L-forms of bacteria in the urine of patients with chronic pyelonephritis]

The authors present the data concerning the study of 200 patients suffering from chronic pyelonephritis; in 28 of these L-forms of bacteria were revealed in the urine. Of 46 L-cultures isolated from these patients 13 reversed into bacterial forms, 8 failed to reverse and were referred to the stable L-forms; the rest 25 L-cultures perished during the 8th--10th passage. This led to a supposition that the relapses and exacerbations of the infectious process in pyelonephritis were associated with the change of the L-forms into bacterial ones, and that the persistence of the L-forms in the kidney tissue promoted the maintenance of the chronic process.     

Comparative characteristics of the adhesive properties of microorganisms isolated from the urine of children with chronic obstructive pyelonephritis

The adhesive properties of 215 cultures, including 215 Escherichia coli strains, 43 Klebsiella pneumoniae strains and 60 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from the urine of 124 children with chronic obstructive pyelonephritis were studied in the direct hemagglutination test simultaneously with those of 30 E. coli strains and 20 K. pneumoniae strains isolated from the feces of 50 healthy children, as well as 60 P. aeruginosa strains isolated from children with parenteral infections of other localization. E. coli and K. pneumoniae strains isolated from the urine of children with chronic obstructive pyelonephritis were found to have D-mannose-resistant hemagglutinins (68% and 37.2%) and a combination of mannose-sensitive and mannose-resistant adhesins (44.6% and 13.3% respectively). P. aeruginosa strains isolated from the urine of urological patients in the postoperative period showed the presence of mannose-resistant hemagglutinins to a greater extent (76.6%) than those isolated from children with parenteral infections of other localization (45%).     

Isolation and characterization of peptidoglycans in urine from patients with mucopolysaccharidoses

Urinary dermatan sulfate (DS) and heparan sulfate (HS) were purified from mucopolysaccharidosis patients. DS shows average mol. wt 8600-12,000 (approx. one half of tissue DS), iduronic acid content 99.1-99.6% (81.8% in tissue DS), core peptide mostly di- or tri-peptide (--Ser--Gly--or--Ser--Gly--Glu--). Molecular weight of HS ranged from 2500 to 20,000, averaging about 5000. Highly sulfated HS was found in the low molecular weight fraction, and no bound core peptide. By contrast, HS in the high molecular weight fraction bound one sulfate per repeating unit, which include core peptide.     

Detection of latent bacteriuria in patients with chronic pyelonephritis

Diagnostic possibilities of selective examination of renal urine particularly collected under medicamentous polyuria conditioned by the administration of Lazix were studied in latent bacteriuria. By means of separate collection of renal urine against the background of polyuria it was possible additionally to detect bacteriuria in 1/3 of the patients, to record increase in the intensity of the index in almost half of the patients with renal bacteriuria and, in 1/4 of them to detect, in renal urine, the aetiological agent absent from bladder urine. The latter circumstance not only has a diagnostic significance but also plays a certain role in the selection of medicamentous therapy in chronic pyelonephritis. In addition to traditional bacteriological methods, filtration through membrane filters was used to isolate and identify microflora in the urine. By means of this method it is possible to detect extremely low bacteriuria which cannot be established by any other method.     

Isolation of complement protein D from urine of patients with Fanconi's syndrome

Complement protein D is the least abundant of all complement proteins and, thus, one of the most difficult to purify. We report a new method for obtaining pure D from urine of patients with Fanconi's syndrome. The method is simple and allows the purification of milligram amounts of D within a few days. It involves three chromatographic steps using Bio-Rex 70, hydroxylapatite HPLC, and reverse-phase HPLC. Protein D purified by this method is suitable for both functional and structural studies.     

Isolation of folded chromosomes from Mycoplasma hyorhinis.

Folded chromosomes were isolated from Mycoplasma hyorhinis. When examined by electron microscopy, these molecules show variability of loop size, number of loops, total contour length and degree of twisting of the DNA. Sedimentation velocity was unaltered after treatment with RNase, proteinase K, SDS, temperatures up to 65 degrees C and NaCl concentrations from 0.1 M to 4 M.