China--lessons for the United States.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Arena.
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The interaction between collagen and mineral crystals in the normally calcifying leg tendons from the domestic turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, has been investigated at an ultrastructural level with conventional and high-voltage electron microscopy, computed tomography, and three-dimensional image reconstruction methods. Specimens treated by either aqueous or anhydrous techniques and resin-embedded were appropriately sectioned and regions of early tendon mineralization were photographed. On the basis of individual photomicrographs, stereoscopic pairs of images, and tomographic three-dimensional image reconstructions, platelet-shaped crystals may be demonstrated for the first time in association with the surface of collagen fibrils. Mineral is also observed in closely parallel arrays within collagen hole and overlap zones. The mineral deposition at these spatially distinct locations in the tendon provides insight into possible means by which calcification is mediated by collagen as a fundamental event in skeletal and dental formation among vertebrates.
Genotyping of the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene offers a new tool for characterizing patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), refining the diagnosis and aiding in the prediction of the clinical outcome and in the implementation of a more adequate treatment. The primary goal of this work was the detailed study of the different allele combinations and the metabolic phenotypes in Spanish PKU patients in order to understand better the clinical heterogeneity of PAH deficiency in our population. The results show that the disease phenotype is a consequence of a combination of mutations at the PAH locus and this observation is valid throughout the spectrum of clinical and biochemical varieties found in Spanish PKU patients. A stronger correlation was found between the predicted residual activity, when known from previous in vitro studies of the mutant proteins, and the Phe tolerance than between the predicted residual activity and the inverse of Phe levels at diagnosis. The observed genotype-phenotype correlations and the available data on the in vitro residual activity of the mutant proteins has enabled the estimation of the severity of most of the mutations found in Spain. This study includes relevant data for clinicians and pediatricians adding to the present knowledge which relates allelic PAH genotypes to biological phenotypes.