Bone marrow biopsy in the diagnosis of fever of unknown origin in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

BACKGROUND: Fever is commonly observed in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and frequently eludes diagnosis. The role of bone marrow biopsy in the diagnosis of fever of unknown origin in patients infected with HIV remains controversial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty-three consecutive patients with 137 episodes of fever lasting 10 or more days without diagnosis after 1 week of hospitalization were evaluated by bone marrow biopsy. RESULTS: Overall, a specific diagnosis was achieved in 52 episodes by means of culture and histopathological examination (diagnostic yield, 37.9%). Three types of disease were found: mycobacterial infections (n = 36, 69% of documented episodes), including 18 patients with disseminated tuberculosis and 14 with Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex infections; non-Hodgkin lymphomas (n = 12, 23%); and visceral leishmaniasis (n = 4, 8%). Although bone marrow cultures were more sensitive than microscopic examination with special stains for the diagnosis of mycobacterial infections, the pathological examination of bone marrow led to a more rapid diagnosis of disease. In addition, the histopathological examination of bone marrow alone led to the diagnosis of a specific condition in 43 episodes (31.3% of all episodes). CONCLUSIONS: Bone marrow biopsy is a useful procedure for the diagnosis of fever in patients with advanced HIV disease, particularly in areas where tuberculosis and leishmaniasis are prevalent. Involvement of the marrow may be the first indication of the existence of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma. For Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex infection, blood cultures were more sensitive than bone marrow biopsy.     

The association of leukocytes with secondary brain injury

Shock increases mortality from brain injuries, but the mechanism is poorly understood. We hypothesized that brain injury followed by shock and resuscitation leads to a secondary reperfusion injury mediated in part by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). To validate this hypothesis, we studied cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral blood flow (CBF), cortical water content (CWC), and hemodynamic variables in a porcine model of focal cryogenic brain injury and hemorrhagic shock. Cerebral PMN accumulation (CPMN) in the injured and uninjured hemispheres was determined histologically from the total PMNs in five high-power fields (400x). Twenty-nine mature swine were randomized to four groups. Group 1, the control group, was instrumented only. Group 2 animals had a brain injury alone and were studied for 24 hours. Group 3 animals had a brain injury and hemorrhagic shock. Group 4 animals had hemorrhagic shock alone. Brain injury followed by shock caused a significantly greater ICP and a significantly lower CBF than brain injury or shock alone. There was no significant difference in CPP between groups after resuscitation. The CWC of the lesioned area was similar in both brain-injured groups but was significantly increased when compared with the controls and the shock-only group. The CWC of the nonlesioned hemisphere was higher in group 3 than in group 2. The CPMN in both hemispheres in group 3 was significantly greater than in either group 2 or group 4. There was a significant positive correlation between CPMN and both ICP and CWC, and a significant negative correlation between CPMN and CBF. These data suggest an association between CPMN accumulation and secondary brain injury.     

Effect of quercetin on chemiluminescence of human platelets induced by arachidonic acid

Arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet chemiluminescence (CL) was measured with a lumiphotometer. Quercetin remarkably inhibited the CL, the IC50 of quercetin was 3 mumol.L-1. When quercetin plus aspirin, which inhibits only cyclooxygenase, was added, the inhibitory rate of platelet-CL obviously increased (P < 0.01). On the other hand, the quercetin had a scavenging effect on superoxide anion radical using alkaline sodium dithionite solution generation. The IC50 was 20.9 mumol.L-1. In addition, superoxide dismutase of 0.1 mg.ml-1 inhibited the platelet-CL by 97.8%, while mannitol, a hydroxyl radical scavenger, only by 43.3% at a concentration of 80 mg.ml-1. These results suggest that the mechanism of the inhibiting AA-induced platelet-CL by quercetin was associated with scavenging the superoxide anion radical directly and with inhibiting the cyclooxygenase.     

The molecular biology of bladder carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: The clinical course of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder can be difficult to predict due to its potential to invade the muscle layer and/or develop to a high grade lesion. Bladder carcinoma can arise from genetic changes that may activate the oncogenes (-c-erbB2, c-erbB1, c-myc, ras, etc.) and/or inactivate the suppressor genes (p53, Rb). The aim of the present study is to continue a study protocol on the molecular biology of bladder tumors. METHODS/RESULTS: From January, 1993 to January, 1995, 85 patients were studied. These patients were divided into two groups: the first group comprised 14 controls of urothelial tissue and the second comprised 65 cases of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. p53 expression was determined by an immunohistochemical method (NCL-p53-DO7 monoclonal antibody). Quantification of the p8 oncoprotein in cytosol and EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) in membrane was performed by ELISA (Oncogene Science) and RIA (Vienna Lab), respectively. A statistically significant relationship between the expression of p53 and EGFR with tumor stage and grade was found. Quantification of p185 and EGFR showed higher values in the tumor tissue than in the control samples, but a worse survival could not be determined. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that p53 expression can be considered to be a prognostic factor. It provides useful information on the aggressive behaviour of the tumor and has a direct relation with the survival rates.     

Das Twinning-Programm der Europäischen Union: Praktische Erfahrungen in der Umsetzung von veterinärmedizinischen Verwaltungspartnerschaften

Zusammenfassung:  Mit Verwirklichung des gemeinsamen Binnenmarktes ab 01.01.1993 wurde ein freier Warenverkehr innerhalb der Europ?ischen Union mit Wegfall zwischenstaatlicher Kontrollen im tiergesundheitlichen und lebensmittelsicher-heitsrelevanten Bereich realisiert. In allen Mitgliedstaaten soll ein vergleichbares Schutzniveau bzgl. des gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutzes erfüllt werden. In der Praxis hat sich jedoch gezeigt, dass die Anwendung des EU-Rechtes in den neuen Mitgliedstaaten teilweise noch Schwierigkeiten bereitet. Vor diesem Hintergrund sind von der Kommission verschiedene Fortbildungs- und F?rderma?nahmen mit der Zielsetzung entwickelt worden, vorhandene Defizite in diesem Bereich zu minimieren. Dazu z?hlen die seit 1998 von der Kommission initiierten sog. Twinning-Projekte (Verwaltungspartnerschaften) zwischen Beh?rden alter und neuer Mitgliedstaaten. Seit diesem Zeitpunkt wurden mehr als 1100 Twinning-Projekte durchgeführt, davon fast 300 Projekte unter deutscher Leitung (Schwerpunkt: Landwirtschaftlicher Bereich). Im vorliegenden Artikel werden Bedeutung und Inhalte von Twinning-Projekten im Veterin?r- und Lebensmittelbereich dargestellt. Ihr formales Verfahren sowie die in den Verwaltungspartnerschaften gewonnenen Erfahrungen und M?glichkeiten der Verbesserung werden erl?utert.

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The Twinning-Programme of the European Union: Experiences in the implementation of Twinning- projects in veterinary and food affairs. Since 01.01.1993 a common market was built up within the EU with cancelling of border controls of foods, animal products and living animals. An equal level of consumer protection should be established in all member states. In practice however, implementation of EU food and feed legislation in the new member states often causes problems. To reduce deficiencies in this field, the EU commission developed several measures of training and strenghtening for new member states. These measures include the so called Twinning-projects between competent authorities of old and new member states, which have been initiated since 1998. More than 1100 Twinning projects have been performed so far, including about 300 projects in Germany (with emphasis on agriculture). This article shows meaning and contents of Twinning-projects in the field of veterinary and food affairs. Formal procedures, experiences and possibilities of improvement of twinning-projects are described.

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Eingegangen: 16. Januar 2008     

Teaching severely self-abusive and aggressive autistic residents to exit to fire alarms

Fifty-two case-hardened, severely self-abusive and aggressive autistic and retarded students, living in six different community residences, were trained to exit their residences, without the presence or assistance of staff, when a fire alarm sounded at night. On a pretest, prior to an 11-week period of intensive environmental and behavioral interventions, only 25% of the students exited within 2 1/2 minutes and independent of staff assistance. At posttest, 100% exited successfully, in a mean evacuation time of 60 seconds. The study was conducted at the Behavior Research Institute (BRI).     

Pulmonary vasoconstrictor effects of prostacyclin in rats: potential role of thromboxane receptors

Endogenous prostacyclin (PGI2; epoprostenol) is a potent endothelium-derived pulmonary vasodilator. However, the effects of exogenous PGI2 on isolated arteries could be either relaxant or contractile, depending on the species and organ studied. The present study investigated the distal pathways involved in the PGI2-induced contraction in rat intrapulmonary artery (PA) and relaxation in lamb PA. When vessels were precontracted with 30 mM K+, PGI2 (1 microM) induced relaxation in lamb PA but caused contraction in rat PA. Use of 30 mM K+, phenylephrine, serotonin, angiotensin II, or hypoxia to precontract the vessels did not alter the contractile effect of PGI2 in rat PA. Nevertheless, PGI2 produced a mild relaxation in rat PA precontracted by U-46619, a thromboxane A2 (TxA2)-receptor agonist, whereas the TxA2-receptor blocker SQ-29548 (0.1-0.5 microM) abolished the contractile response in rat PA. These data suggest that PGI2-induced contraction is mediated by activation of TxA2 receptors. The PGI2-induced modest relaxation in rat PA, which was only observed when TxA2 receptors were blocked by SQ-29548, suggests that the PGI2-mediated vasorelaxant pathway is diminished in these vessels. Simultaneous application of forskolin, an adenylate cyclase activator, and rolipram, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, caused similar relaxation in both rat and lamb PA. This suggests that the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-dependent relaxing pathway is intact in rat PA and is comparable to that in lamb PA. On the basis of these data, we conclude that the pathways responsible for the paradoxical effects of PGI2 on rat and lamb PA are located upstream of the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-dependent relaxing pathway and that a paucity of PGI2 receptors in rat PA may be responsible.