Japanese journal of medical science & biology最新文献

The effect of cyclosporin A, a highly effective immunosuppressant, was investigated on hyperoxaluric rats with and without vitamin E pretreatment. Hyperoxaluria was induced by oral feeding of 3% ammonium oxalate in water for 3 days. Cyclosporin A (50 mg/kg body wt.) was administered for 3 days. Pretreatment with vitamin E (50 mg/100 g body wt., once a week for 3 weeks) was carried out before the administration of cyclosporin A and ammonium oxalate. Nonenzymatic ascorbate-induced lipid peroxidation was increased to 1.55-fold in either cyclosporin A-administered or hyperoxaluric rat kidney and liver when compared to control. The lipid peroxidation was further elevated to 1.9-fold when both cyclosporin A and ammonium oxalate were coadministered. The activities of renal and hepatic ATPase, glucose-6-phosphatase as well as the concentrations of thiols were decreased significantly (p < 0.001) when cyclosporin A was administered under hyperoxaluric condition. On pretreatment with vitamin E the cyclosporin A-induced biochemical changes observed in the presence of hyperoxaluria were abolished.

Mice inoculated with whole cell pertussis vaccine (WCV) acquired protection against intracerebral challenge with Bordetella pertussis without any appreciable antibody production against pertussis toxin or filamentous hemagglutinin. Spleen cells from mice immunized with WCV produced a significant amount of IFN-gamma upon stimulation in vitro with WCV. Furthermore, mice inoculated with recombinant IFN-gamma along with a suboptimal dose of WCV survived longer than those that received WCV alone. These results suggest that, in WCV-immune mice, IFN-gamma plays an important role in protection against intracerebral challenge with B. pertussis.

Western blot analysis was carried out in order to evaluate new serodiagnostic markers, Em18 and Em16, for differentiation of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) from cystic echinococcosis (CE) using 36 serum samples from hydatid patients from Xinjiang, China, where AE and CE are both endemic and one double infection case has been reported. All AE cases except one (5/6) who exhibited a calcified lesion and a single case of double infection showed antibody responses against Em18 and Em16. Some of CE patient sera (6/22) showed antibody response against Em16 except one who showed that against Em18. Analyses of IgG subclass responses against Em18 and Em16 were carried out using all serum samples showing antibody responses against Em18 and/or Em16 (seven CE, five AE, and one AE + CE) and additional samples of three CE and 22 AE from Sichuan, China. IgG4 was the most predominant antibody subclass. Em18 and Em16 were recognized by both IgG4 and IgG1 (in most cases) or by either IgG4 or IgG1 (in minor cases) or by IgG3 (in very rare cases). Neither Em18 nor Em16 was recognized by IgG2 antibodies. The usefulness of Em18 and Em16 as potential new markers for serological differentiation of human AE and CE, respectively, is discussed.

Gastroenteritis, arthralgaia and myalgia are frequently associated with influenza virus infections in humans. One explantation for these symptoms may be extrarespiratory transmission of virus by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). We tried to detect genomic viral RNA of the nucleoprotein (NP) and H3 subtype hemagglutinin (HA) genes by the method of RT-PCR in PBMC of 18 children aged 1-14 who suffered from an influenza outbreak in the Kansai district of Japan between December 1992 and February 1993. Three of the 18 samples were RT-PCR positive. The NP gene sequence observed in one patient's PBMC was identical to that obtained from his throat swab fluid. The HA gene sequences observed in the two other PBMC differed from those of RT-PCR-amplified DNA from throat swabs by an order of 3-9 nucleotides. We believe these results suggest the presence of a PBMC-associated virus.

We have used the cell wall-associated proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (SIHV strain) as antigens in the serodiagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Sera from 19 relapsed and 46 newly diagnosed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and 21 healthy individuals were tested against the cell wall-associated proteins of M. tuberculosis (SIHV) by an ELISA technique. The results showed 92% and 100% positive titers in new and relapsed cases of tuberculosis, respectively. Control sera analyzed exhibited a negativity of 90%. Cell wall-associated proteins of M. tuberculosis were found to be useful in serodiagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in clear distinction from healthy subjects.

Bulinus truncatus snails collected from water bodies of the South Shuna region, north of the Dead Sea, were found infected with a pharyngeal longifurcate distome cercaria. This new form of cercaria is named Cercaria bulini I. It has three pairs of penetration glands, 12 pairs of flame cells, and lacks the intestinal cecae. This cercaria is an active swimmer and develops within an elongated sporocyst. Other details on the morphology, behavior, and development of C. bulini I are presented.

During the response of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), methylation occurred at the Hpa II site of c-myc exon I, which is located downstream of the P1 initiation site, as evidenced by the assays of Hpa II-PCR. The Hpa II spite of the 5' flanking region did not undergo methylation. UV-irradiation also led to methylation in exon I. The extent of methylation increased depending on the dose of MNNG and UV. The results suggested that methylation takes place in transcriptionally active c-myc responsible for carcinogens and is caused by mechanisms different from that of alkylation in a specific CpG site. Possible contribution of methylation to less repair found in c-myc is discussed.

A genetic locus named cri, which enhanced the expression of ipa genes, was cloned into Escherichia coli K-12 from Shigella flexneri 1b chromosomal DNA. Subcloning and Tn5-Tc1 transposon experiments showed that cri locus was located on a 2.6-kb HindIII fragment. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the region revealed at least three open reading frames (ORF), one of which, named criR, encoded a protein of 226 amino-acid residues and transcriptionally increased the ipaB expression. The deduced regulatory protein CriR shared a significant homology with bacterial transcriptional activators of the two-component signal transduction family. A homologue of the criR gene was present in genomic DNA of Shigella spp. and E. coli strains, and mapped at the 14.6-min region of E. coli K-12 chromosomal DNA. These results indicate that criR is a new member of response regulators.