Ocular chrysiasis correlated with gold concentrations in the crystalline lens during chrysotherapy

The eyes of 11 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who received extended chrysotherapy (mean cumulative dose greater than 7 grams during a mean 6-year period) were examined biomicroscopically. Minute reddish-purple particles were seen in the cornea (corneal chrysiasis) in 5 and in the lens (lens chrysiasis) in 4 patients. Particulate deposits were absent in 11 other RA patients who had not received gold treatment. Seven crystalline lenses from 5 gold-treated patients were removed surgically because of incidental cataract formation and analyzed for gold content using neutron activation analysis. Although the mean lens gold concentration was higher in these patients than in non-gold-treated controls without RA (0.0073 microgram/grams versus 0.001 microgram/grams), the absolute gold level was markedly lower than that found in 25 diverse tissue analyzed previously. This finding is compatible with the absence of clinical gold-related lens disease or visual impairment.     

Testosterone and the sex difference in blood pressure in mice

Blood pressure of adult male SWR/J mice is approximately 20 mm Hg higher than that of females. Castrating males at weaning eliminated this sex difference. Testosterone restored blood pressure of castrated mice to the level of the intact males within 10 days indicating a pressor effect of testosterone. Ovariectomy had no effect on blood pressure.     

Analytical techniques for cell fractions. XXIII. A stable thermal gradient device for heat denaturation studies on proteins

The ISO-DALT two-dimensional electrophoretic system (1,2), based on the method of O'Farrell (3), is capable of performing large numbers of analysis on complex mixtures of proteins. However, both separations employed are carried out under dissociating or denaturing conditions and no enzyme activities are readily observable in the analyzed proteins. In order to identify the spots corresponding to particular enzymes, it is therefore necessary to employ some nondestructive resolving technique first and as a second step to perform both enzyme and two-dimensional electrophoretic analyses on the fractions generated. By correlating enzyme activity with intensity of various spots on the two-dimensional gels throughout the series of initial fractions, identifications, can be made. This approach, unlike the more direct immunoprecipitation methods (4), requires the running of large numbers of enzyme analyses and two-dimensional gels and some convenient initial resolving procedure. Convenient and rapid techniques for the analyses (5,6) and gels (1,2) have been described previously in this series and elsewhere. This paper deals with the use of selective denaturation in a temperature gradient as an initial resolving procedure and describes a simple thermal gradient device for generating such a gradient.     

Measured change in protein solvation with substrate binding and turnover

Osmotic stress is used to measure solvation changes that accompany the conformational changes of an active enzyme. For hexokinase both the equilibrium dissociation constant and the kinetic Michaelis-Menten constant for glucose vary linearly, and to the same extent, with the activity of water in the protein medium, as adjusted with large molecular weight (> 2000) osmolytes. The variation over the whole osmotic pressure range studied indicates that glucose binding is accompanied by the release of at least 65 +/- 10 water molecules, and this is reversed on enzyme turnover. The results indicate that near the physiological range of pressures the number may be higher. Most of this water, which behaves like an inhibitor, likely comes from the cleft which is induced to close around the substrate. Such large dehydration/rehydration reactions during turnover imply a significant contribution of solvation to the energetics of the conformational changes. Osmotic stress is a method of general applicability to probe water's contribution to functioning molecules.     

Dimerization of recombinant horseradish peroxidase in a reversed micellar system

Recombinant horseradish peroxidase reactivated from E. coli inclusion bodies was studied in a reversed micellar system of AOT in octane. The ability of the recombinant enzyme, in contrast to native horseradish peroxidase, to form a dimeric structure was found. The existence of the dimer was proved by results of sedimentation analysis. Dimer/monomer ratio in the enzyme-containing micelles and dimer catalytic activity were found to depend on the substrate used (pyrogallol, guaiacol, o-dianisidine, o-phenylenediamine). Computer modelling was used to describe possible structures of the dimeric recombinant horseradish peroxidase.     

Antibiotic phenol nor-triterpenes from Maytenus canariensis

OBJECTIVE: To calculate and compare the costs of the treatment of varicocele by antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy with other modalities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 2305 operations using antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy to treat varicocele in childhood and adolescence were analysed for cost factors and compared with different surgical treatment methods for varicocele. RESULTS: Calculation of the pre-, intra- and post-operative costs showed that antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy was the most economically effective of all forms of surgical management for varicocele. CONCLUSIONS: Because antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy is a cost-effective treatment for varicocele, the indications for treatment may be widened to include more men with potential infertility, and thus avoid the need for expensive methods of artificial fertilization.     

Effect of contrast agents on the activity of acid phosphatase in mouse neutrophils]

We report a case of Pasteurella multocida pneumonia and empyema in an otherwise healthy patient. The most frequently observed human complication with this microorganism is a local wound infection. Only a few cases of pneumonia have been described, and most of the patients were immunodeficient.