Increased susceptibility of microcytic red blood cells to in vitro oxidative stress.

Oxidative damage to erythrocytes in thalassaemia has been related to generation of free radicals by an excess of denaturated alpha- or beta-globin chains, intracellular iron overload and low concentration of normal haemoglobin (HGB). Two good indicators of such oxidative damage are the high red blood cell (RBC) malonyldialdehyde (MDA) production detected following exogenous oxidant stress and the decrease of pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (P5N), the most sensitive enzyme to SH-group damage in vivo. Conflicting data, however, have so far accumulated in the literature concerning differences in oxidative damage between the different forms of thalassaemia and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA).

Epidemiology of hepatitis D virus infection: changes in the last 14 years.

To calculate the prevalence of hepatitis D virus (HDV) superinfection, antibody to HDV (anti-HD) was tested on admission in 696 hepatitis B virus (HBV) chronic carriers diagnosed between 1979 and 1992. Anti-HD was positive in 67 patients (9.6%), and it was more frequently detected in i.

Resistance to penicillin and cephalosporin and mortality from severe pneumococcal pneumonia in Barcelona, Spain.

Background: Penicillin-resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae are now found worldwide, and strains with resistance to cephalosporin are being reported. The appropriate antibiotic therapy for pneumococcal pneumonia due to resistant strains remains controversial.

Methods: To examine the effect of resistance to penicillin and cephalosporin on mortality, we conducted a 10-year, prospective study in Barcelona of 504 adults with culture-proved pneumococcal pneumonia.

Dapsone for refractory chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Fifteen patients with refractory chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) were treated with dapsone (100 mg/d) for 1-31 months. The overall response rate to dapsone was 40%. Five patients responded in 1 month and one patient in 2 months.

Vasoactive effects of aqueous extracts from five Mexican medicinal plants on isolated rat aorta.

The present investigation describes the effects of aqueous extracts from Chiranthodendron pentadactylon flowers, Galphimia glauca leaves and flowers, Ipomoea stans roots, Juglans regia leaves and Taxodium mucronatum aerial parts on isolated rat thoracic aorta precontracted by noradrenaline (NA). In all cases, the aqueous extracts (0.5-12 mg/ml) significantly inhibited, in a concentration-dependent manner, the maximal contractile response induced by NA in rat aorta.

Multicentre comparative study on the antibacterial activity of FK-037, a new parenteral cephalosporin.

The in vitro antibacterial activity of FK-037, a new parenteral cephalosporin structurally related to cefpirome and cefepime, was compared with that of cefotaxime, ceftazidime, aztreonam, cefpirome, cefepime, imipenem and meropenem against 1,837 clinical isolates obtained from three Spanish hospitals. FK-037 inhibited 90% of Enterobacteriaceae isolates at < or = 0.25 microgram/ml, with the exception of Enterobacter aerogenes (MIC90 1 microgram/ml), Enterobacter cloacae and Citrobacter freundii (MIC90 8 micrograms/ml).

Screening practices and knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about cancer among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women 35 years old or older in Nueces County, Texas.

A telephone survey was conducted among women 35 years old or older in Nueces County, Tex., to assess ethnic differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women in self-reported cancer-screening practices and knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about cancer and to evaluate the effect of ethnicity as a predictor for screening practices. A total of 233 Hispanic and 332 non-Hispanic white women participated in the survey.

Tuberculous peritonitis: diagnostic value of ascitic fluid pH and lactate.

Background: The analytical pattern of ascitic fluid in peritoneal tuberculosis is frequently similar to that found in other causes of ascites. The diagnostic value of the ascitic fluid pH and lactate in cases of tuberculous peritonitis has not yet been established.

Methods: Ascitic fluid pH, lactate, total proteins, cell count, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose, and their blood-ascitic gradients were determined in 10 patients with tuberculous peritonitis (group I).

EGF modulation of the ras-related rhoB gene expression in human breast-cancer cell lines.

The mRNA levels of the ras-related human rhoA, rhoB and rhoC genes were studied in human breast-cancer cell lines (HBCal), and in normal and immortalized mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) by Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization. In contrast to the ubiquitous rhoA and rhoC gene expression, dramatic variations in the mRNA level of the rhoB gene were evidenced. The rhoB mRNA level appeared to be inversely correlated to the amounts of the epidermal-growth-factor(EGF) receptors in these cells.

Spread and maintenance of a dominant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone during an outbreak of MRSA disease in a Spanish hospital.

It was not until November 1989 that the 1,000-bed University-affiliated Hospital de Bellvitge "Princeps d'Espanya" in Barcelona first acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Since that time, the outbreak of MRSA disease has continued. We have analyzed by genomic DNA fingerprinting 189 MRSA isolates collected between late 1989 and the end of 1993.

Aspects of nonrandom turnover involved in the concerted evolution of intergenic spacers within the ribosomal DNA of Drosophila melanogaster.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified, sequenced, and digitally typed intergenic spacers (IGSs) of the ribosomal (r)DNA in D. melanogaster reveal unexpected features of the mechanisms of turnover involved with the concerted evolution of the gene family. Characterization of the structure of three isolated IGS length variants reveals breakage "hot spots" within the 330-base-pair (bp) subrepeat array found in the spacers.

p53 mutations and overexpression in locally advanced breast cancers.

Alterations in the p53 gene were analysed in 39 patients with locally advanced breast cancers (LABCs) (stage III-IV) with inflammatory signs in most cases (UICC stage T4d = 32 patients) by molecular and immunohistochemical (IHC) approaches. All patients were included in the same therapy protocol. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a single-strand conformational polymorphism migration technique (SSCP), the presence of mutations in exons 2-11, covering the entire coding sequence of the p53 gene, was evaluated.

Unsegmented flow approach for on-line monitoring of pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and determination of nitrite and ammonia in aquaculture.

A fully automated flow system for on-line monitoring of analytes/parameters of interest in aquaculture is described. The approach has been optimized for the photometric determination of nitrite and ammonia and the continuous monitoring of pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen, but these analytes/parameters are readily changeable as required. The system has been tested by monitoring these species in the input and output sea water streams of tanks at a fish breeding farm and also by monitoring water containing high concentrations of fish feed.

In vivo ovine flap model to evaluate surgical infection and tissue necrosis.

Although the inciting causes and the end results of soft tissue infection are well described, we have not achieved a quantitative methodistic description of the sequence of events in between. The following study presents an isolated in vivo model which will allow specific manipulations and quantifications of the events of integumentary infection. Pedicle flaps were raised on the buttock of the adult range ewe and it was multiply inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus, and followed for 96 hr.

Adrenocorticotrophic hormone, cortisol and catecholamine concentrations during insulin hypoglycaemia in dogs anaesthetized with thiopentone.

Glucose homeostasis is maintained by complex neuroendocrine control mechanisms. Increases in plasma concentrations of various glucose-raising hormones such as glucagon, catecholamines, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol are observed under certain conditions associated with stress (haemorrhage and hypoglycaemia). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of thiopentone anaesthesia on the catecholamine, ACTH and cortisol response to insulin hypoglycaemia in dogs.

Is the CD18 adhesion complex of polymorphonuclear leukocytes involved in smoke-induced lung damage? A morphometric study.

Neutrophils are the primary vectors that produce lung parenchymal injury after smoke inhalation as a result of their transmigration through endothelial and epithelial gap junctions toward the airway surfaces. LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) on the neutrophil surface is essential for this transmigration in many tissues. We hypothesized that anti-CD18 antibodies would block such movement and prevent lung damage.

Thromboxane receptor blockade with BM 13,177 following toxic airway damage by smoke inhalation in sheep.

Thromboxane may play an important role in the pathogenesis of smoked mediated injury. We studied this possibility in 13 chronically instrumented sheep, which had the left lung exposed to smoke. BM 13,177, a thromboxane receptor antagonist, was given intravenously to six animals prior to smoke inhalation and during the experimental period.

Detection of antibodies to Candida albicans germ tube as a possible aid in diagnosing systemic candidiasis in bone marrow transplant patients.

Indirect immunofluorescence assays to detect antibodies to Candida albicans blastospore and germ tube were performed in sera of 29 bone marrow transplant patients. Antibodies to germ tube were present in the sera of six patients, in four of whom a Candida albicans infection was highly probable, while in the other two patients it was not possible to determine the previous course. No healthy blood donors had these antibodies.

Myxoid change in decidualized scar endometriosis mimicking malignancy.

A case of cesarean scar endometriosis with massive decidualization is presented. The 25-year-old patient had an extensive, ulcerated lesion that mimicked malignancy microscopically due to myxoid change with alveolar patterns reminiscent of some soft tissue sarcomas, signet ring-like cells similar to mucin-producing carcinoma, and pseudoinfiltration of the fascia. The myxoid tissue was positive for acid mucopolysaccharides but negative with PAS.