Transvenous kidney puncture. New procedure for withdrawal of kidney tissue

A transvenous catheter technique for renal puncture is described which was successful in 9 of 11 punctures performed in 8 dogs. Macrohematuria was not observed in any case. Autopsy revealed only small subcapsular hematomas. The advantage of this procedure is the reduced risk of bleeding achieved by peripheral puncture and by-passing of the great central vessels with aid of phlebographic controls. Moreover localization of kidneys by excretion urography--impossible in patients with renal insufficiency--is unnecessary.     

Comparative study of membranes of Streptococcus faecalis and Micrococcus lysodeikticus

A comparative study of ultrastructure and IR-spectroscopy of osmotic shock membranes from cells of glycolyzing (Streptococcus faecalis) and respiring (Micrococcus lysodeikticus) bacteria, was made. The S. faecalis and M. lysodeikticus membranes differ in their cross-section. Treatment of the preliminary washed membranes of S. faecalis and M. lysodeikticus with a low ionic strength solution removes 40% and 70% of their proteins respectively, decreases the membrane cross-section but does not change their fracture faces. Pre-cooling of the membrane suspensions within the temperature range of +5 degrees-10 degrees results in the appearance of large smooth areas on S. faecalis membrane fracture faces, but does not affect the ones of M. lysodeikticus membrane. Treatment of the washed suspensions with Triton X-100 results in the appearance of drastic changes of S. faecalis membrane fracture faces and does not change the fracture faces of M. lysodeikticus membranes; treatment by the detergent does not alter the IR-spectroscopy of membranes of both bacteria. Treatment of S. faecalis and M. lysodeikticus membranes with high temperature irreversibly changes the structure of 20% and 40% of protein components respectively,, but does not affect the distribution of the subparticles on their fracture faces. It is assumed that the differences found are determined by the composition of lipid components of the membranes studied and that the amount of proteins closely bound with lipids in the membranes of S. faecalis is likely to be greater than that of M. lysodeikticus membranes.     

Susceptibility to actively-induced murine experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is not linked to genes of the T cell receptor or CD3 complexes

The role of the T cell receptor (TCR) in the genetic control of susceptibility to autoimmune demyelinating diseases remains shrouded in controversy. We have used the CXD2 series of recombinant inbred lines (RIL) and a (B10.S/DvTe x SJL/J) x B10.S/DvTe backcross (BC1) population to test for linkage between susceptibility to actively-induced EAE and the different TCR and CD3 loci. The two populations were inoculated for induction of EAE, phenotyped for both clinical and histological parameters of disease, and genotyped using markers flanking the loci of interest in the CXD2 RIL and an SJL/J allele-specific TCR V beta assay in the BC1 mice. Comparisons between the CXD2 strain distribution pattern (SDP) for disease and the SDPs for the chromosomal regions containing the TCR alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and CD3 delta, epsilon, gamma and zeta loci showed no linkage to these loci. Additional tests between EAE susceptibility and several other immunologically important loci for which the SDPs were known also showed no linkage to the minor lymphocyte-stimulating antigen gene Mlsl, Hc, the gene encoding complement component C5, Cd8a, or Cd5. Furthermore, our data from the BC1 mice demonstrate that the Tcrb locus segregates independent of disease and does not modulate disease severity. We conclude that while autoreactive TCRs are undoubtedly necessary for disease pathogenesis, the principle non-MHC-linked loci controlling susceptibility to murine EAE in BALB/c mice are not linked to any of the individual TCR-CD3 complex genes. Similarly, the major disease genes in the SJL/J mouse are not linked to TCR V beta. Our data cannot, however, preclude the possibility that TCR/CD3 alleles are involved in epigenetic phenomena or susceptibility in other mouse strains or animal systems.     

Bacterial contamination of the pleural cavity during lung resection as one of the causes of development of postoperative empyema

Recovery of spatial resolving capacity (acuity) of central vision after temporary blindness induced by prolonged (1.5, 3, 6 min) light adaptation to a sun or incandescence lamp (20, 40, 80 thous. lux) illuminated white screen was studied. The recovery time increased exponentially with an increase in energy light stimulation (product of brightness of the deadapting source by the time of action). A general formula describing the relationship between the time of recovery of acuity and brightness of the test table and energy of light stimulus was derived.