Crescentic glomerulonephritis with positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody specific for myeloperoxidase associated with autoimmune hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenic purpura.

A 41-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with severe uremia, hemolytic anemia, and thrombocytopenic purpura. Emergency hemodialysis with plasmapheresis was started in view of consideration of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which resulted in improvement of renal function and platelet count. Positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody specific for myeloperoxidase (MPO-ANCA) suggested crescentic glomerulonephritis, which was pathologically evidenced by renal biopsy.

Improved sensitivity and decreased sample size in a cytotoxicity test for biomaterials: a modified colony microassay using a microplate and crystal violet staining.

Modified Eagle's minimum essential medium supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum was highly sensitive to cytotoxicity and formed large control colonies in the V79 colony assay. A highly sensitive cytotoxicity test was developed using 96-well microtiter plates. Test chemicals or extracts of polyurethane materials containing the same chemicals were added 24 h after inoculation of cell suspensions.

Rabbit eye irritation caused by wearing toxic contact lenses and their cytotoxicities: in vivo/in vitro correlation study using standard reference materials.

To clarify the relationship between eye irritancy and cytotoxic potential induced by irritant materials, we made lenses coated with standard reference materials (SRMs) prepared from various amounts of zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDEC) and polyurethane (PU). Zinc diethyldithiocarbamate was classified as a mild irritant by the Draize eye irritation test. When ZDEC-SRM coated contact lenses were applied to rabbit eyes, Draize scores increased in proportion to both the ZDEC and PU concentrations used for coating.