New onset psoriasis in a patient receiving abatacept for rheumatoid arthritis.

Administration of abatacept is a new treatment modality for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We describe a patient in whom psoriasiform skin lesions developed 4 months after the initiation of abatacept therapy for longstanding, rheumatoid factor positive RA. Histological findings were consistent with psoriasis. The skin lesions subsided after discontinuation of abatacept and reappeared after re-exposure to the drug, suggesting a causal connection between abatacept and the development of psoriasis.

Transient hypopituitarism in a patient with nephropathia epidemica.

Involvement of the pituitary gland is only rarely observed in hantavirus infection. This report describes the case of a patient who had transient hypopituitarism requiring hormonal replacement therapy due to hypophysitis as a result of Puumala virus infection. MRI studies revealed oedematous swelling of the gland as a morphological correlate. This report provides new evidence that hypopituitarism can be a serious complication in Puumala virus infection and highlights the clinical implications of this disorder.

Cocarcinogenic effects of islet hormones and N-nitrosomorpholine in hepatocarcinogenesis after intrahepatic transplantation of pancreatic islets in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

In contrast to high local insulin levels obtained after low-number transplantation (n = 350) of islets of Langerhans into the livers of diabetic rats, low insulin levels after high-number transplantation (n = 1,000) do not suffice to induce hepatocarcinogenesis. Herein, we investigated the possible cocarcinogenic potential of high and, in particular, low insulin levels, combining this in vivo model with a chemical model of hepatocarcinogenesis after administration of N-nitrosomorpholine (NNM). In three main experiments, different schemes of single or continuous NNM administration were combined with different transplantation procedures in diabetic or nondiabetic animals, i.e., low-number and high-number islet transplantation, transplantation of polystyrene particles, and sham transplantation. Animals were sacrificed between 3 and 53 weeks after transplantation procedures. Evidence for the cocarcinogenic effects of NNM and insulin was provided in each main experiment. NNM treatment after low-number islet transplantation resulted in an increase in the number of preneoplastic hepatocellular foci, and a significant increase in the number and an earlier appearance of hepatocellular adenomas and carcinomas compared with controls. Most intriguing was the increase in preneoplastic foci after combined NNM treatment and high-number islet transplantation, proving that insulin, even in lower doses, has at least cocarcinogenic effects on the downstream hepatocytes and thus promotes an otherwise initiated hepatocarcinogenic process. Conclusively, intrahepatic transplantation of pancreatic islets acts as a strong cocarcinogenic factor together with NNM in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

Difference in Injury of Cells of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Produced by Heat and Cold Stresses in liquid and Solid Menstrual 1.

Cells of Vibrio parahaemolyticus were stressed by heat, cold or heat-cold treatments of 45 C for 12 h, 0 C for 24 h or both. The five menstrua in which cells were stressed were 0.1 M phosphate buffer with 3% NaCl (B + 3%), 0.25 - strength Marine Broth (0.25 × MB) Trypticase Soy Broth with 3% NaCl (TSB + 3%) and Trypticase Soy Agar with 3 or 7% NaCl (TSA + 3% or TSA + 7%). The chill stress produced no cell injury, measured as the difference in colony counts in TSA+3% and TSA+7%, in the three liquid menstrua but caused more than 4 logs of cell injury in the solid menstrua compared to controls. The heat stress caused 2.5- and 1.5-log increases in the number of injured cells from B + 3% or 0.25 × MB, respectively. Cells heat-stressed in TSB + 3% showed no decline in colony counts, but those heat-stressed in TSA+ 7% produced about a 6-log lower colony count. For cells heated and then chilled in B+3% or 0.25 × MB as the liquid menstruum, the percentages of heat-injured cells that apparently regained tolerance to 7% NaCl when shifted to the cold were about 99.7 and 95.0%, respectively. Conversely, cells that were heated and then chilled in the solid menstrua did not regain tolerance to 7% NaCl. Thus, cell injury was greater and apparently less easily reversed for cells stressed in solid than liquid menstrua.