Targeting of human switch recombination breakpoints: implications for the mechanism of mu-gamma isotype switching.

We recently characterized the allelic variants of the human Sgamma4 region which makes it possible to accurately identity and map Smu-Sgamma4 fragments from in vivo switched B cells. Twenty-six fragments were identified and a comparison was made with all previously published Smu-Sgamma sequences ( n = 82). Switch recombination outside the region flanking the Sgamma repeat sequence is a rare event in vivo and differences previously observed in patterns between in vitro and in vivo switched B cells appear to be artefactual and due to constraints of the methods used.

Sympathetic nerve sprouting fails to occur in the trigeminal ganglion after peripheral nerve injury in the rat.

Peripheral nerve injury induces sprouting of sympathetic nerve fibers in dorsal root ganglia after spinal nerve injury. In the present study, we sought to determine the extent of intraganglionic noradrenergic sprouting in the trigeminal system. The inferior alveolar nerve, a major branch of the mandibular division, or the infraorbital nerve of the maxillary division was either ligated or chronically constricted in Sprague-Dawley rats and recovery permitted for either 2-3 or 6-9 weeks.

Detection of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in a pediatric population: comparison of three commercially available serological tests and one in-house enzyme immunoassay.

A serum immunoglobulin G enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for Helicobacter pylori antibodies already in use in adults was evaluated with 99 pediatric serum samples to determine its usefulness for the study of H. pylori disease in children. The reference method used was either the (13)C-urea breath test or a biopsy culture of gastric mucosa.

The clinical importance of choosing the right assay for detection of HLA-specific donor-reactive antibodies.

Background: We found earlier that there is a close clinical correlation between the presence of histocompatibility leukocyte antigens (HLA) class I-specific donor-reactive antibodies in cross-match serum and a significantly higher frequency of early acute rejection episodes and graft loss during the first year after the transplant.

Methods: Specificity determinations of donor-reactive antibodies present in the cross-match serum before allogeneic kidney transplants were performed. In the present study, we compared the suitability and efficiency of (a) platelet absorptions, (b) blocking with anti-HLA monoclonal antibodies in the microcytotoxicity assay, and (c) donor-specific HLA antigen-coated magnetic microbeads in flow cytometric assays for the definition of clinically relevant HLA antibodies and their correlation with early acute rejections and early graft loss.

No evidence for specific in vitro lymphocyte reactivity to HgCl2 in patients with dental amalgam-related contact lesions.

Blood lymphocytes from 20 patients with oral contact lesions to dental amalgam and 10 healthy individuals were analyzed for HgCl2-induced proliferation in vitro, using both a modified assay and a conventional assay. The release of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was measured in cell supernatants. Six patients displayed positive reactions in patch tests to mercuric compounds.

CADASIL: hereditary disease of arteries causing brain infarcts and dementia.

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) begins with migraine with aura in approximately one-third of the patients. More severe symptoms of recurrent strokes usually appear at 30-50 years of age. However, well before the first stroke, CADASIL may be diagnosed on the basis of characteristic hyperintensities in T2-weighted magnetic resonance images.

Effects of environmental enrichment on cognitive function and hippocampal NGF in the non-handled rats.

In this study we examine whether exposure to differential housing after weaning would counteract the effects of postnatal handling (H) or nonhandling (NH) treatment by affecting learning and memory processes in young rats. In addition, we seek to determine if experience in enriched environment would alter hippocampal nerve growth factor (NGF) levels which is one of the factors known to be involved in the regulation of the survival and differentiation of developing basal forebrain neurones. Rats were either exposed to handling treatment, or left undisturbed starting day 1 after birth through day 21.

Delirium in clinical practice: experiences from a specialized delirium ward.

Geriatric patients with known dementia and suffering from an acute somatic disease are highly vulnerable to develop delirium. It is therefore essential to suspect and recognize delirium in these patients, especially in emergency wards. In the present study we evaluated activities on a dedicated delirium ward at a Swedish University Hospital.

Immunohistochemical localization of interleukin-1beta, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and interleukin-1beta converting enzyme/caspase-1 in the rat brain after peripheral administration of kainic acid.

The temporal and anatomical distribution of members of the interleukin-1 system in the rat brain following intraperitoneal kainic acid administration was studied in relation to neurodegeneration as detected with in situ end labelling. Kainic acid administration (10 mg/kg, i.p.

Sham treatment compared with 30 or 60 min of thermotherapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia: a randomized study.

Objective: To study the differences in subjective and objective results after 30 or 60 min of transurethral thermotherapy (TUMT) or sham treatment in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Patients And Methods: Forty-four patients with lower urinary tract symptoms caused by BPH were randomized to undergo 30 or 60 min of TUMT or sham treatment (14, 16 and 14 patients, respectively). The patients were evaluated using symptom scores, timed micturition, free flow rates and urodynamics before and after treatment.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplant or second autograft in patients with acute leukemia who relapse after an autograft. Acute Leukaemia Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).

Among 2752 patients with acute leukemia who had recurrent leukemia after autograft in remission and were reported to the EBMT, 94 underwent an allogeneic bone marrow transplant and 74 received a second autograft. Recipients of HLA-mismatched related or unrelated bone marrow had an increased transplant-related mortality (TRM, P = 0.017) and a decreased leukemia-free survival (LFS, P = 0.

Glutamine: a necessary nutrient for the intensive care patient.

Glutamine is a dispensable amino acid, a fact which is particularly important for intensive care patients, and it can be used as an oxidative substrate in processes which require prompt regulation of quantitatively large flows. The production and transport of glutamine from skeletal muscle may be inadequate in patients under intensive care, hence supplemented nutrition has been suggested. Improved long-term survival has been reported, which makes glutamine treatment one of the very few therapeutic strategies that improves outcome in intensive care.

Unrelated donor stem cell transplantation after autologous transplantation: experience of a single center.

Patients who do not respond to autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) have a poor prognosis. Concerns about toxicity limit the use of unrelated donor stem cell transplantation (UDSCT), but the knowledge about outcome after UDSCT post-ASCT is limited. We carried out a retrospective analysis of the outcome in seven consecutive patients with leukemia (n = 5), myeloma (n = 1) and graft failure (n = 1) who underwent UDSCT after ASCT.

Thyroid hormone alpha1 and beta1 receptor mRNA are downregulated by amiodarone in mouse myocardium.

Amiodarone, a powerful antiarrhythmic drug, may exert its effect by antagonism of the thyroid hormone, probably at the receptor level. The aim of this study was to investigate whether amiodarone affects the levels of thyroid hormone receptor (TR) messenger RNA (mRNA) subtypes in mouse hearts. Mice were treated with 10, 25, and 50 mg/kg body weight (BW) amiodarone or vehicle (propyleneglycol) intraperitoneally, daily for 14 days.

In vivo evaluation of glucose permeability of an immunoisolation device intended for islet transplantation: a novel application of the microdialysis technique.

Immunoisolation devices consist of semipermeable membranes chosen to protect the islets from the immune system but still allow sufficient passage of nutrients, oxygen, and the therapeutic products, insulin. The exchange between the device and the microcirculation will influence the survival of the graft as well as the metabolic efficacy of the islet implant. Glucose is the important trigger factor for insulin secretion.

Lymphocytes in sural nerve biopsies from patients with plasma cell dyscrasia and polyneuropathy.

Sural nerve biopsies were examined in 36 patients with plasmacell dyscrasia and polyneuropathy. The M-component isotype was IgM in 19, IgG in 16 (one patient had both IgM and IgG) and IgA in 2 patients. Five of the IgM patients had Waldenström's disease, one of the IgG cases a myeloma and two lymphoma.

Adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix in Ireland and Sweden: human papillomavirus infection and biologic alterations.

Paraffin-embedded samples from cervical adenocarcinomas, 19 cases from Irish patients and 19 cases from Swedish patients, were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). The results were compared with DNA ploidy, proliferation activity, and p53 and p21/WAF1 expression. The studies were performed to discover whether high-risk HPV infection in adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix is associated with an increased proliferative activity and genomic instability.

Upregulation of thyroid hormone receptor beta 1 and beta 2 messenger RNA in the myocardium of dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy or chronic valvular disease.

Objective: To investigate whether expression of thyroid hormone receptor (TR) messenger RNA (mRNA) is changed in the myocardium of dogs with heart failure.

Animals: 21 dogs.

Procedure: Concentrations of TR alpha 2, beta 1, and beta 2 mRNA in the myocardium were determined for clinically normal dogs (n = 7) and dogs with heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM; 7) or chronic valvular disease (CVD; 7).

Alterations in water and solute transport with time on peritoneal dialysis.

Peritoneal ultrafiltration capacity and small-solute transport characteristics seem to be relatively stable in most patients treated with PD for up to 3 years. However, in patients treated with PD for 4 years or more, there is a tendency towards increasing diffusive transport for small solutes as well as a tendency towards decreasing net UF, whereas the peritoneal protein clearances seem to be reduced or stable. Loss of UFC is a well-known complication during long-term PD treatment, and the risk for loss of UFC may be as high as 50% after 6 years on PD.

Inflammation and severe demyelination in the peripheral nervous system induced by the intraneural injection of recombinant mouse interleukin-12.

Inflammatory cytokines appear to be involved in damage to Schwann cells, myelin and axons, although the exact role of the different cytokines is uncertain. The direct injection model offers a new and simplified way of examining the mechanisms of early inflammation in the peripheral nervous system. The present study was performed to assess the direct effects of interleukin (IL)-12 on rat sciatic nerves injected with recombinant mouse IL-12.

Peripheral blood stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors: a comparison with marrow transplantation.

Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplants from HLA-A, -B, and -DR compatible unrelated donors (n = 45) were compared with bone marrow (BM; BM group, n = 45). Eighteen patients received CD34-selected PBSC (CD34 group). The PBSCs contained more mononuclear cells, CD34(+), CD3(+), and CD56(+) cells compared with marrow (P <.

Adrenoceptor genes in human obesity.

The genes causing obesity in rodent models have been characterized, but do not seem to be important for human obesity. Recently the putative association between obesity and polymorphism in human beta-adrenergic receptor genes have been studied intensely in the light of the important role of these receptors in the regulation of energy mobilization and utilization. A polymorphism (Trp64Arg) in the beta3-adrenergic receptor gene is associated with obesity (relative risk approximately 2) in some but not all investigations on Caucasian and Japanese populations.

Nutritional and cognitive status in elderly subjects living in service flats, and the effect of nutrition education on personnel.

Background: There is limited knowledge about the nutritional and cognitive status in elderly and chronically ill subjects living in sheltered housing.

Objective: To perform a 6-month follow-up study in order to investigate (1) nutritional status and its relationship to cognitive function in elderly people living in service flats, and (2) the effect of a 9-hour educational program given to personnel working in the service flats.

Methods: Of 93 eligible subjects, 28 agreed to participate (age 81 +/- 7 years, 75% women).

Cholecystokinin peptides in cerebrospinal fluid: a study in healthy male subjects lumbar-punctured without preceding strict bed-rest.

In a recent study we analysed the concentrations of two forms of cholecystokinin (CCK), CCK-8S (sulphated) and CCK-4 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from 14 healthy male volunteers lumbar-punctured after a minimum of eight hours of strict bed-rest. We have now lumbar-punctured another group of 14 healthy males, using the same procedure except for the requirement of strict bed-rest prior to puncture. In contrast to our previous study, the concentration of CCK-4 (but not CCK-8S) was significantly higher in the second CSF fraction (7-12 ml) than in the first one (0-6 ml).