Primary and secondary synovial chondrometaplasia: histopathologic and clinicoradiologic differences.

One hundred thirty-six cases diagnosed clinically as either synovial chondrometaplasia or osteocartilaginous loose bodies were reviewed. On the basis of the histopathologic peculiarities, the cases were grouped into two distinct categories, primary and secondary synovial chondrometaplasia, comprising 10 and 126 cases, respectively. In each group there was synovial chondrometaplasia but the histologic patterns were dissimilar. In cases of secondary synovial chondrometaplasia the initiating factors were usually obvious and the lesions were nonaggressive. Primary synovial chondrometaplasia, on the other hand, was aggressive and was associated with a high incidence of recurrence.


Papillary tumor of the heart: incidental finding at surgery.

A large papillary endocardial "tumor" of the heart was resected during surgery for closure of an interventricular septal defect in an adult. The theories of pathogenesis of papillary "tumors" of the heart are briefly reviewed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a papillary tumor resected at surgery.


Villous polyps of the urethra: a report of two cases.

Two patients with villous polyps of the prostatic urethra are described. The article supports previous observations that the lesion has the morphologic appearance of prostatic tissue. A review of the literature reveals that this rare lesion appears to be specific for the prostatic urethra and behaves as a benign tumor.


Partial trisomy 3q.

A new case of partial trisomy 3q is reported in a 5-year-old female with severe congenital malformations and psychomotor retardation. A review of the literature, with a total of 11 patients, allows us to conclude that the clinical picture reminiscent of the Cornelia de Lange syndrome is caused by the trisomic state.


A case of 21q--syndrome with normal SOD-1 activity.

A female infant with del(21)(pter leads to q22.1--2:) constitution identified by G, Q, and R banding is reported. She had marked mental and physical retardation, generalized hypertonia, microphthalmia with persistent hypoplastic primary vitreous, blepharochalasia, high nasal bridge, micrognathia, malformed ears with preauricular pits, and overlying fingers. The assay for superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) activity in the patient revealed a normal value and it was suggested that the gene locus for SOD-1 in 21q22.2 leads to qter is not compatible with the presence of the gene dosage effect in the monosomic state.


Properties of residual catalase in the erythrocytes of Japanese-type acatalasemia.

In Japanese-type acatalasemia erythrocytes, the presence and properties of residual catalase were determined and compared with those of normal erythrocyte catalase. Residual catalase activity was proved by titration, active staining after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and measurement of oxygen evolution. Residual catalase protein, demonstrated by double immunodiffusion, was similar to that of normal catalase. The properties of residual catalase activity were identical with those of normal catalase activity. It occurred as three fractions of equal specific activity by DEAE column chromatography. These observations suggest that Japanese-type acatalasemia contains residual catalase with properties similar to those of normal catalase.


Familial transmission of preauricular fistula in a seven generation Indian pedigree.

Familial occurrence of fistula auris congenita (ear pits) is described in a Muslin kindred of Indian origin. The pedigree was traced through seven generations. The abnormality appeared in sixty individuals comparising equal number of males and females. No sexual dimorphism was indicated in the expression of the trait, which occurred bilaterally as a small pit just anterior to the crus at the root of the ascending helix. The abnormality was found to be inherited through an autosomal dominant gene with incomplete penetrance. The expression of the trait does not show any dosage effect.


Population genetic studies of the Aka pygmies (Central Africa): a survey of red cell and serum enzymes.

Blood samples collected in a single Pygmy tribe, the Aka, living in Bokoka district (Central African Empire) were investigated with respect to the phenotype and gene frequencies of the following 12 enzyme systems: acid phosphatase, adenosine deaminase, adenylate kinase, carbonic anhydrase, esterase D, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucomutase 1, phosphoglucomutase 2, phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, superoxide dismutase and serum cholinesterase variants (locus E1 and E2). The data obtained in the study of genetic polymorphisms of this isolated and inbred population show a specific pattern with the following characteristics: the very low frequency of PGDB and pa alleles; the existence of two rare PGM variants at the PGM2 locus, typical PGM26Pyg (4.2%) and PGM29 (0.2%); the high frequency of the pr allele (10.8%) and CAII2 (8.22%) and ESD2 genes (18.4%). Furthermore, at the G6PD locus four distinct alleles have been found: the negroid GdA- (4%) and GdA+ (16%), the common GdB+ (79.2%)--, and the rare Gd+Ibadan Austin (0.7%). Cholinesterase typings disclosed the presence of the uncommon E1f and E1s genes distributed within a single breeding unit. The results are compared with other data previously reported on South African Khoisan and some Negroid populations; the particular genetic background of Pygmies is discussed.


'De novo' trisomy 16q11 to pter.

A de novo 16q- trisomy was found in a patient with severe mental retardation and mild physical abnormalities. A preliminary delineation the clinical features characteristic of trisomy 16q- is proposed, based upon comparison of the two cases identified so far. The mild phenotypical effects of this chromosome imbalance suggest that the alleged lethality of partial chromosome 16 aneuploidies should be reconsidered.


Distribution of glyoxalase I (GLO) variants in Western Europe and the Indian subcontinent.

English, Italian (including Sardinian), and Spanish populations from Europe and Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Punjabi, and other populations from the Indian subcontinent currently living either in Birmingham or in India were screened for electrophoretically detectable genetic variants of red cell glyoxalase I (GLO), and their frequencies were reported. All the western European populations investigated, including those reported, exhibited an incidence of close to 44% for the GLO1 gene. The frequency distribution of the GLO1 gene in various populations from the Indian subcontinent, in contrast, was found to range between 0.15 and 0.33. These observations suggest that the European populations in general are genetically more homogeneous than are the populations of the Indian subcontinent.


Sister chromatid exchanges in human leukocyte chromosomes: spontaneous and induced frequencies in early- and late-proliferating cells in vitro.

Human leukocyte cultures were pulse-treated with the trifunctional alkylating mutagen trenimon in a final concentration of 10(-7) M for 15--20 h after culture start, i.e., in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. At 24 h after culture start bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) was added to the trenimon-treated cultures and to several untreated cultures running in parallel. The series treated with BUdR only and the series treated with BUdR+trenimon were each used to prepare two cultures at different culture times. Mitoses were collected during consecutive intervals of 12 h from 30 h up to 102 h after culture initiation by colcemid. For all preparation times (42 h, 54 h, 66 h, 78 h, 90 h, and 102 h) the frequencies of first, second, and third and further mitoses were determined in the BUdR- and in the BUdR+trenimon-treated series. In the trenimon-treated series a clear cell cycle delay was detected as compared with the normal distribution of different types of mitoses found in series treated with BUdR only. Spontaneous and trenimon-induced sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies were determined in second mitoses occurring at 66 h, 78 h, 90 h, and 102 h after culture start. For all these preparation times about six SCE per metaphase were consistently found in BUdR-treated, and about 19 SCE per metaphase in BUdR+-trenimon-treated series, indicating a homogeneous sensitivity of early- and late-proliferating cells with respect to the induction of SCE.


Further analysis of the replication bypass model for sister chromatid exchange.

The replication bypass model for sister chromatid exchange (SCE) proposed by Shafer is examined in detail. When applied through two cell cycles, the model predicts that potentially observable SCEs induced during one S phase will then be cancelled and rendered undetectable during the subsequent S phase. This aspect of replication bypass is inconsistent with the observation of twin SCEs in tetraploid cells. Furthermore, the model cannot account for the efficient induction of SCEs by non-cross-linking chemical agents.


An estimate of genetic risk from 8-methoxypsoralen photochemotherapy.

A method based on a combination of cell culture and pharmacokinetic data is explored as a way of estimating the possible genetic risk to man from a mutagenic chemical. 8-methoxypsoralen, which is given to psoriasis patients as part of a photochemotherapy regime, is used, since it represents a 'real-life' situation and possesses properties that make it particularly amenable to this approach. It is concluded that treatment of males for a mean period of 10 years before their spermatozoa were involved in conception would increase the gene mutation rate in the male germ line by a factor of 0.00125. The implications of this for the incidence of sex-linked and dominant disease in man are elaborated and the assumptions and limitations are set out. The fragility of the estimates is emphasized.


Cytogenetic effects of replicating and nonreplicating strains of influenza virus on male germ cells of mice.

Evidence is presented to demonstrate that replicating (A2 and B) and nonreplicating (C) strains of influenza virus were capable of inducing higher percentages of chromosomes anomalies in spermatocytes of mice inoculated either IP or IN than were seen in controls.


Paracentric inversion in the short arm of chromosome 1.

A paracentric inversion of the short arm of chromosome 1 (inv(1)(p22p36)) is reported in a deeply mentally retarded 19-year-old girl and in her normal father.


Partial duplication of 17p. A new chromosomal syndrome.

An inherited partial duplication syndrome of 17p is described. A comparison of the symptoms of a de novo partial duplication of 17p (Latta and Hoo, 1974) and those of our own case seems to indicate a characteristic syndrome. The main features include a small-for-date baby born at full term, small stature, microcephaly, typical facial changes, a heart defect, contractures of different joints, and deformities of the feet. The patients show severe motor and mental retardation.


Computer-aided analysis of chromosomal aberrations occurring in an abnormal human karyotype.

A semi-automatic method for recognition of chromosomal changes is presented: from a coded description of an abnormal chromosome (formulated with the aid of an R-banding technique), a computer program makes simulations to reconstitute this chromosomal image from a group of normal chromosomes. Nine types of aberrations (see text) can thus be recognized and the aggregate structure of a group of abnormal chromosomes occurring in a human karyotype can also be rediscovered.


Chromosome distribution studies after inorganic lead exposure.

We studied the chromosome distribution in persons professionally exposed to inorganic lead. The degree of lead exposure was evaluated by biochemical measurements and cytogenetic analysis. The chromosome distribution was analyzed from trypsin banded karyotypes; in particular we studied centromere distances (delta2) and centromere-metaphase-center distances (d2) which were obtained by computer-aided mathematical transformation of the individual metaphase coordinates. Higher concentrations of blood lead and urine delta-ALA and a statistically significant increase in aneuploidy, hypoploidy, and type-B chromosome aberrations revealed appreciable exposure although none of the subjects showed signs of excessive lead absorption. However study of the chromosome distribution showed no major differences with that of the controls indicating that lead acts preferentially (directly or indirectly) on the chromosomes rather than on the spindle apparatus. A dissociation of the acrocentric chromosomes was observed in the lead group when compared with the controls. This is thought to reflect a secondary action of lead on the nucleolar organiser regions.


Possible trisomy 1q25 leads to 1q32 in a malformed girl with a de novo insertion in 1q.

A newborn female is described who exhibited a characteristic facial dysmorphology including deep-set eyes, broad nasal bridge, small mouth, high-arched and narrow palate, severly receding mandible and misshapen ears; constant flexion of the proximal interphalangeal joints, and short distal phalanges and nails of fingers; a congenital heart defect; marked muscular hypotonia, motor and growth retardation. She died at 4 months of age. Her karyotype revealed an additional band in 1q. Banding patterns and clinical picture suggest duplication of the segment 1q25 leads to 1q32.


Tertiary trisomy 14q--, due to paternal balanced translocation 46,XY,t(1;14)(q44;q22).

Retardation of growth and mental development, craniofacial dysmorphy, limb anomalies, cryptorchidism and repeated infections are observed in a child with 47,XY,+der(14),t(1;14)(q44;q22)pat.


Partial trisomy 4q in two unrelated cases.

Two unrelated cases of 4q trisomy are described with trisomic segment 4q25 leads to 4qter. The most conspicuous symptoms are psychomotor retardation, microcephaly, malformed ears, retrognathia, finger and toe malformations and cryptorchism in a male. Both cases are compared with 19 previously reported ones.


Quantitative studies on the arrangement of human metaphase chromosomes. VI. The association pattern of acrocentric chromosomes in patients with trisomy 13.

The association pattern was studied in 1182 mitoses of 21 patients with trisomy 13 and in a control group. In addition, 173 trisomic mitoses were compared with the same number of diploid mitoses in a case of mosaicism. The number of mitoses with associations was no higher in the trisomic cells than in cells with normal karyotypes. Some differences were observed in the frequency of associations per cell and of the types of associations in the patient group and in the trisomic cells of the mosaic case. The number of associations in which more than two acrocentric chromosomes were involved was unexpectedly low in the cells with a supernumerary chromosome 13. The results are interpreted as suggesting the existence of a compensatory mechanism activated by the additional acrocentric chromosome.


Karyotype instability with multiple 7/14 and 7/7 rearrangements.

Chromosomes were studied in a mentally retarded boy with microcephaly, growth retardation, facial erythema, café-au-lait spots, and IgA deficiency. In the lymphocytes there was a remarkable tendency to exchange parts of the chromosomes Nos. 7 and 14, the translocations almost exclusively taking place in bands 7p13, 7q32 and 14q11. Seven different types of rearrangements between Nos. 7 and 14, and some other chromosomal aberrations were found. No abnormalities could be detected in the bone marrow. The patient somewhat resembles those affected with ataxia-telangiectasia or with Bloom's syndrome, but on clinical and cytogenetic grounds these disorders could be excluded. 7/14 Translocations similar to those found in our patient's lymphocytes have been reported to occur very rarely in the lymphocyte cultures of individuals with apparently normal chromosome constitution. A relationship between these phenomena may exist.


Human lymphocyte cell cycle: studies with the use of BrUdR.

The chronological distributions of human blood lymphocytes in first, second and third mitosis following PHA stimulation in vitro are presented. The first G1 phase is shown to be of variable length resulting in some first mitoses appearing only about 150 h after stimulation. The serum or plasma used in the culture medium influences cell cycle time. A total cell cycle time of 10.6 h was estimated for cultures with autologous donor plasma and of 14.7 h for cultures with fetal calf serum. It was further calculated that following PHA stimulation 90% of the lymphocytes divide once, about 65% divide for a second and about 40% divide for a third time.


Congenital scalp defects associated with postaxial polydactyly.

A family is reported, several members of which had congenital scalp defects and postaxial polydactyly type A, with wide variability of expression. The hypothesis is formulated that this association is not fortuitous, but is a distinct malformation complex in which congenital scalp defects are associated with distinct malformation of the limbs.


Partial trisomy 16q resulting from maternal translocation.

A 3 1/2-year-old male with partial trisomy of the long arm of chromosome 16 resulting from a maternal balanced translocation is described. Karyotype: 46,XY,--22,der(22),t(16;22)(q21;p12)mat.


Isodicentric X chromosome in a woman with characteristics of gonadal dysgenesis.

This paper presents a female patient with primary amenorrhea in whose karyotype an aberrant X chromosome was present. The chromosome resulted from the fusion of two X chromosomes at distal parts of the long arm and from the loss of the segment q24 leads to qter. The clinical and cytogenetic picture is compared with that of patients with the same aberration reported by other authors.


A chromosomal abnormality (21q-) in primary thrombocytosis.

A patient with thrombocytosis was found to present an acquired deletion of the long arm of chrosome 21 (21q-). A similar observation reported in the literature is hereby confirmed.


Moderate mental retardation and nonspecific dysmorphic syndrome associated with ring chromosome 9.

A ring chromosome 9 is reported in a 12-year-old, moderately mentally retarded boy. As in other ring chromosome 9 patients, the clinical stigmata are nonspecific and their expressivity is mild. The finding of two normal cells of a total of 121 cells examined favors the hypothesis of a postzygotic, mitotic origin of the ring chromosome formation.


Dicentric Robertsonian translocation in man. 17 cases studied by R,C, and N banding.

The authors studied 17 cases of Robertsonian translocation. In all cases but one C banding showed that a dicentric translocation was involved. Silver staining demonstrated the presence of an NOR between the two centromeres in only one case.


Increased HK1 activity levels in the red cells of a patient with a de novo trisomy 10p: t(Y;10)(p11;p12).

A male patient with mental retardation and typical clinical features of 10p trisomy syndrome was found to have a duplication of the short arm of chromosome 10 attached to the short arm of the Y chromosome. Quantitative evaluation of nine red cell enzymes showed significantly increased activity levels of HK1 and, to a lesser extent, of PK, PGI, 6PGD, and G6PD. It is suggested that the HK1 locus may be in the 10pter leads to p12 region. The increased levels of HK1 could affect other erythrocyte metabolic pathways slowing down the physiological rate of cellular senescence and result in increased activity levels of other cell-age-dependent enzymes.


Position of the human X inactivation center on Xq.

In three women with a 46,XXq- chromosome constitution, the length of the deletion was expressed as the ratio of the remaining part of Xq to Xp c' over a + b. In one of them (KH) this ratio was 0.33, in another (GE) 0.59, and in the third (AP) the ratio fell between these values. The break in KH is more or less on the border of the Q-dark proximal region. A comparison with relevant X-autosomal translocations indicates that the X inactivation center lies near, but not at the border of, the Q-dark and the adjoining bright region (c and d).


Satellite association frequency and number of nucleoli depend on cell cycle duration and NOR-activity. Studies on first, second, and third mitoses of lymphocyte cultures.

In human lymphocyte cultures the frequencies of satellite associations in first, second, and third mitoses were investigated using the BUDR-method. A marked decrease of the association frequency with increasing numbers of cell cycles was found. The number of nucleoli seen in interphase is correlated with the satellite association frequency in the respective metaphase. Satellite association is positively correlated to Ag-staining intensity of the NORs. Individual differences in satellite association are due to differences in NOR activity and in lymphocyte activation. BUDR diminishes somewhat the Ag-staining intensity of the NORs but has no effect on satellite association frequencies. The main reason for the decrease of satellite association frequency in second and third lymphocyte mitoses is presumably a certain dislocation of the original chromosome position during mitosis and a decreased possibility of association during the short interphases. The high association frequency in first mitosis resembles the chromosome position in the long interphase of G0-lymphocytes.


Differential function of the phosphoglucomutase isozymes PGM1 and PGM2.

A total of 13 metabolites thought to be possibly inhibitory were tested for their influence on PGM isozyme activities, each at several different concentrations. The analysis of statistical significance was based on enzyme activities obtained by densitometric measurements of starch gels. Five of the substances were found to inhibit PGM activity, three of which definitely and a further one probably led to a significantly stronger inhibition of the isozymes of the PGM2 locus than of PGM1 isozymes. They are (1) fructose-1,6-diphosphate, (2) adenosine triphosphate, (3) citrate, and (4) possibly 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. Thus, PGM1 isozymes proved to function better in hard or perhaps marginal metabolic conditions. Related evolutionary aspects are discussed.


Human saliva as a source of biochemical genetic markers. II. Genetic interpretations and possible utilization.

Human saliva enzymes are compared to analogous blood enzymes. The genetic interpretations for variants of several saliva proteins are reviewed. The possible use of human saliva enzymes and proteins in population genetic studies and disease diagnosis is discussed.


Genetic structure of the Queckchi Indians. Dental microdifferentiation.

Nine oral morphologic characters were investigated. Their frequencies are compared with those published for other populations. The possibility of using such characters to estimate genetic distance between populations is discussed and the conclusion is reached that, although previous studies have suggested this to be a valid approach, further studies testing this subject are needed.


Sex ratio in man: an analysis of the relationship with ABO blood groups and placental alkaline phosphatase phenotype.

Secondary sex ratio (SR) in man is influenced by various genetic and environmental factors. It has been observed that SR in subjects of blood group B compatible with their mothers is higher than in other subjects. The analysis of 676 newborns of the Rome population and 1,684 newborns of the New Haven (Connecticut) population have confirmed a higher SR in B group subjects compatible with their mothers. The data also indicate that placental alkaline phosphatase is another genetic factor influencing SR in man and that there is a strong interaction among ABO phenotype, fetomaternal ABO compatible status and PAP phenotype concerning their effects on SR.


Genetic studies on the Kolams of Andhra Pradesh, India.

A total of 220 persons belonging to the Kolam tribe in the Adilabad District of northwest Andhra Pradesh have been tested for 18 red cell eyzyme systems and for haemoglobin. Generally, the gene frequencies for the systems which showed electrophoretic variation were within the range for Indian populations; the gene frequency for AK1 is high by Indian standards and Hb AS is present. LDH Calcutta 1 was not detected in this population and a single example of PHI 2-1 was observed.


A new method for the analysis of age trends in CPK levels with application to Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Measurement of serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) is the most commonly applied test for carrier detection in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. About two thirds of all carriers have markedly elevated CPK levels. Age correction of CPK measurements would be straightforward if carriers of all ages could be unambiguously identified. Since such identification is impossible, we elaborate an indirect statistical method which is based on Haldane's theory of the balance between selection and mutation for X-linked lethals. We also apply this method to a large body of data gathered on female relatives of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and on controls. The results are compared with earlier partial findings.


Aetiological studies of hypospadias in Hungary.

A complex aetiological (epidemiological, teratological and genetic) study was made in 294 index patients with simple isolated hypospadias. The epidemiological study conducted by the help of personal interviews of the mothers revealed a higher frequency of index patients among children born between August and December, among twins, mainly monozygotic, and finally in the lower birth weight groups and among first-borns. The teratological study showed a higher frequency in mothers of index patients who had had sex hormone treatment, mainly progestogen, before the 16th gestational week. This seems to indicate the aetiological role of fetal androgen deficit caused by the regulation disturbances of human choriogonadotropin. The genetic family study completed by personal examination of first-degree male relatives showed a familial clustering (4.0% versus a point prevalence of 0.44% in live-births). Both the pattern of affected relatives (h2 values 0.62 +/- 0.21 and 0.72 +/- 0.33 in fathers and brothers, respectively, not differing significantly from each other) and further characteristics (other malformations were not frequent in relatives) correspond to the multifactorial-threshold model.


The inherited blood factors of some Northern Nigerians.

Results are presented on 147 individuals from northern Nigeria who were tested for the red cell antigens A, A1, B, H, M, N, S, s, He, P1, C, D, Du, E, c, e, Ce, v, Lua, Jka (some for Jkb), Lua, K, Jsa (some for Jsb), Kpa, Rd, Fya and Fyb, and for variants of the serum proteins haptoglobin and transferrin and of the red cell enzymes acid phosphatase, phosphoglucomutase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase, adenosine deaminase, phosphohexose isomerase and lactate dehydrogenase. The results found are of interest as they are among the very few published for this area of Nigeria, but they show little that is unexpected for people living in this region.


New genetic variants of parotid salivary amylase.

Isoelectric focusing can reveal at least two heterozygotes of the Amy1R class of variants. Family data on these variants show co-dominant inheritance for both alleles with respect to the normal Amy1A allele. The frequency of the alleles Amy1R1 and Amy1R2 in the Dutch population (n = 144) amounts to 0.006 and 0.03, respectively. Electrophoretic analysis of whole parotid saliva from different Amy1R phenotypes and of purified normal and Amy1R1 gene products indicates that the variant proteins differ from the normal protein by enhanced deamidation of asparagine and/or glutamine residues.


Lack of enhanced purine biosynthesis in HGPRT- and Lesch-Nyhan cells.

The rate of de novo purine biosynthesis was measured in a series of hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase deficient (HGPRT-) cells from a variety of sources, including human Lesch-Nyhan cells. Under optimum growth conditions, no enhanced purine biosynthesis was detected (in contrast to previous reports). An 'elevated' level of de novo purine biosynthesis could be detected in mutants following starvation for glutamine. However, this was the result of depression of purine biosynthesis in normal cells, with a resulting artifactual overproduction in mutants.


Subcellular localization of the eosinophil chemotactic factor (ECF) and its inactivator in human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN).

An eosinophil chemotactic factor (ECF) of low MW can be released from human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) on stimulation with the Ca-ionophore, arachidonic acid and during phagocytosis. After a rapid rise of ECF activity in the supernatant a steep fall of in its activity occurred at the later times of secretion suggesting a mechanism of ECF inactivation. ECF obtained at the later times of secretion represents a stable biological activity and does not decrease on further incubation. In addition, intact PMN and ECF combined do not lead to its inactivation, while incubation of homogenized PMN with ECF decreased its activity. These data suggest the presence of an inactivator for ECF within human PMN. The purpose of the study was to localize ECF and its inactivator within human PMN. After cell disruption, differential and equilibrium gradient centrifugation, subcellular components of human PMN can be obtained which reveal eosinophilotactic (ECF) or ECF-inactivating activity. ECF activity can be recovered (in a structurally bound state) from the microsomal fraction of unstimulated and stimulated PMNs, while another portion is obtainable as a soluble, low mol. wt ECF. The PMN-derived ECF inactivator can be recovered from the peroxidase positive (azurophilic) granules and has a mol. wt of 60,000 and less. We suggest that low mol. wt ECF is derived from the plasma membrane of PMN which can be inactivated by components of the azurophilic granules. The mechanism of inactivation is still unresolved.


Immune mechanisms against canine distemper. I. Identification of K cell against canine distemper virus infected target cells in vitro.

Canine peripheral blood lymphocytes, polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) and monocytes (macrophages) were obtained by various cell separation techniques and were tested for their cytotoxic capacity against antibody-sensitized canine distemper virus (CDV) infected Vero cells by an in vitro chromium release assay. Canine lymphocytes were found to destroy CDV infected target cells effectively, while neither PMN nor monocytes (macrophages) could do so. The active lymphocyte was characterized by various rosetting techniques to be a non-T and a non-B lymphocyte. These cells bear no surface immunoglobulin (SIg-) but possessed both Fc receptors (Fc+) and complement receptors (EAC+) suggesting that these cells are neither classical T nor B cells. The possible roles of this K cell in the resistance against canine distemper are discussed.


The production of contact sensitivity by the injection into the footpads of recipients of the lymph node cells from mice 1 day after painting the skin with contact sensitizing agent: requirement for matching at the major histocompatibility complex between donor and recipient mice.

Donor mice were painted on the skin of the abdomen with the contact sensitizing agent, oxazolone. One day later 2-5 x 10(6) cells from the regional lymph nodes were injected into the footpads of recipient mice. Contact sensitivity was detected 6 days later by challenging the ears of the recipients and measuring the increase of thickness at 24 h. Good contact sensitivity was obtained when CBA cells were injected into CBA mice and BALB/c cells injected into BALB/c mice; the injection of BALB/c (H-2d) cells into CBA (H-2k) mice and vice versa failed to give rise to contact sensitivity. Hybrid F1 cells gave intermediate responses. The contact sensitivity caused by the injection of small numbers of lymph node cells into the footpad is interpreted as a mode of active immunization and the present results show that this only occurs when there is genetic matching at the major histocompatibility complex between the donor and the recipient mouse.


Growth enhancing property of human monocytes from normal donors and cancer patients.

Peripheral blood monocytes, but not other leucocytes, from healthy donors, were shown to enhance the DNA synthesis of three cell lines. The effect was very marked on an epithelial (Chang) and lymphoid (CLA-4) cell line derived from normal tissues, and less marked on a carcinoma-derived line (HT-29). The enhancement was demonstrable over a wide range of monocyte:cell line ratios, and some activity was present in supernates from monocytes cultured alone or with a cell line. Furthermore, monocytes from gastric carcinoma patients did not enhance Chang and CLA-4 cells to the same extent, relative to the healthy donors.


High radiosensitivity of induction in contrast to radioresistance of expression of cells mediating delayed-type hypersensitivity during response to sheep red blood cells in mice.

The delayed-type hypersensitivity DTH) reaction observed in mice primed i.v. with low doses of sheep red blood cells was greatly decreased when mice were irradiated with 300 rad before priming. An estimation of the radiosensitivity of DTH-mediating cells (DTH-C) was performed using a titration assay after local adoptive transfer of these cells mixed with antigen into the footpad of unprimed mice. A high radiosensitivity of the induction of DTH-C was observed with a D37 of approximately 50 rad. In contrast, the expression of DTH-C appeared radioresistant, as the D37 was approximately 2000 rad.


Non-specific immunosuppressive effects of mouse spleen extracts in vitro.

Cell-free extracts were prepared from the spleens of keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH)-primed, ovalbumin (OVA)-primed or unprimed mice, and were shown to suppress non-specifically the secondary antibody response to TNP1000KLH in vitro. Non-specific activity was retained on storage in liquid nitrogen and was not removed by dialysis. These findings are in contrast to those reported elsewhere where it was found that cell-free extracts from the spleens of KLH-primed mice specifically suppressed the IgG response to TNP1000KLH; this discrepancy may well lie in the initial immunological status of the mice used. Nevertheless it is concluded that proper account should be taken of non-specific suppressive effects when studying the activity of cell-free extracts in vitro.


Suppression by radioactive strontium of the spontaneous cytotoxicity expressed by adherent, predominantly phagocytic cells from various mouse tissues.

Adherent, predominantly phagocytic effector cells which have previously been shown to occur in a large number of tissues of mice and rats have the spontaneous capacity to kill a variety of syngeneic, allogeneic and xenogeneic target cells in vitro. The present work shows that 89Sr treatment of mice suppressed this spontaneous cytotoxicity, thus indicating that the effector cells pass a substantial part of their life in the bone marrow. In contrast, the capacity to mobilize mononuclear phagocytes and to enhance cytotoxicity in response to an appropriate stimulus were not consistently impaired.


Alveolar macrophages. II. Inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation by purified macrophages from rat lung.

Macrophages were prepared from the lung, peritoneal cavity and blood of normal, unstimulated rats from a number of strains. The macrophages were purified by adherence, and characterized via surface markers, enzyme activity and phagocytic capacity, and subsequently tested for activity in cultures of mitogen-stimulated syngeneic lymphocytes. Peritoneal macrophages and blood monocytes were mildly stimulatory, or ineffective in modulating mitogen-induced DNA synthesis; peritoneal macrophages reconstituted the blastogenic responses of macrophage-depleted lymph node cell cultures to normal limits. In contrast, alveolar macrophages were markedly inhibitory to lymphocyte proliferation; in some instances inhibitory activity was demonstrable when added alveolar macrophages comprised only 0.04% of the total cells in culture. Lymphocyte proliferation induced by T-cell mitogens was more susceptible to this inhibition than was proliferation induced by the B-cell mitogen LPS. Alveolar macrophages recovered from SPF rats, while less in number, exhibited comparable inhibitory activity. These results form part of an emerging picture picture of the normal alveolar macrophage as a potential 'suppressor' of T-cell activity in the lung.


Simultaneous occurrence of hereditary C6 and C2 deficiency in a French-Canadian family.

The sera of four sisters were found to lack the sixth component of complement (C6) and the serum of one was also partially deficient in the second component (C2). Two other blood relatives were found to be heterozygous for both deficiencies, while only one sibling had normal values. The father of these eight siblings was heterozygous for C2D and C6D and in the third generation, six children were heterozygous for C6 deficiency was treated for chronic active brucel-transmitted; the C6 deficiency was not linked to the HLA system, while the C2-deficiency segregated with the haplotype A10,B18. The proband, homozygous for C6 deficiency was treated for chronic active Brucellosis and in another sibling with C6 deficiency, toxoplasmosis was diagnosed. Neither bleeding disorders nor a tendency to collagen diseases have been observed and the opsonic activity was normal in the sera of all family members.


Differences in [3H]-thymidine uptake of lymph node cells stimulated by Con A and PHA in H-2 congenic mouse strains.

The genetic control of the lymphocyte responsiveness to Con A and PHA-P has been studied by using inbred, H-2 congenic mouse strains. Segregation studies were carried out on F1 and backcross mice of a high and a low responder strain. According to the results, there is a strong correlation between the responsiveness of lymph node cells to mitogens and H-2 haplotypes in different H-2 congenic strains of mice and in different backcross generations. High responsiveness to PHA-P is associated with H-2b, while low responsiveness with H-2a or H-2k haplotypes, but the correlation is the inverse in response to Con A, in the parental strains and backcross mice as well. The magnitude of the responses to both Con A and PHA-P was found to be intermediate in F1 heterozygotes of a low and high responder parental strain. The effect of other non H-2 genes on the responsiveness to these mitogens has also been demonstrated.


Inhibition of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity by artificial immune complexes and pathological sera.

Detection of immune complexes by inhibition of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) is based on the principle that soluble complexes can compete with target cell-bound antibody for receptors (FcR) on cytotoxic lymphocytes. The objective of this study was to define a cytotoxicity system for the determination of soluble immune complexes in the sera of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). For this purpose, the conditions under which soluble complexes of rat serum albumin (RSA) and rabbit anti-RSA inhibited human K-cell mediated lysis of sensitized Chang cells were examined, on the assumption that the behaviour in the system of circulating immune complexes putatively present in inflammatory bowel disease, is similar to that of artificial immune complexes. Inhibition of ADCC by a standard amount of artificial complex in different normal human sera was relatively uniform provided that the final concentration of the latter did not exceed 10% of the culture medium. In the absence of extraneous complexes, the effect of both normal and IBD sera on ADCC varied widely. Differential inhibition of ADCC by sera from patients with IBD and normal subjects was thus expressed as a function of ADCC in a standard batch of foetal bovine serum (FBS). Under these conditions differences between pathological (n = 51) and normal (n = 52) sera were highly significant (P less than 0.001), which could not be explained by the presence in the patients' sera of HL-A antibodies reactive with the effector cells, nor by a deficit in nutritional support of ADCC. The absence of a correlation between inhibition of ADCC and total serum IgG or IgM inferred that inhibition was attributable to immune complexes in the IBD sera. The limitations of this assay for assessment of the incidence of immune complexes in pathological sera are discussed.


The transport by hepatocytes of immunoglobulin A from blood to bile visualized by autoradiography and electron microscopy.

Polymeric myeloma IgA, labelled with 125I, was injected intravenously into rats that were killed 5, 30, or 60 min later and the livers removed, fixed and sectioned. Autoradiographs of ultra-thin sections examined in the electron microscope showed that the IgA first became bound to the plasma membrane of the hepatocytes but after 30 min much of it was transported across their cytoplasm and became localized around the bile canaliculi. At this time, autoradiographs of 1 micrometer sections examined in the light microscope showed the contents of the bile ducts in the portal tracts to be labelled heavily. These results confirm the previous finding of rapid transport of IgA across the liver and show directly that the hepatocytes are the cells that carry it out. No intracellular organelle or vesicular structure, discernible within the resolving power of the techniques used, could be implicated in the transport mechanism.


Soluble oligovalent antigen-antibody complexes. I. The effect of antigen valence and combining ratio on the composition of fluorescein-carrier anti-fluorescein complexes.

Soluble oligovalent antigen--antibody complexes were prepared and analysed by ultracentrifugation in order to study the effect of the combining ratio, antigen valence and concentration upon the size and molecular composition of the composition of the complexes. Fluorescein (F) conjugates of rabbit serum albumin (RSA) and thyroglobulin (RTg) were combined with high affinity rabbit anti-F antibodies to form soluble complexes. The effect of the combining ratio paralleled findings in precipitating systems in that the largest soluble complexes were found at equimolarity and mild molar antibody excess. Tetravalent antigen formed precipitates at combining ratios near equimolarity, whereas trivalent antigens failed to precipitate at similar concentrations. Complexes prepared near equimolarity were most sensitive to changes in concentration, higher concentrations leading to larger complexes. The Ab/Ag ratios of different-size complexes in the same preparation were remarkably similar. This ratio was dependent on the antibody--antigen combining ratio, was limited by antigen valence and was not affected by concentration differences. The data support the hypothesis that soluble complexes are formed in two steps. First, antigen and antibody combine to form subunits whose Ab/Ag ratio is determined by the combining ratio and antigen valence. These subunits then combine to form larger complexes in a manner analogous to polymerization.


Soluble oligovalent antigen--antibody complexes. II. The effect of various selective forces upon relative stability of isolated complexes.

Soluble oligovalent antigen--antibody complexes were isolated and analysed by ultracentrifugation to assess the effect of several forces upon the composition and stability of soluble complexes. Complexes were prepared with fluorescein (F) conjugates of rabbit serum albumin (RSA) or thyroglobulin (RTg) and high affinity rabbit anti-F antibodies. Isolated complexes containing two antigen molecules (Ag2 complexes) tended to dissociate and form an equilibrium with complexes containing one antigen molecule (Ag1 complexes). This equilibrium was thermolabile, concentration dependent and affected by the original combining ratio and the area in the gradient from which complexes were harvested. Small amounts of free antibody dissociated from soluble complexes also to form a dynamic equilibrium; this equilibrium was much less affected by the above parameters. The data support the concept that complexes grow in size by a process analogous to polymerization of simple subunits and that the driving forces for polymerization are of a lower order of magnitude and more affected by physical variables than the primary reaction between antibody and its antigen.


Kinetics of different specific immunological parameters after rabies vaccination in mice.

A significant protection to an intracerebral challenge of 70 mean lethal doses of a standard live rabies virus strain was obtained in BCG-pretreated mice or in normal mice which had been immunized with a single subcutaneous injection of a beta-propiolactone-inactivated rabies vaccine. Concomitantly, levels of delayed-type hypersensitivity (measured in vivo by the footpad test) and serum-neutralizing activity were evaluated at various times after immunization. All immune criteria were significantly augmented in the BCG-pretreated, rabies-immune mice as compared to normal, rabies-immune mice. However, peak levels of protection, delayed-type hypersensitivity, and serum-neutralizing activity did not occur at the same times. For instance, in the BCG-pretreated, rabies-immune mice, delayed-type hypersensitivity peaked on day 7, protection peaked on day 21, and serum-neutralizing activity peaked on day 60. In BCG-pretreated mice, which did not receive the rabies vaccine, positive delayed-type hypersensitivity, some protection, and serum neutralizing activity were observed 4 to 5 weeks after BCG pretreatment. The possible relationships between specific and nonspecific immunity provoked by rabies virus antigens, tissue culture cell-associated antigens (derived from the bovine fetal kidney cells in which the rabies virus was grown, and BCG are discussed.


Inactivation or elimination of potentially trypanolytic, complement-activating immune complexes by pathogenic trypanosomes.

Trypanosoma brucei subsp. brucei and T. congolense incubated in homologous antibody at 0 degrees C for 30 min were lysed by subsequent addition of guinea pig complement. Trypanosomes incubated in antibody at 37 degrees C before complement treatment remained intact. Parasites bearing adsorbed antibody also remained intact when incubated at 37 degrees C before complement treatment. The proportion of cells which survived complement treatment decreased with increasing antibody concentration. Parasites which survived complement treatment continued to express antigens which could bind complement-activating antibody, but did not bear complement-activating immune complexes. Virtually all cells in T. brucei populations exposed to antibody at 37 degrees C, but only 10(-3) to 10(-5) of the cells in populations exposed to antibody at 0 degrees C before complement treatment, remained infective for X-irradiated mice. Only 10(-6) to 10(-7) of T. brucei populations exposed to antibody at 0 or 37 degrees C before complement treatment infected mice immunized with homologous antigens. Serotype analysis of substrains and of T. brucei populations isolated from mice infected with antibody and complement-treated parasites suggested that variant-specific antigens participated in trypanolysis and that T. brucei which survived complement treatment could undergo antigenic variation. Mechanisms by which trypanosomes may inactivate or eliminate surface immune complexes and the possible significance of this phenomenon in trypanosomiasis are discussed.


Interaction of alphaviruses with human peripheral leukocytes: in vitro replication of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus in monocyte cultures.

Human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) were examined for their ability to support growth of several group A arboviruses in vitro. Cells were refractory to infection with eastern (EEE) and western (WEE) equine encephalitis viruses, whereas Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus was shown to infect and replicate to a substantially high titer. When PBL were fractionated into purified subpopulations, only the monocytes were susceptible to predictive VEE virus infection. Lymphocytes treated 24 h before virus inoculation with phytohemagglutinin (10 microgram/ml) were capable of propagating significant amounts of VEE virus. A monocytic cell line, J-111, was also susceptible to infection with VEE, EEE, and WEE viruses, whereas a lymphocytic cell line, Raji, was refractory. Additional information on the participation of PBL during human infection with these viruses may add considerably to our understanding of their differing pathogenicities and clinical pictures.


Depression of Rauscher leukemia virus envelope glycoprotein gp71 binding by lymphoid cells during leukemogenesis in mice.

The availability of membrane receptors for the 71,000-dalton envelope glycoprotein (gp71) of Rauscher murine leukemia virus on splenic and thymic cells from BALB/c mice during Rauscher murine leukemia virus-induced leukemogenesis was determined utilizing a radiolabeled gp71 binding assay. Shortly after infection, the relative cellular [125I]gp71 binding level decreased, first with splenic cells (at day 7 to 10 after infection) and later with thymic cells (at day 10 to 20 after infection). The dependency of the reduction of binding on the replication of the inoculated virus was demonstrated by regression analyses using cellular gp71 binding level as the dependent variable and infectious virus titer, as well as viral gp71 and p30 levels, of spleens and thymuses from infected mice as independent variables. With each independent variable, the reduction of gp71 binding for both cell types was highly dependent (P less than 0.01) on the level of virus detected in their respective organ. In the early stages of leukemogenesis, the [125I]gp71 binding level declined to approximately 20 to 30% of control values. During this period the rate of reduction of binding was very rapid and, in general was similar for both splenic and thymic cells. Further progression of the disease resulted in little or no further reduction in binding. The application of this technique to monitor host ecotropic virus synthesis and to study cell surface virus receptor control mechanisms in vivo is discussed.


Purification and characterization of different types of exfoliative toxin from Staphylococcus aureus.

Exfoliative toxin was isolated from strain DI of Staphylococcus aureus using carboxymethyl cellulose and hydroxylapatite chromatography. This purified toxin was compared with that produced by strain TA. The specific biological activity of the two toxins was the same, but they were serologically distinct. These strains have different loci (plasmid or chromosomal) for toxin production; differences were seen in molecular weight and amino acid composition. N-terminal amino acid sequences from the two strains showed significant homology using a single unit alignment shift.


Interaction of Chlamydia psittaci reticulate bodies with mouse peritoneal macrophages.

Noninfectious reticulate bodies of Chlamydia psittaci are readily phagocytized by thioglycolate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages in monolayer culture. The internalized reticulate bodies are rapidly destroyed as indicated by a 60 to 70% decrease in trichloroacetic acid-precipitable radioisotopic counts in the macrophage pellet by 10 h and a concomitant increase of the trichloroacetic acid-soluble radiolabeled chlamydial nucleic acid in the cytoplasm. This intracellular destruction of reticulate bodies in macrophages is independent of the multiplicity of infection. Reticulate bodies at a high multiplicity of infection, up to 1,000:1, are also incapable of inducing immediate cytotoxicity in macrophages as evidenced by the lack of early release of the host cell-soluble cytoplasmic enzyme lactic dehydrogenase. Thus, it appears that the virulence factors for (i) initiation or maintenance of intracellular survival via circumvention of phagolysosome formation and (ii) host cell damage are either missing or not expressed by the RB form of this bacterium.


Solid-phase micro-radioimmunoassay to measure immunoglobulin class-specific antibody to Mycoplasma pulmonis.

A solid-phase radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used for the detection and quantitation of immunoglobulin class-specific antibodies to Mycoplasma pulmonis in mouse sera. The RIA was found to be more sensitive than the single radial haemolysis (SRH) test for detecting antibodies in sera from mice at intervals after inoculation with M. pulmonis, since antibody was detected in 26 out of 29 serum samples by RIA but in only 8 out of 29 samples by SRH. A method is described for quantitating immunoglobulin class-specific antibody in test sera by reference to a standard serum. The RIA should be useful for the study of the relative importance of various immunoglobulin classes in resistance to mycoplasma infections.


Specificity of coaggregation reactions between human oral streptococci and strains of Actinomyces viscosus or Actinomyces naeslundii.

Coaggregation reactions between actinomycete and streptococcal cells occurred frequently when human strains of Actinomyces viscosus or A. naeslundii were mixed with human isolates of Streptococcus sanguis or S. mitis, but were infrequent with other oral actinomycetes and streptococci. Two groups of actinomycetes and four groups of streptococci were defined by the patterns of their coaggregation reactions and by the ability of beta-linked galactosides (i.e., lactose) to reverse these reactions. Coaggregations occurred by one of the following three kinds to cell-cell interactions: (i) coaggregation that was blocked by heating the streptococcus but not the actinomycete and was not reversed by lactose; (ii) coaggregation that was blocked by heating the actinomycete but not the streptococcus and was reversed by lactose; and (iii) coaggregation that was blocked only by heating both cell types. The latter reaction was a combination of the first two since lactose reversed coaggregation between heated streptococci and unheated actinomycetes but did not reverse coaggregations between unheated streptococci and heated actinomycetes. Cells that could be heat inactivated also were inactivated by amino group acetylation or protease digestion, whereas cells that were unaffected by heat were not inactivated by these treatments. Coaggregation reactions of each kind were Ca2+ dependent and insensitive to dextranase treatment. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that human strains of A. viscosus and A. naeslundii coaggregate with strains of S. sanguis and S. mitis by a system of specific cell surface interactions between protein or glycoprotein receptors on one cell type and carbohydrates on the other type.


Phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sucrose phosphotransferase activity in Streptococcus mutans NCTC 10449.

A phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sucrose phosphotransferase system (PTS) has been demonstrated, by an enzyme-coupled reaction and product isolation, in decryptified cell suspensions of the cariogenic microorganism Streptococcus mutans NCTC 10449. The apparent sucrose PTS reaction for sucrose-adapted, sucrose-challenged cells displayed saturation kinetics with an apparent Km of 7.14 x 10(-5) M, which was distinct from the Km of the glucose PTS activity of glucose-adapted, glucose-challenged cells. Both the sucrose and the glucose PTS activities appear to be inducible and under separate genetic control. The sucrose PTS reaction demonstrated in decryptified cells had an absolute requirement for phosphoenolpyruvate. Only 2-phosphoglycerate, the immediate glycolytic precursor of phosphoenolpyruvate, was found to substitute for phosphoenolpyruvate in this reaction in the absence of fluoride. The sucrose PTS activity of sucrose-adapted cells was competitively inhibited by raffinose and lactose; these same sugars had no effect on the apparent glucose PTS activity. Fructose was the only carbohydrate tested other than sucrose which elicited an apparent PTS reaction in sucrose-adapted cells. The product of the sucrose PTS reaction was isolated and behaved chromatographically on a Dowex-1-X8 column like a monophosphate ester. Alkaline phosphatase treatment of the presumptive sucrose monophosphate liberated a component which behaved chromatographically like free sucrose. Subsequent acid hydrolysis of this component produced moieties which behaved chromatographically like glucose and fructose.


Characterization of a phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sucrose phosphotransferase system in Streptococcus mutans.

A phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sucrose phosphotransferase system has been identified in Streptococcus mutans. Sucrose phosphotransferase activity was inducible by sucrose and had an apparent Km for sucrose of 70 microM. The product of the sucrose phosphotransferase reaction was isolated and identified as sucrose phosphate. Additional analysis revealed that the phosphate group was on the glucose moiety. Mutants unable to grow in media containing low concentrations of sucrose were isolated and found to be missing either sucrose phosphotransferase activity or the ability to hydrolyze sucrose phosphate.


Electron microscopic studies on the attachment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae to guinea pig erythrocytes.

A mechanism of pathogenicity of Mycoplasma pneumoniae is its ability to attach to the surface of mammalian cells. It has previously been demonstrated by others that M. pneumoniae adheres with a specialized terminal structure, the "tip," to ciliated epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. In this report we show by electron microscopy that M. pneumoniae adsorbs with membrane sites other than the tip to guinea pig erythrocytes.


Choriogonadotropin-like antigen in an anaerobic bacterium, Eubacterium lentum, isolated from a rectal tumor.

Using the indirect fluorescein-labeled and indirect peroxidase-antiperoxidase-labeled immunohistochemical techniques, and utilizing both antiserum specific for the beta-subunit of choriogonadotropin and antiserum for the total hormone, we have demonstrated the presence of a choriogonadotropin-like immunoreactive material in a strain of Eubacterium lenthum that was originally isolated from a rectal tumor. In contrast, both immunohistochemical reactions were negative when applied to a strain of Corynebacterium parvum and to pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Our results demonstrate for the first time the expression of the choriogonadotropin-like antigen in an obligate anaerobe and support our previous findings that the choriogonadotropin like material appears to be expressed only in "cancer-associated bacteria" but that not all bacteria associated with the malignant neoplasms have the capacity to express the antigen, at least in amounts detectable by immunohistochemistry.


Deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, cell cycle progression, and division of Chlamydia-infected HeLa 229 cells.

The fate of lymphogranuloma venereum strain Chlamydia-infected HeLa 229 cells was examined by determining the rate of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and the kinetics of entry into and progression through S phase and by time-lapse cinemicrography. At an input multiplicity of 5 or less, Chlamydia-infected cells showed no inhibition of host deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis or cell cycle progression. Cinemicrography showed division of inclusion-containing cells, with one or both daughters receiving chlamydial inclusions. Analysis of the family trees indicated that the generation times of infected HeLa 229 were not altered relative to those of the uninfected cells.


Toxin-neutralizing effect of antibody against subtilisin-digested tetanus toxin.

A form of systemic tetanus with atypical symptoms was observed in mice injected in the left thigh with a mixture of tetanus toxin and antibody produced in guinea pigs against a fragment of toxin obtained from a subtilisin digest of the crystallized toxin. The mice did not show typical symptoms of the local tetanus such as convulsions or spastic paralysis of the injected limb.


Antibody to Rickettsia mooseri erythrocyte-sensitizing substance.

Erythrocyte-sensitizing antigens from Rickettsia mooseri (R. typhi) were found to bind to rabbit erythrocytes. Upon reintroduction into the donor, such antigen-sensitized cells caused the production of antibodies of restricted serological reactivity.


Enhancement and suppression by actinomycin D of a Vero cell nontransmissible measles infection.

The effect of low doses of actinomycin D on Vero cell nontransmissible measles infection produced after cocultivation with a HeLa subline with persistent defective infection by Edmonston measles virus was examined by pretreatment of Vero cells with the drug and treatment at 1, 4, and 7 days after Vero cell infection. Pretreatment enhanced focal formation of viral immunofluorescent Vero cell syncytia but did not induce synthesis of detectable amounts od cocultures suppressed syncytial formation, and treatment of 4- and 7-day-old cocultures had little, if any, effect on syncytial formation. Pretreatment also eliminated a transient resistance to homologous superinfection. A possible relation of these findings to the presence of a cell-associated viral inhibitor in the persistently infected HeLa cells is discussed.


Protection of mice against Giardia muris infection.

Strains of mice showing relatively rapid (BALB/c) and defective (C3H/He) spontaneous elimination of Giardia muris displayed marked differences in the degree of resistance to infection induced by prior injection of trophozoites in Freund complete adjuvant.


Antigenic changes in Vibrio cholerae biotype eltor serotype Ogawa after bacteriophage infection.

Vibrio cholerae biotype eltor serotype Ogawa cultures infected with temperate bacteriophage from lysogens of biotype eltor serotype Hikojima yielded types with altered agglutination reactions.


Isolation of plasmids from mycobacteria.

A procedure for preparing sodium dodecyl sulfate-salt-cleared lysates of mycobacteria was developed. Standard techniques were employed to demonstrate covalently closed circular deoxyribonucleic acid in lysates of nine strains of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare.


Immunological and physicochemical properties of a highly purified allergen from Dirofilaria immitis.

Allergen in crude extract of Dirofilaria immitis was purified and separated from IgG-inducing antigens by a combination of DEAE-Sephadex A-50 chromatography, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration and starch gel zone electrophoresis. The purified preparation was proved to be one protein band by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel (SDS-gel) electrophoresis and one precipitin arc by immunodiffusion. The molecular weight of the purified allergen was estimated to be approximately 20,000 by gel filtration and 15,000 by SDS-gel electrophoresis. The carbohydrate content of the preparation was apparently low, about 2%. The allergen was positively charged, and its determinant group was protein in nature. It was resistant to tryptic, pepsic and chymotryptic digestion, periodate oxidation and DNase and RNase digestion but very sensitive to pronase digestion. Allergen was inclined to aggregate each other in the buffered solution. It was also very resistant to vibration, heat (80 degrees C for 1 h) and acid (pH 2.5) and alkali (pH 11.0) treatments. Rats as well as mice immunized with allergen developed only a reaginic antibody and no hemagglutination antibody.


Evaluation of bee sting allergy by skin tests and serum antibody assays.

We studied 55 subjects who had had anaphylactic reactions to bee stings within the previous 3 years. 38 out of 54 tested had IgE antibody to honey bee venom (HBV) as measured by radioallergosorbent test (RAST). On skin testing, 30 out of 34 had a positive test to HBV. Of these, 26 had a positive RAST. A positive skin test to HBV at high dilution or else a high anti-HBV RAST score appeared to identify those who, in a 6-month follow-up period, were at risk of developing further anaphylaxis following bee stings or immunotherapy. Of the two tests, RAST appeared to be the less sensitive. Measurements of IgG antibody to phospholipase A were seldom available for the period immediately preceding an anaphylactic episode and proved to be a poor means of predicting the liability to bee sting anaphylaxis in subsequent months.


Characterization of bovine leukocytes involved in antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity.

By the use of cell surface markers combined with physical separation techniques, bovine mononuclear leukocytes active as K cells in antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity were characterized. The most active cells were glass wool adherent and were presumed to be macrophages. In the glass wool nonadherent population, heterogeneity was detected with respect to the complement (C) receptor but all cells expressed the Fc receptor. The C receptor-positive population adhered to nylon wool but was not a B cell and was assumed to be monocyte. The C receptor-negative population, the true lymphoid K cell, was nonadherent to nylon and was suggested to be an Fc receptor-positive null lymphocyte. The results were compared to those obtained with other species.


Delayed-type hypersensitivity measured as an increase of ear thickness in guinea pigs.

Determination of swelling at an intracutaneous test site in the pinna of the ear of guinea pigs immunized with protein antigens in complete Freund's adjuvant was found to be a more sensitive assay of delayed-type hypersensitivity than the measurement of flank skin erythema and induration. In fact, 100 times less specific antigen was needed to detect 24-hour reactivity in the pinna of the ear. Reactivity early after sensitization (cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity), however, was best revealed as an erythematous lesion of the flank skin 24 h after testing.


Serum complement and protein metabolism in chronic dialysis patients.

1. Patients receiving regular hemodialysis treatment who are permitted to select their own diets are in danger of a protein deficiency manifested by a significant reduction in serum transferrin and in complement C3c. 2. Correlation analysis within the dialysis group revealed no secure connexion between the complement C3c and total hemolytic activity respectively, and transferrin levels. 3. Analysis of diets showed that protein intake and the serum transferrin level correlate. No such correlation was found for the complement C3c or total hemolytic activity. 4. Low transferrin levels in the serum appear to result in more severe anemia among dialysis patients. 5. Knowledge of the serum transferrin level permits much more exact assessment of the protein metabolism in regular hemodialysis patients than knowledge of the total hemolytic activity or the level of the complement C3c.


Agarose-encapsulated adsorbents.

A method is described for the encapsulation of ion-exchange and adsorbent resins of native particle diameter 0.2-1.0 mm into agarose spheres of diameter 5-10 mm. Plasma components diffuse rapidly through the agarose coating, but blood corpuscles have no direct access to the resins. At least 0.3 g of resin can be incorporated into 1 g of the agarose beads, so that the effective surface area with regard to erythrocytes, thrombocytes, and leucocytes is reduced by a factor of at least 5, and up to 20, depending on the native resin particle size. Pulverised active charcoal, or resins in powder form can also be encapsulated in this manner. The haemocompatibility of the agarose coating seems to be considerably more acceptable than that of the adsorbents in their native state.


An in vitro comparison of capillary flow dialyzer performances on a single needle system (double headpump).

The ultrafiltration, clearance and priming characteristics of six capillary dialyzers (C-DAK 2.5 D, C-DAK 1.8 D, Tri-Ex 1, CF M 1500, N16F160 and HF 150) were studied in single needle dialysis by way of the double headpump (BL 760, Bellco Ltd). A good control of the ultrafiltration by an appropriate choice of the mean bloodcompartment pressures (Pbo) is present in all dialyzers. After correction of the clearance for ultrafiltration the clearances of urea, creatinine, sodiumiothalamate-l125 and cyanocobalamine-Co58 (vit. B 12) rise with increasing mean pressures in the bloodcompartment of all dialyzers. We assume that a better use of available surface area due to the characteristics of the double headpump such as TMP mainly influenced by Pbo pressures and other such as tidal flow are responsible for the excellent in vitro clearances of these dialyzers with this type of single needle system.


Hemodialysis with "adequate" sodium concentration in dialysate.

This investigation was undertaken to define the "adequate" sodium concentration in the dialytic fluid allowing to maintain a stable plasma effective osmolality during dialysis. Isonatric dialysate is shown to miss this aim by inducing a predictable postdialytic hypernatremia. To avoid this effect a new approach was made. 17 clinically stabilized patients, previously dialyzed over a period of at least 2 years with a dialysate sodium concentration of 133 mEq/l, underwent dialysis with the "adequate" sodium concentration in the dialysate for over 3 years. During dialysis cramps, headache, hypotension, hypertensive crises and postdialytic weakness were reduced in frequency and nearly disappeared. No deterioration in blood pressure control occurred and improvement in some general parameters (hematocrit, glucose and insulin metabolism, well-being) was reported after prolonged treatment.


Monitoring of metabolites applying fibre-entrapped enzymes in a calorimetric system. I -- Glucose and urea determination.

A simple device, consisting of a heat sensor placed in close contact to fibres containing enzymes and connected to a temperature measuring unit has been developed. The system monitors the temperature variations due to the enzymatic reaction when substrate solutions flow through the measuring cell. Fibres containing the enzymes glucose oxidase and catalase for the determination of glucose and fibres containing urease for the determination of urea were tested. A linear relationship between the substrate concentration and the deltaT recorded was obtained in both cases.


Increased monocyte-mediated cytostasis of lymphoid cell lines in breast and lung cancer patients.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of most normal adults and patients with breast or lung cancer were found to inhibit [3H] thymidine uptake by lymphoid cell lines in a growth inhibition assay. At effector:target cell ratios between 5:1 and 20:1, lung cancer patients and breast cancer patients, when compared to normal individuals, demonstrated significantly greater inhibition of [3H] thymidine uptake by a human lymphoid cell line (F-265). The effector cells were adherent and were probably monocytes. Sephadex G-10 column passage or adherence to plastic removed most growth-inhibitory activity. Adherent cells recovered from plastic flasks (88-94% monocytes) were strongly growth-inhibitory. Lung cancer patients receiving BCG immunotherapy were found to have an apparently increased activity compared to patients not treated with BCG. The possible mediation of the growth inhibition by release of prostaglandins was suggested by the reduced cytostatic effects in the presence of indomethacin. Growth-inhibitory activity was not species-restricted, since human effector cells and also effector cells from tumor-bearing mice were reactive against the human target cell and against a murine lymphoma line (RBL-5). Natural killer (NK) cells did not appear to contribute appreciably to the observed cytostasis, since the levels of their activities did not correlate, and human NK cells are non-adherent and have little reactivity against F-265 or RBL-5. The inhibition of [3H]thymidine uptake by target cells was demonstrated to be a good reflection of actual inhibition of proliferation, since incubation of adherent cells from cancer patients with F-265 resulted in similar degrees of reduction in the number of target cells and in [3H] thymidine uptake.


HLA antigens in familial Hodgkin's disease.

In a study of 13 families prone to Hodgkin's disease, the probands showed significant excesses of the HLA antigens Bw35 (7 cases) and Bw37 (3 cases). Although based on a small number of patients, the results suggest that immunogenetic mechanisms account at least partly for the familial predisposition to Hodgkin's disease.


Demonstration of placental alkaline phosphatase in human breast cancer.

The screening of a series of 11 metastatic breast tumors for the presence of the placental isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (EC3.1.3.1) by RIA revealed one strong producer. The alkaline phosphatase of this tumor was characterized with respect to its immunochemical cross-reactivity, inhibition by L-phenylalanine and levamisole, subunit molecular weight (Mr) and isoelectric point (pl) in two-dimensional electrophoresis, and one-dimensional peptide map. In all parameters of the characterization, the tumor alkaline phosphatase, except for subunit molecular weight which was slightly lower (60,000 versus 64,000 for the placental isoenzyme). No strong placental alkaline phosphatase producers were found among 16 primary tumors examined by RIA. The screening of patients' sera for the placental alkaline phosphatase using RIA indicated elevated levels over post-menopausal controls in 20% of the metastatic patients. Only 3% of the primary patients had elevated serum levels. These results suggest that the placental isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase may be a useful tumor marker for recurrent breast cancer.


The effect of long-term food restriction on tumours in rodents.

The effect of restricting food intake by approximately 20% was studied in rats and mice. Both species were fed as similar "natural" diet composed chiefly of cereals and bone meal. The duration of the rat study was 24 months, but mice were studied for their whole lifespan of 36 months. In the mice, restriction increased longevity, and in both species the incidence of tumours was reduced and the onset delayed. The effect upon the different types of tumour varied; some types appeared to be unaffected by restriction, but the most common types in each species, liver tumours in mice, pituitary, mammary and skin tumours in rats, were significantly reduced.


Liver-colonizing melanoma cells selected from B-16 melanoma.

Liver-colonizing tumor cells were selected from B-16 melanoma by a stepwise procedure: (1) injection of the original cells through the portal circulation: (2) removal of tumor cells from the hepatic tumor nodules for culture in vitro; (3) reinjection of such cells through the portal circulation and repetition of steps 2 and 3 eight times. The predilection of these cells to form tumors in the liver was clearly demonstrated following injection of the cells intra-arterially. The accuracy of the injection technique was controlled by monitoring amonts of injected radioactively labelled Sephadex microspheres. This liver-colonizing preference was not exclusive, but relative.


Milky spots (Taches laiteuses) as structures which trap asbestos in mesothelial layers and their significance in the pathogenesis of mesothelial neoplasia.

The UICC standard sample of asbestos, crocidolite, was injected subcutaneously into the flanks of CBA/lac mice. Asbestos fibres were found in milky spots in the serosal cavities more than 442 days after the injection, in the form of either naked fibres or asbestos bodies. Milky spots were the only structure in which asbestos fibres were observed in the mesothelial layer. The fact that asbestos fibres were found in the liver, spleen, kidney, brain, etc., in addition to milky spots, suggested that they were transported by the blood stream throughout the body. This assumption was confirmed by the similar distribution of asbestos after intravenous administration. The vascular and cellular structure of milky spots is such that they are particularly likely to trap blood-borne asbestos fibres. Hyperplastic changes were observed in milky spots after both subcutaneous and intravenous administration of asbestos in mice. The possible involvement of milky spots in the genesis of tumors of the mesothelium following exposure of animals to asbestos is discussed.


A heroin addiction scale for the MMPI: effectiveness in differential diagnosis in a psychiatric setting.

This study examined the discriminative utility of the Cavior Heroin Addiction Scale (HE) in separating samples of male heroin addict, alcoholic, and polydrug abuser samples from psychiatric control samples matched on sex, age, race, and education level. Heroin addicts were the only substance abuser samples that did not differentiate from its control sample. Heroin addicts obtained higher mean HE values than did the alcoholics although the polydrug abusers obtained higher mean HE values than both alcoholics and heroin addicts. HE was found to be less successful in separating these samples than was the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale. This poorer performance is related to HE's confounding systematic relation to subject age and race, or to differences in scale construction methodology.


Alcohol and narcotic abuse: variations on an addictive theme.

A treatment system developed to treat individuals abusing both narcotics and alcohol is described. The primary goal of treatment is change in the alcohol/drug abuse life-style which is seen as the major obstacle to successful treatment.


The influence of perceived speaker characteristics on student assessments of a drug education talk.

The relationship between student perceptions of the presenters of a drug talk and their assessments of its impact was examined with data gathered in a drug education experiment. In support of attribution theory, the results showed aspects of the speakers' appearance and demeanor to be associated with the youths' evaluation of the presentation.


Caffeine intake and potential effect on health of a segment of northern Canadian indigenous people.

There are strong indications that the caffeine intake of Canadian Northern Indigenous People is very substantial. Tea is the main contributor. Preliminary calculations show that daily ingestion of caffeine among these groups is much higher than ingestion levels known to have adverse medical and behavioral effects. Of particular concern is the interaction of caffeine and carbohydrate metabolism, already known to be under stress due to increases in sugar and carbohydrate intake. Symptoms characteristic of unduly high intake of caffeine are also found to a large extent in hypoglycemia, mercury intoxication, and various nutritional deficiencies. There is a need for a substantial research effort to further delineate the caffeine problem and to develop alternate beverages containing reduced amounts of caffeine.


Drug treatment outcomes: is sex a factor?

A small random sample of data from the National CODAP system is used to determine and explain differences in treatment outcomes for men and women. Only small percentage differences, discerned through examination of categorical relationships between males and females, are found to exist. The authors conclude that this finding may suggest more positive outcomes for women in treatment since women experience more social prejudices than their male counterparts, and encounter greater barriers in completing treatment.


Dimensions of the subjective marijuana experience.

A Drug History Questionnaire and a Marihuana Effects Questionnaire were completed by 91 male volunteers who were experienced marijuana smokers. A factor analysis was performed on the frequency of occurrence data for the Marihuana Effects Questionnaire. The resultant factors were similar to those reported previously in the literature supporting the existence of a stable, verbally definable marijuana experience. In comparison to the drug history variables of marijuana smokers in the late 1960s, our population showed increased multiple drug use, an earlier age of introduction to cannabis, and heavier use of cannabis. An analysis of the interaction of drug history variables with experienced marijuana effects suggested that the more frequently one uses cannabis, the less pronounced the experienced effects tend to be.


Attitudinal issues in methadone maintenance programs.

When the addict fails to meet treatment goals, staff may split into "help" vs "shape up or be expelled" groups. To diminish this conflict, team meeting aid the staff to better understand the addict and their own intrapsychic and interpersonal attitudes, set reasonable treatment goals, and provide concrete help. General staff meetings clarify policy and increase awareness of various role stresses. Nondegree counselor subgroups help to define stresses in this unique role.


The therapeutic community and methadone: a way of achieving abstinence.

The combination of a therapeutic community (TC) and gradual methadone detoxification of 3 to 4 months to treat long-term methadone patients is described. Most patients have done poorly on methadone and come only after serious drug and alcohol abuse or criminal behavior. An individualized treatment plan is implemented which includes individual, group, and family therapy; psychotropic drugs; blind methadone detoxification, and the techniques used in contemporary TC's. Of 215 admissions, 44% have been fully detoxified from methadone over an average of 3 1/2 months (94 patients). Of 94 patients detoxified, 20 (21%) returned to methadone treatment elsewhere and 15 (16%) stayed on such treatment.


The relationship between treatment modality, demographic characteristics, and staff perceptions concerning their jobs in 26 Philadelphia drug treatment centers.

The staffs of 26 Philadelphia drug treatment centers, representing four major treatment modalities, were interviewed concerning their attitudes and perceptions of treatment and the treatment milieu. By employing canonical correlation, two basic modality contrasts were found that significantly differentiated these attitudes and perceptions: (1) staff in small therapeutic communities tended to manifest more positive attitudes than their counterparts in large methadone maintenance settings, and (2) outpatient drug-free staff tended to be more satisfied and optimistic than detoxification staff.


Two methods of predicting drug-taking.

A behavioral analysis technique was compared to detoxified heroin addicts in their ability to predict drug behavior. It was found that the behavioral analysis technique was more successful than the heroin addicts in predicting drug-taking. Moreover, this difference was more pronounced when only transition drug usage (a drug-use week preceded by one or more drug-free weeks) was considered. The use of the behavioral analysis technique, as part of an intervention system, was discussed.


A survey of students' awareness of and attitudes toward drug abuse prevention programs in New York State, winter 1974/75.

The present paper reports some results from a winter 1974-1975, New York State survey of junior and senior public high school youths' awareness of and attitudes toward the drug prevention efforts their schools had undertaken. The findings indicate that most youths are not aware of community resources available for assistance with a drug problem. Substantial discrepancies were found between student ratings of the effectiveness of prevention programs and the programs which they were most frequently exposed. Finally, the data highlight the peer context and drug culture aspect of the youths' substance taking, emphasizing that the sociocultural backgrounds of students need to be taken into account in prevention program development.


Weight gain and edema on methadone maintenance therapy.

Methadone HCl is currently legally dispensed to approximately 80,000 heroin addicts in the United States. It is widely heralded as being virtually free from other than narcotic side effects. This report describes in detail three patients with massive fluid gain in a population of 420 addicts treated at the Hope Center methadone program in Tucson, Arizona. In no patient was there a prior history of edema, and an intensive search failed to reveal a cause for the swelling. Weight gain uniformly began 3 to 6 months after initiation of methadone or a sharp increase in the dosage, and in all three patients during periods when they sharply reduced or discontinued methadone, edema was resolved associated with a concomitant loss of weight.


The epidemiology of drug use during pregnancy.

It is posited that drug-taking behaviors related to pregnancy are socially conditioned patterns and are subject to reeducation. Drug-taking behaviors of pregnant women are reviewed. It is uniformly found that multiple drug agents are consumed by the average pregnant woman during the gestation period. The unique vulnerability of the fetus and the teratogenic potential of numerous drugs are discussed. Recommendations are offered for the judicious use of drugs during pregnancy.


Drug overdoses: a comparison of drug-dependent and nondependent individuals attending London casualty departments.

During a 1-month prospective study of patients presenting to 62 London Casualty Departments with drug-related problems, 395 drug-dependent individuals were identified. A comparison of these drug-dependent and nondependent patients attending casualty during the same period with the same presenting problem of drug overdose showed statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics and patterns of drug use between the two groups. The importance of identifying previously unrecognized drug-dependent individuals during their casualty attendance is discussed.


Methadone programs and crime reduction: a comparison of New York and California addicts.

Methadone patients in Santa Clara County (California) and Brooklyn (New York)--Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation (ARTC)--were evaluated to determine the extent of reductions in individual and community-wide criminal activity. Findings showed an overall decline in official (recorded) arrests for Brooklyn patients in a 3-year follow-up period. California patients showed similar declines in a 2-year follow-up period. Assault rates for both populations showed less of a decline. It was found that Brooklyn patients were arrested less frequently but for more severe offenses across preaddiction, addiction, and post-program entry periods. Criminal complaints to the police in the ARTC area were not reduced as compared to surrounding precincts. Individual and program performance characteristics were examined for Brooklyn patients in relation to reductions in criminal activity. A better preprogram drug history and decreased drug use while on the program were related significantly to decreased criminal activity for male and female patients, and older patients had slightly better outcomes. It was concluded that future programs should utilize more aggressive outreach techniques, including epidemiologic methods, to reach younger addicts, and that stable programs relying on central screening and a range of services would be required for success with them.


Drug contagion in Jerusalem: a pilot investigation of the Israeli drug use scene.

Thirty-nine male and female adult Jewish and Arab street drug users from Jerusalem, currently in treatment, were interviewed to explore various factors associated with their own initiation into drug use and their initiation of others. These factors included the source and context of initial drug use, first drug used, physical and psychological drug reactions, and the types of gains derived from turning others on. The most significant findings from this ministudy are that the majority of drug users did not initiate anyone else into drug use, and that those who did reported a variety of nonmonetary gains.


Group psychotherapy for substance abuse patients: development of a technique.

A voluntary open psychotherapy group in a Veterans Drug Dependence Treatment Center was conducted along psychodynamic-integrative lines. Interpretations were first made as with psychiatric patients. These patients regressed to drug use or dropped out. The style was changed to emphasize pertinent general questions. The derivatives of personality problems emerged in the discussions. "Samplers" (patients attending less than five times) and "regulars" (patients attending more than five times) of 104 sessions are compared with one another and the total Center population. Reviewing the literature confirmed our impression that this group treatment was worthwhile.


Deterrence of methaqualone abuse through mass urinalysis.

A temporary court-ordered cessation of urine testing in Europe and the widespread abuse of a detectable methaqualone-containing drug provided an opportunity with the resumption of testing for the evaluation of the possible effects of urinalysis on usage patterns. Evidence is presented suggesting that in this instance urinalysis acted to deter usage of this particular drug.


Swedish socialism and big business.

It is argued that during 44 years of Social Democratic government in Sweden intimate cooperation has developed between this government and multinational corporations. This cooperation was based upon the development of common interests, and was the result of an economic policy of structural rationalization and state intervention. A strong tendency of concentration of capital can be observed. Data are presented to support the theses developed.


The public hospital and its local ecology in the United States: some relationships between the "plight of the public hospital" and the "plight of the cities".

The "plight" of the public hospital in the United States is examined from the point of view of its relationship to the "plight" of the cities. Fifty-five large cities are examined and for 38 of these cities that have such hospitals the relationships of levels of public hospital services to local demographic, government fiscal, and tax structure conditions are analyzed. The principal findings point to the existence of some strong relationships and the implications for public policy of these associations are discussed.


Homes or hospitals? Contradictions of the urban crisis.

Medical expansion is threatening to eliminate many urban residential areas, despite criticisim that argues for comprehensive planning, reduced costs, less concentrated power in the health sector, and a reversal of "medicalization." Our research on expansion, which grew partly from personal participation in a local struggle against expanding institutions in Boston, revealed certain tensions in combining sociomedical research with concrete political practice. From events in Boston and from an exploratory review of periodicals, we recognized that medical expansion and community conflict occur frequently in cities throughtout the United States. Based on general theoretical perspectives from organizational analysis and political economy, we made several hypotheses that we tested through a questionnaire sent to all hospitals in the 20 largest cities of the United States and through other data available on the same hospitals. In large part, this empirical study confirmed our theoretical expectations that (a) larger medical centers show a greater tendency toward territorial growth than smaller hospitals; (b) bureaucratic and administrative dynamics lead to facilities that do not necessarily enhance patient care; (c) despite short-term cycles of expansion and contraction in public hospital growth, expansion projects are widespread and generate considerable political conflict; (d) because of the state's contradictory roles in regulation and social capital expenditures, opposition to medical expansion comes more from community organizations than from governmental monitoring or planning bodies; and (e) the needs of capital determine that medical expansion has a more detrimental impact on housing than on commercial or industrial facilities. Future expansion of private medical facilities is more likely than that of public facilities, although much private expansion may receive public subsidization. As ideologic patterns are demystified, the contradictions between medical expansion and housing needs can provide a focus for successful community organizing.


Rethinking suicide: notes toward a critical epidemiology.

Where the genesis of "disease" owes much to causes that are social and economic in nature, epidemiology holds unrealized potential as a tool of social criticism. A particularly interesting example is provided by suicide and suicide research. Methodological difficulties are explored in detail, major findings reviewed, and the dominant interpretations of such findings criticized. Research has consistently pointed to the risks of marginal or minority status, unemployment, weak community supports, situational crises, and the pressures people are subjected to during periods of economic depression. It is argued that the sociostructural implications of such research have been systematically ignored, attention being devoted instead to more efficient management of the suicidal individual--this in spite of the lack of success of suicide prevention centers. Initial steps toward an alternative framework are outlined, with emphasis laid on the need to disaggregate the suicide act. It is further suggested that self-destruction is a far commoner--indeed, integral--part of our social environment than the bare rack of suicide statistics would suggest.


Convenience and the occurrence of births: induction of labor in the United States and Canada.

This paper, using data for the United States and Canada on number of births by day of the week, presents indirect evidence for the widespread incidence of the practice of elective induction. For both the United States and Canada, it is found that substantially fewer births occur on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays than on weekdays. Controlling for such factors as prenatal care, race, education, legitimacy, birth weight, and time trend strongly suggests that the induction of labor is responsible for the patterns found. The paper concludes by discussing the framework within which the practice of elective induction of labor should be evaluated and justified.


Medicine and patriarchal violence: the social construction of a "private" event.

Our objectives are to describe the pattern of abuse associated with battering and to evaluate the contribution of the medical system and of broader social forces to its emergence. A pilot study of 481 women who used the emergency service of a large metropolitan hospital in the U.S. shows that battering includes a history of self-abuse and psychosocial problems, as well as repeated and escalating physical injury. In addition, although the number of battered women using the service is 10 times higher than medical personnel identify, the pattern of abuse that constitutes battering emerges only after its initial effects are presented and in conjunction with specific medical intervnetions and referrals. Examination of intervention and referral patterns suggests a staging process by which battering is socially constructed. At first, the physical trauma associated with abuse is medicated symptomatically. But the patient's persistence, the failure of the cure, and the incongruity between her problems and available medical explanations lead the provider to label the abused woman in ways that suggest she is personally responsible for her victimization. Although secondary problems such as depression, drug abuse, suicide attempts, or alcoholism derive as much from the intervention strategy adopted as from physical assault or psychopathology, they are treated as the primary problems at psychiatric and social service referral points where family maintenance is often the therapeutic goal. One consequence of this referral strategy is the stabilization of "violent families" in ways that virtually insure women will be abused in systematic and arbitrary ways. The use of patriarchal logic by medical providers ostensibly responding to physical trauma has less to do with individual "sexism" than with the political and economic constraints under which medicine operates as part of an "extended patriarchy." Medicine's role in battering suggests that the services function to reconstitute the "private" world of patriarchal authority, with violence if necessary, against demands to socialize the labors of love.


Nutrition and national development: the case of Chile.

This study is an historical analysis of food consumption and nutrition in Chile emphasizing the influence of political and economic factors on nutritional standards. It attempts to document and explain the persistence of malnutrition as a widespread social problem in Chile even as the country achieved a relatively advanced state of economic development and boasted an unusually progressive record of social legislation. The major findings of the study were: (a) Chile's pattern of development, social reform efforts notwithstanding, consistently discriminated against low-income groups, and (b) this discrimination perpetuated low standards of nutrition and low levels of food consumption among the country's poor and undermined the effectiveness of specific measures to alleviate malnutrition.


Place of the indigenous and the western systems of medicine in the health services of India.

The interrelationships of the indigenous (traditional and western (modern) systems of medicine are a function of the interplay of social, economic, and political forces in the community. In India, western medicine was used as a political weapon by the colonialists to strengthen the oppressing classes and to weaken the oppressed. Not only were the masses denied access to the western system of medicine, but this system contributed to the decay and degeneration of the preexisting indigenous systems. This western and privileged-class orientation of the health services has been actively perpetuated and promoted by the postcolonial leadership of India. The issue in formulating an alternative health care system for India is essentially that of rectifying the distortions which have been brought about by various forces. The basic premise for such an alternative will be to start with the people. Action in this field will lead to a more harmonious mix between the indigenous and western systems of medicine.