Topiramate attenuates a transient learning deficit after lesions inducing intracerebral hemorrhage.

28 male Long-Evans rats prepared with lesions of the middle cerebral artery displayed deficits in spatial navigational learning in a simple version of the Morris Water Maze task not seen in animals prepared with the same injury but administered 4 treatments with topiramate after surgery.

Prevalence of HTLV-I-associated T-cell lymphoma.

In order to assess the prevalence rate of HTLV-1-associated T-cell lymphomas and human retrovirus infection in general, approximately 21,000 individuals representing various patient populations, retroviral risk groups, and blood donors were examined for HTLV-I, HTLV-II, HIV-1, or HIV-2 infection using serologic and PCR assays. The prevalence rates among volunteer blood donors were 0.02% and 0% for HTLV and HIV, respectively.

Coagulation abnormalities in patients with Gaucher's disease: effect of therapy.

Various coagulation defects have been associated with Gaucher's disease, including factor IX deficiency and acquired von Willebrand's disease (VWD). We performed repeated coagulation assays in 9 patients with Gaucher's disease over a period of 2 years. The prothrombin time (PT) and fibrinogen levels were normal in 8 of 9 patients, while the partial thromboplastin time (PTT) was abnormal in 5 of 9; all mixing PTT tests showed correction.

Impaired interferon alpha response in hairy cell leukemia is corrected by therapy with 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine: implications for susceptibility to opportunistic infections.

Patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) are susceptible to opportunistic intracellular infections, suggesting defects in cellular immunity. Prior studies have indicated an association between failure of IFN-alpha generation by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) and susceptibility to such infections. We here present results on IFN-alpha generation in HCL patients pre- and post-therapy.

Distinct characteristics of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells derived from patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). A factor in B-CLL serum promotes natural killer cell-like LAK cell growth.

We show that lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell precursors derived from patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) and cultured in the presence of recombinant interleukin-2 and normal human serum (NHS), develop into primarily NK cell-like (CD 57+) LAK cells, whereas identically prepared LAK cell precursors from normal subjects develop into mainly T cell-like (CD 3+, CD 8+) LAK cells. B-CLL LAK cells exhibited greater proliferative capacity than did normal LAK cells. When normal LAK cells were grown in B-CLL serum instead of NHS, their proliferation increased; NK cell levels also increased to those found in B-CLL LAK cells, suggesting that B-CLL serum contains a factor that promotes NK cell-like growth, LAK cells derived from normal or B-CLL patients demonstrated similar lytic activity toward K562 and Raji cells.