ABSTRACT
The effects of Schistosoma japonicum infection on the concentrations of zinc in serum, liver, spleen and muscle and on the concentrations of retinol in serum and liver were studied in 48 pigs. Twenty-four of the pigs were each infected by intramuscular inoculation with 2000 cercariae of S. japonicum in medium and the rest were similarly inoculated with parasite-free medium, as controls. On each of weeks 4, 11, 17 and 24 post-inoculation (PI), 12 pigs (six of which were infected) were killed. Tissue samples were collected at necropsy. Blood samples were taken prior to infection and at necropsy from all pigs, and bi-weekly from the pigs killed 24 weeks post-infection. In an analysis of variance in which serum retinol was the dependent variable, the interaction infection x time was found to be significant (P = 0.009). The main reason for this significance was that the concentration of retinol in the sera collected from infected pigs at necropsy at 11 weeks PI was significantly lower than in the control pigs killed at the same time (P = 0.02). Although, overall, infection led to higher zinc concentrations in the liver (P = 0.04) and spleen tissue (P = 0.01), it had no apparent effect on liver retinol, muscle zinc or serum zinc. However, among the pigs which were tested bi-weekly, serum zinc was consistently lower in the infected pigs than in the controls (P = 0.01). The transient declines seen in the concentrations of retinol and zinc in sera from the infected pigs were not accompanied by similar changes in the tissue concentrations, and may reflect an acute-phase response to infection. Schistosoma japonicum infection in pigs is considered a useful model of S. japonicum infection (and probably also of S. mansoni infection) in humans. Similar effects, if they occur in the human infections, may lead to misclassification of vitamin-A and zinc status in endemic populations if this status is based on serum retinol and serum zinc.
Subject(s)
Schistosomiasis japonica/metabolism , Vitamin A/metabolism , Zinc/metabolism , Animals , Female , Liver/metabolism , Male , Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism , Schistosomiasis japonica/parasitology , Spleen/metabolism , Swine , Vitamin A/blood , Zinc/bloodABSTRACT
A description is given of a female infant with multiple malformations and mental retardation who died at 31 months. Cytogenetic studies indicate trisomy of the complete short arm of chromosome 5, resulting from the unbalanced segregation of a balanced translocation in the mother whose karyotype was interpreted as 46,XX,t(5; 15)(p11; p12). The karyotype of the proband was designated 46,XX, der(5)t(5; 15)(p11; p12)mat. Family studies indicate that the translocation has been present in the family for at least 6 generations.
Subject(s)
Abnormalities, Multiple/genetics , Chromosomes, Human, 4-5 , Intellectual Disability , Trisomy , Child, Preschool , Chromosomes, Human, 6-12 and X , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Karyotyping , Male , Pedigree , Syndrome , Translocation, GeneticABSTRACT
We tested a computer system for routine arrhythmia monitoring in 181 postoperative patients in order to evaluate its practical value. There was no significant difference in the incidence of arrhythmias between patients clinically classified in poor condition and those classified in good condition. Conventional vital signs appeared to have more value than a PVC count or an index of arrhythmias. We found no evidence that continuous electrocardiogram monitoring might provide an early warning signal in these patients monitored.