[Vitamin-B12-dependent methylmalonic acidemia in twins]. / Vitamin-B12-abhängige Methylmalonazidämie bei Zwillingen.

The tendency towards metabolic acidosis developing during simple infections lead to the detection of hyperglycinemia which was shown to be caused by the rare inborn error of metabolism, which was shown to be a methylmalonic acidemia, in identical twins. Under a protein restricted diet and vitamin-B12-injections once a week, all clinical symptoms disappeared so that vitamin-B12-dependency became evident. Under this therapeutic regimen methylmalonic aciduria was well under control.

[Toxic shock syndrome]. / Syndrome des toxischen Schocks.

Since the description of the toxic shock syndrome as a disease entity approximately 700 cases have been reported, mainly in young women during their period using tampons. The cause is thought to be toxins of Staph. aureus. The disease was now observed in a 13-year-old girl, presenting as severe acute septicaemia. The aetiopathogenetic connection with use of tampons could only be established during a second, entirely identical, illness, occurring again precisely 3 days after the onset of the following period.

Properties of chromosomal proteins of human leukemic cells.

Purified chromatin isolated from lymphocytic cells derived from patients with acute leukemia, or other lymphoproliferative disorders has been compared with chromatin isolated from normal human lymphocytic cells by gel electrophoresis and differential gradient ultracentrifugation. Thermal denaturation studies showed higher Tm values for chromatin from leukemic cells, as compared to that of lymphocytic cells from normal donors or patients with infectious mononucleosis, reflecting the diverse complexity of these chromatins with respect to their varying chemical compositions. There are significant differences in the ratios of DNA:RNA:protein, as well as in the ratios of chromatin-associated histone and non-histone proteins; although chromatin-associated histones were more homogeneous than were the non-histone proteins, as adjudged by amino acid analyses and acrylamide gel electrophoresis. These differences in chromatin structure may relate to the differences in gene expression characteristic of these lymphocytic cells. The chromosomal acidic proteins isolated from the purified chromatin of human leukemic cells greatly stimulated the template activity of the chromatin in in vitro RNA synthesis. The non-histone proteins selectively interact with chromatins and influence the RNA polymerase reactions, indicating that there is selective tissue specificity of non-histone proteins.