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.     

Glycogen concentrations and endurance capacity of rats with chronic heart failure

The endurance capacities of rats with myocardial infarctions (MI) and of rats having undergone sham operations (SHAM) were tested during a submaximal exercise regimen that consisted of swimming to exhaustion. During this test, a decrement in the endurance capacity of the MI rat was demonstrated as the SHAM rat swam 25% longer than the MI rat (65 +/- 4 vs. 52 +/- 4 min). Glycogen concentrations were measured in the liver and the white gastrocnemius, plantaris, and soleus muscles of SHAM and MI rats that were randomly divided into four subgroups, which consisted of resting control, swim to exhaustion, swim to exhaustion + 24 h recovery, and swim to exhaustion + 24 h recovery + a second swim to exhaustion. The results demonstrated that the glycogen concentrations found in the liver, white gastrocnemius, plantaris, and soleus muscles of the SHAM and MI rats belonging to the resting control groups were similar. After swimming to exhaustion the glycogen concentrations in these tissues were significantly reduced compared with those found in the resting control groups of rats, and after 24 h of recovery the glycogen concentrations in these tissues were again similar to those found in the resting control groups of rats. Since the magnitude of the glycogen depletion in the liver and the white gastrocnemius, plantaris, and soleus muscles was similar in the SHAM and MI rats and because the SHAM rats consistently swam for longer periods of time in each of the experimental groups, it would be logical to assume that the rates of glycogen utilization for the various tissues may have been greater in the MI rat during exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Use of a photolabeling technique to identify nonviable cells in fixed homologous or heterologous cell populations

Flow cytometric determination of viable versus nonviable cells in fixed samples can be accomplished by utilizing the irreversible binding of photoactivated ethidium monoazide (EMA). EMA is a positively charged molecule which is excluded by cells with intact membranes (viable cells), included by cells with damaged membranes, and can be photochemically crosslinked to nucleic acids using visible light. EMA fluorescence can be excited using a standard argon laser operating at 488 nm and is able to be distinguished from fluorescein and phycoerythrin. Fixation is important when analyzing cells from a potentially infectious origin. EMA is photochemically crosslinked and therefore unable to leak out of cells when removed from the extracellular media, unlike propidium iodide (PI) or other viability stains, which were heretofore commonly used. We demonstrate the usefulness of EMA in combination with fluoresceinated and phycoerythrin labeled monoclonal antibodies in immunophenotyping. The photoaffinity labeling technique allows for a quick and efficient means of identifying nonviable cells which cannot be distinguished on the basis of light-scattering properties.     

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.     

Two bacteria causing farmer's lung: Fine structure ofThermoactinomyces vulgaris andSaccharopolyspora rectivirgula

Larval cuticle ofHelicoverpa (Heliothis)zea and yeast extract added to a minimal medium (MM) induced germination of conidia ofNomuraea rileyi whereas sterile distilled water or MM alone did not. Yeast extract increased mycelial yield, but when cuticle was added, mycelial yield significantly decreased. Proteases and chitinases ofN. rileyi were only expressed when cuticle was added to the MM.This article reports the results of research only. Mention of a proprietary product in this paper does not constitute a recommendation for use by US Department of Agriculture.     

4-Thiaproline reduces heart lipid peroxidation and collagen accumulation in the diabetic db/db mouse

Summary Collagen accumulation is a main pathological feature of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The underlying mechanisms seem to be increased cross linking by reactive carbonyles. The purpose of the study was to decrease the collagen content of total ventricular tissue by the oral administration of thiaproline, which could reduce collagen due to its functions as a proline analogue, blocking collagen production and as a free oxygen radical scavenger, blocking reactive carbonyles and oxygen species and subsequently collagen cross linking.Thiaproline was administered to genetically diabetic db/db mice and compared to untreated animals. Total ventricular collagen as expressed by hydroxyproline was significantly lower in the treated group (means 0.23 micromoles/10 tissue in the treated vs 0.35 micromoles/100 mg tissue in the untreated group, p < 0.001). Significantly more collagen could be eluted in the treated group (p < 0.001) and carboxymethyllysine was significantly reduced in the treated group (p < 0.001). Di-tyrosine and glycemic control did not differ between the groups. Glutathione was significantly increased in the TP treated experimental group (p < 0.001) and lipid peroxidation products were significantly decreased (means 0.221 absorbance in the treated group versus 0.321 absorbance in the untreated diabetic group) correlating with total ventricular collagen content (r = 0.87, p < 0.01).We conclude that thiaproline reduced total ventricular collagen content by inhibiting collagen cross linking as reflected by increased solubility of collagen and expressed by higher elution quantity of collagen. Thiaproline, and/or its metabolites induced increase of heart glutathione which may well have been scavenging reactive carbonyles derived from lipid peroxidation and advanced stage nonenzymatic glycosylation as shown by decreased total ventricular carboxy-methyllysine and lipid peroxidation products paralleling reduced heart collagen content.It remains to be shown that the successful reduction of heart collagen by thiaproline is paralleled by improved functional properties.     

Influence of exercise on the fiber composition of skeletal muscle

Summary Biopsy samples from the vastus lateralis muscle (VLM) of man were examined for fiber composition at rest and at selected intervals during prolonged exercise ranging in intensity from 40% to 75% of the total body maximal oxygen uptake (VO _2max) and one-min bouts of exercise at 150%VO _2max. Because of the heterogeneity of fibers in human VLM, studies were also completed where the effect of exercise on the fiber composition of the rat soleus muscle (SM) was examined. In some animals the SM from one hindlimb was removed 9 days prior to their being exercised after which the remaining SM was removed. Exercise reduced muscle glycogen in all experiments. In the studies with man, blood lactate exceeded 17 mmoles/l after the heavy exercise but was largely unchanged by endurance exercise. Colonic temperature of the exercised rats exceeded 40° C. In studies where fibers were identified only as type I and type II, type II fibers in the VLM of all samples (16) taken at rest averaged 61.2±12.5% as compared to 59.0±12.0% after exercise (54 biopsy samples). In a second series of studies with man where the subtypes of type II fibers were identified, there were also no differences in fiber composition of the VLM after varying periods of exercise. Glycogen content and percent fiber composition were the same in right and left SM obtained from rested rats. Exercise (30 to 40 min) did not alter the fiber composition of the rat SM. These data demonstrate that the histochemically demonstratable myofibrillar actomyosin ATPase of skeletal muscle is not altered by a single exercise bout.     

ESR parameters for cupric bleomycin in the mobilized state

The configuration of the copper complex of the glycopeptide bleomycin, CuBlm, is presumed to be pyramidal square planar from a previous X-ray structural determination of a fragment of cupric bleomycin. This study presents evidence for a difference in the ESR parameters for cupric bleomycin in the liquid as opposed to the solid state. A decrease in Aiso for CuBlm in the liquid state can be directly surmised from the low frequency S-band spectrum for which three of the four cupric hyperfine lines are partially resolved. Computer simulated spectra infer that the absolute value of All increases about 100 MHz and the value of Al may change sign for CuBlm in the liquid state. Simulations using a rotational correlation time of about 250 psec. indicate that CuBLM may not be spherical in the liquid phase. The fastest component for anisotropic motion could dominate and account for the well resolved cupric hyperfine structure. Furthermore, it is argued from an analysis of the cupric hyperfine coupling constants that the CuBlm structure opens up at room temperature and that the cupric ion is displaced from the square plane.