Cryptococcosis as an opportunistic infection in immunodeficiency secondary to paracoccidioidomycosis

We describe the case reports of two patients with immunodeficiency secondary to paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) and opportunistic Cryptococcus neoformans infections. Secondary immunodeficiency likely occurred as a consequence of the intestinal loss of proteins and lymphocytes associated with malabsorption syndrome due to obstructed lymphatic drainage. Both patients had had severe abdominal involvement during the acute PCM disease. Immunological evaluation showed cellular and humoral immunity impairment. Cryptococcosis manifested as relatively well circumscribed lesions: osteolytic lesions of the skull in one patient, and pulmonary nodules in the other. The latter was treated surgically and with amphotericin B, whereas the other was treated with the combination amphotericin-B and flucytosine. Both patients had a good response to treatment with complete regression of the lesions. They have now 2 and 4 years of follow-up with maintenance therapy and no indication of reactivation of the infection. PCM also did not reactivate. The clinical and immunological characteristics of these patients are discussed and compared to the opportunistic C. neoformans infections of AIDS and transplant patients.     

Effect of prior ingestion of glucose or fructose on the performance of exercise of intermediate duration

The metabolic responses induced by the ingestion of a beverage containing glucose (G), fructose (F) or placebo (W) 30 min before exercise of high intensity and intermediate duration have been investigated; in these conditions the energy processes are mostly dependent on aerobic reactions. A group of 11 male recreational sportsmen ran on a treadmill, at an intensity corresponding to 82% of peak oxygen consumption, until exhaustion on three different occasions (after ingestion of a beverage containing 75 g of G, 75 g of F or W). Plasma glucose, insulin, and lactic acid concentrations were determined just prior to the ingestion of the beverages, 30 min afterwards and 10 and 30 min after completion of the exercise. The mean endurance time was 644 (SD 261) s after the ingestion of G, 611 (SD 227) s after the ingestion of F and 584 (SD 189) s after the ingestion of the W (P < 0.05 between G and W). No differences in the oxygen uptake, respiratory quotient or lactate concentrations between the three trials were observed. Both plasma glucose and insulin concentrations determined in samples obtained immediately before the onset of exercise were higher when G was ingested than when F (P < 0.05 andP < 0.05, respectively) or W (P < 0.001 and P < 0.005, respectively) were ingested. These findings would suggest that the ingestion of G prior to an effort of intermediate duration may improve physical performance.     

Changes in Cellular Fatty Acid Composition of Cephalosporium acremonium during Cephalosporin C Production

Cephalosporium acremonium was cultivated in fermentation medium containing sucrose or methyl oleate as a carbon source for cephalosporin C production. The level of antibiotic production was 48 g of cephalosporin C per liter under optimum conditions when methyl oleate was used. The C_18:1 (oleic acid) methyl ester appeared to be utilized faster than the C_18:2 (linoleic acid) methyl ester in fermentation broth. Physiological characteristics of C. acremonium were investigated by determining the fatty acid composition of the total cellular free lipid. Significant changes in cellular fatty acid composition occurred during inoculum cultivation and fermentation. The percentage of C_18:1 increased from 19.1 to 38.5%, but the percentage of C_18:2 decreased from 56.7 to 36.1%, and there was an increase in pH during inoculum cultivation. The cellular fatty acid composition of C. acremonium grown in fermentation medium containing methyl oleate (methyl oleate medium) was significantly different from that in fermentation medium containing sucrose (sucrose medium). The major fatty acids detected were C_16:0 (palmitic acid), C_18:1, and C_18:2. In methyl oleate medium, the ratio of C_18:1 to C_18:2 increased from 0.34 to 1.37, while the cell morphology changed from hyphae to arthrospores and conidia. In contrast, in sucrose medium, the ratio of C_18:1 to C_18:2 decreased from 0.70 to 0.43, and most of the cells remained hyphal at the end of fermentation. We observed that hyphae contained a higher proportion of C_18:2 but arthrospores and conidia contained a higher proportion of C_18:1.     

IR and Raman spectroscopic studies of the interaction of trehalose with hen egg white lysozyme

Infrared and Fourier transform Raman spectra are reported for dried mixtures of trehalose and lysozyme. The Raman spectra show effects on the protein amide I band and some sugar bands that are not present when the components are dried separately. Comparison of ir spectra with those published previously show significant differences. It is concluded that these arise because of differences in the extent of drying of the moisture, and that, contrary to some claims, vibrational spectroscopy does not so far show any clear evidence of specific trehalose/protein interactions and that results may be interpreted in terms of entrapment of water within the mixture. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Improvement of somatic embryogenesis inFeijoa sellowiana berg (Myrtaceae) by manipulation of culture media composition

Summary Somatic embryos could be induced from the cotyledons of zygotic embryos from immature fruits ofFeijoa sellowiana Berg (Feijoa) in the presence of a wide range of concentrations of fructose, glucose, maltose, and sucrose. Mannitol or sorbitol alone were ineffective. The highest frequencies of induction (99%) and the greatest number of somatic embryos per explant (134) were obtained with 0.4M fructose and 0.3M sucrose, respectively. This sucrose concentration also showed greater induction capacity than equimolar combinations of its monosaccharide constituents combined. Somatic embryo development was arrested at the globular stage at concentrations higher than 0.5M of all the sugars tested. When transferred to solid germination medium containing 2.0 mg/liter (5.77μM) gibberellic acid, 0.5 mg/liter (2.32μM) kinetin, and 0.029M sucrose, somatic embryos formed under 0.3 or 0.4M sucrose had better germination capacity than those induced under lower (0.1 and 0.2M) concentrations, as assessed by the frequency of explants presenting germinated embryos and by the number of plants obtained from those explants. On liquid media of similar composition somatic embryos did not germinate. Our data suggest that high (0.3 to 0.4M) carbohydrate levels improve somatic embryogenesis by acting both as carbon source and as osmotic regulator.     

Circannual Variations in Blood Cholesterol Levels

The seasonality of blood cholesterol is still not well established. Some have described a seasonal pattern with highest levels during autumn and lowest in summer, whereas others have reported no change. A number of studies showed circannual variations with maximum levels in winter and minimum in summer. The aim of this study was to examine the circannual variation of cholesterol in a large cohort in Israel. In the Israeli CORDIS study, employees of 21 factories were screened for cardiovascular disease risk factors during 1985-7. As part of the information gathered, serum cholesterol and blood counts were available for 3,726 men and 1,514 women. Serum cholesterol levels fit a circannual rhythm assessed by the cosinor analysis. Highest levels of serum cholesterol were found in spring and lowest in summer. We conclude that there is a circannual change of serum cholesterol, which could be partially associated with changes in environmental temperature. The circannual variation in serum cholesterol was considerable and should be taken into account when carrying out clinical evaluation of patients.     

A major difference between the divergence patterns within the lines-1 families in mice and voles

L1 retroposons are represented in mice by subfamilies of interspersed sequences of varied abundance. Previous analyses have indicated that subfamilies are generated by duplicative transposition of a small number of members of the L1 family, the progeny of which then become a major component of the murine L1 population, and are not due to any active processes generating homology within preexisting groups of elements in a particular species. In mice, more than a third of the L1 elements belong to a clade that became active approximately 5 Mya and whose elements are > or = 95% identical. We have collected sequence information from 13 L1 elements isolated from two species of voles (Rodentia: Microtinae: Microtus and Arvicola) and have found that divergence within the vole L1 population is quite different from that in mice, in that there is no abundant subfamily of homologous elements. Individual L1 elements from voles are very divergent from one another and belong to a clade that began a period of elevated duplicative transposition approximately 13 Mya. Sequence analyses of portions of these divergent L1 elements (approximately 250 bp each) gave no evidence for concerted evolution having acted on the vole L1 elements since the split of the two vole lineages approximately 3.5 Mya; that is, the observed interspecific divergence (6.7%-24.7%) is not larger than the intraspecific divergence (7.9%-27.2%), and phylogenetic analyses showed no clustering into Arvicola and Microtus clades.