Early idiopathic hemochromatosis with absent stainable bone marrow iron stores.

Early idiopathic hemochromatosis was diagnosed in a 52-year-old woman during the course of a hospitalization for another disorder. Quantitative studies revealed massive hepatic parenchymal siderosis and absent stainable marrow iron. Additionally, intestinal absorption and hepatic sequestration of radiolabeled iron were elevated. These studies in a patient with very early hemochromatosis, before organ damage, complement observations previously made in patients with advanced disease and provide further support for the concept that this disorder may result from impaired reticuloendothelial handling of iron.

Estimating adrenal cortical function in dogs with ACTH.

The peripheral blood response to intramuscular injection of 10 units ACTH in dogs was investigated because no experimental evidence for the standardization of this procedure for clinical use was available. Following the injection of ACTH in sodium chloride solution, neutrophilia, monocytosis, eosinopenia, and lymphopenia occurred. With the exception of eosinopenia, the greatest change in the concentration of each cell type in peripheral blood occurred between 2 and 4 hours post injection. The maximum change in eosinophil numbers occurred between 4 and 6 hours post injection. When all cell types were considered, 4 hours post injection was the most suitable time to measure the cellular response in peripheral blood in dogs which respond to ACTH. The data indicate that change in the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes (N/L) prior to and at 2 to 4 hours after ACTH injection in normal dogs was a sensitive index of response and occured sooner than eosinopenia. The extent of change in the N/L ratio was such that accuracy in interpretation could be obtained by counting as few as 40 cells.

Cytochemical demonstration of esterases in peripheral blood leukocytes.

Cytochemical methods for alpha naphthyl acetate esterase and chloroacetate esterase have been used to identify human monocytes and granulocytes. In this study, a standard procedure for staining alpha naphthyl acetate and chloroacetate esterase activities was modified by extending the range of pH of the incubation mixture and the duration of staining and was applied to cat, dog, goat, guinea pig, hamster, human, pig, rabbit, rat, and sheep leukocytes. The results for both enzymes showed (1) incubation time and pH had discrete effects on staining and (2) species differences for in vitro conditions to demonstrate esterase activity were pronounced.

The cytochemistry of rabbit peripheral blood leukocytes.

The authors report on their investigations of the differentiation between neutrophilic and eosinophilic granulocytes of the peripheral blood in healthy rabbits. By varying the pH-value and the incubation time it is possible to achieve a reliable differentiation between neutrophilic and eosinophilic granulocytes of the rabbit by means of 6 different cytochemical methods which could only be made incompletely with the routine methods used up till now (Eosin-, Giemsa-, Wright's-colouring etc.). Moreover, monocytes and lymphocytes can also be identified reliably.

Dietary, bacterial, and host genetic interactions in the pathogenesis of transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia.

Transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia, cuased by a variant of Citrobacter freundii (4280). was shown to be modified by diet and by host strain and species. Four different diets fed to mice inoculated with C frundii 4280 were found to have a significant but varying influence on the severity of hyperplasia. Diet also influenced the colonic crypt height of uninoculated, control mice. F344 rats, Syrian hamsters, and NIH Swiss [N:(S)], C57BL/6J, C3H/HeJ, and DBA/2J mice were inoculated with C freundii 4280. Marked strain differences were noted in the mice in mortality and severity of the colonic hyperplasia. The NIH Swiss mice had the greatest and the C57BL/6J mice had the least mucosal hyperplasia. The rats and hamsters did not develop disease or maintain infection after inoculation with the organism. Twenty isolates of Citrobacter from a range of biologic sources were inoculated into susceptible mice, but only mice inoculated with C freundii 4280 developed the disease.

Pathological changes during aging in barrier-reared Fischer 344 male rats.

Pathology, microbiology, and selected serum chemistries were evaluated in 144 male Fischer rats from 4 to 33 mo of age. The rats were reared and maintained under barrier conditions, which successfully excluded the introduction of major infectious disease agents throughout the entire study, including Mycoplasma pulmonis. A wide variety of pathology was found and tabulated, and many lesions were found to increase in severity and incidence with age. There was a high correlation of renal disease severity with increasing age, while alpha-1 globulin and cholesterol increased.

The etiology of transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia.

The etiology of a transmissable colonic mucosal hyperplasia of mice was investigated. Hyperplasia was produced in mice inoculated with unfiltered colonic suspension from affected mice, but infectivity was lost after passage through a 0.45 mum filter. The etiologic agent was subsequently identified as a variant of Citrobacter freundii. The organism induced colonic mucosal hyperplasia when inoculated into germfree mice, and it was recovered in pure culture from the affected animals.

Oxygen-dependent circulation of sickle erythrocytes.

The effects of in vivo hyperoxia and hypoxia on the intravascular survival of 51Cr-labeled human sickle erythrocytes (SS RBS's) were studied after transfusion into rats and guinea pigs. The function of these animals' reticuloendothelial and complement systems had been previously inhibited by ethyl palmitate and cobra venom factor, thus allowing extension of the survival of the heterologous human RBC's. In the blood of rats breathing ambient air the 51Cr half-life survival of RBC's from 11 patients with sickle-cell anemia (mean, 7.1 hours; range, 2.0 to 16.5 hours) was significantly shorter (p less than 0.001) than that of five control subjects (mean, 17.5 hours; range, 12.0 to 26.5 hours). When rats transfused with sickle RBC's were exposed to 100 per cent O2, a mean increment of 16.5 per cent blood 51Cr activity was observed within the first 15 to 60 minutes of hyperoxia. Subsequent oxygen deprivation (7 to 8 per cent O2) resulted in an equally rapid decrease (mean, 35.6 per cent) in blood 51Cr activity. Continuation of hypoxia for up to 17 hours did not cause further acceleration of 51Cr activity. Continuation of hypoxia for up to 17 hours did not cause further acceleration of 51 Cr RBC clearance. Under these conditions the slope of the sickle RBC survival curve was similar to that in animals kept in ambient air. After hypoxic rats were allowed to breate room air again, mean 51Cr blood activity increased by 41.7 per cent. Sickle RBC's transfused to guinea pigs exhibited similar oxygen-dependent survival characteristics. The survival of 51Cr RBC's from four adult control subjects and of unlabeled fetal RBC's from three human cord blood samples was unaffected by oxygen changes. When rats that had been transfused with sickle reticulocytes labeled in vitro with 59Fe were made hypoxic, a decrease in blood 59Fe activity was observed. The extent of this decrease was comparable to that in rats transfused with 51Cr labeled RBC's from the same patients. There was increased liver and spleen 51Cr activity in animals transfused with 51Cr SS RBC's and killed during hypoxia when compared to that of hyperoxic animals. These studies suggest that a minor population of sickle cells is removed from circulation during hypoxia and circulates again upon reoxygenation of the animals. Erythrocyte aging does not appear to be responsible for this phenomenon. The oxygen-depdendent circulation of a population of SS RBC's in this animal system is probably due to reversible sickling and trapping of sickled cells in the microcirculation.

Toxicology studies with cytembena (NSC-104801), an antineoplastic agent with a multispecies nephrotoxic effect.

The toxic effects of cytembena in beagle dogs and rhesus monkeys were investigated with the drug given as single or daily iv injections in doses ranging from 12.5 to 200 mg/kg/day to dogs and 6.25 to 50 mg/kg/day to monkeys. Renal tubular damage was a major drug- and dose-related finding in both species and was clinically indicated by an accompanying uremia, elevated serum creatinine, and proteinuria. In the kidney, the primary lesion was cellular necrosis and desquamation of the distal tubular epithelium in animals given the lowest toxic doses. More severe but similar histologic changes produced by this drug were further characterized by single dose studies in mice which showed renal mitochondrial swelling and disruption plus generalized cell swelling as progressive, subcellular developments which were well established 24 hours after treatment. Cellular regeneration in the renal tubular epithelium was found in dogs and monkeys retained 6 weeks for observation after treatment, although functional recovery was inconsistent. A toxic effect to lymphoid tissue was an additional finding which is described.

Experimental transmission of atypical ileal hyperplasia of hamsters.

Conditions for oral transmission of atypical ileal hyperplasia (AIH) in weanling hamsters were established and 22 passages were made. AIH was transmitted by feeding whole cell-free supernatants of ileal homogenates. The etiologic agent(s) was retained by 0.22 mum pore-size filters and was inactivated by chloroform treatment or by heating at 56 degrees C for 30 min. Enteric bacteria from affected animals also induced AIH, but with a lower morbidity and mortality than following inoculation with ileal extracts. Experimentally induced lesions progressed from marked segmental hyperplasia of ileal mucosa to granulomatous inflammation in underlying connective tissue and muscle tunics. Hyperplastic mucosal epithelium penetrated the muscularis mucosa, but metastases were not detected. Serum antibody from exposed animals reacted specifically, by indirect immunofluorescence, with an intracytoplasmic mucosal cell antigen(s) of autologous and homogolous ileal lesions, but antibody did not react with normal ileal mucosa or with unaffected portions of intestine from animals bearing ileal lesions.