Detection by a solid phase independent enzyme immunoassay of monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies against monoclonal antibodies neutralizing Semliki Forest virus and encephalomyocarditis virus

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.34) is the rate limiting step in the mevalonate pathway that produces isoprenoids and cholesterol. Inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase are teratogenic in vivo and induce neural tube defects in rat embryo culture, effects which appear unrelated to cholesterol deficiency. This study is the first to localize HMG-CoA reductase mRNA by in situ hybridization (ISH). Expression of reductase mRNA was examined in post-implantation rat embryos, and for control purposes in rat liver and UT-1 cells, using a digoxigenin-11 (dig-11) labelled cRNA probe. Eighteen-day fetal liver showed heavy but patchy hybridization, and adult rat liver showed strong hybridization only on some periportal hepatocytes, which was absent in livers of fasted animals. UT-1 cells stimulated to overexpress HMG-CoA reductase mRNA were strongly positive with the same probe. Control hybridizations with sense strand RNA probe, or with cRNA probe on pre-RNased tissue were negative. Strong hybridization signal for HMG-CoA reductase mRNA was observed in all tissues of the post-implantation rat embryo, from egg cylinder to 30 somite stages (7 to 12 days). Heavy signal was noted in primitive ectoderm and neural tube. The wide embryonic and extraembryonic distribution and abundance of HMG-CoA reductase mRNA may reflect developmental requirements for products of the mevalonate pathway, e.g., isoprenoids for post-translational farnesylation of p21ras.     

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a six-year-old girl

A 6-year-old white female was found to have an adenoid cystic carcinoma originating in a lacrimal gland. Eighteen months following diagnosis, the tumor recurred. Conservative surgery has been the sole mode of therapy. To date, after four operations and quadrimenstral imaging surveillance, there is no sign of disease progression. Our purpose is to record the unusual occurrence of an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a child. An interim report, 32 months after diagnosis, is presented.     

Thrombolytic and endovascular treatment of peripartum iliac vein thrombosis: a case report

This case report details the multidisciplinary treatment of peripartum left iliac vein thrombosis using percutaneous catheter-directed urokinase thrombolysis and balloon thromboplasty. Enhanced chances for long-term patency and the normalization of venous function make these minimally invasive procedures accepted options for the treatment of iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis in selected peripartum patients.     

Serum IgA antibodies from patients with coeliac disease react strongly with human brain blood-vessel structures

BACKGROUND: Our objective was to determine the possible presence of IgA antibodies directed against human central nervous system (CNS) structures in sera from coeliac disease (CD) patients. METHODS: Serum samples were collected from 4 patients with active CD on a gluten-containing diet, 11 biopsy-proven CD patients on a gluten-free diet (GFD), and 52 non-coeliac gastrointestinal controls. In all patients IgA antigliadin antibody (AGA) titres were determined with enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), and IgA antiendomysium antibodies (EMA) with indirect immunofluorescence on human umbilical cord. Cryostat sections of human brain occipital cortex were incubated with the patients' sera and subsequently labelled with anti-human IgA fluorescein conjugate. RESULTS: All sera from patients with active CD on a gluten-containing diet yielded positive results in both the IgG-AGA and EMA test and in indirect immunofluorescence on brain tissue, disclosing a strong fluorescence over blood-vessels structures. All sera from CD patients on a GFD and from non-coeliac gastrointestinal controls gave a negative result on both the EMA test and the immunofluorescence reaction on human brain. CONCLUSIONS: Sera from patients with active CD contain IgA antibodies that react with human brain vessel structures, giving intense fluorescence. These antibodies are not present in sera from coeliac patients on a GFD or non-coeliac controls. This finding might be involved in the abnormal nervous system manifestations frequently described in association with coeliac disease.     

The effects of patterned calorie-restricted diets on mammary tumor incidence and plasma endothelin levels in DMBA-treated rats

Chronic caloric restriction has been shown to inhibit mammary tumor promotion in the 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene (DMBA) rat mammary tumor model. The objectives of this study were to determine (i) the effects of chronic caloric cycling (yo-yo dieting) on mammary tumor promotion by high fat diets and (ii) the effect of three dietary regimens +/- superimposed mammary tumor burden on plasma endothelin-1,2 (ET) levels. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with DMBA (5 mg/rat) and divided into three dietary groups: ad libitum (AL) (containing 15% corn oil); 40% calorie restricted (CR) (containing 20% corn oil so consumption of fat was equivalent between AL and CR); a calorie cycled (CC) group fed alternatively AL and CR diets each 48 h period. After 10 weeks, tumor incidences were: AL, 63%; CR, 27%; CC, 57% (AL versus CR, P < 0.05; CC versus CR, P < 0.05; AL versus CC, NSD). ET levels (pg/ml plasma) were: AL, 16.0 +/- 6.54; CR, 32.31 +/- 0.34; CC, 23.44 +/- 5.04 (AL versus CR, P < 0.01; CC versus CR, P < 0.01; AL versus CC, P < 0.05). Plasma ET levels were independent of tumor incidence and tumor burden, but plasma ET levels were significantly increased in rats with a prior history of calorie restriction. As expected, maintained caloric restriction reduced mammary tumor incidence but intermittent caloric restriction (caloric cycling or yo-yo dieting) was without similar benefit.     

X-ray digital subtraction angiography to magnetic resonance-digital subtraction angiography using three-dimensional TRICKS. Historical perspective and computer simulations: a review

Seventeen years after the introduction of x-ray digital subtraction angiography (DSA), gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography techniques have become available for the performance of MR-DSA. For the purposes of this article, we will consider this to include two-dimensional and three-dimensional approaches using time-resolved and non-time-resolved applications. Magnetic resonance-DSA is one in a historical progression of techniques which have aimed to produce less invasive forms of angiography. After outlining some historical milestones, several current issues regarding current methods for MR-DSA are discussed.     

Reduced growth factor requirements and accelerated cell-cycle kinetics in adult human melanocytes transformed with SV40 large T antigen

Melanomas develop with high frequency in transgenic mice in which oncogenic sequences of the SV40 DNA tumor virus have been specifically targeted to melanocytes. To investigate the role of SV40 in melanomagenesis, cultured human melanocytes were transformed with a retroviral shuttle vector encoding the SV40 large T antigen and examined for changes in cell-cycle kinetics and growth-factor dependence. Colonies expressing the viral oncogene were morphologically indistinguishable from their non-T-antigen-transformed counterparts. Also like normal melanocytes, the infected cells remained anchorage dependent and non-tumorigenic in nude mice. However, T-antigen-positive cultures exhibited significantly accelerated population doubling times, increased saturation densities with highly confluent monolayers and a three- to fourfold extended life span. Most interestingly, cell-cycle analysis revealed a measurable shift from quiescent to cycling cells in T-antigen-expressing cultures and an acquired ability to progress more rapidly through G1. Moreover, T-antigen-positive melanocytes proliferated in the absence of PMA and required markedly reduced levels of exogenous bFGF. These studies indicate that the viral oncogen of simian virus 40 provides melanocytes with distinct growth advantages that may render these cells unusually susceptible to additional environmental challenges necessary for full expression of the malignant phenotype.