Hyperthermic treatment of chromomycosis with disposable chemical pocket warmers

A case of chromomycosis in which hyperthermia proved effective is reported. The patient was a 56-year-old male bean curd maker who, without any previous history of minor trauma, developed on the extensor side of the left upper arm an eczematous lesion that underwent gradual radial expansion. The lesion showed a well-defined, 7×10 cm infiltrated erythematous plaque with the central area healed and, at the upper and lower borders, adherent scales and crusts on the surface. Histological examination revealed granulomatous changes in the dermis, as well as sclerotic cells within giant cells and microabscesses. On culturing,Fonsecaea pedrosoi was isolated. The patient was treated with disposable chemical pocket warmers, which were secured over the lesion with a rather tight elastic bandage, so that they kept the affected area warm for 24 hours a day. After a month of such hyperthermic treatment, the erythema and infiltration had decreased considerably, and microscopic examination and culture of the crusts both yielded negative results. Examination of biopsy specimens of the lesion after the third month showed that it had cicatrized. The treatment was stopped after 4 months, and no relapse occurred. We also summarize the published results of local hyperthermic treatment of chromomycosis in Japan.     

Left-handed helix conformation of poly-L-proline II type in globular proteins. Statistics of incidence and a role of sequence]

Regions of left-handed polyproline II type conformation in globular proteins were studied throughout the PDB bank. The length and sequence of corresponding fragments were analyzed. It was found that a lot of tetrapeptides (from combinatorial possible ones) show the tendency to be included in the left-handed helices. Much more tetrapeptides do not occur in this structure type.     

Pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis in immunized mice

Paracoccidioidomycosis was induced in immunized (IM) and non-immunized (NI) mice. The histopathology, the number of fungi in the lungs, the cellular (footpad test — FPT and macrophage inhibition factor assay — MIF) and humoral (immunodiffusion test) immune response were investigated serially postinfection. In the IM mice, at days 1 and 3, there was intense and predominant macrophagic-lymphocytic alveolitis with loose granulomatous reaction; at day 30, inflammation was mild. In the NI group, up to day 3, the lesions were focal; later there was formation of extensive epithelioid granuloma. The number of fungi in IM mice were always smaller than those of NI group. Immunization alone induced positive FPT and MIF indices with low titer of antibody. After infection, there was a significant decrease of the FPT indices in the IM group, which we interpreted as desensitization due to trapping of sensitized lymphocytes in the lungs. In conclusion, (1) The lesional pattern of pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis in IM mice was similar to that of a hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This reaction was probably effective in reducing the extension of the infection and decrease the number of fungi. (2) In this model, pulmonary resistance against P. brasiliensis seems to be related to local and systemic delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction.     

Comparative effects of a recombinant and a mutein type of granulocyte colony stimulating factor on the growth of Meth-A fibrosarcoma with 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of a recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF) and a mutein G-CSF(KW-2228) on leucopenia and tumor growth in mice treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In normal mice, the number of leucocytes (white blood cell, WBC) reached the peak 12 hours after a single injection of either type of G-CSF and decreased to the normal level after 24 hours. Daily administration induced a continuous increase in the WBC count, however, administrations at intervals did not. Meth-A fibrosarcoma was subcutaneously inoculated into the backs of syngeneic BALB/c mice. The mice were treated with 5-FU alone or with G-CSFs. Chemotherapy with 5-FU alone resulted in leucopenia and an insignificant inhibition of tumor growth. The conjunctive administration of G-CSFs with 5-FU resulted in a significantly augmented inhibition of tumor growth, and leukopenia was not seen. This augmenting effect was more prominent with KW-2228.These results suggest that in 5-FU chemotherapy G-CSFs may be beneficial in restoring the number of leucocytes from leucopenic state and in augmenting the tumor inhibitory effect. Furthermore, KW-2228 may be more beneficial than the natural type rhG-CSF.     

Simple methods of enzymatic amplification of DNA for clinical practice]

The methods for enzymatic DNA amplification in vitro that allow to avoid the step of preliminary DNA extraction and purification are proposed. Lysates of blood cells in the solution or immobilized on the nylon membrane filters and dried blood spots on the filter paper blotters were used directly in amplification permitting one to solve the problems of adapting the method of polymerase chain reaction in clinical practice, for instance, in massive screening of genome mutations, viral infections etc.     

Cloning and characteristics of recA gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A recA-like gene from Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cloned and identified by means of interspecific complementation of gene recA repair defect in Escherichia coli. The gene was mapped in the PvuII-HindIII Ps. aeruginosa chromosome fragment of 1.5 kbp in length. Having been recloned in pUC18 or 19 plasmids in either of possible orientations, this fragment was shown to complement three different defects of E. coli recA mutants: in repair, recombination and SOS functions.     

Bidirectional effect of met-enkephalin on macrophage effector functions

Summary Met-enkephalin (ME) exerts a bimodal effect on functional activities of rat peritoneal macrophages (PM); in a range of low concentration (10^-9-10^-7 M) antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC)was markedly stimulated with a simultaneous decrease of Fc receptor (FcR) mediated phagocytosis while the opposite was observed at 10^-6-10^-5 M concentrations.Studying the possible underlying mechanism(s) the followings were recorded: (1) ME in all applied concentrations induced an early Na⁺ influx which was followed by a Ca²⁺ efflux in the range of low concentrations. In the range of high concentrations Na⁺ influx was accompanied by a Ca²⁺ influx. (2) ME at 10^-8 M concentration induced a rise in cGMP level with a plateau in the 60–120th min of incubation. This effect was prevented by 10^-5 M of naloxone. At 10^-6 M concentration a transient rise of cAMP level was recorded which was not affected by naloxone. (3) Verapamil in 10^-6 M abolished both the Ca²⁺ influx and the rise in cAMP level induced by 10^-6-10^-5 M ME but not the rise in cGMP level induced by lower ME concentrations. (4) cAMP elevation by high ME concentrations was abolished by enkephalinase inhibitory puromycin. (5) PM-enkephalinase as assessed by the cleavage of fluorogenic substrate L-alanine beta naphthylamide (ABNA), was inhibited by 10^-6-10^-5 M of ME. This inhibition was abolished by verapamil, but not affected by naloxone. In the range of low concentrations ME appears to act on specific delta opioid receptors and its action is positively coupled to guanylate cyclase. In relatively higher concentrations ME-action is not mediated by specific delta opioid receptors and it appears to involve Ca²⁺ influx, adenylate cyclase activation as well as the processing of hormone by PM-enkephalinase.     

Cloning and regulation of gene expression of EcoRV restriction- modification system

A number of recombinant plasmids, containing EcoRV restriction-modification genes have been constructed. Individual genes of this system were introduced into plasmids of various incompatibility groups. Promoter regions of genes encoding methylase and restrictase have been cloned and studied. With the use of specialized vector pVE8 it was shown that the efficiency of the endonuclease gene promoter is comparable with early lambda phage promoters and produced about 70% of PL efficiency. The efficiency of the methylase gene promoter region was twice less than the efficiency of the restriction endonuclease gene promoter. Plasmid with restriction endonuclease gene promoter located downstream in relation to the additional regulatable phage lambda promoter PL has been obtained. It enabled us to construct strains 30-40 fold overproducing this enzyme under conditions of inactivation of the temperature sensitive phage repressor c1857. This construction directs the production of a high level (10%) of the total cellular soluble proteins) of the EcoRV restriction enzyme. The factors that influenced the level of enzyme synthesis under induction are discussed.     

Gastric colonization withCandida albicans

This is the first report on the isolation ofCryptococcus neoformans from pigeon droppings in China and their serotypes.C. neoformans colonies which produced brown colonies on caffeic acid-cornmeal agar were found in Twenty-five out of thirty-six samples of pigeon droppings. Fifty-one colonies randomly picked from the positive samples were identified asC. neoformans by a commercially available kit for carbon source assimilation test and Christensen's urea agar. Forty (78%) out of the 51 strains were serotyped as A and 11 (22%) as AD. At the same time, seventeen out of nineteen clinical isolates were serotyped as A and 2 as B. There are three findings in our results. One is that onlyC. neoformans var.neoformans strains could be isolated from pigeon droppings, although the varietygattii strains were found in the clinical isolates obtained in the same geographic site in China. The second is that serotype A strains were most frequently seen in natural and clinical materials in the southeast part of China, and serotype AD strains were isolated in pigeon droppings but not in clinical materials. The third is that the coexistence of serotype A and AD cells ofC. neoformans strains in same samples of pigeon droppings were observed.