Air reduction of an intussusception caused by a pathologic lead point in an infant.

Lead points that are the cause of an ileocolic intussusception are rare in infants [1], as is successful reduction using barium [2]. Air reduction of an intussusception with a pathologic lead point has not been previously reported. We report a case of an infant with an ileocolic intussusception secondary to a duplication cyst that was successfully reduced with air. The pathologic lead point was recognized at the time of reduction and confirmed with water-soluble contrast. Air is both a diagnostic and therapeutic contrast agent.

A rapid chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin G antibodies using instant photographic film.

A rapid and convenient chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for IgG antibodies to cytomegalovirus has been developed which uses low cost equipment. Assays were carried out on transparent microtitre plates and used an anti-human IgG horseradish peroxidase conjugate. Bound peroxidase was detected chemiluminescently using a p-iodophenol-luminol-peroxide reagent. Light emission from the wells of the microtitre plate was detected on instant photographic film (ASA 20,000) held in a specially designed shutter type camera. The semi-quantitative technique was tested in a routine laboratory for a period of 7 wk and the results obtained compared well (95.3% agreement) with those obtained by a conventional colorimetric ELISA using an alkaline phosphatase label.

C4 and HLA haplotypes associated with partial inhibition of anti-Rg and anti-Ch.

Rg and Ch typing was performed, by serum inhibition, on 145 families that had been typed for HLA/C4/BF/C2 with a view to assessing partial inhibition (p.i.) of anti-Rg/Ch and its haplotype associations. Rg p.i. was found predominantly with the C4A*3A*2,B*QO homoduplicated C4 haplotype and BFF. The original type of Ch p.i. (Nordhagen et al., 1980) was closely associated with the allotype C4B 2, which also occasionally exhibited complete inhibition (c.i.), but this Ch p.i. was also found with the C4A*1,B*QO haplotype (Rittner et al., 1984a). The second type of Ch p.i. (Giles, 1984) was closely associated with the C4B 1 allotype most frequently in the haplotype C4A*6,B*1 but also with C4A*3,B*1. Both types of Ch p.i. are usually found with BF S. The present data indicate that the determinants of Rg and Ch are not directly related to any particular C4 allotype or extended haplotype. Further examples of C4A 1 with Ch and C4B 5 without Ch determinants have been detected and theoretical considerations are discussed as to how they might have arisen from unequal crossovers in homologous regions that result in hybrid protein molecules.

Cytogenetic evidence for the localisation of the gene for congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

In the course of a study of the close linkage between the gene locus for the autosomal recessive disease, Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a cytogenetic survey was undertaken. In one family, where a crossover might have occurred between some loci in the MHC complex and the locus for the 21-hydroxylase gene, there was also a crossover between the MHC locus and the centromere of chromosome 6.

Distribution of glyoxalase I (GLO) variants in Western Europe and the Indian subcontinent.

English, Italian (including Sardinian), and Spanish populations from Europe and Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Punjabi, and other populations from the Indian subcontinent currently living either in Birmingham or in India were screened for electrophoretically detectable genetic variants of red cell glyoxalase I (GLO), and their frequencies were reported. All the western European populations investigated, including those reported, exhibited an incidence of close to 44% for the GLO1 gene. The frequency distribution of the GLO1 gene in various populations from the Indian subcontinent, in contrast, was found to range between 0.15 and 0.33. These observations suggest that the European populations in general are genetically more homogeneous than are the populations of the Indian subcontinent.