Carcinoembryonic antigen content in fine needle aspirates of the lung. A diagnostic adjunct to cytology.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) was measured in 59 consecutive fine needle aspirates (FNAs) of the lung from 58 patients to determine if the CEA content would enhance the sensitivity of the cytologic diagnosis. Twenty-eight males and 30 females with tumors 1-40 cm in diameter were studied. Final diagnoses were correlated with the clinical history, radiologic studies, tissue (when available) and follow-up. Image-guided FNAs were performed by radiologists using a 22-gauge Chiba needle and 20-mL syringe with one to four passes per specimen. Cytologic examination included rapid assessment in the radiology suite and a final diagnosis in 24 hours. CEA was measured by enzyme immunoassay using monoclonal antibody. Nine benign aspirates and 50 malignant aspirates were diagnosed. The sensitivity of cytology was 86% and specificity, 100%. Using 5 ng/mL as the cutoff, the sensitivity of CEA for malignant aspirates was 50% and specificity, 90%. The combined sensitivity of CEA and cytology was 95%. The mean CEA in malignant aspirates was 131 ng/mL and in benign aspirates, 2.41. The highest mean CEA was seen in adenocarcinoma, 402.6 ng/mL. Lower CEA content was seen in epidermoid carcinoma (58.6 ng/mL), large cell carcinoma (8.09), oat cell carcinoma, metastatic carcinoma of the kidney and breast, thymoma and lymphoma (each less than 1 ng/mL). Elevated CEA alone was diagnostic in two aspirates of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma; carcinoma with an unknown primary source, three; and large cell carcinoma, one. The adjunctive use of CEA in FNAs of the lung enhances the sensitivity of the cytologic diagnosis.     

Aspects of neural plasticity in the central nervous system—III. Methodological studies on the microdialysis technique

Some methodological aspects of the intracerebral microdialysis technique have been investigated: the existence of a pressure gradient at the level of the dialyzing membrane, the substance diffusion from the microdialysis probe and the extent of tissue damage induced by the implantation of the microdialysis probe. At the level of the dialyzing membrane a rough balance between the pressure inside the probe and the one present in the extracellular fluid compartment has been observed. The pattern of substance diffusion in the tissue showed a large variability depending on the substance used and the experimental conditions. Relevant deductions can be made by the use of labeled markers. By means of this approach, the diffusion pattern of tritiated ganglioside GM1 in the tissue around the probe could be shown to follow a biexponential pattern, suggesting a two-step process of diffusion. The degree of tissue damage induced by the microdialysis probe was assessed by analyzing the glial reaction, and was measured by means of semiquantitative immunocytochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity. Only a limited area of neuronal damage was observed in the region surrounding the microdialysis probe. The amount of glial reaction after probe implantation was shown to be comparable with that induced by the implantation of a microinjection cannula.     

Detection of Water in Lipase-Catalyzed Reactions in Reverse Micelles as Studied by Infrared Spectroscopy

The hydrolytic activity of lipolytic enzymes in reverse micelles can be measured continuously with Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) by following in the region of the OH-stretching band the water consumption during the reaction. This possibility is unique to reverse micellar solutions, because they are optically transparent and because they contain only a limited amount of water.     

Chymotrypsin-like enzymes are involved in sperm penetration through the vitelline coat of Ciona intestinalis egg

In Ciona intestinalis, sperm penetration through the egg vitelline coat is an essential event of fertilization. We investigated whether trypsin- and chymotrypsin-like enzymes are involved in this event. Inhibitors and peptide substrates for chymotrypsin-like enzymes blocked the overall process of fertilization in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibitory activity was specifically exerted on the step of sperm penetration. Chymotrypsin-like protease activity was identified in spermatozoa with the fluorogenic synthetic substrate Suc-Ala-Ala-Phe-AMC, which was the most effective substrate in blocking sperm penetration. These data indicate that a chymotrypsin-like protease activity is a sperm lysin of Ciona intestinalis.     

Non-reciprocal cross-incompatibility in Trichogramma deion

In non-reciprocal cross-incompatibility (NRCI), the crossing of a female of a strain A with a male of a strain B results in hybrid offspring, whereas the reciprocal cross produces few or no hybrids. Only females are of hybrid origin in Hymenoptera because they arise from fertilized eggs; males arise from unfertilized (haploid) eggs. Crosses between many strains of Trichogramma deion showed some degree of NRCI. Crosses between a T. deion culture collected in Seven Pines, California (SVP) with one from Marysville, California (MRY) showed an extreme form of NRCI in which practically no female offspring was produced when MRY females were crossed with SVP males. The reciprocal cross produced a close to normal proportion of female and male offspring. Detailed studied of this cross indicated that 1) the female offspring produced in the compatible interstrain cross were not the result of parthenogenesis but were true hybrids, 2) the incompatible interstrain cross did not produce female offspring because fertilized eggs died during development, 3) the death of these eggs could not be prevented by either antibiotic or temperature treatment, 4) cytoplasmically inherited factors causing NRCI could be discounted because backcrossed females with the genome of MRY and the cytoplasm of SVP, exhibit the NRCI relationship characteristic of their genome. Therefore the NRCI between these strains appears to be caused by a modification coded for by the nuclear genes of MRY that results in incompatibility when SVP sperm fertilizes MRY eggs. In addition the level of incompatibility in crosses between the SVP females and MRY males is temperature sensitive, the higher the rearing temperature the lower the level of compatibility.     

Selenium,zinc, and thyroid hormones in healthy subjects

Iodothyronine 5′ deiodinase, which is mainly responsible for peripheral T₃ production, has recently been demonstrated to be a selenium (Se)-containing enzyme. The structure of nuclear thyroid hormone receptors contains Zinc (Zn) ions, crucial for the functional properties of the protein. In the elderly, reduced peripheral conversion of T₄ to T₃ with a lower T₃/T₄ ratio and overt hypothyroidism are frequently observed. We measured serum Se and RBC GSH-Px (as indices of Se status), circulating and RBC Zinc (as indices of Zn status), thyroid hormones and TSH in 109 healthy euthyroid subjects (52 women, 57 men), carefully selected to avoid abnormally low thyroid hormone levels induced by acute or chronic diseases or calorie restriction. The subjects were subdivided into three age groups. To avoid under- or malnutrition conditions, dietary records were obtained for a sample of 24 subjects, randomly selected and representative of the whole population for age and sex. Low T₃/T₄ ratios and reduced Se and RBC GSH-Px activity were observed only in the older group. A highly significant linear correlation between the T₃/T₄ ratio and indices of Se status was observed in the older group of subjects (r=0.54;p<0.002, for Se;r=0.50;p<0.002, for RBC GSH-Px). Indices of Zn status did not correlate with thyroid hormones, but RBC Zn was decreased in older as compared with younger subjects. We concluded that reduced peripheral T₄ conversion is related to impaired Se status in the elderly.     

NADP+-isocitrate dehydrogenase in germinating cucumber cotyledons: Purification and characterization of a cytosolic isoenzyme

The activity of NADP⁺-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH, EC 1.1.1.42) was investigated during the post-germinative growth of cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L. cv. Marketmore) seedlings. Isoelectric focusing showed the presence of several isoenzymes, two of which represented 70–80% of the total NADP⁺-ICDH activity in cotyledons of seedlings grown in the dark. They had pI values between 4.8 and 5.8. The isoenzyme with higher pI was purified to homogeneity by hydrophobic interaction, affinity, hydroxylapatite and anion exchange chromatography. The purified isoenzyme is a dimeric protein, consisting of two apparently identical 43-kDa subunits. It is specific for NADP⁺, inhibited by ATP and by 2-oxoglutarate, whereas it is not inhibited by citrate, succinate, and glyoxylate. The data indicate that NADP⁺-ICDH from cucumber is structurally similar to ICDHs from other plants, but it shows some peculiar biochemical characteristics.     

Molecular genetic characterization of plant somatic hybrids

An efficient and easy method for genetic characterization of plant somatic hybrids is proposed. In a first qualitative approach, four somatic hybrids and their parental species (Nicotiana tabacum andN. plumbaginifolia) were characterized by DNA fingerprinting and Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD). After this, a quantitative estimation of the degree of parental contribution to the hybrids was carried out by means of a slot-blot analysis. Both qualitative methods, showed one hybrid identical toN. tabacum, two almost identical toN. plumbaginifolia, and a fourth similar to this parental species, but with someN. tabacum admixture. The quantitative method, for the same hybrids, gave 83%, 7%, 7%, and 37%N. tabacum DNA contribution, respectively.     

Distribution patterns of the paraneuronal endocrine cells in the skin, gills and the airways of fishes as determined by immunohistochemical and histological methods

Summary The neuro-endocrine cells of fish skin and respiratory surfaces, and their bioactive secretion as far as is known, are reviewed, and compared with similar elements in tetrapods, particularly amphibians. In the skin of teleost fish, immunohistochemistry has shown that Merkel cells react for serotonin, neuron-specific enolase and enkephalins. The pharmacology is not established in dipnoans or lampreys. In some teleosts, neuromasts react for substance P and leu-enkephalins; substance P is also reported from some ampullary organs (electroreceptors). Taste buds of teleosts may react for enkephalin and substance P. Basal cells of taste buds react for serotonin and neuron-specific enolase. Some unicellular skin glands of teleosts express bioactive compounds, including serotonin and some peptides; this ectopic expression is paralleled in amphibian skin glands. The dipnoan Protopterus has innervated pulmonary neuro-endocrine cells in the pneumatic duct region with dense-cored vesicles. In Polypterus and Amia the lungs have serotonin-positive neuro-endocrine cells that are apparently not innervated. In fish gills, a closed type of neuro-endocrine cell reacts for serotonin, an open type for enkephalins and some calcium-binding proteins (calbindin, calmodulin and S-100 protein). The functions of neuro-endocrine cells in fishes await investigation, but it is assumed they are regulatory.