Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I Kremer.
We present 2 sibs with a local junctional type of epidermolysis bullosa associated with enamel defect of the teeth, dystrophic nails of the feet, and mental retardation. Subluxation of the lenses was evident in 1 of them. This combination found in a brother and a sister seems to represent a distinct autosomal recessive type of epidermolysis bullosa.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a chitin derivative (CSE) on the adherence of Candida albicans to acrylic. Fungal adherence to acrylic dentures is considered an essential step in the development of denture stomatitis. Adherence of C. albicans to acrylic pieces (5 x 5mm) was assessed microscopically using a calibrated ocular objective and expressed as number of adherent yeasts/mm2 of acrylic. CSE was prepared from commercial chitin (crab shell) and from chitin isolated from C. albicans blastospores. The effect of both CSE types on the adherence of C. albicans to acrylic was examined in two experimental systems: CSE present during the adherence assay and acrylic pieces pretreated with CSE prior to the assay. Both CSE types exerted a significant inhibitory effect when tested in the two experimental systems. These findings are significant for possible prevention of denture stomatitis.
Fifteen premature babies developed systemic candidiasis during the administration of intravenous hyperalimentation in the Beilinson Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Candida albicans was found in the blood cultures of all the babies and in the urine cultures of 66.7% of them. Repeated funduscopic examinations revealed no evidence of septic embolization in the retinal or choroidal circulation. It should be noted that acute retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) grade 2 or 3 was found in all the babies.
Noradrenergic function was evaluated in the rat vas deferens following chronic treatment with lithium (30 mM in the diet for 2 weeks followed by 50 mM for 1 week). No alteration could be detected in: a) 3H-noradrenaline release evoked by electrical field stimulation, b) alpha 1-adrenoceptor function as assessed by contractile response to noradrenaline, c) active neuronal uptake of 3H-noradrenaline, d) alpha 2-adrenoceptor activity, as assessed by yohimbine-enhancement of evoked release of 3H-noradrenaline. The data argue against a primary action of lithium on the noradrenergic nerve. On the other hand, these findings do not rule out the possibility that the function of CNS noradrenergic neurons could be altered as a result of the known effects of lithium on the phosphatidyl-inositol system, and the greater sensitivity of CNS neurons to depletion of the neuronal membrane inositol pool.
1. We assessed the efficacy of nitrogen absorption from luminal L-leucine (1.2 and 12 mmol/l) and from isonitrogenous L-leucyl-L-leucine (0.6 and 6.0 mmol/l) in a preparation of vascularly and luminally perfused rat small intestine by measuring luminal leucyl-leucine disappearance and venous leucine appearance. 2. No intact dipeptide was found in the vascular perfusate. Leucine-nitrogen absorption, as judged by venous leucine appearance, was as efficient from free leucine (29 +/- 3 and 245 +/- 19 ng-atom min-1 g-1) as from leucyl-leucine (27 +/- 4 and 211 +/- 58 ng-atom min-1 g-1). It was not reduced in the presence of glycyl-L-proline or of the brush-border dipeptidase inhibitors alanine-beta-naphthylamide and cilastatin. 3. After one passage of the whole small intestine, only trace amounts of dipeptide, but large amounts of free leucine, were detected in the luminal effluent. Peptidase activity in the luminal effluent was demonstrated in 100,000 g supernatant and was inhibited by p-hydroxy-mercuribenzoate, but not by brush-border dipeptidase inhibitors. 4. We propose that nitrogen absorption from luminal leucyl-leucine may proceed predominantly via intraluminal peptide hydrolysis and subsequent transport of free leucine. Nevertheless, our findings and conclusions are at variance with previous observations and current opinion on intestinal handling of dipeptides, which may be due, in part, to the different methodological approach.
Two out of 60 conjunctival epithelial tumours reviewed between 1973 and 1989 were found to be pigmented. One tumour was a pigmented papilloma and the other a pigmented squamous cell carcinoma. The melanin pigment was found in epithelial tumour cells as well as in macrophages, dendritic melanocytes, and Langerhans cells. The distinction between the latter two types of cells was possible in one of the tumours only. Both tumours were found in dark-skinned white patients without any evidence of conjunctival acquired melanosis.
Serologic surveys for Toxocara canis and Strongyloides sp., as well as stool examinations for intestinal parasites, were conducted in a home for mentally retarded adults. Evidence of parasitic infection was found in 30 (28.3%) of 106 residents; nine (8.5%) had positive toxocaral serology (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay[ELISA]), 1 (0.9%) had positive serology for Stronglyoides sp. (ELISA), and 21 (19.8%) had parasites in stool (including Stronglyoides stercoralis in the patient with positive serology). Most of the residents with positive toxocaral serology lived in the same apartment and used to play with dogs. Parameters found to be significantly associated with positive toxocaral serology were pica behavior and eosinophilia (P less than 0.05). Mental retardation requiring institutionalization appears to be a risk factor for toxocariasis and other parasitic infections in adults as it is for children.
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A 9-year-old child was admitted because of a penetrating corneal wound with a solitary eyelash in the anterior chamber. Anterior uveitis, posterior synechias, and localized anterior subcapsular cataract subsequently developed. As the latter complications did not respond to conservative treatment, the eyelash was removed surgically. The expected complications of an intraocular cilium and the surgical indications for its removal are discussed in detail.
The effect of bright fluorescent light (115 fc) on oxygen-induced retinopathy in newborn kittens was compared with that of complete darkness and cyclic illumination of 12 hr of bright light (115 fc) and 12 hr of complete darkness. No significant difference was found in the extent of preretinal vasoproliferation and retinal ultrastructural findings among the three groups of kittens reared in different levels of illumination and a control group raised in a standard laboratory illumination level of 40 fc. These results confirmed that light is not a required factor for the development of oxygen-induced retinopathy in kittens.
We treated a young patient with unilateral gray-yellow subretinal lesions associated with bullous retinal detachment in the posterior pole. Angiography revealed the presence of multiple areas of subretinal pigment epithelial pooling of the dye. It is rare to find an association between acute inflammation of the retinal pigment epithelium and sensory retinal detachment.
A 75-year-old woman with diffuse metastatic hypernephroma had a unilateral total exudative retinal detachment associated with a big choroidal mass. In addition, multiple yellow-white intra- and subretinal deposits were seen around the tumor. These findings and the patient's medical history led us to think of choroidal metastatic hypernephroma with intraocular spread. However, histopathologic examination revealed the presence of epithelioid malignant melanoma of the choroid with numerous retinal and subretinal lipid deposits and lipid-laden macrophages. This picture of massive lipid exudation is rare in untreated choroidal melanomas.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.