[Intranodal hemorrhagic spindle cell tumor]. / Intranodal haemoragisk glatmuskelcelletumor.

We describe an example of a rare benign intranodal haemorrhagic spindle cell tumour (also called intranodal myofibroblastoma), occurring in a lymph node of the right inguinal region of a 53 year-old male patient. This is the first documentation of this tumour in the Danish literature. The lesion presents typically as a unilateral, solitary, painless inguinal lump. The microscopic appearance is characterized by proliferating spindle-shaped cells, interstitial haemorrhage and amianthoid fibers. Differential diagnosis includes primary and secondary lymph node tumours, such as Kaposi's sarcoma; metastatic spindle cell carcinoma; melanoma; neurilemmoma and soft tissue sarcomas. The clinical behaviour of the tumour is benign and local excision is the treatment of choice.

Cross-clade envelope glycoprotein 160-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in early HIV type 1 clade B infection.

A major objective of current HIV-1 vaccination strategies is the induction of HIV-1-specific CD8+ MHC class I-restricted CTL responses, which are suggested to play a pivotal role in viral clearance and protection against HIV-1 disease progression. However, the marked genetic diversity of HIV-1 and existence of distinct viral subtypes or clades could potentially hinder the development of a universally efficacious HIV-1 vaccine. In this study we examined HIV-1 intraclade (B(LAI) versus B(MN)) Env gp160-specific CTL reactivity in recently HIV-1 clade B-infected individuals. We further evaluated the extent of interclade CTL cross-recognition of the divergent A and C Env gp160 subtypes, that are highly prevalent in the global pandemic. Freshly isolated PBMCs were stimulated in vitro with autologous PBMCs infected with recombinant vaccinia vectors expressing HIV-1 env, gag, pol, and nef genes derived from HIV-1 clade B. All 13 of the 19 HIV-1-seropositive subjects who elicited significant clade B Env gp160LAI CD8+ CTL responses also demonstrated comparable levels of CTL cross-reactivity against clade C92BR025 Env gp160. Nine of these individuals also showed extensive interclade CTL cross-recognition of clade A92UG037 Env gp160. Two HLA class I B7 donors had nondetectable intraclade CTL response against B Env gp160MN, while generating significant intraclade B(LAI) and interclade (A and C) Env gp160 CTL cross-reactivity. These observations serve to underscore the central importance of the HLA background of individuals in determining the pattern of immune reactivity to natural HIV-1 infection and presumably vaccines. Five donors studied also demonstrated broad CTL cross-reactivity against clade A92UG037 Gag p55, Pol, and/or Nef antigens. In conclusion, this present study indicates that there is a considerable degree of CD8+ CTL cross-recognition of the highly divergent HIV-1 Env gp160 subtypes during early phases of HIV-1 infection. Such findings suggest that HIV-1 vaccines based on a single clade that can induce extensive cross-clade immunity may demonstrate utility in diverse geographical regions.

Somatostatin prevents the postoperative increases in plasma amino acid clearance and urea synthesis after elective cholecystectomy.

The importance of glucagon on postoperative changes in hepatic amino-nitrogen conversion were investigated in six patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy for uncomplicated gall stones. Patients were given infusions of somatostatin (bolus of 6 micrograms/kg followed by continuous infusion of 6 micrograms/kg/h) from induction of anaesthesia to the end of investigation, the first postoperative day (30 hours). Controls were 16 patients undergoing the same procedures omitting the somatostatin infusion. In all patients blood concentration and plasma clearance of total alpha-amino-nitrogen, and amino acid stimulated rate of urea synthesis were measured. Elective cholecystectomy decreased blood alpha-amino-nitrogen concentration from mean (SEM) 2.9 (0.2) to 2.4 (0.1) mmol/l (p < 0.05), increased the clearance of total alpha-amino-nitrogen from 5.2 (0.3) to 6.6 (0.3) ml/s (p < 0.05), and increased the rate of amino acid stimulated urea synthesis from 27 (1) to 37 (2) mumol/s (p < 0.05) pointing to increased hepatic removal of amino-nitrogen at expense of plasma amino-nitrogen. Infusion of somatostatin prevented increase of glucagon for 24 hours after surgery, and prevented the negative changes in postoperative nitrogen homeostasis resulting from the postoperative changes in hepatic nitrogen conversion, suggesting glucagon as mediator. The exact mechanism remains in doubt, however, because of the multiple effects of somatostatin.

Electroconvulsive stimulations, learning, and protein changes in the rat brain.

Two groups of rats were subjected to 17 training sessions on an operant task demanding the sequential operation of two manipulanda, while two other groups were left with no training experience. Within both the trained and passive groups one was exposed to a series of 12 electroconvulsive stimulations. The series of training and stimulation sessions were concurrent but arranged in such a way that at least 24 h always separated training and stimulation. Upon completion of the behavioural part of the experiment the concentrations of the marker proteins neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), D3, synaptophysin, and S100 were estimated in the prefrontal and occipital parts of the cortex, the hippocampus, and in the total forebrain. The electroconvulsively stimulated animals demonstrated severe impairment of learning. The pattern of marker protein concentrations indicated that acquisition and/or performance of the task and exposure to electroconvulsive stimulation were both accompanied by similar patterns of synaptic changes: an increased concentration of small synaptic vesicles in both the prefrontal cortex and the total forebrain and an increased synaptic remodulation in the prefrontal cortex.