Assessment of arterial stiffness from ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in children with diabetes mellitus type-1 (DMT1).

Pulse pressure (PP) and ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) can be calculated from ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM) and have been suggested as markers of arterial stiffness and predictors of cardiovascular mortality. We retrospectively evaluated PP and AASI from ABPM records in 84 children (43 boys) with diabetes mellitus type-1 (DMT1) compared with 27 non-diabetic normotensive children. Based on office BP and ABPM, patients with DMT1 were divided into three groups: 24/84 (29%) had hypertension (DM HTN), 33/84 (39%) were normotensive (DM NT) and 27/84 (32%) had white-coat hypertension (DM WCH). DM WCH and DM HTN patients had significantly higher PP when compared with DM NT and NT patients alone (47.62 ± 7.31 and 47.43 ± 8.68 versus 41.45 ± 4.44 and 42.18 ± 5.97, respectively, P=0.0002). Similarly, AASI was significantly elevated in both DM WCH and DM HTN patients when compared with NT patients (0.35 ± 0.14 and 0.36 ± 0.15 versus 0.23 ± 0.15, respectively, P=0.007). In conclusion, children with DMT1 and hypertension, including WCH, had significantly higher PP and AASI levels when compared with normotensive patients. This suggests that these children may be at an increased risk for developing cardiovascular complications later on in life.

Faecal contamination and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in street-vended chili sauces in Mexico and its public health relevance.

The street-vended food industry provides employment and cheap ready-to-eat meals to a large proportion of the population in developing countries like Mexico, yet little is known about its role in the transmission of food borne diseases (FBD). Because of its wide consumption, street-vended chili sauces in Mexico are potential vehicles of FBD. An observational study was performed in Mexico City collecting 43 street-vended chili sauces. These sauces were prepared under poor hygienic conditions of handling and selling. Consumers add 4-8 ml of chili sauce per taco, ingest 2-5 tacos per meal and on average, 50 consumers frequent a stall per day. Seventeen (40%) samples were faecally contaminated and 2(5%) sauces harboured sufficient enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli to cause disease. Weestimate that the consumption of only one of these chili sauces could result in ETEC disease inat least 21,000 consumers per year, making them important potential vehicles of FBD.

[Erroneous and complicating diagnoses in patients with the sleep apnea syndrome]. / Chybné a komplikující diagnózy u nemocných se syndromem spánkové apnoe (SAS).

A great number of patients suffering from SAS (19.5% according to our study) exhibit other complicating illnesses. This requires a complex diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Of these complicating illnesses the most frequent are neuropathy, thyreopathy and similar metabolic diseases. A polygraphic investigation alone may not suffice. It is necessary for a neurological specialist, acquainted with sleep disorders. This neurologist co-operates with the other specialists. A correctly indicated therapeutic procedure (conservative or surgical) will prevent a future relapse of the illness.

[Diagnosis of infections caused by atypical mycobacteria]. / K problematice diagnostiky infekcí vyvolaných atypickými mykobakteriemi.

Laboratory methods used for the differentiation of acid resistant rods of the genera Mycobacterium make use of their biological properties, in particular the growth rate on cultivation media, pigment formation, sensitivity for biochemical substances incl. antibiotics, biochemical activity and different relations to animal hosts. By testing these properties it was possible to classify mycobacteria into groups or identify different species in more detail.

Microinjection of cloned proviral Rous sarcoma virus DNAs into Xenopus laevis one cell embryos.

Plasmid pATV8 carrying Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) DNA with one long terminal repeat (LTR) or plasmid pAPrC carrying complete RSV proviral DNA was injected into fertilized eggs of Xenopus laevis. The fate of the exogenous DNAs was followed during embryogenesis. In both cases a new form of DNA, comigrating with endogenous DNA, began to appear shortly after the injection. This new form represented a linear dimer of the injected plasmid that had formed by ligation of linear monomers of the plasmid DNAs. All forms of the exogenous pATV8 DNA disappeared gradually during neurulation. No traces of virus-specific RNA were ever found in any of the following stages. The intensity of replication of plasmid pAPrC DNA in fertilized eggs was greater than that of pATV8 DNA and, in contrast to pATV8, a small amount of pAPrC persisted through the neurula till higher stages. In some experiments virus-specific DNA was even observed in 6-day-old embryos. Digestion with Nsi I and Sac I proved integration of the plasmid into the frog genome. At the stage of gastrula and at later stages a weak signal of viral RNA was also detected.

Protein heterogeneity of Francisella tularensis: detection of proteins with antigenic determinants.

The autolyzates of three different strains of Francisella tularensis 15L, 130 and SCHU were tested for their immunogenic potential and protein heterogeneity. The autolyzates induce the production of specific antibodies, the delayed type of hypersensitivity, and some degree of protection against European virulent strain 130. This material (as antigen) was especially suitable for ELISA. When the autolyzates were subjected to SDS gradient PAGE, a variety of polypeptides were distinguished. The composition of polypeptides from all three strains on SDS-PAGE was almost identical. After the detection of antigenic determinants by Western blotting more than twenty bands appeared. The visualization with polyclonal antisera against live laboratory strain 15L and against autolyzates 15L, 130 and SCHU revealed differences in the composition of the antigenic determinants of these strains.

[Myxoma of the right ventricle. Report of a case operated on]. / Mixoma del ventrículo derecho. Informe de un caso operado.

A case of right ventricular tumor in a 14 year old male is presented. Congestive heart failure and a systolic pulmonary murmur due to right ventricular obstruction were the main symptoms. The diagnosis was confirmed by echocardiogram (M mode) and right ventricular angiography. The surgical treatment was curative and the histological exam revealed a myxoma.

Lack of synthesis of pentamer IgM in Xenopus oocytes after injection of poly(A)+ RNA from hybridoma cells.

Total poly(A)+ RNA was isolated from B cell hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies of the IgM class specific for sheep red blood cells. These RNAs were microinjected into Xenopus oocytes and the translation products were analyzed. Unlike the hybridoma cells, the oocytes synthetized only the light chains and oligomer IgM, but evidence for assembly of functional pentamer IgM was not obtained. The possible reasons for these differences are discussed.

Establishment and characterization of a permanent T-cell line producing an antigen non-specific suppressor factor.

A permanent cell line designated SL4c has been established from a primary culture of murine BALB/c spleen cells regularly stimulated with large doses of irradiated allogeneic cells plus exogenous interleukin-2(IL-2). After 8 months of cultivation, the cells of the SL4c line proliferate spontaneously and do not respond with an increase in proliferation to alloantigenic stimulation. The cells have the Lyt 1.2+, Lyt 2.2-, L3T4a+, Thy 1.2+ phenotype and exert a strong suppressive effect upon stimulation with freshly explanted cells. The SL4c line produces a suppressor factor (SF4c), which inhibits the mitogen-induced proliferation of normal lymphoid cells but does not suppress the proliferation of fibroblasts and sarcoma cells. The suppression is antigen non-specific, is not limited by H-2 restriction nor by interspecies barrier, and is not due to cytotoxic effect. However, the suppression is only detectable if the SF4c is added to the stimulated cells during the early stages of mitogen-induced proliferation. A tentative characterization of the relative molecular weight (MW) of the suppressor molecule based upon fractionation of SF4c supernatant on a Sepharose 6B column shows that the inhibitory activity is confined to the high MW fractions (300,000-350,000). Translation material obtained from Xenopus laevis oocytes, which were injected with RNA preparations isolated from SL4c cells, also shows the suppressive effect.

[Incidence of mycoplasma mastitis in Czechoslovakia]. / Výskyt mykoplazmových mastitid v Ceskoslovensku.

By the mycoplasmic examination of 143 dairy cows exhibiting clinical signs of mastitis, Mycoplasma californicum and M. bovigenitalium were detected as the causal agents of the disease at two localities. The occurrence of specific antibodies in milk, and/or blood serum, was characteristic of the course of the disease, as documented by the results of the examination of more than 300 samples. In some milk samples taken from cows suffering from mastitis of obscure etiology and obtained from State Veterinary Institutes, antibodies to some of the five species of bovine Mycoplasma involved in the disease were found at 22 localities. The antibodies were detected by means of the indirect haemagglutination test and ELISA method. Both these tests are suitable for such an examination, as indicated by the comparison of the results.

Isolation, partial characterization and translation of mRNAs for chymosin and pepsin, the two main aspartyl proteinases of bovine stomach.

Poly(A) RNA from the mucosa of the fundal region of the fourth stomach of suckling calf and adult cattle was isolated by the phenol or guanidine thiocyanate procedure. The mRNAs for chymosin and pepsin were present in the 15S fraction of poly(A) RNA. They were active both in cell-free translation systems and in oocytes of Xenopus laevis and directed the synthesis of either chymosin or pepsin precursor, depending upon the age of the donor animal. In the reticulocyte and wheat germ system only preprochymosin or prepepsinogen were synthesized. In the oocyte system only the synthesis and secretion of prochymosin or pepsinogen could be detected. Both proenzymes, prochymosin and pepsinogen, present in oocytes or secreted into the medium, were converted to active enzymes, chymosin and pepsin, respectively, at pH 3.0, as shown by their proteolytic and milk-clotting activity.

Behaviour of Propionibacterium shermanii in alkaline medium.

Physiological and morphological properties of Propionibacterium shermanii were estimated in a liquid semisynthetic medium of initial pH between 7-10. Prolongation of the lag phase and a shift of the stationary phase occurred at higher initial pH values of the medium. The growth response of the strain depended on the way of glucose addition (either sterilized in the medium or added aseptically after sterilization). At pH 8.5 and higher the cells begin to form slime and capsules. The strain exhibited growth activity even at initial pH values of the medium 11.5

Immunological changes after long-term feeding of germfree piglets with protein isolates and yeast cell walls from Candida utilis as food additives.

Germfree piglets were fed a diet supplemented with cell walls and a protein isolate from Candida utilis for 54 days. Besides morphological signs of activation of the lymphoid tissue which occurred primarily in the intestine of piglets which had been fed yeast cell walls, even an increased serum immunoglobulin level could be detected. In sera and intestinal content of piglets fed both with cell walls and isolated protein, specific antibodies capable of agglutinating yeasts were present. Even though a limited number of experimental animals was employed it can be concluded that the yeast material added to the diet elicited an immune response.

Yersinia enterocolitica in water and foods.

Yersinia enterocolitica (Ye) isolates from water (367 strains) and different foods (114 strains) were typed serologically and biochemically. In some samples, especially of water, several Ye serotypes were found simultaneously. A noteworthy finding was Ye 03, biotype 4 in tinned meat paste that had already been on sale without, however, any case of diarrhoeal disease being reported in the particular district. The food and water strains included all Ye O-serotypes except 09. Numerous strains were untypable, probably possessing unknown O-antigens. Water isolates were less active biochemically than strains of identical serotypes from food sources.