Midcycle administration of single-dose GnRHa for luteal phase failure in women with ovarian hyperstimulation. A report of five cases.

Background: Exogenous administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) induces an endogenous midcycle gonadotropin surge. However, its use to induce ovulation and maintain luteal function in non-in vitro fertilization patients who receive ovarian stimulation is unknown.

Cases: Five infertile women who underwent controlled ovarian hyperstimulation with human menotropin developed multiple ovarian follicles.

Aberrant expression of CD27 and soluble CD27 (sCD27) in HIV infection and in AIDS-associated lymphoma.

CD27 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily that is expressed primarily on T cells, as well as on subsets of B cells and NK cells. CD70, which is expressed on activated B and T cells, but not on resting lymphocytes, is a ligand for CD27. Cell surface CD27 can be proteolytically cleaved to produce a 32-kDa soluble CD27 (sCD27) molecule.

Side chain mobility and ligand interactions of the G strand of tear lipocalins by site-directed spin labeling.

Side chain mobility, accessibility, and backbone motion were studied by site-directed spin labeling of sequential cysteine mutants of the G strand in tear lipocalins (TL). A nitroxide scan between residues 98 and 105 revealed the alternating periodicity of mobility and accessibility to NiEDDA and oxygen, characteristic of a beta-strand. Residue 99 was the most inaccessible to NiEDDA and oxygen.

Simplifying the Waterston's stratification of infants with tracheoesophageal fistula.

The survival of infants with tracheoesophageal fistula was stratified by David J. Waterston et al. in 1962.

Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy: rationale and methods.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has become a widely accepted technique for the treatment intracranial neoplasms. Combined with modern imaging modalities, SRS has established its efficacy in a variety of indications. From the outset, however, it was recognized that the delivery of a single large dose of radiation was essentially "bad biology made better by good physics.

The murine neutrophil-chemoattractant chemokines LIX, KC, and MIP-2 have distinct induction kinetics, tissue distributions, and tissue-specific sensitivities to glucocorticoid regulation in endotoxemia.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced CXC chemokine (LIX) is a novel murine neutrophil-chemoattractant CXC chemokine cloned as a glucocorticoid-attenuated response gene. We investigated LIX message expression in an acute endotoxemia model. LIX message peaks later than KC or macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) and remains elevated longer in almost all tissues.

Analysis of cell death in myeloid cells inducibly expressing the cell cycle protein p55Cdc.

p55Cdc, a cell cycle protein is expressed in cycling mammalian cells and is required for normal cell division. Expression of this protein is regulated during the cell cycle, peaking in late G1 and S. We have previously shown that constitutive expression of p55Cdc results in inhibition of granulocyte differentiation.

A model for ATM heterozygote identification in a large population: four founder-effect ATM mutations identify most of Costa Rican patients with ataxia telangiectasia.

Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal recessive disorder with a broad range of clinical manifestations and a frequency of 1:40,000-100,000 live births. Epidemiological studies have suggested that A-T heterozygotes are at an elevated risk of breast cancer. ATM mutations occur worldwide over the entire ATM gene, making it difficult to identify heterozygotes in large populations.

Dual spillover problem in the myocardial septum with nitrogen-13-ammonia flow quantitation.

Unlabelled: Conventional cardiac PET modeling techniques for [13N]ammonia flow determination do not fully account for the effects of spillover of activity from the right ventricle (RV) onto the activity in the myocardial septum. The purpose of this study was to investigate and to quantitatively account and correct for this effect.

Methods: Simulations were performed to determine the error introduced by conventional quantitation using septal time-activity curves, which only account for left ventricle (LV) spillover.

Rack1, a receptor for activated protein kinase C, interacts with integrin beta subunit.

The integrin beta subunit cytoplasmic domains are important for activation-dependent cell adhesion and adhesion-dependent signaling events. We report an interaction between integrin beta subunit cytoplasmic domain and Rack1, a Trp-Asp (WD) repeat protein that has been shown to bind activated protein kinase C. The Rack1-binding site on integrin beta 2 subunit resides within a conserved, membrane-proximal region.

MUSE therapy: preliminary clinical observations.

Objectives: Intracavernosal injection of vasodilating agents has been a mainstay in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Recently, a transurethral delivery system (MUSE) for alprostadil (prostaglandin E1) was introduced as an alternative form of pharmacotherapy.

Methods: One hundred consecutive patients with erectile dysfunction were treated with MUSE in doses ranging from 125 to 1000 micrograms and their erections were observed in the clinical setting.

Gene structure and chromosome localization of the G gamma c subunit of human cone G-protein (GNGT2).

Phototransduction in the vertebrate rod and cone photoreceptors is regulated by structurally homologous and yet distinct groups of signaling proteins. We have previously identified in bovine retinas a cone-specific G-protein gamma subunit (G gamma c, previously named G gamma b), which may play a key role in coupling the cone visual pigment to phosphodiesterase (O. C.

Assignment of the dynamin-1 gene (DNM1) to human chromosome 9q34 by fluorescence in situ hybridization and somatic cell hybrid analysis.

The dynamins are recently discovered GTP-binding proteins postulated to mediate the scission of clathrin-coated vesicles at the plasma membrane. Of the three known mammalian dynamins, dynamin-1 (DNM1) appears to be particularly important for the formation of synaptic vesicles at presynaptic nerve termini. To investigate the possibility that mutations in the DNM1 gene cause a human disease, we determined the chromosomal localization of human DNM1.

Cost-effective selection of patients for coronary angiography.

In patients suspected of having coronary artery disease (CAD), noninvasive testing has been playing an increasing role in selecting patients who would require coronary angiography for either the "definitive" diagnosis of CAD or as a prelude to planning myocardial revascularization. A mathematic model is presented that defines cost-effective utility of nuclear cardiology testing for diagnosis of CAD and selection of appropriate candidates for coronary angiography, according to quantitative methods of decision analysis. Clinical utility or effectiveness was defined in terms of percent correct diagnosis of CAD.

The ins and outs of notch signaling.

The Notch gene encodes a cell surface protein that regulates cell fate choices in vertebrates and invertebrates. Given the wide variety of cell types influenced by Notch, it would seem that the signal relayed through Notch activation is not an instructive one per se. Rather, Notch signaling is thought to influence the cell's ability to respond to instructive signals responsible for specific cell fates.

A comparison of gene transfer methods in human dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for the initiation of antigen-specific T-cell activation. DCs may be highly enriched from peripheral blood-adherent leukocytes by short-term (7-day) culture in the presence of interleukin (IL)-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Various methods of gene transfer were studied, including DNA/liposome complexes, electroporation, CaPO4 precipitation, and recombinant adenovirus (AdV) vectors.

HTLV-1 gene expression in adult T-cell leukemia cells elicits an NK cell response in vitro and correlates with cell rejection in SCID mice.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). We have previously shown that the ATL cell line, RV-ATL, formed tumors when inoculated into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. In contrast, the HTLV-1 in vitro-transformed cell line, SLB-1, was nontumorigenic in SCID mice.

Potassium and chloride currents in rat gastric enterochromaffin-like cells.

The gastric enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cell secretes histamine in response to secretagogues (gastrin, acetylcholine) by calcium signaling-dependent exocytosis of intracellular vacuoles containing the hormone. ECL cells were isolated from rat fundic gastric mucosa by elutriation and density-gradient centrifugation. Currents across the plasma membrane were measured using whole cell patchclamp methods.

Corneal astigmatism after phacoemulsification and lens implantation through unsutured scleral and corneal tunnel incisions.

Purpose: We compared the changes in corneal astigmatism after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation in 93 consecutive eyes with unsutured 4-mm superior scleral tunnel incisions to those through 105 consecutive eyes with unsutured 3.2- to 3.5-mm temporal corneal tunnel incisions.

Decreased cortical and increased cancellous bone in two children with primary hyperparathyroidism.

The basis for this study is two children with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) who radiographically manifested both marked subperiosteal resorption and prominent osteosclerosis. We hypothesize that the parathyroid hormone (PTH) elevation not only increased osteoclastic resorption of cortical bone but also simultaneously enhanced cancellous bone formation, giving rise to osteosclerosis. In this report, we describe the changes in trabecular and cortical bone density, as measured by quantitative computed tomography (QCT), in these two young patients with severe PHPT, before and after removal of a parathyroid adenoma.