Localization of simian adenovirus 7 (SA 7) transcription and replication in lytic infection. An ultracytochemical and autoradiographical study. We have studied SA7 (simian adenovirus 7) lytic infection at the ultrastruct level. The use of cytochemical techniques which specifically stain DNA or preferentially stain ribonucleoproteins permitted the analysis of the structure of the virus-induced nuclear inclusions, and revealed presumed virus DNA before the appearance of other nuclear alterations. Correlation of these findings with high resolution autoradiography enabled the functions of virus DNA replication and transcription to be ascribed to a defined nuclear inclusion. We demonstrate that the nucleolus remains distinct from the inclusion body, contrary to the situation in other adenovirus-infected cells. The functional role of host cell chromatin and of the nucleolus are discussed.


Biochemical study of certain enzymes and metabolites of the carbohydrate metabolism in the skeletal muscle of the dengue virus-infected mice. Changes in enzymes and metabolites of the carbohydrate metabolism in skeletal muscles were studied in mice after intracerebral inoculation of dengue type 2 virus. It was noted that lactic dehydrogenase, aldolase, phosphoglucoisomerase, phosphoglucomutase, GO-T and GP-T activity were enhanced initially by two- to three-fold, reaching a peak on day 5. As the illness appeared in mice, all the enzyme activities were lowered and were about three times less in the paralytic stage on the 8th day as compared to controls. Fructose-1,6-diphosphatase activity was increased on the 4th and 5th days but decreased later. Acid phosphatase increased abruptly from the 6th day while alkaline phosphatase activity was irregular. Creatine increased on the 4th and 5th days but diminished later. Glycogen decreased from the beginning and was lowest on the 5th day, but the levels increased later and were maximum in paralysed muscles. On the other hand, lactic acid began accumulating in the muscles and was maximum on the 5th day, then declined. Dengue virus was detected in the muscles from the 2nd day but higher titres were seen from the 6th day. Changes similar to the preparalytic stage of mice may occur in human beings, causing myalgia.


A semi-continuous system for the production of human interferon in lymphoblastoid cell cultures. The simultaneous occurrence of virus replication and of interferon production in Namalva lymphoblastoid cell cultures infected with measles virus has allowed the development of a semi-continuous production system yielding about 10(4) units of interferon for each 10(6) cells.


Isolation of a Singh's Aedes albopictus cell clone sensitive to Dengue and Chikungunya viruses. Twenty clones were isolated from cultured Aedes albopictus (Singh) cells in the presence of anti-Chikungunya (CHIK) virus serum. Each clone was tested for its yields of Dengue (DEN) viruses, types 1, 2, 3 and 4, and also CHIK virus. Clone C6 showed the highest yield of each virus tested. Forty-three clones obtained by recloning C6 in the presence of anti-DEN sera showed almost the same virus yields as C6. One of the clones, C6/36, showed mild to extensive cytopathic effects several days after virus infection, in contrast to the original uncloned (SAAR) cells. Fluorescent antibody staining revealed that the amount of virus antigen accumulated in the cytoplasm was almost the same in every cell in the case of clone C6/36, while it was highly heterogeneous for uncloned SAAR cells. Growth curves of the viruses indicated that clone C6/36 gave a significantly higher yield for each virus than uncloned SAAR cells up to 7 days after infection. Virus sensitivity of the C6/36 clone did not change by growing the cells with the medium used for uncloned SAAR cells, nor did the virus sensitivity of uncloned cells increase in medium used for clone C6/36. However, the C6/36 clone became resistant to CHIK virus, but not to DEN or Sindbis viruses, after incubation with the medium used for another A. albopictus cell line (SAAK). The transfer of the specific resistance to CHIK may be mediated by some latent virus related to CHIK.


Immunoglobulin (IgG) and (IgM) antibody responses to rabies vaccine. IgM and IgG neutralizing antibody responses were estimated in the sera of rabbits and mice immunized with different doses of Semple, duck embryo and cell culture rabies vaccines. IgM synthesis was prolonged in animals immunized with multiple doses of either Semple or duck embryo vaccines but not those immunized with cell culture vaccine. Mice were passively protected by IgG antibody against subsequent challenge but not by IgM of equivalent neutralizing titre. Mice challenged when the antibody response was solely IgM were not protected if the transition to IgG synthesis was prevented by cyclophosphamide treatment.


Morphological revertants of adenovirus type 12-transformed hamster cells. Morphological revertants have been isolated from one line of adenovirus type 12-transformed hamster cells. This line, T637, is oncogenic in hamsters and contains multiple copies of the virus genome per cell. Different parts of the virus genome are represented in non-stoichiometric amounts and the virus DNA persists in the cells in an integrated form. The pattern of integrated virus genomes has been determined by the blotting technique. In the T637 line, morphological revertants arise spontaneously at relatively high frequency. Two of these revertants have been cloned. In contrast to the T637 line, the revertants F10 and G12 exhibit fibroblastic morphology. The patterns of integrated virus genomes in the revertants differs markedly from that of the T637 line; one of the revertant cell lines, F10, appears to have lost all virus DNA sequences. The morphological revertants continue to express the oncogenic phenotype, although the time required to produce tumours in animals appears to be prolonged compared to the parental BHK21 and the T637 cell lines. A number of biological parameters of the revertant lines have also been investigated.


Inhibition of rabies virus in vitro by the ammonium-5-tungsto-2-antimoniate. In vitro multiplication of rabies virus was inhibited by a condensed mineral ion, ammonium-5-tungsto-2-antimoniate (HPA 23). The inhibitory effect was evaluated by two different methods, plaque reduction and one step virus growth. Plaquing showed 50% inhibition with 4.5 microgram/ml of HPA 23 and complete inhibition with 12.5 microgram/ml. A reduction of two logs in virus yield was obtained in BHK21C13S cells in suspension treated with 50 microgram/ml of HPA 23. Inhibition also occurred when treatment with HPA 23 was started 18 to 24 h after infection in the plaque assay but no effect was seen when HPA 23 was added 48 h after virus inoculation. All these inhibitory effects of HPA 23 on rabies virus multiplication were observed at non cytotoxic doses. Therefore HPA 23 contrasts with other antiviral drugs which do not inhibit rabies virus multiplication without affecting the viability of cells.


Intranuclear crystalline zebra structures induced in human tumour cells by adenovirus type 5. Intranuclear crystalline inclusions with leaf-like striated appearance, i.e. zebra structures, were observed by electron microscopy in adenovirus type 5-infected human cervical and bladder carcinoma cells at 4 to 6 days after infection.


Preparation of 125iodine-labelled human fibroblast interferon. Human fibroblast interferon has been labelled with 125iodine using the Bolton-Hunter reagent. Purification of the interferon after iodination gave a product which had stable biological activity for 1 month and had a specific radioactivity of 2 to 4 micronCi/microgram.


A variant of adenovirus 12 producing cytoplasmic accumulation of capsid proteins. A variant of adenovirus type 12 (R-Ad12) has been isolated by infecting a clonal line of normal rat kidney cells (NRK) with wild-type adenovirus 12. Although R-Ad12 failed to produce infectious progeny virions when cycled a second time through NRK cells, it nevertheless retained the ability to code for virus structural proteins that accumulated in the cytoplasm.


Minor nucleic acids in influenza virus.

Minor nucleic acids in influenza virus. A nucleic acid fraction consisting of RNA and DNA sequences with an apparent mol. wt. of 1.4 to 1.5 x 10(6) is present in minor amounts in purified influenza virus. The RNA is virus-specific and in the case of fowl plague virus (FPV) contains sequences of genes 2 and 7 which code for one of the proteins constituting the polymerase complex and for the matrix protein respectively.


Formation of vaccinia virus DNA-protein complex in the presence of isatin beta thiosemicarbazone (IBT). The association of newly synthesized vaccinia virus DNA with proteins in infected HeLa cells was followed. A shift from a high density to a low density complex occurred between 3 and 6 h after infection. This process was not affected by isatin beta thiosemicarbazone (IBT), an inhibitor of pox virus growth. At 22 h after infection in the absence of IBT, mature virions of high density were observed; however, in the presence of the drug, high density DNA-protein complexes, which lack the two main virus core polypeptides, were formed.


Specificity of partial exclusion of bacteriophage T2 in crosses with T4. An attempt was made to isolate a bacteriophage T4 mutant generally disturbed in its ability to exclude the localized exclusion sensitivity determinants of T2 from the progeny of crosses. The method used was a modification of that used previously, which revealed T4 mutants unable to exclude more than one of the T2 sensitive sites specifically. One out of 1000 isolates from a mutagenized T4 am56:am32 stock was found to be mutated in its exclusion properties. However, the mutant was not generally exclusion deficient. Its properties were similar to those of a double mutant T4 ex 56:ex32, specifically unable to exclude the T2 sensitive sites near gene 56 and gene 32. The failure to isolate a generally excluding mutant at a frequency down to 10(-3) renders the occurrence of a general exclusion locus unlikely.


A re-examination of the relationship between locus of control and voluntary heart rate change. The present study was an attempt to resolve some of the inconsistencies and discrepancies in previous studies examining the relationship between Rotter's locus control construct and voluntary heart rate (HR) change. Twelve internals and 12 externals received two sessions (one week apart) of bidirectional HR control trials with or without feedback. Internals, relative to externals, were better able to increase their HR and showed more improved performance with feedback. Neither group was able to lower their HR significantly during any decrease phase of either session. It was suggested that (a) HR slowing may involve different psychophysiological processes than HR speeding, and/or (b) HR slowing may have been perceived to be a task involving chance rather than skill, in which case no difference between groups would be expected in light of the locus of control literature.


Patterns of disorder in first admission psychiatric patients. Are there patterns of characteristics in psychiatric patients, different from traditional diagnostic considerations, that could provide important information for understanding, treatment, and research? To pursue this question, this report describes an investigation of clinical and demographic characteristics in a representative sample of first admissions for functional psychiatric disorder. Analyzing the patterns of these characteristics showed that social class had a particularly key role relating to a larger number of characteristics than did symptom and functioning measures. Symptoms when analyzed together revealed replicated factors not corresponding to diagnostic types. The implications of these and other findings for considering a broad perspective in conceptualizing, studying, and treating psychiatric disorder are discussed.


Attitudes toward respiratory illness and hospitalization in asthma. Relationships with personality, symptomatology, and treatment response. A previous study described the development of the Respiratory Illness Opinion Survey (RIOS) which measures six categories describing attitudes toward respiratory illness and its treatment: Optimism, Negative Staff Regard, Specific Internal Awareness, External Control, Psychological Stigma, and Authoritarian Attitudes. In the present study these attitudes were found: a) to relate more clearly to general personality characteristics than to illness-specific subjective symptomatology; b) to enable types of asthmatic patients to be described on the basis of the patterns of attitude category scores; and c) to provide some information about treatment outcome in asthma as indexed by length of hospitalization during long term, intensive therapy, the need for prescribed oral corticosteroids, and rates of rehospitalization and judged severity following discharge from treatment.


The meaning of silent pauses in the initial interview. It is usually assumed that anxiety arousal has a disruptive effect on speech and that it is associated with an increase in the frequency and the duration of silent pauses. Evidence is presented that anxiety arousal per se is associated with a reduction in silent pauses and an acceleration of speech rate, unless the speech task involves complex decision making. It is proposed that silent pauses in speech, including those pauses which are a result of anxiety-related defensiveness, are most parsimoniously explained in terms of information processing which is taking place at the time of the pauses.


Multiple sclerosis masquerading as lithium toxicity. The author presents a case report of a manic-depressive patient who developed dysarthria and ataxia while on lithium maintenance. These symptoms were erroneously attributed to lithium toxicity occurring at therapeutic serum levels. However, the symptoms persisted despite diminution in lithium dosage and a neurological consultation revealed the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The author concludes that lithium therapy is effective with manic-depressive patients, that adverse side effects are infrequent and can occur at toxic or therapeutic serum lithium levels, and that the exceptional patient may have a second illness incorrectly attributed to lithium toxicity.


Amobarbital treatment of multiple personality. Use of structured video tape interviews as a basis for intensive psychotherapy. The case of a 30-year-old woman with five distinct personalities is presented. The patient was treated, using a system of structured video taped sodium amobarbital interviews, in which areas to be explored were developed in psychotherapy. Tapes were played for the patient after each session. The taped material was used as the basis for psychotherapeutic investigation. The patient evidenced many of the features previously reported in cases of multiple personality, specifically: being the product of an unwanted pregnancy in a repressively rigid family; emotional distancing by one parent; strong sibling rivalry with an adopted sib; family history of mental illness; a traumatic first sexual experience (rape); a marriage to a maladjusted individual in an attempt to escape the parental home; a high internalized standard of performance and an inability to display anger or negative feelings toward the parents. In the course of treatment, the patient's personalties fused and she was able to accept each component as part of herself. No further fragmentation has occurred during the year following discharge. The therapy technique minimized dependency, and the possiblity of addiction to amobarbital interviews permitted more active patient therapy involvement, and set clear-cut goals and expectations for improvement before further amobarbital interviews could be conducted.


Antagonism of morphine-induced central stimulation in mice by small doses of catecholamine-receptor agonists. The morphine (75 mg/kg i.p.) induced stimulation of motor activity in mice was significantly suppressed by small doses of central catecholamine (CA) receptor agonists, apomorphine (0.2 mg/kg) and clonidine (0.05 mg/kg). In the same dose, and at the same time interval as the behavioural stimulation was obtained, morphine did not significantly affect the in vivo rate of tyrosine hydroxylation in two dopamine (DA)-rich mouse brain regions, the corpus striatum and in the limbic system, or in the noradrenaline (NA)-rich, but DA-poor hemispheres, measured as the Dopa-accumulation during 30 min after inhibition of aromatic amino-acid decarboxylase by 3-hydroxybenzylhydrazine (NSD 1015) 150 mg/kg. The apomorphine induced reduction in Dopa accumulation in the DA-rich brain regions was not significantly affected by morphine. The disappearance rate of brain NA after inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase by alpha-methyltyrosine methylester (250 mg/kg), the utilization of NA, was accelerated by morphine, whereas that of DA was not affected. Clonidine (0.05 mg/kg) retarded selectively brain NA utilization, and also suppressed the morphine-induced increase in NA utilization. In conclusion, morphine's stimulation of motor activity in mice, an effect which previously has been found to be correlated with its dependence producing action, could be inhibited by apomorphine or clonidine in small doses which inhibit brain DA- and NA-neurons, respectively. Thus, we have now shown the psychomtor stimulation by two euphoriant and dependence-producing drugs, ethanol and morphine, to be suppressed by CA "autoreceptor" activation.


Localization of the site of the haloperidol-induced, prolactin-mediated increase of dopamine turnover in the median eminence: studies in rats with complete hypothalamic deafferentations. Complete hypothalamic deafferentations were made in male rats with a modified Halász knife to isolate tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons from the rest of the brain. A radioenzymatic procedure was employed to quantify dopamine and norepinephrine concentrations in various regions of the hypothalamus. Dopamine concentrations were unaltered while norepinephrine concentrations were reduced 50% in the median eminence and hypothalamic island 16-33 days after surgery. Basal serum prolactin concentrations were unaltered in these rats but were elevated 16 hours after the injection of haloperidol and 1 hour after alpha-methyltyrosine. The isolation of tuberoinfundibular neurons from the rest of the brain did not alter the ability of haloperidol to increase the rate of alpha-methyltyrosine-induced decline of dopamine in the median eminence. These results indicate that the haloperidol-induced, prolactin-mediated increase of dopamine turnover in the median eminence results from a direct action of this hormone on neurons within the medial basal hypothalamus.


Electron microscopic observations on neuron-like cells in the ground squirrel pineal gland. Ultrastructural details of neuron-like cells as well as synaptic nerve endings in the pineal gland of the ground squirrel are described. The neuron-like cells are situated mainly in the distal portion of the gland. Since the neuron-like cells differ considerably from the pinealocytes and exhibit cytological features characteristic of nerve cells, they are presumably true neurons. The cell bodies or processes of the neuron-like cells receive many synapses. The nerve endings synapsing on these cells contain numerous small non-granulated and some large granulated vesicles but no small granulated vesicles. These synaptic nerve endings are rather abundant within the parenchyma but they are also found in perivascular spaces ensheathed completely or partially by the Schwann cell cytoplasm. Similar nerve endings occasionally make typical synaptic contacts with the cell bodies or processes of the pinealocytes. Since the adrenergic nerve endings do not form synapses on the pinealocytes in the ground squirrel, it is clear that nerve endings other than adrenergic ones also distribute within the pineal gland of this animal. These synaptic nerve endings may contribute, at least to some extent, to the innervation of the ground squirrel pineal gland, whether they are derived from the nerve fibers penetrating the pineal gland or from the neuron-like cells.


Effects of pimozide and bromocriptine on anterior pituitary cell proliferation. The effects of pimozide (a dopamine receptor blocker) and bromocriptine (a dopamine receptor agonist) on the mitotic incidence in the anterior pituitary in male rats was investigated. It was shown that pimozide enhanced anterior pituitary mitotic activity in male rats. Bromocriptine, in turn, suppressed anterior pituitary cell proliferation in estradiol-treated male rats. A dopaminergic control of anterior pituitary mitotic activity is suggested.


The pathophysiology of dystonia.

The pathophysiology of dystonia. Dystonia occurs frequently following administration of neuroleptic or antiemetic drugs. This acute manifestation is not likely to be a simple consequence of reduced dopaminergic activity, because it was never reported to occur following the use of drugs which deplete dopamine stores, like reserpine and tetrabenazine. Based on the fact that dopamine-beta-hydroxylase levels are frequently elevated in patients with the dominant form of torsion dystonia it is suggested that dystonia results from impairment of a normal dopaminergic-noradrenergic balance, in which noradrenergic tone preponderates. A relative norepinephrine hyperactivity may be caused by dopaminergic blockade (as occurs in drug-induced dystonia) or from enhanced release of norepinephrine (in idiopathic torsion dystonia).


Differential changes of blood and urinary indoleamines following intravenous ethanol administration in alcoholic and non-drinker women. Total blood serotonin (5-HT) and the urinary excretion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 5-hydroxytryptophol (5-HTOL) were measured before and after intravenous administration of 0.65 g/kg ethanol to nine chronic alcoholic female patients. Changes were compared to those obtained in twelve age-matched non-drinker neurotic or hysteric women. The two groups showed different pattern of indoleamine response to ethanol: alcoholics reacted by a reduction of 5-HIAA ouput in the urine, while controls showed no change in the 5-HIAA excretion but a marked fall of blood serotonin. Urinary 5-HTOL excretion increased equally in both groups. Despite these biochemical variations, behavioral responses to ethanol were indistinguishable in the two groups. The results indicate that chronic alcoholism leads to permanent changes of the biogenic amine metabolism.


The influence of temperature on neuromuscular performance. The influence of lowering the temperature, by 10 degrees C increments, from 37 decrees C to 17 degrees C on the twitch )Pt) and tetanic (Po) tension during direct and indirect stimulation, on presynaptic acetylcholine (ACh) release and on muscle acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activity were investigated in vitro on the rat's phrenic-nerve-hemidiaphragm preparation. Decreasing the temperature from 37 degrees C to 17 decrees C caused a progressive increase of the isometric Pt to 195.8 +/- 9.6 (S.E. of mean) and 169.6 +/- 2.9% of control with direct and indirect stimulation respectively. This change in temperature also increased twitch duration and time to peak Pt by factors of about 4 and 6 respectively with both direct and indirect stimulation. The Po/Pt ratio did not change significantly between 37 degrees C and 27 degrees C, but dropped sharply between 27 degrees C and 17 degrees C. With direct stimulation tetanus was only maintained in 50% of the experiments at 37 degrees C and in none at 27 degrees C or 17 degrees C. With indirect stimulation tetanus was maintained in all experiments at 37 degrees C and 27 degress C and in none at 17 degrees C. Post-tetanic facilitation was greater with indirect than direct stimulation and at higher than at lower temperatures. Post-tetanic exhaustion, with both direct and indirect stimulation, was only observed at 37 degrees C. Presynaptic ACh release (pmol . g-1 . min-1) at rest and with stimulation rates of 0.1 to 50 Hz decreased by more than 60% as temperature was lowered from 37 degrees C to 17 degrees C. Cooling from 37 degrees C to 17 degrees C caused a similar decrease in the volley output (pmol . g-1 . volley-1) of ACh. Muscle-AChE and BuChE activities decreased by 34 and 52% respectively when the temperature was lowered from 37 degrees C to 17 degrees C. The findings presented indicate that the site of the facilitating effect of cooling on Pt is the muscle fiber. The facilitation is caused by the delay of the relaxation of the contracted muscle, causing prolongation of the active state and increased tension development. The decreased speed of nerve conduction and ACh release caused by cooling adversely affects neuromuscular transmission. This, however, is partially counteracted by decreased muscle-ChE activity and increased sensitivity of the postjunctional membrane to ACh caused by cooling.


Membrane-potential-sensitive dyes for optical monitoring of activity in Aplysia neurons. Two membrane-associated dyes (WW375 and NK2367) which change their absorption of light when the membrane potential changes have been studied using several preparations form Aplysia. Action potentials are easily observed in nerve trunks (from a number of axons), in bag cell clusters, in some of the larger single cells of the parietovisceral ganglion, and in the optic nerve. Physiological effects of the dyes on the circadian rhythm of activity in the eye are described.


Uptake of dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine by platelets of patients with Parkinsonism. The uptake of tritiated dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine by platelets from 11 patients with Parkinsonism who were not receiving any medication, and from 11 control subjects matched for sex and for age within a decade was compared. No significant differences were found in the uptake of either amine. Our findings, therefore, provide no support for the belief that there is a generalised defect of dopamine systems in Parkinson's disease.


Treatment of myoclonus with pheneturide. Twenty-one patients with various forms of myoclonus are presented. Phenacemide was given to five patients with considerable benefit to three, but with serious toxic effects in two. Another acetylurea derivative, pheneturide, was given to 19 patients and was well tolerated. Myoclonus was completely or substantially controlled in 12 patients.


Observer variability in assessing impaired consciousness and coma. Head-injured patients were examined by a number of observers whose assessments were compared. Considerable discrepancies occurred when overall "levels" of consciousness and coma were used, and also with some terms which are in common use. More consistent assessments were obtained by employing the "Glasgow Coma Scale," which describes eye opening, verbal behaviour, and motor responsiveness. Nurses and general surgeons were as consistent as neurosurgeons when using this scale, and it was relatively resistant to language or cultural differences between observers. The practical reliability of the Glasgow scale enhances its value, both for monitoring individual cases and for making meaningful comparisons between series of patients with acute brain damage.


Subjective impairment and social recovery after closed head injury. The level of social recovery achieved by a representative series of 50 young adults was assessed six months after a severe closed head injury (post-traumatic amnesia greater than 24 hours). Work, leisure activities, and contact with friends were the areas of life most affected, whereas family life and marital relationships appeared to withstand changes at this stage in the recovery process. Many patients were still suffering from subjective symptoms, but these appeared to have relatively minor effects on ability to resume normal activities. Physical disability was a much more important factor at this stage. A control group of patients with limb injuries suffered similar disruption of their lives, but reported few subjective complaints.


Incidence and characteristics of voluntary nystagmus. A survey of a college age population revealed that 8% could produce voluntary nystagmus. Seventy-nine per cent of this sample had relatives who could also produce it. A systematic investigation of the characteristics of voluntary nystagmus under a number of stimulus conditions showed that it resembles pendular nystagmus in waveform, and certain ocular oscillations, such as ocular flutter and opsoclonus, in frequency. The results indicate that voluntary nystagmus can be differentiated from other forms of nystagmus by its frequency, duration, and occurrence in individuals whose neuro-ophthalmological examination is normal. Voluntary nystagmus probably involves the "hold" mechanism of the cerebellar nuclei because of its frequency correspondence to ocular oscillations which result from a dysfunction in this anatomical area.


Electrophysiological appraisal of relative segmental motoneurone pool excitability in flexor and extensor. F responses recorded from flexor and extensor muscles were analysed in 18 normal subjects and in 16 patients with motor system abnormalities. The prominence of the F responses was evaluated quantitatively by determining the persistence--that is, the fraction of measurable F responses which actually occur after a series of supramaximal stimuli--and average amplitude of the F responses. In the normal resting state, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that the "central excitatory states" of motoneurones is greater in the antigravity muscles than in those muscles not stretched by gravity. This pattern was disrupted in eight of the 16 patients with motor system abnormalities caused by central nervous system lesions. These changes reflect a clinically testable aspect of the pathophysiology of certain motor system disorders.


Excitability relationships between lower limb myotatic arcs in spasticity. The excitability of a lower limb myotatic reflex arc is modulated by the antecedent activation of another myotatic arc in the same limb; the changes can be represented by heteronymous excitability curves. This work compares heteronymous excitability curves in spastic and normal subjects. Eighteen patients who showed clear signs of pyramidal tract lesions at a chronic stage were studied. Three myotatic arcs of the lower limb (soleus, quadriceps, and short biceps) were activated either by mechanical percussion (T Sol-T Quad-TSBi) or by electrical stimulation of the afferent nerve (H Sol-H Quad). They were used as conditioning and test responses in six different combinations, and the results compared to those obtained previously in normal volunteers. In spastic patients, heteronymous excitability curves are more obviously modified than homonymous ones. The changes are most prominent in the thigh muscles and less marked when the soleus reflex is conditioned by activation of quadriceps and biceps femoris myotatic reflex arcs.


Human nerve excitability.

Human nerve excitability. The excitabilities of separate fibre populations were examined in the ulnar nerve in 74 healthy subjects, and in the posterior tibial, peroneal, and sural nerves in 23 of these subjects. Square wave electric stimuli of varying duration were applied to the nerve in different locations, while recording the evoked muscle or nerve action potential. "Threshold" strengthduration curves were derived for motor, sensory, and mixed nerve fibre populations. These curves did not vary significantly one from another, in upper versus extremity, or over time. No correlations between excitability and other measures of peripheral nerve function were observed. Excitability appears to reflect some element of nerve structure or function other than myelin.


Prognostic value of minimal excitability of facial nerve in Bell's palsy. Nerve excitability is useful for prognosis in Bell's palsy. Minimal excitability values (MEV) were obtained by stimulating the facial nerve and recording the effective current (mA) required to evoke a minimal visible contraction of frontalis, orbicularis oculi, orbicularis oris, and mentalis muscles respectively. Serial MEVs were performed on 100 patients with facial palsy, of whom 87 were followed for six months or to complete recovery; 61 patients were treated with steroids of whom 57 had good recovery. Serial MEVs were not only useful for prognosis, but also helpful in regulating the dosage of prednisone.


Distal chronic spinal muscular atrophy involving the hands. Six patients are described with a history of slowly progressive wasting of the muscle of the hands and forearms extending over periods of up to 20 years. The clinical, radiological, and electrophysiological findings were consistent with a diagnosis of chronic anterior horn cell degeneration. It is suggested that the patients are affected by a form of distal chronic spinal muscular atrophy affecting the hands.


Painful peripheral states and sympathetic blocks. In various chronic painful states, the sympathetic nerve supply was blocked either by injecting the sympathetic chain and ganglia with local anaesthesia or by the injection of guanethidine during occlusion of the circulation. There was a striking relation between the presence of hyperpathia and the relief of pain by the blocks. The sympathetic block was unlikely to relieve the pain unless hyperpathia accompanied the pain; when hyperpathia was present, a sympathetic block relieved both the constant pain and the hyperpathia. The effectiveness of the guanethidine blocks shows that the pain and the hyperpathia are maintained by the emission of noradrenaline in the periphery. The facts related to the sympathetic system and sensibility are discussed.


Cryptococcal meningitis complicating remote skull fracture. A patient in whom cryptococcal meningitis complicated a nine year old depressed frontal skull fracture, an association which has not been reported previously, is recorded. This is also the first case of cryptococcal meningitis recognised in Ethiopia.


A quantitative electrophysiological study of motor neurone disease. Thirty-two patients with motor neurone disease were investigated using quantitative electrophysiological techniques. Estimates of the number of surviving motor units in the extensor digitorum brevis muscle and measurements of the electrophysiological parameters of these units are present along with the values for motor nerve conduction velocities. The results indicate that reinnervation in motor neurone disease is sufficient to compensate completely for the loss of up to 50% of the motor neurone pool supplying the muscle. The capacity for reinnervation is greater than we have found in a number of neuropathies but the efficiency of reinnervation decreases as the number of surviving motor units falls. Reinnervation appears to cease when 5% or less of the motor units remain viable. There is no electrophysiological evidence of a preferential loss of fast conducting axons, of pathological slowing of conduction nor of a dying-back process affecting the motor axon. Comparison of the electrophysiological parameters in progressive muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis shows no significant differences. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are discussed in terms of the results.


Refractory period of human motor nerve fibres. Using a collision technique, the ulnar nerve was made refractory for a shorter distance normally covered in 0.5 ms or a longer distance covered in 1.5 ms. Studying the shorter refractory segment with paired shocks of maximal intensity, the test response first appeared (more than 5% of unconditioned response) at an interstimulus interval of 1.16 +/- 0.18 ms (mean +/- SD in 20 ulnar nerves). The conduction velocity of the test impulse then was 55.3% +/- 19.2% of normal. Recovery in amplitude of the test response was nearly complete (more than 95%) at 2.11 +/- 0.50 ms, when it was conducting at a speed of 81.2 +/- 17.4% of normal. The conduction velocity recovered to a level above 95% of normal at 2.65 +/- 0.65 ms. Whereas recovery in amplitude of the test response was unrelated to the length of the refractory segment, change in latency was greater with the longer refractory segment, although not in proportion to the distance.


Nerve fibre refractory period in patients treated with rubidium and lithium. Nerve fibre refractory period distributions have been measured on the median nerves of six manic-depressive patients controlled with lithium carbonate, three chronic patients (two manic-depressives and one catatonic schizophrenic) controlled with rubidium chloride, and eight normal volunteers. Rubidium prolonged the refractory periods of all nerve fibres while lithium increased only the longer refractory periods.


Motor unit estimation in a muscle supplied by the radial nerve. The number of motor units in a muscle, the abductor pollicis longus (APL), supplied by the radial nerve was estimated. In 40 APL muscles of control subjects, the mean number of motor units was found to be 421 +/- 99 (SD). Ten patients underwent conventional EMG examination to confirm the clinical suspicion of denervation in radial nerve territory. All presented a significant reduction in the number of motor units in the APL muscle. These results show that this method is useful in the evaluation of muscles supplied by the radial nerve.


Inverse activity of masticatory muscles with and without trismus: a brainstem syndrome. Clinical and EMG findings in 10 cases of intrinsic brainstem lesions are reported with paradoxical activity of jaw closing muscles during jaw opening, with and without trismus. In five cases with trigeminal anaesthesia, the inverse activity of jaw closers is interpreted as a manifestation of disturbance in the central programming of mastication in the motor trigeminal area of the brainstem. Stretch reflex mechanisms and disinhibition of the trigeminal motor neurones play no part in the origin of inverse activity. The distinct brainstem syndrome can only be detected by EMG and the special clinical features.


Human anal reflexes.

Human anal reflexes. By perianal electrical stimulation and EMG recording from the external anal sphincter the anal reflex was constantly present in normal subjects. The latency decreased within certain limits with increasing stimulation to an average minimum latency of 50 ms (SD 10.5). There was no difference between the minimum latency in normal subjects and patients with suprasegmental lesions of the CNS. The latency may be prolonged in patients with lesion of the reflex arc. By stimulation over the posterior tibial nerve behind the medial malleolus a reflex reaction could be picked up constantly from the anal sphincter in normal subjects. This reflex had a longer latency but a lower threshold than the reflex reaction from the tibialis anterior muscle. The average minimum latency from the anal sphincter was 93 ms (SD 21.1) and from the tibialis anterior muscle 64 ms (SD 7.9). In the absence of the anal reflex it may be possible to localise the defect to the afferent or efferent parts of the reflex by using types of stimulation. Preliminary studies of spinal shock revealed a perianally elicited anal reflex in all cases, but also a response to peripheral stimulation in some of the cases, more frequently found in the anal sphincter than in the tibialis anterior muscle.


Electrical study of jaw and orbicularis oculi reflexes after trigeminal nerve surgery. Trigeminal nerve ophthalmic and motor division function was assessed clinically and electrically in 32 patients who had undergone various surgical procedures for trigeminal neuralgia. Using known electrophysiological techniques, the orbicularis oculi and jaw reflexes were tested in all subjects. Abnormalities of the orbicularis oculi reflex were anticipated on the basis of ophthalmic division anaesthesia. However, jaw reflex abnormalities appeared in operated cases with no clinical or electromyographic evidence of masseter denervation. These results were unexpected, and imply that the proprioceptive fibres of the jaw reflex are mediated by a sensory and not a motor root as previously believed.


Hemifacial spasm: treatment by posterior fossa surgery. Nine cases of hemifacial spasm have been treated by posterior fossa exploration without mortality or significant morbidity. In only three was definite pathology found, but the hemifacial spasm was abolished in eight patients and markedly diminished in the remaining patient. The condition has reccurred in one patient. Microsurgical techniques make the operation safe and accurate. We suggest that this procedure is the best approach for hemifacial spasm requiring treatment. Where no definite pathology is found, the effectiveness of the procedure is probably due to fibrosis and hence mild trauma to the facial nerve induced by the sponge wrapped around the nerve.


Chronic subdural haematoma: a review of 114 cases. One hundred and fourteen consecutive adult patients treated surgically for chronic subdural haematoma are described and their clinical features presented in detail. The diagnostic investigations are evaluated and a regime of surgical management is described. The three main modes of clinical presentation and the diagnostic role of carotid angiography are emphasised. It is suggested that the neurological state at the time of operation has no bearing on the prognosis and that, in particular, patients presenting in coma have a much better prognosis than might be expected. The average follow-up period was two years and the longest 11 years.


Prognostic significance of alpha frequency EEG rhythm in coma after cardiac arrest. Sixty-five patients who remained in coma for more than 24 hours after resuscitation from cardiac arrest were divided into two groups according to their EEGs. Thirteen patients were found to have rhythm of alpha frequency while 52 had the usual EEG findings after cerebral anoxia. Three patients from the group with alpha frequency EEG rhythms regained full consciousness but showed severe sequelae. Our results suggest that the prognosis of comatose patients with EEG rhythm of alpha frequency is no poorer than that of other individuals who are comatose after cardiac arrest.


Global hemianaesthesia: a parietal perceptual distortion suggesting non-organic illness. In two patients, lesions in the non-dominant parietal lobe were associated with global anaesthesia to all sensory modalities affecting the opposite half of the body. A striking inconsistency existed between the complaints of limb anaesthesia and the grossly preserved motor and postural control of the involved limb. The gross discrepancy between complaint and functional ability prompted early consideration of a "non-organic" diagnosis. It is suggested that this unusual sensory deficit may be due to distorted perception of somatosensory stimuli, representing another disorder of body schema associated with parietal lobe lesions. The diagnosis of non-organic illness may then be avoided by focusing on a search for parietal disease.


Electroneurophysiological studies in familial amyloid polyneuropathy--Portuguese type. Electroneurophysiological studies were performed in 15 patients with familial amyloid neuropathy (ages 29 to 67 years) and in 16 symptom-free members of affected families (ages 9 to 64 years). These studies included needle EMG, motor conduction velocities of deep peroneal and median nerves, sensory conduction velocities, sensory potentials, and nerve potentials of the sural and medium nerves. Results support the view that familial amyloid neuropathy is a peripheral neuropathy with predominantly axonal damage, which affects first the distal segments of the sensory fibres and then the motor fibres. It is suggested that, in some respects, this condition is akin to the dying-back neuropathies. Results also show that it is possible to detect the disease before it becomes obvious clinically, and this has important implications for genetic counseling.


Ganser syndrome: the aetiological argument. In this case history, which shows the clinical features of the Ganser syndrome, there was abundant evidence to support both an organic and an hysterical aetiology. The aetiological dilemma is discussed, and the case illustrates some of the problems of nosology, clinical presentation, and psychopathology that this syndrome raises.


Polyradiculoneuropathy associated with heroin abuse. Neurological complications of heroin addiction have occurred only sporadically in the United Kingdom. We report the case of a young female patient who developed an acute polyradiculoneuropathy when she recommended intravenous heroin after four years abstinence. Another possible aetiological factor was a preceding flu-like illness but, after full investigations, we concluded that heroin abuse was the most likely cause of the neurological symptoms.


Effect of diphenylhydantoin on the reproductive function of the male rat. Male rats were injected with 5, 10, and 20 mg diphenylhydantoin daily for two months and then caged for five days with cyclic females. Thereafter the males underwent necropsy, the organs of the genital tract were examined, and found to be unaffected. Blood testosterone and Leydig cell counts were normal. A significant reduction of fertility was observed which appears to be loss of libido on behavioural grounds. Except for similar behavioural changes described in human epileptics no further reports are available concerning anticonvulsants and fertility. Our findings indicate that there is no reason to suspect that diphenylhydantoin had endocrine-mediated effects on male fertility in the rat.


Hypokalemic periodic paralysis. A single fiber electromyographic study. The neurophysiological findings obtained with standard electromyography (EMG) and single fiber EMG (SFEMG) in a case of hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HoPP) are reported. During the period between paralytic attacks the only abnormalities consisted of scanty fibrillation potentials and, with SFEMG, a fiber density increase. In the first stage of an induced paralytic attack the most striking feature was decrease in fiber density, slight increase in jitter with several blocks. These results indicate a failure of the membrane surface to propagate an action potential. In some fibers the block is likely to be permanent, thus explaining the decrease in fiber density. The jitter increase is due to a slight abnormality at the synaptic site or to a variation in the propagation velocity of the muscle fiber.


Clinical features of the Guillain-Barré syndrome. In a country-wide search for patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in Israel, 89 patients were found between 1969 and 1972 who met standardized diagnostic criteria. These cases, derived from a well defined population, were analyzed to provide a more accurate picture of the full range of clinical signs than is available from selected case series in the literature. Preceding illnesses, presenting symptoms, maximal neurological deficit, reflex changes, sensory deficit, cranial nerve, sphincter, respiratory, autonomic disturbances and spinal fluid changes were determined. Mortality was 5.6% which is lower than in many series. Alternatives to account for the apparent benignity of GBS in Israel were offered.


Cortical slow potentials and the occipital EEG in congenital blindness. In a group of 7 congenitally blind adults, electroencephalographic occipital alpha rhythms were absent, but slow negative cortical potentials (CNV) were recorded over the visual cortex and were similar to those of normally sighted controls. Frontal and central CNV amplitudes, but not auditory evoked potentials or reaction times, were decreased significantly in the blind. The results confirm the presence of a developmental EEG abnormality following early blindness, and demonstrate the independance of slow potential generation from rhythmic 8--12 c/sec EEG activity in deafferented visual cortex. Non-sensory specific, event-related potentials such as the Contingent Negative Variation may prove to be useful psychophysiological probes of residual cortical function in brain regions which are deprived of primary sensory input.


The relationship between lipofuscin pigment and ageing in the human nervous system. The cytoplasmic RNA content, nucleolar volume and lipofuscin content of nerve cells of the inferior olivary and dentate nuclei, Purkinje cells and pyramidal cells of the hippocampus has been measured in 82 persons of age range 2--91 years, who were free from overt neurological disease at the time of death. All 4 cell types accumulate lipofuscin in a linear manner throughout life, but to markedly differing extents. Both the RNA content and nucleolar volume of dentate, olivary and hippocampal cells decrease, with advancing age, in a similar way in all of these 3 cell types, despite the widely differing extents of pigment accumulation, with losses of RNA and nucleolar volume at 90 years of age of 15 and 30% respectively. Olivary cells which contain most pigment show a different pattern of change with losses of RNA and nucleolar volume of about 60%. It seems, therefore, that, if there is a causal relationship between lipofuscin accumulation and reductions in RNA and nucleolar volume, it is rather obscure. It cannot simply be a matter of the absolute amounts of pigment present in any one cell type, but rather might be that there is a critical concentration of such material in the cytoplasm.


Serum protein binding of lead in vitro in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and controls. The binding of lead to serum proteins was studied in vitro in ALS-patients and controls. Serum was incubated with 210Pb, the proteins were separated by isoelectric focusing and the radioactivity in the different protein fractions was determined by liquid scintillation counting. The activity was concentrated in the orosomucoid (acid alpha1-glycoprotein) fraction both in ALS-patients and controls under the present experimental conditions and the capacity of this protein to bind lead was demonstrated in a control experiment. The findings are discussed in relation to our earlier observations on increased concentrations of lead in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma in ALS-patients and the hypothetical role of the retrograde axonal transport in motoneurons in the pathogenesis of ALS. The present observations do not lend support to the idea that the increased plasma concentrations of lead in the disease would be related to qualitative differences in serum protein binding.


Mixed mesenchymal tumors: meningioma and nerve sheath tumor. Two spinal tumors are reported which consisted  of an admixture of meningiomatous and nerve sheath tumor tissues. The former was represented by whorled tissues in both cases, syncytial areas in one and psammoma bodies in the other. The latter was represented by cells with parallel oriented, elongated nuclei and intercellular connective tissue fibers, which contained neurons and myelinated axons. Each of the tumors contained anaplastic areas of increased cellularity and atypism, in addition to the well differentiated areas. On tumor was at cervical levels in a 55 year old man; he has survived for 7 years post-operatively, but with continued pain and motor difficulties. The other was at lumber levels in a 68 year old man; died 6 weeks after operation. No autopsy was obtained. There were no stigmata of von Recklinghausen's disease in either patient. It is suggested that these tumors should not be viewed as teratoid, i.e. of mixed mesenchymal and neurectodermal character. If Schwann cells are considered mesenchymal, as is suggested in other studies, the tumors would represent mixed mesenchymal tumors, like those frequently observed elsewhere, e.g. the angiomyolipomas.


Lymphocytic inflammation produced by intracerebral implantation of zinc and other metals. Sxteen pure metals were implanted as pellets of powder or as wires into the brains of rats. Al, Be, Cr, Fe, Pb, Sn, and W were relatively innocuous. Mg and Mn produced local necrosis. Bi, Cd, Co, Cu and Ni produced more severe local necrosis. Viable tissue adjacent to Co and Ni necrotic lesions had some perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates. Zn implants caused very little necrosis but adjacent areas had prominent perivascular lymphocytic cuffs. The infiltrates persisted for at least 4 weeks but disappeared as soon as the zinc was removed. Some compounds of zinc were also capable of inducing infiltrates. The perivascular infiltrates resembled the lesions of allergic encephalomyelitis, but there was no correlation between the ability of metal powders to induce lymphocytic infiltrates after intracerebral implantation and their adjuvancy after intraperitoneal injection with neural antigen.


Transneuronal changes in the optic tectum following eye enucleation in the newborn rat. Following unilateral eye enucleation, degenerated neurons were observed in the affected tectum. However, dead cells also were present in the ipsilateral tectum, i.e., on the side which does not receive input from the enucleated eye. Further, the degeneration pattern observed in the experimental animals was similar to that observed in control unoperated animals. From these results we concluded that within the period studied, eye enucleation does not cause cell death to the neurons onto which the optic tract projects. Rather, the dead cells observed in the tectum are due to normal cell death that occurs in embryological development. The reduction in volume that occurs to the affected tectum following eye enucleation is attributed to an absence of the optic tract rather than to a neuronal loss.


RNA content and volume of nerve cell bodies in human brain. I. Prefrontal cortex in aging normal and demented patients. The age-related change in the neuronal RNA content, volume, and the RNA concentration of 2,160 single cell bodies was examined from the prefrontal cortex. Human brains from 15 normal and 3 demented patients of ages ranging from 8 months to 94 years were obtained at post-mortem examination. The neuronal RNA showed an adult level at age 9 years and remained unchanged until age 66; the mean RNA content was 27.15 pg during this period of time. A decline in the RNA content followed with increasing ages, but it leveled off to an average of 17.97 pg after the age of 80 years. A comparative observation of morphological changes of normal and demented patients reveal the quantitative spectrum of senile plaques. In spite of the presence of significantly more senile plaques, patients with senile dementia showed the RNA content and the volume of the cell body like those of normal patients of similar age. There seems to be no criterion which is characteristic of senile dementia in terms of the RNA content in cortical cell bodies.


Oncornavirus particles in neurons of guinea pig trigeminal ganglion. Virus-like particles morphologically similar to oncornaviruses were observed in trigeminal ganglion neurons of two normal, random-bred, adult Hartley guinea pigs. Only a few neurons showed virus particles, but the particles were numerous in the cells in which they were present. Extracellular virus particles were not observed. Similar oncornavirus particles were observed in trigeminal ganglion explant cultures derived from normal guinea pigs after treatment with bromodeoxyuridine. Both intracellular and extracellular particles were frequently observed in and around supporting cells. Intracytoplasmic oncornavirus-like particles were occasionally observed within neurons. These results support consideration that trigeminal ganglion and other sensory ganglion neurons may be primary sites for latent oncornavirus infection of the nervous system.


Melanotic medulloblastoma. Report of a case with ultrastructural findings. A pigmented neoplasm of the cerebellar vermis in a four year old child was typical of differentiating medulloblastoma with islands of epithelial-like cells containing melanin pigment. There have been several previous reports of such melanotic cerebellar neoplasms. Reported cases have had a clinically malignant behavior with dissemination in the central nervous system. They appear to be variants of medulloblastoma and not pigmented neuroectodermal tumors of infancy (melanotic prognomas or retinal anlage tumors). Ultrastructurally the neoplasm was compatible with medulloblastoma with focal poorly differentiated cells which contained melanin pigment. The pigment resembled neural crest (cutaneous or ocular) melanin rather than neuromelanin.


Aspinous and sparsely-spinous stellate neurons in the visual cortex of rats contain glutamic acid decarboxylase. Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the enzyme that synthesizes the neurotransmitter gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA), has been localized in the rat visual cortex by immunocytochemical methods with both light and electron microscopy. In both colchicine-injected and non-injected preparations of the visual cortex, GAD-positive reaction product was observed in somata, proximal dendrites and axon terminals of non-pyramidal neurons. The GAD-positive terminals were observed to form symmetric synaptic junctions most commonly with dendritic shafts and somata of pyramidal and stellate neurons and less frequently with initial axon segments of pyramidal neurons and dendritic spines. In colchicine-injected preparations, GAD-positive somata were located in all cortical layers including the immediately subjacent white matter. In contrast, sections from non-injected rats displayed GAD-positive somata within a superficial and a deep cortical band. The GAD-positive somata observed in both types of preparations received both symmetric and asymmetric synaptic junctions, lacked apical dendrites, and had radially oriented dendrites of small diameter. These characteristics of GAD-positive neurons indicate that they are aspinous and sparsely-spinous stellate neurons. The localization of GAD within these neurons in combination with physiological and pharmacological data indicate that these local circuit neurons mediate GABA-ergic inhibition in the neocortex.


Glycoprotein transport in the rat cerebellum. The fate of tritiated fucose in rat cerebellum has been followed using autoradiographic techniques for a period up to one week after intraventricular injection. At intervals of up to three hours after injection, Purkinje and granule cell bodies were found to be most heavily labelled. Subsequently this labelling declined and the highest grain density was observed over the molecular layer. The data is interpreted in terms of fucose incorporation into glycoproteins in nerve cell bodies followed by rapid dendritic transport in the Purkinje cell and fast transport in granule cells along ascending axons and parallel fibres.


An experimental analysis of interlamellar tight junctions in amphibian and mammalian C.N.S. myelin. The distribution of interlamellar tight junctions was examined in myelin sheaths of Xenopus tadpole optic nerve and rabbit epiretinal tissue fixed with aldehydes, postfixed with osmium ferrocyanide and embedded in a water-soluble medium, Durcupan. Intramyelinic zonulae occludentes were clearly formed by fusion of adjacent intraperiod lines which corresponded to the external leaflets of oligodendrocytes. These occurred in register with other tight junctions present within successive lamellae and appeared as a series of radial lines extending either partially or totally across the thickness of the myelin sheath. This distribution of zonulae occludentes corresponded with that of tight junctional particle strands observed in freeze-fracture replicas. Analysis of intramyelinic vacuolation induced by hexachlorophene (HCP) intoxication indicated that lamellar splitting was frequently limited by the tight junctions. The intramyelinic zonulae occludentes also restricted the diffusion of colloidal lanthanum which had penetrated the myelin intraperiod gap following in vivo perineural injection. The results of this study provide evidence favouring a correspondence between interlamellar tight junctions and the 'radial component' of myelin described earlier by other investigators. Furthermore, observations of swollen myelin sheaths, resulting from HCP intoxication, suggest that these junctions may play a major role in maintaining myelin sheath integrity and limiting the extent of breakdown during certain pathological conditions.


Fine structure of the rat carotid body transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye. Rat carotid bodies transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye were studied by electron microscopy. Chief and sustentacular cells and a few ganglion cells survived for 3 months and maintained cytological characteristics similar to those in the intact carotid body. The transplant contained many fenestrated capillaries. Chief cells at the periphery of the cell cluster had long cytoplasmic processes which projected into the stroma of the iris. The cell processes became incorporated into bundles containing nerve fibres, which were enveloped by a perineurial sheath. Three types of nerve fibres were identified in the explant. Type I and type II nerve fibres (presumptive cholinergic and adrenergic, respectively) were enclosed by sustentacular and satellite cells. Most of the nerve fibres were completely separated from chief cells and ganglion cells by sustentacular and satellite cells. A few nerve fibres made direct apposition to chief cells and ganglion cells, where some nerves were presynaptic to them. Type III nerve fibres derived from myelinated nerve fibres were also enclosed by sustentacular and satellite cells.


Pulmonary edema following fatal aneurysm rupture. A retrospective clinico-pathological analysis of 78 cases of fatal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was carried out: 71% had a pathological diagnosis of pulmonary edema (PE), and of these 31% had a clinical diagnosis of PE. Patients with pathological PE were younger and died sooner after their SAH than those without. The incidence of PE fell with the passage of time following SAH, while the occurrence of pneumonia and embolism increased. There were hypoxemia and hypocapnia in both groups, more severe in the group that had pathological PE. The pathophysiology of neurogenic PE is discussed and possible therapeutic approaches indicated.


Protective effects of methyl prednisolone and dimethyl sulfoxide in experimental middle cerebral artery embolectomy. Acute arterial embolism continues to be a major cause of stroke morbidity in children and young adults. Potential therapy modalities include medical management and/or cerebral revascularization. The canine middle cerebral artery (MCA) was embolized by means of a pliable cylinder, 8 mm long by 1.6 mm in diameter, via the internal carotid artery. Control and experimental embolectomies were performed 6 hours following embolization. The experimental animals were treated with either dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or methyl prednisolone. In the control animals, the average area of infarction in the brain was 1.45 cu cm. The animals treated with methyl prednisolone (2 mg/kg) or DMSO (2 gm/kg) showed no infarction of the brain, whereas methyl prednisolone (30 mg/kg) did not prevent infarction.


Modification of acute focal ischemia by treatment with mannitol and high-dose dexamethasone. A simple implanted device was used to occlude the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) of 50 conscious cats. In the acute experiments, 10 cats were given mannitol (1.2 gm/kg intravenously) and 10 cats were untreated. The neurological status of the treated cats improved. Perfusion with a mixture of colloidal carbon and buffered paraformaldehyde was carried out from 30 minutes to 12 hours following MCA occlusion. Results of the morphological examination of the brains demonstrated that mannitol delayed the development of neuronal alterations and edema. Measurement of capillary luminal diameters in the ischemic cortex of the untreated cats revealed progressive narrowing with microcirculatory obstruction occurring at 6 hours. Capillary narrowing was absent or minimal in the treated cats during the initial 6 hours. Breakdown of the blood-brain barrier also was delayed by treatment. In the 30 subacute experiments, 10 cats were untreated, 10 cats received mannitol (1.2 gm/kg intravenously), and 10 cats were given a combination of mannitol and high-dose dexamethasone. Although early transient clinical improvement occurred in the treated animals, morphological findings in the brains of the treated and untreated cats following 48 hours of ischemia were not significantly different. Despite the finding that the beneficial effects of mannitol were relatively short-lived (6 to 12 hours), the delay in the development of irreversible changes probably is important as it would allow a longer period of time for the institution of a more definitive form of therapy.


Treatment of aneurysmal hemiplegia with dopamine and mannitol. Three patients with severe postoperative hemiplegia and one with hemiplegia following a subarachnoid hemorrhage are presented. None had hematomas. All were treated with dopamine-induced hypertension, mannitol, and large quantities of intravascular fluids. All showed a remarkable degree of clinical improvement, presumably secondary to an increase in cerebral blood flow.


A simple gravimetric technique for measurement of cerebral edema. A simple method was developed for the laboratory preparation of gradient columns of specific gravity used in measurement of brain-tissue water. By this automated technique, virtually linear and repeatable density gradients were obtained from which values of tissue specific gravity could be determined. The specific gravity of both solid and fresh cortex and white matter from adult cats was measured and converted to units of percent water per gram tissue using conversion factors derived for this purpose and applicable to studies of brain edema.


Unmyelinated fibers in the trigeminal motor root. Possible relationship to the results of trigeminal rhizotomy. Spinal ventral roots have been shown by electron microscopy to contain a substantial number of unmyelinated fibers. Physiological studies have confirmed that many of these subserve a sensory function. In this investigation the fiber spectrum of the human trigeminal motor root was studied by electron microscopy and it was determined that up to 20% of fibers were unmyelinated. This accounted for approximately 300 to 1000 fibers per root. Since visceral efferent fibers are thought not to occur in the trigeminal root, it appears likely that these unmyelinated fibers may be afferent in nature. It is believed that the presence of a substantial number of unmyelinated fibers in the trigeminal motor root may account for residual sensation or failure of pain relief after rhizotomy of the trigeminal portio major root.


Lumbar phlebography in the diagnosis of disc herniations. The authors report their experience with 240 cases with lumbar phlebography in the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniations. The normal radiological anatomy and the radiological signs of disc herniations are described. Indications for phlebography are given, and the reliability of this test is compared with that of myelography performed with water-soluble agents.


Spinal evoked potentials in the primate: neural substrate. Summated responses evoked by peripheral nerve stimulation were recorded from electrodes located in the epidural and subdural spaces anterior and posterior to the monkey spinal cord. Segmental microsurgical resection of the dorsal columns both at the thoracic and cervical levels resulted in total obliteration of the response recorded rostral to these lesions. Isolated segmental dorsal column preservation did not significantly alter response latency or wave form recorded at the rostral electrodes. Bilateral cervical dorsolateral column resection also resulted in no discernible alterations of these responses. These data indicate that spinal evoked potentials recorded from levels rostral to their root entry zones arise almost exclusively from the dorsal columns.


Studies of experimental cervical spinal cord transection. Part I: Hemodynamic changes after acute cervical spinal cord transection. Two distinct and sequential patterns of hemodynamic alteration were observed after acute cervical spinal cord transection in anesthetized dogs. Interruption of the cord initially caused a 45% increase in mean arterial pressure (p less than 0.01), a 34% increase in systemic vascular resistance (p less than 0.05), and a 92% increase in left ventricular dp/dt (p less than 0.01), reflecting a generalized sympathetic response to trauma. Concomitant bradycardia and escape arrhythmias suggested relative parasympathetic hyperactivity. Resolution of the brief pressor response was followed by a second, more prolonged, period characterized by a fall in arterial pressure to 71% of control levels (p less than 0.05), a 16% decrease in systemic vascular resistance, and a 58.5% decrease in left ventricular dp/dt (p less than 0.01). These latter hemodynamic changes are consistent with sympathetic denervation and failure of regulatory mechanisms mediated by both alpha- and beta-adrenergic peripheral vascular and myocardial receptors.


Altered blood flow and secondary injury in experimental spinal cord trauma. A modification of the hydrogen clearance technique was used to study blood flow in the dorsolateral funiculus of traumatized thoracic spinal cord in cats. The result of this study show that ischemia occurred in all animals both at the level of trauma, and 1 cm below the site of trauma. There was, however, a period of over 1 hour after trauma during which blood flow was maintained at both sites. This investigation not only confirms the presence of ischemia in the lateral funiculus of the injured spinal cord but suggests that a period of time exists in the posttraumatic period during which pharmacological intervention may alter the ischemic response and possibly prevent secondary injury resulting from the ischemia.


The effect of amphotericin B on the survival of brain-tumor-bearing mice treated with CCNU. The membrane-active polyene, amphotericin B (AMB) has been shown to enhance or potentiate the effects of various chemotherapeutic agents against tumor cells in tissue culture. Because of the need to increase the efficacy of the nitrosoureas in brain-tumor chemotherapy, we have studied the effect of the nitrosourea, 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea (CCNU), with or without AMB pretreatment. The intraperitoneal administration of 25 mg/kg of AMB 24 hours before 5, 10, 20 or 30 mg/kg of intraperitoneal CCNU did not result in a significant improvement in survival. The failure of intraperitoneal AMB to potentiate the effect of CCNU was likely a failure in drug delivery, since AMB crosses the blood-brain barrier very poorly. To circumvent the drug-delivery problem, AMB was administered intracerebrally directly into the tumor-bearing hemisphere. With 0.5 mg/kg of intracerebral AMB administered 24 hours before 10 mg/kg CCNU was given intraperitoneally, the life-span was significantly increased over the control group. The same dose of CCNU alone did not significantly increase survival. When 0.2, 0.5, or 1.0 mg/kg AMB was administered intracerebrally 24 hours before 20 mg/kg of interaperitoneal CCNU, survival was significantly increased over those groups receiving the same dose of CCNU alone. It is concluded that direct intracerebral administration of AMB enhances or potentiates the therapeutic effect of CCNU in this brain-tumor model.


Chemotherapy of recurrent medulloblastoma with combined procarbazine, CCNU, and vincristine. Seventeen patients with recurrent medulloblastoma were treated with a combination of three drugs: procarbazine, CCNU, and vincristine (PCV). Tumor recurrence was documented at varying periods following surgery and radiotherapy. Among 16 evaluable patients, ten showed a response to PCV on the basis of subjective neurological improvement and a decrease in tumor size by radiological criteria. Five patients were designated as having stable disease on the basis of no change in neurological status and tumor size. One patient showed uninterrupted progression of disease. The median time to progression for all patients was 45 weeks. Significnat myelotoxicity, exacerbated by prior spinal irradiation, compromised therapy. After an initial response, it was often necessary to reduce the higher doses of CCNU and procarbazine that caused concomitant bone-marrow toxicity; as a consequence of the lowered doses, tumor progression was then frequently observed. The authors conclude that PCV is an effective form of palliative therapy for recurrent medulloblastoma.


Myopathy associated with epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) therapy. Report of two cases. The association of myopathy with epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) treatment after subarachnoid hemorrhage in two cases is reported. Clinical and laboratory findings and possible mechanisms are discussed in light of the known pharmacology of the drug. Recovery ensues if EACA treatment is terminated as soon as myopathy appears.


Acoustic neurinoma presenting as subarachnoid hemorrhage. Case report. A case of an acoustic neurinoma presenting as a subarachnoid hemorrhage is described. This is the second such case in the literature.


Spinal epidural venous angioma causing foraminal enlargement and erosion of vertebral body. Case report. A case history of a segmental epidural venous angioma is presented. Findings included foraminal enlargement and vertebral body erosion. Routine computerized tomography with contrast enhancement should be helpful in diagnosis of vascular anomalies in patients with radicular symptoms.


Hematoma of the quadrigeminal plate. Case report. The authors report a case in which a hematoma of the quadrigeminal plate resulted from the rupture of a "cryptic" arteriovascular malformation (AVM) fed by the artery of the quadrigeminal plate. The AVM was symptomatic before rupturing and this clinical feature, associated with the lack of angiographic demonstration, led to the erroneous preoperative diagnosis of a tumor. In retrospect, the only finding that might have suggested the correct diagnosis was the beaded appearance on the ventriculogram of the aqueduct due to blood clots into this fluid space.


Persistent hypoglossal artery and persistent trigeminal artery presenting with posterior fossa transient ischemic attacks. Report of two cases. Two patients, one with a persistent hypoglossal artery and the other with a persistent trigeminal artery, presented with transient ischemic attacks in the distribution of the posterior fossa. Both had stenosis and ulcerative plaques at the carotid bifurcation. Their symptoms were successfully relieved after carotid endarterectomy.


[99mTc] pertechnetate radionuclide venography--large-volume injection without tourniquet. Radionuclide venography was performed in patients who were suspected clinically to have thromboembolic disease of the lower extremities and/or pelvis. A moderately large volume of pertechnetate was administered in the dorsal vein of each foot without the benefit of applied tourniquets at the time of injection. Sixty-five (27.2%) of 242 studies were abnormal; the majority revealed defect(s) and collaterals, some collaterals only, and a few defects only. In 140 normal patients only the deep venous system was outlined in 74.5%, while the remainder defined one or both sides of the superficial venous system (great saphenous vein). The merits and apparent advantages derived from radionuclide venographic procedure are discussed. The method is simple, reproducible, and useful in assessing thromboembolic disease, particularly in the deep venous system of the lower extremities and pelvis.


Occlusion of inferior vena cava--features by radionuclide venography. Six adults with inferior vena caval obstruction are presented. Three were the results of surgical intervention, two were secondary to large thrombi, and one was due to pressure from a large renal-cell carcinoma and adjacent nodes. All underwent a modified approach of radionuclide venography, using a moderately large volume of sodium pertechnetate. Features characteristic of inferior vena caval obstruction were demonstrated in five of the six patients, and these various features are described and discussed.


Ga-67 citrate imaging in malignant lymphoma: final report of cooperative group. In a large cooperative study of Ga-67 uptake in non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma, 76% of untreated patients showed positive uptake in one or more lesions. The percentage of known individual lesions seen on scan was significantly lower; thus, negative findings at any one site may have much less significance than positive findings. After treatment, the number of lesions seen decreases sharply, but the role of Ga-67 in evaluating response to therapy is uncertain, especially in view of the fairly large number of lesions undetectable before therapy. Histologic type plays a role in Ga-67 uptake. Large lesions are much more effectively detected than small ones. In spite of numerous false-negative results, Ga-67 scanning is a useful method in evaluating the extent of untreated disease and the presence of lesions posttherapy.


Myocardial blood flow as measured by fractional uptake of rubidium-84 and microspheres. Under conditions of varying flow rates, total myocardial blood flow, measured by fractional uptake of rubidium-84, using a coincidence counting system, was compared with myocardial flow measured by microspheres (15 +/- 5 micrometer). The methods were compared, open-chested, in 47 dogs: 17 during control, ten following 5 min of ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery, five following i.v. isoproterenol, six following ligation and isoproterenol, and nine after ligation plus dipyridamole. Regional flows by Rb-84 and by either Ce-141 or Cr-51 microspheres were also compared for left ventricle, as well as for nonischemic posterior wall, which served as a reference area, and for anterior wall with ligation of left anterior descending artery in the same preparations. There were no significant differences in total or regional flow measured by the two methods, nor in the estimate of ischemic area size. The data indicate that measurement of myocardial blood flow by fractional uptake of a potassium analog is a reliable method in the presence of ischemia and drug intervention. It is suggested that the inequalities of extraction ratio that occur with differing flow rates do not invalidate fractional-uptake methods over the flow ranges examined.


Uptake of Tc-99m monophosphate complexes in bone and myocardial necrosis in animals. Bidentate monophosphates--phosphonoacetate (PAA), 2-phosphonoproprionate (PPA), 2-methyl-2-phosphonoproprionate (MPPA), and carbamyl phosphate (CAP)--which are pyrophosphate analogs, were successfully labeled with Sn(II)-reduced [99mTc] pertechnetate in high yield (greater than 95%). Biodistribution studies show that these Tc-99m-labeled monophosphates do localize in bone. At 2 hr after injection, Tc-99m CAP has average femur uptakes of 1.9% in rats and 2.9% in rabbits, which correspond to calculated total-bone uptakes of 38% and 58%, respectively. These are comparable with the femur uptakes for Tc-99m methylene diphosphonate (MDP), which are 1.8% in rats and 2.7% in rabbits. However, the blood clearance rate for Tc-99m CAP was slower than that observed for Tc-99m MDP making the former less desirable for use as a bone-scanning agent. The femur uptakes for Tc99m PAA are 0.9% in rats and 1.2% in rabbits, corresponding to 18% and 24% in total bone, respectively. The PAA derivatives PPA and MPPA have much lower bone uptake. Technetium-99m CAP also concentrates in necrotic myocardium in rats, in amounts comparable to Tc-99m pyrophosphate.


Demonstration of improved myocardial perfusion following aortic implantation of anomalous left coronary artery. An adult with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery (originating from the pulmonary artery) had implantation of the anomalous vessel into the aorta. Exercise myocardial perfusion imaging with thallium-201, performed before and after the operation, disclosed a marked improvement in anterior-wall Tl-201 uptake. Postoperative isotope ventriculogram showed improved regional contraction in the revascularized anterolateral wall of the left ventricle. Thus, it has been demonstrated that implantation of an anomalous left coronary into the aorta improves regional myocardial perfusion and regional left-ventricular motion.


Rapid assay for total unbound Tc-99m in preparations of Tc-99m in macroaggregated albumin: concise communication. A rapid economic filter-paper assay for determining total unbound Tc-99m in preparations of Tc-99m macroaggregated albumin (Tc-99m MAA) is described. The procedure uses Whatman 542 filter-papter discs and aqueous 0.009% NaCl as wash solution. The principal radiochemical impurities found in Tc-99m MAA kits are not significantly adsorbed to the filter matrix. The procedure can be completed in 1--2 min and gives results comparable to those obtained by the centrifuge assay (USP XIX).


Possible tumor localization of Tc-99m-labeled liposomes: effects of lipid composition, charge, and liposome size. The possible in vivo distribution of liposomes after they have been directly labeled with Tc-99m has been studied in rats bearing the Walker 256 carcinoma. The importance of lipid composition, charge, and size of liposome were studied with respect to possible tumor-localizing properties. Tumor uptake was best with small, fluid-membrane, negatively charged liposomes, as indicated by the distribution of the Tc-99m label. The uptake was visualized on scintigrams.


A rapid method for the labeling of albumin microspheres with In-113 and In-111: concise communication. A rapid and simple method for preparing microspheres labeled with In-113m or In-111 is described. The procedure requires 10 min and gives labeling yields approaching 100%. Biodistribution studies in rats, mice, and dogs show the product to be biologically stable, with approximately 90% of the injected dose localized in the lung at 1 hr postinjection. The convenient production of In-113m or In-111 albumin microspheres provides an alternate radiopharmaceutical to complement or substitute for Tc-99m microspheres in lung perfusion imaging and other circulation studies.


Optimization of analog-circuit motion correction for liver scintigraphy. Respiratory motion customarily degrades the resolution of a routine hepatic scintigram. We have analyzed four analog motion-correction methods and have measured their abilities to maintain good spatial resolution over a broad range of liver scintigraphy parameters. The analog circuit described can maintain the spatial resolution of the scintillation camera within 2 mm of the full width at half maximum of the stationary point-sread function. Experiments show that clinicians require about 50% greater film-density contrast to detect a 2-cm-diam. lesion if motion correction is not used. In 14% of the cases studied, the addition of a motion-corrected anterior view to the usual four-view liver study (performed without motion correction) resulted in a changed clinical interpretation. We conclude that analog motion correction should be provided in all scintillation cameras used for liver scintigraphy.


Collimator evaluation for Tl-201 myocardial imaging. Three collimators--high-resolutions, converging, and pinhole--were evaluated for Tl-201 myocardial imaging. Line spread function, sensitivity measurements, and phantom and animal studies were used. Features common to all the collimators were: a) better resolution at a closer distance with higher count density, and b) higher infarct detection rate in the tangenital projection than in the en face view relative to the lesion. Furthermore, an infarct in the epicardial location was better visualized than one in the endocardial location. In terms of resolution and sensitivity, the high-resolution collimator was found to be satisfactory in most clinical imagings, but for visualization of an infarct, its size by weight must be over 10--12 g. The pinhole collimator could resolve an infarct as small as 7 g, and use of the pinhole yielded a diagnostic accuracy of over 90%, compared with 75-80% for the high-resolution collimator. Although the low sensitivity of the pinhole collimator precludes its routine clinical use, the selected view would increase diagnostic accuracy. The converging collimator performed poorly in terms of lesion detectability, and its routine clinical use is not encouraged. The conclusion drawn here is valid in the system we have studied, but the variety of converging collimators must be evaluated further for their specific purposes.


Comparison of the Anger tomographic scanner and the 15-in. scintillation camera for gallium imaging. The Anger longitudinal emission multiplane tomoscanner and a 15-in. Anger camera with multipeak spectroscopic capability were compared in a series of 51 patients. The tomoscanner was preferred in 49%, the camera in 12%, and 39% were equivalent. The tomoscanner preference is statistically significant (p less than .025). These data support the conclusion that the Anger multiplane tomographic scanner is the instrument of choice for gallium-67 imaging.


Airborne concentration of I-131 in a nuclear medicine laboratory. This study measures the airborne radioactivity during the handling of millicurie quantities of I-131 in the liquid and capsule form. The data indicate there is significant airborne activity when bottles containing 100--145 mCi of liquid I-131 are opened, and that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission level for airborne activity of I-131 in restricted areas (9 X 10(-9) muCi/ml) is exceeded. However, the airborne activity of I-131 is below the Nuclear Regulatory Commission level for restricted areas when 100-mCi quantities of I-131 in the capsule form are used, or during handling of liquid I-131 in the 20- to 30-mCi range. Thyroid counting is a better method than film badge for monitoring the personnel.


Use of I-123 in early radioiodide uptake and its suppression in children and adolescents with hyperthyroidism. Absolute activity measurement of I-123 by coincidence counting was used to study the early thyroidal iodide uptake in 20 hyperthyroid children. Patients were pretreated either with methimazole or propylthiouracil before injection of Na123I. The usual method of analysis of the early uptake was modified to account for a rapidly equilibrating compartment, to give thyroidal iodide trapping rate constant (K1) and absolute iodide uptake (AIU). The suppressibility of the early uptake by triiodothyronine (T3) was evaluated in some patients. The upper limit of normal for K1 was 0.03 min-1 and for AIU was 0.04 microgram/min. In the hyperthyroid subjects, K1 and AIU were in the hyperthyroid range before and after T3 suppression. For patients with suppressible uptake, remission from hyperthyroidism was maintained for 6 mo to 2 1/2 yr. Only two patients with nonsuppressible uptake achieved remission from hyperthyroidism, perhaps because of coexistence of thyroiditis.


Effect of different levels of dietary alpha-tocopherol and linoleate on plasma and liver lipids in rats. The influences of dietary alpha-tocopherol, in combination with three different levels of linoleate (low, moderate or high levels), on the concentrations of plasma and liver lipids in rats were examined. Male Wister rats were fed diets ad libitum for 2 weeks. dl-alpha-Tocopheryl acetate was added to the diets in 0, 20 or 200 mg tocopherol/100 g diet. The following results were obtained. (1) Higher dietary levels of alpha-tocopherol tended to cause higher plasma lipid levels in proportion to the amounts added. This phenomenon is most remarkable in rats fed a diet containing cholesterol and low linoleate (0.8% of calorie). (2) The concentrations of plasma lipids were influenced significantly than those of liver lipids by the levels of alpha-tocopherol under the conditions of this experiment.


Vitamin B6 biosynthesis and nucleoside effect in the resting cell system of Flavobacterium sp. 238-7. As one of the attempts to find clues on precursors or intermediates of the vitamin B6 biosynthetic pathway, the resting cell system of Flavobacterium sp. 238-7, a bacterium producing a high amount of the vitamin, was employed. Among various compounds tested as an additive to the reaction mixture, L-glutamate and nucleoside derivatives increased the formation of vitamin B6, respectively. The possible mechanism of the participation of these compounds in vitamin B6 biosynthesis is discussed. The identification of vitamin B6 formed in the reaction mixture was done using column chromatography.


Effect of pyridoxal administration on the contents of pyridoxal phosphate and gamma-aminobutyric acid in mouse brain. Many mice treated with a high single dose of PL died in convulsions. The convulsions were very similar to those induced with some anti B6 in several ways: (1) a long latent period occurs betfore convulsions; (2) PLP levels in brain decrease; (3) GABA levels in brain, especially in synaptosomal fraction, decrease. The possibility that a deranged GABA metabolism in nerve ending may be a major cause of the convulsions is discussed.


Breaking action of reductones related to ascorbic acid on nucleic acids. The action of two types of ascorbate-related reductones on nucleic acids was investigated by comparison with that of ascorbic acid (AsA). Amino reductone (ScA) and thiol reductone (MHC) caused strandscissions in nucleic acids. This was confirmed by the fact that reductones lowered the viscosity of DNA solution and shifted the peaks of DNA and RNA to the low molecular side in centrifugal profile. Cu2+ strengthened their action as in the case of enediol reductones. The braking activity of thiol reductone is relatively wesk compared with those of amino and enediol reductones. The preferential degradation of spurinic acid was caused with amino and thiol reductones, suggesting that pyrimidine clusters in nucleic acids were susceptible to breakage.


Effect of various sugars on the induction of chick embryonic intestinal disaccharidases in the organ culture system. Disaccharidases activities in 20-day-old chick embryonic intestine were induced by the addition of sucrose, maltose, fructose and glucose to the culture medium. However, maltitol, which cannot be digested by intestinal enzymes, showed no effect on the induction of disaccharidase activity. Kinetic study of the enzymes demonstrated that the maximum velocity (Vmax) and the Michaelis constant (Km) of sucrose induced disaccharidases activities of the explants showed changes similar to those observed in the chick of same developmental stage in vivo. Namely, Vmax values of sucrase and maltase were increased. Km values of sucrase did not change, but that of maltase showed a significant decrease during development.


Effect of dietary methionine level on anserine and carnosine contents in the gastrocnemius muscle of rat. Anserine and carnosine in the muscle of growing rats were measured to explore the effect of dietary methionine. Carnosine was reduced in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats fed on a methionine-free diet. After refeeding on methionine for one week, carnosine in the muscle approached to the normal level. In contrast, anserine increased in the muscle of rats fed on a methionine-free diet. Anserine also increased in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats fed on a methionine-excess diet, whereas carnosine did not vary. Npi-Methylhistidine was detected in the muscle of rats fed on a methionine-excess diet. Moreover, Npi-methylhistindine and Ntau-methylhistine in the urine increased in the rats fed on both methionine-excess and methionine-free diets. Carnosine in the gastrocnemius muscle was not affected by a ethionine diet nor by a orotic acid diet which induced fatty liver. However, anserine increased in the muscle of rats fed on a ethionine diet.


Serum lipid pattern in urban and rural Thai population. Serum cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipid, total lipid and weight to height ratio were studied in 172 individuals from Bangkok, mainly university staff, and in 247 individuals from rural areas of northeast Thailand. Total lipid and phospholipid levels were statistically significant higher and triglyceride lower in the Bangkok group compared with the group from the rural areas. A cholesterol level did not differ significantly between the groups. The results are discussed in respect of a possible difference in the nutritional status between the individuals from the urban and rural area.


Influence of restricted diet on epithelial renewal and maturation in the mice jejunum. It has been known that the intestinal epithelial cell is characterized by a rapid cell turnover and by a gradient of differentiation from crypt to villus. The present study was undertaken to clarity the effect of diet on the migration and the maturation of the intestinal epithelial cells. The transit time from the crypt to the extrusion zone at the villus tip was determined with tritiated thymidine. To study the maturation of the cells the distribution of the terminal digestive enzymes, maltase [EC 3.2.1.20] and leucylnaphthylamidase E1EC 3.4.1.1], along the villus and crypt was analyzed quantitatively. And total activities of the same enzymes were assayed also in the mucosal homogenates. It was observed that the decrease in the migrating speed of villus cells was brought by energy restriction and the decrease in the migrating speed was associated with an increase of the enzyme activities in the upper zone of villus. And the result was that the intestinal epithelial cells which decrease in migrating speed by dietary restriction become more mature on the upper villus than those with unrestriced control.


Influence of dietary protein on the properties of the red cell membrane in intact and splenectomized rats. The possibility that there is some common factor in protein deprivation and splenectomy affecting the properties of red cells was examined by measuring the lipid contents of the plasma and red cells, the surgace area and spherical index of red cells, and the lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity of the plasma in intact and splenectomized rats on diets with various levels of protein. Results showed that splenectomy markedly reduced the osmotic fragility and increased the lipid content and surface area of the red cells of all dietary groups, and that decrease in the protein content of the diet gradually reduced the osmotic fragility and increased the lipid content of the red cells. A significant linear correlation was observed between osmotic fragility and the lipid content of red cells. LCAT did not influence the cholesterol level in red cell membranes because its activity in the plasma was not affected by either splenectomy or the protein content of the diet. A protein-free diet induced normaocytic anemia, but increased the lipid content and reduced the osmotic fragility of red cells. Therefore, the effect of cholesterol in increasing the surface area of red cells was not proportional in the red cells of rats on a protein-free diet. The present studies suggest that the mechanism of accumulation of cholesterol in red cells is different in protein deprivation and splenectomy. That is, in protein deprivation, increase in red cell cholesterol may result from decreased esterification of cholesterol in the plasma because of the low concentration of the substrate of LCAT, high density lipoprotein; and in splenectomized rats, the cholesterol level of the cells may not be reduced because the red cells are not exposed to the red pulp of the spleen where the pH is very low. These possibilities are supported by the finding that the osmotic fragility of the red cells decreased most and the lipid content of the cells increased most in splenectomized rats on a protein-free diet.


A program of heart disease intervention for public employees. A five year report. The five-year experience involving over 800 employees has effected reduced coronary risk factors, improved physical work capacity and maximal oxygen uptake and reduced employee absenteeism from personal sick leave. As in all instances where the self-selection process confounds the nature of the results, the extent of extrapolation from these data must be guarded. Nevertheless, the results support and further extend previous studies suggesting a reduction of CVD following formal behavior and life-style modification. It is the opinion of the authors that similar programs can be implemented where health services, flexible hours, agency cooperation and salaried coordinators can be assembled.


Chronic mercury poisoning from a single brief exposure. For a number of years we have observed six patients whose illness began after inhaling high concentrations of mercury vapor in a single exposure. They all had symptoms of acute mercury poisoning with fever, chills, chest pain, and weakness. Three men had diffuse pulmonary infiltrates on chest x-ray suggesting chemical pneumonitis. Two of the men excreted large amounts of mercury in their urine two days after exposure following BAL therapy. Their chronic symptoms differed somewhat, but many complained of nervousness, irritability, lack of ambition, and loss of sexual desire. Chronic mercury poisoning is generally felt to follow only long periods of exposure. Although thess patients had symptoms which are not pathognomonic of chronic mercury poisoning, we feel the events described strongly suggest their relationship to a single brief exposure and represent a form of chronic mercurialism.


Manufacturing exposure to coolant-lubricants. A preliminary report. A high speed automated machining process on gray iron has been functioning over a period of 70 months with a variety of coolant-lubricant-additives used. The author followed 118 employees for variable lengths of time, with 12 having a 70-month exposure period. To date, no significant chest x-ray, pulmonary function, lung cytology, or liver function abnormalities have been discovered. Any respiratory symptomatology seems to be related to either smoking or preexisting respiratory pathology. This is the initial report of an on-going surveillance program.