Postsynaptic potentiation of end-plate currents in the rat diaphragm during variation in synaptic acetylcholinesterase activity

Leningrad University. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR S. N. Golikov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 111, No. 5, pp. 458–460, May, 1991.     

Seborrhoeic Dermatitis: Treatment with Anti-Mycotic Agents

In order to elucidate the effectiveness of anti-mycotics in treating seborrhoeic dermatitis, an attempt was made to isolate Malassezia from seborrhoeic lesions of patients of seborrhoeic dermatitis. The results revealed that, in male patients, 46/49 cases were positive for Malassezia furfur on the face and 30/48 cases were positive for M. furfur on the scalp. In female patients, 7/13 cases were positive for M. furfur on the face, and 6/17 cases were positive for M. furfur on the scalp. Anti-mycotic agents were excellent in 50% and good in 31% of the spore-positive cases, yielding an overall efficacy rate of 81%. In contrast, the treatment of the face with vehicle alone showed only one excellent result out of 8 cases. Although clinical improvement was rapid on the side treated with a topical corticosteroid in the half-side-test, numerous fungal elements remained. While the improvement with anti-mycotic agents was slower than that with the corticosteroid, clinical improvement became evident by the third week of administration and fungal elements disappeared.     

Differential diagnosis of adrenal masses by chemical shift and dynamic gadolinium enhanced MR imaging

Chemical shift MRI is widely used for identifying adenomas, but it is not a perfect method. We determined whether combined dynamic MRI methods can lead to improved diagnostic accuracy. Fifty-seven adrenal masses were examined by chemical shift and dynamic MR imaging using 2 MR systems. The masses included 38 adenomas and 19 non-adenomas. In chemical shift MRI studies, the signal intensity index (SI) was calculated, and the lesions classified into 5 types in the dynamic MRI studies. Of the 38 adenomas studied, 37 had an SI greater than 0. In the dynamic MRI, 34 of 38 adenomas showed a benign pattern (type 1). If the SI for the adenomas in the chemical shift MRI was considered to be greater than 0, the positive predictive value was 0.9, and the negative predictive value was 0.94 and kappa = 0.79. If type 1 was considered to indicate adenomas in the dynamic MRI, the corresponding values were 0.94, 0.81 and kappa = 0.77 respectively. The results obtained when the 2 methods were combined were 1, 0.95 and kappa = 0.96 respectively. The chemical shift MRI was found to be useful for identifying adenomas in most cases. If the adrenal mass had a low SI (0 < SI < 5), dynamic MRI was also found to be helpful for making a differential diagnosis.     

Scanning electron microscopic study of the human auditory ossicles

The human mallei, incudes and stapedes from 34 cadavers were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) to compare the bone surface type among different regions of auditory ossicles for males and females. On the malleus of both males and females, almost all of the surfaces showed a smooth fibrous appearance, characteristic of resting surface. Limited bone-forming or resorbing surfaces were identified on the malleus. As compared with the malleus, the percentage area of the resorbing surface and the vascular canal openings were higher on the incus and stapes, especially on the long process (Crus longum) of the incus and the neck of the stapes for both males and females. The percentage area occupied by the resorbing surface of the long process of the incus and the neck of the stapes correlated with that of the vascular canal openings. We consider that the malleus maintained the stable condition, while the long process of the incus and the neck of the stapes demonstrated marked bone resorption. We suppose that the bone erosion may be related to the vascularization in these regions. Though the percentage area of the resorbing surface and the vascular canal openings had the tendency to be high in females, we did not find any significant differences between the males and females. There was no significant correlation between the age and the area of resorbing surface or vascular canal openings.     

Histochemical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural investigations of giant cell tumors of bone

The origin and characteristics of so-called stromal cells (stromal cell) and the osteoclast-like giant cell series of 19 cases of giant cell tumor (G.C.T.) of bone were studied. Immunohistochemically, two interesting cases were found. The stromal cells of one case were alpha-1-antitrypsin positive and those of the other case were alpha-1-antichymotrypsin positive. The histiocytic stromal cells of the latter case seemed to be surely neoplastic since they showed mild to moderate cell atypism. There were foci consisting of fibroblastic cells or osteoid and osteoblasts within the tumor. Those cells in the foci were apparently continuous with the surrounding stromal cells, and they were, therefore, also considered to be neoplastic. These findings strongly indicate that the stromal cells originate from the undifferentiated mesenchymal cells in the bone marrow and may differentiate to osteoblastic, fibroblastic, and histiocytic cells. All cells of these three series were not stained for a high stable form of acid phosphatase (SAPhase). SAPhase activity was demonstrated only in osteoclast-like giant cells and some mononuclear cells, which are recently believed to be non-neoplastic. Therefore, the cell atypia of SAPhase negative stromal cells is considered to have a prognostic value.     

Molecular cytogenetic characterization of the mantle cell lymphoma cell line GRANTA-519

Combining fluorescence R-banding, fluorescence in situ hybridization and spectral karyotyping allowed us to precisely define chromosomal breakpoints, gains, losses and a newly detected amplification in the human mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cell line GRANTA-519. GRANTA-519 is characterized by the t(11;14)(q13;q32) resulting in overexpression of cyclin D1, a key player in cell cycle control. Hitherto unresolved complex rearrangements involve 1p, 1q, 3cen, 9p, 11q, 12p, 12q, 16p, 17p, and 18cen. Moreover, a 4- to 6-fold gain of sequences on 18q leads to a low-level amplification of the BCL2 gene and to an overexpression of the BCL2 protein. These results provide the basis for the identification of not only candidate oncogenes responsible for MCL in gained regions, but also for the identification of putative tumor suppressor genes in commonly deleted regions like 1p22, which would eventually enable functional studies of these genes.     

Analysis of children with type 1 diabetes in Korea: high prevalence of specific anti-islet autoantibodies, immunogenetic similarities to Western populations with "unique" haplotypes, and lack of discrimination by aspartic acid at position 57 of DQB

This study analyzed the expression of anti-islet autoantibodies and HLA-DR and -DQ genotypes in Korean children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The positivity of the anti-ICA512, anti-GAD65, and anti-insulin autoantibodies in the newly onset T1DM patients (n = 15) was 66.7%, 86.7%, and 46.7%, respectively, and all of them had one or more of the autoantibodies. HLA analysis showed higher frequencies of HLA-DRB1*0301, *0405, *09012 and -DQB1*0201, *0401, *03032 alleles in T1DM patients compared to controls (P(c) < 0.05). Because HLA-DQB1*0401, *03032 alleles carry aspartic acid at position 57 of DQB, susceptibility to T1DM in Korean children was not related to the presence of aspartic acid at position 57 of DQB1 locus. We suggest this unique HLA-DR, -DQ allele distribution might be an important factor for the low incidence of T1DM in Korea, and the combined anti-islet autoantibody assays could be valuable screening markers for the early detection of T1DM in Korea.