Neurological complications of the ring (22) syndrome: a case report

The first Japanese case of the ring (22) syndrome was described. The patient had diffuse neurological involvement of the central, peripheral nerves and muscles in addition to the phenotypical characteristics of this syndrome.

A biochemical comparison of Xenopus laevis and mammalian myelin from the central and peripheral nervous systems

Myelin purified from the central nervous system of Xenopus laevis contained the same major lipid and protein components as human myelin. However, some minor differences in the myelin proteins were noted. The Xenopus basic protein had a higher apparent mol wt. on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels than the corresponding mammalian protein. The absolute specific activity of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase in the Xenopus myelin was considerably higher than in mammals. There were differences in the high mol wt. proteins, and the glycoproteins in Xenopus myelin were more heterogeneous than those in mammals. Peripheral myelin from Xenopus sciatic nerve was compared with that from the rat. The lipids in the two types of myelin were similar. There was a major glycoprotein in the Xenopus myelin corresponding to the P0 protein and a basic protein of slightly larger mol wt. than the P1 protein of rat myelin.

Niemann-Pick disease experimental model: sphingomyelinase reduction induced by AY-9944

Organs of rats treated with the drug A Y-9944 for 5 days showed a significant reduction in sphingomyelinase activity. Evidence is presented which suggests that the reduction is due to impaired enzyme synthesis.

An immunological method for detection of the carrier of hemophilia B

This paper presents the results of an immunological study of hemophilia B and its carriers which used two kinds of antibodies, a heterologous antibody of high specificity and a homologous antibody developed in a patient with severe hemophilia B. 1. The factor IX related antigen for hemophilia B could be determined by a neutralization test and not by a precipitation reaction. 2. The activity of factor IX in a definite carrier of hemophilia B was significantly lower than that of factor VIII in a definite carrier of hemophilia A. 3. In hemophilia B, there were no differences between the factor IX antigen determined by either the heterologous rabbit antibodies or the homologous antibodies. And there was no discrepancy between the factor IX antigen and the factor IX activity. Therefore, we cannot use this discrepancy for the detection of a carrier of hemophilia B. 4. However, there was a discrepancy between the factor IX antigen determined by the neutralization test and the factor IX procoagulant activity in the patients of both hemophilia BM and hemophilia B+. The identical results were obtained in the cases of carriers of both hemophilia BM and hemophilia B+. These facts are very useful for the detection of carriers of hemophilia BM and hemophilia B+.