Zoonotic Brugia filariasis in New England. Three human infections with an animal filarial parasite of a Brugia species have been identification in residents of New England over the past 2 years. All patients were asymptomatic except for local, superficial lymphadenopathy. The diagnosis was established pathologically by the finding of immature brugia worms in the biopsied lymph nodes. Peripheral blood eosinophilia was lacking; in one patient, no lymphocyte blastogenesis to filarial antigens and no antifilarial antibodies were detectable. These cases document a wider geographic range in the Northeast for this zoonosis, which had been previously recognized in two residents of the Middle-Atlantic states. The clinical and pathologic features resulting from the worm's intralymphatic localization and the structure of the brugia worm distinguish this entity from other zoonotic filarial infections.


Trace element content in colostrum of different ruminant species at various post-partum intervals. The colostrum samples were collected during the period November-December at the first milking after calving (Within 4 hours post-partum) and then every 12 hours (morning and evening) for 6 days respectively from 3 Friesian cows and 3 water buffalo cows. The colostrum samples of 8 "Gentile di Puglia" ewes in the first three milkings after calving were also collected. During the experimental period the newborn were separated from their mothers. The Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn content in colostrum was estimated by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Results are given in Figure 1 for cows and buffaloes, and in Table 1 for ewes. The trace element content during the first 6 days in both groups was higher in the moring colostrum. The mean concentrations of Mn, Cu, Fe, Zn, in colostrum of the water buffaloes were higher than in that of the cows.


Transfer of antibodies against the CPD virus through colostrum and milk. Newborn lamb immunoglobulins are of maternal origin and the transfer is done exclusively by colostrum and milk (syndesmochorial placentation). Antibody levels in colostrum and in maternal serum are the same at the moment of lambing. Milk antibodies are synthesized by cells which invade the udder at the end of the milking period. We immunized ewes with C.P.D. virus during gestation or at the end of lactation and we evaluated the presence of specific neutralizing antibodies in colostrum, in milk and in the sera of the mother and lamb. We recommend vaccination during pregnancy for ewes which are not going to feed their lambs: colostral given protection persists for 3 or 4 weeks. Ewe vaccination when the udder dried up is the choice when natural suckling is used: the lamb is protected as long as it is with its mother. In the conditions used in this work the steroid injection did not interfere with colostral antibody transmission.


Variation in immunoglobulin transfer from ewes to lambs. The IgG1 concentrations in two-day-old lambs were significantly correlated with litter size, date of lambing, length of gestation and age of the dam. When these and other effects were allowed for significant breed differences were found, the concentrations being relatively high in Finnish Landrace, Welsh Mountain and Soay lambs, and relatively low in Border Leicester, Oxford Down and Southdown lambs. The concentrations in crossbred lambs were related to those in the parent breeds. The effects of the various factors on the yields of colostrum and total IgG1 by ewes were similar to their effects on the lamb serum concentrations. The yields were highly correlated with milk production. The heritabilities for IgG1 concentration in lambs and for total IgG1 production by ewes were estimated at 0.10 and 0.45, respectively.


[Morphological variations of rat mammary glands according to the age and the environmental factors (author's transl)]. We took the microscopic study of the mammary gland lactation as a test of prolactin (Prl) secretion in female rats. Aging is liable to cause the acini secretion in 7 females out of 17. Constant light or the repetition of stresses which are known to increase the serum Prl concentration have no effect in young females' mammary gland but always cause an abundant lactation in the 18 old females. In this test, aging and environment can be synergistic.


Acute demyelinating disease in a chimpanzee three years after inoculation of brain cells from a patient with MS. Brain cells from a patient with classic multiple sclerosis were inoculated intracerebrally into the frontal lobe of a newborn chimpanzee. The animal developed acute quadriplegia three years, two months later and was killed four days after the onset of symptoms. Central nervous system lesions were primarily localized in the spinal cord at root entry zones; these were characterized by demyelination and regeneration of myelin by Schwann cells.


[Possible use of a single test culture in determining the biological activity of polyene antibiotics]. A possibility using a common test-culture in estimation of biological activity of levorin, amphotericin B, mycoheptin and nistatin was studied. It was found that C. guillier mondii, strain 40, may be used as a common test-culture. It provided satisfactory microbial growth, clear and rather large inhibition growth zones with respect to all the drugs tested.


Metastatic cancer in guinea pigs irradiated with grenz rays. Guinea pigs were irradiated with 100, 200, or 300 rads of grenz rays four times weekly for two years (total doses were 32,600, 65,200, and 94,500 rads) and observed for an additional three years for development of cancer. Four animals of 11 developed squamous cell carcinomas. Three of the animals with squamous cell carcinoma of the skin had metastases in regional lymph nodes. The neoplastic cells showed the same degree of differentiation in the primary tumors as in lymph nodes.


Mineral and trace metal supplement for use with synthetic diets based on comminuted chicken. Earlier studies (Alexander et al., 1974; Lawson et al., 1977) suggested a suitable composition for a mineral and trace metal supplement for use with synthetic diets containing some natural food. Such a mixture has been evaluated in patients receiving a diet based on comminuted chicken and has been shown to be adequate. This conclusion was based on balance experiments measuring Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, Ca, Mg, N, and P.


The influence of increasing albumin concentrations on the determination of the binding of sulfamethoxy-pyridazine to human and bovine serum albumin. The binding of sulfamethoxypyridazine to human and bovine serum albumin was determined at eight constant molar drug/albumin ratios for seven different albumin concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 1.5%. The serum albumin concentration affects the determination of the albumin binding of the drug in two different ways. 1. The relative affinity of the albumins for the drug increases with increasing albumin concentrations, while the numbers of binding sites remain constant. 2. The association constants taken from Scatchard plots decrease with increasing albumin concentrations. It is concluded that a direct comparison of binding constants obtained with different albumin concentrations, as widely done, can lead to misinterpretations and should be avoided.


[XY/XO mosaicism in a child with feminime phenotype manifesting internal genital ambiguity]. A 18 year old patient presented with a female phenotype and no signs of sexual maturation. The leukocyte karyotype was XY. At laparotomy, there was no uterus and the gonadal streaks had a  XY/XO mosaicism. There were rudiments of fallopian tubes and epididymis. Histologic examination of the gonads showed foci of Leydig and Sertoli cells.


[Biological effects and activity threshold of a long-acting purified porcine calcitonin in the child]. The biologic effects of a purified long-acting porcine calcitonin (pTCT) were investigated in 45 children without any known renal, skeletal, endocrine, or metabolic disorder. pTCT was given as a single im injection at dose levels varying from 1 to 150 MRC u/1.73 m2. Administration of the highest dose was followed by a decrease in serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations and in tubular reabsorption of phosphorus, serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations and in tubular reabsorption of phosphorus. Mean maximal variation of serum calcium was -- 13.8 +/- 2.1 mg/l in children less than 3 years old, versus -- 8.2 +/- 0.9 mg/l (p less than 0.01) in older ones. Such an age-related differences was not observed for the hypophosphatemic action of pTCT. In 40 subjects aged 3 to 14 years the threshold for pTCT hypocalcemic activity was between 1 and 5 MRC u/1.73 m2. No significant differences in the effects on serum calcium of either 10, 25, 75 or 150 MRC u/1.73(2) m could be found. The threshold for pTCT hypophosphatemic activity was between 10 and 25 MRC u/1.73 m2 with, similary, no dose-response relationship for doses varying from 25 to 150 MRC u/1.73 m2. The present data demonstrate the high sensitivity of children, especially those younger than 3 years, to pTCT; furthermore, the lack of a dose-response relationship indicates that the pharmacological use of pTCT in pediatrics at doses higher than 10 to 25 MRC u/1.73 m2 is unnecessary.


[A technique of accelerated immunization of animals producing antivenom serum]. A technique of "fast" immunization, for antivenom serum production, is reported. Comparatively to the common technique, this fast method is characterized by more numerous immunizing injections (15 instead of 8) during the two first cycles of immunisation, higher venom doses and the lack of the rest period taking place between the two first cycles of immunization in the common technique. By this fast technique one may obtain a highly efficient anti-venmous serum within 2 1/2 to 3 months whereas the common technique needs 3 1/2 to 4 months to obtain the same results.


[The diagnostic reliability of the jet-wash technique with regard to the diagnostic of endometrium carcinoma (author's transl)]. The jet-wash technique is an efficient method for diagnosing the endometrium carcinoma. Among 750 women we detected 50 endometrium carcinomata all of which were diagnosed by the jet-wash method. Wrongly positive findings do not exist in our series of examinations. Of the pre-stages of the endometrium carcinoma, such as adenomatous hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma in situ, however, only scarcely 50 per cent of all cases were diagnosed. The jet-wash method is also suited for outpatient clinics. Thus, patients with risk-factors for the endometrium carcinoma might be controlled annually once in outpatient clinics in addition to the usual cancer prophylactic examinations. Above all, we consider 1. patients suffering from bleeding anomalies as from the 40th year of age, 2. patients free from any symptoms, but suffering from obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, 3. patients with an increased narcosis risk, 4. patients of the perimeno-pause prior to an estrogen treatment and 5. cancer post-care patients suffering from a primarily radiated endometrium carcinoma. The direct smears and the cytocentrifuge preparations can be diagnosed right on the day of examination. The thrombin cell block technique requires more work for a cytological laboratory. For a histological laboratory it might not mean any additional essential burden.


Occurrence of an endo-1,3-beta-glucanase in culture fluids of the yeast Candida utilis. Purification and characterization of the enzyme activity. The endo-1,3-beta-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.6) secreted into the culture medium by cells of Candida utilis was isolated and purified to homogeneity on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and in ultracentrifugation studies (s20,w = 1.97S). The purified enzyme represented only 0.001% of the total 1,3-beta-glucanase activity, the remainder being due to an exo-1,3-beta-glucanase enzyme, and behaved as an acidic glycoprotein (pI 3.3) in isoelectric-focusing experiments. The mol.wt. was estimated to be 21 000 by gel filtration and polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Studies on the hydrolysis of different substrates showed that the enzyme was only able to break down (1 leads to 3)-beta-linkages, by an endo-splitting mechanism. Glucono-delta-lactone, D-glucoronolactone and heavy metal ions such as Hg2+ were inhibitors of the enzyme activity. The function of this endo-beta-glucanase in C. utilis is discussed.


beta-2-Thienyl-DL-alanine as an inhibitor of phenylalanine hydroxylase and phenylalanine intestinal transport. The inhibitory properties of beta-2-thienyl-dl-alanine on rat phenylalanine hydroxylase from crude liver and kidney homogenates were assessed in vitro and in vivo, as well as its effects on the intestinal transport of phenylalanine, by using a perfusion procedure in vivo. The apparent K(m) for liver phenylalanine hydroxylase changed from 0.61mm in the absence of the inhibitor to 2.70mm in the presence of 24mm-beta-2-thienyl-dl-alanine, with no significant change in the V(max.). For kidney the corresponding values were 0.50 and 1.60mm respectively. A single dose of beta-2-thienyl-dl-alanine (2mmol/kg) failed to inhibit phenylalanine hydroxylase in either organ. Repeated injections during a 4-day period caused a decline of the enzymic activity to about 40% of controls. Intestinal absorption of phenylalanine when perfused at 0.2-2.0mm concentration was also competitively inhibited by beta-2-thienyl-dl-alanine. Its K(i) value was estimated at 81mm. The limited inhibitory effects of beta-2-thienyl-dl-alanine towards hepatic phenylalanine hydroxylase and phenylalanine intestinal transport, and its rapid metabolism, as suggested by the small elimination of this compound in the urine and its virtual absence from animal tissues, are factors that restrict its potential usefulness as an inducer of phenylketonuria in rats or as an effective blocker of phenylalanine absorption by the gut.


Effect of anti-P1A1 antibody on human platelets. I. The role of complement. We studied the interaction of complement with human platelets. Complement was activated by IgG anti-P1A1 antibody obtained from 3 patients with the post-transfusion purpura syndrome. We used a heparin-plasma buffer system that permits complement activation and also preserves platelet function. With this system complement activation was efficient, and platelet immune alteration was extensive. Anti-P1A1 antibody was effective only in the presence of complement, in which case both platelet lysis and serotonin release (release reaction) in the absence of lysis were observed. Platelet lysis, as assessed by 51Cr loss, required 10-fold more antibody than was necessary to induce platelet aggregation and release of 14C-serotonin. This platelet release reaction required an intact classic complement sequence through C6. The extent of platelet serotonin release parallelled the depletion of C1 and C4 from platelet-rich plasma. Concentrations of antibody insufficient to induce platelet aggregation and serotonin release could still activate C1 and deposit increased C3 on the platelet surface. These studies demonstrated that complement activation by anti-P1A1 antibody can alter human platelets in a nonlytic system. Several phases of complement-mediated human platelet alteration are possible, depending on the concentration of anti-P1A1 antibody.


Double outlet right ventricle with subvalvular aortic stenosis. A case of double outlet right ventricle had progressive muscular subvalvular aortic stenosis unrelated to the ventricular septal defect. Ventricular systolic pressures were identical and higher than aortic, and the gradient was within the right ventricle. Selective angiocardiography showed a hypertrophied subaortic conus obstructing the right ventricular outlet. Serial haemodynamic and angiographic studies revealed progression of the subaortic stenosis which may have been related to an earlier pulmonary artery banding operation. Distal conal hypertrophy is postulated as the cause of the obstruction.


Thrombocytopathy in preleukaemia: association with a defect of thromboxane A2 activity. Platelet aggregation and the platelet prostaglandin pathway have been investigated in two patients with preleukaemic states who had a haemorrhagic tendency but a normal platelet count. In both patients platelet aggregation induced by collagen adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and arachidonic acid (AA) were abnormal. Malonyldiadehyde (MDA) production from exogenous AA was normal in both patients thus excluding cyclo-oxygenase deficiency. The platelet aggregating and rabbit aorta contracting activities of thromboxane A2 (TxA2) were very low in both patients. Production of thromboxane B2 (TxB2) assessed by thin layer chromatographic separation of the metabolites of [1(-14)C]AA and by radioimmunoassay, was normal. These abnormalities of platelet function appear to be due to the production of TxA2 with a low biological activity.


Fertility of dairy heifers given a commercial diet free of beta-carotene. 1. Dairy heifers given concentrates including vitamin A and wheat straw from 7 to 17 months of age had an average plasma beta-carotene concentration of 20--60 micrograms/l. Control heifers given the same diet but supplemented with beta-carotene had a beta-carotene plasma concentration of 630--2190 micrograms/l. 2. In contrast to previous findings no differences in duration of standing oestrus, length of oestrous cycle, plasma progesterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations and interval between LH peak and ovulation were observed between the groups. All the heifers conceived after one or two inseminations; conception rate being 69% for heifers given a diet free of beta-carotene and 78% for the controls. 3. Average rate of growth of heifers not supplemented with beta-carotene was 0.75+/-0.02 kg/d v. 0.81+/-0.02 kg/d for the controls (P less than or equal to 0.02). 4. The possible reasons for the discrepancy between present and previous findings are discussed.


Critical micelle concentrations of gangliosides. The micellar properties of mixed, bovine gangliosides and purified galactosyl-N-acetylacetylgalactosaminyl (N-acetylneuraminyl) galactosylglucosylceramide were studied by gel filtration, equilibrium dialysis, and band and boundary centrifugation in sucrose gradients. The dissociation of micelles is very slow (days) in water and required us to approach equilibrium by association of monomers rather than by the dissociation of micelles. The gangliosides were therefore first converted into very low molecular weight aggregates (1-3 molecules) by dissolving them in Me2SO. Galactosyl-N-acetylgalactosaminyl(N-acetylneuraminyl)galactosylglucosylceramide was then diluted into aqueous sucrose gradients and sedimented by the boundary centrifugation technique. This gave a sedimenting micelle and a nonsedimenting monomer concentration of (1-2) x 10-10 M (or less) which corresponds to the critical micelle concentration value. The mixed gangliosides revealed two micellar sizes (i.e., 10 and 4.5 S), the slower sedimenting species being formed from the larger one with time (days). The critical micelle concentration of the mixed gangliosides was found to be approximately 10-8 M by a gel filtration, equilibrium dialysis, and band centrifugation.


Reactivity of the antibodies to DNA modified by the carcinogen N-acetoxy-N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene. Rabbits were immunized with native DNA modified by the carcinogen N-acetoxy-N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene. The interactions between the purified antibodies to nDNA-AAF (or the Fab fragments) and several ligands have been studied. By radioimmunoassay, nDNA-AAF, dDNA-AAF, and GMP-AAF were found to bind to the antibodies with about the same affinity. GMP-AF interacts slightly less, and GMP and N-OH-AAF do not interact. The values of the association constants deduced from fluorescence measurements for the binding of the Fab fragments to nDNA-AAF, dDNA-AAF, and GMP-AAF, in 50 mM NaCl, pH 7.5, are of the same order of magnitude. The values of the association constants with nDNA-AAF and dDNA-AAF depend upon salt concentration. From this variation; it is deduced that 1-1.5 phosphate groups interact by charge--charge interactions with the Fab fragments. The absorption and circular dischroism spectra of GMP-AAF, nDNA-AAF, and dDNA-AAF bound to the Fab fragments show that the Fab fragments induce similar perturbation to the three ligands. These results lead to the conclusion that the immunodeterminant group is the dGMP-AAF residue.


High-resolution proton magnetic resonance study of porcine colipase and its interactions with taurodeoxycholate. A high-resolution 270-MHz proton NMR study of procine colipase I has been performed, and the resonances in the aromatic region of the spectrum have been assigned to amino acid residues by pH titration and decoupling experiments. The apparent pKa values of the three tyrosines were calculated to be 10.2, 10.3, and 11.8 with one of the tyrosines having properties of a "buried" residue. A tentative assignment to the amino acid residues in the primary seuqence of colipase will be discussed. The effects of taurodeoxycholate (TDC) and a positively charged deoxycholate derivative on the aromatic region of the colipase NMR spectrum indicate that all tyrosines and one histidine are affected by the bile-salt binding, suggesting that the TDC molecules bind near these residues to a hydrophobic region on colipase. Measurements and calculations on the line width of the C(18) methyl group resonance suggest that the line-width increase of this resonance upon interaction of TDC with colipase to a large extent can be explained as due to the slower tumbling of the TDC molecules bound to colipase.


Transient intermediates in the reduction of Fe(III) myoglobin-ligand complexes by electrons at low temperature. 1. The reductions of a number of sperm-whale Fe(III) myoglobin-ligand complexes by electrons generated by gamma-irradiation in ethylene glycol/water glass, have been investigated by using low-temperature spectrophotometry. The ligands are azide, fluoride, imidazole and water. 2. The reduction of the Fe(III) myoglobin-ligand complexes at 77 K leads to the formation of low-spin liganded Fe(II) myoglobin, in the case of the azide, imidazole and water derivatives, while the reduction of the fluoride derivative proceeds both by a pathway involving prior dissociation of the ligand and with the ligand in position. 3. Investigation of the effect of temperature on the stability of the Fe(II) myoglobin-ligand complexes indicates that more than one bound states exists in dissociation of the ligand molecule from the ferrous heme iron of the reduced azide and imidazole derivatives. 4. The results are discussed in terms of the possible structure of the Fe(II) myoglobin complexes and it is suggested that the low-spin state is created by a strained configuration of the heme center with the iron atom in an intermediate position relative to the heme plane.


The mass spectra of diethylstilbestrol and related compounds. The low resolution mass spectra of E-3,4-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-hex-3-ene (diethylstilbestrol), E-[1,1,1-3H3]3,4-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-hex-3-ene, E-2,3-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-but-2-ene (dimethylstilbestrol), E,E-3,4-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)hexa-2,4-diene (dienestrol) and 3,4-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-hexane (hexestrol) were examined as the parent compounds, their diacetates, dimethyl ethers, and bis-trimethylsilyl ethers. In addition, the mass spectra of the diethyl ether and the hexadeuteriodimethyl ether of E-3,4-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-hex-3-ene were studied. Each compound gives rise to several sets of characteristic fragment ions associated with loss of alkyl groups, loss of aryl groups and rearrangements. An ion of m/e 165 (C13H9) was found in the spectra of all the compounds studied. With the aid of high resolution mass spectrometry empirical formulae were assigned to major ions of the free diphenols.


Production of cellulases by Trichoderma reesei QM 9414 in fed-batch and continuous-flow culture with cell recycle. The scope in improving enzyme productivities from the cellulose fermentation process is examined in laboratory-scale fermentors. The maximum productivity (30 IU/liter hr) is attained in a continuous-culture process with cell recycle using modified medium containing 0.5% cellulose. Optimum dilution rate and recycle ratio are determined as 0.025 hr-1 and 1.2, respectively, for the process. The system is analyzed and steady-state equations for predicting enzyme protein concentrations in the fermentor are developed. In fed-batch cultures, slow addition of cellulose at high concentrations can improve enzyme productivity by as much as 33% over a batch process. The scope and results of using modified medium for cellulase production are also presented.


[Mechanisms of the hyporeactivity occurring in mice after the administration of the antigen of lysed erythrocytes]. Specific hyporeactivity state to SRBC was induced in mice by injection of SRBC hemolysate. The blocking serum factor in such mice was not identical by the action character to the antierythrocytic antibodies, possibly representing the antigen-antibody complex. In combined administration to mice of the SRBC hemolysate and cyclophosphamide (CP) production of the blocking serum factor was found to be suppressed; however the mouse reactivity to SRBC proved to be considerably decreased. It is suggested that in this case there occurs inactivation of immuno-competent cells as a result of combined action of CP and the antigen on the SRBC in the nonimmunogenic form.


[Dependence of the functional activity of immunocompetent mouse spleen cells on their hemopoietic microenvironment]. Accumulation of erythropoietic, granulopoietic cell elements, a change in the ration and absolute count of the T, B cells, and "null" lymphocytes, as well as a sharp inhibition of primary immune response were found in the spleen of CBA mice treated with antierythrocyte sera. The inductive phase of immunogenesis proved to be sensitive to the action of antierythrocyte sera. The data obtained apparently demonstrated the existence of a functional relationship between the immunocompetent spleen cells and their non-lymphoid hemopoietic microenvironment.


[Cytology of the lower segment of the female urethra. Normal cellular elements and physiological variations]. Three types of epithelial cells have been described on desquamation of the inferior part of the feminine urethra: squamous cells, stratified columnar cells, cells of mucous glands. The columnar cells do not show distinctly quantitative variations in relation with the normal feminine sexual cycle. Columnar cells disappear from the 5th month of pregnancy to the beginning of the post-partum period with return afterwards to a normal distribution. Columnar cells are rather numerous on prepubertal and menopausal smears. Urethral squamous cells show qualitative and quantitative variations identical to those observed on vaginal smears.


Prostaglandin D2 is the prevailing prostaglandin in the acute inflammatory exudate of urate arthritis in the chicken. An acute inflammation was elicited in intertarsal joints of chicken by injection of urate crystals. Inflammatory exudates recovered at different times were assayed for prostaglandin D2(PGD2)E2 and F2 alpha and thromboxane B2 content by specific radioimmunoassays. We found that PGD2 was the prevailing prostaglandin reaching concentrations up to 10 times in excess of PGE2. This finding was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. It is concluded that PGD2 should be considered as a possible mediator of acute inflammation.


Effects of drugs on behaviour of aggressive mice. 1 The occurrence of 11 aggressive and non-aggressive activities was observed in aggressive male mice treated with drugs in paired interactions with non-aggressive males given water. Effects of chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, barbitone, chlorpromazine, imipramine, (+)-amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) all given orally and of intraperitoneal scopolamine were investigated.2 Scopolamine (0.25 and 0.75 mg/kg), (+)-amphetamine (0.25 and 1 mg/kg), chlorpromazine (2.5 mg/kg), diazepam (10 mg/kg) and chlordiazepoxide (50 mg/kg) reduced aggressive activities (attacks, aggressive unrest) without inhibiting walking across the cage or rearing in the aggressive mice. Thus, the inhibition of aggression induced by these drugs does not seem to be due to neuromuscular impairment and seems to this extent specific. On the other hand, imipramine lessened aggressive activities only at a dose (80 mg/kg) which also decreased walking across the cage and rearing. Barbitone or LSD did not change aggression at either dose tested (20 and 60 or 0.01 and 1 mg/kg, respectively). Aggressive activities were increased significantly only by chlordiazepoxide at a dose of 5 mg/kg.3 (+)-Amphetamine (0.25 mg/kg) and scopolamine (0.75 mg/kg) increased escapes and alert postures, respectively, in the aggressive mice.4 Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide decreased tail rattling at 1 and 5 mg/kg, respectively, doses 10 times lower than those inhibiting attacks. The other drugs tested inhibited tail rattling only at doses reducing attacks. Tail rattling appears to be a convenient measure for testing effects of drugs on behavioural conflict.5 Diazepam (5 and 10 mg/kg), chlordiazepoxide (20 and 50 mg/kg), barbitone (60 mg/kg) and scopolamine (0.25 and 0.75 mg/kg) increased sociable activities (sniffing, following partners and climbing over them) whereas (+)-amphetamine, chlorpromazine, imipramine and LSD did not. Effects of the drugs on sociable activities in aggressive mice seem to correlate with their action on punished responding and other types of suppressed behaviour.


Afferent projections related to attack sites in the pontine tegmentum. Attack by a cat on a rat was elicited by electrical stimulation of the ventral parabrachial nucleus or the paralemniscal pontine reticular formation. The attack was quiet and it differed from similar behavior elicited at other sites in that the cat not only bit the rat but struck it with its paw. Horseradish peroxidase was deposited at the attack sites. Cells sending projections to the attack sites were located in gyrus proreus, anterior, central, and medial amygdala, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, lateral, dorsal and perifornical hypothalamus, as well as the central gray matter, superior colliculus, midbrain reticular formation, locus coeruleus, nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, and nucleus interpositus. Additional sites of cells of origin appeared with less regularity. This distribution of sites correlates well with the sites from which attack can be elicited or modulated.


Estrogen-sensitive progestin-binding sites in the female rat brain and pituitary. The following properties of the cytoplasmic progestin receptor were studied in the hypothalamus, cortex, pituitary and uterus of the estrogen-primed castrated adult female rat using the highly potent progestin R 5020 (promegestone). (a) Sedimentation pattern. In sucrose density gradients, the R 5020-progestin receptor complex sedimented with a coefficient of about 6 to 7S. (b) Binding parameters. R 5020 bound to the progestin receptor with an intrinsic dissociation constant of about 10(-9) M as measured by a Dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) technique. The number of binding sites, however, differed widely. (c) Specificity. Only progestins competed for [3H]R 5020 binding. (d) Estrogen-dependency. In both immature and castrated adult rats, estrogen administration increased the number of R 5020-specific binding sites, assayed in vitro by a DCC technique, in the uterus, pituitary and hypothalamus, but not in the amygdala, hippocampus nor in the cortex. The increase was maximum between 40 and 48 h after priming with the potent estrogen, moxestrol, and could not be induced by androgens nor by progestins.


A proposed natural geometry of recovery from akinesia in the lateral hypothalamic rat. The Eshkol-Wachmann movement notation is used to analyze and describe neurological recovery from the akinesia caused by severe bilateral lateral hypothalamic (LH) damage in rats. Exploratory movement recovers along several relatively independent dimensions which appear successively. First, lateral head scanning movements recover. At about the same time or later, longitudinal (backward-forward) head scans appear. After movements along these two dimensions increase in amplitude and involve the whole body, vertical (dorsal-ventral) head scans with snout contact (along vertical surfaces) typically appear, and increase gradually in amplitude. Later, vertical rearing without snout contact emerges. Recovery proceeds cephalocaudally, as more caudal limb and body segments are recruited along each of the above dimensions separately. LH rats show delayed recruitment of caudal limb and body segments ('strait-jacket phenomenon'). Support of the body and management of limb and body segments' contact with the ground also recover relatively independently, in a proximodistal fashion. In recovery, arrests between bouts of activity become shorter. Movement first becomes organized in relation to the animals' own body, and only much later, in relation to the environment. In each sequence of movement after pronounced immobility, the rat recapitulates the process of recovery; and, any time it starts to move, it repeats the movements at a particular amplitude several times until there is an increase to the next larger size movement ('warm-up' phenomenon). These regularities explain the apparently bizarre stereotyped behavior in partial enclosures ('behavioral traps') seen in LH rats recovering from akinesia. They also explain some aspects of exploration in rats and normal social behavior of wild animals, particularly in situations involving fear and conflict.


The origin and species of yeasts in commercial preparations of bovine semen. Whereas yeasts were not normally isolated from raw semen samples 13% of commercial frozen semen samples and 71% of preputial washings contained yeasts. Nine genera and 25 species of yeasts have been identified from these two sources. Yeasts originating in the preputial cavity were generally saprobic members of the genera Candida, Cryptococcus, Rhodotorula, Saccharomyces, Torulopsis and Trichosporon. Those originating as contaminants during processing were more likely to be opportunistic pathogens of the genus Candida. Conception was not necessarily affected by the presence of large numbers of Candida krusei or C. macedoniensis in the uterus.


Subchronic toxicity test for two thermotolerant filamentous fungi used for single cell protein production. Safety evaluations of two thermotolerant filamentous fungi, Cephalosporium eichhorniae 152 (C. 152) and Rhizopus chinensis 180 (R. 180), grown on a sugar-salts medium were carried out through feeding the biomases to rats at 20% or 40% dietary levels for 90 days. There was a control group fed soybean meal. Weight gain and feed consumption for rats fed 20% C. 152 were equal to those for the control animals, but were depressed in the other three groups, especially the rats fed R. 180. All animals appeared normal and healthy except that transient alopecia was found for a short duration in the fungi-treated rats in the initial period. The cause of this lesion is not clear. At the end of the feeding trial, clinical determinations of constituents in blood and urine samples were conducted. The animals were autopsied and weights for four organs were taken. Histopathological examinations for 26 different tissues were carried out. Mild changes were found in both C. 152 and R. 180-treated rats but most of the these were not considered to be related to treatment.


Studies of the spore walls of Agaricus bisporus and Agaricus campestris. The composition and ultrastructure of spore walls of Agaricus bisporus and Agaricus campestris were compared by chemical and enzymatic assays and electron microscopy. Polymers of N-acetylglucosamine (chitin) and glucosamine (chitosan) were the major carbohydrate wall components of both species. The chitin to chitosan ratio in the spore walls of A. bisporus was about 0.38, while in A. campestris it was about 2.8 These polymers were associated with proteins, lipids (readily extractable and bound), melanin, and a low content of beta-glucan. The quantity of protein, total lipid, melanin, or beta-glucan was similar in spore walls of both species. With the electron microscopy, the spore walls appeared as two well-defined layers which may correspond to microfibrils of chitin and chitosan in which the electron-dense melanin was located in the external layer.


Single and low-level oocyst infections of drug-resistant field strains of Eimeria tenella in medicated birds. Five out of ten birds infected with a single oocyst of strain Gt2 of Eimeria tenella and medicated with the recommended level of robenidine were found positive in the first experiment and four in the second in comparison with seven and six respectively in nonmedicated birds. Six birds out of ten were found positive in the two groups of similarly medicated birds infected with two or four oocysts each. Although single oocyst infections of strain Lilly 155 were unsuccessful, six out of ten birds were found positive in birds infected with ten oocysts each.All single and low-level oocyst infections were accomplished with oocysts previously treated with beta-glucuronidase and broken into sporocysts prior to infections. The overall results suggested that when a coccidium became resistant to an anticoccidial drug, only one or a few occysts were needed to start an infection if the drug was continued. The results also showed that, perhaps, successful single or low-level oocyst infections can also be used as a criterion for demonstrating drug resistance in coccidia.


Cyclical changes of vaginal cytology in the cat. Vaginal smears from seven cats were examined at two-day intervals for 32 days in order to describe the cyclical pattern of epithelial cells exfoliated throughout the stages of the estrus cycle. Vaginal epithelial cells were classified as parabasal, intermediate and superficial (nucleate and anucleate) cells, and their dimensions were measured for the purpose of definition. The percentages of the epithelial cell populations (i.e. Maturation Index) from Wright's stained smears, were determined at all stages of the estrus cycle. The Eosinophilic Index was estimated on Papanicolaou stained smears. Smears of cats in estrus were populated almost entirely with nucleate and anucleate superficial epithelial cells. Proestrus was characterized by intermediate epithelial cells with increasing eosinophilia, and rare neutrophils. Metestrus was associated with desquamation of intermediate and parabasal epithelial cells, neutrophils and debris. In the anestrus period, groups of intermediate cells and some parabasal epithelial cells were exfoliated. Two cats in the study did not cycle and exhibited anestrus. Of the five cats cycling, eight estrus periods were observed of two to five days duration. The cycles were of 15 to 17 days interval in three normal cats. Two cats did not show a second estrus within 30 days, and were subsequently found to have bacterial growth on the culture of vaginal swabs, however the presence of an initial ovular estrus cannot be ruled out. The rare presence of erythrocytes was associated with vaginal bacterial infections and discharge in two cats.


Enhanced metabolism and mutagenesis of nitrosopyrrolidine in liver fractions isolated from chronic ethanol-consuming hamsters. The effect of chronic ethanol consumption on the ability of isolated liver fractions to metabolize the carcinogen N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPY) was examined. Microsomal fractions of treated animals exhibited increased rates of alpha-hydroxylation of NPY. Similar increases in the specific activities of aniline hydroxylase, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate cytochrome c reductase, and the specific content of cytochrome P-450 were also observed. In contrast, no differences in the specific activities of benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase or glucose-6-phosphatase were observed. Liver postmitochondrial supernatants from ethanol-consuming animals were able to produce 5 times more mutants than did control preparations. It is concluded that alpha-hydroxylation of NPY is probably the mechanism by which NPY is converted to a mutagen and that this pathway can be induced by ethanol.


Persistence of DNA damage during development of liver angiosarcoma in rats fed dimethylnitrosamine. Chronic feeding of a diet containing dimethylnitrosamine (50 ppm) to rats resulted in liver DNA damage monitored as slow sedimentation of the DNA compared to that of the control in alkaline sucrose gradients. The damage in rat liver DNA could be seen within 2 days after beginning the feeding of diets containing the carcinogen and was progressive with the time of feeding, up to 8 weeks. Extended feeding up to 15 or 31 weeks did not result in a proportionate increase in the damage to the DNA. The DNA damage observed at 8 weeks persisted until 31 weeks, at which time liver angiosarcoma was present. Despite the fact that the DNA damage induced by dimethylnitrosamine appears to involve the bulk of the liver DNA, the tumors developed were entirely from vascular endothelium. The implication of these results in the initiation of carcinogenesis is discussed.


The pathophysiology and diverse etiology of septal perforator compression. Compression of the septal perforator branches of the left anterior descending artery (systolic obliteration and diastolic reopacification during arteriography) has been proposed as a marker of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS). Among 568 unselected coronary arteriograms this angiographic finding was pronounced in 11 of 17 patients with IHSS; in 12 of 44 with aortic stenosis (AS); in five of 46 patients with severe (95%) proximal stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery; in three of 18 with myocardial bridge; in three of 12 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; in one of 62 with normal right and left heart catheterization; and in none of the 369 patients with other cardiac diseases. Mild septal perforator compression (SPC) was observed in six other patients with IHSS, one patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 19 patients with AS, eight patients with severe stenosis of the LAD and one patient with myocardial bridge. SPC was more pronounced in patients with high systolic pressure gradients (Spearmann Rank r = 0.64, p = 0.003 and Pearson r = 0.31, p = 0.159 for IHSS; Spearmann Rank r = 0.47, p = 0.001; Pearson r = 0.51, p = 0.001 for AS) and increased septal thickness (Spearmann Rank r = 0.45, p = 0.05, Pearson r = 0.61, p = 0.011 for IHSS; Spearmann r = 0.44, p = 0.013, Pearson r = 0.42, p = 0.018 for AS). SPC is not specific for IHSS. It may result from a decrease of the intraluminal pressure in the septal perforators resulting from obstruction at the left ventricular, aortic valvular or coronary arterial level and from increased septal thickness which may lead to higher extraluminal pressure.


Bromocriptine treatment of seven women with primary amenorrhoea and prolactin-secreting pituitary tumours. Seven women with primary amenorrhoea and hyperprolactinaemia were treated with bromocriptine. All the women had started to develop secondary sex characteristics at normal age but pubertal development stopped and menarche did not occur. Radiological signs of a pituitary tumour were found in all the women. Before the pituitary tumour was diagnosed, four women had been given longterm cyclical oestrogen replacement therapy. Three women had received primary tumour therapy with surgery and/or irradiation but had persistent hyperprolactinaemia. The basal luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were low in four of the women while all the women had normal basal levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and normal or exaggerated gonadotrophin responses to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH). None of the women had evidence of endogenous oestrogen production before treatment. Bromocriptine treatment normalized the raised serum prolactin levels (46-2900 microgram/l) in all but one woman, in whom the prolactin level decreased from 160 to 38 microgram/l. Regular ovulatory menstrual cycles appeared in four women, one of whom had previously been treated by transsphenoidal adenomectomy followed by external irradiation. Two other women with persistent hyperprolactinaemia after previous surgical and/or irradiation treatment of large pituitary tumours did not menstruate after more than one year of treatment with bromocriptine. One infertile patient with a microadenoma conceived at the first ovulation on therapy and developed symptoms and signs of tumour growth during pregnancy.


Contraceptive effects of intravaginal application of acrosin and hyaluronidase inhibitors in rabbit. Eight single-drug and combinations of two-drug treatments were used to study the contraceptive efficacy of the intravaginal application of acrosin inhibitors (TLCK; NPGB) and hyaluronidase inhibitors (Compound 53D/k; Phosphorylated hesperidin) in the rabbit. Drug concentrations were selected so that they did not inhibit rabbit sperm motility upon incubation at 37 degrees C for 30 minutes. In the first series, the drugs were added to semen before artificial insemination; in the second series, the drugs were administered intravaginally before artificial insemination with untreated rabbit semen. The data show that these drugs are highly effective intravaginal contraceptives in the rabbit. The data suggest that this is a specific inhibitory effect on fertilization since the drug concentrations used did not affect sperm motility.


Corticosteroidal regulation of the glucocorticoid-binding capacity of rat heart cytoplasmic fraction. The effects were studied of variations in blood corticosteroid levels on the glucocorticoid-binding capacities of two types of complex-forming substances, whose presence in the myocardium had been established in previous studies. The hormone binding was assessed by the method of adsorption of free forms of steroids on activated dextrancoated charcoal with application of Scatchard's analysis. The binding capacity was tested both in the presence of endogenous steroids and in cytoplasmic fraction made free of the hormones. After adrenalectomy, experimental stress, and administration of exogenous glucocorticoids the concentration of the complex-forming substance I changed in parallel with changing blood transcortin levels. This finding corroborates the concept that the complex-forming substance I is an intercellular (and possibly partially also intracellular) pool of transcortin or a transcortin-like protein; this pool regulates the accessibility of glucocorticoids to the cytoreceptor proper. The intracellular concentration of the complex-forming substance II (performing the function of receptor) changed only little with varying corticosteroid levels, and variations in its binding capacity evidently resulted from shifts in the equilibrium between the "occupied" and "free" findings sites as well as in the distribution of this protein between the cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions.


Specific arrangements of human satellite III DNA sequences in human chromosomes. DNA was extracted from various rodent-human somatic cell hybrids that contained single or a few human chromosomes. These DNAs were examined by a combination of restriction endonuclease digestion, gel electrophoresis, and filter hybridisation to radioactive satellite DNA probes following transfer of the denatured restriction fragments from a gel to a nitrocellulose filter. In this way the arrangement of sequences homologous to human satellite III were examined on human chromosomes 1, 7, 11, 15, 22 and X. It was found that the distribution of restriction endonuclease sites within satellite III DNA is different on different chromosomes.


Relationship between bioassay and radioimmunoassay estimates of prolactin in rat serum. RIA and bioassay (BA) estimates of the concentration of PRL ([PRL]) in rat serum were compared using homologous assay systems. A rat mammary gland organ culture BA was developed which allowed objective and quantitative measurement of serum [PRL]. the serum samples were tested at two doses against three doses of the RP-1 rat PRL standard and the responses were quantified by a histometric procedure. The index of precision of the BA ranged from 0.1--0.4 and the secretory response was not affected by physiological concentrations of rat GH, T3, or by gonadal steroids. Serum samples taken from female rats during the estrous cycle, from suckled lactators, from rats bearing a PRL-secreting pituitary tumor, and from females that were treated with perphenazine were assayed. A highly significant correlation (r = 0.99) was obtained between the two assay methods with 21 samples. However, the regression coefficient was 4.20 +/- 0.55.Thus, although the two assays are highly correlated for measuring serum [PRL], the RIA measures only about 25% of the hormone that is detected by the mammary gland organ culture BA.


Androgenic influences on feminine sexual behavior in male and female rats: defeminization blocked by prenatal antiandrogen treatment. The prenatal influence of androgen on the development of female sexual behavior in rats was investigated. The nonsteroidal antiandrogen, flutamide (4'-nitro-3'-trifluoromethylisobutyrylanilide; SCH), was administered to pregnant female rats from days 10--22 of gestation in dosages of either 1 mg/mother-day or 5 mg/mother-day. Males and females were gonadectomized in adulthood and tested for the display of lordosis in response to estradiol benzoate (EB) alone or EB with progesterone (P). Males exposed prenatally to either the 1- or 5-mg dosage of flutamide exhibited significantly higher lordosis quotients than controls when given EB alone. The addition of P was without effect in all male groups with regard to estrogen-induced lordosis. Females exposed prenatally to flutamide had significantly higher lordosis quotients than controls when given either 0.175 or 0.25 micrograms EB daily for 3 days. Addition of P to EB treatment significantly facilitated lordosis display in control and flutamide-treated females. The increase of feminine sexual behavior in both males and females of feminine sexual behavior in both males and females resulting from prenatal antiandrogen treatment suggests that androgen, prenatally, inhibits development of female sexual behavior. This androgenic inhibition of sexual receptivity (defeminization) seems to be related to the animal's sensitivity to estrogen in adulthood.


Autorhythmometry in hypertension: some methodological aspects and clinical implications. Autorhythmometry of blood pressure is a technique easy to be performed and well accepted by hypertensive patients. A simple inspection of data self-collected 5 times a day for many days constitute a sufficiently reliable automonitoring of blood pressure both in basal conditions and in relation to the efficacy of some dietary and/or pharmacological treatment. Several examples are reported to show that more sophisticated statistical manipulation of the data collected may give rise to a better understanding of some clinical and physiological aspects. Both analysis of variance, performed on individual subsets of data averaged at each sampling hour, and single cosinor, performed on longitudinal time series, may be used to detect and quantify a circadian rhythm as a systematic daily variation, averaging towards zero the noise superimposed to the actual time series. Serial section analysis of the data, along all the experimental span, is useful to detect a) the reproducibility of the rhythm b) the variation of its parameters induced by changes in the experimental conditions c) the long-term trend. In the first subject the influence on the circadian rhythm of the pulse rate, temperature and blood pressure, due to a 4 h advancing shift in the rest-activity synchronizer, is well documented. In the first hypertensive patient a circadian rhythm is demonstrated also in blood pressure during two non-consecutive months. No difference is detected in both mesor and amplitude of blood pressure and a full resynchronization of the acrophase is achieved when a 1 h delaying shift in the rest activity synchronizer is imposed. In the second patient a well reproducible rhythm of systolic blood pressure and a low noise/signal ratio is documented by the serial section display. In the third patient the 'lability' of hypertention seems mainly due to salt sensitivity, as documented by the significant lowering of the mesor in the second experimental span, when a lowering of only 30 mEq/day in salt intake is imposed. The serial section better documents the salt-sensitivity of this patient, during a span when loading and depressing of salt intake is imposed. In the last patient the prompt effect of therapy in lowering blood pressure within normal range is well documented by serial section with 3 day interval. A possible effect of masking the circadian rhythm of blood pressure, due to therapy, is inferred by the serial section display with an interval of the same length (33 days) as the subspan without therapy. The possibility of prevention in the hypertensive disease is discussed, with the aim of autorhythmometry and statistical methods employed in this paper.


Patterns of sex steroid and gonadotropin secretion in aging female rats. Serum estradiol, progesterone, LH, and FSH were determined by RIA in 20- to 30-month-old constant estrous (CE), irregular pseudopregnant (PP), and anestrous (AS) female rats and from 4- to 5-month-old cycling female rats. Disruption of the estrous cycle in aging rats was associated with major changes in secretion of pituitary gonadotropins and ovarian steroids. None of the old rats, in contrast to the young rats, showed cyclic changes in any of the hormones studied. Serum progesterone was much higher in the PP than in the other two old groups, serum estradiol averaged somewhat higher in the CE than in the other two aged groups, and all four hormones were lower in the AS rats than in any other group. Basal serum FSH values were higher in the old CE rats than in either of the other old age groups and were slightly higher than in young rats on the afternoon of proestrus or morning of estrus. Serum FSH values were lower in the old PP and AS rats than in young rats on the afternoon of proestrus or morning of estrus. Serum FSH values were lower in the old PP and AS rats than in young rats on the afternoon of proestrus or morning of estrus. Serum values in the old CE rats were about the same as in young rats on the morning of proestrus or estrus, about the same in old PP rats as in young rats during diestrus, and were undectable in old AS rats. Since the ovaries of old rats are capable of near normal function under appropriate gonadotropic stimulation, it is concluded that the major cause for cessation of regular estrous cycles in old rats lies in altered hypothalamo-pituitary function.


Phytoestrogen interaction with estrogen receptors in human breast cancer cells. The interactions of phytoestrogens with estrogen receptors were studied in the human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7. The compounds tested were coumestrol, genistein, and formononetin and the mycotoxins, zearalenone and its reduced derivative, zearalenol. All but formononetin compete for binding of [3H]-estradiol to unfilled cytoplasmic estrogen receptor or unfilled nuclear estrogen receptor sites. Relative binding affinities are zearalenol HMP (high melting point isomer) greater than zearalenol LMP (low melting point isomer) greater than zearalenone = coumestrol greater than genistein greater than formononetin. Dissociation constants estimated from competition curves show that binding affinities are high. In contrast to estradiol, phytoestrogens bind only weakly to sex steroid-binding globulin; they also do not bind to corticosteroid-binding globulin. These compounds translocate the cytoplasmic estrogen receptor and bind to unfilled nuclear estrogen receptors in whole cells. Bound nuclear receptors are then processed in a manner similar to estradiol in a step which rapidly decreases total cellular estrogen receptors. The phytoestrogens are also biologically active; they can markedly enhance tumor cell proliferation. In sum, phytoestrogens interact with the estrogen receptors of human breast cancer cells in culture and, therefore, may affect estrogen-mediated events in these cells.


A tetracycline study of cyclic longitudinal bone growth in the female rat. This study shows that bone growth in the young female rat is cyclic. Using tetracycline labeling, measurements were taken for every possible 2-day growth interval during the 4-day estrous cycle. The slow phase of bone growth occurs when estrogen and glucocorticoid serum levels are elevated, whereas the rapid phase of growth occurs when estrogen serum levels are minimal. Parathyroidectomy or 1-microgram injections of exogeneous 17 beta-estradiol retard the rapid phase of growth. Adrenalectomy alters the rate of growth in that the slow phase no longer occurs but rather increases to a rate equal to the rapid phase. The results show that parathyroid hormone is an essential component of the cyclic growth pattern in the young adult female rat and that estrogen, which reduces the rate of longitudinal bone growth, has its effect primarily through its stimulation of glucocorticoid production. These findings are discussed in relation to other recent studies which show that there are no estrogen receptors in bone and that high levels of estrogen stimulate 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 production in the kidney. A hypothetical model, interrelating these hormones to the cyclic longitudinal bone growth pattern found in the female rat, is proposed.


Nuclear and cytosolic estrogen receptor in gilt endometrium throughout the estrous cycle. The levels of nuclear and uncharged cytoplasmic estrogen receptors were determined in gilt endometrium throughout the estrous cycle. Nuclear estrogen receptor was found to reach its highest level of 1.3 (range, 1.0-1.5) pmol/mg DNA on day 1 of the cycle just before ovulation (day 2), after which the values dropped sharply to 0.3 (range, 0.1-0.4) pmol/mg DNA.  This level of nuclear receptor was consistently found through day 9. Between days 9-14, the estrogen receptor present in the nucleus decreased to zero, where it remained until the return of estrus (day 1). The dissociation constant (Kd +/- SD) for the nuclear estrogen receptor was 1.6 (+/- 1.4) x 10(-9) M. Initially, the nuclear estrogen receptor peak at day 1 was preceded by elevation (0.04-0.05 pmol/mg DNA) in cytoplasmic receptor at day 19, which declined when the receptor appeared in the nucleus. There was an even larger peak (range of maximal values, 0.07-0.26 pmol/mg DNA) of uncharged receptor in the cytosol near day 5. Throughout the rest of the cycle the values ranged from 0.01-0.03 pmol/mg DNA. Kd( +/- SD) for the cytoplasmic estrogen receptor was 2.4 (+/- 1.5) x 10(-9) M. The fluctuations of these two pools of endometrial estrogen receptor are discussed in relation to the previously observed cyclic variations in porcine uterine oxidation and sulfurylation of 17 beta-estradiol (Pack and Brooks, Endocrinology 95: 1680, 1974).


Glucosamine itself mediates reversible inhibition of protein glycosylation. A study of glucosamine metabolism at inhibitory concentrations in influenza-virus-infected cells. The metabolism of glucosamine in chick embryo fibroblasts was studied at different concentrations of the amino sugar added to the culture medium. In glucose-containing medium the well-known metabolites, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylglucosamine 6-phosphate and N-acetylglucosamine, are detectable after inhibition of glycosylation resulting from glucosamine treatment. Especially when the cells were infected with influenza virus, high intracellular concentrations of non-metabolized glucosamine are demonstrable in addition. Removal of the inhibitor from the medium results in release of the block of influenza virus glycoprotein glycosylation within 10 min. The onset of glycosylation is paralleled by a rapid reduction of intracellular levels of glucosamine without significant changes in the concentration of its metabolites. Furthermore, concentrations of GDP-mannose, UDP-glucose, and UDP-galactose remain constant for at least 30 min after reversal of the block. It is concluded that glucosamine as such exerts its effect on glycosylation, rather than one of its metabolites being responsible for this effect.


The use of biochemical solid-phase techniques in the study of alcohol dehydrogenase. 1. Some studies on subunit interactions in alcohol dehydrogenase with subunits covalently bound to agarose. The EE and SS isozymes of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase have been immobilized separately to weakly CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. The resulting immobilized dimeric preparations lost practically all of their activity after treatment with 6 M urea. However, enzyme activity was regenerated by allowing the urea-treated Sepharose-bound alcohol dehydrogenase to interact specifically with either soluble subunits of dissociated horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase or soluble dimeric enzyme. The regeneration of steroid activity in the immobilized preparations after treatment of the bound S subunits with soluble E subunits seems to show that true reassociation of the enzyme had taken place on the solid phase, since only isozymes with an S-polypeptide chain are active when using 5 beta-dihydrotestosterone as substrate. The results presented in this paper indicate that immobilized single subunits of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase are inactive and that dimer formation is a prerequisite for the enzymic activity.


Transurethral laser irradiation of urinary bladder tumors. After preliminary animal experiments, endoscopic Neodym-YAG laser irradiation of bladder tumors was performed successfully for the first time. Although no final statement can be made so far on the value of laser irradiation in bladder tumors because of the small number of cases, we believe that laser coagulation will attain a secure place in the transurethral treatment spectrum. A combination of transurethral resection and irradiation of the tumor bed for destruction of intramural tumor cell nests appears especially useful. Laser therapy cannot replace transurethral resection, but it can complement it.


Stereotypic and hypothermic effects of apomorphine and N-n-propylnorapomorphine in mice. Two dopaminergic agonists, apomorphine (APO) and N-n-propylnorapomorphine (NPA) were compared in mice for their ability to induce stereotypic cage-climbing and hypothermia. Stereotypic cage-climbing responses were recorded on videotape and subsequently rated "blind" in comparison to the animal's predrug behavior and to the behavior of animals administered control solutions. Hypothermia was measured as changes from predug body temperature. Both APO and NPA produced statistically significant cage-climbing and hypothermia vs. controls. Dose-response analyses (0.5-10 mg/kg, i.p.) indicated that on a milligram basis the two drugs induced similar magnitudes of stereotypic activity. In contrast, dose-response analyses (0.008-40 mg/kg, i.p.) of APO and NPA induced hypothermia suggested an approximate 90-fold greater effect for NPA. These results suggest that there may be two different types of dopaminergic systems responsible for the hypothermic and stereotypic responses measured.


[A new laser endoscope for irradiation of bladder tumors]. A new endoscopic laser tool is presented consisting of a urethrocystoscope with Albarran-tray. Because of the flexibility of the new guide light fibres it is possible to irradiate any spot of the bladder wall, the bladder neck and the fascia prostatae. Advantages are apart from the flexibility--the simplifying of the equipment, the good working conditions under water and the higher efficacy using the same power output as the usual laser endoscopes.


Effects of gonadotropins on follicular development, ovulation, and atresia in the mature guinea pig. The induction of follicular growth, ovulation, and atresia by heterologous gonadotropic preparations was studied late in the reproductive cycle of the adult female guinea pig. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) administration (10 IU) 12 days following the first signs of opening of the vaginal membrane was found to stimulate ovulation within 24 h in all animals studied, as evidenced by recovery of ova from their oviducts as well as the presence of postovulatory follicles in their ovaries. Histologically, ovaries of animals receiving HCG exhibited atretic changes in most of the follicles smaller than 999 micrometer in diameter. Pregnant mares serum gonadotropin (PMSG, 10 IU) administered on days 9 and 10 of the cycle was not sufficient to stimulate ovulation in this species although histological changes in the follicular complement were observed. Administration of PMSG prior to the HCG appeared to have an inhibitory effect on ovulation induction. Follicles luteinizing with entrapped ova were seen in all groups receiving exogenous gonadotropin, although they were most prevalent in the animals receiving the maximum total gonadotropin doses (i.e. PMSG + HCG).


The electroencephalogram (EEG) as a research tool in human behavior genetics: psychological examinations in healthy males with various inherited EEG variants. I. Rationale of the study. Material. Methods. Heritability of test parameters. In the first section of this paper, various research designs in human behavior genetics are compared. In this context, the commonly used concept of biometric genetics is critically evaluated from the point of view of science theory. It is contrasted with the Mendelian gene concept, which, in principle, leads to a much deeper theoretical understanding by offering clues for basic mechanisms. To explore this advantage fully, a research strategy is needed that first looks for genetic variability in a physiological parameter of possible importance for human behavior and then tries to explore the influence of this parameter on the function of the human brain and on behavior. If possible, this genetic parameter should be selected in a way that inferences as to the mechanism of its influence on behavior become feasible. Such genetic variability is provided by the hereditary variants of the normal EEG discovered by earlier work (cf. Vogel, 1970). In the following section, a research program on 298 adult healthy males, most of them soldiers, with various inherited EEG variants is described. Apart from controls with inconspicuous EEGs, this material comprises probands with the following EEG variants: low-voltage (N); low-voltage borderline (NG); monotonous alpha-waves (R); occipital fast alpha-variants (BO); fronto-precentral beta-groups (BG), and diffuse beta-waves (BD). In addition to an EEG examination, the probands were examined with various test methods measuring intelligence (IST; LPS; Raven); working speed and concentration (d-2; KLT); personal attitudes (MMPI; 16PF; RKS); and sensory and motor abilities (flicker fusion; tachistoscopy; reaction time to optic, acoustic and combined stimuli; two-hand dexterity; pursuit rotor; tapping). In a supplementary twin study on 52 male adult twin pairs (26 MZ, 26 DZ), heritabilities were determined for the test scores included in the main study. For most test scores, heritabilities are relatively low; the data are compared with those from the literature. We conclude that the test methods utilized in the main study (on EEG variants) are expected to demonstrate at the most a small to moderate correlation of the EEGs with psychological phenotypes as defined by test examinations, even if a major part of the genetic variability underlying these phenotypes would be due to differences in brain physiology that could be revealed by EEG variation.


[Protein deficiency in hospital food. Possibilities of using protein preparations]. During a twenty days period, the daily supply of protein with the normal diet was investigated for thirty patients of an emergency station. The system of food distribution allowed precise weighing of each patient's portion. According to the calculation by the "kleine Nährwerttabelle" an average daily protein allowance of 12.4 kcal% at an average daily energy allowance of 2100 kcal with an average worth of material of 20 öS was found. The nitrogen loss accounted in the literature for different stress situations enables to calculate a far higher protein need. The use of protein preparations is discussed for satisfying the need. The possibility to use milk-protein for food preparations was tested. In a trial was found that 46.2% of the patients accepted the given protein-enriched soup. Thus the share of protein in total daily calories should be lifted from 12.4 kcal% to 14.6 kcal% spending only 4.44 öS more than before. Elevating the protein portion with normal food is possible only by spending multiple costs.


[Diagnosis of malnutrition].

[Diagnosis of malnutrition]. A diagnostic program for routine determination of the nutritional status during initial examination is presented. This program includes anthropometric methods (body weight, height, triceps skin fold, circumference of mid-arm muscle) and chemical parameters (creatinine index, albumin, prealbumin, cholesterinase). In addition, determination of the immune status through the absolute lymphocyte count in peripheral blood and intracutaneous testing with streptokinase-dornase, mumps skin test antigen and candida vaccine is recommended. This test plan allows assessment of fat stores, muscle mass, functional proteins and immune competence. The results of this study should be considered when planning adequate nutritional treatment. The results obtained for 168 patients in this test program are reported.


Response times on urethral pressure profiles: carbon dioxide instrument. This study shows that the response time between an actual event and a recorded event on a urethral pressure profile is a function of gas flow rate and gas circuit volume. Response times varied from 1.8 to 10.8 sec. Considerable variation was noted between flow setting and actual gas flow; therefore, calibration of the instrument's gas flow meter is recommended.


Effects of clonidine (Catapresan) on urethral pressure. Effects of clonidine (Catapresan) on urethral closure pressure profile were investigated in five patients with minor urologic complaints. Plasma norepinephrine was measured as an index of sympathetic nervous activity. Intravenous injection of clonidine resulted in a pronounced fall in maximum urethral pressure. Plasma norepinephrine concentration decreased as expected. There was a statistically significant correlation between changes in plasma norepinephrine and urethral pressure after clonidine. These findings are discussed in relation to the known effects of alpha-adrenoceptor blocking drugs on urethral pressure. Clonidine may be useful in the treatment of some patients with functional infravesical obstruction.


Canine hip dysplasia: study of heritability in 401 litters of German Shepherd dogs. Heritability of hip dysplasia was estimated to be about 0.4 to 0.5 when based on the radiographic evaluations of the hip joints of 2,404 German Shepherd Dogs born at The Armed Forces Dog Training Center in Sweden. The material included all dogs in 401 litters born at the Center from 1965 through 1973 that reached the age of 15 months. To be expected with such high heritability, frequency of hip dysplasia in the offspring was shown to be affected by the hip joint status of sire and dam as well as by the hip joint status of their parents and littermates. Even matings between sires with normal hip joints and dams with only slight dysplasia resulted in significantly higher frequency of hip dysplasia in the offspring, when compared with the frequency if both sires and dams had normal hip joints. Frequency of hip dysplasia in the progeny of sires with normal hip joints varied greatly. Since 1973, selection of the breeding stock has been based on hip joint status (phenotype) of the breeding animals and of their relatives as well as on what had become known about frequency of hip dysplasia in the litters already born (progeny testing). In this way, frequency of hip dysplasia in 347 dogs born at the Center during 1975 was lowered to 28%. This figure should be compared with the figure of 50%, which represents the frequency of hip dysplasia in the kennel up to 1970, when selection was not as strict as could be expected in a well-controlled kennel.


Kinetics for the secretion of nonhelical procollagen by freshly isolated tendon cells. Fibroblasts isolated by enzymic digestion of chick embryo tendons have previously been used to examine the kinetics for the secretion of procollagen (Kao, W. W.-Y., Berg, R. A., and Prockop, D. J. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 8391-8397). The results indicated that the kinetics approximated the sum of two first order processes with half-times of 14 and 115 min. Here, the same fibroblasts were incubated in the presence of 1.53 mM cis-4-hydroxyproline, an analogue of proline, or in the presence of 0.3 mM alpha,alpha'-dipyridyl, an inhibitor of prolyl hydroxylase, so that the cells synthesized procollagen which could not assume a triple helical conformation characteristic of procollagen. Measurements of the secretion of nonhelical procollagen indicated that the kinetics for secretion differed from the kinetics for the secretion of procollagen and approximated a single first order process with a half-time of approximately 130 min. The nonhelical procollagen synthesized and secreted in the presence of either cis-4-hydroxyproline or alpha,alpha'-dipyridyl consisted of disulfide-bonded pro gamma chains of type I procollagen. The results suggested that the intracellular nonhelical procollagen was present in a single metabolic pool and secretion from this pool occurred with a different rate-limiting step than for helical procollagen. Further results indicated that nonhelical procollagen had a high affinity for prolyl hydroxylase and the affinity for the enzyme was greatly reduced if the procollagen was allowed to assume the triple helical conformation characteristic of normal procollagen. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the secretion of procollagen is influenced by its conformation-dependent interaction with prolyl hydroxylase or other post-translational enzymes.


Chondroitin SO4 catabolism in chick embryo chondrocytes. An enzyme preparation from cultured chick embryo vertebral chondrocytes attacks chondroitin SO4 oligosaccharides from the nonreducing terminal in a recycling pathway involving the sequential action of a beta-glucuronidase, a 4- or a 6-sulfatase, and a beta-N-acetylgalactosaminidase. The sequence is blocked by saccharo-1,4-lactone, an inhibitor of the beta-glucuronidase, or by 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactonolactone, an inhibitor of the beta-N-acetylgalactosaminidase. The level of 4-sulfatase activity is low relative to the other activities and limits the rate of catabolism of hybrid oligosaccharide structures containing both 6-sulfated galactosamine residues and 4-sulfated galactosamine residues. This results in the accumulation of shortened oligosaccharides, most of which have galactosamine-4-SO4 residues at their nonreducing terminals. In the presence of the lactone inhibitors, polymeric chondroitin SO4 is broken down by the enzyme preparation to oligosaccharides which are 10 to 15 monosaccharides long, indicating that degradation of chondroitin SO4 chains is initiated by an endoglycosidase which generates oligosaccharide substrates for the recycling exoglycosidase system.


The presence of protein kinase activity and acceptors of phosphate groups in nonpolysomal cytoplasmic messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes of embryonic chicken muscle. Nonpolysomal cytoplasmic (free) mRNA.protein (mRNP) complexes of embryonic chicken muscle were purified by a combination of oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The protein moieties of the purified mRNP complex were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis using separation according to charge in the first dimension and molecular weight in the second. Sixteen polypeptides of Mr = 27,000 to 75,000 were present in the mRNP complex. These mRNP polypeptides displayed different electrophoretic migration properties than those of ribosomal proteins. A protein kinase activity was found associated with the mRNP. This enenzyme was able to transfer phosphate group(s) from ATP to at least three acidic mRNP polypeptides of Mr = 27,000, 38,000, and 73,000 and one basic polypeptide of Mr = 75,000. Among these, the Mr = 38,000 acidic polypeptide was the best acceptor of phosphate groups.


Regulation of procollagen synthesis during the development of chick embryo calvaria. Correlation with procollagen mRNA content. During the embryonic development of chick calvaria (membranous cranial bones), the relative rate of procollagen synthesis increased from about 12% of total protein synthesis on Day 10 to about 65% on Day 17. This increase is due to a 1.7-fold increase in the absolute rate of procollagen synthesis and a 3-fold decrease in the synthesis of noncollagenous proteins. The increase in procollagen synthesis is directly proportional to an increase in procollagen mRNA content per cell as measured either by cell-free translation or by hybridization with complementary DNA. The results indicate that translational control of procollagen mRNA does not play a substantial role during calvaria development and that the specialization in the synthesis of this protein is largely due to the loss or inactivation of mRNAs for noncollagenous proteins.


Interaction of choriocarcinoma cells and human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Resistance of cultured choriocarcinoma cells to cell-mediated cytotoxicity by mitogen-activated lymphocytes. Cultured choriocarcinoma (Be Wo) cells exist that share many of the morphologic and bio-synthetic properties of normal human trophoblasts. In an attempt to develop a model for the immunologic relationship between a sensitized mother and fetus, we mixed Be Wo cells with mitogen-activated cytotoxic lymphocytes in vitro. Be Wo cells were resistant to the cytolytic effects of the activated lymphocytes despite 24-h exposure and intimate cell-to-cell contact as determined by microscopy. Control target cells, a line of human hepatoma cells, were readily destroyed. Cytotoxicity was measured by determining residual radioactivity of [(3)H]thymidine-labeled target cells after exposure to activated lymphocytes. Employing the quantitative assay, we confirmed the morphologic results and showed that Be Wo and a number of other choriocarcinoma cell lines were resistant to the cytotoxic effects of lymphocytes activated by phytohemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, and allogeneic cells in mixed lymphocyte cultures. Moreover, Be Wo cells were resistant to injury over a wide range of killer to target cell ratios. Significant killing of the Be Wo cells occurred only after prolonged exposure (48 and 72 h) to the activated lymphocytes. We suggest that one mechanism that may assist the fetus (or a choriocarcinoma) in its immunologic survival is the intrinsic resistance of trophoblast cells to lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity.


The developmental morphology of Torpedo marmorata: electric organ--electrogenic phase. The electrogenic developmental phase of the electric organ of Torpedo marmorata begins at 40 mm of embryo length and is characterized by a horizontal flattening of the vertically orientated myotubes. The first sign of this process is a rounding up of the ventral poles of the myotubes and a disassembly of the myofibrils located therein. Occurring concomitantly with this is a migration of the nuclei to the cell center which results in a horizontal plane of nuclei. Filament bundles are then found within the ventral cytoplasm often projecting upwards from the ventral plasma membrane. The filaments of the bundles are dimensionally similar to the myofilaments of muscle and it is suggested that the bundles play a role in cellular transformation. In contrast the dorsal pole of the cell appears to be integrated "passively" with the final cell shape as no morphological correlates of a retraction process have been found. A canalicular system, composed of a complex network of irregular tubules and vacuoles, appears just below the dorsal plasma membrane characterizing this region of the cell. A mononucleated satellite cell population lies in close proximity to the dorsal surface of the differentiating cell and fusion between the two cell types occurs throughout development. Cell shape transformation is complete by 55 mm of embryo length and the intercolumnar nerves begin to invade the interelectrocyte space. The ingrowing neurites preferentially course along the ventral electrocyte surface establishing junctions similar to motor endplates.


Unsuspected hypertrophic subaortic stenosis in the elderly diagnosed by echocardiography. Idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS) occurs more commonly in the elderly than is generally believed, and is often unsuspected. In 26 patients above the age of 60, the diagnosis was recognized in only 7 (27 percent) prior to echocardiography. Symptoms included dyspnea in 17, chest pain in 16, and dizziness or syncope in 8 patients. In 10 patients, establishing the correct diagnosis led to therapy with propranolol, with or without discontinuation of digitalis; in 7 of these, the chest pain was significantly reduced. An accurate diagnosis is particularly important because drugs that are useful in other forms of heart disease may have adverse effects in IHSS. Echocardiography is the diagnostic procedure of choice and is indicated in the presence of an unexplained systolic murmur, especially when it is associated with chest pain, syncope or left ventricular hypertrophy.


Desalinated water hygiene and scientific bases for its investigation. In view of the increasing scarcity of fresh water reserves in many countries of the world, a thorough hygienic evaluation of the different methods of desalinating highly mineralized underground and sea waters for economic and drinking purpose becomes indispensable. In addition to generally accepted hygienic criteria (favourable organoleptic properties, innocuous chemical composition and epidemiological safety), introduction of supplementary criteria for the assessment of the characteristic of the quality of freshened drinking water is necessary, i.e., its full value in the physiological sense and stability of drinking properties. The necessity of hygienic tests concerned with the study and regulation of the mineral and microelement composition of desalinated drinking water as well as of its microbial composition, structural peculiarities, the so-called "deuterium number" and the presence of various organic substances in desalinated water was pointed out. A certain degree of priority should be given to the study of the mentioned indices in hygienic assessment of the different methods of water desalination (distillation, freezing out, ion exchange, electrodialysis, inverse osmosis and others).


Effect of uranium on the induction and course of experimental autoimmune orchitis and thyroiditis. The influence of acute and chronic uranium poisoning on the induction and course of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis and orchitis was studied. It has been demonstrated that the testes and thyroid gland are involved in the general pathological process in uranium poisoning. Autoantibodies to the testes and to the thyroid gland were found to circulate in the blood of the poisoned animals. Uranium poisoning caused destructive changes in the testes and in the thyroid, similar to the picture of an autoimmune process. No summation of the effect was observed in the synthesis of autoantibodies during the induction of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis and orchitis on the background of chronic uranium poisoning although the most conspicuous histological changes were found in these groups and were characteristic of a pronounced autoimmune process.


Cellular and humoral hypersensitivity reactions during silicosis and silicotuberculosis. Together with the synthesis of specific antibodies and autoantibodies, effects of cellular allergy, such as damage to neutrophils, agglomeration of leukocytes and inhibition of migration of leukocytes with tuberculin and isologous pulmonary antigen were established in patients with silicosis and silicotuberculosis. Autoallergy becomes manifest already in the "pre-roentgenological" stage of development of silicosis; in silicotuberculosis it correlates with the stage of the specific process. In both silicosis and silicotuberculosis, it includes elements of immediate and delayed hypersensitivity. In clinical practice, allergic reactions of leukocytes with tuberculin can be of assistance in determining the stage of the specific process and in differential diagnosis of silicosis and silicotuberculosis.


[Possibilities of earlier evidence of the lead load]. A total of 138 workers of a motorcar transportation plant were examined to show a degree of lead damage. The analysis of obtained results was conducted from the two points of view: 1) according to employment time in plant; 2) according to work groups. The following laboratory examinations were carried out: delta-aminolevulin acid and coproporphyrin urinary excretion; determination of serous transaminase of glutaminoxalacetic acid and glutamin and piruvic acid, leucinaminopeptidase, whole protein, albumin-globulin coefficient, protein fractions (albumin alpha 1-, alpha 2-, beta 1-, beta 2, gamma) as well as of dehydratase activity of delta-aminolevulin acid in erythrocytes. In conformity with literary data an increased urinary excretion of delta-aminolevulin acid and of coproporphyrin to a different degree, as well as a decrease of dehydratase content of delta-aminolevulin acid in erythrocytes were detected. In the authors' view attention is to be drawn to a minor or greater extent to proportional increase of leucinaminopeptidase content however, in all the age groups and all the professional categories. The results of present examinations are considered by authors an important and sensitive parameter to evidence of lead damage.


Mycobacterium valentiae sp. nov., a new species of the genus Mycobacterium isolated from soil. One strain of rapidly growing scotochromogenic mycobacteria was isolated. This study comprises 101 biochemical, cultural and morphological characteristics and reports the behavior towards several concentrations of the most commonly used antituberculous drugs. The organism is considered to belong to a new species of the genus Mycobacterium and has been deposited in the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Maryland, USA (ATCC 29356) and in the Czechoslovak Collection of Microorganisms, Czechoslovak National Collection of Type Cultures, Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Srobárova 48, 100 42 Prague 10 under the My 220/77.


The characteristic and clinical importance of bacteria of the genus Citrobacter isolated from patients with acute intestinal infections on the territory of Volgograd. A total of 309 Citrobacter strains isolated from patients with acute intestinal infections of obscure aetiology and from healthy subjects were investigated.  Species specificity of the bacterial cultures was determined by biochemical tests recommended by the International Enterobacteriaceae Subcommittee.  Citrobacter strains were titrated serologically in the reaction of agglutination on glass with a living culture and adsorbed 0-antisera.  Eighteen serological 0 groups were identified; 0 groups 3, 9, 23, 1 and 8 were found most frequently.  Citrobacter was isolated more frequently from patients with acute intestinal infections than from healthy subjects.  Seasonal circulation of Citrobacter strains in spring and summer was established.  The number of culture findings of Citrobacter in the patients increased against the background of reduction in the number of cases of bacteriologically confirmed dysentery.


Observation of antibody activity against antibiotics in patients with atopic disease. Antibodies to antibiotics were studied in patients hypersensitive to these preparations and in patients with other types of allergic disease. In addition to examining these antibodies, a whole series of other immunological tests were carried out (IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, C'3 and OPI). Antibodies to antibiotics were found in a high percentage of subjects, not only in those hypersensitive to antibiotics but also in patients with asthma bronchiale and rhinitis pollinosa. The considerable differences in IgG and IgE observed in patients with high titres of haemagglutinating antibodies to antibiotics point out the blocking character of these antibodies.


Levels of secretory immunoglobulin A, lysozyme (muramidase) and albumin in healthy adults of different ages. The content of secretory IgA (sIgA,) lysozyme and albumin was studied in the saliva of 40 health-service employees of different ages without evident signs of disease. The levels of lysozyme decrease significantly with the advancing age whereas those of sIgA and albumin do not decrease up to the age of 55. The levels of lysozyme and sIgA show a significant mutual correlation.


Comparative insecticidal acitvity of sumithrin and neopinamine. The examination of insecticidal properties of the new pyrethroid--sumithrin--showed this compound in contact action to be a highly effective insecticide, superior in activity to neopinamine. The intestinal action of sumithrin is less pronounced in comparison with neopinamine. Sumithrin is more selective in its effect on insects as compared with neopinamine. In the form of earosols, sumithrin and its mixtures with DDVP are less active than compositions based on neopinamine.


Erythropoietin levels in uremic nephric and anephric patients. Erythropoietin titers were measured in anemic nephric and anephric patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis by utilizing a plasma concentration technique. In eight out of 11 anephric patients studied, decreased but detectable levels of erythropoietin were found, suggesting that extrarenal erythropoietin plays a role in the regulation of red cell production in anephric patients. In 14 nephric uremic patients, erythropoietin production was found to be more variable, with one group of eight patients having erythropoietin levels in the range for normal nonanemic individuals (3.9 to 15 mU/ml), and a second group of six patients with erythropoietin higher than normal (greater than 15 mU/ml). Both groups were found to be equally anemic, indicating that in the second group the bone marrow is less responsive to erythropoietin. The severity of secondary hyperparathyroidism was found to be higher in this second group, suggesting a role of PTH in the bone marrow unresponsiveness. A good correlation between biological and immunological erythropoietin activities was found in the plasma from normal subjects and uremic nephric and anephric patients.


Experimental radiation pneumonitis. III. Phospholipid studies on the lungs. Mice received 2400 rads in two fractions to the thorax; 4 months later when radiation pneumonitis occurred, aspects of their phospholipid metabolism were studied and compared to those of unirradiated mice. In the lung tissue there was a consistent and significant increase in the total phospholipids and particularly in the amount of PC. The proportion of the latter which was disaturated remained constant. In the lavaged AF the increase was smaller and not significant, the degree of disaturation again remaining constant. Isotope labelling in vivo with 3H-glycerol, 14C,-palmitate and 3H-choline indicated significantly increased incorporation of each of these precursors into PC and most other phospholipids. This was not due to changes in nutrition, altered precursor pool sizes, or redistribution of isotope insofar as could be determined. Histologic studies showed the type 2 cells to be large and filled with numerous enlarged lamellar bodies. These results suggest that phospholipid synthesis is enhanced in radiation pneumonitis and that the fall in compliance of the alveolar surface layer is not likely to be due to surfactant deficiency in this model.


Circulating levels of angiotensin I measured by radioimmunoassay in hypertensive subjects. The development of a uniquely sensitive and specific antiserum to AI has led to the establishment of a radioimmunoassay capable of detecting 7.5 pg of AI per milliliter of plasma. Due to its sensitivity this assay permits the measurement of circulating levels of AI, obviating many of the controversial aspects of previously described AI assays which all required either an incubation step at 37 degrees C to allow renin to catalyze the formation of sufficient AI or an extraction procedure to concentrate sufficient peptide to make quantification feasible. Since the sensitivity of this assay also depends upon the availability of very pure trace, a method is described for preparing monoiodinated 125I-AI of specific activity greater than 1000 microCi/microgram. To demonstrate the versatility and sensitivity of this assay, changes in circulating AI levels in response to physiologic stimuli were measured. Blood samples were obtained from 88 subjects from the inferior vena cava below the renal veins in both the supine and upright positions. Values ranged from 12 to 1990 pg/ml of plasma. Eighty-five of the 88 displayed a rise in the AI level during an upright tilt, the mean for the group increasing from 220 to 385 pg/ml of plasma. Three subjects had samples drawn simultaneously from the inferior vena cava and a peripheral artery and/or vein. The amounts of AI in all three sampling locations were essentially the same. Seventeen patients with essential hypertension underwent an infusion of 1.5 L of normal saline, and circulating AI levels were determined before and 120 and 150 min after the start of the infusion. All 17 experienced suppression of their AI levels, the mean for the group at 0, 120 and 150 min being 177, 55, and 50 pg/ml of plasma, respectively. Circulating AI correlated well (r = 0.87009) with plasma renin activity in 226 samples from the renal veins and inferior vena cava from individuals with hypertension of various etiologies.


Chronic serous otitis media in the adult. Twelve adult patients with serous otitis media have been seen in a five-year-period. Five of seven patients with nasopharyngeal neoplasm have died, and one case of polyarteritis nodosa has also terminated fatally. The remaining four patients had benign pathology in the nasopharynx, including one case of branchial cyst. A group of patients with chronic nasopharyngitis but without otological involvement is also reviewed.


Angiosarcoma of the maxillary antrum: report of a case with brief review of literature. An additional (fifth) case of primary angiosarcoma of the left maxillary antrum in a 10-year-male is presented. The patient was given Co60 radiation therapy pre- and post-operatively (4,000 and 5,000 rads respectively). The patient had three recurrences up to June 1977, after which he did not report for further follow-up.


Assessment of attack and drinking in White King pigeons on response-independent food schedules. Four White King pigeons in Experiment I were exposed to a fixed-time 90-second food schedule with successive access to water and a conspecific target. Drinking per session was sporadic and minimal, while attack per session occurred during most interfood intervals for all animals. Analysis of the temporal distribution of attack showed that the typical postreinforcement pattern of attack developed over the course of the experiment. In Experiment II, the same animals were exposed to a series of fixed-time schedules ranging from 30 to 360 seconds with successive access to water and target. Time engaged in drinking and the number of interfood intervals with drinking were less than that of attack. Food and no-food baselines, which have been typically used to assess schedules-induced drinking and attack, respectively, were used to evaluate the effect of the schedule on attack and water ingestion. Relative to the no-food baseline, both attack and drinking were enhanced by the schedule in all birds. Relative to the food baseline, drinking was slightly suppressed in three birds and attack was enhanced in all. For all animals, the food baseline resulted in more attack and drinking than the no-food baseline.


Two molecular species of mouse L cell interferon differing in lectin binding. Binding of L cell interferon to lectins, Wistaria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) and concanavalin A (Con A) was studied by affinity chromatography. Of the two molecular species of L cell interferon, F (mol. wt. 24,000) and S (mol. wt. 36,000), only the latter was bound efficiently to WFA-Sepharose and eluted quantitatively with D-galactose followed by a pH 3 buffer, suggesting a substantial difference between the two interferon species in their carbohydrate structure. Both were partially bound to Con A-Sepharose and eluted with alpha-methyl-D-glucoside, indicating that at least some of the F species are also glycoprotein, and that both F and S interferon are heterogeneous as regards their affinity to this lectin.


Neuronal degeneration in the brain of the brindled mouse--a light microscope study. The brindled mouse (Mobr) is a neurological mutant mouse with a deficiency in copper transport. This mutant has many clinical as well as biochemical features in common with Kinky hair syndrome (KHS) in humans (Tab. 1). Male hemizygotes (Mobr/Y) are characterized by the absence of fur pigment and curly whiskers. They become inactive, losing weight at around the 10th-12th post-natal day. They usually die in an emaciated state around the 15th-16th postnatal day. The brain weight is usually about three fourths of that of littermate controls. Microscopically, widespread neuronal degeneration was noted in the cerebral cortex and thalamic nuclei of male hemizygotes after the 12th post-natal day. The degeneration continued to increase until death. Scattered degenerated cells were also noted in the cerebellum. No such degenerative changes were observed in the brain of female heterozygotes (Mobr/+) or in normal or starved littermates. These degenerative changes of neurons in the brindled hemizygote mouse will be compared with the neuropathological changes observed in KHS and in experimental animals with copper deficiency, and the possible pathogenesis of these changes will be discussed.