First complete genome sequence of circulating dengue virus serotype 3 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Here we report the first full-length genome sequence of dengue virus serotype 3 (DENV-3) from a strain isolated from a patient in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2014. The genome consists of 10 635 bp and shows close similarity to circulating genotype III isolates from Singapore, suggesting possible importation, most probably during religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.

Chylothorax in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma managed by mediastinal radiotherapy.

Chylothorax is a rare complication of both Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). We describe a patient with a diagnosis of low grade NHL who had a persistent chylothorax unresponsive to chemotherapy, who had been diagnosed with low grade NHL. The condition rapidly resolved following mediastinal radiotherapy and did not recur despite the subsequent relapse of the NHL.

Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase activity in tissues and cultured cells.

Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase, the enzyme catalyzing the last step in creatine biosynthesis, has previously been considered to be restricted to a few tissues, but it has been found to occur in the cultured cells H4Az C2 rat hepatoma, N4TG1 mouse neuroblastoma, and IMR-90 human fetal lung fibroblast, as well as in skeletal and cardiac muscle of the rat. Activity was highest in the hepatoma, but tissues and cultured cells of nonhepatic origin had 5-20% of the activity of rat liver. Dialyzed 100,000g supernatants prepared from cultured cells or skeletal muscle tissue yielded values for apparent Km in the range of 1.2-3.4 microM for S-adenosylmethionine and 0.050-0.096 mM for guanidinoacetate. Intact monolayers of the three types of cultured cells converted labeled guanidinoacetate in the culture medium to creatine, which was identified by chromatographic behavior and by reaction with creatine kinase. The amounts of guanidinoacetate converted to creatine by fibroblasts and neuroblastoma cells during an 18-h period of incubation suggested that synthesis was proceeding at rates approaching Vmax, even in medium containing the relatively low physiological concentrations of guanidinoacetate. Fibroblast and neuroblastoma cell monolayers also have the capacity to take up creatine provided in the culture medium. The amounts of creatine taken up by monolayers of those cells were measured under the same conditions that were used for measurement of creatine synthesis. Comparison of the amounts of creatine synthesized with the amounts taken up showed that synthesis can make a significant contribution to intracellular pools of creatine plus phosphocreatine in fibroblasts and neuroblastoma cells.

An animal model of cigarette smoking in beagle dogs: correlative evaluation of effects on pulmonary function, defense, and morphology.

Using beagle dogs, we have developed an animal model for the evaluation of the effect of chronic cigarette smoking on pulmonary defense and function and on lung structure. The smoking apparatus developed allows the dog actively to inhale properly diluted (1:4) smoke directly from the cigarette through a mouthpipe. In this model, 6-month and 1-year periods of mild to moderate smoking caused impairment of tracheal mucociliary transport and bacteriosuppressive activity of alveolar macrophages, with little change in pulmonary function. Morphologically, subtle, but significant, lesions were noted in the central airways and bronchiolar walls, consisting of tracheal epithelial basal cell hyperplasia, proliferation of goblet cells in central airways, and peribronchiolar infiltration by inflammatory cells. Morphometry of bronchiolar size distribution, volume proportion of parenchymal structure, and alveolar surface area, however, failed to show significant differences between the groups.

Effects of age and hypertension on utilization of glucose by rat aorta.

Aortic intima-media was isolated from three groups of rats varying in age from 6.5 to 72 wk and from 16-wk-old rats with renal hypertension and sham-operated controls. Tissues were incubated with [U-14C]glucose for 3 h, and the incorporation of glucose into lactate, carbon dioxide, and total lipids was measured. The amounts of glucose converted to each product, per microgram of aortic DNA, increased with advancing age of donor rats over the entire range of age studied. Effects of hypertension on aortic glucose utilization were in the same direction as the effects of age, but more pronounced. Effects of age and hypertension were greatest on the conversion of glucose to carbon dioxide and least on its conversion to lipids. Significant although less marked increases in aortic glucose utilization with age and hypertension were also revealed when results were calculated on the basis of tissue weight.

Arterial lysosomes and connective tissue in primate atherosclerosis and hypertension.

The cellular events that occur in the vessel wall consequent to changes in endothelial permeability result in the progression of vascular disease, particularly atherosclerosis. Female rhesus monkeys were fed an atherogenic diet or were made hypertensive for 6-8 months; and their vessels were then compared with vessels from control monkeys. Length-defined segments of coronary vessels, the thoracic aorta, and the abdominal aorta showed significant increases in total connective tissue in the atherosclerotic and hypertensive groups; pulmonary vessels did not. The diseased aortic segments had increased levels of two lysosomal enzymes, acid phosphatase and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase; pulmonary vessels were not diseased and did not show these changes. Coronary vessels from the atherosclerotic and hypertensive groups did not show an increase in enzyme levels on biochemical measurements, but focal accumulations of lysosomes were identified by cytochemical techniques. In atherosclerotic lesions, a doubling of cholesterol and more than a tenfold increase in cholesterol ester were found. These connective tissue and lysosomal changes are early features of primate vascular disease and may result from the accumulation of excessive substrate (cholesterol ester) in the lysosomes of vascular smooth muscle cells.

Biosynthesis of squalene and sterols by rat aorta.

The synthesis of nonsaponifiable compounds from radioactive mevalonate by segments of adult rat aorta was studied in vitro. The labeled products consisted largely of substances with the chromatographic and chemical behavior of squalene, lanosterol, lathosterol, and cholesterol. Even after 3 or 4 hr of incubation, the incorporation of mevalonate into squalene was higher than its incorporation into C(27) sterols; cholesterol contained less than 20% of the radioactivity in the total sterols. Lanosterol was the most highly labeled sterol. The level of radioactivity in lathosterol was comparable to the level in cholesterol. Small amounts of radioactivity were found in other sterols. Material with the same mobility on TLC as 7-dehydrocholesterol had less radioactivity than cholesterol, but more than sterols with the mobility of desmosterol. The results of measurements made after short periods of incubation showed that squalene and lanosterol became labeled before the other nonsaponifiable compounds.