First Report of Raspberry bushy dwarf virus in Rubus multibracteatus from China.

Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV), genus Idaeovirus, has been reported in commercial Rubus spp. from North and South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Infection can cause reduced vigor and drupelet abortion leading to crumbly fruit and reduced yields (3,4). In recent years, Rubus germplasm in the form of seed, was obtained on several collection trips to The People's Republic of China to increase the diversity of Rubus spp. in the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository, (Corvallis, OR). Before planting in the field, seedlings were tested for the presence of RBDV, Tomato ringspot virus, and Tobacco streak virus using triple-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (TAS-ELISA) (antiserum produced by R. R. Martin). One symptomless plant of R. multibracteatus H. Lev. & Vaniot (PI 618457 in USDA-ARS GRIN database), from Guizhou province in China, tested positive for RBDV (RBDV-China). After mechanical transmission on Chenopodium quinoa Willd., this isolate produced typical symptoms of RBDV (3). To determine if RBDV-China was a contaminant during the handling of the plants, or if the source was a seedborne virus, the coat protein gene was sequenced and compared to published sequences of RBDV. RNA was extracted from leaves of R. multibracteatus and subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers that flank the coat protein gene. Products from four separate PCR reactions were sequenced directly or were cloned into the plasmid vector pCR 2.1 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and then sequenced. The coding sequence of the coat protein gene of RBDV-China was 87.5% (722/825) identical to that isolated from black raspberry (Genbank Accession No. s55890). The predicted amino acid sequences were 91.6% (251/274) identical. Previously, a maximum of five amino acid differences had been observed in the coat proteins of different RBDV strains (1). The 23 differences observed between RBDV-China and the isolate from black raspberry (s55890) confirm that the RBDV in R. multibracteatus is not a greenhouse contaminant but is indeed a unique strain of RBDV. In addition, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to RBDV (2) were tested against RBDV-China. In these tests, MAb D1 did not detect RBDV-China, whereas MAb R2 and R5 were able to detect the strain. This is the first strain of RBDV that has been clearly differentiated by MAbs using standard TAS-ELISA tests. Although RBDV is common in commercial Rubus spp. worldwide, to our knowledge, this is the first report of RBDV in R. multibracteatus, and the first report of RBDV from China. The effects of this new strain of RBDV could be more or less severe, or have a different host range than previously studied strains. It is more divergent from the type isolate than any other strain that has been studied to date. Phylogenetic analysis of coat protein genes of RBDV may be useful in understanding the evolution and spread of this virus. References: (1) A. T. Jones et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 106:623, 2000. (2) R. R. Martin. Can. J. Plant. Pathol. 6:264, 1984. (3) A. F. Murant. Raspberry Bushy Dwarf. Page 229 in: Virus Diseases of Small Fruits. R. H. Converse, ed. U.S. Dep. Agric. Agric. Handb. 631, 1987. (4) B. Strik and R. R. Martin. Plant Dis. 87:294, 2003.

Pharmacologic limits of the protective effect of polyaspartic acid on experimental gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

Polyaspartic acid (PAA) ameliorates experimental gentamicin nephrotoxicity despite marked accumulation of gentamicin in the renal cortex. The experiments described here probe the extent of PAA's nephroprotective action when increasing doses of gentamicin, in excess of an established nephrotoxic dose (40 mg/kg of body weight per day), are administered. After 10 days, virtually complete nephroprotection was conferred by PAA coadministered to animals receiving three times the nephrotoxic dose (120 mg/kg/day) of gentamicin.

Duration of the protective effect of polyaspartic acid on experimental gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

It is known that daily polyaspartic acid (PAA) protects the kidney from gentamicin nephrotoxicity in a standardized rat model despite marked cortical accumulation of the aminoglycoside. The present experiments address the duration of PAA protection. When administered every other day, PAA provided functional and histologic protection against gentamicin-induced toxicity. A stepwise reduction in nephroprotection occurred as the dosage interval was prolonged.

Detection of pea seedborne mosaic potyvirus by sequence specific enzymatic amplification.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect pea seedborne mosaic potyvirus (PSbMV) pathotype P1 RNA after reverse transcription of total nucleic acid preparations from pea (Pisum sativum) tissues. Tissues assayed for PSbMV included leaves, roots, petals, seed parts, and pollen. Three oligonucleotide primers in appropriate combination yielded two products of the predicted size: 730 and 1200 bp. The described methodology allows for rapid pathotype-specific PSbMV detection with utmost sensitivity and wide applicability.

Long-term protection of polyaspartic acid in experimental gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

Polyaspartic Acid (PAA) protects the kidney from experimental gentamicin nephrotoxicity despite large increases in renal cortical gentamicin content. In these experiments, prominent cytoplasmic vacuoles were noted in all animals that received PAA with or without gentamicin. The present study showed that there were no renal structural or functional consequences of PAA given alone or with gentamicin for up to 14 days, followed by a 16-week washout period. Creatinine clearance was similar to that of controls in animals that received gentamicin and in those that received PAA alone. Thus, complete functional protection was conferred by PAA and gentamicin, confirming previous reports from our laboratory. There was no protection by PAA from the nephrotoxic effects of mercuric chloride and cis-platinum.

Influence of daptomycin on staphylococcal abscesses and experimental tobramycin nephrotoxicity.

The antibacterial efficacies of daptomycin and vancomycin were compared in male Fischer rats with subcutaneous abscesses caused by either methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) or methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The influence of daptomycin on tobramycin nephrotoxicity was also assessed. MSSA or MRSA abscesses were treated with subcutaneous daptomycin (10 mg/kg every 12 h), vancomycin (125 mg/kg every 12 h), or diluent (every 12 h) for 5 to 10 days. Rats in both antibiotic treatment groups had lower abscess bacterial counts than did controls at days 5 and 10 (P less than 0.0025). The daptomycin treatment groups had lower abscess bacterial counts than did the vancomycin treatment groups for MSSA at day 5 (P less than 0.0025) and day 10 (P less than 0.025) and for MRSA at day 10 (P less than 0.0025). Nephrotoxicity treatment groups included animals treated for 3, 7, 10, 14, and 17 days with subcutaneous diluent (every 12 h), daptomycin (20 mg/kg every 12 h), tobramycin (40 mg/kg every 12 h), and the combination of daptomycin and tobramycin. Compared with controls, animals treated with daptomycin alone exhibited no detectable nephrotoxicity. Rats given tobramycin alone developed functional and histopathologic abnormalities from days 7 through 17. Animals treated with daptomycin and tobramycin for 14 days had a lower mean concentration of creatinine in serum (P less than 0.005), higher mean creatinine clearance values (P less than 0.05), and less cortical tubular cell regeneration (P less than 0.05) than did rats treated with tobramycin alone. In rats with staphylococcal subcutaneous abscesses, daptomycin was superior to vancomycin in treating both MSSA and MRSA. Daptomycin alone caused no detectable renal injury, and in rats given daptomycin combined with tombramycin, there was less histologic and functional renal injury than in animals given tobramycin alone.

Polyaspartic acid prevents experimental aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity.

The influence of the polyamino acid polyaspartic acid (PAA) on experimental aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity was determined. PAA prevented all measured functional and pathologic evidence of gentamicin nephrotoxicity for less than or equal to 27 d of study. All the animals given PAA, either alone or with gentamicin, developed prominent cytoplasmic vacuoles in the cells of the renal proximal convoluted tubules; the vacuoles in rats given just PAA differed from those observed in rats given PAA plus gentamicin. Rats given PAA plus gentamicin accumulated roughly 10 times more renal aminoglycoside as did rats given gentamicin alone. Immunohistochemical localization studies confirmed the presence of increased amounts of gentamicin in the cytoplasm of the tubular cells of animals given gentamicin plus PAA. PAA did not alter the in vitro antimicrobial activity of gentamicin versus Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These studies demonstrate the ability of PAA to prevent experimental gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

The influence of tobramycin dosage regimens on nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, and antibacterial efficacy in a rat model of subcutaneous abscess.

The influence of dosage regimen on the nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, and antibacterial efficacy of tobramycin was assessed in Fisher rats with Pseudomonas aeruginosa subcutaneous abscesses. A subcutaneous tobramycin dose of 10 mg/kg every 4 h resulted in peak and trough serum concentrations that approximated those currently recommended for patients. Subsequently, the influence of this subcutaneous dosage regimen was compared with three other regimens that administered the same total daily dose: 20 mg every 8 h, 30 mg every 12 h, and 60 mg every 24 h. Renal injury was assessed by measuring inulin clearance and in vivo synthesis of renal DNA and by histopathology. Cochlear histology was also assessed. The number of P. aeruginosa per abscess was quantitated. In animals with infected abscesses, there was a consistent trend of greater kidney injury with the more-frequent dosage regimens. There was no evidence of cochlear toxicity in any group. All regimens were equally effective in reducing the number of P. aeruginosa in subcutaneous abscesses.

Vancomycin enhancement of experimental tobramycin nephrotoxicity.

The influence of vancomycin on tobramycin nephrotoxicity was assessed in male Fischer rats. Treatment groups included controls receiving diluent and groups receiving vancomycin alone at a dosage of 200 mg/kg (body weight) per day, tobramycin alone at a dosage of 80 mg/kg per day, and a combination of vancomycin and tobramycin at the above dosages. All regimens were injected on a twice-a-day schedule. The animals were sacrificed on days 1, 3, 10, 14, 17, and 21. When compared with controls, animals receiving vancomycin alone exhibited no detectable renal toxicity. Compared with the case with controls, tobramycin alone was toxic, as manifested by lower mean animal weights, increased blood urea nitrogen concentrations on days 14 and 17 (P less than 0.005), increased serum creatinine concentrations on days 17 and 21 (P less than 0.005), and the presence of renal cortical tubular necrosis and regeneration. When compared with tobramycin alone, the combination of vancomycin and tobramycin caused earlier and more severe toxicity. By day 10, the magnitude of weight loss, the rise in blood urea nitrogen, and the increase in serum creatinine concentration were all greater in the rats given the combination of vancomycin plus tobramycin than in the animals given tobramycin alone (P less than 0.005). In addition, there was more proximal tubular necrosis and regeneration in rats given vancomycin plus tobramycin compared with those given tobramycin alone. In this animal model, vancomycin alone caused no detectable renal injury, tobramycin alone produced minimal proximal tubular damage, and the combination of vancomycin and tobramycin resulted in a greater degree of kidney injury than observed with tobramycin alone.

Attenuation of experimental tobramycin nephrotoxicity by ticarcillin.

It is well known that in vitro the combination of carbenicillin, ticarcillin, or other antipseudomonal penicillins with gentamicin, tobramycin, or other aminoglycoside antibiotics results in the inactivation of the antibacterial activity of the aminoglycoside. To assess the influence of the in vivo interaction of tobramycin and ticarcillin on experimental nephrotoxicity, male Fischer 344 rats were given either tobramycin alone (120 mg/kg per day), tobramycin (120 mg/kg per day) and ticarcillin (250 mg/kg per day) concomitantly, or the combination of these drugs at the same doses that had been preincubated for 24 h and at the time of delivery contained but 63 and 25%, respectively, of the initial concentrations of tobramycin and ticarcillin as measured by conventional analytical procedures. Initial experiments were conducted to determine the concentrations of the antibiotics in serum achieved after administration of each test solution. After a single dose of the test solution, ticarcillin concentrations in serum were higher and more prolonged in rats given tobramycin plus ticarcillin than in rats given ticarcillin alone. After 7 days of exposure to the test solutions, inulin clearance in animals given tobramycin alone was 0.15 +/- 0.1 (mean +/- 2 standard errors) ml/min per 100 g of body weight as compared with 0.53 +/- 0.1 in rats given tobramycin and ticarcillin concomitantly, 0.59 +/- 0.1 in animals given the partially inactivated tobramycin-ticarcillin mixture, and 0.79 +/- 0.1 in control rats. Although there was some improvement in inulin clearance in the group containing tobramycin alone, the three treatment groups maintained the same rank relationship in inulin clearance through 14 days of treatment. Real histology confirmed the attenuation of tubular injury in animals given tobramycin and ticarcillin concomitantly. There was no evidence of toxicity from the presumed inactivation complexes of tobramycin-ticarcillin. These results document an in vivo protective effect of ticarcillin on experimental tobramycin nephrotoxicity.

Nephrotoxicity of the constituents of the gentamicin complex.

Commercial gentamicin C is a mixture of gentamicin C1, C1a, and C2. The nephrotoxicity of each of these constituents was compared with that of the gentamicin complex. After seven days the mean creatinine level in serum was 0.8 mg/dl in rats given C2 and 0.5 mg/dl in rats given C1, C1a, or the gentamicin complex (P less than .001). Toxicity attributable to C1a was not detected until day 14, and only minimal toxicity was noted in C1-treated rats after 21 days. Nephrotoxicity caused by the gentamicin complex was similar to that caused by C2. By a new high-pressure liquid chromatographic method, the renal concentration of C1, C1a, and C2 was quantified in rats given the gentamicin complex. The results indicated an early, preferential renal accumulation of C2. Subsequently, the C2 content of 12 commercial lots of gentamicin C was measured. The C2 concentration ranged from 12.4 to 20.1 mg/ml. In short, experimental nephrotoxicity from gentamicin C is largely the result of the C2 constituent, and the concentration of this constituent in commercial preparations of gentamicin varies by as much as 7.7 mg/dl.

Patterns of inflammation in prostatic hyperplasia: a histologic and bacteriologic study.

In a series of 162 cases of surgically resected hyperplastic prostates the incidence of inflammation is 98.1%. Six morphologic patterns of inflammation are described: 1) segregated glandular inflammation, 2) periglandular inflammation, 3) diffuse stromal inflammation, 4) isolated stromal lymphoid nodules, 5) acute necrotizing inflammation and 6) focal granulomatous inflammation. The most common pattern, segregated glandular inflammation, is characterized by intraluminal neutrophils and foamy macrophages and by chronic inflammatory cells in the surrounding stroma. No significant morphological differences are found among groups of cases with positive and negative evidence by culture of bacterial prostatic infection. Quantitative but not qualitative morphologic differences are found between cases of gram-negative infections and infection by gram-positive organisms that often are considered non-pathogens.

Localized hemosiderosis as a sequela of acne.

Dark blue-black pigmentation has persisted in areas of previous acne scarring in a young woman. By histologic and electron microscopic examination, the pigment is demonstrated to represent hemosiderin. Much of the hemosiderin is lying free within macrophages, not bound by lysosomal membranes that normally would protect the cell from this toxic material.

Immune-complex-mediated glomerulonephritis and pulmonary hemorrhage simulating Goodpasture syndrome.

Two female children whose clinical presentations and renal light-microscopic findings were consistent with Goodpasture syndrome are described. Immunopathologic studies demonstrated granular deposition of immunoglobulins and complement, suggesting that the renal disease was mediated by circulating immune complexes and not by anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody. Anti-GBM antibody was absent in both patients. These patients represent the first report in children of idiopathic nephritis due to immune complexes with associated pulmonary hemorrhage. The findings raise some doubt as to the accuracy of previous reports of Goodpasture syndrome in children, and also demonstrate the diagnostic and therapeutic importance of evaluation the renal immunopathology in the child with nephritis and pulmonary hemorrhage.

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease due to pyrrolizidine (Senecio) poisoning in Arizona.

An infant with documented hepatic veno-occlusive disease due to ingestion of pyrrolizidine alkaloids is presented. The alkaloids were ingested in the form of an herbal tea commonly used as a folk remedy among the Mexican-American population. Among these people, this herb is known as gordolobo yerba. The patient presented with acute hepatocellular disease and portal hypertension which progressed over 2 months to extensive hepatic fibrosis. Other potential causes of hepatic venous occlusion were absent.

Subependymal and intraventricular hemorrhages in the newborn.

The pathogenesis of intraventricular hemorrhage in the newborn includes that of subependymal hemorrhage (SEH), the single most common pathologic alteration seen in the brains of 417 consecutively autopsied infants. A clearly recognizable relationship of SEH to gestational age and clinical status exists in that all SEH occur in premature infants under 2500 g birthweight (although only 56% of all premature infants have SEH) and 95% of SEH occur in infants with the respiratory distress syndrome (although only 60% of infants with the respiratory distress syndrome have SEH). The pathogenesis appears to involve a combination of hypoxia, metabolic acidosis, venous stasis and rupture of the thin-walled veins so prominent in the germinal matrix.