Activities of LL-37, a cathelin-associated antimicrobial peptide of human neutrophils.

Human neutrophils contain two structurally distinct types of antimicrobial peptides, beta-sheet defensins (HNP-1 to HNP-4) and the alpha-helical peptide LL-37. We used radial diffusion assays and an improved National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards-type broth microdilution assay to compare the antimicrobial properties of LL-37, HNP-1, and protegrin (PG-1). Although generally less potent than PG-1, LL-37 showed considerable activity (MIC, <10 microgram/ml) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, even in media that contained 100 mM NaCl.

Seizure activity induces PIM-1 expression in brain.

We recently identified KID-1, a previously undescribed protein kinase induced by depolarization in PC12 cells and brain (Feldman et al., 1998). KID-1 shares a high degree of sequence homology with PIM-1, a proto-oncogene previously reported to be expressed in hematopoietic and germ cells.

Reversal of cerebral vasospasm using an intrathecally administered nitric oxide donor.

Object: Intrathecal bolus administration of (Z)-1-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-N-(2-ammonioethyl)aminio]diazen++ +-1-ium-1,2-diolate (DETA/NO), a long half-life diazeniumdiolate-class nitric oxide (NO) donor, was evaluated for safety and efficacy in the treatment of delayed cerebral vasospasm in a canine model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Methods: The baseline basilar artery (BA) diameter of 25 dogs was measured with the aid of angiography on Day 0. Vasospasm was then induced by intracisternal injection of autologous arterial blood on Days 0 and 2.

Thoracic outlet neurovascular compression: approaches to anatomic decompression and their limitations.

Surgical management of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) has evolved to include multiple approaches for anatomic decompression. The relevant anatomy and review of different operative approaches are presented. The supraclavicular and transaxillary approaches are the most commonly used, and each has relative advantages.

Waking and sleeping temporalis EMG levels in tension-type headache patients.

Temporalis muscle activity in tension-type headache subjects (n = 36) and in matched nonheadache controls (n = 36) was evaluated in this study. Subjects' cumulative temporalis muscle activity was recorded every 30 minutes for 3 days and night using an electromyographic recorder. Analysis of variance showed that neither the waking nor the sleeping overall muscle activity levels for these two groups were statistically different.

Diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Diagnostic evaluation in the patient with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) includes a clear correlation between clinical probability, test selection and test interpretation. Real-time B-mode ultrasound with color Doppler remains the imaging technique of choice in suspected DVT. The ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scan is the preferred diagnostic modality in suspected PE.

Conformational changes couple Na+ and glucose transport.

The mechanism by which cotransport proteins couple their substrates across cell membranes is not known. A commonly proposed model is that cotransport results from ligand-induced conformational transitions that change the accessibility of ligand-binding sites from one side of the membrane to the other. To test this model, we have measured the accessibility of covalent probes to a cysteine residue (Q457C) placed in the putative sugar-translocation domain of the Na+/glucose cotransporter (SGLT1).

KID-1, a protein kinase induced by depolarization in brain.

Membrane depolarization leads to changes in gene expression that modulate neuronal plasticity. Using representational difference analysis, we have identified a previously undiscovered cDNA, KID-1 (kinase induced by depolarization), that is induced by membrane depolarization or forskolin, but not by neurotrophins or growth factors, in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. KID-1 is an immediate early gene that shares a high degree of sequence similarity with the family of PIM-1 serine/threonine protein kinases.

CD8-positive mantle cell lymphoma: a report of two cases.

Two cases of mantle cell lymphoma with a unique CD8+ phenotype are reported. Both patients had disease that was resistant to therapy; one patient had the blastic variant of mantle cell lymphoma. Flow cytometric analysis of bone marrow and cerebrospinal fluid samples revealed a phenotype consistent with mantle cell lymphoma, with the additional finding of CD8 positivity in 40% or more of the tumor cells in both cases.

Cerebral gangliogliomas: preoperative grading using FDG-PET and 201Tl-SPECT.

Purpose: To date there have been only scattered case reports comparing the nuclear medicine characteristics of gangliogliomas with their histologic grade. We sought to determine the relative usefulness of nuclear medicine scanning, CT, and MR imaging in predicting the histologic grade of these tumors.

Methods: Eleven cases of pathologically proved ganglioglioma were analyzed retrospectively.

Recent progress in the cellular and molecular biology of prostaglandin synthesis.

The discovery of an inducible form of prostaglandin synthase initiated a reexamination of the biochemical pathways for ligand-induced prostaglandin synthesis. As a result, new pharmaceutical agents with potential activity against pain, fever, chronic and acute inflammation, cardiovascular disorders, and colon cancer have been developed and are currently under intense investigation. Careful biochemical and pharmacologic studies of the differences between the constitutive and inducible prostaglandin synthase enzymes have suggested a previously unexpected mechanism for some of the therapeutic effects of aspirin.

Alterations in fascin-expressing germinal center dendritic cells in neoplastic follicles of B-cell lymphomas.

Germinal center dendritic cells (GCDCs) have essential functions in retention of immune complexes within secondary follicles, B-lymphocyte antigenic stimulation, B-cell activation, homing of B-cells via adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, and B-cell survival via apoptosis. The neoplastic cells of follicular lymphomas (FLs) are thought to derive from follicular B lymphocytes, but their relationship to GCDCs remains unclear. This study used immunohistochemical staining for fascin, a 55-kDa actin-bundling protein strongly expressed in GCDCs and their processes, to evaluate their distribution in neoplastic follicles.

Simultaneous measurement of free thyroxine and free 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine in undiluted serum by direct equilibrium dialysis/radioimmunoassay: evidence that free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine are normal in many patients with the low triiodothyronine syndrome.

Unlabelled: We have devised a practical, sensitive and specific method for simultaneous measurement of free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) in undiluted serum by direct equilibrium dialysis radioimmunoassay (RIA). Two hundred microliters serum sample was dialyzed against buffer (pH 7.4) for 20 hours at 37 degrees C and approximately 800 microL of the dialysate was used for measuring FT4 and FT3 simultaneously.

Relationships between Na+/glucose cotransporter (SGLT1) currents and fluxes.

The relationships between currents generated by the rabbit Na+/glucose cotransporter (SGLT1) and the fluxes of Na+ and sugar were investigated using Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing SGLT1. In individual voltage-clamped oocytes we measured: (i) the current evoked by 10 mM alpha MG and the 22Na+ uptake at 10 mM Na+; (ii) the currents evoked by 50 to 500 microM [14C]alpha MG and the [14C]alpha MG uptakes at 100 mM Na+; and (iii) phlorizin-sensitive leak currents in the absence of sugar and 22Na+ uptakes at 10 mM Na+. We demonstrate that the SGLT1 leak currents are Na+ currents, and that the sugar-evoked currents are directly proportional to both alpha MG and Na+ uptakes.

Dialysis access graft thrombolysis: randomized study of pulse-spray versus continuous urokinase infusion.

Purpose: To compare pulse-spray to continuous-infusion thrombolysis with high-dose urokinase in thrombosed dialysis access grafts.

Methods: A prospective randomized controlled trial was performed. From August 1992 to September 1993, 30 thrombosed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts in 24 patients were included, 15 grafts in each group.

Randomized comparison of sulbactam/cefoperazone with imipenem as empirical monotherapy for febrile granulocytopenic patients.

In a prospective, randomized, controlled trial, we compared sulbactam/cefoperazone with imipenem as empirical monotherapy for febrile, granulocytopenic patients; 101 patients received sulbactam/cefoperazone (2 g/4 g every 12 hours) and 102 patients received imipenem (500 mg every 6 hours). Documented infections were present in 40% of patients treated with sulbactam/cefoperazone (40 of 101) and in 39% of patients receiving imipenem (40 of 102). The number of pretherapy gram-positive pathogens (52 isolates) was twice the number of pretherapy gram-negative pathogens (26 isolates).

Training effects on soleus of cats spinal cord transected (T12-13) as adults.

Adult spinal cord transected (T12-13) cats were trained for 30 min/day, 5 days/week to either step on a treadmill (Stp-T) or stand (Std-T) for approximately 5 months. Training ameliorated soleus atrophy and enhanced maximum force capability compared to nontrained (N-T) spinal cats, with Stp-T being significantly different from N-T. Isometric twitch speed and maximum rate of shortening were unaffected by training; the soleus of all spinal groups was significantly faster than control.

The pulp capping procedure in primary teeth "revisited".

The purpose of this review is to "revisit" an earlier paper (1992) on the subject of direct pulp capping in primary teeth and bring some new considerations for the procedure by the use of dentin bonding adhesives. It has come to be recognized that the customary employment of calcium hydroxide for this therapy has some shortcomings that reduce the prognosis for a favorable outcome. For at least a decade, many investigations have found that postoperative sensitivity, thermal stimuli, pulp inflammation and pathosis can be attributed not to the composition of various dental materials and their insertion techniques, but to microleakage with subsequent bacterial invasion at the enamel/restoration and the dentin/pulp interfaces.

Identification of genes preferentially induced by nerve growth factor versus epidermal growth factor in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells by means of representational difference analysis.

Neurotrophins induce neuronal differentiation by binding to a subclass of ligand-stimulated protein tyrosine kinase receptors and activating signal transduction pathways that mediate altered patterns of gene expression. Nerve growth factor (NGF) induced differentiation of PC12 pheochromocytoma cells is one of the major model systems used to study neuronal differentiation in response to neurotrophins. Although epidermal growth factor (EGF) does not induce PC12 cell differentiation, NGF and EGF activate many of the same signal transduction pathways and induce transcription of many of the same genes in PC12 cells.

Acute and chronic management of lower gastrointestinal bleeding: cost-effective approaches.

This article is concerned with current diagnosis and treatment of patients with severe lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Our purposes were to discuss tests available for diagnosis and treatment and to present our approach and to discuss cost assessment of different approaches. We evaluated 100 consecutive patients who presented with severe and persistent lower GI bleeding.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus type 8 encephalitis in HIV-positive and -negative individuals.

Objective: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) has been associated with Kaposi's sarcoma and a variety of benign lymphoid proliferations including angioimmunoblastic lymphadenitis with dysproteinemia and Castleman's disease. KSHV/HHV-8 has also been associated with inflammatory conditions including interstitial pneumonitis. Although herpesviruses are commonly associated with encephalitis in immunosuppressed individuals, KSHV/HHV-8 has not previously been associated with central nervous system disease other than lymphoma.

The thalamus and neuropsychiatric illness.

Although the cerebral cortex is usually thought of as a likely substrate for psychiatric disease, the close relationship of thalamus to cortex, both structurally and functionally, argues for much closer consideration of this structure in both research and clinical settings. Four thalamic nuclei with widely differing functions are considered in terms of the specific roles they appear to play in central nervous system activity and their possible roles in psychiatric disease. These nuclei include the ventrobasal complex, the nucleus reticularis thalami, the mediodorsal nucleus, and the dorsal thalamic system with special reference to the habenula.

Laparoscopic aortobifemoral bypass.

Purpose: To determine the potential benefits of applying laparoscopic techniques for the intraabdominal insertion of aortofemoral grafts and to compare results with those of conventional surgery.

Methods: Having previously demonstrated the feasibility of a totally laparoscopic aortofemoral bypass technique using carbon dioxide peritoneal insufflation in a porcine model, we now report our first human experience with this laparoscopic technique in a 49-year-old man.

Results: The patient's postoperative course was marked by his minimal requirements for analgesia, early ambulation, and discharge from the hospital in the morning of the third postoperative day.