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Biomedical subjects

J Thurner

Publications and source records attributed to J Thurner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Distribution and co-localization of immunoreactive helospectin with vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and peptide histidine methionine in human nasal mucosa, soft palate and larynx.

Regulatory peptide immunoreactivities reported in the upper respiratory system of man include vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and peptide histidine methionine (PHM), which are co-localized in a network of fine varicose nerve fibers. The present study was undertaken to examine the possible occurrence and distribution of the recently described VIP-like peptide helospectin. Double immunofluorescence labelling showed that helospectin is co-localized with VIP and PHM. In addition to nerve fibers containing all three peptides, scattered nerve fibers were detected that were only immunoreactive to helospectin but not to VIP and/or PHM. The distribution of helospectin/VIP/PHM immunoreactive nerve fibers around blood vessels and in close relationship to seromucous glands indicates their possible involvement in the regulation of blood flow and secretion.

Fluorescent Antibody Technique

Gastrin- and somatostatin-immunoreactive cells of the antral mucosa in patients with duodenal or gastric ulcers. An immunocytochemical study.

Gastrin- and somatostatin-immunoreactive cells in biopsies taken from the prepyloric portion of the antrum from 15 patients with duodenal ulcer, 16 patients with gastric ulcer, and a control group of 19 patients without histopathological alterations of the antral mucosa were studied using peroxidase anti-peroxidase and immunogold-silver staining methods in combination with morphometry. Numerical densities and sizes (immunoreactive areas) of the cells demonstrated were measured and compared between all three groups. Gastrin- and somatostatin-immunoreactive cells were located most frequently in the lower midzone of the gastric crypts. None of the parameters measured showed a correlation with age or sex. The group with duodenal ulcer tended to exhibit gastrin- and somatostatin-cell-hyperplasia whereas the size of both cell types remained unchanged. In comparison with the control group, the numerical density of gastrin-immunoreactive cells was significantly increased in gastric ulcer patients, whereas the numerical density of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells was decreased in this group. Immunoreactive areas of both cell types were significantly increased in patients with gastric ulcer.

Adult

[Application of silver acetate autometallography in histopathology: a new detection method for use in immunogold silver staining, lectin histochemistry and in situ hybridization].

Modern histochemical techniques allow the specific detection of tissue constituents in situ. Routinely formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissues may present problems to the pathologist since destruction of substances can lead to false negative results. Immunogold-silver staining (IGSS) can be a way to overcome some of these problems. A highly efficient method allows silver enhancement to be carried out without the necessity of a dark box (silver acetate autometallography). To test the new modification, antisera to a variety of antigens were used on paraffin and semithin resin sections. The system was also tested for its applicability in multiple immunostaining techniques and for the in situ hybridisation of viral DNA and for demonstration of carbohydrates by lectin histochemistry. It showed a very high detection efficiency with low background staining.

Acetates

Multiple peptide production and presence of general neuroendocrine markers detected in 12 cases of human phaeochromocytoma and in mammalian adrenal glands.

In this study, antibodies to a range of markers of neuroendocrine differentiation were evaluated for their use in the histopathological assessment and characterisation of phaeochromocytomas. Routinely processed wax blocks from eleven adrenal phaeochromocytomas (10 benign and 1 malignant) and one benign phaeochromocytoma of the urinary bladder were investigated. In addition to these tumours, normal human, cat and piglet adrenal glands were examined. In the phaeochromocytomas, immunostaining was obtained with 21 of the 25 antisera used. Of the general neuroendocrine markers, neuron-specific enolase was found in all tumours, and chromogranin and protein gene-product 9.5 in most of the cases. A range of regulatory peptide immunoreactivities could be demonstrated, such as enkephalin, neuropeptide tyrosine (NPY), 7B2, galanin and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). In addition, two peptides were found which have not been reported previously in these tumours, peptide histidine methionine (PHM) and the cryptic fragment of the precursor encoding VIP. Co-localisation studies revealed that peptides derived from the same precursor or peptide family were found in the same tumour cells (e.g. VIP and PHM, NPY and its C-flanking peptide CPON). In the normal adrenal medulla, all the peptides previously reported to be present could be demonstrated immunocytochemically. Galanin was present in a subpopulation of cells also immunoreactive for enkephalin. Neuropeptide tyrosine and CPON were demonstrated in another subpopulation. Occasionally, cells were found to contain all four antigen immunoreactivities. Using antisera to enzymes involved in catecholamine synthesis, galanin was found to be present in noradrenaline-containing cells. The study demonstrates the presence of various antigens in chromaffin tissue of the adrenal gland. A range of substances can also be identified immunocytochemically in phaeochromocytoma tissue, using routinely-processed material.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms

Hemangiopericytoma of the heart following treatment of Hodgkin's disease. A case report.

During the autopsy of a 24 year old woman, who died of cardiorespiratory insufficiency a large solitary tumour was found extending into the right ventricle of the heart and obstructing the pulmonary valve subtotally. Histologically the tumour showed a vascular pattern of differentiation typical of a hemangiopericytoma with almost uniform cellularity and a dense reticulin meshwork surrounding the individual tumour cells. Ten years before death the patient had been diagnosed as having Hodgkin's disease treated with an unusually high dose of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. Although tumours have been known to arise following radiation and chemotherapy and hemangiopericytomas of almost all parts of the body have been described, to our knowledge this is the first case of an (iatrogenically induced) hemangiopericytoma of the heart.

Adolescent

Netilmicin: new approach to treating gonorrhoea.

Resistance and side effects to antibiotics or other chemotherapeutic agents are the main limiting factors in the treatment of gonorrhoea. As no such side effects have been reported with a new aminoglycoside, netilmicin, the therapeutic efficiency of this substance was evaluated in 1200 patients (690 women, 510 men) with uncomplicated gonorrhoea, who each received a single dose of 300 mg netilmicin by intramuscular injection. Efficacy of treatment was assessed by smear microscopy and culture, which gave results in all 1200 patients. No serious side effects were reported. These results indicate that netilmicin is an extraordinarily safe and efficient agent for treating uncomplicated gonorrhoea.

Female

[Effect of nitroimidazole therapy on the demonstration of gonococci].

The minimal inhibitory concentration of metronidazole and tinidazole lies between 4000 micrograms/ml and 7.8 micrograms/ml. Drug levels are present in this range for 2--5 hours in genital discharge following single dose oral therapy with 2 g tinidazole or 1.5 g metronidazole. Therefore, 5-nitroimidazole derivatives exert a bacteriostatic effect in the genital region at least on the more sensitive strains. As shown in our experiments, otherwise reliable laboratory procedures for the demonstration of gonococci may yield false negative results, if specimens for culture are obtained at an inappropriate time.

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug

"Triple infections" (fungal, bacterial and viral) in immunosuppressed renal transplant recipients.

In a period of 5 years, 8 out of 77 renal transplant patients showed simultaneous fungal, bacterial and viral infections. Candida albicans was found in all cases. The most severe bacterial complications were infections with Klebsiella, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus aureus. Cytomegalovirus, persistent HBsAg positive hepatitis, herpes zoster, and herpes simplex infections were also found. Seven patients died of bacterial superinfection and miliary tuberculosis. The data presented show that "triple infections" are associated with high mortality and that miliary tuberculosis occurred frequently in immunosuppressed renal transplant recipients.

Adolescent

Strain of Trichomonas vaginalis resistant to metronidazole and other 5-nitroimidazoles.

A strain of Trichomonas vaginalis (IR-78), recently isolated from a patient afflicted with recurrent symptomatic trichomoniasis, showed resistance to metronidazole, tinidazole, and nimorazole in vitro as well as in vivo. In a serial dilution test using cysteine monohydrochloride-peptone-liver infusion-maltose medium, T. vaginalis IR-78 was only resistant under aerobic conditions. Under anaerobic conditions it was as susceptible as the normal reference strain. The minimal lethal concentrations of metronidazole, tinidazole, and nimorazole for IR-78 were 100, 50, and 50 mug/ml aerobically and 0.4, 0.4, and 0.2 mug/ml anaérobically, respectively. The efficacy of metronidazole, tinidazole, and nimorazole was assessed in vivo by oral administration to mice simultaneously infected with IR-78 both subcutaneously and intraperitoneally. The CD(50) (dose needed to cure 50% of infections) of each compound was significantly higher for the subcutaneous than for the intraperitoneal infection. In contrast, there was little difference in CD(50) for these infections in mice inoculated with a susceptible trichomonas strain. The CD(50)'s for all three compounds against intraperitoneal and subcutaneous infections with IR-78 were 2 to >70 times higher than for susceptible strain E. Both forms of infection with IR-78 could always be cured with therapeutically acceptable doses of tinidazole and nimorazole; subcutaneous infections could not be cured with tolerated doses of metronidazole.

Animals

Effect of different preparation procedures on the ultrastructure of gonococci.

Culture samples of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Escherichia coli were studied by transmission and electron microscopy to evaluate the effect of different preparation procedures on the pilation of these organisms. Unfixed as well as fixed bacteria showed only few, long, filamentous appendages when investigated in ultrathin sections, negatively stained specimens, or critical-point dried preparations. Snap-frozen specimens of E. coli showed many short and thin pili after being shadowed with carbon and platinum whereas those of N. gonorrhoeae showed only some type-C-like pili. Thus, the number and morphological appearance of pili appear to be greatly influenced by the preparation techniques used for study by electronmicroscopy. Conclusions as to the type and the infectivity of a bacterial strain can, therefore, not be based on purely morphological criteria.

Bacteriological Techniques

[Experimental contribution to the theme of pharyngeal gonorrhea].

Experimental inoculations of the pharynx with gonococci were undertaken. In seven volunteers gonococci could be cultivated and identified from 16 hours to 8 weeks following infection. In three cases, it was tried to infect the female genital tract using positive pharyngeal smears. This was successful in one instance and the diagnosis was again confirmed by culture and sugar fermentation.

Bacteriological Techniques