A 53-year-old man developed a septic fever up to 40 degrees C, pancytopenia and hepatosplenomegaly after a holiday in Spain. Administration of piperacillin and amikacin was ineffective, but the fever subsided and partial haematological remission occurred when 1 mg/kg methylprednisolone daily was added. After six months his general condition worsened and pancytopenia with typical inclusion bodies in bone-marrow macrophages was noted, leading to the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-Azar). The diagnosis was confirmed by serological tests. The causative organism was eliminated and the abnormal findings regressed during treatment with sodium stibogluconate, at first 600 mg/d for two weeks, then 850 mg/d over 16 days, interrupted for 14 days because of side effects.

Antimony Sodium Gluconate↗

PubMed1982

[Alpha-actinin sites on microvilli of the rabbit small intestine demonstrated by immunoperoxidase].

When Mooseker and Tilney showed the microvilli system must be ascribed among non-muscle contractile systems, they have proposed a contractile scheme formed by actin, miosin and probably alpha-actinin. The scheme proposed by these AA. consists of actin filaments oriented and running from the border to the base, bound to the border by a plate of dense substance formed by -actinin and, to the base, other perpendicular miosin filaments. In our opinion, Mooseker and Tilney research lacks a demonstration regarding alpha-actinin and that is reason why we have decided to display this protein in the microvilli by immunoperoxidase techniques. Considering our results we can definitively confirm the full validity of the contractile scheme of Mooseker and Tilney.

Actinin↗

PubMed1982

[Morphological changes alpha-actinin in skeletal striated muscle in the rabbit in experimental ischemia].

In this work we studied the alteration of Z-line alpha-actinin in striated skeletal muscle, under conditions of experimental ischemia, by immunohistochemical techniques. alpha-Actinin was extracted and purified from rabbit striated skeletal muscle and used, as an antigen, for the production of antibodies, in sheep. Electrophoresis was performed on PAA sla-gel and the Ag-Ab reaction test on agarose slab-gel (immunodiffusion). Antibodies were used for the indirect immunoperoxidase technique on semithin sections of rabbit striated skeletal muscle, included in in Araldehyde, and observed with phase-contrast microscopy. alpha-Actinin from ischemic muscle because of stenosis of the iliac artery, undergoes a progressive alteration, from the third hour of ischemia, going out of its usual sites. From the fifth to the eighth hour it gradually disappears until it leaves rare and residual points of positive reaction only in correspondence to the Z-lines.

Actinin↗

PubMed1982

[Structural and ultrastructural changes in the rabbit myocardium exposed to dimethylformamide vapors].

The aim of this research is to show the alterations of alpha-actinin in rabbit myocardium after DMF treatment administered by forced inhalation. Z-lines observed with light and phase-contrast microscopy, appeared to be intact and they were clearly displayed by the indirect PAP-reaction. But if you consider that in normal muscle Z lines do not get coloured by the PAP-reaction without a previous light treatment with trypsin. It may be inferred that, in this case, The DMF has had the same effect as the trypsin, causing alteration to the protein structure. Besides the sarcomeric structure is undoubtedly altered by the DMF, causing alterations, in our opinion, similar to those found in rabbit skeletal muscle, under conditions of acute experimental ischemia.

Actinin↗

PubMed1976

Serum level changes of endogenous and postheparin diamine oxidase (histaminase) in clinical and experimental hepatitis.

In patients suffering from acute viral hepatitis (n = 12) an about 50 per cent decrease of serum diamine oxidase (DAO, histaminase, E.C.N. 1.4.3.6) was detected as compared to a healthy control group (n = 24). Normally, the intravenous injection of heparin is promptly followed by a marked rise of plasma DAO. In viral hepatitis, however, after application of heparin (200 IU/kg b.w., i.v.) the enzyme release from the visceral organs into the plasma was markedly decreased. There was an inverse correlation between the serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and the postheparin enzyme. Normalization of SGPT occurred before the normalization of post-heparin diamine oxidase (PHD). In galactosamine "hepatitis" of rats (800 mg Gal-N/kg b.w., i.p.), in contrary to human viral hepatitis plasma DAO increased about 5-fold after heparin application. This increased PHD in plasma of Gal-N rats was correlated to enhanced animal's endogenous plasma DAO activity (r=0.685, p less then 0.0005, n = 54). The cause of these enzyme activity changes and its possible pathophysiological meaning are still unknown. It is concluded from these experiments that in Gal-N "hepatitis" of rats plasmatic DAO level changes are mediated by endogenous heparin, released from disrupted mast cells. Increased basal DAO levels correspond to the enhanced release after heparin application, both possibly induced by less stable binding of the enzyme to the cells of the small intestine in inflammation. Both, decreased endogenous and post-heparin DAO levels in human hepatitis would correspond to a depletion of the enzyme containing organs.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[From diagnosis to decision--decision processes of women in the context of prenatal diagnosis].

Prenatal diagnosis is a growth industry. The constant introduction of new prenatal tests poses great challenges to prospective parents. In Germany, guidelines for prenatal care include an early nuchal-translucency-sonogram as a routine screening for down syndrome. Developer of this screening predict a 90% discovery rate. This rate can be achieved through the combination of early maternal serum examinations, computer assisted risk calculation and the nuchal-translucency measurement. The extensive use of diverse new technologies is driven by two forces; first, the parents' fear of giving birth to a child with a disability, and second, the offensive marketing strategies by the test-making industry. The information that these tests can yield is vast, yet parents' range of choices in response to these test results remain very limited. After a battery of diagnostic tests, parents confronted with the diagnosis of down syndrome can choose only between continuing or terminating the pregnancy. In the future, more and more women and their partners will be confronted with such a difficult decision. Adequate professional counseling is needed to help parents cope with the critical life event of being told a positive test result. Solutions have to be developed on an individual basis and need to be grounded on the parents' needs. Informing parents of a positive diagnosis can be a challenging moment in professional life. The professional needs to act with sensitivity and competence. The informations he or she provides have to been well balanced. It is necessary to develop quality assurance standards for counseling, diagnosis and crisis intervention.

Abortion, Eugenic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[What are the potentials of erythropoietin?].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Erythropoietin↗