Serum concentrations of secretory IgA in pregnancies delivering at term or preterm.

Secretory component (SC) is a phospholipase A2 inhibitor possibly associated with pregnancy maintenance and in serum is bound either to IgA (sIgA) or IgM (sIgM). To determine if serum secretory component levels a) increase during pregnancy, b) fall as term approaches, c) are low in women who will deliver prematurely, serum sIgA was measured at "booking in" and related to weeks of gestation and length of gestation at subsequent noninduced delivery. Levels of sIgA increased during pregnancy; sIgA increased from a non-pregnant value of 1.

Numerical index of the discriminatory ability of biotyping and resistotyping for strains of Escherichia coli.

A discrimination index was applied to assess the value of biotyping and resistotyping, used alone or together, for the subspecific discrimination of Escherichia coli. The index was high when 599 strains from a wide variety of sources were examined by full biotyping with 10 tests. Although the discrimination achieved was lower when a sub-collection of 333 strains was examined, that finding probably indicated that many of the latter strains were of urinary origin and represented a limited number of uropathogenic clones.

The effects of acute and repeated nicotine treatment on nucleus accumbens dopamine and locomotor activity.

1. The effects of acute and subchronic nicotine and (+)-amphetamine on the extracellular levels of dopamine and its metabolites, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been studied in conscious, freely-moving rats by use of in vivo microdialysis. 2.

Use of telephone enquiries to a microbiology laboratory as a proxy measure of reporting efficiency.

Aims: To assess the efficacy of a bacteriology service in respect of the time interval between collection of specimen and receipt of final report using the number and type of incoming telephone enquiries as a proxy measure.

Methods: For three months, all incoming telephone enquiries regarding the results of bacteriology specimens were monitored. Specimen type, date of sampling, the sender's location and the reason for making the telephone enquiry were recorded.

A case of skin hyperpigmentation due to alpha-MSH hypersecretion.

A case is presented of generalized skin hyperpigmentation due to alpha-MSH hypersecretion from the pituitary that was most marked in the light-exposed areas. The patient also had secondary adrenal dysfunction, peripheral lymphadenopathy, streptococcal glomerulonephritis and malabsorption. Analysis of this patient's alpha-MSH using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed a novel acetylation profile compared to normal individuals and to patients with Cushing's disease and Nelson's syndrome.

Perinatal mortality and morbidity--the Scottish perspective.

Although perinatal mortality has continued to fall in Scotland during the last decade, there has been little change during the last three years i.e. 8.

Breastfeeding: a natural method for child spacing.

Lactational amenorrhea plays an important role in child spacing. Recent research has led to a consensus regarding the status of lactational amenorrhea as a method of family planning. This is currently referred to as the lactational amenorrhea method.

Purification and characterization of human immunoglobulin IgA1 and IgA2 isotypes from serum.

A method is described for the simultaneous purification of IgA1 and IgA2 from human serum. Ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel yielded a partially purified IgA preparation which was separated quantitatively into IgA1 and IgA2 by affinity chromatography on jacalin-Sepharose. The IgA1 which bound to the jacalin was eluted with 0.

Production of a mannose-resistant fibrillar haemagglutinin by strains of Escherichia coli of EPEC serotype O111:H12.

Two strains of Escherichia coli of serotype O111:H12 produced a mannose-resistant haemagglutinin (MREHA) of Duguid's pattern 7 that reacted strongly with the red cells of ox and sheep. These strains also adhered to HEp2-epithelial cells and formed fibrillae demonstrable by negative staining and immunogold labelling.

Transverse topology of glucose-6-phosphatase in rat hepatic endoplasmic reticulum.

Antibodies raised against purified components of glucose-6-phosphatase were used to study the transmembrane orientation of the complex. Measurements of glucose-6-phosphatase activities and immunoblot analysis of sealed microsomes and detergent-solubilized microsomes after treatment with proteases suggested that most of the catalytic subunit resides within the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. In contrast, other components of glucose-6-phosphatase are accessible to the cytoplasm.

Effective destruction of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 at 100 degrees C using the Semm cold coagulator: 14 years experience.

A total of 1628 women with CIN 3 treated with the Semm cold coagulator between 1975 and 1989 was followed primarily by cytology. The standard suitability criteria for ablation were adhered to except that patients were treated at their first visit when the colposcopist expected that the diagnosis would be no worse than CIN 3. Overall 97% of the women were treated at their first visit.

Salmonellae of serotypes gallinarum and pullorum grouped by biotyping and fimbrial-gene probing.

When salmonellae of serotypes Gallinarum (50 isolates) and Pullorum (36 isolates), that produce non-adhesive (type-2) fimbriae, were tested for their reactions in biochemical tests, 81 (94%) were found to belong to three distinct biochemical groups, I-III. Interaction of HinfI-digested DNA of both Gallinarum and Pullorum with a probe of accessory genes of type-1 fimbriation in serotype Typhimurium gave one type of Southern hybridisation pattern that was readily distinguished from that of Typhimurium strains. With a probe of the Typhimurium fimbrial subunit gene, Pullorum isolates were separated into strongly and weakly probe-reactive groups which showed restriction fragment-length polymorphism; these latter groups corresponded to biochemical groups II and III, respectively.

Numerical index of the discriminatory ability of biotyping for strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella paratyphi B.

An index of discrimination was used to assess the discriminatory power of biotyping for salmonellas of selected serotypes. Three collections of phage-typed strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella paratyphi B, previously tested for biotype, were examined. The results established that the discrimination index was high when full biotyping alone was used for differentiation of strains from international series.

The haemagglutinins and fimbriae of Proteus penneri.

The haemagglutinins and fimbriae produced by 18 strains of Proteus penneri were studied and compared with those formed by representative strains of other species of Proteeae. After repeated subcultures at 30 degrees C, 12 P. penneri strains formed only MR/K haemagglutinins which were associated with thin, non-channelled, type-3 fimbriae.

Immunological and genetical relatedness of type-1 and type-2 fimbriae in salmonellas of serotypes Gallinarum, Pullorum and Typhimurium.

The fimbriae of 50 strains of serotype Gallinarum and 35 strains of serotype Pullorum of the genus Salmonella were compared with the type-1 fimbriae of serotype Typhimurium strains by immune electron microscopy and dot blot hybridization tests with gene probes for type-1 fimbriation in Typhimurium. The fimbriae of Gallinarum and Pullorum strains were coated with Typhimurium type-1 fimbrial antiserum and probes hybridized strongly with DNA of Gallinarum and Pullorum strains under stringent conditions. Furthermore, when Typhimurium type-1 fimbrial antiserum, that had been absorbed with fimbriate Gallinarum or Pullorum bacteria, was used in immune gold labelling experiments, it was shown that residual antibody recognized sites of possible adhesin incorporation at intervals along the length of Typhimurium type-1 fimbriae.

Characterisation of a fimbrial, mannose-resistant and eluting haemagglutinin (MREHA) produced by strains of Salmonella of serotype Sendai.

Strains of Salmonella of serotype Sendai, producing a mannose-resistant and eluting haemagglutinin (MREHA) when cultured at 37 degrees C but not at 18 degrees C, were examined by electronmicroscopy after negative staining. Production of this MREHA, previously thought to be nonfimbrial, was correlated with the presence of thick fimbriae with an external diameter of 13.6 nm.

Some strains of Escherichia coli of putative enteroadherent-aggregative serotypes produce an unusual fibrillar haemagglutinin.

Two strains of Escherichia coli that formed on unusual kind of mannose-resistant and eluting haemagglutinin (MREHA) reacting with the red blood cells of rat and mouse, when cultured at 37 degrees C but not at 18 degrees C, were examined by electron microscopy. Production of this rare rodent-positive MREHA was correlated with the presence of fine fibrillae of estimated diameter 2.5 nm that were demonstrated by negative staining and immuno-gold labelling with MREHA-specific anti-serum.

Persistent and transient clones of Salmonella typhimurium of phage type 141 recognized by biotyping.

Among the 81 cultures of Salmonella typhimurium of phage type 141 examined, 72 had been isolated from Sheffield incidents in 1984-5 and 9 were Scottish isolates from 1986-7. All of these cultures from diverse sources belonged to primary biotype 31; 79 were of full biotype 31beg and 2 anaerogenic cultures were of full biotype 31begj. This is the first known occasion on which an epidemic strain of S.

A novel fimbrial haemagglutinin produced by a strain of Salmonella of serotype Salinatis.

A strain of Salmonella of serotype Salinatis, that produced a mannose-resistant and eluting haemagglutinin (MREHA) when cultured at 37 degrees C but not at 18 degrees C, was examined by electron microscopy after negative staining. Production of this MREHA, previously described as being non-fimbrial, was correlated with the presence of thin fimbriae which had an external diameter of 3.6 nm.

Types of Salmonella paratyphi B and their phylogenetic significance.

The substrates inositol, rhamnose, d-tartrate and m-tartrate used in fermentation tests with 338 cultures of Salmonella paratyphi B differentiated strains in some phage types to give information that could be used in epidemiological investigations. Xylose in Bitter's medium, the fifth substrate by which 13 of a potential 32 biotypes were identified, differentiated few cultures with the negative character. The possession of a specific type of outer-membrane protein receptor for colicin M or bacteriophage ES18 and the particular type of ribosomal ribonucleic acid present, defined three groups among the phage-typed and biotyped cultures.