Genomic disorders: genome architecture results in susceptibility to DNA rearrangements causing common human traits.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
P Fonseca
Publications and source records attributed to P Fonseca.
[Recurrent pericardial effusion --a case of cardiac angiosarcoma].
A case of angiosarcoma of the right atrium in a 59-year-old woman is reported, presenting as a recurrent hematic pericardial effusion. The usefulness of echocardiography in making the diagnosis is emphasized. The tumor was already disseminated at the time of the diagnosis. The patient was on palliative therapy, dying a few months later. The histological examination was done at autopsy. This case highlights the difficulty in diagnosis and the various modalities available for an accurate diagnosis of a rare clinical entity. It has a rapid and aggressive course with a very poor prognosis.
Female↗
Spherical sound radiation patterns of singing grass cicadas, Tympanistalna gastrica.
The spatial pattern of sound radiation of grass cicadas emitting normally patterned calling songs was measured in the acoustic far field with an array of eight microphones at a distance of 15 cm. The array could be rotated to cover the sphere around the cicada. The sound was analysed in one-third-octave bands with centre frequencies from 3.15 kHz to 16 kHz, the frequency range of the calling song. The seven cicadas studied had very similar spatial radiation patterns, but somewhat different emitted sound powers (range 190-440 nW, mean 280 nW, at 22 degrees C). At low frequencies, the pattern of sound radiation was close to spherical. At higher frequencies, systematic deviations from a spherical pattern were evident. The deviations were of the order of magnitude expected for monopolar sound sources located on sound-shielding bodies. We conclude that, although the singing cicada produces a quite complex acoustic near field, it behaves as a monopole in the far field. These findings are compared with data from a singing grasshopper of similar size, which in the far field behaves as a multipole.
Animal Structures↗
Thyroid lung metastasis diagnosed 47 years after thyroidectomy.
A 75-year-old woman underwent excision of a middle lobe lung nodule that contained a separate, isolated focus of metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma. A thyroid lobectomy for papillary cancer had been performed 47 years earlier. This interval is believed to be the longest time from initial diagnosis to identification of distant lung metastasis reported. The pertinent published reports are reviewed and methods of surveillance discussed.
Aged↗
Respiratory distress following pneumonectomy.
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Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
Catamenial pneumothorax: a multifactorial etiology.
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Adult↗
Congenital bronchoesophageal fistula in an adult.
We present a rare case of a congenital bronchoesophageal fistula in a 54-year-old woman with a history of poor feeding tolerance since infancy and repeated pulmonary infections. She initially presented with epigastric and right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Her workup included a barium esophagogram that revealed a fistula between her midesophagus and a left lower lobe segmental bronchus. The fistula was divided, a left lower lobe superior segmentectomy was performed, and an intercostal muscle was placed over the esophageal closure. The patient noted an immediate decrease of postprandial coughing. Congenital respiratory esophageal fistulas that are not associated with esophageal atresia may persist into adulthood before they become clinically apparent. The diagnosis should be considered in certain individuals with suggestive symptomatology and unexplained respiratory pathology.
Bronchial Fistula↗
Phasic action of the tensor muscle modulates the calling song in cicadas
The effect of tensor muscle contraction on sound production by the tymbal was investigated in three species of cicadas (Tettigetta josei, Tettigetta argentata and Tympanistalna gastrica). All species showed a strict time correlation between the activity of the tymbal motoneurone and the discharge of motor units in the tensor nerve during the calling song. Lesion of the tensor nerve abolished the amplitude modulation of the calling song, but this modulation was restored by electrical stimulation of the tensor nerve or by mechanically pushing the tensor sclerite. Electrical stimulation of the tensor nerve at frequencies higher than 30­40 Hz changed the sound amplitude. In Tett. josei and Tett. argentata there was a gradual increase in sound amplitude with increasing frequency of tensor nerve stimulation, while in Tymp. gastrica there was a sudden reduction in sound amplitude at stimulation frequencies higher than 30 Hz. This contrasting effect in Tymp. gastrica was due to a bistable tymbal frame. Changes in sound pulse amplitude were positively correlated with changes in the time lag measured from tymbal motoneurone stimulation to the sound pulse. The tensor muscle acted phasically because electrical stimulation of the tensor nerve during a time window (0­10 ms) before electrical stimulation of the tymbal motoneurone was most effective in eliciting amplitude modulations. In all species, the tensor muscle action visibly changed the shape of the tymbal. Despite the opposite effects of the tensor muscle on sound pulse amplitude observed between Tettigetta and Tympanistalna species, the tensor muscle of both acts by modulating the shape of the tymbal, which changes the force required for the tymbal muscle to buckle the tymbal.
Journal Article↗
Resection of an adult intracardiac Wilms' tumor using hypothermic circulatory arrest.
A 51-year-old woman underwent resection of a renal tumor with intracaval and intracardiac extension. Histologic examination demonstrated an adult Wilm's tumor. Cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest were used in a combined abdominal and thoracic procedure to remove the tumor and extension in its entirety without complication.
Cardiopulmonary Bypass↗
Hydroxyurea affects cell morphology, cation transport, and red blood cell adhesion in cultured vascular endothelial cells.
Hydroxyurea (HU) significantly increases fetal hemoglobin (Hb) production and concomitantly affects passive erythrocyte K transport and cell volume in patients homozygous for Hb S, thus decreasing disease severity. Red blood cells (RBCs) with Hb S display a greater adherence to vascular endothelial cells (VECs) than do Hb A cells, thus increasing the probability of vaso-occlusive crisis. The effect of HU on the structure and function of VECs is still unknown. In the present study, HU significantly changed, in a dose-dependent manner, the morphology and monovalent cation composition of cultured VECs after incubation in normal culture medium for up to 10 days in the absence and presence of 0.3 (therapeutic dose) and 3.0 (toxic dose) mmol/L HU. Treated cells showed significant morphologic changes such as an increase in apparent cell size and the formation of multinucleated giant cells. The protein content per dish decreased by 50% and 80% at 0.3 and 3.0 mmol/L HU, respectively, accompanied by an increase in cell Na (maximum, approximately 200%) and cell K (maximum, approximately 50%) contents at about days 4 to 6 and 8 to 10, respectively. In addition, HU decreased RBC adherence to VECs in experiments with 51Cr-loaded Hb A or Hb S RBCs. The HU-induced changes in VEC morphology, cation composition, and RBC adherence may be caused or accompanied by alterations in cell membrane permeability, transformation of endothelial cells, or decreased number/density of VEC adhesion molecules. Precise mechanisms of the HU effects warrant further investigation in light of the reported beneficial effects of HU in the treatment of sickle cell anemia.
Animals↗
[Hemodynamic effects of propafenone in dogs anesthesized with halothane or isoflurane].
OBJECTIVE: Several studies suggest that anaesthetic drugs influence the haemodynamic effects of the antiarrhythmic drugs. The aim of this study was to compare the haemodynamic effects of a standard dose of propafenone (1.5 mg/kg) on dogs anaesthetized with halothane or with isoflurane. DESIGN: Randomized laboratory animal study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six dogs were anaesthetized with 1% of halothane-Group I, and six dogs with an equianaesthetic dosage of isoflurane (1.5%)-Group II. Dogs breathed in spontaneous ventilation. Haemodynamic monitoring was performed with a femural arterial catheter and a flow-directed pulmonary artery catheter and cardiac output was measured by thermodilution. After a haemodynamic assessment considered as initial a bolus of 1.5 mg/kg of propafenone was given during a period of 30 seconds and similar assessments were made 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes after. RESULTS: Before propafenone, heart rate was significantly higher in Group II-isoflurane (p < 0.05). After propafenone we found: In both Groups, a decrease in the cardiac output (p < 0.05) with the mean arterial pressure maintained; in Group I (halothane) a decrease in the stroke volume (p < 0.05) which was not found in Group II (p = ns); In Group II (isoflurane) a decrease in heart rate (p < 0.05) not found in Group I (p = ns). All the changes were higher at the 5th minute values. 30th minute and 60th minute values were not significantly different from initial values. CONCLUSION: In dogs anaesthetized with halothane 1.2 MAC a reduction in the stroke volume, resulting in a cardiac output decrease, was observed, suggesting that propafenone increases the negative inotropic action of halothane. In dogs anaesthetized with isoflurane 1.2 MAC the decrease in cardiac output was similar to the decrease in heart rate, and therefore no reduction in the stroke volume was observed. The decrease in the heart rate found in this group but not in the halothane group was probably related with the beta-blocker action of the propafenone. Looking to the systemic vascular resistances, our study suggested that propafenone didn't have any vasodilator effect during halogenated anaesthesia.
Anesthesia↗
The preparation and properties of the catalytic subunit of bovine enterokinase.
A limited reduction of the disulfide bonds of bovine enterokinase (enteropeptidase, EC 3.4.21.9) was accomplished with 50 mM dithioerythritol, at pH 9.0, and at 4 degrees C. The conditions separated the heavy and light subunits quantitatively with improved reliability when compared to the conditions used previously (Savithri, H. S., and Light, A. (1980) Biochim. Biophys. Res. Commun, 94, 360-365). Pancreatic trypsin inhibitor was added to the reaction to ensure that the yield of the heavy subunit was equal to that of the catalytic subunit (light subunit). Otherwise the heavy subunit was subject to extensive degradation. The subunits were alkylated with iodoacetate and then resolved on Sephadex G-150. Amino acid analyses and the incorporation of [14C]carboxymethyl groups showed that 3.1 carboxymethylcysteine residues were in the catalytic subunit and 8.9 in the heavy subunit. The catalytic subunit had normal catalytic activity toward N-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester, enhanced activity toward N-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester and N-tosyl-L-lysine methyl ester, and lower activity toward N-benzoyl-DL-arginine p-nitroanilide. The catalytic subunit retained the restricted specificity of intact enterokinase, but the rate of activation of trypsinogen was much slower. It is likely that the limited reduction of the disulfide bonds of the catalytic subunit altered the interaction of protein substrates with the specificity site.
Animals↗
The purification and characterization of bovine enterokinase from membrane fragments in the duodenal mucosal fluid.
Bovine enterokinase has been purified from the mucosal fluid adhering to the intestinal wall. Enterokinase is predominantly present as membrane fragments which must be treated with Triton X-100 to release the enzyme. The purification resulted in a higher yield of enzyme in fewer steps and in less time than when mucosal cells were used. The properties of the enzyme in the fluid are identical with those found previously with the mucosal cell preparation (Liepnieks, J. J., and Light, A. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 1677-1683), but differ in the size of the subunits and in amino acid composition from the enzyme purified from intestinal contents (Anderson, L. E. Walsh, K. A., and Neurath, H. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 3354-3360). It is highly unlikely that the existence of isoenzymes could explain these differences. It is more likely that the enzyme isolated from the intestinal contents represents an extensively degraded form with retention of enzymatic activity.
Animals↗
Incorporation of bovine enterokinase in reconstituted soybean phospholipid vesicles.
Bovine enterokinase was incorporated into vesicles reconstituted from a soybean phospholipid mixture. A thin film hydration procedure (MacDonald, R. I., and MacDonald, R. C. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 9206-9214) produced vesicles with 40% of the enterokinase activity bound in the membrane. The highest incorporation was observed when cholesterol or dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine was added to the soybean phospholipids. Crude and highly purified enterokinase preparations were incorporated to the same extent suggesting that other membrane components were not required for a successful reconstitution. The properties of enterokinase in phospholipid vesicles were compared with those of alkaline phosphatase, which was also added to the reconstitution system, and with the enzyme activities present in vesicles prepared from brush-border membranes. The enzyme activities were not released by solutions of high ionic strength and remained associated with the phospholipid vesicles on gel filtration, ultracentrifugation, and sucrose density centrifugation. Enterokinase and alkaline phosphatase had their active sites exposed to substrate in the brush-border membrane vesicles. In soybean phospholipid vesicles half of the active sites of both enzymes were on the outside, since release of the enzyme with Triton X-100 almost doubled the units of enzyme present. Incubation of the soybean phospholipid and brush-border membrane vesicles with papain released the exposed molecules of enterokinase. The released enzyme molecules were fully active but could not be reincorporated into phospholipid vesicles. This suggests that the structure imbedded in the lipid bilayer was essential for a successful reconstitution. We conclude that the reconstituted soybean phospholipid vesicles are a suitable membrane system for the further study of membrane-bound enterokinase.
Alkaline Phosphatase↗