Healing of gaps around calcium phosphate-coated implants in trabecular bone of the goat.

Hydroxylapatite coatings are under clinical investigation in orthopaedics and dentistry. Bone formation on apatite coatings in the presence of gaps is important for clinical applications. The importance of the stability of the coating is not known at present.

Relationship between loss in parenchymal elastic recoil pressure and maximal airway narrowing in subjects with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Airway hyperresponsiveness is characterized by an increase in sensitivity and excessive airway narrowing to inhaled bronchoconstrictor stimuli. There is experimental evidence that maximal airway narrowing is related to lung elasticity in normal and asthmatic subjects. We hypothesized that reduced lung elasticity by parenchymal destruction increases the level of maximal airway narrowing in subjects with alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Exon mapping by fiber-FISH or LR-PCR.

In this study we systematically assessed the sensitivity limits of fiber-FISH in model experiments. Exonic fragments and cDNAs with exon sizes of >/=200 bp could be mapped on their cognate cosmid. This positional fiber-FISH mapping was validated by long-range PCR.

Spontaneous growth and response to growth hormone treatment in children with growth hormone deficiency and idiopathic short stature.

Isolated idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and idiopathic short stature (ISS) can be difficult to distinguish, but the therapeutical consequences are different. In this report the data on final height of untreated and treated children with GHD and ISS are reviewed. Untreated GH-deficient individuals who underwent spontaneous puberty (22 male, 14 female patients) reached a mean final height of 4.

Basic cultural values and differences in attitudes towards health, illness and treatment preferences within a psychosomatic frame of reference.

Background: Regarded from a biopsychosocial point of view, a culturally determined differential impact of values, lifestyles and attitudes can be expected on health and illness concepts, exerting a potential influence on the general satisfaction with the health care system as well as on subjective treatment preferences.

Methods: 57 men and 63 women between 16 and 86 years of age in the Netherlands and 45 men and 39 women aged between 15 and 78 years in Japan took part in the study. Questions to the subjects were not exclusively restricted to medical care but comprised the potential relationship between health and illness on the one hand, and lifestyles, values, attitudes and treatment preferences on the other.

Rapid detection of point mutations and polymorphisms of the alpha-globin genes by DGGE and SSCA.

We report the application of DGGE and SSCA for the identification of point mutations causing alpha-thalassemia. The alpha-globin genes were amplified in three overlapping fragments of 250 bp (I), 540 bp (II), and 600 bp (III), respectively. Fragments II and III were analysed by DGGE, while fragments I and II were analysed by SSCA.

ESR spin trapping investigation of radical formation from the reaction between hematin and tert-Butyl hydroperoxide.

Various mechanisms have been proposed for the reaction between heme proteins and organic hydroperoxides, including a peroxidase-type mechanism and homolytic cleavage. We used electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy to investigate the formation of radicals in a hematin/tert-butyl hydroperoxide system. Spin trapping studies, using 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO), showed the formation of peroxyl and alkoxyl radicals in this system.

Structure of the mouse 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase gene and exact localization upstream of the alpha-globin gene cluster on chromosome 11.

In this paper we describe the genomic organization of the mouse 3-Methyladenine DNA Glycosylase (MPG) gene and localize three putative regulatory elements around this gene. The MPG gene plays a key role in the excision repair of methylated adenine residues and has been localized upstream of the alpha-globin gene cluster in human and mouse. The human MPG gene has been fully characterized, whereas up to now only the cDNA sequence of the mouse MPG gene had been published.

Effect of disease and drug treatment on blood serotonin and monoamine oxidase B activity in Parkinson's disease.

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) content and monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity were determined in whole blood of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with and without drug treatment and compared with controls. From that comparison a significant reduction in platelet 5HT became apparent in PD. Selegiline, which was always used in combination with L-dopa, not only inhibited MAO activity, as expected, but it also appeared to induce an increase in 5HT content.

High-resolution DNA Fiber-FISH for genomic DNA mapping and colour bar-coding of large genes.

We have applied two-colour fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to DNA fibers and combined it with digital imaging microscopy for the mapping of large cosmid contigs. The technique was validated using a set of unique plasmids and a cosmid contig both originating from the thyroglobulin (Tg) gene and previously mapped by restriction analysis. The resolution proved to be close to the theoretical lower limit of approximately 1 kb, ranging > or = 400 kb.

The role of DNA damage and inhibition of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation in loss of clonogenicity of murine L929 fibroblasts, caused by photodynamically induced oxidative stress.

Reactive oxygen species are used to eradicate malignant cells in photodynamic therapy as well as in other cancer therapies. Despite many efforts, the pathways leading to cellular damage and cell killing due to the action of these species are poorly understood. In previous studies with hematoporphyrin derivative-sensitized L929 murine fibroblasts, the only parameter for which a relation with photodynamically induced reproductive cell death could not be excluded was inhibition of DNA excision repair.

Microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia: a critical reappraisal.

The results of posterior fossa explorations for trigeminal neuralgia over the period 1980-1990 in 58 patients and in 59 procedures were studied retrospectively. In 51 procedures vascular compression was treated by microvascular decompression (MVD). In the absence of such a compression, partial sensory rhizotomy (PSR) was performed in 5 cases and only adhesiolysis of thickened arachnoidea in 2 cases.

Bone marrow transplantation has a significant effect on enzyme levels and storage of glycosaminoglycans in tissues and in isolated hepatocytes of mucopolysaccharidosis type VII mice.

The effect of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on enzyme and glycosaminoglycan levels of various tissues and isolated parenchymal cells of lethally irradiated gusmps/gusmps mice was studied. These mice have an inherited deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme beta-glucuronidase with less than 1% of normal enzyme activity present in all tissues and represent a model of human mucopolysaccharidosis type VII. Tissues were evaluated 200 d after BMT and liver parenchymal cells 300 d after BMT.

New chimeric anti-pancarcinoma monoclonal antibody with superior cytotoxicity-mediating potency.

The monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 323/A3 and 17-1A both recognize a 40-kDa carcinoma-associated epithelial glycoprotein (EGP40). MAb 17-1A has been used in many therapeutic trials as an immunotherapeutic agent to combat advanced colorectal cancer, and about 5-10% overall responses have been observed. It has been shown that MAb 323/A3 has a higher affinity than 17-1A, which might be an advantageous feature for a therapeutic agent.

Ontogenetic change of visual thresholds in the cichlid fish Haplochromis sauvagei.

The ontogenetic alterations of visual sensitivity thresholds and acuity of the cichlid Haplochromis sauvagei were quantitatively predicted from the developmental change of size and convergence of the photoreceptors and measured behaviourally using optomotor response. The observed enlargement of the cone-photoreceptors was considered to improve their photon catching ability. Accordingly, the ontogenetic change of the photopic threshold was accurately predicted by the increase of the cone size during growth.

Urogenital malacoplakia treated with fluoroquinolones.

We report 2 cases of urogenital malacoplakia and discuss the problems associated with diagnosing and treating this rare disease. In 1 case extensive pelvic disease was successfully controlled with ciprofloxacin. In the other case the malacoplakia was localized in the distal ureter and was initially mistaken for urothelial carcinoma.

Inhibition of transport systems in yeast by photodynamic treatment with toluidine blue.

Photodynamic treatment of yeast with the sensitizer Toluidine blue results in loss of cell viability. In previous investigations it was suggested that plasma membrane damage might be responsible for the loss of colony forming capacity. In this context the influence of photodynamic treatment on transmembrane transport systems was studied.

Test-retest reliabilities of two treatment-preference instruments in measuring utilities.

The authors assessed the test-retest reliabilities of two treatment-preference instruments recently applied to the measurement of the utilities of health states after different treatment modalities for cancer. The first instrument measures the strengths of preferences concerning a choice between a wait-and-see policy, and treatment with radiotherapy after an initial surgical breast-conserving procedure for early breast cancer. The second measures the strengths of preferences concerning a choice between two hypothetical surgical treatment outcomes in cancer of the rectum with different probabilities of expected five-year survival.

Methods for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

The term pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is used as an acronym to indicate any technique that resolves (large) DNA molecules by continuous reorientation. It bridges the resolution gap between cytogenetic methods (> 5 Mb) and DNA analysis (< 50 kb). Initially, PFGE was used to study the chromosomal content of unicellular eukaryotic organisms of interest to genetic research and population health.

Hypothyroidism retards progressive glomerulosclerosis in the rat by a reduction in food intake.

Hypothyroidism diminishes proteinuria and prolongs survival in several immune models of progressive renal failure. In the well-characterized non-immune model of 5/6 nephrectomy we studied the effects of thyroidectomy (Tx) on the development of proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis (GS). Hypothyroidism was confirmed by lower values of thyroxine in Tx rats compared to sham Tx rats at 9 weeks (12.

Hereditary spastic dystonia with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy: neuropathological findings.

Neuropathological findings in a 59-year-old male case of hereditary spastic dystonia with Leber's hereditary optic atrophy included: marked depletion of myelinated nerve fibres in the posterior funiculi, corticopontine tracts and striatum; practically complete neuronal depletion in the putamen and lateral part of the caudate, and mild cell loss in the substantia nigra. The putamina had changed into a spongy fibrillary scar, the pallidal fibres and laminae were practically all degenerated. Moreover, there was generalised mild fibre degeneration of the white matter.

Colonization of new habitats by earthworms.

In this paper a simple model is used to study the dispersal of earthworm populations into new habitats. Simple models do not describe processes accurately, but can help gain insight into the functioning of ecosystems or processes in ecosystems. Using information on reproduction, survival and dispersal at the level of the individual, the velocity of earthworm population expansion was calculated.

Photodynamic treatment of yeast cells with the dye toluidine blue: all-or-none loss of plasma membrane barrier properties.

Photodynamic treatment of Kluyveromyces marxianus with the sensitizer Toluidine blue leads to the loss of colony forming capacity. In this paper, the influence of this treatment on the barrier properties of the plasma membrane has been studied. Photodynamic treatment with the dye Toluidine blue resulted in efflux of potassium ions and E260-absorbing material.