Ultrastructural morphometric analysis of lesional skin: mast cells from patients with systemic and nonsystemic mastocytosis.

Lesional skin mast cells from some patients with mastocytosis appear morphologically atypical; however, these subjective differences have not been quantified. Herein we describe an objective method for analyzing cutaneous mastocytosis mast cells by a combination of morphometric analysis and electron microscopy. By this technique, lesional mast cells from patients with adult systemic mastocytosis had a significantly larger mean cytoplasmic area (53.

Acute cigarette smoke exposure in dogs: the inflammatory response.

Acute cigarette smoke causes polymorphonuclear leukocyte (neutrophil, PMN) recruitment to the lung followed by loss of elastase from the recruited cells. Dogs were exposed to cigarette smoke with different oxidant content, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed, and the cell distribution in the recovered alveolar lining fluid was analyzed. Exposures were 1, 3, or 6 cigarettes on one or multiple days with a maximum dose of 42 cigarettes.

In vitro functional reactivities of cutaneous mast cells from patients with mastocytosis.

Cutaneous mast cells from 3 patients with mastocytosis were evaluated for their morphologic characteristics and in vitro functional reactivities to different secretory agonists. By electron microscopy, mastocytosis mast cells appeared larger than normal skin mast cells, frequently had atypical, highly indented or bilobed nuclei, and each contained numerous, elongated cytoplasmic projections. Suspensions of mastocytosis mast cells were obtained from lesional skin biopsy specimens, and their response to both immunologic and nonimmunologic secretagogues was compared with mast cells from normal skin.

Control of breathing in an amphibian Bufo paracnemis: effects of temperature and hypoxia.

Lung ventilation was measured in the toad, Bufo paracnemis, weight 500-800 g, at 15, 25 and 32 degree C during normoxia and hypoxia (5, 10, and 15% inspired O2). Arterial blood gases were measured during normoxic breathing. Typically breath-holds alternated with ventilatory periods, which were initiated by a stepwise pulmonary deflation.

Pulmonary function of the green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas.

Lung volumes, oxygen uptake (VO2), end-tidal PO2, and PCO2, diffusing capacity of the lungs for CO (DLCO), pulmonary blood flow (QL) and respiratory frequency were measured in the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) (49-127 kg body wt). Mean lung volume (VL) determined from helium dilution was 57 ml/kg and physiological dead space volume (VD) was about 3.6 ml/kg.

Respiratory properties of blood and arterial blood gases in the tegu lizard: effects of temperature and hypercapnia.

The effects of body temperature and hypercapnia (7% inspired CO2) on arterial blood gases, plasma pH, and the characteristics of the blood oxygen dissociation curve were determined in Tegu lizards (Tupinambis nigropunctatus). Arterial pH fell from 7.59 to 7.

The relative distribution of pulmocutaneous blood flow in Rana catesbeiana: effects of pulmonary or cutaneous hypoxia.

The distribution of pulmocutaneous heart output to lungs and skin was determined in non-anaesthetized, fully recovered bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) by application of the microsphere method in order to study the modulation of blood flow to different gas exchange sites in amphibians during environmental air and water hypoxia. The relative perfusion of various skin areas was found to be rather heterogeneously distributed with an over-proportionately high blood flow to the ventral body surface. This distribution of flow among different skin areas remained unaffected by any type of environmental hypoxia.

An ultrastructural study of the renal juxtaglomerular apparatus and extraglomerular mesangium in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Experimental studies have indicated that the glomerular mesangium may function by phagocytosis of various circulating substances which are then processed and flow to the juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA) region and into the intercellular spaces of the macula densa. An electron-micrographic study of the juxtaglomerular apparatus and extramesangial region in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was undertaken. In only five of 39 cases (13%) of SLE were discrete electron-dense "immune-type" deposits noted in the JGA region.

Placental and fetal pathology in Coxsackie virus A9 infection: a case report.

A 27-year-old patient contracted a Coxsackie virus A9 meningitis at 33 weeks gestational age. Two weeks later a macerated female stillborn infant was delivered. The placenta showed a diffuse perivillous fibrin deposition with villous necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration and yielded Coxsackie virus A9 on culture.

Selenium deficiency potentiates paraquat-induced lipid peroxidation in isolated perfused rat lung.

Glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), a seleno-enzyme, reduces lipid hydroperoxides while producing oxidized glutathione (GSSG), which can efflux from cells. To study the role of GSHPx in antioxidant defense, isolated lungs from selenium-deficient rats were perfused for 2 h with or without 1 mM paraquat. Perfusate GSSG was measured as an index of GSHPx activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) as an index of lipid peroxidation.

Ectopic pregnancy in a distal tubal remnant.

Ectopic pregnancy is a well-recognized complication of tubal reanastomosis (Young PE, Egan JE, Barlow JJ: Reconstructive surgery for infertility at the Boston Hospital for Women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 108: 1092, 1970 and Hodari AA, Vibhasiri A, Isaac AY: Reconstructive tubal surgery for midtubal obstruction. Fertil Steril 28: 620, 1977).

Ovulation induction in clomiphene nonresponsive patients: the place of pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone in clinical practice.

Seventy-three treatment courses of pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) were given to 19 patients with clomiphene nonresponsive anovulatory infertility. Fifty cycles were given by the subcutaneous route, and 23 were given intravenously. Doses varied between 1 and 40 micrograms per pulse given at 60- or 90-minute intervals.

Oxygen toxicity: loss of lung macrophage function without metabolite depletion.

Hyperoxia inhibited concanavalin A stimulated O2- release (respiratory burst) of alveolar macrophages obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage from rats. After 36 h of normobaric 100% O2, a partial reversal (48%) of the inhibition was produced by addition of glucose. Since oxidant-induced, reversible NADPH depletion correlates with reversible inhibition of the respiratory burst, intracellular NADPH was assayed to determine whether irreversible inhibition of the respiratory burst was related to persistent changes in this metabolite.

Serum fibronectin is elevated during normobaric and hyperbaric oxygen exposure in rats.

Serum fibronectin concentration was measured by immunoelectrophoresis in rats exposed to 1 atmosphere absolute (ata) of oxygen for 24 to 72 h and at 30-min intervals during 1 to 5 h of exposure to 4 ata O2. At 1 ata O2, there was a progressive increase in serum fibronectin, which became significant at 48 h and was 2.5 times the control value by 72 h (p less than 0.

Reproductive hormone profiles in regularly menstruating Sudanese women.

Venous blood samples were taken daily from 21 regularly menstruating Sudanese women throughout one complete menstrual cycle. FSH, LH, estradiol-17 beta and progesterone were assayed in all plasma samples and normal reference ranges were thus established. Fifteen subjects had a luteal phase of more than 12 days whilst in 3 subjects it was shorter.

Pathological mechanisms in polycystic ovary syndrome: modulation of LH pulsatility by progesterone.

The pulsatile discharge of luteinizing hormone (LH) in nine patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO) and nine patients with amenorrhoea but without PCO, who exhibited LH discharge in response to oestrogen provocation, were studied by 4-h measurement of gonadotrophin pulsatility before and after a course of progesterone injections. No significant differences were found in the gonadotrophin pulsatility patterns of the two groups, although the LH/FSH ratio rose significantly in the patients without PCO after progesterone but not in the patients with PCO, suggesting an abnormality of FSH storage. The ability to discharge gonadotrophins in response to oestrogen provocation has been reported to be present in patients with greater than or equal to 3 LH pulses in a 4-h study period.

The development of a successful non-university-based ambulatory in vitro fertilization/embryo transfer program: phase I.

Most of the current in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) programs are university-based. The establishment of a successful ambulatory IVF program in association with a busy, two-man general obstetrics-gynecologic practice is described. Seventy-one infertile couples were screened between February 1 and October 15, 1983.

Cycle initiation in amenorrhoea; the effect of progesterone and oestrogen administration on the pulsatile release of gonadotrophins.

The modulation of pulsatile gonadotrophin release by endogenous ovarian steroids during the normal menstrual cycle may be involved in the initiation of the following menstrual cycle. The absence of this cyclical variation may, in some cases, be the cause of, or contribute to the cause of, amenorrhoea. To assess this the modulatory effect of gonadal steroid administration on the pulsatile release of gonadotrophins was studied in fourteen amenorrhoeic and four oligomenorrhoeic women.

LH pulse frequency in relation to positive oestrogen-gonadotrophin feedback in amenorrhoea.

The relationship between the pattern of pulsatile LH release and the response to oestrogen provocation was studied in twenty amenorrhoeic or oligomenorrhoeic subjects. In 12 subjects with positive oestrogen-gonadotrophin feedback a definite pulsatile pattern of LH release was demonstrated with a pulse frequency of 60--80 min and an increase from nadir to peak ranging between 30 and 58%. The mean basal LH concentration was significantly higher in this group (P less than 0.

An office-based orthotic system in treatment of the arthritic foot.

Patients with inflammatory arthritic disease of the feet invariably require conservative office management. The simplest method of obtaining relief has been to use commercially available extra-depth shoes combined with custommade, removable, closed-celled polyethylene foam arch supports. These supports are soft, light, and can be accurately adjusted to each patient's pathology.

Pulmonary diffusing capacity of the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana).

Carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lungs (DLCO) was measured in bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana (mean body weight 260 g) along with oxygen uptake, pulmonary perfusion and lung volume. The measurements were all performed by methods depending on mass-spectrometry. Pulmonary oxygen uptake, DLCO and perfusion all increased with body temperature.