is demonstrated to be inherent to a two plate, incoherent optical procedure (originally described by Meyer-Eppler and Darius) for recording autocorrelation functions from transparencies. If an image contains features that occur with more than random frequency, these features may give rise to a resolvable peak in the optically recorded autocorrelation function. The optical requirements for obtaining an image of the transparency that is filtered to observe only features giving rise to some set of such peaks, or to exclude them, are described. The principle is to form an image of the transparency, with a properly placed plano-convex lens, from the incoherent light transmitted through apertures positioned over the peaks in the autocorrelation plane. The application of the method in defining the position and orientation of specific projections of protein molecules, as observed in negative stain by bright-field, or unstained by dark-field electron microscopy, is also described.


Changes in the bladder wall muscle associated with benign prostatic enlargement. A clinical and morphometric study. In a study of 28 patients with prostatic obstruction, an attempt was made to correlate bladder wall hypertrophy and hyperplasia with objective measurements of prostatic enlargement. Correlation could only be established between the cell and nuclear volume ratio of the bladder muscle and the average urine flow rate.


[Na+-K+-ATPase activity in guinea pig brain synaptosomal fraction in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis]. The activity Na+, K+-ATPase of the guinea pig brain synaptosome fraction as well as the effect on this enzyme of the blood serum obtained in guinea pigs in different periods after sensibilization of the animals with the basic encephalitogenic protein were studied in dynamics of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis development. The Na+,K+-ATPase activity in the guinea pig brain synaptosome fraction is more than 50% lower from the seventh day of sensibilization up to development of characteristic symptoms of the disease in animals. The guinea pigs blood serum obtained on the seventh and tenth days of sensibilization has an inhibitory effect of the same order on the studied activity of the normal guinea pig brain synaptosome fraction. At the later stages of the disease development and with the presence of characteristic symptoms of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in the animals the blood serum has no similar effect.


Intracytoplasmic hyaline globules in the adrenal medulla of laboratory animals. Intracytoplasmic hyaline globules were found frequently in chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla from several species of laboratory animals that died from various causes. The globules stained intensely red with PAS, were weakly acid-fast, did not stain with oil-red O and showed bright yellow autofluorescence. Ultrastructurally, they were finely granular, round to oval, intensely osmiophilic and were surrounded by an intimately bound trilaminar membrane. The globules were interpreted as aggregated secretory granules that occur in degenerating cells.


Giant cell stromal reaction in squamous cell carcinomata. Electronmicroscopic and ultrahistochemical observations on the genesis and functional activity of multinucleated giant cells in bleomycin-induced tumor regression. Ten cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma, treated by bleomycin, were studied by electron microscopy with particular regard to the stromal reaction. The genesis and phagocytic function of multinucleated giant cells of foreign body type were observed. These cells phagocytize devitalized, keratinized tumor cells in particular. Their genesis from monocytic macrophages and endocytosis of large keratinized tumor cells are described in detail. Both phenomena are connected and the mode of formation of the cells results in functional specialization. The initial stages of intracellular digestion do not seem to take place within membrane limited vacuoles but in specialized cytoplasmatic areas which are formed around the ingested material. These contain high concentrations of hydrolases, sealed off from the rest of the cell by a clear zone of organell-free cytoplasm. This unique form of phagocytosis and digestion ("gigantophagocytosis*) is only possible in these highly specialized giant cells and explains their biological significance. It is likely that secondary lysosomes are formed in subsequent stages of digestion. The difference between our results and the experimental observations of other authors are discussed.


Preparation and specificity testing of a rabbit anti-human thymocyte serum (with 1 colour plate). The preparation of a specific anti-T cell serum, applicable in the indirect immunofluorescence technique on cell suspensions, smears of peripheral blood and bone marrow and on tissue sections is described. Rabbits were immunized with thymocytes; after removal of antibodies against species-specific antigens and antigens common to leucocytes by absorptions with red cells and granulocytes, specificity for thymocytes was obtained by repeated absorptions with CLL cells, used as B cell equivalents. Subsequently, the IgG fraction of the absorbed antiserum was isolated. This antibody preparation was tested with various types of blood cells as well as with cell suspensions depleted or enriched in T cells. For the study of tissue sections it had to be absorbed with liver powder. When studying lymphatic tissue it was found to stain only thymus-dependent areas in the specimens tested.


Serological identification of the new cold agglutinin specificity anti-Gd. The specificity anti-Gd of human cold autoagglutinins is characterized using untreated and enzyme-treated human red blood cells. Gd determinants of human RBC are resistant to proteases, but are inactivated by neuraminidase (RDE). In contrast, I/i determinants are not inactivated by proteases or RDE, while Pr1-3 determinants are inactivated by proteases and RDE, and Pra determinants are resistant to RDE, but are inactivated by proteases.


[Role of quaternary structure in the antigenic specificity of amino acid derivatives of hemoglobin]. Immunochemical properties of isolated alpha- and beta-chains of aminoenanthyl- and phenylalanyl-hemoglobins were studied by fixation of the complement as compared with the corresponding chains of the native hemoglobin. In spite of the immunochemical differences between Phe-Hb and hemoglobin, the complement fixation ability was shown to be the same in Phe-Hb, AE-Hb and hemoglobin; this phenomenon suggests that formation of the antigenic determinant in Phe-Hb occurs at the level of quaternary structure.


Pulmonary toxicity of antineoplastic agents. Pulmonary parenchymal or pleural reactions to chemotherapeutic agents used in the management of patients with malignant diseases are being recognized with increasing frequency. Alkylating agents, asparaginase, bleomycin, methotrexate and procarbazine have all been implicated. Some of the reactions, such as the rare procarbazine pleuritis and pneumonitis, represent hypersensitivity phenomena. Others, such as alkylating agent pulmonary toxicity, appear to be direct toxic effects of the drugs. The severity of the toxicity is variable. The appearance of these pulmonary changes must be differentiated from tumor progression or a variety of possible infections. The awareness of possible pulmonary toxicity is of great importance since early discontinuation of the agent following the first hint of pulmonary toxicity may allow partial or complete reversal of the process. Continued therapy in the face of drug-related pulmonary toxicity may enhance the likelihood of irreversible pulmonary compromise with respiratory failure and death.


[Properties of pigeon sera containing complement-fixing antibodies to the gs-antigen of the avian leukosis-sarcoma complex]. Pigeons bearing tumors caused by the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of Rous sarcoma virus were used for withdrawing sera containing complement-fixing (CF) antibody to the gs-antigen of avian leukosis-sarcoma complex. In the course of this study it was found that some of these sera, while having a high titer of CF antibody to the gs-antigen of the tumor tissue, did not detect this antigen in chicken embryonal tissue and feather follicles. It is suggested that these sera distinguish different components of gs-antigen in the tumor tissue on the one hand and in the embryonal tissue and feather follicles on the other. There was a correlation in the detection or lack of gs-antigen in preparations of feather follicles and embryonal tissue with all the sera examined. Feather follicles may serve as a convenient source of gs-antigen in practical work.


Oogenesis in Mylabris pustulata (Coleoptera): origin and composition of compound yolk. Three categories of compound yolks are synthesized during vitellogenesis of Mylabris pustulata. CY1 bodies originate de novo and are composed of protein-carbohydrate (glycogen)-RNA complex. CY2 bodies originate from precursors in follicular epithelium and are composed of protein-carbohydrate (glycogen) complex. CY3 bodies originate from extraovarian precursors and are composed of protein-acid mucopolysaccharide-glycogen-phospholipid complex.


Studies on a hill-stream fish, Pseudecheneis sulcatus (McClelland). II. Histocytology of the corpuscles of Stannius. There are 1...2 corpuscles of Stannius in the Indian hill-stream teleost, Pseudecheneis sulcatus. They are encapsulated bodies, measuring about 400 micrometer in length and 200 micrometer in width. The secretory cells of CS have fine granules in their cytoplasm which are AF, PTAH, CAH and silverpositive. The cells are arranged along blood sinusoids in which their secretions are probably discharged. Individual neurons and other neural structures are found scattered among the secretory cells.


On the cytoarchitecture of the corpuscles of Stannius of the catfish, Heteropneustes fossils (Bloch). The cytoarchitecture of the corpuscles of Stannius (CS) of the catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis has been investigated. Based on the arrangement of septa and cells, at least 4 principal architectural patterns can be distinguished. In the first type, the cells appear either as cords or as follicles due to complete formation of thin septa. In the second category also, the penetrating septa are thin but divide the CS into incompletely delimited lobes. In the third type, the septa are thick and their branches unite, sometimes resulting in the formation of complete lobes. In the fourth type, each CS is formed of aggregates of lobes, each of which consists of a number of complete or incomplete lobules. The limitations involved in the classification of the CS into 4 types, on the basis of the septal arrangement, have been discussed in the light of the fact that H. fossilis possesses all the 4 types of CS.


Detection of the Echinococcus granulosus diagnostic arc 5 in sera from patients with surgically-confirmed E. multilocularis infection. The Echinococcus granulosus diagnostic arc 5 was revealed by sera from an Alaskan and a Swiss patient with surgically confirmed E. multilocularis infections. The possibility of each patient harboring a concurrent infection with both parasites may be disregarded on the basis of radiologic, scintillographic and surgical data. This conclusion is compatible with ecologic and epidemiologic considerations. These observations suggest that the immunoelectrophoresis test based on arc 5 positivity is not E. granulosus-specific as originally described.


[Use of suspension adsorption methods for studying arboviruses]. Hemagglutinating antigens of Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) virus and 5 strains of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus were charcaterized by their capacity to adsorb on inorganic (kaolin, bentonite, barium sulphate) and organic (chick embryo fibroblasts) adsorbents. The adsorption capacity of TBE virus was more marked than that of WEE. The TBE virus strains 4072 and 1524 avid in serological tests adsorbed better on inorganic adsorbents than nonavid strains No. 80 and 1509. In contrast, nonavid strains interacted better with biologic adsorbents. The adsorption capacity of tissue culture antigens was superior to that of brain hemagglutinating antigens. By means of adsorption on kaolin and chick embryo fibroblasts hemagglutinating and nonhemagglutinating infections particles of WEE and TBE viruses which also differed in some biological properties were separated.


[Short-term catheterization following electroresection of the prostate and adenomectomy]. The catheter short-term treatment is used in altogether 500 patients in adenectomy as well as in TUR. Apart from the restoration of regular passage the reduction of the infection of the urinary tract is the most important aim of the surgery of the prostate gland. With the help of the short catheter follow-up treatment within the first four weeks after operation the infection of the urinary tract is cured in 87,5% of the cases. The subjective trouble of the patient is further decreased. Prerequisite for the permanent catheter short-term treatment is the exact operation technique combined with most careful haemostasis.


[The electromyogram of the pelvic floor within the scope of combined urodynamic examinations]. Urinary bladder, posterior urethra and floor of the pelvis form a functional unit and should therefore be taken into consideration in the same degree in the urodynamic clarification. The durect judgment of the function of the floor of the pelvis is only possible by the electromyogram. A method is described by means of which one may relatively simply write an electromyogram of the floor of the pelvis without a too largely increased apparative expenditure, which may well be combined with X-ray, measurement of pressure and flow and which also for the urologist gives an understandable information about the fact how behaves the floor of the pelvis during filling of the urinary bladder and its depletion.


[Ecological imprinting and protein biosynthesis. Experiments with Drosophila melanogaster Meigen]. According to the "host selection principle", butterflies and other herbivorous insects preferentially lay their eggs on those plant races that they fed on when young. This is also true for karpophagic and parasitic insects. The selection of specific chemical conditions could be either inherited or acquired. If learned information determines host selection, we have a case of imprinting, as a) reception and use of the information are not simultaneous, b) there is no reward. In experiments with Drosophila melanogaster we marked the egg deposition medium with ethanol, acetic acid, peppermint oil, or benzaldehyd. The flies spontaneously prefer mediums with ethanol and acetic acid, and reject peppermint oil and benzaldehyd. If they are reared in one of these media, the preference for it is increased, or the rejection rate lowered. Rearing with actinomycin C neutralizes the effect of the other markers. It is concluded that actinomycin C blocks imprinting on the egg deposition substrate in Drosophila melanogaster.


[Kidney complications in chronic polyarthritis]. 50 patients with definite rheumatoid arthritis treated with D-penicillamine were studied every 4 weeks by disk electrophoresis of the urine to make an early record of the glomerular proteinuria of the immune complex nephritis, which has been described as a side effect of this treatment. In 30 of these patients we found, however, a tubular proteinuria which correlated well with the disease activity and which disappeared after successful basic treatment. This finding indicates interstitual renal involvement due to the basic disease.


[On the similarity of antigen between torulopsis and salmonella. 2. (communication) (author's transl)]. The immune sera for Torulopsis castellii, T. ernobii, T. humilis, T. insectalens, T. musae, T. pintolopesii and T. silvatica agglutinated Salmonella cholerae suis (6,7). The immune serum for S. cholerae suis agglutinated Torulopsis castellii, T. ernobii, T. humilis, T. insectalens, T. musae, T. pintolopesii and T. silvatica. Absorption and agglutination cross test demonstrated common antigen factors in the tested Torulopsis species and in S. cholerae suis (6,7).


[Subtype characteristics of the surface antigen of hepatitis B in different regions of the USSR]. A method of preparation of subtypical antisera to two determinants of hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs Ag/ay and anti-HBs Ag/ad) is described. The test system obtained was approbated on 1400 antigen-positive sera collected from blood donors and patients suffering from acute and chronic virus hepatitis in various geographical zones of the USSR. HBs Ag/ay proved to prevail (84--100%), HBs Ag/ad was distributed irregularly--from 16% in the European part of the USSR to 0--4% in the republics of the Middle Asia and Siberian regions. HBs Ag/ad was mostly determined in the population of Western regions of the European part of the USSR (the Baltic republics, 43.4%, Moldavia 24.3%).


[Experimental analysis of the complement-binding activity of gamma-globulin]. It was experimentally demonstrated that the anticomplimentary characteristics of gamma-globulin perparations was associated with disturbances of the colloid condition of the serum system and the absence of any stabilizing action of albumin and other serum proteins. It is also expressed as a result of a high complement-binding activity of protein aggregates. The anticomplementary characteristics of the nonaggregated part of protein in commercial preparations of gamma-globulin could be depressed by the addition of albumin or fresh serum; as to the anticomplementary characteristics of protein aggregates -- it remains unchanged. An intermolecular electrostatic interaction exists between albumin and gamma-globulin; it prevents sorption of the complement on Fc-fragment of IgG, whose destruction leads to the manifestation of the gamma-globulin complement-binding activity.


HLA antigens in Graves' disease.

HLA antigens in Graves' disease. HLA typing of 86 patients with Graves' disease was performed for the A, B, C and D series antigens. An increased frequency of HLA-B8 (47 per cent) and Dw3 (51 per cent) compared with controls (23.7 and 21 per cent, respectively) was observed. The increase of B8 and Dw3 was almost exclusively found in a group of 48 patients with relapse of disease, whereas the frequency of B8 and Dw3 in patients without relapse did not differ significantly from that of the control group. No association with the presence of exophthalmos, thyroid antibodies, or antibodies to Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 3 could be found.


Orphenadrine (Disipal), serum thyroxine and thyroid function. Studies were undertaken to elucidate whether orphenadrine influences thyroid function. Seven volunteers were given orphenadrine in weekly increasing dosage up to 300 mg per day; in 5 patients chronically treated with 300 mg orphenadrine daily the drug was gradually discontinued. No changes were found in PBI, RT3U, TT3 and TSH during or after orphenadrine medication; also TSH- and TT3-responses to 200 microgram TRH iv were not influenced by the drug. Orphenadrine medication increased serum thyroxine values (P less than 0.001) as measured with the competitive protein binding (CPB) technique, but did not influence serum thyroxine values measured by radioimmunoassay. Orphenadrine added to serum in vitro in the Murphy-Pattee assay did not increase thyroxine values; two out of eight tested metabolites however did. It is concluded that orphenadrine in a dosage up to 300 mg per day does not influence thyroid function. It increases serum thyroxine levels as measured by the competitive protein binding technique of Murphy and Pattee. This is due to an in vitro competition between ethanol-extractable orphenadrine metabolites and thyroxine for binding sites on the thyroxine binding globulin.


The cytological demonstration of the peroxidase activity in smears from thyroid goiters. A new modification of the benzidine methods for demonstration of the peroxidase activity has been developed and applied to smears obtained from goiters by fine needle aspiration biopsy. Only this method could yield positive results in toxic goiters and warm nodules. In cold nodules the peroxidase activity could not be found. The possible sources of errors and the causes of negative results when employing conventional methods as well as the possible significance of the demonstration of theperoxidase activity for clinical cytology of goiter have been discussed.


[Occurrence of pseudoisocyanine-positive endocrine cells in the midgut of the hamster (Cricelulus griseus) (author's transl)]. Pseudoisocyanine-reacting cells could be identified in the intestinal glands of the upper duodenum of the hamster (Cricetulus griseus). These cells contain numerous granules as carrier substances of the colouring pigments. Presumable these cells are insulin-producing cells.


Optical studies on the molecular-sterical mechanism of metachromasia. We have investigated how the stereochemical situation of the dye binding negative side groups on polysaccharides influences metachromatic staining effects. We found that selective binding of toluidine blue (pH = 1.0) in the places of substituted (acidified) vicinal OH groups C2 and C3 resulted in the clearest metachromasia with the strongest anisotropy effects and with a bright clear green polarization color. On the other hand, selective toluidine blue binding in the places of C6 of the carbohydrate rings of the polysaccharide chains resulted in orthochromatic basophilia and lack of birefringence. After transformation of all OH side groups into negatively charged groups, metachromatic staining was found mixed with an orthochromatic hue and a birefringence effect weaker than in the case of staining on the vicinal OH groups only. The need of poststaining stabilization of the labile metachromatic staining reactions is emphasized.


Topochemical localization of lipids in dinosaur bone by means of Sudan B black. A dinosaur bone was examined with the aim to demonstrate in it the presence of lipids and to determine their localization. Ground sections of the bone in question revealed the presence of substances yielding positive reactions on application of a histochemical method used for identification of lipids. Moreover, these substances were found to be localized in the vascular canal, precisely, in the perivascular space. Localization of lipids in a dinosaur bone appeared to be comparable with the distribution of these substances in human bone and in bone of contemporary animals.


[Revertase in myeloblasts of chickens infected with avian myeloblastosis virus]. Revertase present in the myeloblasts of chickens infected with avian myeloblastosis virus failed to synthetise DNA in vitro on the endogenous viral template. Enzyme inhibitors were not blocking this synthesis. It was rather impaired by incompletness of viral RNA in immature virus particles.


[The occurrence of phenoloxidase containing cells (= POZ) during the embryonary development of the hen (POZ-cells of the immunological system?) (author's transl)]. By means of the phenoloxidase reaction it would be shown that the POZ appear in haemopoetic cell islands of the yolk sac being hatched 6 days and being hatched 11 days, they appear in embryonary tissues. Favoured target organs are the spleen and the bone marrow, though also at the same time can be seen some cells in the connective tissue of the embryo. POZ can also be found in the bursa of FABRICIUS. The participation of the POZ in immunological reactions is supposed.


[Comparative histochemical study of human mammary myoepithelium (author's transl)]. 12 staining procedures for myoepithelial cells were compared on normal human breast tissue sections. From this study it appeared that general histological stains have a topographical value but lack real specificity. With other methods, which have been considered more specific, 2 types of pitfalls were encountered. Myoepithelial cells and other substances like basement membranes and reticulum fibers are both stained; in other instances perigalactophoric elastic fibers and myoepithelial fibrils have similar tinctorial properties. The fundaments of the lack of specificity of those histochemical procedures are analyzed.


[The phenoloxidase activity in the presence of H2O2, EDTA, and copper (author's transl)]. Investigations performed with cryostat sections of the gut, spleen and lung of the rat have shown, that the substrate of PER H2O2 inhibits the PO activity in dependence of the concentration, and that obvious the PO substrate DOPA is no suitable H2-donator for the PER reaction. Therefore a false positive reaction by the PO proof is not to be expected. Copper sulfat does not influence the PO reaction, but it accelerates melanin formation, which causes an unspecific colouring of the tissue.


A histological demonstration of nerves in subchondral bone. Several different staining procedures were carried out on decalcified histological sections from human femoral heads to demonstrate the nerves in subchondral bone. The femoral heads were obtained at surgery from patients with fractures of the femoral neck or osteoarthritic hip joints. The Bodian technique was found to be the most suitable. Serial sections were used in order to disclose the various sources of error. It was not possible to demonstrate nerves in the bone matrix, but they were easily seen in the subchondral bone marrow, after related to the vessels. A comparison of the fracture and osteoarthritic cases revealed an obvious difference; more nerves were seen in osteoarthritis. The method described is considered suitable for further study of the nerves in osteoarthritic femoral heads.


Paget's sarcoma of the vertebral column with neurological complications. A patient with Paget's sarcoma of the vertebral column who developed cauda equina compression is reported. This is the first report of this condition in an aorthopaedic journal. The literature is reviewed. Palliative treatment is recommended.


Computer assisted image analysis of Feulgen-stained cell nuclei from transitional cell carcinoma of the human urinary bladder. Computer assisted image analysis was performed in Feulgen-stained cell nuclei from 117 transitional cell carcinomas of the human urinary bladder. The results were compared to corresponding findings from a control group consisting of 27 specimens from non-malignant urothelium. Generally, the mean nuclear area in carcinoma specimens was found to be increased as compared to the control group, both in diploid and non-diploid tumours. The concentration and the distribution of nuclear chromatin, and the relative area and content of non-condensed chromatin were dependent on nuclear DNA-content and nuclear area. These nuclear parameters did not give supplementary information which could be used in discriminating benign urothelial cell nuclei from malignant ones. A multiple regression analysis, performed for diploid and non-diploid tumours separately, did not show any significant correlation between the considered nuclear parameters and clinical stage of the tumours or the patient's survival.


Further studies on a new bioassay of progestational activity (traumatic deciduoma formation in immature rats). Six synthetic steroids were tested subcutaneously in a new bio-assay for short- and long-lasting progestational activity, using traumatic deciduoma production in immature female rats. As reference standard, a daily subcutaneous dose of 0.25 mg progesterone regularly induced a distinct deciduomagenic effect. A single dose of 12.5 mg of progesterone showed a prolonged activity. Medroxyprogesterone acetate showed a distinct deciduomagenic effect at the 0.05 mg daily s.c. dose level; a distinct prolonged effect was induced with a single s.c. injection of 0.5 mg. 16alpha-Aethylprogesterone induced regularly decidual reaction at the 0.1 mg s.c. dose level, it showed prolonged activity at the 0.25 mg dose level. The daily threshold dose for chlormadinone acetate was 0.25 mg; prolonged activity was shown with 2.5 mg. The daily threshold dose for duphaston is between 0.5 mg and 1.0 mg. A single s.c. dose of as much as 20.0 mg of 17alpha- hydroxyprogesterone caproate did not have a deciduomagenic effect.


Maxillary sinusitis. Effects of treatment on the local antibacterial defence. Low levels of immunoglobulins and complement in purulent antral secretion might jeopardize the local antibacterial defence. To evaluate whether or not antibiotic treatment and antral drainage influence the local content of immunoglobulins and complement, samples of secretion were analysed both prior to drainage and 1-2 days after drainage. In those patients requiring repeated drainage for their recovery, the local concentration of IgA and IgG was significantly lower in the secretion obtained prior to drainage than the local concentration found in patients who recovered after the initial drainage. It was also demonstrated that after drainage, the level of IgA, IgG and the complement factors C3 and C4 increased significantly, whereas the proteolytic activity in the secretion usually decreased.


Immune response genes in chickens: the multifarious responsiveness to (T,G)-A--L. Immune response in chickens to the multichain copolymer (T,G)-A--L 2030 is analysed. Previous work has shown that responsiveness is not linked to the B-complex. Three different antibody specificities could be distinguished. From the data it is proposed that the response to the backbone of (T,G)-A--L (poly-DL-alanine) influences the responses to the side chain determinants (primarily the (T,G)-determinant). Thus the anti-(T,G) response in chickens is determined by at least two different loci, the B-complex, and another, as yet unidentified locus which determines the response to the poly-DL-alanine determinant. A third antibody specificity is directed against G-A--L and is only detectable in chickens which are high responders to poly-DL-alanine.


Chicken high molecular weight immunoglobulin (IgM) allotypes: localization on the heavy chains and proposed nomenclature. An alloantiserum recognizing a genetic marker (CM-1.4) on chicken 17S Ig was generated by immunizing jungle fowl with Salmonella O-anti-Salmonella O (UCD 3) agglutinates. Specificities CM-1.4 and M1a were present on 7S subunits and H chains based on their ability to inhibit in RIA the binding of alloantibody (anti-CM-1.4 or anti-M1a) to UCD 3 125I-17S Ig. CM-1.4 appears to be fully expressed on 7S subunits but is altered on H chains. In contrast, anti-M1a bound both 7S subunits and H chains with decreased avidity indicating that the M1a specificity was altered in both preparations. Since CM-1.4 and M1a are present on 17S Ig H chains, and absent from 7S Ig, they probably represent allotypic markers in the constant region of 17S Ig H chains. Having assigned two 17S Ig allotypic specificities to H chains, we propose that the locus controlling their expression be called CM-1. Based on the distribution of the CM-1.4 and M1a allotypes in inbred lines of chickens, 3 alleles are defined at the CM-1 locus.


Continuous concealed ventricular arrhythmias. Twenty dogs were studied 3 to 9 days after myocardial infarction. None had ventricular arrhythmias during sinus rhythm, and ventricular automaticity (as revealed by sinus nodal crush procedure or vagal stimulation, or both) was within the normal range. With regular atrial pacing or pacing with long-short cycle sequences it was possible to induce ventricular arrhythmias in all animals. Quadrigeminal and pentageminal rhythms (19 of 20 dogs) and trigeminal (17 of 20) and bigeminal ventricular rhythms (8 of 20) were observed. These rhythms which were manifest or partially or entirely concealed were always associated with delayed and fractionated electrical activity within the "infarcted" subepicardium. Continuous electrical activity (electrical activity that bridged the interval between two or more successive beats) was recorded from the infarct zone. Such activity either was manifest as ventricular arrhythmia during atrial pacing or remained concealed until atrial pacing was stopped and then was manifest as ventricular tachycardia.


Oncofetal antigens. Increasing the specificity of the CEA radioimmunoassay. The biologic and clinical significance of the oncofetal antigens carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and alpha1-fetoprotein (AFP) are discussed. Although the current assays for these molecules are not tumor-specific, measurement of these molecules in the circulation of cancer patients is useful either for tumor diagnosis or for management of the cancer patient in the postoperative or post-chemotherapy state. An approach to increasing the specificity of the CEA radioimmunoassay is described.


Immunologic tests in diagnosis of cancer. A variety of immunologic approaches may be potentially useful for the immunodiagnosis of cancer. These sensitive procedures might assist in the initial detection, diagnosis, and localization of tumors, and might also be used in determining prognosis and for monitoring cancer patients for recurrence of disease after therapy. The types of approaches and some of the available information regarding their clinical usefulness are reviewed. The main emphasis with potential immunodiagnostic tests has been placed on detection of circulating tumor-associated markers. However, the detection of tumor markers in tissue cells might help in the discrimination between tumor cells and nonneoplastic cells, and also might help in the categorization of the type of cancer. Detection of depressed immunologic competence or in a subpopulation of lymphoid cells may be useful in diagnosis. Humoral or cell-mediated immune responses to tumor-associated antigens have the potential of being very sensitive, specific indicators of neoplastic disease, but most of the tests for these responses are difficult and none has yet been established for use in practical clinical situations.


Immunoglobulins, proteinase inhibitors, albumin, and lysozyme in human cervical mucus. I. Communication: hormonal profiles and cervical mucus changes--methods and results. The serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol-17beta, and progesterone were determined simultaneously with the concentrations of immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgA, C'3, alpha1-antitrypsin, inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor, alpha1x-antichymotrypsin, albumin, and lysozyme in cervical mucus during nine  ovulatory cycles. Spinnbarkeit and ferning were also assessed, and the basal body temperature was measured and recorded during these cycles. The profiles were synchronized according to the LH peak. The midcycle period, characterized by the rapid increase and decline of estrogen and the beginning rise of progesterone, shows a prounced minimum of immunoglobulins, C'3, proteinase inhibitors, albumin, and lysozyme in cervical mucus, which is known to be most receptive to sperm penetration at this time. Although the variation of cervical mucus values is considerable during the early proliferative and the luteal phases, the midcycle values appear to be constantly low, showing slight differences among the profiles of the different parameters. The statistical evaluation and the assessment of the significance of parameters for ovulation detection and the assessment of the fertile period as well as the correlation of these parameters with basal body temperature will be the subject of the second communication of this series.


Survival after palliative surgery for advanced intraabdominal cancer. The clinical course of 300 patients with known intraabdominal neoplasm requiring surgical exploration was analyzed. The most common primary tumor sites were the gastrointestinal tract (60 per cent), female reproductive organs (17 per cent), and urinary tract (6 per cent). Gastrointestinal and extrahepatic biliary obstruction, gastrointestinal bleeding, and peritonitis were the most common indications for surgery. The overall operative mortality was 26 per cent, and the mean survival time was 6.6 months. Small bowel fistulas, intraabdominal abscesses, and cardiopulmonary and renal failure were the leading causes of death. Palliative procedures in patients less than sixty years old with single site of obstruction or with tumor of gastrointestinal origin were associated with a low operative mortality and prolonged survival. On the other hand, surgical intervention in patients more than seventy years old undergoing chemotherapy, with multiple sites of obstruction, peritonitis, or primary tumor originating outside the gastrointestinal tract, was associated with high operative mortality and seldom benefited from palliative intervention. Surgical intervention to relieve a distressing symptom in a patient with advanced neoplasm is a well established procedure, but the risks and benefits of such intervention should be carefully weighed against the expected mortality and the quality of survival.


Pressure effects on the distribution of extracellular materials in the rhesus monkey outflow apparatus. An electron-microscopic investigation was conducted to determine the distribution of extracellular materials in the rhesus monkey outflow apparatus at various maintained levels of intraocular pressure. Intraocular pressure was maintained at either 0,8, 15, 22, 30, or 50 mm Hg, by an intracameral needle attached to a reservoir system for a period of 1 h. Thereafter the eyes were fixed either by intracameral perfusion of glutaraldehyde at the appropriate pressure level, or by carotid perfusion of the fixative, or by rapid enucleation and immersion fixation. The electron-dense cationic stains, colloidal thorium and colloidal iron were used to indicate the presence of carbohydrate-rich extracellular materials in the drainage tissues. In the control tissue (15 mm Hg), heavy concentrations of stain were detected within the cores of the trabeculae and in the extracellular spaces of the endothelial meshwork. With pressure elevation there was a progressive decrease in the surface staining on the meshwork cells, an increase in staining intensity within the trabecular cores, and a 'washout' of extracellular materials from the spaces of the endothelial meshwork. The washout was thought to occur via giant vacuoles up to 30 mm Hg, but at 50 mm Hg the process was accelerated by loss of association between the cells of the canal endothelial monolayer. Over the entire pressure range 0 to 50 mm Hg, there was an increase in the staining on the apical surface of the canal endothelium which was associated with a decrease in the incidence of micropinosomes.


The architecture of the most peripheral retinal vessels. The vascular bed of the extreme periphery of the human retina is characterized by the occurrence of relatively wide arcades and bridging vessels connecting the peripheral portions of arteries and veins. These vessels differ from the more posterior capillaries not only by their larger diameter but also by the presence of a perivascular halo, which consists of an electron-translucent ground substance containing fine collagen fibrils, basement membrane material, dense bodies, vesicles, and portions of macrophages. The appearance of the external portion of the halo and the relationship of its collagen fibrils to the basement membrane of the surrounding Müller cells is indistinguishable from that of the cortical vitreous and the inner limiting membrane located at the vitreoretinal interface. Toward the periphery the thickness of the halo increases from vessel to vessel. As a rule, one or more of the vessel loops closet to the ora serrata are occluded. The structure of these occluded vessels is identical with the structure of the halo.


Electron-microscopic histochemistry of the most peripheral retinal vessels. The reaction of Thiéry (periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate) has been applied for histochemical analysis of the structures composing the halo of the most peripheral human retinal vessels. It is suggested that glycoproteins lie in the ground substance of the halo as well as well as in the basement membranes of endothelial cells, pericytes, and Müller cells. Glycogen particles were found in endothelial cells, in pericytes and especially in Müller cells.


Macrophage infiltration in the human retina. The retinal tissues were examined by light microscopy and by scanning and transmission electron microscopy in a human eye in which there was extensive infiltration by macrophages. The stimulus to macrophagic infiltration was an immune response in a mixed sympathetic and lens-induced ophthalmitis which occurred after surgical treatment for glaucoma. The inflammatory infiltrate was so exuberant that the cells were considered to be predominantly exogenous and the sites of entry into the eye included the pars plana, the optic disc, and the retinal and choroidal blood vessels. Within the retina it appeared that the macrophages migrated via the nerve fibre layer and via the subretinal and subpigment epithelial spaces.


[Detection among "E. aerogenes" strains of capsular antigens related to those of "klebsiella". Interest of growth in metahydroxybenzoate to differenciate "E. aerogenes" and "K. pneumoniae" (author's transl)]. Forty-three strains of E. aerogenes isolated chiefly in Morocco and France have been studied. Thirty-five strains (81%) are surrounded with a thin capsule, antigenically related to Klebsiella capsular antigens: K4 (2 strains), K4, 59 (1 strain), K11 (2 strains), K26 (7 strains), K42 (5 strains), K59 (3 strains), K68 (14 strains). One strain is capsulated but not typable with Klebsiella capsular antisera. E. aerogenes and Klebsiella capsular antigens are not identical but share common fractions yielding cross reactions. To differenciate E. aerogenes from K. pneumoniae in addition with the three major characters, i.e. motility, ornithine-decarboxylase and urease, the author points out the value of growth in metahydroxybenzoate as sole source of carbon and energy (positive test with E. aerogenes and negative with K. pneumoniae).


[Coexistence of lichen planus and bullous pemphigoid (an immunofluorescence study of a "lichen pemphigoides") (author's transl)]. A 35 year old black man presented with a generalized eruption of lichen planus; subsequently tense blisters appeared within the lichenoid lesions and on clinically normal skin. Histopathological characteristics of lichen planus were present in the papules, and those of bullous pemphigoid were seen in the bullae taken from non-lichenoid skin. Direct immunofluorescence studies revealed immunological characteristics of lichen planus in skin and mucosal lesions of L. P. Bound IgG and beta1 C/beta1 A with tubular patterns were detected at the dermo-epidermal junction in all the skin fragments (clinically normal skin, bullous lesions lichenoid skin and mucous lesions). Indirect immunofluorescence studies showed at several intervals that the patient had circulating antibasement membrane zone antibodies (IgG; titres 1/50). This is the third published case in which immunofluorescence studies have established the "pemphigoid" nature of some bullous lichen planus. These findings are in favour of an immune disorder in lichen planus.


A simple, rapid and precise automated method for the determination of T3-uptake. A method is described for the automation of the T3-uptake test using a discrete analyser. This enables 160 samples to be analysed in two hours at a cost of only 9p a sample. By making use of a simple correction procedure for differences in charcoal contact time and for radioactive carryover it is possible to get a within-batch precision of 2.5% and a between-batch precision of 4.6% for values within the normal range.


The inotropic memory of amphibian myocardium. (1) Experimentally observed changes of contractile force induced by changes in the pattern of stimulation of frog ventricular myocardium were compared with predictions computed on the basis of a model for the contractile conditioning, proposed in a previous paper. (2) For this purpose, two functions (Potentiation and Inhibition) which describe in the model the effect of previous contractions, were determined experimentally. (3) It is shown that the model adequately predicts : force-frequency curve Inotropic Effect Curves at different basal frequencies, effect of the suppression of a contraction in a sequence of definite frequency, frequency-staircases, and strength-interval curves. (4) The formal characteristics of the model are discussed, and it is suggested that the potentiation mechanism results from the recirculation of activator calcium in two types of compartments, from which calcium passes to the myofilaments during the contractions or is lost to the exterior with first order kinetics during the rest period. Possible locations for these compartments are proposed. Various hypothesis on the nature of the inhibitory mechanism are considered.


[Experimental trypanosomiasis in rabbits infected by Trypanosoma equiperdum: some aspects of immune response and coagulation disorders (author's transl)]. Some aspects of immune response and coagulation disorders are investigated on rabbits infected by two strains of Trypanosoma (Trypanozoon) equiperdum giving diseases with different clinical expression. The study of antibodies to trypanosomes emphasizes the high immunogenicity of specific antigenic type glycoprotein, antigenicity of which seems to inhibit common antigens expression. Significant increase of anti-fibrinogen antibodies is discussed in relation with the presence of autoantibodies frequently discovered along trypanosomiasis. As IgM they contribute to the classical hypermacroglobulinemia of these diseases. Their casual contribution in the contribution in the casual contribution in the observed disorders is argued. The meaning of fibrinolytic system activation which is shown by FDP significant increase is equally argued: secondary fibrinolysis or Hageman Factor activation mediated by immune complexes.


Effects of clozapine (Leponex) on sleep patterns in the cat. This study examined the effects of clozapine on sleep-wakefulness profile in cats prepared for chronic recording of sleep. Clozapine in single dose (i.p.) of 5 mg/kg drastically reduced slow-wave sleep (SWS) and paradoxical sleep (PS), while wakefulness and drowsy pattern were increased. These changes lasted approximately 24 h and were followed by sleep recovery. PS had a priority of recovery. Some similarities between clozapine effects on sleep in cat and human were mentioned.


Thermodynamical aspects and molecular mechanisms of nerve activity. This paper proposes a nonequilibrium thermodynamical approach for the energetics of nerve functioning. The energy needs for resting ionic pumping are computed and compared with experimental data on nerve metabolism. A detailed analysis of the various contributions to energetical changes during the nerve impulse clearly shows that without recourse to conformational changes in membrane proteins the initial heat of activity cannot be properly accounted for. By considering the transitions of membrane ionophores, a faithful quantitative explanation of the heat of activity is obtained.


Recovery of brain energy metabolism following a period of combined hypoxia and hypotension. Rats were "stressed" by a 30-min period of hypoxia (FIO2 = 7.5%) and hypotension (x arterial pressure = 30 mm Hg), and then "resusciated" by restoring FIO2 = 30% and reinfusing shed blood to restore arterial pressure toward baseline values. Concentrations of brain phosphocreatine, ATP and lactate were measured after "stress" and 20, 60, and 120 min after "resuscitation". A biphasic response was noted in which ATP was initially restored to baseline values by "resuscitation", and then progressively decreased. Physiologic mechanisms to explain the observed data are presented.


Metabolic responses to catecholamines in dogs injected with a single dose of triiodothyronine. Lipolytic and glycogenolytic responses to catecholamine infusions were studied in resting dogs before and 20 h following administration of a single dose (0.1 mg/kg) of triiodothyronine (T3). In the dogs pretreated with T3 much higher increases in the plasma FFA concentration were found both during noradrenaline and adrenaline infusions in comparison with control experiments. Adrenaline-induced increases in blood LA and glucose levels were also significantly higher in T3-pretreated dogs than in controls. The blockade of beta-adrenergic receptors with propranolol prevented the increases in blood FFA and LA concentrations during subsequent adrenaline infusion. Phentolamine -- the alpha-adrenergic blocking agent -- infused to the T3-pretreated dog inhibited the adrenaline-induced rise in blood glucose level. The observed changes in the metabolic responses to catecholamines induced by triiodothyronine pretreatment indicate that at least in the dog this hormone potentiates both the lipolytic and glycogenolytic effects of catecholamines acting on appropriate adrenergic receptors.


[Peroxidases of high molecular weight identified as the membrane peroxidases in lentils]. Peroxidases extracted from lentil roots are separated in two peaks by gel chromatography on Sephadex G-100 or on Bio Gel A-5 M. On both resins, the first peak of extremely large molecular weight is demonstrated to be an association of some peroxidases with microsomes. These enzymes can be detached from membranes by NaCl. Starch gel electrophoresis shows that isoperoxidases associated electrostatically to microsomes are basic peroxidases apparently not different from those of the soluble fraction.


Effect of hypercapnic acidosis on induction of arrhythmias by catecholamines in cat papillary muscles. The effect of changes in PCO2 upon induction of arrhythmias in cat papillary muscles was studied. The average norepinephrine (NE) dose necessary to produce spontaneous contractions in muscles stimulated at rates of 10/min was higher at high PCO2. Whereas 2 100 +/- 295 X 10(-8) mol/litre of NE was necessary during acidosis, only 824 +/- 295 X 10(-8) mol/litre was necessary to produce spontaneous contractions in alkalosis. In quiescent muscles, the necessary doses in acidosis and alkalosis were 2 209 +/- 531 X 10(-8) and 518 +/- 159 X 10(-8) mol/litre respectively. With isoproterenol 458 +/- 84 X 10(-8) mol/litre was necessary to reach the end point at high PCO2, whereas only 131 +/- 52 X 10(-8) mol/litre was required at low PCO2. The lower sensitivity to catecholamine-induced arrhythmias with hypercapnic acidosis does not appear to be related to the re-uptake of the neurotransmitter by the nerve ending since it is also present with isoproterenol.


Effect of lanthanum on the turnover of calcium in rat uterus. Previous investigations suggest that lanthanum might enter uterine smooth muscle cells and work as intracellular calcium displacing agent. The present investigation had been carried out in order to confirm if lanthanum develops an intracellular effect. Experiments show that lanthanum brings about a marked increase of the intracellular calcium; the comparison of the uptake and of the wash-out curve of 45Ca shows that lanthanum induces a lowering of the rapid phase of 45Ca release from rat uterus, while the uptake of the labelled ion is not modified or is even enhanced. The present data demonstrate that the action of lanthanum in rat uterus is limited to the cell membrane, whose calcium extruding properties are inhibited.


[Acute tolerance to noradrenaline ("noradrenaline escape")]. The decline in arterial systemic blood pressure which follows the initial rise during i.v. perfusion of L-noradrenaline in normal rats has been compared with the same type of decline induced by metaraminol or phenylephrine, both alpha-sympathomimetic drugs (acute tolerance or escape). Vasoconstrictor activity of noradrenaline in shot i.v. injection is regularly decreased when acute tolerance develops. This hyposensitivity to NA indicates that a change in alpha-receptor affinity for circulating NA may explain the acute tolerance as well as the noradrenaline escape.