[Reminiscences on the occasion of the Whipple's disease centenary: a summary paper].

The disease referred to eponymically as Whipple's disease (WD) in medical literature was thoroughly described by the American physician and pathologist George Hoyot Whipple (1878-1976) in 1907 and given a temporary denomination of "intestinal lipodystrophy". According to literature, WD is rare, but its precise incidence has not yet been established. Familial incidence of the disease is acknowledged, and its immunogenetic pathogenesis is assumed.

Histological and ultrastructural changes of cardiomyocytes in experimental rats with tail thrombosis following subplantar application of carrageenin.

Objective: To describe histological and ultrastructural changes of cardiomyocytes in experimental rats following subplantar administration of carrageenin.

Material And Methods: In adult rats, an acute inflammatory reaction was induced by subplantar injection of 0.1 ml of 1% sterile carrageenin solution.

[The subacute angiohypertrophic myelomalacia Foix-Alajouanine--a rare disease?].

The subacute angiohypertrophic myelomalacia Foix-Alajouanine was first described by French authors in 1926 and belongs to the wider category of CNS vascular malformations. Both individual casuistics and larger sets of patients with this disease can be found in literature scarcely. We are presenting three necroptic cases of subacute angiohypertrophic myelomalacia (Foix-Alajouanine) that were mistakenly diagnosed clinically, once as metastatic lesion of spinal canal, once as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and once as inflammatory lesion of spinal cord.

[Diagnosis of lymphoproliferative diseases from bone marrow biopsies].

The cytological, histological and immunophenotypical markers of lymphoproliferative diseases are evaluated in the collection of 950 trepanobiopsies, and correlated with types of extramedullary malignant lymphoma. The diagnostic significance of tumor infiltrates topography and basic rules of the differential diagnoses of malignant lymphomas in the bone marrow biopsies are discussed.

Immunohistochemical study of the apoptotic mechanisms in the intestinal mucosa during children's coeliac disease.

Mechanisms leading to morphological changes of the small intestine during coeliac disease (CD) are not yet completely recognized; however, two main processes have been suggested recently: remodeling of mucosa by matrix metalloproteinases, and mucosal atrophy by apoptosis. The aim of this study was analysis of the expression of proteins regulating apoptosis in the small intestine of children with active CD (ACD) and potential CD (PCD). Jejunal biopsies of 43 children with PCD and untreated ACD and 21 control samples were analyzed by means of standard indirect immunohistochemical technique for Fas, Fas ligand (Fas-L), tissue transglutaminase (tTG), Bcl-2, and glutathione S-transferase (GST) expression.

Heterotopic cardiomyocytes in the wall of pulmonary vessels in experimental animals.

Heterotopic cardiomyocytes (CMC) have been described in the wall of pulmonary veins including intraparenchymatous branches, in various species of laboratory animals. Brief note is given here of their morphology including electron microscopy and immunohistological findings. From the current literature hints concerning arrhythmogenic activity of heterotopic CMC in pulmonary vessels in the possible initiation of atrial tachyarrhythmia and fibrillation are also mentioned.

[Prion diseases. Subacute spongiform encephalopathies in humans and animals (neural "anthropo- and zooprionoses")].

General review concerning current problems of subacute spongiform encephalopathies (Prion-diseases) in humans and in animals. The work is based on the aetiological conception of "Prion" as an allosteric conformational variant of the Prion-protein with autocatalytic "infectious" properties. The therm "Anthropoprionosis" and "Zooprionosis" are recommended by the author for human and animal Prion-diseases.

[Pathology of paraneoplastic syndromes. Review].

A review of current opinion on paraneoplastic syndrome pathology is presented. It is supplemented by a reference to the author's own cases (paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with Purkinje cell lesion and vacuolar spongiform degeneration of the granuloneuronal layer of the cerebellar cortex).

Foreign material as a cause of choledocholithiasis.

Background And Study Aims: There are sporadic reports concerning foreign material as a cause of choledocholithiasis. Gallstones obtained endoscopically from the biliary duct were analyzed to determine their structure and the presence of foreign material. The possible correlation between foreign material in gallstones and clinical data was investigated.

[Dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum (Lhermitte-Duclos)].

In a surgical specimen from a 33-year old woman with features of expansive cerebellar symptomatology, dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum (Lhermitte-Duclos) was diagnosed by histology. The lesion was characterized by typical proliferation of dysplastic neuronal elements in the cortical granular and Purkinje cell layers. Immunohistology showed focal positivity of synaptophysin in some cells, thus confirming their neuronal origin.

Immunoreactivity of new antibodies anti-p53 and anti-MDM-2 in paraffin embedded tissue samples.

Detection of various epitopes of the p53 and MDM-2 proteins, using new antibodies was performed on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples from breast cancer and compared with results obtained using well-characterized antibodies. The results show that the distribution of positive nuclei and intensity of staining varies significantly depending on the antibody used, as well as on the microwaving procedure. Antibodies DO-14, DO-13 and SMP-14 have very good characteristics and are available for immunohistochemical analysis of p53 and MDM-2.

[Malignant B-monocytoid mantle zone lymphoma].

Three cases of B-monocytoid malignant lymphoma were studied by histology, immunohistology and electron microscopy. Two of them were primarily extranodal (in parotid gland and palatine tonsil), the third was in lymph nodes. All tumours were characterized by patients' long survival without signs of generalization.

Expression of estrogen receptors and estrogen-induced proteins in tumors of "hormone non-dependent tissues".

Estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR) and some other estrogen-induced proteins (EIP) were found in the cells of salivary gland carcinomas, thyroid carcinomas, in gliomas and in various farther neoplasms as well as in some normal tissues. The positivity was demonstrated in both females and males. The results indicate that steroid hormones and their receptors could play, both in normal and tumorous tissues, more important biological role than expected so far.

Effect of the new fluorescent brightener Rylux BSU on morphology and biosynthesis of cell walls in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Rylux BSU, a new fluorescent brightener from the family of 4,4'-diaminostilbene-2,2'disulfonic acid derivatives, inhibited growth and cytokinesis of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the presence of 0.1-1 mg/ml Rylux BSU the cells grew in clumps, had irregular shape and were larger than controls.

The fluorescence brightener Rylux BSU induces dimorphism in Basidiobolus ranarum.

The fluorescence brightener Rylux BSU (RBSU) showed an affinity for polysaccharide components of cell walls and accumulated in the extension zones of hyphal apices in Basidiobolus ranarum. It inhibited the polarized growth of mycelial hyphae and induced isotropic growth resulting in spherical thick-walled cells up to 456 microm in diameter. On the inner cell wall surface, massive protuberances were formed.

Selective monocellular necrosis of Hodgkin's/Reed-Sternberg cells and their immunoreactivity to human serum antinuclear antibodies in NS- and MC-types of malignant lymphogranuloma.

The selective (apoptotic) necrosis of Hodgkin's cells in malignant lymphogranuloma appears to be etiologically quite different from focal one due to ischemic-vascular causes. The morphology and supposed etiopathogenesis of this cellular lesion, as well as the karyoclastic process-presumably apoptotic in nature-are briefly described and considered as a mechanism leading to cellular regression with subsequent destructuralization and release of DNA-reactive nucleoprotein material in form of free hematoxylin bodies. An original observation of the immunoreactivity of Hodgkin's cells with antinuclear antibodies of human serum in a case of collagenosis is also described.

"Nude rabbit" with aplasia of B-lymphoid structures.

An original observation of the randombred nude rabbit with aplasia of B-lymphoid structures (absence of the follicles in lymph nodes and spleen, no Peyer's plaques). The thymus gland and the T-dependent structures in the spleen and lymph nodes were-on the contrary-well preserved. The nude skin of this genetic rabbit mutant contained large numbers of hair follicles showing almost intrafollicular retention of hairs with their subsequent dysplasia at the subepidermal and ostiopilar level.

Preliminary experimental experiences with xenotransplantations.

In our xenotransplantation experiments has been a major aim to induce specific tolerance. The results from the meeting of the donor's and the recipient's immunocompetent systems already in the period of embryonic development and/or the influence of methylprednisolone are described.

Experimental nonspecific immunostimulation by the Propionibacterium acnes vaccine.

The immunostimulation effect of the selected Propionibacterium acnes strain 16073 was described. The optimal conditions for the preparation of the P. acnes vaccine and the nonspecific immunostimulation effects of the vaccine on various experimental infections were evaluated.

Demonstration of the nucleolar organizer region by silver staining (AgNOR method) in research and in histopathological practice.

The silver-staining method for the detection of nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) was tested on a large material and the AgNORs evaluated in normal and pathological tissues, especially in various benign and malignant neoplasms. Pathological lesions were represented by dysplasias and in situ carcinoma of the uterine cervix, dysplasias and various histological forms of breast carcinoma, carcinomas of the lung, of urinary bladder, of prostate, various neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract, trophoblastic disease, naevocellular naevi and melanomas of the skin, myeloproliferative diseases and haematological malignancies, and also by several cases of xenotransplanted human neoplasms in athymic nude mice. The AgNORs were evaluated using several procedures.

[Photodynamic therapy of human tumor xenotransplants in athymic nu/nu mice].

The effect of phototherapy on the growth of two human tumors, i.e. carcinoma of the rectum I and III, was studied.

[Fluorescence microscopy detection of mycopathogens using Rylux BSU].

Rylux BSU (Synthesia, Pardubice--Semtín), a derivative of diaminostilbendisulphonic acid, has a good affinity to chitin of fungal cell walls as well as to cellulose of algae. A histologic method using this compound for detection of fungi in dermatology is presented accompanied with results of a quick diagnostic procedure. Pathogenic fungi were stained with a 2 per cent solution of Rylux BSU in phosphate buffer (pH 7.