Evaluation of lid speculum with a drape (LiDrape(®)) for preventing surgical-field contamination.

Purpose: To compare the degree of surgical-field contamination in cataract surgeries between a new draping method using a lid speculum with a drape (LiDrape(®)) and a conventional draping method.

Methods: Cataract surgery was performed on 21 eyes using LiDrape(®) (LiDrape(®) group) and on 22 eyes using a conventional draping method (conventional group). Contamination was evaluated by bacterial culture of conjunctival sac scrapings and ocular surface irrigation fluid.

Development of a novel disposable lid speculum with a drape.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical use of a newly-developed disposable lid speculum with a drape.

Methods: LiDrape® is a cylindrical device that consists of two flexible rings of polyacetal resin with a transparent elastic silicone sheet attached to the rings. The novel device holds the eyelids between the rings, and a hole in the center of the device provides a surgical field.

Natural infection of murine norovirus in conventional and specific pathogen-free laboratory mice.

Noroviruses cause most cases of acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide. The lack of a cell culture infection model for human norovirus necessitates the use of molecular methods and/or viral surrogate models amenable to cell culture to predict norovirus inactivation. Murine norovirus (MNV) may be used to construct a small animal model for studying the biology and pathogenesis of noroviruses because MNV is the only norovirus that replicates in cell culture and a small animal model.

Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness changes following optic neuritis caused by multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: To evaluate the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness with scanning laser polarimetry in patients with optic neuritis (ON) caused by multiple sclerosis.

Methods: Peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured with a GDx VCC in 14 eyes of 13 patients with ON (nonrecurrent group), in 18 eyes of 11 patients with recurrent ON (recurrent group), and in 48 eyes of 48 healthy subjects (healthy group). The temporal, superior, nasal, inferior thickness (TSNIT) average, superior average, and inferior average of GDx VCC measurements were compared across the three groups.

Differential expression of bla(SHV) related to susceptibility to ampicillin in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Klebsiella pneumoniae usually shows intrinsic resistance to ampicillin and other beta-lactams. bla(SHV) is thought to be a key beta-lactamase gene responsible for this intrinsic resistance to ampicillin. Nevertheless, surveys of clinical strains reveal that some isolates of K.

Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials in patients with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 uveitis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible injury in the optic pathway by measuring P100 peak latency of pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (PVEPs) in patients with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 uveitis (HU).

Methods: The P100 peak latency of PVEP was measured during the period without macular abnormalities observed by fluorescein angiography in 23 patients (46 eyes) with HU and 24 patients (48 eyes) with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) with a corrected visual acuity of 20/25 or more. To determine the normal upper limit of P100 peak latency, PVEPs were measured in 31 normal subjects (31 eyes).

In vivo antitumor activity of the NF-kappaB inhibitor dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin in a mouse model of adult T-cell leukemia.

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is an aggressive neoplasm caused by human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I). The nuclear transcription factor, NF-kappaB, is induced by HTLV-I and is central to the ensuing neoplasia. To examine the effect of a novel NF-kappaB inhibitor, dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ), on ATL in vivo, we developed an improved severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse model for ATL.

Normal vaginal flora in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): qualitative and quantitative study.

Lactobacilli are the predominant microorganisms in the vaginal flora of human beings, and are known to play an important role in protecting them from genital infections. On the other hand, the composition of the vaginal flora differs among laboratory animal species, and lactobacilli are not the predominant vaginal microorganism in many laboratory animals. We speculated that the vaginal flora of chimpanzees would be more similar to those of human beings than to those of other animal species, because chimpanzees are phylogenetically close to human beings, and their reproductive physiology is similar to that of human beings.

Construction of a full-length human T cell leukemia virus type I genome from MT-2 cells containing multiple defective proviruses using overlapping polymerase chain reaction.

Human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), the etiological agent of adult T cell leukemia, integrates into the host genome as a provirus. Multiple defective copies of the integrated provirus are often present in the host genome. For this reason it is difficult to clone the intact provirus from HTLV-I-infected cells using conventional techniques.

Rapid tumor death model for evaluation of new therapeutic agents for adult T-cell leukemia.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is an aggressive T-cell neoplasm. The health of ATL patients rapidly deteriorates resulting in death; however, the induction of death in a small animal model due to tumor has not yet been reported. SCID mice, 5 weeks old, younger than those previously used, which were inoculated with ATL cells, eliminated NK cell activity and showed rapid tumor formation resulting in death.

Qualitative and quantitative differences in normal vaginal flora of conventionally reared mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits, and dogs.

We examined quantitatively the vaginal flora of conventionally reared mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits and dogs, species that are widely used as laboratory animals. Vaginal specimens were examined according to the method of analyzing intestinal flora (Mitsuoka's procedure). The total number of bacteria (aerobes and anaerobes) and the prevalence of specific bacteria were determined.

Differences between BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice in mouse hepatitis virus replication in primary hepatocyte culture.

We previously showed that an intraperitoneal infection with mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) resulted in acute hepatic failure accompanying extremely elevated viral growth in the liver in interferon-gamma-deficient BALB/c (BALB-GKO), but not C57BL/6 (B6-GKO) mice. To examine the basis of the strain difference against MHV infection in interferon-gamma-deficient mice, viral replication in primary hepatocyte cultures from BALB/c and B6 mice with or without the IFN-gamma gene was compared in vitro. The MHV replication in BALB/c hepatocytes with or without the IFN-gamma gene was significantly higher than that in B6 hepatocytes with or without the IFN-gamma gene, suggesting that there is a strain difference in MHV replication in hepatocytes.

Experimental evaluation of cross-contamination between cryotubes containing mouse 2-cell embryos and murine pathogens in liquid nitrogen tanks.

It has been suspected that embryos stored in liquid nitrogen tanks may become contaminated with murine pathogens, if some pathogens had been introduced to the tanks accidentally. To examine this, we stored tubes containing embryos with tubes containing mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) or Pasteurella pneumotropica in liquid nitrogen tanks and examined whether progeny mice derived from the embryos were contaminated with the pathogens or not. After storing for 6 months or 1 year the frozen embryos were thawed and implanted into the oviducts of pseudopregnant female mice, and the mice were bred in vinyl isolators.

Penetration of drug resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from laboratory animals.

A total of 713 strains of fecal Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolated from laboratory animals in the colonies of 4 research laboratories and 4 commercial breeders in Japan in 1994 were examined in regard to resistance to 8 antibacterial agents. The incidence of resistance to sulfadimethoxine (Su), streptomycin (Sm), ampicillin, cephaloridine, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and gentamicin was 99.

Effect of the intestinal flora on amyloid deposition in a transgenic mouse model of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy.

Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is a hereditary disease characterized by the systemic accumulation of amyloid fibrils. A mutant transthyretin (TTR) gene is mainly responsible for the disease. However, the variable age of onset and low penetrance might be due to environmental factors, one of which is the intestinal flora.

Acute hepatic failure in IFN-gamma-deficient BALB/c mice after murine coronavirus infection.

We previously showed that an intraperitoneal infection with mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) persists in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-deficient C57BL/6 (B6-GKO) mice and results in subacute fatal peritonitis, which bears a resemblance to feline infectious peritonitis. To examine the role of other host factors in MHV infection in mice, IFN-gamma-deficient mice with a BALB/c background (BALB-GKO) were infected intraperitoneally with MHV and compared with B6-GKO mice. In contrast to B6-GKO mice, BALB-GKO mice died within 1 week due to acute hepatic failure.