Failure to cure Mycobacterium gordonae peritonitis associated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are increasingly recognized as important pathogens in peritonitis associated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Mycobacterium gordonae rarely causes human infection and is the least likely mycobacterium to produce clinical infection in CAPD patients. We describe a patient with persistent M. gordonae peritonitis acquired while undergoing CAPD. During 18 months of treatment, clinical improvement occurred but a microbiological cure could not be achieved. Principles of therapy for mycobacterial peritonitis developing during CAPD are reviewed, and potential explanations for our patient's failure to respond to therapy are discussed.     

Purification of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane protein phospholamban from recombinant Escherichia coli

Phospholamban (PLN) was expressed in Escherichia coli as a protein fusion with glutathione S-transferase (GST). GST-PLN was mostly present in the insoluble protein fraction and accounted for approximately 50% of total insoluble protein. Attempts to suppress inclusion body formation or to use GST as an affinity-purification tag failed. A successful purification method is based on preparative SDS/PAGE and electrodialysis. From 1 g cells we typically purified 13.5 mg fusion protein with a PLN content of 2.8 mg. We genetically inserted an enterokinase (EK) protease site just in front of the PLN sequence and demonstrated the proteolytical liberation of PLN from the carrier protein. The approach described represents a substantial advancement in PLN expression and purification.     

Anti-D in a D-positive renal transplant patient

PURPOSE: We report a case of postoperative reparalysis in the recovery room, following nebulized epinephrine. The patient was pharmacologically reversed with edrophonium after paralysis with rocuronium. CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 12-yr-old girl developed postoperative reparalysis following the intraoperative administration of rocuronium. A total of 0.92 mg.kg-1 rocuronium was administered. After surgery, pharmacological reversal was achieved with 20 mg edrophonium with 0.15 mg atropine sulfate iv 35 min after the last administration of rocuronium. Muscular relaxation was monitored using an ulnar peripheral nerve stimulator (PNS). After reversal, a full train-of-four and sustained tetanus at 50 Hz were present. In the recovery room, following nebulized epinephrine, the patient became apneic. The patient was paralyzed and an ulnar PNS demonstrated only one faint twitch. The paralysis was reversed with 1.5 mg neostigmine with 0.3 mg glycopyrrolate. CONCLUSION: Postoperative reparalysis following rocuronium may be a cause of postoperative respiratory distress. The definitive diagnosis is made using PNS and observing the response to pharmacological reversal. Nebulized epinephrine may have a previously undescribed role in the development of postoperative reparalysis.     

Autoimmunity caused by disruption of central T cell tolerance. A murine model of drug-induced lupus

A side effect of therapy with procainamide and numerous other medications is a lupus-like syndrome characterized by autoantibodies directed against denatured DNA and the (H2A-H2B)-DNA subunit of chromatin. We tested the possibility that an effect of lupus-inducing drugs on central T cell tolerance underlies these phenomena. Two intrathymic injections of procainamide-hydroxylamine (PAHA), a reactive metabolite of procainamide, resulted in prompt production of IgM antidenatured DNA antibodies in C57BL/6xDBA/2 F1 mice. Subsequently, IgG antichromatin antibodies began to appear in the serum 3 wk after the second injection and were sustained for several months. Specificity, inhibition and blocking studies demonstrated that the PAHA-induced antibodies showed remarkable specificity to the (H2A-H2B)-DNA complex. No evidence for polyclonal B cell activation could be detected based on enumeration of Ig-secreting B cells and serum Ig levels, suggesting that a clonally restricted autoimmune response was induced by intrathymic PAHA. The IgG isotype of the antichromatin antibodies indicated involvement of T cell help, and proliferative responses of splenocytes to oligonucleosomes increased up to 100-fold. As little as 5 microM PAHA led to a 10-fold T cell proliferative response to chromatin in short term organ culture of neonatal thymi. We suggest that PAHA interferes with self-tolerance mechanisms accompanying T cell maturation in the thymus, resulting in the emergence of chromatin-reactive T cells followed by humoral autoimmunity.     

Scarring trachoma is associated with polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene promoter and with elevated TNF-alpha levels in tear fluid

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) may play a central role in the disease pathogenesis which occurs as a consequence of chlamydial infection. To investigate the importance of TNF-alpha gene promoter polymorphisms and TNF-alpha levels in tear fluid in scarring trachoma, a large matched-pair case-control study was performed in The Gambia. The -308A allele was present in a higher proportion of patients (28.4%) than controls (18.4%), with an increasing association for homozygotes (chi2 for trend, P = 0.032; allele frequency, 0.163 in patients and 0.099 in controls; chi2, P = 0.025). For the -238A allele, the association was similar but not significant. The disease association was highly significant when the number of either -308A or -238A sites in an individual was considered (P = 0.003). TNF-alpha promoter alleles are tightly linked to some HLA class I and II alleles, but multivariate analysis confirmed that the disease associations were independent of HLA, although a class I allele, A*6802, is also associated with disease. TNF-alpha was more frequently detected in tear samples from patients (27.6%) than from controls (15.9%), increasingly so for higher levels of detectable TNF-alpha (P = 0.015). Among patients, detectable TNF-alpha in tears was highly associated with the presence of ocular chlamydial infection (P < 0.001). The results indicate that TNF-alpha plays a major role in the tissue damage and scarring which occurs as a consequence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection.     

Antibody against synthetic rat PTH peptide (1-34) blocks PTH-mediated cAMP formation and phosphate transport in opossum kidney cells

The expression of the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors was investigated by Western blot analysis and RT-PCR in cultured chick Bergmann and Müller glial cells. Using subunit-specific antibodies directed to the carboxy terminus of the rat NMDAR2A/B we detected the expression of the NMDAR2 subunit in both kinds of culture. The functional subunit of the NMDA receptor, NMDAR1, was detected by means of RT-PCR. These results, together with our previous functional characterization of NMDA receptors in radial glia, provide conclusive evidence for the expression of functional NMDA receptor/channels in Bergmann and Muller glia cells. Our findings strengthen the notion of a modulatory role of glial cells in synaptic transmission.     

A delta transform approach to loop gain-phase shaping design of robust digital control systems

This paper addresses the existence of loop gain-phase shaping (LGPS) solutions for the design of robust digital control systems for SISO, minimum-phase, continuous-time processes with parametric uncertainty. We develop the frequency response properties of LGPS for discrete-time systems using the Δ-transform, a transform method that applies to both continuous-time and discrete-time systems. A theorem is presented which demonstrates that for reasonable specifications there always exists a sampling period such that the robust digital control problem has a solution. Finally, we offer a procedure for estimating the maximum feasible sampling period for LGPS solutions to robust digital control problems.     

Epidermal growth factor induces terminal differentiation in human epidermoid carcinoma cells

In this study, spermatogenesis in the adult Djungarian hamster is described. Undifferentiated spermatogonia topographically arranged as Asingle (A(s)), Apaired (Apr), and Aaligned (Aal) spermatogonia were observed, as were six generations of differentiating spermatogonia (A1, A2, A3, intermediate, B1, and B2). The differentiating spermatogonia divided at regular intervals during the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. Mitosis of these cells was observed at the transition from stage IX to stage X (mitosis of A1 into A2 spermatogonia), at the transition from stage XII to stage I, at the transition from stage II to stage III, at the transition from stage IV to stage V, at the end of stage VI, and at approximately the middle of stage VII. Cellular associations in the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium are described. The seminiferous epithelium was divided into 12 stages, based upon the developmental steps in spermiogenesis, and the frequency of these stages was determined. The duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation, was shown to be 7.90 +/- 0.01 (mean +/- SEM) days.