Difficulties in diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly in a patient with a McCune-Albright syndrome. A case report and a review of literature

We describe a female patient aged 43, who at the age of five was diagnosed with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia (FD). The patient was intermittently treated in our department since the age 33, for approximately 10 years, with intravenous bisphosphonates. At the age of 42 acromegaly was diagnosed incidentally, since clinical manifestations were poor, and, if present earlier, they had been related to FD. Only retrospectively, having biochemical confirmation of GH excess, we could relate them to acromegaly. Because of the involvement of the base of the skull there was no possibility of transphenoidal surgery. Long-acting somatostatin analogues were started, but no response was observed, with IGF-1 and GH being even higher during than before treatment. After the 37-year-history of FD, the occurrence of additional endocrine disorder enabled to make diagnosis of McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) even in the absence of two out of three classical manifestations such as café-au-lait skin pigmentation and peripheral precocious puberty in the past medical history.     

Summation of motor unit forces in rat medial gastrocnemius muscle

The summation of contractile forces of motor units (MUs) was analyzed by comparing the recorded force during parallel stimulation of two and four individual MUs or four groups of MUs to the algebraic sum of their individual forces. Contractions of functionally-isolated single MUs of the medial gastrocnemius muscle were evoked by electrical stimulation of thin filaments of the split L5 or L4 ventral roots of spinal nerves. Additionally, contractions of large groups of MUs were evoked by stimuli delivered to four parts of the divided L5 ventral root. Single twitches, 40 Hz unfused tetani, and 150 Hz fused maximum tetani were recorded. In these experimental situations the summation was more effective for unfused tetani than for twitches or maximum tetani. The results obtained for pairs of MUs were highly variable (more- or less-than-linear summation), but coactivation of more units led to progressively weaker effects of summation, which were usually less-than-linear in comparison to the algebraic sums of the individual forces. The variability of the results highlights the importance of the structure of the muscle and the architecture of its MUs. Moreover, the simultaneous activity of fast and slow MUs was considerably more effective than that of two fast units.     

Fructanolytic and saccharolytic enzymes of Treponema zioleckii strain kT

Enzymes in the newly described rumen bacterium, Treponema zioleckii strain kT, capable of digesting Timothy grass fructan, inulin, and sucrose were identified and characterized. Two specific endolevanases and one non-specific β-fructofuranosidase were found in a cell-free extract. The molecular weight of the endolevanases were estimated to be 60 and 36 kDa, whereas that of β-fructofuranosidase, 87 kDa. The former of the specific enzymes was associated with the outer membrane, while the latter and the non-specific β-fructofuranosidase, with the periplasm or cytosol. The K_m and V_max for Timothy grass fructan degradation by endolevanase were 0.27% and 15.75 μM fructose equivalents × mg protein^?1 × min^?1, those for sucrose and inulin digestion by β-fructofuranosidase were 1.35 × 10^?3 M and 1.73 μM hexoses × mg protein^?1 × min^?1 and 1.77% and 1.83 μM hexoses × mg protein^?1 × min^?1, respectively.     

Mapping of sequence-specific markers and loci controlling preharvest sprouting and alpha-amylase activity in rye (Secale cereale L.) on the genetic map of an F2 (S120×S76) population

Location of the loci that control preharvest sprouting and alpha-amylase activity in rye was studied based on intercross S120×S76, consisting of 110 genotypes of F₂ and F₃ progenies. The genetic map currently consists of 141 loci distributed in 11 linkage groups, covering a distance of 506.4 cM, and was enriched during this study with 24 sequence-specific markers (7 SCARs, 7 SSRs, and 10 STSs). The extended map was applied for composite interval mapping of the loci controlling preharvest sprouting and α-amylase activity, revealing 3 significant QTLs for preharvest sprouting, located on chromosomes 3R, 5R and 6R (in 1999), and one QTL for α-amylase activity found on chromosome 2R (in 2000).     

Transcriptomic “portraits” of canine mammary cancer cell lines with various phenotypes

In light of the high incidence of mammary cancer in dogs and completion of the canine genome sequencing, the new possibilities of gene profiling by using DNA microarrays give hope to veterinary oncology. The cell lines isolated from mammary tumors are a valuable tool in developing and testing new pathway-specific cancer therapeutics. Differential cytometric analysis of 6 canine mammary cancer cell lines was performed. We divided cell lines into 3 groups based on their phenotype: 2 lines with high proliferative potential, 2 lines with high antiapoptotic potential, and 2 lines with high metastatic potential. DNA microarray analysis revealed common genes for cell lines of each group. We found that genes encoding the receptors for growth hormone and ghrelin are related to high proliferation rate, whileABR (active BCR-related) andTMD1 (TM2 domain containing 1) genes are related to a high antiapoptotic potential of the cancer cells. Metastatic properties of mammary cancer cells seem to be associated with elevated expression ofPGP (P glycoprotein),SEMA3B (semaphorin 3B), andSTIM1 (stromal interaction molecule 1).     

Frequency of Hospitalization for Angina Pectoris,Stroke, and Peripheral Venous Thrombosis and Its Relationship to Elements in Rainwater in Opole Voivodship,Poland, During 2000–2002

The content of elements in rainwater is an indirect indicator of its occurrence in air dust. This is sometimes referred to as rain fallout and is investigated in applied environmental pollution monitoring schemes. The annual content of elements in rainwater may be recognized as good index for assessing influence of those environmental factors on human body. The possible relationship between the concentrations of selected elements in rainwater and the frequency of hospitalization by reason of angina pectoris, stroke, and peripheral venous thrombosis was investigated in the Opole Voivodship (Poland) area during the period 2000–2002. There is a relatively high or partly significant correlation between frequency of hospitalization by reason of these conditions and content of lead, cadmium, chromium, zinc, and chloride in rainwater. Significant gender-dependent differences were observed only in peripheral venous thrombosis, where important correlations with lead, cadmium, and chromium were found only in men.     

The role of hydrophobic interactions in ankyrin-spectrin complex formation

Spectrin and ankyrin are the key components of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton. The recently published crystal structure of the spectrin-ankyrin complex has indicated that their binding involves complementary charge interactions as well as hydrophobic interactions. However, only the former is supported by biochemical evidence. We now show that nonpolar interactions are important for high affinity complex formation, excluding the possibility that the binding is exclusively mediated by association of distinctly charged surfaces. Along these lines we report that substitution of a single hydrophobic residue, F917S in ankyrin, disrupts the structure of the binding site and leads to complete loss of spectrin affinity. Finally, we present data showing that minimal ankyrin binding site in spectrin is formed by helix 14C together with the loop between helices 15 B/C.     

rDNA-based genotyping of clinical isolates of Candida albicans

The study presents an analysis of the restriction pattern ofrDNA fragments of 95 C. albicans isolates previously classified on the basis of the presence of the intron in rDNA into genotypes A (62 isolates), B (28), and C (5). Most isolates (61) with genotype A were classified as "subtype a" and one as "subtype d" (Karahan and Akar; 2005). No differences were observed in the restriction patterns of the tested genotype B isolates. Similarly, most genotype C strains (4/5) showed the same restriction pattern. The results indicate low subtyping variations of the analyzed isolates, which is in contrast to published data obtained from a Turkish collection of yeasts.