Mucormycosis of petrous bone in an allogeneic stem cell transplant recipient.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M M Oo.
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We evaluated 85 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative patients with tuberculosis for clinical features and CD4 cell counts. Thirty-seven patients had low CD4 cell counts (mean +/- SD, 341 +/- 116 cells/microL), and 48 patients had normal CD4 cell counts (mean +/- SD, 830 +/- 254 cells/microL). CD4 cell counts were most strongly correlated with total lymphocyte counts (r = 0.84). If total lymphocyte count was excluded, depressed CD4 cell counts were significantly associated with low serum albumin levels, extensive pulmonary disease, low body-mass index, and low hematocrit. Of these four variables, multivariate linear discriminant analysis revealed that the serum albumin level was the best single predictor of low CD4 cell counts and that the other three variables did not improve predictive value. Because these four variables are markers of severe tuberculosis, these findings suggest that disease severity is associated with greater depression of the total lymphocyte and CD4 cell counts. The CD4 cell counts returned to normal levels in most patients after 1 month of therapy.
A 68-year-old man with coronary artery disease was admitted for chest pain and ventricular tachycardia. After electric cardioversion, therapeutic heparinization was started for myocardial ischemia and nontransmural infarction. On day 3, headache and fever developed, followed by an altered sensorium and hyponatremia. Infectious etiology for the fever was excluded, and results of computed tomography of the brain were normal. Later magnetic resonance imaging (Day 10) demonstrated a pituitary macroadenoma with hemorrhage. Treatment for panhypopituitarism with stress-dose steroids stabilized the patient, and the fever and hyponatremia resolved. Transsphenoidal resection of the pituitary adenoma was performed without incident. This is the first reported case of pituitary apoplexy after heparin anticoagulation for acute myocardial infarction, although chronic anticoagulation in other settings has been reported as a precipitant of apoplexy. The uncommon presentation of a "central" fever and confusion in a patient with previously undiagnosed adenoma posed a diagnostic challenge. Subtle presentations of panhypopituitarism, knowledge of which should lead to suspicion and early diagnosis of pituitary apoplexy, will prevent anticoagulant-induced central nervous system catastrophes and potential fatalities.
Little is known about the composition and function of the mosquito peritrophic matrix (PM), a physical barrier that pathogens must traverse to complete their life cycles. Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti PM proteins induced by blood or by a protein-free meal have been characterized by the use of 2-D gel electrophoresis and lectin-binding affinity assays. More than forty proteins have been identified in both species. Over half of the PM proteins of both mosquitoes migrate identically. Many PM proteins appear to be glycosylated, primarily by high mannose N-linked glycosyl groups.
We compared the presentation of abdominal tuberculosis in 43 patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and in 35 patients without HIV infection. Fever, weight loss, and extraabdominal lymphadenopathy were more common in HIV-infected patients, whereas ascites and jaundice were more frequent in patients without HIV infection. Intraabdominal lymphadenopathy and visceral lesions, visualized on computed tomography scans, were more common in HIV-infected patients, whereas ascites and omental thickening were more frequent in patients without HIV infection. Aspirates of abdominal lymph nodes were the only samples revealing acid-fast bacilli in eight HIV-infected patients, yielding a rapid diagnosis. Disseminated tuberculosis was present in 93% of the HIV-infected patients, compared with 31% of those without HIV infection; tuberculosis contributed to death in 23% of HIV-infected patients and in 31% of those without HIV infection. We conclude that abdominal tuberculosis in HIV-infected patients is almost invariably a manifestation of disseminated disease and results in significant mortality.
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Amoebae were isolated from an arthritic knee of a male patient. The organisms grew in Egg Yolk Infusion medium, and in Diamond's Biosate Iron-Serum-33 medium, which contained Trypanosoma cruzi, and were identified microscopically as Entamoeba histolytica. Furthermore, amoebae-like organisms in aspirate and cultures were immunocytochemically identified using monoclonal antibodies against E. histolytica. On the basis of the morphologic and immunologic observations, it was concluded that the knee lesion was caused by infection with E. hystolytica. The knee lesion resolved following treatment with metronidazole. This case is the first report of an amoebic infection of the knee joint.
Renal specimens of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus boliviensis) were studied by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry to examine the pathologic changes during vaccine trials with four recombinant circumsporozoite (CS) proteins (rPvCS-1, rPvCS-2, rPvCS-3, NS1(81) V20) of Plasmodium vivax. The monkeys were vaccinated and later challenged with P. vivax sporozoites. Among the 33 posttrial biopsies, 17 had mild to moderate mesangial proliferation and nine had interstitial nephritis. Immunohistochemistry by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method revealed IgG deposits in only three of 24 specimens and failed to demonstrate C3 deposits and P. vivax antigens in their glomeruli. There was no relationship between the severity of nephropathy and intensity of parasitemia. The intensity of parasitemia was the same in the vaccinated and control groups. Vaccinated monkeys from the groups (rPvCS-1, rPvCs-2, rPvCS-3) had no differences in renal pathology from the unvaccinated controls, but one group vaccinated with NS1(81) V20 did not develop renal changes.
Blockage of the cerebral microvasculature by Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes appears to be the principal cause of human cerebral malaria. Knobs which appear on the membrane of the infected erythrocytes adhere to the endothelium, causing the obstruction of cerebral microvessels. Protein molecules such as CD36, thrombospondin, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1, which are present on the membrane of endothelial cells, may act as receptors for the attachment of knobs of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Each of these candidate host molecules for infected-cell recognition and attachment are expressed in microvessels of the human brain. The presence of HRP1 and HRP2 in the cerebral microvessels of cerebral malaria patients may indicate the involvement of knob proteins in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria. Owl monkeys infected with P. falciparum do not develop cerebral malaria. There is no blockage of cerebral microvessels by infected erythrocytes and knob proteins are absent. These findings support the contention that cerebral microvessel blockage and the presence of knob proteins are the probable causes of cerebral malaria.
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The following report using light and electron microscopic and immunological techniques is based on a series of 19 Burmese patients who died of cerebral malaria. The principal change was blockage of cerebral capillaries by Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Ring hemorrhages and segmental necrosis of cerebral capillaries were common. Cerebral edema was variable in these cases. Electron-dense knobs, 40 X 80 nm in size, which protruded from the membrane of infected erythrocytes, formed focal junctions between endothelial cells and erythrocytes. These junctions resulted in the entrapment of erythrocytes and caused blockage in the capillary lumen. Immunoperoxidase study revealed that P. falciparum antigens and IgG deposits in the capillary basement membrane. This implies that damage to the cerebral capillary could be related to immune mechanisms.
Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes attach to the endothelial cells via electron-dense knobs and this attachment has been suggested as one of the contributing factors in the development of cerebral malaria. Monoclonal antibodies against an 80-95 Kd knob protein were prepared and applied to brain tissue from cerebral malaria patients. The deposition of the 80-95 Kd knob protein antibodies was observed in the basement membrane of cerebral capillaries by the peroxidase anti-peroxidase method. This result indicates involvement of knob protein deposition in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria.
Congenitally athymic nude (nu/nu) mice have been thought to exhibit no T cell functions despite the presence of some Thy-1 positive (Thy-1+) cells. However, we detected a significant number of Con A-responsive cells in spleens of nu/nu mice after the age of 2 months when the spleen cells were cultured in a medium containing 5% human plasma or human serum, but not when they were cultured in fetal calf serum. Cytotoxic test using anti-Thy-1.2 antibody plus complement has revealed that these Con A-responsive cells are indeed Thy-1+. The Con A-responsive T cells increase with age. PHA-responsive and alloreactive T cells are also detected in the spleens of 11-month-old nu/nu mice. To probe the origins of the T-lymphocytes of the nu/nu mice we examined extensively and systematically the thymic remnants in the mediastinum and neck region of the nu/nu mice in search for T cell development in thymic rudiments. In these investigations we regularly found small accumulations of cells comprising almost entirely Thy-1+ lymphocytes surrounding accumulations surrounded by epithelial cells. These findings suggest that apparent sites of T cell development in thymic rudiments are indeed present in nude mice and appear to be functioning to induce expression T cell markers on precursor cells in the lymphoid lineage. Together with our prior findings the evidence presented in this report shows that a pathway exists in nude mice. In the converse these findings suggest that the thymus is the sole site for induction of the differentiation of stem cells or precursor T cells into mature T-lymphocytes. The findings suggest that indications of alternative differentiation pathways for T-lymphocytes must seek the location of these pathways within the thymus itself.
Successful liver allografts were established by combination with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. When liver tissue of BALB/c (H-2d) or C57BL/6J (H-2b) mice was minced and grafted under the kidney capsules of C3H/HeN (H-2k) mice, it was rejected. However, when C3H/HeN mice were irradiated and reconstituted with T-cell-depleted BALB/c or BALB/c nu/nu bone marrow cells, or with fetal liver cells of BALB/c mice, they accepted both donor (stem-cell)-type (BALB/c) and host (thymus)-type (C3H/HeN) liver tissue. Assays for both mixed-lymphocyte reaction and induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes revealed that the newly developed T cells were tolerant of both donor (stem-cell)-type and host (thymus)-type major histocompatibility complex determinants. We propose that liver allografts combined with bone marrow transplantation should be considered as a viable therapy for patients with liver disease such as liver cirrhosis and hepatoma.
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Transplantation of normal bone marrow from C3H/HeN nu/nu (H-2k) mice into young MRL/MP-lpr/lpr (MRL/l; H-2k) mice (less than 1.5 mo) prevented the development of autoimmune diseases and characteristic thymic abnormalities in the recipient mice. When female MRL/1 (greater than 2 mo) or male BXSB (H-2b) mice (9 mo) with autoimmune diseases and lymphadenopathy were lethally irradiated and then reconstituted with allogeneic bone marrow cells from young BALB/c nu/nu (H-2d) mice (less than 2 mo), the recipients survived for more than 3 mo after the bone marrow transplantation and showed no graft-versus-host reaction. Histopathological study revealed that lymphadenopathy disappeared and that all evidence of autoimmune disease either was prevented from developing or was completely corrected even after its development in such mice. All abnormal T-cell functions were restored to normal. The newly developed T cells were found to be tolerant of both bone marrow donor-type (BALB/c) and host-type (MRL/1 or BXSB) major histocompatibility complex (MHC) determinants. Therefore, T-cell dysfunction in autoimmune-prone mice can be associated with both the involutionary changes that occur in the thymus of the autoimmune-prone mice and also to abnormalities that reside in the stem cells. However, normal stem cells from BALB/c nu/nu donors can differentiate into normal functional T cells even in mice whose thymus had undergone considerable involution, as in the case of BXSB or MRL/1 mice in the present studies. These findings suggest that marrow transplantation may be a strategy ultimately to be considered as an approach to treatment of life-threatening autoimmune diseases in humans. T-cell dysfunction in autoimmune-prone mice previously attributed to involutionary changes that occur in the thymus of these mice may instead be attributed to abnormalities that basically reside in the stem cells of the autoimmune-prone mice.
Autoimmune-prone mice show premature thymic involution, including morphological and functional abnormalities. To determine why the thymic abnormalities develop in autoimmune-prone mice, transplantation of the thymus and/or bone marrow was performed. When thymuses of newborn MRL/1 (H-2k) mice were grafted into C3H/HeN nu/nu(H-2k) mice, the engrafted thymuses did not show the abnormalities which characterize the thymus in the autoimmune-prone MRL/1 mice. By contrast, when thymuses of newborn C3H/HeN or MRL/n mice were grafted into MRL/1 mice, the engrafted thymuses developed after an interval of 3 months the same morphological abnormalities as were seen in MRL/1 mice. Thus, we can conclude that premature involution of the thymus in autoimmune-prone mice may not be a genetically determined abnormality intrinsic to the thymus, but rather an abnormality secondary to other events occurring in these mice. When bone marrow of young C3H/HeN nu/nu mice was transplanted into irradiated (850 rad) MRL/1 mice, neither thymic abnormalities nor autoimmune diseases developed. Therefore, it seem likely that abnormal stem cells in autoimmune-prone mice induce thymic abnormalities, and these, in turn, are associated with the development of autoimmune diseases.
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