The present and future of poison control center in Taiwan.

The PCC-Taiwan was founded in July 1985 under the auspices of the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, and the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Republic of China. It has served a population of 21 million inhabitants on a 24-hours basis. It has also served as a referral center for treating poisoning cases nationwide, a training center for physicians and consultants, and a center for Analytical Toxicology.

Genomic variations of hepatitis B virus strains in patients chronically coinfected with hepatitis B and human immunodeficiency viruses.

Serum samples from 56 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected adult men were analysed for the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers. Two or more samples from each patient, collected over an interval of 1-6 years, were tested. The antibody against HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) prevalence was 79%.

Insulin secretion impairment and insulin sensitivity improvement in adult rats undernourished during early lactation.

In order to study the effect of undernutrition on the onset of disturbances in insulin secretion and insulin resistance, we compared the effects of a low protein diet containing 4% of protein (LPD) and a normal diet containing 25% of protein (NPD) supplied to the dams during the first 10 days of lactation when the pups turn into adults (90 days). We studies, in these rats, the insulin secretion, the glucose tolerance test (GTT) and, using the glucose clamp technique, the insulin resistance. The GTT showed a delay of the response of LPD group to the glucose challenge (1 mg/kg body weight) at 10 minutes (NPD = 450 +/- 27 mg/dl; LPD = 650 +/- 32 mg/dl, p < 0.

Keratinolytic activity of Aspergillus fumigatus fresenius.

Aspergillus fumigatus can utilize chicken feather keratin as its sole carbon and nitrogen source. Because enzymatic conversion of native keratin into readily usable products is of economic interest, this fungus was studied for its capacity to produce and secrete keratin-hydrolyzing proteinases. Substantial keratin-azure hydrolyzing activity was present in the culture fluid of keratin-containing media.

[Effects of age, sex and coronary heart disease on the autonomic modulation of the heart].

Purpose: To establish the influence of age, sex and the presence of coronary heart disease on heart rate variability.

Methods: The heart rate variability was studied in the time and frequency domain in 77 normal (group I) and 30 coronary heart disease patients (group II). The ECG was recorded during 300 seconds with the patients breathing at their spontaneous rate and at a rate between 10 and 15/ minutes (0.

Tryptophan hydroxylase: purification by affinity chromatography on calmodulin-sepharose.

Tryptophan hydroxylase (EC 1.14.16.

Tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis in C6 glioma cells: induction of GTP cyclohydrolase I gene expression by lipopolysaccharide and cytokine treatment.

The possibility that 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) biosynthesis is stimulated in glial cells by treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) was examined in the astrocyte-derived C6 glioma cell line. Under basal culture conditions BH4 levels were found to be at the limit of detection. Concurrent treatment with 10 micrograms/ml LPS and 50 ng/ml TNF-alpha caused a time-dependent 13-fold increase in the levels of BH4.

Expression and deletion mutagenesis of tryptophan hydroxylase fusion proteins: delineation of the enzyme catalytic core.

cDNAs encoding the full-length sequence for tryptophan hydroxylase, and deletion mutants consisting of the regulatory (amino acids 1-98) or catalytic (amino acids 99-444) domains of the enzyme, were cloned and expressed as glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins in E. coli. The recombinant fusion proteins could be purified to near homogeneity within minutes by affinity chromatography on glutathione-agarose.

Tryptophan hydroxylase: cloning and expression of the rat brain enzyme in mammalian cells.

A cDNA encoding full-length tryptophan hydroxylase was produced by reverse transcriptase-PCR from rat brain mRNA and expressed transiently in a human fibroblast cell line. Catalytic activity was low unless transfected cells were grown in the presence of FeSO4. Recombinant tryptophan hydroxylase was found almost exclusively within the soluble compartment of the cell and was dependent on tryptophan and tetrahydrobiopterin for activity.

Serotype 2-specific antigens from ruminant strains of Chlamydia pecorum detected by monoclonal antibodies.

A panel of 25 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) selected from seven different cellular fusions was used to study the antigenic relationships among a group of 18 ruminant serotype 2 strains of Chlamydia pecorum by indirect microimmunofluorescence test. The antigenic relationships between the strains of C. psittaci serotype 1 and strains of serotype 2 C.

[The major outer-membrane protein of Chlamydia: structure and functions].

This review presents the structure of the major outer-membrane protein of Chlamydia and its functions at different levels of the developmental cycle of Chlamydia. The antigenicity and the immunogenicity of the protein, which made this antigen essential for the establishment of a protective immunity, are also presented.

Taiwan National Poison Center: epidemiologic data 1985-1993.

Unlabelled: The Taiwan National Poison Center has received more than 30,000 telephone calls since its establishment in July 1985.

Objective: To obtain more information about poisoning exposures in Taiwan, a retrospective analysis was conducted of all telephone calls to the center concerning human poisoning exposures July 1985 through December 1993.

Methods: The following data were tabulated: age, sex, intent of exposure, route of exposure, substances ingested and clinical severity.

[HIV/AIDS infection. The Brazilian view. AIDS in Brazil].

The Ministry of Health coordinates and orients in Brazil all the activities concerning the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome which is officially designated as AIDS. The first AIDS' case registered in Brazil was, by retrospective diagnosis, in 1981 but it was in 1982 that the first two diagnosis in live patients were made. The incidence is very high in this country that is among the ones where the higher number of cases are being registered.

An oligomer of the major outer membrane protein of Chlamydia psittaci is recognized by monoclonal antibodies which protect mice from abortion.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were generated against an ovine abortive strain of Chlamydia psittaci. A plaque reduction assay was used to select 19 neutralizing antibodies which appeared to be heterogeneous in isotype, specificity, and recognized proteins. Different neutralizing MAbs were tested for their protective abilities against abortion in a pregnant-mouse model.

Neurokinin-3 receptors modulate dopamine cell function and alter the effects of 6-hydroxydopamine.

Neurokinin-3 receptor expression within rat midbrain dopamine neurons was demonstrated using a combination of in situ hybridization and receptor autoradiographic techniques. Continuous intranigral infusion of the neurokinin-3 receptor agonist senktide selectively increased striatal dopamine metabolism over a period of several days, followed by apparent development of tolerance. In contrast, in animals with moderate unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine-induced lesions of nigrostriatal dopamine cells, intranigral senktide infusion increased dopamine turnover in the surviving dopamine neurons and reduced functional dopamine asymmetry (reflected by spontaneous rotations) over the 2-week period tested.

Identification of vascular sphincters at the junction between alveolar capillaries and pulmonary venules of the mouse lung.

Background: A peculiar feature of lung circulation in the lung is the pronounced variations in blood volume observed in alveolar capillaries that occur because of the changes in the conformation of the alveolar wall that are associated with the respiratory movements. This phenomenon has led to the postulate that mechanisms of postcapillary control of blood flow are to be present in the lung vessels. In the present study we searched for microanatomical evidence of vascular sphincters in the deep lung tissue of mice, namely in alveolar capillaries and pulmonary veins.

Characterization of a Trypanosoma cruzi poly(A)-binding protein and its genes.

We have characterized the biochemical properties of a 66-kDa poly(A)-binding protein (PABP1) in the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and isolated two classes of cDNAs encoding the protein. In concordance, Southern blots showed the presence of 2 gene copies. The two cDNA classes differ in the length of adenosine-rich segments in the 5' untranslated region and in point changes scattered throughout the sequence, but their 1650-bp open reading frames encode identical proteins.

Identification of subspecies- and serotype 1-specific epitopes on the 80- to 90-kilodalton protein region of Chlamydia psittaci that may be useful for diagnosis of chlamydial induced abortion.

Genus-, subspecies-, and serotype 1-specific antigens of Chlamydia psittaci were characterized by immunoblot analysis, using monoclonal antibodies that recognize 2 C psittaci strains: AB7 isolated from an ewe that had aborted, and iB1 isolated from feces of a healthy ewe. Genus-specific epitopes were detected on lipopolysaccharide, on a 47-kd protein, and on a 27- to 30-kd doublet. Subspecies-specific epitopes were located on a 30-kd protein, and a 80- to 90-kd protein region was identified, which bore subspecies- and serotype 1-specific epitopes.

Neoformation of blood vessels in association with rat lung fibrosis induced by bleomycin.

We have used intratracheal instillation of bleomycin in rats to study the microanatomical changes of blood vessels associated with lung fibrosis. Bleomycin is a toxic cytostatic drug employed in classical models of lung fibrosis. Wistar rats were submitted to intratracheal injection of 1.

Anatomy of Clara cell secretion: surface changes observed by scanning electron microscopy.

The microanatomical alterations of the surface of lung Clara cells were studied during secretion. Stimulation of Clara cells was induced in rats by chronic inflammation caused by a single intratracheal instillation of bleomycin performed 2.5 months before the animals were killed.

Metacyclogenesis of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in vitro: evidence that lentil lectin is a marker of complement resistance and enhanced infectivity.

Axenic culture in modified Grace's medium was used to induce metacyclogenesis of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in vitro. Morphological characteristics, lectin agglutination profiles, susceptibility to complement lysis, and infectivity in vivo were compared between metacyclic promastigotes and promastigotes in mid-log phase growth. Short, arrow-like promastigotes and round, oval promastigotes were defined as putative metacyclic forms on the basis of being highly motile and free swimming, with a small cell body and long flagellum.

Scanning electron microscopy of the deep lymphatic network of the murine lung as viewed in corrosion casts.

The lymphatic microvessels of the deep lung tissue were studied in corrosion casts, which were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after injection of a methacrylate resin (Mercox) through the trachea of CD-1 mice. We found that the deep lymphatics of the murine lung were composed of two interconnecting networks: a poorly developed capillary system located at the interacinar region, and a rich plexiform complex surrounding the bronchus. Lymphatic capillaries did not penetrate the alveolar area, thus leaving most of the lung parenchyma devoid of direct access to lymphatic drainage.