[Congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasis. Report of four cases (author's transl)]

Four cases of congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasis were observed during a five year period. This represents an incidence of 1.11 per 10,000 cases among alive newborns and of 53 per 10,000 cases among pediatric necropsias performed during the same period. One case was observed in the clinical context of a generalized hemangiolymphangiomatosis, another was associated to tetralogy of Fallot and the remaining two cases were associated to obstruction of pulmonary venous return. Although one of the pathogenic theories generally accepted in the formation of pulmonary lymphangiectasis points to the presence of either hypertension or obstruction of pulmonary venous drainage, it is possible that such situation is only circumstantial. Among 40 personal cases of obstruction of pulmonary venous return proved anatomically, only in the two cases presented were pulmonary lymphangiectasis demonstrated. The presence of dysplastic elements in pulmonary tissue in cases of lymphangiectasis suggests that a more possible mechanism is a primary defect in the development of pulmonary lymphatics.

Urinary fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) in bladder cancer

The value of urinary fibrinogen degradation products (EPD) as a biological marker of bladder cancer has been studied. An increase in FDP was found in 75% of bladder cancer patients, independent of the fact that they had active tumours or that they were disease free. A high correlation between the amount of the increase and the grade, local invasiveness, and risk of recurrence of the tumour has been established. The assessment of urinary FDP is considered as a valuable screening and follow-up test in patients with bladder neoplasms.

The effect of limited proteolysis by trypsin and chymotrypsin on bovine colostral IgG1

Limited proteolysis of bovine colostral IgG1 by trypsin caused loss of specific antibody activity but column chromatography showed that relatively little cleavage into fragements had occurred. Polyacrlamide-agarose SDS electrophoresis of the 2-mercaptoethanol-treated digest revealed, however, that extensive cleavage of light chains had occurred even though most of the material before reduction had a mol. wt close to that of undigested IgG1. Although a Fab-type fragment was detected in the digest by immunoelectrophoresis it appeared to be only a minor component. Chymotrypsin had little effect upon either the structure or antibody activity of IgG1. These findings may explain the effect of trypsin and chymotrypsin on the bactericidal activity of colostral antibodies.

Management of hemophilia in Spain

Results are presented of a nation-wide inquiry into the management of hemophilia in Spain. It is calculated that there are 1,172 hemophilic patients in the country. A survey has been made of the therapeutic materials (prepared commercially or by hospitals) used in 1974 and their availability in the various hospitals of the Social Security Service. It is estimated that an average of 10,708 units of deficient factor were used per patient in this year. The number of patients on home therapy is 1.2% of the total. All cost of hemophilia treatment is covered by the Social Security. Comments are made on progress during the last five years.

Bactericidal and haemolytic activity of complement in bovine colostrum and serum: effect of proteolytic enzymes and ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA)

Bovine colostral whey (CW) possessed heat-labile bactericidal activity against an enteropathogenic serum-susceptible strain of Escherichia coli. Activity was readily destroyed by trypsin or rat pancreatic juice, and less readily by chymotrypsin. Loss of activity due to trypsin, but not by chymotrypsin, could be prevented by addition of excess bovine colostral trypsin inhibitor. A second enteropathogenic strain of E. coli was killed by CW only if exogenous complement was added. This activity was maintained, however, even if the complement was heated 56 degrees C during 15 min. CW possessed only very weak haemolytic activity against sensitised rabbit erythrocytes, but could augment the haemolytic titre of bovine serum and could partially restore haemolytic activity to heat-inactivated bovine serum. These observations indicate that low but significant amounts of complement may occur in bovine colostrum. Sequestration of Ca++ by EGTA abolished all bactericidal and haemolytic activity in CW, and reduced but did not completely abolish these activities in bovine serum or in CW + exogenous complement. The activity of colostral complement therefore appears to be mediated entirely by the classical pathway whereas the alternate pathway may play some part in the bactericidal and haemolytic activities of bovine serum or of CW + exogenous complement.

Trypsin inhibitor from cow colostrum. Isolation, electrophoretic characterization and immunologic properties

Trypsin inhibitor from cow colostrum has been purified by affinity chromatography of colostral proteins on insolubilized trypsin. The method described compares favourably, in both simplicity and yield, with previous methods developed for the isolation of this inhibitor. Gel electrophoresis followed by characterization of antitrypsin activity allows the demonstration of four molecular forms of bovine colostral trypsin inhibitor in both crude colostral whey and purified preparations of the inhibitor. Immunoelectrophoresis of each of these materials with antisera specific for this inhibitor reveals a single precipitation line of broad anodic mobility. By immunodiffusion tests, the precipitation lines in preparations of purified inhibitor and colostral whey appear immunologically identical. In contrast, absence of crossed reactivity was observed between bovine colostral trypsin inhibitor and trypsin inhibitors of bovine serum. This strongly suggests the high specificity of this inhibitor as a colostral and milk constituent.