Adenine nucleotide degradation in ischemic rabbit lung tissue.

The aim of the study was to determine the pathways and site of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) catabolism during lung ischemia, which thus far are largely unknown. For this purpose we used the isolated rabbit lung. Rabbit lungs were flushed in situ with a modified Krebs-Henseleit solution (60 ml/kg), the deflated heart lung blocks were isolated, immersed in saline solution, and stored at 37 degrees C.

Interleukin-1 beta induces synthesis and secretion of interleukin-6 in human chondrocytes.

Increased concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been found in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and crystal-related joint diseases. It is therefore of great interest to identify the cells responsible for the production of IL-6, and to investigate whether IL-6 plays a role in the pathogenesis of degenerative or inflammatory joint diseases. Here we show that human interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) induces IL-6 synthesis and secretion in differentiated human chondrocytes.

Ochronosis and alkaptonuria: report of a new case with calcified aortic valve stenosis.

A patient with calcified aortic valve disease secondary to ochronosis and alkaptonuria is presented. Urgent aortic valve replacement was necessary. The cardiovascular complications of this disease are reviewed.

Influence of practice on the biochemical analysis of steroid receptors in human breast cancer.

The value of experience and practice in the routine biochemical analysis of steroid receptors was studied in 2576 different primary breast cancer specimens over five consecutive years. The positivity rate (beyond 3 fm/protein) and the measured concentrations of the steroid receptors increase. The positivity rate and average steroid receptor concentration of the samples immediately frozen is significantly higher compared to the overall sample population.

Computed tomography and lymphography in the presurgical staging of early carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The value of bipedal lymphography and computed tomography (CT) in the presurgical staging of early carcinoma of the uterine cervix was analysed in 62 patients by histologic examination of pelvic lymph nodes and parametrial extension at the time of surgery. Macroscopic invasion of the lymph nodes was detected in 33% of the patients by CT and in 17% by lymphography. Microscopic invasion was suspected in 9% by CT scan and in 38% by lymphography.

High-resolution real-time sonography of the adrenal glands: a routine examination?

The feasibility of imaging the adrenal glands during routine upper abdominal examinations was studied for 100 consecutive patients, 47 males and 53 females. The mean patient age was 46 years and the mean weight 63 kg. The suprarenal areas were scanned in a slightly oblique frontal plane through the intercostal spaces with the patient recumbent.

"Skip areas" in hepatic steatosis: a sonographic-angiographic study.

"Skip areas" in focal steatosis describes a newly proposed "subsegmental type" of focal steatosis, which differs in both extent and topography from the more classic "lobar or segmental type" of focal steatosis. In the subsegmental type of steatosis, fatty infiltration can be considered homogeneous throughout the liver, with the exception of small flattened portions of less affected parenchyma, called "skip areas." These regions are mainly located in the subcapsular areas or along the interlobar fissures or the gallbladder bed.

Sclerosing peritonitis with mural bowel fibrosis in a patient on long-term CAPD.

A 66 year old white woman developed an incomplete small-bowel obstruction after 3 years of CAPD with lactate containing solutions. There were six episodes of peritonitis. The bowel obstruction was not due to a "sclerosing obstructive" (encapsulating) peritonitis but to a diffuse sclerosis of the serosal membranes extending into the muscle layers of the small and large bowels ("mural fibrosis").

Effects of cortisol on tRNA methylase activities in rat mammary carcinoma.

Mammary carcinomas induced in rats by DMBA were divided into three types: I, hard proliferating tumors; II, tumors presenting from an early stage the first signs of cystic degeneration; III, lactating tumors. In all three types, cortisol reduced the protein content by 26%-30%. The already high tRNA methyltransferase activity in type I increased by 200% after cortisol treatment.

Effects of ionizing irradiation on the estradiol and progesterone receptors in rat mammary tumors.

The determination of estradiol and progesterone receptor concentrations in mammary tumors is useful in predicting the hormone responsiveness. As this assay is carried out on tumor tissue which may have been subjected to radiotherapy, the possibility of an ionizing irradiation affecting the steroid receptor levels in neoplastic tissue should be taken into account. The steroid receptor concentrations are examined in dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced tumors of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Cardiovascular malformations in DiGeorge syndrome (congenital absence of hypoplasia of the thymus).

Partial or complete absence of the thymus (DiGeorge syndrome, III-IV pharyngeal pouch syndrome) is often associated with agenesis or hypoplasia of the parathyroid glands and, almost invariably, with cardiovascular malformations. The clinical and pathologcial findings in 10 cases proven at necropsy are presented. All patients presented with cardiac symptoms and signs in the first weeks of life and, with one exception, all died of a cardiac cause.