DSM-III-R brief reactive psychosis and personality disorders.

DSM-III and DSM-III-R defined the diagnostic criteria of brief reactive psychosis (BRP) identifying some personality disorders (PDs) as predisposing factors: up to now no experimental data support this hypothesis. In this research, the authors studied the link between BRP and PDs, assessing axis II diagnosis (SIDP-R), after recovery of BRP in a group of 23 patients. Eighty-seven percent of the patients (n = 19) received at least one diagnosis of PDs.

Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy not responsive to other treatments.

Nine patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating poliradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. All patients had been previously treated with prednisone and/or plasma exchange without effect. Objective improvement in clinical condition occurred in six patients.

Macular dysplasia and pigmented paravenous retino-choroidal atrophy.

Pigmented paravenous retino-choroidal atrophy (P P R C A) is a rare retinal disease characterized by bilateral patches of pigment and areas of chorioretinal atrophy distributed along the veins. The authors present a 21-year-old male with pigmented paravenous retinochoroidal atrophy and unilateral macular dysplasia. To their knowledge, this is the second reported case of macular involvement.

Balanced translocation (t 2q; 10p) and ocular anomalies. A possible HOX gene defect.

The authors report a child with a phenotype typical of a first branchial arch defect. The patient has a balanced translocation involving chromosome 2. They propose a defect that has occurred during the translocation in a gene mapped to chromosome 2 and belonging to the HOXD family.

Small hepatocellular carcinoma treated with percutaneous ethanol injection: unenhanced and gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging follow-up.

Purpose: To determine the value of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in follow-up of small (< 3 cm) hepatocellular carcinoma treated with percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI).

Materials And Methods: Fifty-seven patients underwent MR imaging before and after PEI. At follow-up every 6 months, MR images were correlated with results of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB).

Thymopentin increases the survival of mice after allogeneic blood transfusion, bacterial gavage, and burn injury.

Objective: To investigate the effect of blood transfusion on mortality and the incidence of bacterial translocation in mice subjected to thermal burn or bacterial gavage, or both, and to assess the influence of thymopentin on mortality.

Design: Randomly controlled experiments.

Setting: University departments of surgery, immunology and nuclear medicine.

Genetic isolate and preserved para-arteriole retinal pigment epithelium.

Preserved para-arteriole retinal pigment epithelium (PPRPE) is an uncommon form of retinitis pigmentosa, with a very peculiar funduscopic appearance. To our knowledge no patient under age ten, affected by PPRPE, has been reported in the literature. The authors present here a seven-year-old boy, whose fundus examination is consistent with the diagnosis of PPRPE.

Beta 4 integrin expression in myelinating Schwann cells is polarized, developmentally regulated and axonally dependent.

In developing and regenerating peripheral nerve, Schwann cells interact with axons and extracellular matrix in order to ensheath and myelinate axons. Both of these interactions are likely to be mediated by adhesion molecules, including integrins, which mediate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Recently, the beta 4 integrin subunit was reported to be expressed by Schwann cells in peripheral nerve.

Avidin-biotin system in radioimmunoguided surgery for colorectal cancer. Advantages and limits.

Purpose: Radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been reported to allow tumor intraoperative detection by means of a gamma-detecting probe. The technology is called the Radioimmunoguided Surgery (RIGS) system. The main inconveniences of the method are 1) the long interval needed for clearance of unattached MAbs from the patient's body, between the injection of the MAb and surgery, and 2) the low sensitivity of current MAbs used in detecting small tumors.

Carcinoma of the cervix: value of plain and gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging in assessing degree of invasiveness.

The accuracy of nonenhanced spin-echo (SE) T2-weighted and contrast material-enhanced SE T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in assessing the degree of local tumor invasion was determined prospectively in 53 consecutive patients with clinically established early-stage carcinoma of the cervix. With a 0.5-T superconducting unit, pulse sequences of 2,000/90 (repetition time msec/echo time msec) for T2-weighted images and 500/20 for T1-weighted images were used.

The endoplasmic-sarcoplasmic reticulum of smooth muscle: immunocytochemistry of vas deferens fibers reveals specialized subcompartments differently equipped for the control of Ca2+ homeostasis.

Cryosection immunofluorescence and immunogold labeling with antibodies against specific markers were used in rat vas deferens smooth muscle fibers to reveal the molecular arrangement of the endomembrane system (referred to variously in the text as ER or sarcoplasmic reticulum [SR]; S-ER or ER/SR) known to participate in the control of Ca2+ homeostasis. The lumenal ER chaperon, immunoglobulin binding protein (BiP), as well as protein disulfide isomerase, and calreticulin, a Ca2+ binding protein expressed by most eukaryotic cells, appeared to be evenly distributed throughout the entire system (i.e.

Small hepatocellular carcinoma: MR follow-up of treatment with percutaneous ethanol injection.

To assess the potential role of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the follow-up evaluation of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), 31 patients with a single HCC lesion less than 3.0 cm in diameter underwent MR imaging at 0.5 T before and after treatment.

Estimating the depth of myometrial involvement by endometrial carcinoma: efficacy of transvaginal sonography vs MR imaging.

Objective: In this study we compare transvaginal sonography with MR imaging for use in detecting the depth of myometrial involvement by endometrial carcinoma.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-two consecutive patients with stage I endometrial carcinoma had transvaginal sonography and MR imaging at 0.5 T.

Myometrial invasion by endometrial carcinoma: assessment with plain and gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging.

A prospective study was designed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of nonenhanced T2-weighted and contrast material-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in assessing the depth of myometrial invasion in patients with proved endometrial cancer. In 56 consecutive patients with clinically determined early-stage disease, findings of the two MR imaging techniques were compared with results of histologic examination of surgical specimens. Myometrial invasion was classified as absent (stage IA), superficial (stage IB), or deep (stage IC).

Myometrial invasion by endometrial carcinoma: assessment by MR imaging.

In patients with early-stage endometrial cancer, preoperative knowledge of myometrial tumor extension has important prognostic and therapeutic implications. The purpose of this prospective study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of MR imaging for assessing the depth of myometrial invasion in patients with endometrial cancer that clinically was thought to be confined to the uterine corpus. Sixty-five consecutive patients were included in the study.

Antigen-receptor complex stimulation triggers protein kinase C-dependent CD11a/CD18-cytoskeleton association in T lymphocytes.

Although it is well accepted that intercellular adhesion involving the CD11a/CD18 (LFA-1) complex is critical in a wide array of T cell-dependent processes, recent demonstrations of an LFA-1 high avidity state, induced by triggering the T cell receptor (TCR) complex, has raised questions about the intracellular signals generated and molecular events leading to effective cell coupling, as well as their orderly sequence. In this study, we assessed the effects of T cell activation on the actin-based cytoskeleton, and LFA-1, as well as their interaction. Crosslinking the TCR complex with anti-CD3 mAb resulted in actin polymerization and colocalization with LFA-1, as detected by fluorescence microscopy.

Determination of plasma [6,6-2H2]glucose enrichment by a simple and accurate gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method.

An improved method for the evaluation of glucose turnover rate in humans, using a prime-continuous infusion of [6,6-2H2]glucose, was developed. Deproteinization of plasma and conversion of glucose into the aldononitrile pentaacetate derivative are the only sample manipulations required prior to the gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis. In six normal adults (prime = 5 mg kg-1; continuous infusion = 0.

Differential Expression of Markers and Activities in a Group of PC12 Nerve Cell Clones.

Sixteen clones, recently isolated from the PC12 nerve cell line, were analysed for a variety of markers and activities. Two endoplasmic reticulum (ER) luminal markers, the chaperone protein BiP and the major Ca2+ storage protein calreticulin, as well as the 40-kD rough ER membrane marker and the plus-end-directed mirotubule motor protein, kinesin, were found to be expressed at similar levels. These results suggest that the size of the ER, the function of microtubules and the capacity of the rapidly exchanging Ca2+ store do not change substantially among the clones.

Signal requirements for the generation of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses to human allogeneic microvascular endothelium.

Microvascular endothelium has been implicated as a major target in the rejection of vascularized allografts. In an attempt to dissect the stepwise generation of the T-cell-mediated immune response to microvascular endothelial cells (ECs), we analyzed the requirements for the two major T-cell subsets, CD4+ and CD8+, in the triggering of proliferative and cytotoxic responses to allogeneic ECs in vitro. Results demonstrate that resting ECs are unable to stimulate a functional response by purified T, CD4+, and CD8+ cells in the absence of costimulatory signals.

ACTH and cortisol secretion in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The "glucocorticoid cascade hypothesis" for pathological ageing of the brain is supported by strong experimental data, but the clinical correlates are far less clear. The basal ACTH and cortisol secretion have been studied before and after the dexamethasone suppression test in patients in the early stages of clinically probable Alzheimer's disease and in controls, and the results were all normal. These findings do not support the hypothesis that the pathological brain ageing of Alzheimer's type is caused by hyperactivity of the pituitary-adrenal axis.

Transmembrane signalling at the epidermal growth factor receptor. Positive regulation by the C-terminal phosphotyrosine residues.

Mutant epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors (obtained by substitution of one, two or three C-terminal autophosphorylable tyrosine residues with phenylalanine residues or by deletion of the C-terminal 19 amino acids, including the distal tyrosine) were expressed in mouse NIH-3T3 fibroblast clones at densities comparable (less than 25% difference) with those in control clones expressing the wild-type receptor. Total EGF-induced phosphorylation of the mutated receptors was not appreciably changed with respect to controls, whereas autophosphorylation at tyrosine residues was decreased, especially in the double and the triple mutants. In the latter mutant, expression of the EGF-receptor-activated lipolytic enzyme phospholipase C gamma was unchanged, whereas its tyrosine phosphorylation induced by the growth factor was lowered to approx.

Ionic events induced by epidermal growth factor. Evidence that hyperpolarization and stimulated cation influx play a role in the stimulation of cell growth.

Charybdotoxin, a blocker of K+ channels, and the imidazole drug SC38249, a blocker of both voltage- and second messenger-operated Ca2+ channels, were employed in mouse NIH-3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor 1) to characterize the ionic events activated by EGF; and 2) to establish the role of those events in cell growth. The [Ca2+]i response by EGF was little changed by charybdotoxin while the parallel hyperpolarization was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. At high toxin concentrations (greater than 3 x 10(-8) M), the effect of EGF on membrane potential was turned into a persistent depolarization sustained by both Na+ and Ca2+.