The role of gammadelta T lymphocytes in lipopolysaccharide-induced eosinophil accumulation into the mouse pleural cavity

LPS induces an accumulation of eosinophils in the pleural cavity that requires resident macrophages and lymphocytes, but is independent of IL-5 production. In the present study we investigated the involvement of different T lymphocyte subsets on the modulation of LPS-induced eosinophil accumulation into the pleural cavity of mice. Within 4 h after LPS injection the number of neutrophils in the pleural cavity increased significantly. Mononuclear cell counts increased after 12 h, while a significant rise on eosinophil counts was observed only after 24 h. T lymphocytes counts were increased in the pleural cavity 24 and 48 h after LPS administration. This T lymphocyte accumulation was accounted for by an influx of the gammadelta+ subset, while CD4+ and CD8+ subsets did not accumulate in the pleural cavity after LPS stimulation. All those changes had resolved 96 h after LPS injection. Depletion of T lymphocytes by treatment with mAb anti-Thy 1.0 inhibited the eosinophil accumulation triggered by LPS. Aiming to clarify which T lymphocyte subset would be involved in the LPS-induced eosinophil accumulation, we depleted mice of various T lymphocyte subpopulations using specific Abs. Depletion of either CD4+ or CD8+ subsets failed to inhibit LPS-induced eosinophil migration. In contrast, when mice were treated with anti-gammadelta+ T lymphocyte mAb, a significant reduction of LPS-induced eosinophil accumulation was observed. Similarly, the administration of LPS in BALB/c-nu/nu mice induced the expected significant influx of eosinophils into the pleural cavity. Our results indicate that the gammadelta+ T lymphocytes are centrally involved in LPS-induced eosinophil accumulation in mice.     

Protective antibodies and anamnestic response in Salvelinus fontinalis to Cryptobia salmositica and innate resistance of Salvelinus namaycush to the hemoflagellate

Cryptobia-susceptible Salvelinus fontinalis vaccinated with a live Cryptobia salmositica vaccine were protected against C. salmositica and they were still protected 53 wk after their initial challenge. Parasites were lysed when they were incubated with immune plasma and complement and this confirms that complement-fixing antibody is an important part of the protective mechanism. Immunological memory was demonstrated in both vaccinated-challenged, and infected-recovered S. fontinalis as there were rapid and significant increases in complement-fixing antibody titers after parasite challenge. This indicates that S. fontinalis are capable of an anamnestic response. Most naive Salvelinus namaycush were not susceptible to C. salmositica infection, and their fresh plasma lysed C. salmositica under in vitro conditions. The lytic factor(s) was inactivated by heating the plasma prior to parasite incubation. This indicates that the alternate pathway of complement activation is likely the mechanism of innate resistance in S. namaycush.     

Selective ablation of rat knee joint innervation with injected immunotoxin: a potential new model for the study of neuropathic arthritis

Neuropathic arthropathy is a severe chronic degenerative condition associated with decreased or absent sensory innervation of the involved joint. Existing animal models of neuropathic arthritis are limited by the technical difficulties of obtaining either highly selective or complete joint denervation in a minimally invasive fashion. We undertook experiments to determine the feasibility of using the newly described method of selective neuronal lesioning with injected immunotoxin as a means of creating a more tractable model of neuropathic arthritis. Retrograde tracing with fluorochrome revealed that the knee joint of the female Wistar rat is supplied by 581 +/- 31 (mean +/- SD) joint afferents. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that virtually all sensory neurons in the rat express the cell surface receptor Thy 1. Injection of rat knee joints with an immunotoxin targeted toward Thy 1 resulted in the selective ablation of an average of 88% of the joint afferents identified with fluorochrome that are normally found in the ipsilateral L3 and L4 ganglia.     

Hierarchy of lens proteins requiring protection against heat-induced precipitation by the alpha crystallin chaperone

Tooth to denture base discrepancy (the discrepancy) is the difference between the dental arch length and the sum of crown diameters of teeth in the jaw, a concept which was originally developed in orthodontics. Since the cause-effect relationship between a soft diet and the discrepancy has been demonstrated, the size of the discrepancy should indicate the amount of load on the masticatory system from chewing foods in jaws from archaeological periods. The dietary condition of 71 citizens compared to that of 186 slaves from the Yin-Shang period of China was reconstructed through a study of the discrepancy. The prevalence of the discrepancy in the Yin-Shang period was around 15%, almost the same as it was during the later Jomon to Yayoi (3000-2000 BP) periods, when rice agriculture was introduced into Japan, and also the same as for present-day pastoralists around Lake Turkana, Kenya. Although the frequency of the discrepancy was slightly higher in male citizens, there were no significant differences in the frequencies between male citizens and female citizens or slaves. The differences in diet may not have been fundamental since the Yin-Shang period would be at the very beginning of the age in which differences of diet according social class began to appear, with implications for the load on the masticatory system. At that time agriculture may not been sufficiently intensified in variety or quantity to have produced a differentiation of the diet between social classes.     

C2H2-171: a novel human cDNA representing a developmentally regulated POZ domain/zinc finger protein preferentially expressed in brain

We describe a novel human zinc finger cNDA. C2H2-171. This cDNA represents an mRNA which encodes a protein of 484 amino acids and a calculated molecular weight of 54 kD. Four zinc finger-like domains are found in the C-terminal end of the protein. At the N-terminus, C2H2-171 contains a POZ/tramtrack-like domain similar to that found in the tumor associated zinc finger proteins LAZ-3/BCL-6 and PLZ-F, as well as in non-zinc finger proteins. C2H2-171 RNA is preferentially expressed in the brain, and increases during the course of murine development, with maximal expression in the adult. C2H2-171 RNA is differentially expressed in brain regions, with the highest level of expression in the cerebellum. C2H2-171 RNA was expressed at high levels in primary cerebellar granule cell neurons compared to astrocytes. The gene encoding C2H2-171 is highly conserved in vertebrates, and maps to the terminus of human chromosome 1 (1q44-ter). This chromosomal location is associated with a number of cytogenetic aberrations including those involving brain developmental anomalies and tumorigenesis. These data suggest that C2H2-171 may play an important role in vertebrate brain development and function.     

Expired air temperature during prolonged exercise in cool- and hot-humid environments

The purpose of this investigation was to measure expired air temperature under cool- and hot-humid environmental conditions at rest and during prolonged exercise to: (1) establish if significant increases in body core temperature affected expired air temperature, and (2) to determine if the temperature setting for heating the pneumotachometer in an open-circuit system requires adjustment during prolonged exercise tests to account for changes in expired air temperature. Six male distance runners completed two tests in cool-humid [dry bulb temperature (Tdb) 15.5 (SD 1.3) degrees C, wet bulb temperature (TWb) 12.1 (SD 1.4) degrees C] and hot-humid [Tdb 31.6 (SD 0.6) degrees C, TWb 24.9 (SD 0.6) degrees C, black globe temperature (Tg) 34.3 (SD 0.3) degrees C] environments, running at a velocity corresponding to 65% [67.1 (SD 2.82)%] of their maximal oxygen uptake. Rectal temperature and expired air temperatures were compared at rest, and after 30 min and 60 min of exercise for each environment. The main finding of this investigation was a significant (P < 0.05) but small increase in expired air temperature between the 30-min and 60-min measures in the hot-humid environment. No significant differences in expired air temperature were found between the 30-min and 60-min measures in the cool-humid environment. These findings suggest that: (1) expired air temperature is influenced by elevations in body core temperature during prolonged exercise in hot-humid conditions, and (2) that the temperature setting for heating the head of the pneumotachometer (after determining the appropriate temperature through measuring expired air temperature for the set environmental condition) may require adjustment during prolonged exercise trials in hot-humid environmental conditions.     

Association between HLA class II genotype and spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C viraemia

The efficiency and reliability of radioactive fucose as a specific label for newly synthesized glycoproteins were investigated. Young adult male rabbits were injected intravitreally with [3H]-fucose, [3H]-galactose. [3H]-mannose, N-acetyl-[3H]-glucosamine or N-acetyl-[3H]-mannosamine, and killed 40 h after injection. In another series of experiments rabbits were injected with either [3H]-fucose or several tritiated amino acids and the specific activity of the vitreous proteins was determined. Vitreous samples were also processed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and histological sections of retina, ciliary body and lens (the eye components around the vitreous body) were processed for radioautography. The specific activity (counts per minute per microgram of protein) of the glycoproteins labeled with [3H]-fucose was always much higher than that of the proteins labeled with any of the other monosaccharides or any of the amino acids. There was a good correlation between the specific activity of the proteins labeled by any of the above precursors and the density of the vitreous protein bands detected by fluorography. This was also true for the silver grain density on the radioautographs of the histological sections of retina, ciliary body and lens. The contribution of radioautography (after [3H]-fucose administration) to the elucidation of the biogenesis of lysosomal and membrane glycoproteins and to the determination of the intracellular process of protein secretion was reviewed. Radioactive fucose is the precursor of choice for studying glycoprotein secretion because it is specific, efficient and practical for this purpose.     

Suitability of patient education materials for cardiac catheterization

Changes in healthcare delivery for such diagnostic procedures as cardiac catheterization have resulted in an emphasis on patient self-study, using booklets and videotapes given to them before the procedure. This transition mandates an evaluation of the appropriateness and effectiveness of these materials. The purpose of this study was to systematically assess the suitability of materials used to prepare patients for cardiac catheterization. Three videotapes and four booklets were evaluated using the Suitability Assessment of Materials instrument. Concrete objective information (procedural and sensation information) was also evaluated. Scores revealed only one video and two booklets suitable for patient education. None received a superior rating. These results suggest that some patient educational materials used to prepare patients for cardiac catheterization are unsuitable. Clinicians should augment current suitable materials to enhance their effectiveness.