Polymicrobial infective endocarditis in the 1980s.

Clinical experience over the past decade suggests that the number of cases of polymicrobial infective endocarditis has greatly increased. We found 101 reports of cases of polymicrobial endocardial infection in a review of the English-language literature published in the 1980s. The mean patient age, 36.

Characteristics of non-cobalamin deficient patients who receive regular cyanocobalamin injections.

For decades Vitamin B12 injections have been administered to patients with no documented deficiency. A previous study identified a cohort of patients who described vitamin B12-responsive symptoms despite lack of cobalamin deficiency as measured by conventional laboratory tests. These patients have been studied further and, when compared with controls, were found to have had more prescriptions for psychoactive drugs (P less than .

Poorly differentiated primary orbital sarcoma (presumed malignant rhabdoid tumor). Radiologic and histopathologic correlation.

A 47-year-old man presented with acquired hyperopia and gaze-evoked visual loss. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a well-circumscribed intraconal tumor. Histopathologic studies indicated that the tumor was a poorly differentiated primary orbital sarcoma compatible with malignant fibrous histiocytoma or malignant rhabdoid tumor.

The Vlp system of Mycoplasma hyorhinis: combinatorial expression of distinct size variant lipoproteins generating high-frequency surface antigenic variation.

Isogenic populations of Mycoplasma hyorhinis undergo in vitro high-frequency phase variation in the expression of surface lipoproteins; these products also vary markedly in size through changes in periodic protein structure (R. Rosengarten and K.S.

Mapping epitopic regions of cholera toxin B-subunit protein.

Continuous overlapping synthetic hexapeptides representing the entire 103 amino acid sequence of the immunodominant B-subunit protein of cholera enterotoxin were used to examine reactivities of a variety of antisera in attempts to detect and define sequence-related (continuous) antigenic regions. The validity of the methods was established by the reactions of polyclonal antisera raised against longer synthetic peptides with appropriate synthetic hexapeptides. An unexpected cross-reaction is attributed to the presence of three identical amino acids (Gln16-Ile17-His18)--although in different order (Gln56-His57-Ile58)--in two parts of the B-subunit chain.

Leukocyte adhesion-deficient neutrophils fail to amplify phagocytic function in response to stimulation. Evidence for CD11b/CD18-dependent and -independent mechanisms of phagocytosis.

Stimulation of PMN with inflammatory mediators markedly augments Fc and CR1 receptor-mediated ingestion. However, CD11/CD18-deficient PMN from three patients with complete leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD) failed to recruit phagocytic function in response to phorbol esters, cytokine, or Arg-Gly-Asp-containing ligand stimulation. Because stimulated ingestion is protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent, our data indicate that LAD PMN exhibit only PKC-independent phagocytosis.

Admission alcohol level: a predictor of the course of alcohol withdrawal.

Background: Little is known about how to predict the course of alcohol withdrawal. This study explores relationships between alcohol levels at admission to a detoxification unit and the severity and outcome of alcohol withdrawal.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in two institutions, the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center (MMMHC) and the Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital (HSTMVH), of individuals admitted during 1 year.

Immune responsiveness of patients with malignant melanoma and carcinoma of the breast.

Lymphocyte blastogenesis (LB) with PHA, CON-A, PWM, VII (homologous tumor extract) plus T/B ratio for pre-IT, post-IT (2 months), and 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months prior to each VII booster are reported. Pre-IT and post-IT LB-PHA were similar for Stage I (ST I) or Stage II (ST II) breast cancer (BC) patients who expired or survived. The pre-booster results were similar except that prior to death, stimulation with PHA decreased.

Na-Ca exchange: evidence against a ping-pong mechanism and against a Ca pool in ferret red blood cells.

To determine the mechanism of Na-Ca exchange, we estimated the ratio of maximum velocity to Michaelis constant for extra-cellular Ca by measuring the rate of Ca uptake at very low extracellular Ca. In a Ping-Pong mechanism, one set of sites alternatively transports Ca and Na. In a sequential mechanism, Ca and Na sites are both filled during part of the transport cycle.

Impaired diastolic function and coronary reserve in genetic hypertension. Role of interstitial fibrosis and medial thickening of intramyocardial coronary arteries.

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in rats with genetic hypertension is accompanied by abnormal myocardial diastolic stiffness and impaired coronary reserve. Whether these functional defects are related to a structural remodeling of the myocardium that includes an interstitial and perivascular fibrosis, myocyte hypertrophy, and medial thickening of intramyocardial coronary arteries is uncertain. To address these issues, 14-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats with established hypertension and LVH were treated with low-dose (SLO group: 2.

The aging hypertensive kidney: pathophysiology and therapeutic options.

The aging kidney undergoes hemodynamic changes characterized by reductions in glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow. These functional changes are associated with loss of renal mass related to changes in the intrarenal vasculature. The reduced glomerular filtration surface area and subsequent microcirculatory adaptations enhance the risk for development of renal diseases associated with systemic diseases.

Follow-up status of patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries and panic disorder.

Cardiology patients with normal coronary angiography demonstrate continuing and substantial social, health, and work disability. We hypothesized that the diagnosis of panic disorder would mark those for whom continuing disability is most likely. We interviewed 72 such patients at the time of their normal angiogram, and then again an average of 38 months later.

Acute bronchitis in children: building a clinical definition.

Much about acute bronchitis in children is uncertain, even its definition. This study was undertaken to help build a clinical definition to serve as a guide for further research. Charts of 180 children 1 to 12 years old were reviewed.

Social stressors, social supports, and self-esteem as predictors of morbidity in adults with chronic lung disease.

Psychosocial correlates of morbidity and functional status were examined in 44 white adults with chronic lung disease. Demographic characteristics, functional status, stressful life changes, social supports, and self-esteem were assessed at baseline by a self-administered questionnaire. Hospital days, bed-disability days, restricted-activity days, and physician visits were then measured prospectively by mailed questionnaire over the next 6 months.

Accumulation of MVM gene products is differentially regulated by transcription initiation, RNA processing and protein stability.

The accumulation and stability of minute virus of mice (MVMp) RNA and protein as well as comparative strengths of the two viral promoters have been analyzed in highly synchronous infections of murine A9 fibroblasts. Results indicate that there is a temporal phasing of the accumulation of MVM RNA and protein: the RNA products of the P4 promoter appear prior to the products of the P38 promoter and NS1 and NS2 appear prior to the capsid proteins. Total and cytoplasmic spliced RNA accumulate similarly, although there is a lag in cytoplasmic accumulation of about 2 hr.

Serum-induced sensitization of cyclic AMP accumulation in 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells.

Exposure of 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells to fresh medium containing fetal bovine serum induced a marked increase in the subsequent ability of isoproterenol and forskolin to stimulate cAMP accumulation in intact cells, compared with cells exposed to fresh medium without serum. This "sensitization" of cAMP accumulation by serum was dose dependent, occurred rapidly, was maintained in the continuing presence of serum, and reversed rapidly upon removal of serum. Preliminary characterization of the sensitizing factor(s) in serum has been performed, but the factor(s) remain to be identified.

Effects of adenosine receptor agonists on volume-activated ion transport in pig red cells.

Swelling of pig red cells leads to an increase in a chloride-dependent K flux which can be potentiated by cAMP, whereas cell shrinking causes a selective increase in Na movement which is mediated by a Na/H exchanger. We examined the influence of adenosine and adenosine receptor agonists on the volume-sensitive, ouabain-resistant, chloride-dependent K flux, referred to as Rb flux and volume-activated Na/H exchange pathway. It was found that adenosine and adenosine receptor agonists inhibited the Rb flux.

Alpha 2-adrenergic receptor stimulation of phospholipase A2 and of adenylate cyclase in transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells is mediated by different mechanisms.

The effect of alpha 2-adrenergic receptor activation on adenylate cyclase activity in Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with the alpha 2A-adrenergic receptor gene is biphasic. At lower concentrations of epinephrine forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP production is inhibited, but at higher concentrations the inhibition is reversed. Both of these effects are blocked by the alpha 2 antagonist yohimbine but not by the alpha 1 antagonist prazosin.

Metabolic adaptation during erythropoietin-mediated terminal differentiation of mouse erythroid cells.

Metabolic development was examined in erythroid precursor cells, which were isolated from the spleens of mice infected with the anemia-inducing strain of Friend virus (FVA cells). FVA cells undergo differentiation in vitro from the proerythroblast stage through the reticulocyte stage over a 48-hour period in the presence of erythropoietin. Concomitant with marked decreases in cellular size and energy demand, metabolic capacities of both glycolysis and oxygen consumption diminish after 48 hours in culture by 7- and 18-fold, respectively.

A Mycoplasma hyorhinis protein with sequence similarities to nucleotide-binding enzymes.

We have determined the nucleotide (nt) and deduced amino acid (aa) sequence of a unique 115-kDa Mycoplasma hyorhinis protein (P115) with an N-terminal region containing a highly conserved consensus sequence characteristics of nt-binding domains of several ATPase and GTPase enzymes. However, P115 lacked additional conserved features characteristic of some classes of nt-binding proteins. Based on the hydropathy profile of the deduced aa sequence, the absence of a leader peptide, its exclusive partitioning into the hydrophilic phase during Triton X-114 phase fractionation of M.

Rural patients' interests in preventive medical care.

A number of national studies have reported patients' interests in preventive medical care, but rural populations have not been well studied. We surveyed patients from a major clinic in rural central Minnesota to determine their interests in preventive medical care and their physicians' perceptions of those interests. Of 270 patients who responded to a questionnaire, 63-93 percent agreed that physicians should perform a wide variety of primary and secondary preventive medical services, such as periodic health examinations and counseling about smoking, exercise, and diet.

Regulation of calcium-activated potassium efflux by neurotensin and other agents in HT-29 cells.

Neurotensin receptors have been shown previously to be coupled to polyphosphoinositide turnover and intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) mobilization in HT-29 colonic epithelial cells (Bozou et al. Biochem. J.