On the relationship between measles virus and Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

We have studied the relationship between measles virus and the accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated tau (PHF-tau) in nine cases of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). By assessing the presence of viral intranuclear inclusions and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in each case, we found no correlation between presence and amount of measles virus and the numbers of neurons containing PHF-tau. Immunohistochemical double labeling in a case with long duration of disease and severe histopathologic change revealed no strict colocalization of measles virus antigen and PHF-tau throughout different brain regions.

Experience in renal autotransplantation: analysis of a clinical series.

Objective: To determine the benefit of renal autotransplantation in selected patients with either renovascular lesions, renal or urothelial carcinomas or other disorders of the urinary collecting system.

Patients And Methods: Between 1977 and 1994, 12 patients underwent renal autotransplantation, six involving renovascular hypertension, two involving tumours of the renal parenchyma, two with urothelial tumours and two with long ureteric stenoses. Pre-operative renal function was normal in six patients and impaired in five.

Intra vitam lumbar cerebrospinal fluid and serum and postmortem ventricular immunoreactive apolipoprotein E in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Using a specific enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, total apolipoprotein E immunoreactivity (tApoE-IR) was measured in premortem lumbar CSF and serum of patients with "probable" Alzheimer's disease and in postmortem ventricular CSF of patients with Alzheimer's disease confirmed by necropsy. Concentrations were compared with those from patients with other neurological diseases and controls. The mean serum:lumbar CSF ratio of ApoE-IR was 15.

Defective endogenous opioid response to exercise in type I diabetic patients.

Plasma beta-endorphin (beta-E) concentration was determined before, during, and after a standardized incremental exercise test to maximal capacity in eight type I diabetic patients and eight normal control subjects. Diabetic patients were studied under normoglycemic and hyperglycemic conditions in a single-blind random fashion to differentiate between the effects of acute hyperglycemia and of diabetes per se on the beta-E response to exercise. The perceived magnitude of leg effort elicited by exercise was evaluated using a category scale.

Tau protein and apolipoprotein E in CSF diagnostics of Alzheimer's disease: impact on non Alzheimer's dementia?

Tau protein and apolipoprotein E are suggested to be biochemically related to neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. They can be detected as immunoreactive material (total tau immunoreactivity [TTIR] and apolipoprotein E-immunoreactivity [ApoEIR]) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). TTIR and ApoE-IR have been measured in ex vivo lumbar and post mortem ventricular CSF in AD, other neurological diseases without cognitive impairment, elderly depressive patients, and young and elderly controls.

Structural basis of dementia in neurodegenerative disorders.

Progressive dementia syndromes in adults are caused by a number of conditions associated with different structural lesions of the brain. In most clinical and autopsy series, senile dementia of the Alzheimer type is the most common cause of mental decline in the elderly accounting for up to 90%, whereas degenerative non-Alzheimer dementias range from 7 to 30% (mean 8-10%). They include a variety of disorders featured morphologically by neuron and synapse loss and gliosis, often associated with cytopathological changes involving specific cortical and subcortical circuits.

The role of T-lymphocytes and cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis.

In this review the involvement of T cells, in addition to that of the monocyte/macrophage lineage, in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis is discussed. The evidence for the pathogenetic importance of T cells is based upon their state of activation in the synovial membrane and the cytokines produced. These cytokines can be detected in synovial fluids as well as in the synovial membrane by both immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization.

Laparoscopic implantation of temporary electrodes for bladder stimulation in dogs.

Five female mongrel dogs were used in an acute animal experiment. Under general anesthesia two monopolar wire electrodes armed with needles on either side were implanted into the bladder wall, the leads of both electrodes were then pulled through the abdominal wall. Filling of the bladder and intravesical pressure measurement were achieved through a suprapublic percutaneous cystostomy.

The role of transition metals in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

The mechanisms that lead to degeneration of melanized dopaminergic neurons in the brain stem, and particularly in the substantia nigra (SN) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are still unknown. Demonstration of increased iron (Fe) in SN of PD brain has suggested that Fe-melanin interaction may contribute to oxidative neuronal damage. Energy dispersive X-ray electron microscopic analysis of the cellular distribution of trace elements revealed significant Fe peaks, similar to those of a synthetic melanin-Fe3+ complex, in intraneuronal electron-dense neuromelanin granules of the SN zona compacta, with highest levels in a case of PD and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The application of fibrin glue after axillary lymphadenectomy in the surgical treatment of human breast cancer.

Experimental studies point out that a reduction of lymph flow can be obtained by the local application of fibrin glue following axillary lymphadenectomy in the surgical treatment of breast cancer. In a prospective study the influence of human fibrin glue on postoperative axillary lymph secretion and the period of drainage of the wound cavity were evaluated. In 40 patients, 5 ml of fibrin glue (Tissucol) was applied to the wound cavity by the use of a spray applicator (Tissumat) immediately after axillary dissection of the lymph nodes.

Folic acid and cyanocobalamin levels in serum and erythrocytes during low-dose methotrexate therapy of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis patients.

Objective: To compare folic acid (FA) levels in patients being treated with methotrexate (MTX) with those of untreated patients in order to investigate potential folate depletion by MTX and its possible relationship to the drug's efficacy.

Methods: In 33 patients on low-dose MTX therapy and in 24 controls, FA and cyanocobalamin (B12) levels were determined in serum and red blood cells (RBC). In addition, MTX levels in the RBC and serum were measured, and clinical and laboratory measures of disease activity were evaluated.

Autoimmune response to the spliceosome. An immunologic link between rheumatoid arthritis, mixed connective tissue disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To assess the significance of autoantibodies to RA33, the A2 protein of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNP), and to the related hnRNP proteins A1, B1, and B2 in rheumatic diseases.

Methods: Using a partially purified preparation of hnRNP-A and hnRNP-B proteins, sera from 303 patients with various rheumatic diseases were investigated by immunoblotting. For the analysis of cross-reactivities, autoantibodies were affinity purified by blot elution.

Functional replacement of bladder and urethra after cystectomy for bladder cancer in a female patient.

We describe a new concept for female bladder replacement introducing an ileocecal pouch with the intact appendix vermiformis used as an orthotopic neourethra. Based upon the results of preceding experimental studies this procedure was performed on a woman with the diagnosis of focal invasive bladder cancer. Eight months after the operation the patient is completely continent and back to work.

Soluble receptors for tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-2 in serum and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Objective: To compare levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R) and soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R) in sera and synovial fluids (SF) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), reactive arthritis (ReA), and osteoarthritis (OA) in order to investigate the usefulness of soluble cytokine receptors for differentiation diagnosis and their involvement in the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases.

Methods: Soluble TNF-R (55 kDa), sIL-2R, and TNF-alpha were measured by ELISA in sera and SF of patients with RA, ReA, and OA and correlated with serological and clinical disease activity variables.

Results: Serum TNF-R was significantly (p < 0.

Chemical evidence for 6-hydroxydopamine to be an endogenous toxic factor in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

The presence of 5-Hydroxydopamine (5-OHDA) and 6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in the urine of parkinsonian patients on levodopa medication was reported by Andrew et al. (1993). To answer the question about the putative relevance of 6-OHDA endogenously formed in the brain for the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), the chemical mechanisms leading to dopamine-coordinative complexes were investigated in vitro.

Neurodegenerative disorders with extrapyramidal features--a neuropathological overview.

Although neuropathological examination is the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders with extrapyramidal features, difficulties may arise in the morphological differentiation of some of these disorders. They are all associated with major structural pathology within or directly affecting the basal ganglia and related neuronal loops. In addition to progressive neuronal loss and gliosis involving specific subcortico-cortical systems or multiple circuits, many of these disorders are characterized by intracellular neuronal and/or glial inclusions indicating cytoskeletal dysmetabolism that may serve as important diagnostic signposts, whereas in other disorders, e.

Validity and reliability of the twenty-eight-joint count for the assessment of rheumatoid arthritis activity.

Objective: To investigate the validity of the 28-joint count for assessment of joint involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Joint involvement as determined by the 28- and the 66/68-joint count was compared using data from 735 prospectively studied RA patients.

Results: The joints included in the 28-joint count were more commonly involved than other joints, and findings from the 28-joint count correlated highly with those from the 66/68-joint count in all analyses.

Effect of autonomic neuropathy on ventilatory response to progressive hypercapnia in dialysis patients.

The impact of autonomic neuropathy (common in patients on haemodialysis) on ventilatory response to hypercapnia has been studied. We investigated cardiac reflex tests in 20 patients on chronic haemodialysis (8 patients were found with and 12 without neuropathy of the autonomic nervous system). Using the hyperoxic CO2-rebreathing method (according to Read), we tested the above-mentioned two groups of patients and compared them with 14 healthy control subjects.

Effects of combined inspiratory muscle and cycle ergometer training on exercise performance in patients with COPD.

Cycle ergometer training plays an important role in the rehabilitation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the usefulness of specific inspiratory muscle training as part of pulmonary rehabilitation remains uncertain. To determine whether inspiratory muscle training could intensify the known beneficial effects of cycle ergometer training on exercise performance in these patients, we compared the effect of an 8 week inspiratory muscle training combined with cycle ergometer training with that of an 8 week cycle ergometer training alone on inspiratory muscle performance and general exercise capacity. Patients were randomly assigned to the two training groups; 21 patients received additional inspiratory muscle training (Group 1) and 21 did not (Group 2).

Anti-RA33 autoantibodies may recognize epitopes in the N-terminal region of hnRNP-A2 (RA33).

The nuclear autoantigen RA33, which is identical to the A2 protein of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP-A2), is a nucleic acid binding protein of 341 amino acids. The N-terminal part contains two RNA binding domains whereas the C-terminal part consists of a long glycine-rich region starting around amino acid 192. Autoantibodies to hnRNP-A2/RA33 can be detected in 20-40% of sera from RA, SLE and MCTD patients.

The effect of aminophylline on the force-length characteristics of the diaphragm.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of aminophylline on the contractile function of the human diaphragm during varying muscle fiber length. Ten healthy subjects were studied during maximal sniff maneuvers and bilateral phrenic nerve twitch stimulations, with and without intravenous infusion of aminophylline in a randomized fashion. The transdiaphragmatic pressures generated at various baseline lung volumes, from residual volume to 90% of total lung capacity, were recorded before and after the induction of diaphragm exhaustion.