Further studies on the susceptibility of raccoons (Procyon lotor) to a rabies virus of skunk origin and comparative susceptibility of striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis)

Two raccoons (Procyon lotor) were inoculated in the masseter muscles with 10(5.9) mouse intracerebral lethal dose50 (MICD50) of a rabies virus isolated from a naturally infected Iowa (USA) striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). Five striped skunks were inoculated with either 10(0.7) or 10(2.1) MICLD50 of the same isolate. All five skunks died within 35 days following inoculation. Both raccoons survived 273 days without adverse effects, and virus was not isolated from saliva samples taken at between 25 and 273 days following inoculation.     

Relationship between cardioventilatory coupling and respiratory sinus arrhythmia

The clinical data, microbiological results and antibiotic treatment of 65 children who have required incision and drainage of suppurative head and neck abscesses was retrospectively investigated with the aim of developing a more effective clinical protocol of treatment, improving speed of resolution and rationalizing the need for surgical intervention. A positive culture grew in 78% of children and of these 45% were Staphylococcus aureus, 9% Streptococcus pyogenes, and 8% atypical mycobacteria. Only 3% of the samples grew anaerobes. All isolates of S. aureus were sensitive to Flucloxacillin and all isolates of S. pyogenes were sensitive to penicillin. All anaerobes were Metronidazole sensitive. In 40% of the children there were no localizing symptoms which could guide the treatment, therefore we recommend Flucloxacillin and Metronidazole as the antibiotic regimen of choice in acute suppurative lymphadenitis. The increasing incidence of atypical mycobacterial lymphadenitis is noteworthy.     

Postnatal changes in the cranial base in rabbits with congenital coronal suture synostosis

115 patients with non-immune (IgE-negative) urticaria, related to parasitic (lambliasis, oxyuriasis, ascaridiasis) or fungal (candidiasis) associations were investigated-both before and one month after specific and antihistaminic therapy-concerning different percentage levels of blood lymphocyte sets and subsets, by means of flow cytometry. Before therapy, three kinds of immune deficiency patients were obtained, one in lambliasis and oxyuriasis, the second in ascaridiasis, and the third in candidiasis, respectively. Clinical, biological and immunological recovering after therapy exhibited some differences related to the presumed non-allergic etiology, i.e. better in lambliasis and oxyuriasis and worse in ascaridiasis and candidiasis.     

Immunocytochemical localization of polyamines in the tiger salamander retina

The polyamines spermine and spermidine are present in neural tissue, but their functions there are not well understood. Recent work suggests that the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors, other glutamate receptor subtypes, and certain K(+)-channels, are neural targets for polyamines. To better understand the neuron-specific roles of polyamines, we have developed antibodies that interact with spermine and spermidine in aldehyde-fixed tissue and used these antibodies in immunocytochemical studies to determine the cellular localization of these polyamines in the tiger salamander retina. The affinity-purified, polyclonal antibodies were highly specific for spermine and spermidine, exhibiting < 1% cross reactivity with putrescine, and virtually no cross-reactivity with GABA, arginine, lysine, or glutaraldehyde. Polyamine labeling was most abundant in cells in the inner half of the inner nuclear layer and in the ganglion cell layer. Some cells in the outer half of the inner nuclear layer are labeled, and there was some labeling in both synaptic layers. Double-labeling experiments indicated (1) all GABAergic amacrine cells were polyamine-positive; and (2) all ganglion cells (identified by back-filling after microinjections of rhodamine in the optic nerve) were polyamine-positive. These results are consistent with a role for polyamines as modulators of NMDA receptor function and channel function in the inner retina.     

Enzyme activity and organ development in newly hatched chicks selected for high or low eight-week body weight

Nicotiana tabacum protoplasts have been transformed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens containing a T-DNA in which the gene CYP51A1 encoding lanosterol-14-demethylase (LAN14DM) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae is under the control of a cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. Two transformants strongly expressed the LAN14DM as shown by Northern and Western experiments. These transgenic calli were killed by LAB 170250F (LAB) (a phytotoxic fungicide inhibiting both plant obtusifoliol-14-demethylase (OBT14DM) and LAN14DM) but were resistant to gamma-ketotriazole (gamma-kt), a herbicide which has been shown to inhibit OBT14DM but not LAN14DM at a concentration that was lethal to control calli. However, these transgenic calli were killed by mixtures of gamma-kt plus fungicide inhibitors of LAN14DM such as ketoconazole, itraconazole or flusilazole which alone were not effective. Further analysis of the transgenic calli grown in the presence of gamma-kt showed that their delta 5-sterol content was close to that of untreated control calli obtained from protoplasts transformed with control plasmid; this is in agreement with evidence that the LAN14DM expressed from the transgene could bypass the blocked OBT14DM by using the plant substate obtusifoliol. In contrast, control calli when treated with gamma-kt, displayed a sterol content strongly enriched in 14 alpha-methyl sterols and depressed in physiological delta 5-sterols. When the transgenic calli were cultured in mixtures of gamma-kt and LAN14DM inhibitors sterol compositions enriched in 14 alpha-methyl sterols were obtained, reflecting a strong inhibition of both 'endogenous' OBT14DM and 'exogenous' LAN14DM. Taken together these results show that in tobacco calli transformed with CYP51A1, resistance to a triazole herbicide arises from expression of a functional LAN14DM enzyme; its activity in transgenic tissues creates a bypass of the sterol biosynthetic pathway at the 14-demethylase level when this latter is blocked by an OBT14DM herbicide inhibitor.     

Influence of inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis on venoconstrictor responses to bradykinin

The interrelationship between prostaglandins (PGs) and bradykinin (BK) was studied in isolated canine saphenous veins. The hypothesis that PGs mediate the venoconstrictor effect of bradykinin was evaluated by determining the influence of low concentrations of indomethacin (Indo) (1 muM) or eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraynoic acid (ETA) (3 muM), two inhibitors of PG synthesis, on cumulative concentration-response curves for BK or norepinephrine (NE). In the tissue bath, responses to BK improved with time while responses to NE did not vary. When strips were least responsive to BK, Indo and ETA enhanced these responses. When strips were most responsive to BK, neither inhibitor enhanced the responses. Neither Indo nor ETA altered responses to NE. Phentolamine (10(-8) M) did not alter responses to BK. These data suggest that endogenous PGs act to attenuate, rather than mediate, the venoconstrictor response to BK. Progressive enhancement of responses to BK of untreated saphenous vein strips is associated with a decreased ability of inhibitors of PG synthesis to enhance those responses also. Thus, there may be a time-related decrease in the ability of this preparation to synthesize PGs. From the present results, it cannot be determined whether saphenous veins in vivo are highly responsive or relatively unresponsive to the peptide. However, these data do suggest that PGs are a determinant of venous responsiveness to BK.