MR imaging of hypoxic-ischemic injury in term neonates: pearls and pitfalls.

Hypoxic-ischemic injury (HII) continues to be an important cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. In recent years, the role of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has increased by providing early detection to initiate preventive measures and assess the severity of tissue injury, and it often serves as a prognostic indicator. However, because of the subtle findings and temporal variability of signal abnormalities, the imaging diagnosis often remains troublesome, particularly for trainees and general radiologists who do not often encounter these findings.

A region of chromosome 20 is linked to leprosy susceptibility in a South Indian population.

A major susceptibility locus for leprosy has recently been mapped on chromosome 10 (10p13) by genome-wide linkage analysis. Microsatellite markers from this genome screen that showed suggestive evidence of linkage to leprosy were evaluated in an additional 140 families with affected sib pairs. A second region of linkage has thus been identified on chromosome 20 (20p12).

A major susceptibility locus for leprosy in India maps to chromosome 10p13.

Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is prevalent in India, where about half of the world's estimated 800,000 cases occur. A role for the genetics of the host in variable susceptibility to leprosy has been indicated by familial clustering, twin studies, complex segregation analyses and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) association studies. We report here a genetic linkage scan of the genomes of 224 families from South India, containing 245 independent affected sibpairs with leprosy, mainly of the paucibacillary type.

Group specific component (Gc) in erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL).

The distribution of phenotypes of group specific component (Gc) was examined in 71 lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients without any history of ENL reaction and 65 LL patients with history of frequent episodes of ENL reaction. The distribution of none of the phenotypes of Gc (Gc 1-1, Gc 2-1, Gc 2-2) was statistically significant among these groups.

Dermatoglyphics in leprosy: (III) Creases of palm.

Palmar configurations of triradii and creases of 100 leprosy patients [50 lepromatous (BL/LL) and 50 tuberculoid (BT/LL)] were compared with those of 100 normal persons selected from families of these patients. The patterns of position of triradii were similar in controls and leprosy patients as such. But, the patterns in the two types of leprosy patients were different.

Dermatoglyphics in leprosy (II Metric analysis of palms).

A group of 100 leprosy patients consisting of 50 lepromatous (BL/LL) and 50 tuberculoid (BT/TT) were investigated for metric analysis of the patterns present on their palms. Hundred normal persons were also selected from the families of patients to serve as controls. BT/TT patients and controls did not show any significant difference in their palmar patterns.

Dermatoglyphics in leprosy (I. Finger patterns).

Finger dermatoglyphic patterns were studied in leprosy families selecting patients and controls from each family. A total of 100 leprosy cases (50 of TT/BT types and 50 of BL/LL types) and 100 control subjects were investigated. While a statistically significant association was noted with some finger patterns (loop ulnar, loop radial, loop twin and loop central pocket) in the lepromatous type, no such association was observed with the finger patterns in the tuberculoid type.

Effect of leprosy sera and foetal calf serum (FCS) on the T cell number of peripheral blood of leprosy patients.

Study was conducted in 24 cases of various types of leprosy and 10 healthy controls to find out the effect of various sera on the T cell count of peripheral blood lymphocytes by sheep erythrocyte rosetting method. The percentage of T lymphocytes in lepromatous and tuberculoid cases were significantly lower compared to that in normal healthy controls. All sera except FCS had a stimulatory effect on the number of T cells.

Immune status of subsided cases of tuberculoid (TT) and borderline tuberculoid (BT) leprosy.

A comparative study of lepromin reactions (early and late), M. leprae induced lymphocyte blastogenesis, per cent T Cell number in peripheral blood and immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA and IgM) levels have been made in TT-active, TT-subsided, BT-active and BT-subsided leprosy cases. No significant difference has been noted amongst these groups in the above mentioned investigations except in subsided BT cases where 9 out of 11 cases failed to evoke any late skin reaction to Dharmendra antigen.

In vitro effect of DDS on phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)--induced lymphocyte transformation.

A study to find out the in vitro effect of diamino diphenyl sulphone (DDS) on phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphocyte transformation was carried out in three phases using a wide range of DDS concentrations. Lymphocytes from healthy volunteers were investigated. Volunteers were divided into three groups to conduct the study in three phases.

Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-induced transformation of peripheral blood-lymphocytes in leprosy patients.

101 patients belonging to different types of leprosy were investigated for PHA-induced lymphocyte transformation in peripheral blood. There was a significant depression (P < 0.05) in blastogenesis in borderline (BB), borderline lepromatous (BL) and lepromatous (LL) patients.

In vivo effect of DDS on phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphocyte transformation cultures in normal healthy volunteers.

Depression in PHA-induced lymphocyte transformation in peripheral blood has been observed in 15 healthy volunteers after administration of DDS (100 mg/day) for seven days. In vitro culture of lymphocytes obtained from these volunteers in DDS-free normal AB serum has not altered the blast cell numbers. Lymphocytes of these volunteers have been found to contain a significant amount of DDS, ranging from 0.

Histocompatibility antigens (HL-A) in leprosy.

HL-A antigens of 70 leprosy patients and 40 normal healthy individuals were determined by the standard microlymphocytotoxicity test. Both lepromatous and non-lepromatous leprosy patients were tested for the presence of 11 HL-A antigens, and the frequency of each specificity was compared with that in a normal population of the same ethnic group. Although the statistical significance of HL-A8 specificity was found to be marginal in lepromatous leprosy patients, when using ordinary 2 times 2 statistics, there did seem to be a decreased frequency of HL-A9 among the non-lepromatous type.