Stapediovestibular ankylosis in an HIV/HCV-copositive patient.

To the best of the author's knowledge, no case of a patient with stapediovestibular ankylosis who was also coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been previously described in the literature. This report describes the case of a 36-year-old woman who was diagnosed with all three conditions. The clinical diagnosis of stapes fixation was based on otoscopic, audiometric, tympanometric, and surgical findings.

Presenting HINT results graphically.

A special supplement of this journal examines the development and applications of the hearing in noise test (HINT). Currently there is no specific manner to plot HINT results, and the specialized software uses a threshold graph with norms or percentiles. We propose a modified radar plot to present HINT data.

Sofia profile plot: a new graphical approach to present the changes of hearing thresholds with time.

After pure-tone audiometry, we have several sequences of threshold values. Usually, a multiple-line plot is used to present and compare data between measurements by overlaying them in a single graph. Calculation of air-bone gap and pure-tone average is widely accepted as an approach to simplify statistical handling of these data.

Antimeasles immunoglobulin G and virus-neutralizing activity in sera of patients with otosclerosis.

Otosclerosis is considered as an organ-specific measles virus (MV)-induced disease. The majority of people are infected with MV during childhood, and the immune activation is characterized by a lifelong persistence. Any kind of depressed systemic antimeasles reaction can lead to induction of a local immune response in the inner ear.

Antibodies against granulosa luteinized cells and their targets in women attending IVF program.

Problem: The study was conducted to investigate the presence and the possible role of anti-granulosa luteinized cells (GLCs) antibodies in infertile patients, attending in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, as well as to attempt the identification of putative target antigens.

Method Of Study: A total of 101 sera from infertile women (patient group) and 33 sera from fertile women (control group) were investigated. The patients were divided in subgroups according to: ovarian response to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COHS)--poor responders and good responders; fertilization rate--low fertilization rate and high fertilization rate.

Decreased measles virus-neutralizing activity in sera from otosclerotic patients.

Hypothesis: Any kind of depressed systemic anti-measles reaction can lead to the induction of a local immune response in the inner ear and possibly to reactivation of bone turnover in this region.

Methods: Different dilutions of sera were tested for neutralizing activity against a constant viral concentration. The ability of measles virus to infect and replicate in the cell monolayer was detected by enumeration of living and growing cells with a colored reaction.

Otosclerosis is a conformational disease.

The otosclerotic focus is a result of the normal process of bone remodelling in the otic capsule - a place where there is little if any bone remodelling. There is still no single accepted theory for the pathogenesis of otosclerosis. Sources we used were relevant clinical and basic science publications from 1973 to 2001.

Aging and synaptic changes in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus of the rat.

The age-related differences in the synapses of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) were studied with transmission electron microscopy in young (3-month-old) and senescent (25-month-old) Wistar rats. The changes in the axodendritic (ADS) and axospinous (ASS) synapses in the PVN neuropil were determined by morphometry. The majority of synapses were of the ADS type.

Antimeasles immunoglobulin G in sera of patients with otosclerosis is lower than that in healthy people.

Background: There is some evidence for an inflammatory process as a driving force in otosclerosis. Two popular hypotheses for the induction of this chronic inflammation have been proposed: an autoimmune phenomenon induced by an otic capsule specific antigen and measles virus infection.

Methods: Antibodies against measles virus hemagglutinin, polymerase, nucleocapsid, and matrix proteins were evaluated in sera from otosclerotic patients and in sera from healthy age-and sex-matched controls by use of the Western blot analyses.

Age-related changes in the synapses of the rat's neostriatum.

By means of transmission electron microscopy, the age-related changes in axospinous (ASS) and axodendritic (ADS) synapses in the dorsal part of the rostral neostriatum in two groups of Wistar rats: young (3-month-old), and senescent (25-month-old) were examined. The changes in different parameters, characterizing the ASS and ADS: synaptic density (SD), number of synaptic vesicles (SV), number of synaptic contact zone (SCZ), and number of dendritic spines, bearing synapses (DS) were investigated morphometrically. The SD of the ASS decreased significantly during aging, but the SD of the ADS did not changed significantly.

Age-related changes in the NADPH-diaphorase-positive dendrites in the dorsolateral neuronal column of the periaqueductal gray in rat.

The effects of age on the dendritic tree of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d)-positive neurons in the dorsolateral neuronal column of the periaqueductal gray (DLPAG) in the rat were examined, using NADPH-d histochemistry and computer-assisted analysis. In 26-month-old rats some of the neurons exhibited considerably branched dendrites, while others show amputation stumps, or local swellings in the initial dendritic portion. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that the number of dendritic segments in DLPAG increased with advancing age.

Age-related changes in the NADPH-diaphorase-positive neuronal perikarya of the dorsolateral column of the periaqueductal gray in the rat.

The distribution of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) positive neuronal perikarya in the rostral, middle and caudal parts of the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (DLPAG) in 3-, 12- and 26-month-old rats was compared by means of histochemistry and computer assisted image analysis. The total number, the maximum diameter, the cross-sectional area and the optical density (OD) of the NADPH-d positive neurons were analyzed. The results demonstrate that there are no significant differences in any of the investigated parameters between the left and the right parts of the same age and of the same level.

Elevated autoantibodies in sera from otosclerotic patients are related to the disease duration.

In this study an indirect ELISA with patients' sera was performed using human collagen type II, double- (dsDNA) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), thyroid microsomal antigen, insulin and lysozyme as antigens. Since many preoperated otosclerotic patients demonstrated the signs of myringosclerosis (n=7). they were classified separately and compared with otosclerotic patients without myringosclerosis (n=28), with healthy controls (n=42) and with patients with tympanosclerosis (n=5) of other origin.

Aging and the dendritic morphology of the rat laterodorsal and pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei.

The morphological appearance and quantitative parameters characterizing the dendrites of NADPH-diaphorase-stained neurons in the laterodorsal (LDT) and pedunculopontine (PPN) tegmental nuclei of 3-, 12- and 26-month-old rats were studied. All dendritic segments were classified according to the number of terminal and link segments they drain and the vertex analysis was used to quantify the dendritic tree and to determine its configuration. Morphological aberrations of the dendrites as local swelling, nodulation, thinning, shrinkage, folding and even the appearance of stumps were observed with advancing age.

Changes in NADPH-diaphorase neurons of the rat laterodorsal and pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei in aging.

The aim of the present study was to compare the morphological pattern and the quantitative parameters of nitric oxide (NO)-containing neurons in the laterodorsal (LTD) and pedunculopontine (PPN) tegmental nuclei of 3-, 12- and 26-month-old rats. NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemical reaction, as a marker of the cholinergic neurons in the two mesopontine nuclei, and computer-assisted image analysis were used. The relationships between the neurons stained for NADPH-d and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) were examined using a double-labelling procedure.

Age-related changes in basic fibroblast growth factor-immunoreactive cells of rat substantia nigra.

Immunohistochemistry and computer-assisted image analysis were used to examine the age-related changes in bFGF-immunoreactivity in rat substantia nigra (SN). Distribution pattern, number, size and staining intensity of bFGF-immunoreactive (bFGF-ir) cells in pars compacta and pars reticulata of 3-, 12- and 26-month-old rats were compared. The overall distribution of bFGF-immunoreactivity was similar in the three age groups, but changes in the morphological appearance of bFGF-ir somata and processes occurred in aging.

Conformation-sensitive immunoassay: optimisation, validation and evaluation.

A conformation-sensitive immunoassay (CSI) has recently been developed (Pfund and Bourdage, 1990). This paper describes the optimal laboratory protocol which makes this method useful as an early screening procedure for conformation-sensitive monoclonal antibodies. The method was validated with a panel of 12 monoclonal antibodies.

An express immunological method for detection of human seminal plasma.

Monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) against human seminal plasma (HSP) were produced and during screening procedures dissociation constants of the antigen/antibody complexes were determined. Mab 1E5 was selected for further studies because of its high reactivity in an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and high affinity for its corresponding antigen. The specificity of Mab 1E5 was checked in absorption ELISA with human organ extracts and some biological secretions.

Generation of monoclonal anti-digoxin antibodies.

Anti-digoxin monoclonal antibodies are a useful model for basic immunochemical studies, for investigation of endogenous digoxin-like substances and in immunoassay for cardiac glycosides. The complete phenotypic characterization is a requisite for the selection of antibodies with desired binding parameters for different purposes. Twenty-two high-affinity monoclonal antibodies specific for digoxin were obtained in two fusion experiments.