Bilateral salmonella salpingo-oophoritis

A previously healthy nulliparous caucasian female presented with lower abdominal pain and a history of diarrhoea and vomiting for 2 weeks. Repeated stool examinations and blood culture were negative. A lump in the lower abdomen became more apparent over the next 2 weeks and a subsequent laparotomy revealed bilateral tubo-ovarian abscess formation. One ovary which was endometriotic and both the tubes were excised and the pus yielded a heavy growth of Salmonella stanley.     

A method for fundus evaluation in children with oral fluorescein.

A procedure is described for the ophthalmoscopic examination of the fundus in children after 1% or 2% oral fluorescein ingestion without sedation or anaesthesia. No major complications or any allergic reactions were observed. In the ophthalmoscopically normal fundi of the five healthy children studied the fluorescence of the nerve head and retinal blood vessels could be visualised at 15 minutes, increasing at 30 minutes, and declining by 60 minutes. The possible problems of the technique are discussed.     

PET [11C]DASB imaging of serotonin transporters in patients with alcoholism

OBJECTIVE: Alcoholism and aggression have each been associated with neurochemical measurements suggestive of decreased serotonin synaptic transmission. We measured densities of the serotonin transporter (SERT) in a moderate-sized sample of alcoholic patients who were assessed for aggressive characteristics. METHODS: Thirty alcoholic inpatients and 18 healthy controls received a PET scan with [(11)C]-3-amino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethylphenylsulfanyl)-benzonitrile. The alcoholic inpatients were classified as aggressive or nonaggressive based on a comparison between the top third and bottom third scores on the Buss-Durkee Hostility Index. RESULTS: Using a pixel-wise comparison, no brain region showed significant alterations in SERT binding among the 3 groups of subjects (aggressive alcoholic subjects, nonaggressive alcoholic subjects, and healthy controls) or between the combined alcoholic group and healthy controls. None of the clinical measures (including measures of aggression) correlated with SERT binding in the alcoholic subjects. CONCLUSION: Contrary to prior imaging reports using the nonselective ligand [(123)I]beta-CIT, we found no significant alterations of SERT density in alcoholic patients.     

Alpha-1- antitrypsin in intracellular inclusions of diethyl-nitrosamine induced hepatomas of C57BLxC3H F1 mice

Six large hepatic nodules obtained 46 to 74 weeks after a singledose of diethylnitrosamine (0.625 or 1.25 µg/gm) in infantC₅₇BLxC₃H F₁ male mice were studied to elucidate the natureof intracytoplasmic inclusions in the hepatic cells of thesenodules. By light microscopy, the nodules consistuted a spectrumof lesions ranging from some which were well differentiatedadenomas to others which were frank carcinomas. Round or ovaleosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions were consistently seenin the well differentiated adenomatous lesions. Some of theseinclusions were PAS positive and resisted diastase digestionwhile others were either negative or only weakly PAS positive.By electron microscopy, they were most commonly crystalline,contained a reticulated electron dense material and were locatedin the distended rough endoplasmic reticulum. On immunofluorescencethe inclusions showed marked specific reactivity with antiseraagainst human alpha-₁-antitrypsin. The presence of alpha-₁-antitrypsinin these inclusions was further supported by the resistanceof these inclusions to digestion by trypsin or papain but notby the pepsin or pronase.     

Retardation in tumor growth and metastasis demonstrated in a human CLL B-cell line after the acquisition of an extra chromosome 11

In this study we described the isolation of a subclonal EBV-transformed human CLL B-cell line with retarded growth rate and metastatic potential from its clonal parent (D10-1), which was karyotyped: 46.XY.dup(1)(q11----q32). The subclone, designated D10-1C, was isolated by limiting dilution of D10-1 following selection in 8-azaguanine-supplemented medium. Chromosome analysis of D10-1C revealed a constitution of 47,XY, + 11.dup(1)(q11----q32). This is the first demonstration that partial trisomy 1q-associated growth advantage in human cancer cells can be retarded by the presence of an additional dose of chromosome 11. Human chromosome 11 had been shown to be responsible for the suppression of tumor development. Whether the same suppressor genes are involved in D10-1C remains to be elucidated. The procedure described here for the enrichment and isolation of a growth-retarded mutant from D10-1 may be applicable in other malignant cell systems.     

Pneumococci in ocular disease of children and their treatment

A total of 171 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae were obtained from eyes of children who had congenital dacryocystitis, congenital cataract and glaucoma, acute bacterial conjunctivitis, corneal ulceration, nasolacrimal duct block, or discharging socket, or who had developed ectropion, endophthalmitis and orbital cellulitis. The highest number of strains was obtained from cases of dacryocystitis (74.4%), followed by conjunctivitis (8.2%) and those having developed nasolacrimal duct block (7.6%). The least overall resistance was to erythromycin (17.6%) and chloramphenicol (31.0%). Erythromycin being unavailable for ocular use in India, chloramphenicol was reported to be one of the best drugs against pneumococcal ocular infections in children, the other being cloxacillin, a 2.5% solution of which is made from injectable cloxacillin and used as an ophthalmic preparation. Their use on patients has met with considerable success. Nineteen out of 20 isolates were typeable--the types being 3, 46, 8, 28, 29, 45, 21 and 18. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from a developing country of serotyping ocular strains of pneumococci.     

Serological assays for identification of human gastric colonization by Helicobacter pylori strains expressing VacA m1 or m2

The Helicobacter pylori vacA gene encodes a secreted protein (VacA) that alters the function of gastric epithelial cells and T lymphocytes. H. pylori strains containing particular vacA alleles are associated with differential risk of disease. Because the VacA midregion may exist as one of two major types, m1 or m2, serologic responses may potentially be used to differentiate between patients colonized with vacA m1- or vacA m2-positive H. pylori strains. In this study, we examined the utility of specific antigens from the m regions of VacA as allele-specific diagnostic antigens. We report that serological responses to P44M1, an H. pylori m1-specific antigen, are observed predominantly in patients colonized with m1-positive strains, whereas responses to VacA m2 antigens, P48M2 and P55M2, are observed in patients colonized with either m1- or m2-positive strains. In an Asian-American population, serologic responses to VacA m region-specific antigens were not able to predict the risk of development of gastric cancer.     

Measurement of glycine in gray and white matter in the human brain in vivo by 1H MRS at 7.0 T

The concentration of glycine (Gly) was measured in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in the human brain using single‐voxel localized ¹H MRS at 7 T. A point‐resolved spectroscopy sequence with echo time = 150 ms was used for measuring Gly levels in various regions of the frontal and occipital lobes in 11 healthy volunteers and one subject with a glioblastoma. The point‐resolved spectroscopy spectra were analyzed with LCModel using basis functions generated from density matrix simulations that included the effects of volume localized radio‐frequency and gradient pulses. The fraction of GM and white matter within the voxels was obtained from T₁‐weighted image segmentation. The metabolite concentrations within the voxels, estimated with respect to the GM + WM water concentrations, were fitted to a linear function of fractional GM content. The Gly concentrations in pure GM and white matter were estimated to be 1.1 and 0.1 mM, with 95% confidence intervals 1.0–1.2 and 0.0–0.2, respectively. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.