ABSTRACT
Astrocytic hamartomas are typically white, well-circumscribed, elevated lesions arising in single or multiple areas of the retina and epi- or peripapillary optic nerve. These lesions are most commonly associated with tuberous sclerosis and less commonly associated with neurofibromatosis. However, solitary retinal or optic nerve astrocytomas can be found in normal individuals. This paper reviews the case of a 48-year-old white female who presented with a solitary retinal astrocytoma of the right eye, without any other physical or ocular disorder. The histopathological and clinical appearance and course of astrocytomas, its differential diagnosis from other retinal and optic nerve lesions, and its association with tuberous sclerosis are discussed.
Subject(s)
Astrocytoma/diagnosis , Eye Neoplasms/diagnosis , Retinal Diseases/diagnosis , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Fluorescein Angiography , Fundus Oculi , Humans , Middle Aged , Optic Nerve Diseases/diagnosis , Tuberous Sclerosis/diagnosisABSTRACT
Pulmonary bactericidal activity, macrophage phagocytic activity, alveolar macrophage (AM) enzyme activity, and T- and B-cell mitogenesis of lymphocytes from lung associated lymph nodes (LALN) or mesenteric lymph nodes (MESLN) were assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats exposed 4 hr/d, 4 days/wk for 1, 4, or 16 days to hexachlorobenzene (HCB) aerosols. Pulmonary bactericidal activity was depressed after 1 or 4 but not 16 exposures to 35 mg/m3 of HCB. AM phagocytosis of 51Cr-RBC in vitro was increased after 4 but not 1 or 16 exposures to HCB, and no effect was observed in peritoneal macrophages. HCB significantly enhanced mitogenesis in MESLN to the B-cell mitogen Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharide (STM) after 4 exposures; LALN STM mitogenesis and LALN and MESLN mitogenesis to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were not affected. After 16 exposures, however, the PHA responses in LALN and MESLN were significantly increased and decreased, respectively.
Subject(s)
Chlorobenzenes/toxicity , Hexachlorobenzene/toxicity , Lung Diseases/immunology , Pulmonary Alveoli/drug effects , Administration, Intranasal , Aerosols , Animals , B-Lymphocytes/drug effects , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Lung Diseases/enzymology , Lung Diseases/microbiology , Lymphocyte Activation/drug effects , Macrophages/drug effects , Macrophages/immunology , Male , Phagocytosis/drug effects , Pulmonary Alveoli/immunology , Rats , Rats, Inbred Strains , T-Lymphocytes/drug effects , T-Lymphocytes/immunologyABSTRACT
The distance heterophoria was measured using both the von Graefe and Maddox rod clinic procedures under standard reduced illumination conditions and in total darkness. Tonic vergence was measured in total darkness. The phoria measures were more divergent than tonic vergence, with the von Graefe being the more divergent of the two measures. The difference between the phoria and tonic vergence position is believed to be due to accommodative divergence derived from the decrease of accommodation, relative to the tonic level, required to focus the distance phoria target. Equations were derived to predict tonic vergence from the phoria value.
Subject(s)
Convergence, Ocular , Distance Perception , Eye Movements , Strabismus/physiopathology , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Darkness , Humans , LightABSTRACT
The effects of single or multiple inhalation exposures to ethylene dichloride (DCE) on the pulmonary defense systems of mice and rats were evaluated. Single exposures of mice to the threshold limit value of DCE (10 ppm) resulted in decreased pulmonary bactericidal activity to inhaled Klebsiella pneumoniae and increased mortality from Streptococcus zooepidemicus respiratory infection. A single exposure to 5 ppm DCE caused increased mortality from streptococcal pneumonia although bactericidal activity was not affected. Neither of these two parameters changed following single or five consecutive daily exposures to 2.5 ppm DCE. Single exposures to 10 or 100 ppm DCE did not affect mouse alveolar macrophage (AM) inhibition of the proliferation of a tumor target cell in vitro or AM in vitro phagocytosis of red blood cells. In rats, no effects were observed on pulmonary bactericidal activity. AM in vitro phagocytosis, AM cytostasis and cytolysis of tumor target cells, AM ectoenzymes, or blastogenesis of mitogen-stimulated rat T- and B-lymphocytes from lung-associated, mesenteric, and popliteal lymph nodes following single exposure to 100 or 200 ppm DCE or after twelve 5-hr exposures to 10, 20, 50, or 100 ppm DCE.
Subject(s)
Ethylene Dichlorides/toxicity , Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated/toxicity , Lung Diseases/chemically induced , Administration, Inhalation , Animals , Disease Susceptibility , Female , Lung Diseases/microbiology , Lymphocyte Activation/drug effects , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains , Pulmonary Alveoli/drug effects , Rats , Rats, Inbred Strains , Streptococcal Infections/etiologyABSTRACT
Ninety-day inhalation studies were conducted on 50:50 weight percent (wt %) mixtures of n-butane:n-pentane and isobutane:isopentane, respectively, and on a distillation cut boiling below 145 degrees F of a reference unleaded gasoline blend to assess the nephrotoxicity of these volatile mixtures. The mixtures of butanes and pentanes were selected because these four hydrocarbons are the most prevalent components of gasoline vapors encountered under typical occupational exposures. The 0-145 degrees F gasoline distillation fraction was tested because it reasonably approximates the composition of gasoline vapors measured under occupational settings. Male and female F-344 rats were exposed to 2 levels of each mixture, 6 hours per day, 5 days per week, for 13 weeks. The target concentrations for the butane:pentane mixtures were 4500 and 1000 parts per million (ppm), while 5200 and 1200 ppm were set for the gasoline distillation fraction. An interim sacrifice was conducted after 28 days. The rats were not significantly affected by the exposures, and there was no evidence of hydrocarbon-induced nephropathy in either sex at the termination of each study. However, at the 28-day interim sacrifice period for both butane:pentane mixtures, mild, transient treatment-related but not exposure-related kidney effects were observed in the male rats. These perturbations were absent at the interim sacrifice period for the gasoline distillation fraction.
Subject(s)
Gasoline/toxicity , Hydrocarbons/toxicity , Kidney Diseases/chemically induced , Petroleum/toxicity , Animals , Body Weight/drug effects , Female , Kidney/pathology , Male , Organ Size/drug effects , Rats , Rats, Inbred F344 , VolatilizationABSTRACT
The potential health hazards of exposure to threshold limit value (TLV) concentrations of acetaldehyde, acrolein, propylene oxide, chloroform, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, allyl chloride, methylene chloride, ethylene trichloride, perchloroethylene, benzene, phenol, monochlorobenzene, and benzyl chloride, compounds which may be present in the ambient or work room atmosphere were investigated. The effects of single and multiple 3-hr inhalation exposures were evaluated in mice by monitoring changes in their susceptibility to experimentally induced streptococcus aerosol infection and pulmonary bactericidal activity to inhaled Klebsiella pneumoniae. When significant changes in these parameters were found, further exposures were performed at reduced vapor concentrations until the no-measurable-effect level was reached. Multiple exposures on 5 consecutive days were then performed at this concentration. Significant increases in susceptibility to respiratory streptococcus infection were observed after single 3-hr exposure to TLV concentrations of methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, and ethylene trichloride. For methylene chloride and perchloroethylene, these exposure conditions also resulted in significantly decreased pulmonary bactericidal activity.
Subject(s)
Air Pollutants/toxicity , Immunity, Innate/drug effects , Lung/drug effects , Animals , Female , Klebsiella pneumoniae/immunology , Lung/immunology , Macrophages/immunology , Methylene Chloride/toxicity , Mice , Phagocytosis/drug effects , Streptococcal Infections/etiology , Tetrachloroethylene/toxicity , Trichloroethylene/toxicityABSTRACT
The potential hazards of exposure to vapor-phase toluene on pulmonary host defenses were evaluated. Mice exposed to concentrations ranging from 2.5-500 ppm, including the threshold limit value level of 100 ppm, exhibited increased susceptibility to respiratory infection with Streptococcus zooepidemicus. The no-measurable-effect level for single, as well as for 5 exposures was 1 ppm. Significantly decreased pulmonary bactericidal activity was observed after single exposures to 500, 250, 100 and 2.5 ppm toluene, and after 5 daily 3-h exposures to 1.0 ppm of toluene. A 20-exposure study with toluene at 1 ppm produced no changes in either of the 2 assays.
Subject(s)
Lung/immunology , Respiratory Tract Infections/immunology , Toluene/toxicity , Animals , Atmosphere Exposure Chambers , Female , Immunity, Innate/drug effects , Klebsiella pneumoniae/immunology , Lung/drug effects , Mice , Streptococcal Infections/immunologyABSTRACT
The effects of single and multiple (5 and 20) 3-h inhalation exposures to aerosols of arsenic trioxide on the pulmonary defense system of mice were investigated. Arsenic trioxide mist was generated from an aqueous solution and dried to produce particulate aerosols of 0.4 micron mass median aerodynamic diameter. Aerosol mass concentration ranged from 125 to 1000 micrograms As/m3. Effects of the exposures were evaluated by determination of changes in susceptibility to experimentally induced streptococcal aerosol infection and in pulmonary bactericidal activity to 35S-labeled Klebsiella pneumoniae. Significant increases in mortality due to the infectious challenge and decreases in bactericidal activity were seen after single 3-h exposures to 270, 500, and 940 micrograms As/m3. Similarly, 5 or 20 multiple 3-h exposures to 500 micrograms As/m3 produced consistently significant increases in mortality and decreases in pulmonary bactericidal activity. At 125 or 250 micrograms As/m3, a decrease in bactericidal activity was seen only after 20 exposures to 250 micrograms/m3. Results from earlier studies with an arsenic-containing copper smelter dust were compared to these data. The possibility of the development of adaptation during multiple exposures to arsenic trioxide is also considered.
Subject(s)
Arsenic/toxicity , Arsenicals , Klebsiella pneumoniae/drug effects , Lung/drug effects , Oxides , Pneumococcal Infections/chemically induced , Aerosols , Animals , Arsenic Trioxide , Atmosphere Exposure Chambers , Female , Mice , Pneumococcal Infections/mortality , Sulfur RadioisotopesABSTRACT
Because coarse mode particles are rarely studied in their existing size ranges (greatest mass about 5-7 microns, aerodynamic diameter), we investigated the effects of four such particles, quartz, ferric oxide, calcium carbonate, and sodium feldspar, on host defenses against bacterial pulmonary infection. Mice which received intratracheal instillations of 10, 33, and 100 micrograms/mouse were exposed within an hour to aerosols of viable Streptococcus, and pneumonia-induced mortality was measured. At 33 and 100 micrograms/mouse, all particles significantly increased mortality. At the lower dose, only Fe2O3 caused a significant increase in mortality. To evaluate potential delayed effects, mice were challenged with the bacteria 24 h after exposure to 100 micrograms particles/mouse. Delaying the challenge did not significantly alter the response, except for the sodium feldspar group for which a partial recovery was observed. When mice exposed to 100 micrograms particles/mouse received aerosols of Klebsiella pneumoniae 24 h later, there was no significant effect on pulmonary bactericidal activity. For the model system used, it appears that Fe2O3, CaCO3, and sodium feldspar have effects roughly equivalent to quartz.
