Publications by authors named "Trifillis A"

Rabbit kidney proximal convoluted tubule (RPCT) and proximal straight tubule (RPST) cells were independently isolated and cultured. The kinetics of the sodium-dependent glucose transport was characterized by determining the uptake of the glucose analog alpha-methylglucopyranoside. Cell culture and assay conditions used in these experiments were based on previous experiments conducted on the renal cell line derived from the whole kidney of the Yorkshire pig (LLC-PK1).

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Eosinophils are inflammatory cells that actively participate in the defense against large, multicellular parasites. Eosinophils are also a prominent component in the inflammatory infiltrates seen in acute allograft rejection. Their role in that process, however, remains obscure.

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The complexity and heterogeneity of the human nephron with regard to cell types make well-defined in vitro systems of renal cells valuable for studies of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in nephrotoxicity. In our laboratory renal proximal tubule cells (PTC) and collecting duct cells (CDC) have been isolated, cultured and characterized from cadaver kidneys (postmortem time <24 h) for use in studies of renal cytotoxicity induced by therapeutics and bacteria. PTC seeded at 10(6) cells/ml formed confluent monolayers within 7 days.

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CT scans of eight nonsmoking patients with chronic sinusitis and two controls were graded for their disease severity (from 0 to IV) with the classification system proposed by May. Subsequently, endoscopically harvested middle turbinate specimens from these patients (16 diseased turbinates, 4 controls) were evaluated both by scanning and by transmission electron microscopy. As the severity of the disease increased as demonstrated by CT scan, electron microscopy of 5 x 3 x 0.

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Interstitial cystitis is a chronic bladder disease with certain features that suggest autoimmunity may play a role in initiating or maintaining the disease process. We therefore determined whether immunoglobulin fractions from 14 IC patient and 19 control urine specimens bound in vitro to primary cultures of human bladder epithelial cells, as well as epithelial cells from a variety of other tissues. Urine autoantibodies that bound to normal human bladder epithelial cells were present in 8 of 14 IC specimens (from 6 of 9 IC patients) as compared to 3 of 23 control specimens (from 2 of 17 control patients).

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To examine the role of flagella in pathogenesis of urinary tract infection caused by Proteus mirabilis, we constructed a nonmotile, nonswarming flagellum mutant of strain WPM111 (an hpmA hemolysin mutant of strain BA6163, chosen because of its lack of in vitro cytotoxicity in renal epithelial cell internalization studies). A nonpolar mutation was introduced into the flaD gene, which encodes the flagellar cap protein. This mutation does not affect the synthesis of flagellin but rather prevents the assembly of an intact flagellar filament.

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Purpose: Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic bladder disease of unknown etiology. We sought to determine whether a cytotoxin is present in the urine of IC patients that could cause the epithelial damage seen in this disease.

Materials And Methods: Evidence for a cytotoxin was sought using both a neutral red uptake viability assay in T24 bladder epithelial cells, and a 3H-thymidine incorporation assay in primary normal adult bladder epithelial cells and FHS 738 Bl human fetal bladder cells.

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Objectives: In earlier experiments, we confirmed epidemiologic studies demonstrating the prominence in acute pyelonephritis of Escherichia coli expressing P fimbriae and hemolysin, produced the disease with pyelonephritogenic strains in an animal model, and developed in vitro assays using human renal proximal tubular cells that demonstrated bacterial adherence by P fimbriae and killing of the renal cells by hemolysin. In the present series of experiments, we sought to determine whether P-fimbriated hemolytic E coli killed human renal proximal tubular epithelial cells obtained from different human donors.

Methods: Human renal proximal tubular cells, putative target cells for bacteria causing acute pyelonephritis, were cultured from 9 donors and cell death was measured by two methods.

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Objectives: Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the bladder of unknown etiology. We tested the hypothesis that a microorganism would be found at higher prevalence in urine or bladder tissue from women with IC than from control women.

Methods: Urine and bladder tissue were obtained at cystoscopy from 11 IC patients and 7 control subjects.

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Serum from injured automobile and motorcycle drivers treated at a trauma center was tested for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol activity to determine precrash marijuana use. From June 1990 to March 1991, samples from approximately 20 automobile drivers per month and all motorcycle drivers were available for testing. Also, toxicology screens were performed for ethyl alcohol, cocaine, and phencyclidine (PCP) among the driver groups.

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Interstitial cystitis is a chronic disease of unknown etiology characterized by bladder pain and urinary frequency and urgency. The epithelium may be critical in its pathogenesis; the hallmarks of the disease are visible epithelial defects (Hunner's ulcers and epithelial ruptures). Areas denuded of epithelium are commonly seen, and defects in epithelial permeability are characteristic.

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Acute pyelonephritis is a common invasive infection frequently caused by E. coli that possess P-fimbriae and secrete hemolysin. We have examined the role of P fimbriae and hemolysin in the killing of putative target cells of acute pyelonephritis, that is, human renal epithelial cells (HRPTEC).

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FK506 has been used as the primary immunosuppressive agent administered after a variety of organ transplants, with less reported nephrotoxicity than that of cyclosporine. This study examined in vitro cytotoxicity of FK506 on normal human renal proximal tubule cells. Cytotoxicity was assessed by neutral red inclusion and trypan blue exclusion; morphology was assessed by light and transmission electron microscopy.

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Proteus mirabilis, a common agent of bacteriuria in humans, causes acute pyelonephritis and bacteremia. Renal epithelium provides a barrier between luminal organisms and the renal interstitium. We have hypothesized that P.

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A gentamicin survival assay, using primary human renal epithelial cells and Escherichia coli strains isolated from the feces of asymptomatic individuals and from the urine or blood of patients with acute pyelonephritis, was used to investigate bacterial internalization as a model for renal parenchymal invasion in pyelonephritis. E. coli strains, regardless of their origin, efficiently entered into human renal epithelial cells, a process inhibited by cytochalasin D.

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Foscarnet is an antiviral agent used for the treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis and acyclovir-resistant herpes simplex virus infections in AIDS patients. Renal impairment has been reported for many patients treated with foscarnet. We have studied the effects of foscarnet on the viability (estimated by neutral red inclusion) and ultrastructure of cultures of human renal proximal tubule cells (HRPTC) isolated from the kidneys of five cadavers and cultured.

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The beta-lyase pathway has been shown to mediate the nephrotoxicity of S-cysteine conjugates of a variety of haloalkenes in a number of animal models in vitro and in vivo. However, there is no information available concerning this mechanism of bioactivation in human tissues. In this investigation a well-characterized model of human proximal tubule epithelial cells, the presumed target cell, was used to investigate the toxicity of a series of glutathione and cysteine conjugates of nephrotoxic haloalkenes.

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Acute pyelonephritis, a complication of Escherichia coli bacteriuria, must represent a bacterial invasion through the kidney epithelium. To study this process, we overlaid bacterial suspensions onto monolayers of cultured human kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells and measured cytotoxicity by release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Thirty-four isolates cultured from patients with acute pyelonephritis were screened for the ability to cause pyelonephritis in CBA mice by transurethral challenge.

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We have developed an in vitro model of human papillary collecting duct cells isolated from cadaver kidneys using methods similar to those we previously reported for the isolation of human proximal tubule cells. To date we have isolated papillary collecting duct cells from 100 normal human kidneys. Papillae were dissected and digested in Cellgro containing 400 U/ml collagenase.

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Gentamicin treatment results in significant changes in lysosomal morphology and enzyme activity in renal tubular epithelium both in vivo and in vitro. In this study, cultured human proximal tubular cells (PTC) were treated with gentamicin (0, 0.01, 0.

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Marijuana use prior to injury was determined prospectively in 1023 patients injured as the result of vehicular (67.6%) and nonvehicular (32.4%) trauma.

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