Prostate specific antigen in the expressed prostatic fluid of men with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate carcinoma

PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that the histochemically demonstrated prostate specific antigen (PSA) content of prostate carcinoma cells does not necessarily reflect PSA production and secretion by evaluating expressed prostatic fluid. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expressed prostatic fluid and serum from 152 men with clinical benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), 132 with histologically proved BPH and 46 with prostate carcinoma were analyzed with the Hybritech PSA assay. RESULTS: Expressed prostatic fluid PSA levels from carcinoma patients (median 1.70 mg./ml., mean 2.25) were significantly higher than in the histologically proved BPH group (median 1.28 mg./ml., mean 1.42, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PSA concentration is increased in the expressed prostatic fluid of prostates of men with carcinoma compared to those with histological BPH. This finding may be a functional manifestation of a field change or paracrine effects within the prostate.     

Treatment of the production waste water of Konstantinovka Refractory Plant

Conclusions The coagulating action of aluminum sulfate and of the combination of it with polyacrylamide on a suspension of chamotte and clay, leading to a significant increase in particle size of the dispersed phase, was investigated.The presence of a threshold value of the addition of coagulant as an important production parameter determining the unstable suspension type sedimentation of particles was shown.To disturb the stability of the systems and to accelerate the clarification process of waste waters contaminated with chamotte and clay the necessary additions of reagents are 25–50 mg/liter of aluminum sulfate and 5 mg/liter of polyacrylamide.Translated from Ogneupory, No. 6, pp. 42–44, June, 1985.     

Neurologic evaluation of the equine head and neurogenic dysphagia

Neurologic evaluation should be performed in horses with diseases of the head. Although neurologic examination should focus on assessing behavior, mental status, and cranial nerve evaluation, evaluation of neurologic function of other body regions should be performed. Neurologic evaluation of the head can be performed expediently by practitioners to provide useful diagnostic and prognostic information. The numerous causes of dysphagia can be classified as obstructive, painful, or neurogenic. Common causes of neurogenic dysphagia are summarized, and methods for initial diagnosis and management are described. Maintaining adequate nutrition and preventing aspiration pneumonia are principal concerns in managing horses with neurogenic dysphagia.     

Alternative measures of pesticide use

tRNA (m5U54)-methyltransferase (RUMT) catalyzes the S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methylation of uridine-54 in the T psi C-loop of all transfer RNAs in E. coli to form the 54-ribosylthymine residue. However, in all tRNA structures, residue 54 is completely buried and the question arises as to how RUMT gains access to the methylation site. A 17-mer RNA hairpin consisting of nucleotides 49-65 of the T psi-loop is a substrate for RUMT. Homonuclear NMR methods in conjunction with restrained molecular dynamics (MD) methods were used to determine the solution structure of the 17-mer T-arm fragment. The loop of the hairpin exhibits enhanced flexibility which renders the conventional NMR average structure less useful compared to the more commonly found situation where a molecule exists in predominantly one major conformation. However, when resorting to softer refinement methods such as MD with time-averaged restraints, the conflicting restraints in the loop can be satisfied much better. The dynamic structure of the T-arm is represented as an ensemble of 10 time-clusters. In all of these, U54 is completely exposed. The flexibility of the T psi-loop in solution in conjunction with extensive binding studies of RUMT with the T psi C-loop and tRNA suggest that the specificity of the RUMT/ tRNA recognition is associated with tRNA tertiary structure elements. For the methylation, RUMT would simply have to break the tertiary interactions between the D- and T-loops, leading to a melting of the T-arm structure and making U54 available for methylation.     

Truncated human endothelin receptor A produced by alternative splicing and its expression in melanoma

PURPOSE: Traumatic sphincter disruption frequently is associated with a rectovaginal fistula, but the effect of a persistent sphincter defect on the outcome of rectovaginal fistula repair is poorly documented. We analyzed the outcome of rectovaginal fistula repairs based on preoperative sphincter status. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 52 women who underwent 62 repairs of simple obstetrical rectovaginal fistulas between 1992 and 1995. Fourteen patients (27 percent) had preoperative endoanal ultrasound studies and 25 (48 percent) had anal manometry studies. Follow-up was by mailed questionnaire in 36 patients (69 percent) and by telephone interview in 12 (23 percent), for a total response rate of 92 percent. Median age was 30.5 (range, 18-70) years, and median follow-up was 15 (range, 0.5-123) months. Twenty-five patients (48 percent) complained of varying degrees of fecal incontinence before surgery. There were 27 endorectal advancement flaps and 35 sphincteroplasties (28 with and 8 without levatoroplasty). RESULTS: Success rates were 41 percent with endorectal advancement flaps and 80 percent with sphincteroplasties (96 percent success with and 33 percent without levatoroplasty; P = 0.0001). Endorectal advancement flap was successful in 50 percent of patients with normal sphincter function but in only 33 percent of patients with abnormal sphincter function (P = not significant). For sphincteroplasties, success rates were 73 vs. 84 percent for normal and abnormal sphincter function, respectively (P = not significant). Results were better after sphincteroplasties vs. endorectal advancement flaps in patients with sphincter defects identified by endoanal ultrasound (88 vs. 33 percent; P = not significant) and by manometry (86 vs. 33 percent; P = not significant). Poor results correlated with prior surgery in patients undergoing endorectal advancement flaps (45 percent vs. 25 percent; P = not significant) but not sphincteroplasties (80 vs. 75 percent; P = not significant). CONCLUSIONS: All patients with rectovaginal fistula should undergo preoperative evaluation for occult sphincter defects by endoanal ultrasound or anal manometry or both procedures. Local tissues are inadequate for endorectal advancement flap repairs in patients with sphincter defects and a history of previous repairs. Patients with clinical or anatomic sphincter defects should be treated by sphincteroplasty with levatoroplasty.     

Fate of wheat bound malathion residues in rats during gestation

Malathion [S-1,2-di(ethoxycarbonyl) ethyl 0,0-dimethyl phosphorodithioate], treated wheat when stored for 28 months at 20 degrees C with or without food grade white mineral oil on grains contained about 62 and 79% of the applied insecticide as bound residues, respectively. These bound residues were present mainly in the form of the parent compound. The stored wheat containing bound malathion residues, as well as wheat material freshly spiked with malathion were fed to rats during gestation. No residues of malathion and/or metabolites were detected in urine, feces and body tissues. Further no significant effect on body weight, serum chemistry and cytochrome P450 levels were observed in the mothers. There was no evidence for the histopathological alteration or teratogenic anomalies in the fetuses. However, placental transfer of malathion was indicated by the presence of the insecticide residues in fetuses from rats fed wheat material containing bound residues.     

Gastric microbleeding following single and repeated dosing with naproxen

Our previous study provided evidence that higher serum levels of the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1, 25-D), might possibly slow the progression of subclinical to clinically significant prostate cancer in both black and white men, especially after age 57. This paper extends the prior study by contrasting seasonal variation in 1,25-D and its precursor, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-D), in case and control subjects. In addition, the risk of prostate cancer is related to serum levels of vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) and total dehydroepiandrosterone and to polymorphic variation in VDBP. The expected elevated summer levels of 25-D were seen in case and control subjects and, as expected, 1,25-D did not vary throughout the year in the control subjects. Unexpectedly, lower case levels of 1,25-D were limited largely to the summer months (P = 0.01) in both black and white cases and to cases greater than or equal to the median age of 57 years. Levels of VDBP and dehydroepiandrosterone and the frequencies of VDBP polymorphisms were similar in case and control subjects, although striking differences were seen in allelic frequencies in black and white men. These observations provide additional evidence that vitamin D metabolism may impact the risk of prostate cancer.