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Biomedical subjects

M Norris

Publications and source records attributed to M Norris.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Subclinical central nervous system infection with JC virus in patients with AIDS.

Immunocompromised patients, particularly those with AIDS, develop progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) due to central nervous system infection with JC virus (JCV). It is unknown whether JCV infection in the central nervous system can occur in the absence of PML symptoms. To address this question, autopsy specimens from patients with AIDS were examined. The brains of a group of patients without AIDS or central nervous system disease were also examined. JCV DNA was detected by the polymerase chain reaction in brain tissue from 4 (31%) of 13 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. JCV was also detected in 1 elderly HIV-negative patient but not in the 11 other control brains. JCV was not detected in 22 myocardial specimens obtained at autopsy from HIV-negative patients nor 10 peripheral blood specimens from HIV-positive patients. The presence of JCV in brains of patients without clinically evident PML suggests that JCV may be present in the central nervous system without clinical disease.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Uptake and incorporation of inositol by preimplantation mouse embryos.

The uptake of myo-inositol by preimplantation mouse embryos was investigated using [3H]myo-inositol. Uptake increased about 12-fold between one- and two-cell stages and increased again at the blastocyst stage (> 6-fold compared with the two-cell stage). Uptake at the blastocyst stage was time and temperature dependent; it was stimulated by sodium, inhibited by glucose and appeared to take place mainly via a saturable mechanism. Uptake in the presence of 6.25 mmol inositol l-1 was 1424 fmol inositol per blastocyst per h. About 10% of the [3H]inositol taken up by blastocysts during 8 h in culture was incorporated into lipid. Thin layer chromatography of the lipid showed that most of this inositol was incorporated into lipid material co-migrating with phosphatidylinositol with a small proportion co-migrating with phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate.

Analysis of Variance