Prevalence of Chlamydia specific antibodies among obstetric and gynecological outpatients in Gondar, north-west Ethiopia.

A total of 533 obstetric and gynecological outpatients who visited the dedicated clinics in Gondar, Ethiopia, between April and August 1995 were investigated for Chlamydia-specific antibodies. Relevant epidemiological and clinical data were collected using a pretested questionnaire, clinical examinations and laboratory tests. Earlier, using an antigen specific ELISA technique, we had reported that only 33 (6%) of these women were positive for C. trachomatis in cervical swabs. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of C. trachomatis-specific antibodies in serum samples of the same patients collected at the time the cervical swabs were taken. Employing a genus-specific ELISA for the detection of chlamydial LPS antibodies, 90% of the sera were found to be positive for IgG, while 49% of the sera contained IgA and 28% IgM antibodies. For 436 of the positive sera, species specificity of the antibodies was determined by means of a micro-immunofluorescence assay. Antibodies against C. trachomatics were present in 75% and antibodies against C. pneumoniae in 69% of these sera. Forty-nine percent of the patients carried antibodies against both species. The antibody based assay estimated that 13.9% of the patients had acute genital chlamydial infection (antigen specific IgM and the simultaneous presence of C. trachomatis specific IgG, IgM and IgA). C. trachomatis antigen detection in cervical swabs apparently underestimated the real frequency of acute infections. Seroprevalence of C. pneumoniae antibodies in the Ethiopian patients was similar to that in industrialized countries.

A water-cooled spherical niobium target for the production of [18F]fluoride.

A new automated target system for the routine production of [18F]fluoride from (18)O-enriched water has been constructed. It consists of a small spherical niobium target chamber mounted into a special holder, which provides rapid cooling by water flow around the sphere. The target is irradiated with 21 MeV protons; the incident energy in the target chamber is 13 MeV. The system is operated without external over-pressure and has been tested for beam currents up to 50 microA. 95% of the theoretical yield of [18F]fluoride has been extracted and used for the synthesis of [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose.

[40 years breast carcinoma treatment in the Neubrandenburg region.Can an increase in prognostically more favorable stages be detected?]. / 40 Jahre Mammakarzinombehandlung in der Region Neubrandenburg. Lässt sich eine Verschiebung zu prognostisch günstigeren Stadien nachweisen?

The data of clinical presentation for women suffering from breast carcinoma were analysed for a period of 4 decades retrospectively. The authors have found a significant decrease in the duration of the history and an increase of early stages of the breast carcinoma. This increase was caused by the introduction of mammography. The mammography is the most important method for the diagnosis of breast carcinoma in asymptomatic women.

[Selective percutaneous transluminal thrombolytic therapy with rt-PA in central retinal artery occlusion]. / Selektive perkutane transluminale Lysetherapie mit RTPA bei retinalem Zentralarterienverschluss.

UNLABELLED: In central retinal arterial occlusion systemic fibrinolytic therapy can involve a variety of serious complications. The local application of a fibrinolytic agent close to the embolus by means of a femoral catheter should reduce the rate of complications. We therefore present the results of a preliminary study of nine consecutive patients treated with rt-PA via transcutaneous femoral catheter. PATIENTS: From October 1993 to January 1994, nine patients ranging in age from 50 to 83 years who had central retinal occlusion were treated with rt-PA. The latency from the onset of the symptoms to the beginning of the therapy was 10-37 h. A catheter was placed via the femoral artery, the tip being located either at the common carotid artery or at the internal carotid artery or at the internal carotid artery. A continuous infusion containing 10 micrograms (ACTILYSE (rt-PA) was given over 2 h. Thereafter, each patient received 7000 IU heparin sulfate 4 times daily for 3 days and 1200 micrograms pentoxifylline i.v. daily for 10 days. On discharge, permanent therapy with salicylic acid (100 micrograms) was prescribed. The patients have been followed up for up to 18 months so far. RESULTS: In five of eight patients an improvement of central visual acuity was observed. It changed from perception of hand movement only to 12/20 in three patients. In two of these patients visual acuity had continued to improve after 6-9 months, to 16/20 and 20/20. In one patient visual acuity fell to 6/20 because of progression of ischemic ophthalmopathy. In our patients visual acuity could still be improved even 27 h after arterial occlusion. CONCLUSION: A low incidence of complications and the good effect on thrombolysis support the local rt-PA therapy. Good interdisciplinary cooperation is required. Patients must be referred for this therapy as early as possible.

[3H-leucine incorporation into the secretory cells of the murine mammary gland under the action of adrenomimetics]. / Vkliuchenie 3H-leitsina v sekretornye kletki molochnoi zhelezy myshei pri deistvii adrenomimetikov.

Although there is some evidence suggesting the involvement of the sympathoadrenal system in the mammary gland function, the precise mechanism by which adrenergic agents may influence galactopoietic processes is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the reported decrease in milk and organic substance content after catecholamine administration might be due to the inhibition of protein synthesis. For that purpose, the incorporation of 3H-leucine into the secretory cells of the mammary gland of lactating mice under the influence of the alpha-adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine and the beta-adrenoceptor agonist isoproterenol, respectively, was studied by light microscopic autoradiography. Tissue radioactivity as a whole was measured by liquid scintillation counting. It was shown that neither the alpha- nor the beta-agonist simultaneously given with the labeled amino acid were able to change the amount of radioactivity taken up by the mammary gland. From this result it is concluded that a transitory increase in catecholamine concentration in the blood has no effect on mammary gland protein synthesis.

On the blood-brain barrier to peptides: effects of immobilization stress on regional blood supply and accumulation of labelled peptides in the rat brain.

Tritiated arginine-vasopressin (AVP), desglycinamide-vasopressin (DGAVP), chicken gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) or carbetocin were injected intracarotidally into rats exposed to a restraint stress for 60 min. The peptide accumulations were determined in 9-13 brain regions and anterior pituitary. In separate experiments the cerebral blood flow was measured. The blood supply to the brain was decreased in stressed animals as indicated by: 1. significant decrease (17-50%) of cerebral blood flow; 2. diminished accumulation of tritiated AVP in the regions lacking a blood-brain barrier (BBB). Consequently, the values of peptide accumulation were corrected for the changed blood supply. Compared with control animals, restraint stress induced a higher accumulation of AVP (+41%), DGAVP (+60%), carbetocin (+81%) and GnRH (+104%).

Transfer of [3H]leucine across the blood-brain barrier at high blood-side oxytocin concentrations in normal and morphine-dependent rats.

The effects of circulating oxytocin on permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to L-[3H]leucine were studied in anaesthetized rats using the intracarotid, single pass, bolus injection technique. After bolus intracarotid oxytocin injection (10(-9) M), there were no differences in [3H]leucine uptake, compared with controls, in any of eight brain regions with a 'tight' BBB (olfactory bulb, frontal cortex, visual cortex, corpus striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus and colliculi) or in BBB-free, 'leaky' structures (pineal gland, choroid plexus, neuro-intermediate pituitary, anterior pituitary). [3H]leucine uptake by the 'leaky' structures was 2.4x and 2.6x uptake by 'tight' regions in the oxytocin and control groups respectively. In morphine-dependent rats, naloxone increased oxytocin secretion 28-fold within 5 min, but did not affect [3H]leucine uptake for any BBB-protected brain region or BBB-free 'leaky' structure. Accumulation of [3H]leucine was 8.3x and 7.0x greater in the 'leaky' structures than in the 'tight' regions in the naloxone and control groups respectively; [14C]inulin accumulation by each 'tight' region (measured simultaneously with [3H]leucine to determine the vascular space) was not affected by naloxone. It is concluded that even very high blood plasma concentrations of oxytocin do not affect BBB permeability for leucine. It is unlikely that altered BBB permeability, at least for amino acids, contributes to CNS changes during naloxone-provoked morphine withdrawal.

The influence of exogenous oxytoxin on labelling of secretory epithelium of mouse mammary gland by [3H]leucine, evidenced by autoradiography.

It has been suggested that oxytocin, besides its milk-ejecting activity, is also involved in the hormonal regulation of the mammary gland secretory cells. The available data, however, are conflicting. In this study two independent experiments, separated by a certain time interval show that oxytocin intravenously administered to mice at days 10-14 of lactation diminished the incorporation of [3H]leucine into the mammary gland tissue by 32 and 53 per cent, respectively. The neurohormone was co-injected with the tracer amino acid. The radioactivity taken up by the secretory cells was estimated by light microscopic autoradiography. The autoradiograms were evaluated by visual silver grain counting. Tissue radioactivity was measured by liquid scintillation counting. A milk stasis in the mammary gland induced by depriving the mice of suckling two hours before tracer injection had no influence on the secretory activity of the glandular cells. It is assumed that oxytocin has a direct effect on the milk-producing cells, and that the reduction in measurable radioactivity caused by the neurohormone may be due to an accelerated intracellular passage of labelled milk proteins.

Age-related pathophysiology of the blood-brain barrier in heat stress.

The possibility that the blood-brain barrier (BBB) might play an important role in the pathophysiology of heat stress (HS) has been examined in young (age 8-9 weeks) and adult (age 24-32 weeks) rats. Exposure of young rats to 4 h HS at 38 degrees C in a biological oxygen demand (BOD) incubator (relative humidity 47-50%, wind velocity 20-26 cm/sec, simulating the environmental conditions of Varanasi, India, during the month of June) resulted in a marked hyperthermia (41.7 +/- 0.23 degrees C) and behavioral symptoms. In these animals there was a profound increase in the permeability of the BBB to Evans blue-albumin (EBA) (464%) and to 131I-sodium iodide (515%), accompanied by a marked increase in the brain water content (4%), of the levels of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in plasma (687%) and in brain (267%) and a pronounced reduction (30%) in cerebral blood flow (CBF). Morphological examination using light- and electron-microscopy revealed profound neuronal changes associated with a marked increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and in vimentin immunoreactivities, together with a substantial reduction in myelin basic protein (MBP) immunostaining in the brain. These changes were more pronounced in the brain-stem reticular formation, pons and medulla region. On the other hand, exposure of adult animals to the same intensity of HS resulted in mild or no changes in BBB permeability, content of brain water and 5-HT in the plasma and brain, CBF or other cellular changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

On the blood-brain barrier to peptides: specific binding of atrial natriuretic peptide in vivo and in vitro.

Using the intracarotid bolus injection technique, a saturable binding of [125I]atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) was found in 8 blood-brain barrier (BBB)-protected rat brain regions as well as in the pineal gland, choroid plexus, neurointermediate and anterior lobes of the pituitary, i.e. structures lacking a BBB. The presence of specific ANP binding on the BBB, here shown for the first time by an in vivo approach, was evidenced concomitantly in vitro by incubation of isolated microvessels. A single-class high affinity binding without regional differences was obtained with Kd = 0.23 nM and Bmax = 120 fmol/mg protein. From that a density of 1,400 binding sites per endothelial cell was calculated, thought to be localized predominantly in the luminal membranes. In the in vivo study, the portion of the extracted peptide that, under the conditions used, may have crossed the BBB by passive diffusion amounted to less than 0.4% of the labeled ANP administered. ANP itself did not change the tightness of the BBB to the non-diffusible reference molecule [14C]inulin. In the BBB-free areas, ANP enhanced the inulin space by nearly 50%.

[Hyperprolactinemia in malignant lymphomas]. / Hyperprolactinämie bei malignen Lymphomen.

Serum prolactin levels at the time of confirmed diagnosis and of remission were determined prospectively in 36 patients (22 males, 14 females; mean age 54.2 [18-77] years), 12 with Hodgkin and 24 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Basal prolactin levels were elevated to a mean of 1900 (720- greater than 4000) mU/l in 12 patients. Eight of these had extranodal manifestations of lymphoma. At the time of remission the elevated prolactin levels had returned to normal in six patients. The cortisol concentrations of the 36 patients did not correlate with the prolactin levels so that stress-induced increase in secretion seems unlikely. These results point to prolactin possibly playing a role as a nonspecific tumour marker. In addition, lymphomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of hyperprolactinaemia.

Autoradiographic demonstration of glucocorticoid receptors in the intermediate lobe of the rat pituitary transplanted to the anterior eye chamber.

It is a general belief that the intermediate lobe of the pituitary, in contrast to the anterior pituitary, is devoid of glucocorticoid receptors. However, Antakly et al. (1985) using immunocytochemistry, demonstrated the presence of this receptor in intermediate lobe cells deprived of the hypothalamic innervation. It was the aim of the present study to confirm this finding by auto-radiography, i.e., using an independent method. The neurointermediate lobe of adult male Wistar rats was syngeneic transplanted to the anterior eye chamber. The recipient rats were adrenalectomized 19 days after grafting and injected with [3H]corticosterone 5 days later. After a survival time of 60 min, autoradiograms were prepared by thaw-mount technique and quantitatively evaluated by silver grain counting. Beside the classical targets, anterior pituitary and hippocampal stratum pyramidale, the intraocular transplants showed a nuclear accumulation of radioactivity. This was abolished in rats treated for competition with an excess of unlabelled corticosterone prior to tracer application. No such receptor binding was found in the normotopic intermediate lobe and in the diaphragm studied as a non-target reference. Thus, this study confirmed that the glucocorticoid receptor gene is expressed if the tissue is grafted into an ectopic site.