Effects of aging, diet, and sex on plasma glucose, fructosamine, and lipid concentrations in barrier-raised Fischer 344 rats

We studied the relationships of plasma glucose, fructosamine, triglycerides, and cholesterol as a function of age, gender, and diet in barrier-raised Fischer 344 rats aged 5 to 26 months, fed a diet either ad libitum or restricted to 60% of the ad libitum caloric intake. The complex relationships of these plasma levels to age, gender, and diet led to the development of a model with age, diet, and sex as covariates. Overall, fasting plasma glucose concentrations were reduced by approximately 25% in rats on the restricted diet, compared to ad libitum-fed animals. There was a significant age-dependent decline in glucose levels in male animals, whereas in females there was an increase in plasma glucose with aging. Plasma fructosamine levels in calorie-restricted animals, overall, were reduced by 7% compared to levels in animals fed ad libitum. There was a significant positive correlation between plasma glucose and fructosamine levels. Mean plasma triglyceride content was decreased by 50% in calorie-restricted rats compared to ad libitum-fed animals. A significant decrease in triglyceride levels with increasing age was seen in male animals, and an increase with aging in females. There was a significant positive correlation between plasma glucose and triglyceride levels. Plasma cholesterol levels in calorie-restricted animals were reduced by 7% compared to levels in ad libitum-fed animals. An increase of cholesterol concentration with aging was significant in both males and females. Analysis of the data showed that there were significant differences between male and female Fischer 344 rats in the response of plasma glucose and fructosamine to aging and calorie restriction. Changes of plasma triglyceride and cholesterol with aging and dietary calorie restriction were also different in males and females. Studies of the effect of aging on glycemia and blood lipid content should take into account the contributions of animal sex.     

Experimental hepatitis E: pathogenesis in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who have completed 2.5 to 3 years of initial chemotherapy have an off-therapy relapse rate of approximately 20%. In an attempt to improve the survival of children with a late bone marrow (BM) relapse (ie, occurring greater than 6 months after cessation of primary therapy), the Pediatric Oncology Group designed a randomized study to compare the efficacy of doxorubicin/prednisone and cytarabine/teniposide in a multidrug retreatment chemotherapy program. Treatment consisted of remission reinduction with vincristine, prednisone, and doxorubicin, central nervous system prophylaxis with triple intrathecal chemotherapy, and continuation therapy (for 132 weeks) with alternating cycles of oral 6-mercaptopurine/methotrexate and intravenous vincristine/cyclophosphamide. Patients received intermittent courses of either prednisone/doxorubicin (regimen 1) or teniposide/cytarabine (regimen 2) during continuation therapy and a late intensification phase with either vincristine, prednisone, and doxorubicin (regimen 1) or teniposide and cytarabine (regimen 2). One hundred two of 105 evaluable patients (97%) achieved a second complete remission. Twenty-eight of 50 patients on regimen 1 have failed compared with 28 or 52 patients on regimen 2 (log-rank analysis, P = .68), indicating that this trial was inconclusive as to which treatment regimen was superior. The overall 4-year event-free survival for children with a late BM relapse was 37% +/- 6%. Age less than 10 years at initial diagnosis (P < or = .001), white blood cell count less than 5,000/microL at relapse (P = .036) and duration of first remission greater than 54 months (P = .039) were independently associated with a more favorable outcome. While the randomized trial was inconclusive, prolonged second complete remissions were secured in more than one-third of children with a late BM relapse of ALL. The prognostic factors identified may help select children with a late BM relapse who can be successfully retreated with chemotherapy alone.     

Brain tumors in children under 2 years: treatment, survival and long-term prognosis

Survival for children with brain tumors less than 2 years of age at diagnosis is dismal, and the quality of life of long-term survivors poor. Between 1975 and 1987, 78 (13%) of 579 patients with brain tumors treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were under 2 years of age. Tumor site was posterior fossa in 31 (40%) and supratentorial in 47 (60%). Nine of 37 patients (24%) with malignant tumors, and 30 of 41 (73%) patients with benign tumors are alive with a mean follow-up of 116 months. Long-term survival after treatment with chemotherapy alone occurred in 10 patients, including 3 with malignant tumors. In 5 additional patients, chemotherapy delayed the need for irradiation a mean of 30 months. Of the 29 patients who relapsed after initial therapy, 12 are alive without progressive disease (2 patients with malignant tumors and 10 with benign tumors) a mean of 80 months after relapse, 2 children are alive with progressive disease, and 14 died a median of 48 months (range 9-115 months) after relapse. Twenty-one of the 39 survivors have minimal or no neurological or intellectual dysfunction. Surviving patients treated with surgery and chemotherapy have better intellectual function than patients treated with surgery and radiation (with or without chemotherapy) in that 8 of 10 children treated with surgery and chemotherapy have normal or above normal intelligence compared with 5 of 12 children receiving irradiation before their second birthday.     

The basic skills evaluation device

The outer surface protein, OspC, is highly variable in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the agent of Lyme disease. We have shown that even within a single population OspC is highly variable. The variation of ospA and ospC in the 40 infected deer ticks collected from a single site on Shelter Island, New York, was determined using PCR-SSCP. There is very strong apparent linkage disequilibrium between ospA and ospC alleles, even though they are located on separate plasmids. Thirteen discernible SSCP mobility classes for ospC were identified and the DNA sequence for each was determined. These sequences, combined with 40 GenBank sequences, allow us to define 19 major ospC groups. Sequences within a major ospC group are, on average, <1% different from each other, while sequences between major ospC groups are, on average, approximately 20% different. The tick sample contains 11 major ospC groups, GenBank contains 16 groups, with 8 groups found in both samples. Thus, the ospC variation within a local population is almost as great as the variation of a similar-sized sample of the entire species. The Ewens-Watterson-Slatkin test of allele frequency showed significant deviation from the neutral expectation, indicating balancing selection for these major ospC groups. The variation represented by major ospC groups needs to be considered if the OspC protein is to be used as a serodiagnostic antigen or a vaccine.     

The use of laferon in acute respiratory viral infections

Therapeutical efficacy of laferon (J2-interferon) was in children of preschool and school ages with acute respiratory viral infections. Endonasal employment of the drug during 3 days of acute period of the illness significantly decreases the duration of the period of catarrh and intoxication, being accompanied by positive immunological reactions on the part of T-cellular immunity and immunoglobulin synthesis.     

Post-operative pyrexia in an orthopaedic unit

The causes of post operative pyrexia in an orthopaedic unit was studied prospectively in 520 patients who underwent surgery. Two hundred patients (38.4%) developed postoperative pyrexia as defined by having recorded high temperatures of over 38 degrees C on two occasions within 24 hours (excluding the first 24 hours post-operatively). The commonest causes of post-operative pyrexia were wound infection in 70 (13.4%), respiratory tract infections in 40 (7.6%) and malaria in 30 (5.7%) patients, while other causes were urinary tract infection in 20 (3.8%), thrombophlebitis in 15 (2.8%) and deep vein thrombosis in 15 (2.8%) of the patients; while ten (1.9%) patients had pyrexia of undetermined cause despite exhaustive clinical and laboratory workup. The other associated conditions in patients who developed pyrexia were diabetes mellitus in 20 (3.8%), HIV seropositivity and malignancy in 30 (5.7%) and six (1.1%) patients, respectively.     

Cutaneous lymphoma with extensive periarticular involvement in a horse

Two months after colic surgery, subcutaneous masses were found on the ventral and lateral portions of the thorax of a 3-year-old Hanoverian-cross filly. Six months later, the filly was admitted for evaluation of severe lameness. Arthrocentesis of the tarsocrural joint yielded clotted sanguineous material; however, unusual multinucleated giant cells were seen. Radiography of the right tarsus revealed soft tissue opacity and degenerative joint disease. The filly was euthanatized to prevent further suffering. At necropsy, multiple soft-tissue masses were located throughout the fascial planes of the tarsi and in the subcutis of the ventral and lateral portions of the thorax. Neoplasms consisted primarily of a large number of mature well-differentiated T lymphocytes. On the basis of these findings, the diagnosis was cutaneous lymphoma with unusual involvement of periarticular tissues. Severe degenerative joint disease in the right tarsus did not appear to be associated with the tumors.     

Acuity perimetry and the sampling theory of visual resolution

In fura-2-labelled human platelets, the thiol oxidising agent diamide decreases the intracellular calcium response to thrombin and serotonin without affecting the basal calcium levels. The effect of diamide on the thrombin response could be prevented by pre-treatment with dithiothreitol (DTT) and reduced when DTT was added 60 s after diamide. The effects of diamide and hydrogen peroxide on the thrombin response were additive. Hydrogen peroxide also produced a calcium response per se, but this response was not affected by diamide. Hydrogen peroxide increased rat brain phosphoinositide hydrolysis and reduced the response to carbachol and noradrenaline, whereas diamide was without effect. The binding of [3H]inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate to human platelet membranes was inhibited by diamide but not by hydrogen peroxide. Thus diamide affects the phosphoinositide signal transduction pathway in a qualitatively different manner from that found with hydrogen peroxide. It is suggested that oxidative stress may contribute to the disturbances in the phosphoinositide transduction pathway that are found in Alzheimer's disease.