Anti-sperm antibodies in female mice: responses following intrauterine immunization.

PROBLEM: The goal of this study was to measure anti-sperm antibodies in serum following intraluminal uterine immunization and to compare this with the formation of antibodies following intraperitoneal (i.p.) or anal immunization. METHOD: Mice were immunized with human sperm, and antibody was measured using an indirect immunobead assay. RESULTS: High levels of anti-sperm antibodies could be measured following intrauterine immunization and i.p. immunization. Anal immunization resulted in lower levels of antibody formation. Antibody formation after intrauterine immunization was less consistent following transcervical insertion than following needle insertion of sperm. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that intrauterine immunization can result in anti-sperm antibody formation under some conditions.

Hypodiploid, pseudodiploid, and normal karyotypes prevail in cytogenetic studies of medullary carcinomas of the thyroid and metastatic tissues.

Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT), often a dominantly inherited neoplasm, derived from intrathyroid C-cells of neural crest origin, is one of the solid tumors least studied cytogenetically. The cells are difficult to grow in culture, only two cell lines having ever been established. Cytogenetic studies of only 5 tumors have been reported previously. In this paper we report on the cytogenetic analyses of 8 specimens of primary and/or metastatic MCT tumor tissue from 6 patients with familial disease, including more recent metastatic tumors in lymph node and femur of a patient whose thyroid and earlier lymph node metastases were described previously. Some of these specimens were harvested sequentially over time. Hypodiploid or diploid modal numbers prevailed with normal, pseudodiploid, or hypodiploid karyotypes.

Fragile sites and high-resolution chromosome studies in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A.

Affected individuals from four kindreds with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A syndrome (MEN-2A), were studied for the possible existence of a specific fragile site that might be associated with the MEN-2A gene. The chromosomes were also examined with high-resolution banding with particular emphasis on those chromosomes (#1, 10, 20, and 22) that have been implicated by previous studies from several laboratories as being associated with this disease. There was no evidence for a unique fragile site or a unique high-resolution banding pattern in subjects with MEN-2A. These findings, in combination with all previous cytogenetic studies, indicate that it is unlikely that current techniques will be useful in developing a simple cytogenetic test for this disease.

Cytogenetic studies in Dupuytren contracture.

Dupuytren contracture is a connective tissue disease mainly confined to Caucasians. It is characterized by nodular growth and proliferation of collagen in the palmar and plantar fascias. Autosomal dominance with variable penetrance is considered the most likely mode of inheritance. The goal of the present study was to examine the cytogenetics of this common benign neoplasia. Chromosome studies were performed on the nodular growth of eight patients with Dupuytren contracture, all of whom showed chromosome abnormalities that included numerical and structural clones, random numerical and structural aberrations, prophasing, and premature centromere separation. Numerical clones of trisomies 7 and/or 8, as well as some random structural aberrations, were considered to represent in vivo abnormalities, whereas most structural clones appeared likely to be the results of rapid and selective in vitro growth of particular cells. The disease process occurring in Dupuytren contracture was found to involve marked chromosome instability, as well as some in vivo clonal formation. Transverse fascial tissue, usually considered to be uninvolved in the disease process, unexpectedly showed all the same types of abnormalities as the nodular tissue. This indicates a more widespread distribution of disease in the tissues than previously suspected. The findings in the present study are similar to those in various malignant and benign types of tumorous growth and suggest the importance of further cytogenetic investigation into other conditions of benign growth.

Thrombotic angiokeratoma circumscriptum simulating melanoma.

Three patients with solitary angiokeratomas, two of the circumscribed type (Fabry) and one of the Mibelli type, are described to show that when extensive thromboses develop in an angiokeratoma, this nodular bluish-black lesion may clinically simulate a nodular melanoma.