[Pathology of paraneoplastic syndromes. Review]. / Patologie paraneoplastického syndromu. Souborný referát.

A review of current opinion on paraneoplastic syndrome pathology is presented. It is supplemented by a reference to the author's own cases (paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with Purkinje cell lesion and vacuolar spongiform degeneration of the granuloneuronal layer of the cerebellar cortex).

Effect of the new fluorescent brightener Rylux BSU on morphology and biosynthesis of cell walls in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Rylux BSU, a new fluorescent brightener from the family of 4,4'-diaminostilbene-2,2'disulfonic acid derivatives, inhibited growth and cytokinesis of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the presence of 0.1-1 mg/ml Rylux BSU the cells grew in clumps, had irregular shape and were larger than controls. They formed apparently normal primary septa but their secondary septa and lateral cell walls, especially those in older cells, were abnormally thick with large deposits of amorphous wall material in the periplasmic spaces all over the cell surface. Chitin content in the cell walls of cells grown in the presence of Rylux BSU was increased 2 to 5 times in comparison to that of the controls and glucan content was reduced by up to 30%. In the in vitro assays with particulate membrane fractions, Rylux BSU acted as a non-competitive inhibitor of beta-1,3-glucan synthase with inhibitory constant Ki = 1.75 mg/ml whereas the chitin synthase was inhibited to a much lesser extent. From the difference of the effects of Rylux BSU on the synthesis of chitin in vivo and in vitro it is concluded that the brightener interacts with chitin synthase only indirectly, possibly by influencing the properties of integral plasma membrane.

The fluorescence brightener Rylux BSU induces dimorphism in Basidiobolus ranarum.

The fluorescence brightener Rylux BSU (RBSU) showed an affinity for polysaccharide components of cell walls and accumulated in the extension zones of hyphal apices in Basidiobolus ranarum. It inhibited the polarized growth of mycelial hyphae and induced isotropic growth resulting in spherical thick-walled cells up to 456 microm in diameter. On the inner cell wall surface, massive protuberances were formed. The cell wall and protuberances were positive in PAS and the Grocott method and stained with fluorochromes Blankophor BA, Calcofluor, Uvitex 2B, Rylux BSU and FITC-labeled WGA- and ConA-lectins. The WGA-FITC fluorescence intensity of the wall's outermost layer, if not connected with neighbouring cells, and the fluorescence intensity of the innermost layer and of some protuberances mainly in their apical parts were on the average twice higher than the fluorescence intensity of the remaining wall material. RBSU binding to the cell wall material was stable. The process of converting from polarized to isotropic growth was reversible, depending upon contact with RBSU-containing medium. Repeated transfers of cells from RBSU-containing medium to an RBSU-free medium resulted in the development of apical swollen dumbbell-shaped cells.

Selective monocellular necrosis of Hodgkin's/Reed-Sternberg cells and their immunoreactivity to human serum antinuclear antibodies in NS- and MC-types of malignant lymphogranuloma.

The selective (apoptotic) necrosis of Hodgkin's cells in malignant lymphogranuloma appears to be etiologically quite different from focal one due to ischemic-vascular causes. The morphology and supposed etiopathogenesis of this cellular lesion, as well as the karyoclastic process-presumably apoptotic in nature-are briefly described and considered as a mechanism leading to cellular regression with subsequent destructuralization and release of DNA-reactive nucleoprotein material in form of free hematoxylin bodies. An original observation of the immunoreactivity of Hodgkin's cells with antinuclear antibodies of human serum in a case of collagenosis is also described.

Demonstration of the nucleolar organizer region by silver staining (AgNOR method) in research and in histopathological practice.

The silver-staining method for the detection of nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) was tested on a large material and the AgNORs evaluated in normal and pathological tissues, especially in various benign and malignant neoplasms. Pathological lesions were represented by dysplasias and in situ carcinoma of the uterine cervix, dysplasias and various histological forms of breast carcinoma, carcinomas of the lung, of urinary bladder, of prostate, various neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract, trophoblastic disease, naevocellular naevi and melanomas of the skin, myeloproliferative diseases and haematological malignancies, and also by several cases of xenotransplanted human neoplasms in athymic nude mice. The AgNORs were evaluated using several procedures. Marked AgNOR heterogeneity in individual malignant tumours was found to be a common feature suggesting the presence of cellular subpopulations or clones with different proliferative activity and metabolic properties. Close correlation between the proliferative behaviour and the quantitative and qualitative change of AgNORs was found in most obviously malignant neoplasms. The method, however, could not recognize neoplastic cells as such and is therefore not a specific oncological marker. This limits the diagnostic contribution of the silver staining method in diagnostic pathology, where it does not exceed the value of routinely stained slides of good quality. In spite of these limitations, the AgNOR staining method seems to represent a valuable contribution in the study of some aspects of the proliferative lesions, such as their proliferative and metabolic activity, hormonal dependence etc.

[Photodynamic therapy of human tumor xenotransplants in athymic nu/nu mice]. / Fotodynamická terapie lidských nádoru xenotransplantovaných na athymické nu/nu mysi.

The effect of phototherapy on the growth of two human tumors, i.e. carcinoma of the rectum I and III, was studied. The tumors were xenotransplated into athymic nu/nu mice. Meso-tetra-(para-sulfophenyl)-porphin, TPPS4, was used as photosensitizer. Incorporation studies showed the optimal dose for phototherapy to be 10 mg/kg TPPS4 and the time interval 72 hours. Under these experimental conditions (helium-neon laser, 632, 8, 300 J/cm2) one of six tumors was cured in the group with carcinoma of the rectum I, and that both after IV and IT administration of the photosensitizer. The other five experimental animals exhibited only partial responses to phototherapy. In the group with carcinoma of the rectum III, five out of six tumors were cured by IT administration of TPPS4 under the same experimental conditions. In one mouse there was only partial response to phototherapy. After IV administration of TPPS4, however, not a single tumor was cured and the response to phototherapy was only partial in all the six experimental animals.

[Fluorescence microscopy detection of mycopathogens using Rylux BSU]. / Fluorescencne mikroskopický prukaz mykopatogenu Ryluxem BSU.

Rylux BSU (Synthesia, Pardubice--Semtín), a derivative of diaminostilbendisulphonic acid, has a good affinity to chitin of fungal cell walls as well as to cellulose of algae. A histologic method using this compound for detection of fungi in dermatology is presented accompanied with results of a quick diagnostic procedure. Pathogenic fungi were stained with a 2 per cent solution of Rylux BSU in phosphate buffer (pH 7.3) or in a 2 per cent aqueous solution of NaOH with an admixture of 10 per cent dimethylsulphoxide. A yellow green fluorescence of the cell walls of fungi (tested on 52 species) and algae (2 species) was evoked by incident blue light (max. filter transmission for 405 nm) combined with a barrier filter (max. 578 nm). Fluorescence was not fading and remained stable in Canada balsam. Moreover, the method could be applied on sections previously stained (HE, Weigert, Giemsa, KOH-preparations) because of more information offered by a combined procedure.

Significance of nucleo-cytoplasmic maturation asynchrony in multiple myeloma.

Bone marrow samples of 97 patients with multiple myeloma were examined ultrastructurally over a period of eight years, and the degree of nucleo-cytoplasmic maturation asynchrony (NCA) of myeloma plasmocytes was estimated according to the classification scale of Graham and Bernier. One half of the patients showed first degree, 40 percent second and 10 percent third degree of NCA. Clinical classification of the disease according to the staging system of Durie and Salmon and the quantitative staging system of Salmon and Wampler showed some relation to the degree of NCA. The degree of NCA was found to be related to the density of the bone marrow infiltration with myeloma plasmocytes but not to the response to chemotherapy. Some relation was seen to exist between the degree of NCA in myeloma plasmocytes at diagnosis and the prognosis of the disease. The role of electron microscopical analysis in MM diagnostics and its contribution to management of the disease are discussed.

[Penetration of amoebae into ganglion cells of the cerebral cortex in primary amoebic meningoencephalitis]. / Prunik améb do gangliových bunek kory mozku cloveka pri primární amébové meningoencefalitidé.

The intracellular penetrating activity of amoebas of Limax-type (vs. Naegleria fowleri) was observed in a previously published case of the PAME with fulminant lethal course in man. This invasion concerned some ganglion cells of the cerebral cortex and - exceptionally - also the Purkinje-cells in the cerebellum. As to the formal genesis, adjacent and penetrating forms were identified in relation to the ganglion cells, and finally invaded neurons containing solitary or - exceptionally - two parasites were noted. This phenomenon of the intraneuronal lesion due to amoebae in PAME is said to be in relation to the active penetrating activity of the relatively small and mobile type of the protozoal parasite in invaded host tissues.

Malignant lymphomas primarily involving the gastrointestinal tract.

Primary gastrointestinal lymphoma (PGIL) develops mostly on the basis of lymphoplasmocellular infiltration following an alteration of gastric or intestinal mucosa; its evolution is enhanced by a simultaneous defect of cell-mediated immunity. The paper deals with clinical, biochemical and immunological findings observed in 22 patients with PGIL during a course of 10 years. Some illustrative patient summaries are reported in a more detailed description. In histological terms, the cases were classified according to the Kiel classification. There seems to be an unfavourable prognosis of the disease, the average survival being about 10 months and cytostatic treatment is not tolerated well. The particular features of PGIL important for the diagnosis and treatment are pointed out.