Detection of cytotoxic activity on Vero cells in clinical isolates of Serratia marcescens

Cytotoxin production was studied in 60 Serratia marcescens strains isolated from hospitalized patients. Association of cytotoxic activity with serotype, source of isolation and presence of plasmids was also evaluated. Thirteen of the 60 S. marcescens strains produced a cytotoxic effect on Vero cells. These strains were isolated from distinct clinical sources and classified into seven different serotypes (O1:H7; O4:NM; O10:NT; O19:NM; O6,14:H4; O6,14:NM and O6,14:H1). No relationship was observed between cytotoxic activity and clinical source or serotypes of the strains. Plasmids from five cytotoxin-producing S. marcescens strains were transferred to E. coli K12/711. The transconjugants did not exhibit cytotoxicity, indicating that the cytotoxic effect is not plasmid-mediated among these strains. Although a cytotoxic activity was demonstrated in filtrates of some S. marcescens strains, further studies should be performed to assess the role of this toxin in pathogenesis.     

Efficacy of immunosorption in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: double blind controlled trial

Efficacy of immunosorption (IS) employing perfusion of whole blood through activated charcoal containing DNA was studied in 11 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). 11 SLE patients exposed to hemosorption on charcoal free from DNA served as controls. When used in combination with intensive therapy (corticosteroids and cytostatic immunosuppressant), IS produced a positive effect on lupus nephritis symptoms in 8 out of 10 patients with kidney affection. AntiDNA antibodies blood level decreased by 53.6% after two IS procedures, while only by 36.4% after nonselective hemosorption. Reduced count and functional activity of B-cells recorded after IS contribute much to final outcome of the treatment.     

Technique of vascular reconstructive bench surgery in pancreas transplantation

Vascular reconstructive bench surgery has become a basic step in pancreas transplantation, in order to prevent vascular thrombosis. The Authors describe their experience, also reporting literature results.     

In vitro comparison of cytokine release from antithymocyte serum and OKT3. Inhibition with soluble and microencapsulated neutralizing antibodies

Antilymphocyte antibodies are widely used to prevent and treat rejection after organ transplantation. Induction of cytokine release is implicated in the side effects produced by these antibodies. In this study, cytokine release induced by OKT3 was compared with antithymocyte serum (ATS) using an in vitro whole blood model. The efficacy of the microsphere form of cytokine-neutralizing antibodies to attenuate OKT3 and ATS-induced cytokine release was compared with the soluble form of cytokine-neutralizing antibodies. OKT3-induced significantly higher amounts of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 1 beta levels compared with ATS. The microsphere form of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 1 beta neutralizing antibodies attenuated OKT3 and ATS-induced cytokine release much more efficiently compared with the soluble form. The results suggest that the severity of the side effects is related to the amount of cytokine release. Microencapsulated cytokine-neutralizing antibodies might be a better therapeutic agent than the soluble form of cytokine-neutralizing antibodies in the treatment of side effects induced by antilymphocyte antibodies.     

The interhemispheric integrative activity of the frontal and parietal areas in the model of epilepsy

The study was aimed to reveal the character of interaction between the frontal and parietal areas of both brain hemispheres in patients with epileptic foci either in the frontal or parietal cortical areas. Right-handed patients were examined. Clinical, bioelectrical, and psychological techniques were applied. Functional relation between the frontal and parietal areas of the contralateral hemispheres were established on the basis of the obtained results. It is substantiated in the paper that described phenomenon of interhemispheric "criss-cross" is not pathognomonic for epilepsy. It reflects one of the forms of the brain functional plasticity aimed to organization of integrative brain activity at the new level.     

Pregnancy in women undergoing a kidney transplant. Our experience and a review of the literature

The chances of pregnancy for uremic women are usually very low, because of hormonal balance changes which determine a strong reduction in fertility. Epidemiological studies reveal that pregnancy in hemodialyzed women in fertile patients 4.6-6 months after a well functioning kidney transplant, one fertile transplanted woman over 50 can become pregnant. In the first transplant era, pregnancy after kidney transplant was considered "a big hazard", especially because of the possible side-effects of immunosuppression drugs on foetus development, and the risk of a worsening in the mother's renal function. Therefore, women were strongly recommended to avoid pregnancy. More recently, several reported papers have shown that pregnancy can be safely carried on also by transplanted women, under careful criteria and monitoring. Our experience too, even if limited in number (4 patients) reported in this article confirms this conviction.