Phenotypic variability and therapeutic implications of Candida species in patients with oral lichen planus

We investigated the prevalence and phenotypic variation of Candida species in oral lichen planus (OLP) and the therapeutic implications of our findings. Eighty patients with clinically and histopathologically confirmed cases of OLP (64 non-erosive, 16 erosive) and a control group of 80 healthy individuals with no predisposing factors for oral candidiasis were examined for evidence of Candida infection. Oral swabs and smears were obtained for cytology and culture. Identification, speciation and antifungal susceptibility tests of Candida isolates were performed using an automated microbial identification system. Fifty percent of erosive OLP cases, 28% of non-erosive cases and none of the controls showed evidence of Candida. Candida albicans was found predominantly in non-erosive OLP, while other Candida species were predominate in erosive OLP. Non-Candida albicans isolates (C. glabrata, C. krusei) were resistant to the commonly used antifungals, clotrimazole and fluconazole. Candida infection is common in cases of OLP. We recommend antifungal sensitivity testing prior to antifungal therapy for the erosive form of OLP.     

Estrogen-Induced Synthesis of Yolk Proteins in Roosters

Vitellogenin is the serum precursor of the yolk proteins -lipovitellin,rß-lipovitellin, and phosvitin. The precursor canbe dissociated to produce the yolk proteins only by proteolyticenzymatic action, to which it is very susceptible. Denaturationin sodium dodecyl sulfate, combined with reduction of disulfidebridges and blocking of thiols, yields a complex with a molecularweight of 200,000 to 250,000. -Lipovitellin contains three polypeptides,with molecular weights of about 135,000, 105,000, and 40,000,and rß-lipovitellin is composed of two polypeptidechains with molecular weights of 135,000 and 30,000. The 40,000subunit of -lipovitellin and both rß-lipovitellinsubunits are phosphopeptides We tested RNA isolated from the liver of estrogen-treated roostersfor mRNA activity in a cell-free reticulocyte system. The vitellogeninmRNA has a sedimentation coefficient greater than 28S and thuscontains enough information to code for a long polypeptide chain.Estrogen administration to roosters induces the appearance ofvitellogenin and a lowdensity lipoprotein, the syntheses ofwhich are not coordinated. The course of vitellogenin synthesiswas calculated from accumulation and turnover data, and it wasfound that from about 25 hr after estradiol-17rß administrationthe rate of vitellogenin synthesis increases linearly for severaldays, paralleling an increase in vitellogenin-synthesizing polysomes.Thus, we estimate a constant translation rate of about 8 aminoacids per ribosome per sec. A "memory" effect is observed when a second hormone dose isgiven some time after the vitellogenin induced by the firstdose has disappeared from the blood. After the second dose vitellogeninsynthesis is detected sooner, and its initial increase is morerapid, than after the first dose. Although the synthesis ofvitellogenin starts 3 to 4 hr after the second as well as afterthe first injection, the rate of synthesis after the first injectionincreases much more slowly during the first 15 hr than duringthe subsequent period of linear accumulation, whereas afterthe second injection the linear increase in the rate of synthesisbegins immediately after the lag period of 3 to 4 hr. The "memory"effect is undiminished even 50 days after the first hormonedose; thus, the causative factor either is very stable or issynthesized in great excess during the first stimulation. Whenthe second injection is given during the descending part ofthe turnover curve, an increase in vitellogenin synthesis isobserved within 3.5 hr. There are thus at least three different effects of estradiol;(i) the "memory" effect, which probably is due to commitmentor differentiation of vitellogenin-synthesizing cells; (ii)the effect that causes the committed cells to give full responseafter the 3- to 4-hr lag period; and (iii) the effect that causesthe immediate response. To explain these results we suggestthat committed cells can synthesize vitellogenin mRNA only duringa certain period of the cell cycle.     

Absence of Adenine-Rich Ribonucleic Acid from Purified Infectious Reovirus 3

The basic properties of released and cell-associated reovirus are the same. Both contained as their total nucleic acid complement only double-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) with an adenine content of 28%. Preparations of purified cell-associated virus, but not released virus, contained adenine-rich RNA which could be separated from the virus with little or no loss of infectivity. These adenine-rich ribonucleic acids were present in the virus preparations either as free RNA or associated with some structures of molecular weight less than 25 x 10(6) daltons. In contrast to our previous report, double-stranded reovirus RNA possessed little or no template activity for the Escherichia coli deoxyribonucleic acid and RNA polymerases.     

Specific stimulation of ribosomal RNA synthesis in E. coli by a protein factor

Summary Ribosomal RNA synthesis in a purified system is stimulated by a crude protein fraction prepared from E. coli. The positive effector which is not associated with RNA polymerase, nor is the sigma factor, increases the initiation frequency on a rRNA operon. The additional rRNA synthesis is inhibited by ppGpp to the same extent as the basal one.The evidence presented points to the existence of a positive control element for rRNA synthesis, which activity depends upon the physiological state of the cell.     

Isolierung und Eigenschaften von Lipofuscin aus Herzgewebe des Menschen

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 5 TextabbildungenDie Verfasser möchten auch an dieser Stelle Herrn Professor Dr.R. Böhmig, Direktor des Pathologisch-Bakteriologischen Instituts der Städtischen Krankenanstalten Karlsruhe, für seine unermüdliche, selbstlose Mithilfe bei der Durchführung der Versuche von Herzen danken. Ein Teil der Kosten der Untersuchungen wurde durch eine Sachbeihilfe der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft und durch eine großzügige Spende von FräuleinA. Benckiser, Karlsruhe, gedeekt, denen auch an dieser Stelle gedankt sei.     

Enzymatic Elimination of Collagen in the Alcian Blue Staining of Connective Tissue Ground Substance

Collagenase pretreatment of frozen-dried sections permits Alcian blue staining of mucopolysaccharides of connective tissue ground substance without the interference of collagen staining. Hyaluronidase elimination of Alcian blue staining confirms mucopolysaccharide as a substrate of the staining reaction.     

Enhanced Sensitivity of "Metabotropic" Glutamate Receptors After Induction of Long-Term Potentiation in Rat Hippocampus

Stimulation of [3H]inositol monophosphate ([3H]InsP) formation by ibotenate or trans-1-aminocyclopentyl-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (t-ACPD) in rat hippocampal slices was enhanced after tetanic stimulation of the Schaffer collaterals projecting to the CA1 region (in vitro) or the perforant pathway projecting to the dentate gyrus (in freely moving animals). This effect was observed 5 h (but not 2 h) after long-term potentiation (LTP) induction and was abolished if tetanic stimulation was performed in the presence of specific antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. The delayed increase in excitatory amino acid-induced polyphosphoinositide (PPI) hydrolysis was accompanied by an enhanced responsiveness to norepinephrine, whereas the basal and carbamylcholine-stimulated [3H]InsP formation were unchanged. These results suggest that an increased activity of "metabotropic" glutamate receptors may contribute to the synaptic mechanisms enabling the late expression and or maintenance of LTP. Accordingly, LTP decayed more rapidly (within 5 h) in rats repeatedly injected with LiCl (60-120 mg/kg, i.p., for 10 days), a treatment that led to a reduced efficacy of ibotenate and norepinephrine in stimulating PPI hydrolysis in hippocampal slices.