Purulent infection and sepsis in surgical patients

The problems of pathogenesis, clinic and treatment of general purulent infection and sepsis are discussed. 1045 patients with different purulent diseases were observed by the author. Sepsis was diagnosed in 18 patients, that made 1.7 per cent to a total number of observations. Among these septic patients 8 patients died.     

Distribution of aflatoxins in some samples of peanuts

Naturally occurring G aflatoxins were found at approximately 20 times the level of B aflatoxins in one lot of roasted, blanched peanuts. Official methods, as well as high-pressure liquid chromatography, were used to confirm this finding. Additional routine sample analysis data of raw and roasted peanuts revealed that this finding is not so unusual formerly thought. It was found that 9.8% of the raw peanut samples contained higher levels of G than B aflatoxin; 4.9% containing 2-8 times more G than B aflatoxins. In a smaller sampling of roasted peanuts, 28% of the contaminated peanuts contained more G than B aflatoxins.     

Creation of additional left ventricular tract in female patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy]

We report a case of Guillain-Barré syndrome and associated cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy. A 15-year-old black adolescent had progressive ascending paralysis and vague sensory symptoms during week 10 of her first pregnancy. Diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome was confirmed by electrophysiologic findings consistent with acute demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. A mild elevation of anti-GM1 antibodies was also detected. The patient improved with plasmapheresis treatment; however, fetal death occurred 10 weeks later. Cytomegalovirus placentitis was confirmed histologically. Acute demyelinating polyneuropathy during pregnancy warrants consideration of a concomitant, primary maternal and fetal cytomegalovirus infection.     

Correlation of polyamine and growth responses to N1,N11-diethylnorspermine in primary fetal fibroblasts derived from transgenic mice overexpressing spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase

A recently generated transgenic mouse line having activated polyamine catabolism due to systemic overexpression of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) was used to isolate primary fetal fibroblasts as a means to further elucidate the cellular consequences of activated polyamine catabolism. Basal levels of SSAT activity and steady-state mRNA in the transgenic fibroblasts were about approximately 20- and approximately 40-fold higher than in non-transgenic fibroblasts. Consistent with activated polyamine catabolism, there was an overaccumulation of putrescine and N1-acetylspermidine and a decrease in spermidine and spermine pools. Treatment with the polyamine analogue N1,N11-diethylnorspermine (DENSPM) increased SSAT activity in the transgenic fibroblasts approximately 380-fold, whereas mRNA increased only approximately 3-fold, indicating post-mRNA regulation. SSAT activity in the nontransgenic fibroblasts increased approximately 200-fold. By Western blot, enzyme protein was found to increase approximately 46 times higher in the treated transgenic fibroblasts than non-transgenic fibroblasts: a value comparable to 36-fold differential in enzyme activity. With DENSPM treatment, spermidine pools were more rapidly depleted in the transgenic fibroblasts than in nontransgenic fibroblasts. Similarly, transgenic fibroblasts were much more sensitive to DENSPM-induced growth inhibition. This was not diminished by co-treatment with an inhibitor of polyamine oxidase, suggesting that growth inhibition was due to polyamine depletion per se as opposed to oxidative stress. Since the two fibroblasts were genetically identical except for the transgene, the various metabolic and growth response differences are directly attributable to overexpression of SSAT.