Benign seizures associated with mild diarrhea: clinical analysis of 20 cases

Even without electrolyte imbalance, dehydration and fever, seizures are found occasionally in the cases of mild diarrhea. Such patients have shown favorable outcome during long-term follow-up. Twenty cases (10 boys and 10 girls) of benign seizure with mild diarrhea have been diagnosed at the Pediatric Department of Cathay General Hospital from January 1987 to March 1991. Ages-of-onset ranged from 3 months to 43 months (mean 19 months). Most cases were found between December and March (16 cases, 80%). Most seizure episodes were from 2 to 5 times (10 cases, 50%); the durations of seizures were mostly within a 5-minute period (16 cases, 80%). All seizures were generalized and symmetric, including tonic-clonic (13 cases, 65%), tonic (5 cases, 25%), and clonic (2 cases, 10%). Six out of 11 cases (54.5%) showed Rotazyme (Latex agglutination) positive. After six month to four year follow up, no patient had suffered any type of epilepsy, and psychomotor development was normal in all. Further discussion of clinical features is provided.     

StAR protein is expressed in both medulla and cortex of the bovine and rat adrenal gland

We have employed polyclonal antibodies to a peptide sequence of bovine steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein and human placental 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) to determine the localisation and distribution of these proteins in rat and bovine adrenal glands. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated the presence of StAR protein in the zona glomerulosa (ZG), zona fasciculata (ZF), zona reticularis (ZR) and in the medulla of both species. For 3beta-HSD, immunostaining was observed in the ZG, ZF and ZR of the rat adrenal and was absent in the medulla. Immunoblotting experiments showed intense bands for StAR protein (30 kDa, 37 kDa) in the mitochondria of bovine ZG, ZF and medulla and a less intense band (30 kDa) in the microsomes. In rat ZG and ZF/R mitochondria only the 30 kDa protein was present. For 3beta-HSD, an intense band (42 kDa) was found in microsomes and mitochondria of rat and bovine ZG and ZFR. A very faint signal for 3beta-HSD was seen in adrenal medulla. In conclusion, StAR (or a closely related) protein is present throughout the adrenal gland in rat and bovine species in contrast to 3beta-HSD which is confined to the steroidogenic zones. The possible function of StAR protein in the adrenal medulla merits investigation.     

T cell responsiveness correlates differentially with antibody isotype levels in clinical and asymptomatic filariasis

To establish the relationships among T and B cell responses, active infection, and clinical manifestations in lymphatic filariasis, filarial-specific lymphocyte proliferation, IgG antibody isotypes, and IgE levels were determined in an exposed population: 31 asymptomatic amicrofilaremics, 43 microfilaremics, 12 symptomatic amicrofilaremics, and 52 elephantiasis patients. Lymphocyte proliferation was higher in elephantiasis patients and asymptomatic amicrofilaremics than in microfilaremics (P < .004). A proportion of asymptomatic amicrofilaremics (32%), elephantiasis patients (37%), and symptomatic amicrofilaremics (58%) showed antigen-specific lymphocyte unresponsiveness, and lymphocyte proliferation to filarial antigens correlated negatively with specific IgG4 levels (rho = -0.315, P < .001). As elevated specific IgG4 is an indicator of active infection, it is argued that active infection may result in lymphocyte hyporesponsiveness irrespective of clinical category. Of those with elevated specific IgE levels and high T cell proliferative responses, 70% had elephantiasis, suggesting these factors have a role in pathology. However, the existence of a proportion of elephantiasis patients with low anti-filarial IgE and T cell unresponsiveness to filarial antigens suggests that elephantiasis can be caused by distinct processes.     

p53 protein expression in extrahepatic bile duct cancer

p53 mutations, a tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 17p, are the most common genetic alterations found in human cancers. Although the p53 expression or mutation has been investigated in a variety of cancers there have been very few studies in extrahepatic bile duct cancers. In this study, we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of p53 in formalin fixed paraffin embedded archival specimens of 36 extrahepatic bile duct cancers in which p53 expression was found in eighteen (50%) cases. There was no significant difference in age, gender, size of tumor, histologic grade, extent of tumor involvement, lymph node metastasis and tumor resectability according to p53 immunoreactivity. Comparison of survival duration according to p53 expression showed no significant difference. In conclusion, we reported 50 percent of p53 expression in extrahepatic bile duct cancers by immunohistochemical staining and we found no prognostic significance of p53 expression in dinicopathologic parameters.     

Effect of postischemic reperfusion on microcirculation and lipid metabolism of skeletal muscle

To study the effect of ischemia reperfusion injury on microvascular reactivity and tissue metabolism in skeletal muscle, a Sprague-Dawley rat cremaster muscle was prepared as a tourniquet ischemia model and subjected to 2 hr ischemia followed by 1 hr reperfusion to simulate the timing of ischemia during microvascular surgery. The dose-response curve of arteriolar reactivity to norepinephrine, lipid peroxidation, and ultrastructure of capillaries was determined in both the control and postischemic reperfusion stages. Judging from the results, we summarize our observations as follows: (1) Postischemic reperfusion significantly increased arteriolar reactivity to norepinephrine, in which the EC50 for vasoconstriction decreased in all three orders of arterioles. These results suggest that reperfusion could have impaired the vasodilation control mechanism, possibly being endothelium dependent. (2) Lipid peroxidation increased sixfold in the reperfusion group, suggesting that oxygen free radicals have produced significant tissue damage under the created conditions. (3) Significant endothelial damage in the capillaries shown by electron microscope observation supports these studies, indicating that ischemia/reperfusion in clinically transplanted skeletal muscles could cause significant damage to the tissue microcirculation both physiologically and metabolically.     

The human obesity gene map: the 1997 update

An update of the human obesity gene map incorporating published results up to October 1997 is presented. Evidence from Mendelian disorders exhibiting obesity as a clinical feature; single-gene mutation rodent models; quantitative trait loci uncovered in human genome-wide scans and in crossbreeding experiments with mouse, rat, and pig models; association and case-control studies with candidate genes; and linkage studies with genes and other markers is reviewed. All chromosomal locations of the animal loci are converted into human genome locations based on syntenic relationships between the genomes. A complete listing of all of these loci reveals that all but chromosome Y of the 24 human chromosomes are represented. Some chromosomes show at least three putative loci related to obesity on both arms (1, 2, 6, 8, 11, and 20) and several on one chromosome arm only (3p, 4q, 5q, 7q, 12q, 13q, 15q, 15p, 22q, and Xq). Studies reporting negative association and linkage results are also listed, with the exception of the unlinked markers from genome-wide scans.