Electro and acoustic myography for noninvasive assessment of lumbar paraspinal muscle function

In 31 normal subjects (17 male), aged 19-48 years, and 8 patients with chronic low back pain (4 male), aged 37-55 years, the repeatability of surface recordings of acoustic myography (AMG) and electromyography (EMG) were examined in the lumbar paraspinal muscles. Five isometric test positions were examined. In 21 of the normal subjects, four positions tested were: quiet standing, half extension from prone lying, full extension from prone with and without resistance. In 10 of the normal subjects and the 8 back pain patients, a standardised, unsupported horizontal position with the upper body over the end of a couch was tested. The AMG and EMG signals were full-wave rectified and integrated (iAMG and iEMG). The variability of recordings during repeated 5-s isometric contractions was assessed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated from the ANOVA. Both recording techniques produced the most repeatable results during the unsupported, horizontal hold position. In the normal subjects, CV were, iAMG 5.6%, iEMG 4.9%; and in the patients, iAMG 4.4%, iEMG 2.6%. The CV for the other four isometric test positions ranged from 15.3% to 29.4% for iAMG, and 8% to 15.7% for iEMG. These results demonstrated that a controlled test manoeuvre for examining AMG and EMG of the paraspinal muscles was vital for repeatable recordings. The CV for the standardised, horizontal position were lower than for previously published results.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Active specific immunotherapy with Newcastle-diseasevirus-modified autologous tumor cells following resection of liver metastases in colorectal cancer

Summary A group of 23 colorectal cancer patients were treated by a new type of active specific immunotherapy (ASI) following complete surgical resection of liver metastases (R0 resection). For ASI treatment we used a vaccine consisting of 1 × 10⁷ autologous, irradiated (200 Gy) metastases-derived tumor cells incubated with 32 hemagglutination units (HU) of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The adjuvant vaccine therapy was started 2 weeks after surgery and was repeated five times at 14-days intervals followed by one boost 3 months later. The delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin reactions to the vaccine were measured as well as the DTH reactions to a challenge test of 1 × 10⁷ non-virus-modified autologous tumor cells from liver metastases or 1 × 10⁷ autologous normal liver cells. In addition 32 HU NDV alone and a standard antigen test (Merieux test) were applied pre- and post-vaccination. The vaccination was well tolerated. In 13 of 23 patients an increasing reactivity against the vaccine was observed during the vaccination procedure. Nine patients (40%) experienced an increased DTH reactivity against autologous tumor cells following vaccination, while 17% or fewer showed an increased reactivity to Merieux test antigens, NDV, or normal liver cells. The increased antitumor response was not correlated to responsiveness to NDV alone, autologous liver cells, enzymes and culture medium used for vaccine preparation or standard antigens (Merieux test). After a follow-up of at least 18 months 61% of the vaccinated patients developed tumor recurrence in comparison to 87% of a matched control groups from the same institution that had been only surgically treated. The results of this phase II trial are encouraging and should stimulate further prospective randomized studies.     

Genotype of Yupik Eskimos with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency

Summary An A-to-G transition in the second intron was the sole mutation detected in four Yupik Eskimo patients with salt-wasting congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Allele-specific hybridization should be an efficient means of performing prenatal diagnosis of the disease in this highly inbred population.     

Genetic and blood coagulation characterization of “Swedish” families with von Willebrand's disease types I and III: New aspects of heredity

Summary Twenty-five patients with von Willebrand's disease (vWD) type III were analysed with regard to blood coagulation variables and possible deletions. Nine of the probands and their families were further investigated with DNA linkage analyses. Different patterns of heredity can be suggested in our families with vWD type III, on the basis of blood coagulation analyses. The findings suggest homozygosity in five families and the possibility of compound heterozygosity or a new mutation in the proband in three families. The linkage analyses confirm the results of the coagulation analyses. The segregation of the von Willebrand factor (vWF) gene can be followed in the families, and carrier diagnosis can be made in several of the probands' relatives. The possibility of large deletions in the vWF gene of the probands and their parents was investigated with probes representing the whole vWF cDNA. No deletions were found.This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Karolinska Hospital (No. 84:1)     

Cytogenetics of human oocytes,zygotes, and embryos after in vitro fertilization

Summary Chromosome errors, inherited or arising de novo during gametogenesis and transmitted at fertilization to the conceptus, may be a major cause of embryonic mortality. The in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF/ET) procedure provides extra material — oo-cytes, zygotes, and embryos — to investigate the contribution of chromosomal abnormality to implantation failure. This paper reviews the results of cytogenetic studies on such material. Estimates from a total of 1120 oocytes from 11 studies give an overall proportion of chromosomal abnormality of 35%. Single and multiple nullisomies and disomies are found, involving nonrandom chromosome gain or loss. Hypohaploid complements are more frequent than hyperhaploid complements. The higher rate of chromosome loss of hypohaploid karyotypes was found to be largely artifactual. The estimated overall frequency of aneuploidy is 13%. In embryos the level of chromosomal abnormality is 23%–40%. Errors of fertilization are responsible for a substantial number of triploid embryos, many of which develop into mosaics. Factors extrinsic to the conceptus, such as infertility, advanced maternal age, and ovarian hyperstimulation, may increase the level of chromosomal abnormality. More refined methods for accurately recognizing and selecting chromosomally normal embryos for transfer are needed to improve the success rate of this reproductive technology.     

Variants of the anti-Müllerian hormone gene in a compound heterozygote with the persistent Müllerian duct syndrome and his family

Summary The human genome contains a large number of interspersed simple repeat sequences that are variable in length and can therefore serve as highly informative, polymorphic markers. Typing procedures include conventional multilocus and single locus probing, and polymerase chain reaction aided analysis. We have identified simple sequences in a cosmid clone stemming from the human Y chromosome and consisting of (gata)_n repeats. We have compared these with two equivalent simple repeat loci from chromosome 12. After amplifying the tandemly repeated motifs, we detected between four and eight different alleles at each of the three loci. Codominant inheritance of the alleles was established in family studies and the informativity of the simple repeat loci was determined by typing unrelated individuals. The polymorphisms are suitable for application in linkage studies, practical forensic case work, deficiency cases in paternity determination, and for studying ethnological questions. The mutational mechanisms that bring about changes in simple repeats located both on the autosomes and on the sex chromosomes, are discussed.Professor Dr. Otto Prokop (Humboldt-Universität Berlin) on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Long term regulation of nucleoside transport by thyroid hormone (T3) in cultured chromaffin cells

The adenosine transport in cultured chromaffin cells was increased by the presence of triiodo-l-thyronine (T₃) throughout the prolonged period studied. The V_max values of this transport obtained in absence and presence of 1 M T₃ were 36.21±2.1 and 44.17±3.5 (means±SD) pmol/10⁶cells/min respectively for 26 hours incubation-time with the hormone. The K_m values were not significantly modified. The number of adenosine transporters in cultured chromaffin cells, measured by [³H]nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBTI) binding, was increased by 1 M T₃ for 26 hours incubation-time. The values of binding sites per cell were 33,500±3,000 and 40,153±3,700 in absence and presence of T₃ respectively, without changing the K_d constant. When the transport studies were carried out in presence of cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, the adenosine transport capacity decreased with a half-life values of 23.9±2.8 and 24.3±2.1 hours both in the presence or absence of T₃ respectively. When cells were incubated in the presence of both T₃ and cycloheximide, not only the activatory effect of T₃ was completely abolished but also adenosine transport was decreased to the same extent as with cycloheximide alone. These results indicated that T₃ activation of adenosine transport in chromaffin cells required the protein-synthesizing mechanism.     

Occurrence of a capsule in Aeromonas salmonicida

Aeromonas salmonicida grown in a medium with excess glucose as carbon source produces both capsular and exocellular polysaccharides. The capsular polysaccharide is composed of glucose, mannose, rhamnose, N-acetylmannosamine and mannuronic acid in the molar ratios of approximately 5:3:0.75:2:1. The extracellular polysaccharide is similarly constituted, but in the molar ratios of approximately 4.75:10.5:1.5:2:1. The capsular and exocellular polysaccharides did not cross-react with monoclonal antibodies against the A-layer or the O-antigen lipopolysaccharide.     

Nutrient transfer between the root zones of soybean and maize plants connected by a common mycorrhizal mycelium

The objective of the study was to determine whether nutrient fluxes mediated by hyphae of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi between the root zones of grass and legume plants differ with the legume's mode of N nutrition. The plants, nodulating or nonnodulating isolines of soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.], were grown in association with a dwarf maize ( Zea mays L.) cultivar in containers which interposed a 6-cm-wide root-free soil bridge between legume and grass container compartments. The bridge was delimited by screens (44 μm) which permitted the passage of hyphae, but not of roots and minimized non VAM interactions between the plants. All plants were colonized by the VAM fungus Glomus mosseae (Nicol. & Gerd.) Gerd. and Trappe. The effects of N input to N-sufficient soybean plants through N₂-fixation or N-fertilization on associated maize-plant growth and nutrition were compared to those of an N-deficient (nonnodulating, unfertilized) soybean control. Maize, when associated with the N-fertilized soybean, increased 19% in biomass, 67% in N content and 77% in leaf N concentration relative to the maize plants of the N-deficient association. When maize was grown with nodulated soybean, maize N content increased by 22%, biomass did not change, but P content declined by 16%. Spore production by the VAM fungus was greatest in the soils of both plants of the N-fertilized treatment. The patterns of N and P distribution, as well as those of the other essential elements, indicated that association with the N-fertilized soybean plants was more advantageous to maize than was association with the N₂-fixing ones.     

Social context and reaction to separation in peer-reared pigtail macaques: Some preliminary observations

The social environment affects both behavioral and physiological responses to separation from the mother. Less information is available on the impact of the social environment on the response to separation in peer-reared infant monkeys. This study reports the responses of peer-reared pigtail macaque infants to repeated separations, and the impact of social versus isolation housing during the separation. The responses of two pairs of monkeys were studied during four three-day separations. One of each pair was housed in isolation during the separation, and the other was with another pair of peers, with whom they had been living for one month prior to the separation. The isolation-housed peer responded to the separation with behavioral agitation, but no depression. The socially-housed peer's behavior did not differ from baseline during the separation. During successive reunions, all the separated monkeys, regardless of housing condition, exhibited declining levels of behaviors related to maintaining proximity to their attachment figure. Although the number of subjects is small, the results suggest that the presence of social support, in the form of a familiar peer, can ameliorate the response to separation, and that with repeated separations the responses of the monkeys changes significantly.