Enhanced plasma persistence of therapeutic enzymes by coupling to soluble dextran

Conjugation of carboxypeptidase G and arginase, two enzymes of therapeutic interest, to a soluble dextran significantly enhanced plasma persistence in normal and tumour-bearing mice. A prolonged decrease in arginine concentrations in plasma of tumour-bearing mice was demonstrated by using the dextran-linked arginase. Gel filtration of dextran-enzyme conjugate showed that enzyme activity co-chromatographed as a single peak with carbohydrate, and enzyme was shown to be covalently linked to the dextran.     

Systemic mastocytosis--central nervous system features and lymphographic demonstration of lymph node involvement

Systemic mastocytosis is uncommon. A patient is reported with many of the characteristic lesions of this disorder but with two features not before described--the occurrence of mixed pyramidal and neuromyopathic neurological signs and the demonstration of lymph nodes with abnormal architecture by lymphography.     

The mixed leucocyte-macrophage migration test in actively sensitised and transfer factor-treated Rhesus monkeys. Preliminary observations on HBsAg specific transfer factor

Although the rise in blood copper is associated with onset of the acute haemolytic crisis of chronic copper poisoning in sheep, the sudden fall in erythrocyte glutathione is apparently not due to a direct action of the copper. Moreover the reduced glutathione of the red cells is converted to some form that is not capable of regeneration by the pentose-phosphate mechanism. Only negligible inhibition of the pentose-phosphate enzymes occurs. As the haemolysis proceeds, there is a rapid recovery of erythrocyte glutathione levels, and a marked increase in pentose-phosphate enzyme activity, consistent with influx of young red cells. It seems that the release of copper into blood from liver at the haemolytic crisis is associated with an increase of the oxidative state of the blood, possibly by simultaneous release of other components from the liver.     

Impact of federal regulations at a university

Last year the University of Iowa conducted an in-house study of how federal regulations, executive orders, and agency administrative policies affected the day-to-day operations of the university on all levels. This article is an analysis and reassessment of the federal impact issue based on the information uncovered in the University of Iowa survey.     

Gastric emptying of solid meals in diabetics

The gastric emptying rate of an isotopically labelled solid meal was compared in 29 insulin-dependent well-controlled diabetics and 18 normal controls. The diabetics were assessed for evidence of autonomic neuropathy. No significant difference in gastric emptying rate was found between controls and diabetics with or without autonomic neuropathy. Only three diabetics had greatly delayed gastric emptying, but in one of these the test had given a normal result on an earlier occasion.     

Nosocomial pseudobacteremia. Positive blood cultures due to contaminated benzalkonium antiseptic

Pseudomonas cepacia or Enterobacter species or both were isolated from blood cultures of 79 patients in a community hospital between April 1971 and March 1972. No common exposures other than venipuncture correlated with positive blood cultures. Pseudomonas cepacia, Enterobacter, and other Gram-negative enteric bacteria were cultured from aqueous benzalkonium chloride used for skin antisepsis prior to ordinary and blood culture venipuncture. Contamination of blood cultures by organisms from the antiseptic most likely accounted for positive cultures in 35 to 38 patients (92%) with P cepacia. The remaining three patients had repeated blood cultures positive for P cepacia and circumstantial clinical evidence of bacteremia; they may have contracted disease through exposure to the contaminated antiseptic. Substitution of an iodine-alcohol antiseptic abruptly reduced the isolation of P cepacia and Enterobacter.     

Evaluation of mental health service effectiveness: a "start up" model for established programs

The ventral pedal gland in the foot of the mature female whelk Buccinum undatum L. consists of a shallow pouch containing a layer of elongated cells which partially penetrate a basement membrane overlying layers of smooth muscle. This glandular epithelium contains acid mucopolysaccharide cells, ciliated and interstitial cells as well as the upper part of a new type of subepidermal gland cell. These gland cells consist of an elongated extracellular tubular duct formed by an invagination of the cell membrane and lined by numerous microvilli. Into this duct are discharged packets of a densely staining secretion. The secretion packets are produced in Golgi regions around the nuclei of the cells and are passed up through the cell to the base of the duct through or along an extensive assemblage of microtubules. The secretion packets show organized internal structure and may contain aromatic aldehydes and protein associated with the sclerotization of the egg capsules, which pass through the gland after leaving the genital tract.     

Purification of the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase from membranes of Acholeplasma laidlawii

With the use of the unlabeled antibody enzyme technique and antiserum to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH), the distribution of LHRH in the adult male guinea pig was studied. Immunoreactive deposits were found in the cell bodies of hypothalamic neurons in the medial preoptic, anterior hypothalamic, suprachiasmatic, and arcuate nuclei. Ten to thirty LHRH-containing perikarya were seen per brain. Four fiber tracts positive for LHRH were described: Tract I runs on the pre-commissural side of the anterior commissure from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and medial preoptic area to the suprachismatic nucleus: Tract II runs on the post-commissural side to the retrochiasmatic portion of the suprachiasmatic nucleus; Tract III originates in the arcuate nucleus and the ventral portion of the ventromedial nucleus and courses medially and caudally to enter the median eminence; Tract IV travels from the mammillary bodies to the mid-brain. Three weeks after surgical isolation of the medial basal hypothalamus there was a slight decrease in the amount of LHRH in the median eminence. These data suggest that LHRH is synthesized in more than one hypothalamic nuclear group but that the majority of axons containing the hormone in the median eminence originate in the medial basal hypothalamus.