[Hydatid cyst fluid (Echinococcus granulosus) biochemistry. Influence of site on cyst permeability]

Eleven metabolites were determined in 19 hydatid cyst fluids of variable size and localization, and in patients plasma before surgery. Specific indirect immunofluorescent antibody titration was carried out. Sodium (132 +/- 5.2 mmol/l), chloride (92.9 +/- 6.5 mmol/l) and bicarbonate (22.1 +/- 1.5 mmol/l) were found at the same concentration than in plasma. Potassium (5.4 +/- 0.3 mmol/l) and calcium levels (4.7 +/- 0.9 mmol/l) were higher than in plasma, and phosphate (0.1 +/- 0.03 mmol/l) decreased tenfold. Glucose (3.4 +/- 0.8 mmol/l), creatinine (39.3 +/- 7.2 mumol/l) and urea nitrogen (4.6 +/- 0.8 mmol/l) showed great variations. Cholesterol levels 0.06 +/- 0.03 mmol/l) were a hundredfold lower than in plasma. Total protein levels (0.34 +/- 0.09 g/l) were found at very low concentrations. Extra-pulmonary cysts showed significantly higher antibody titers than pulmonary cysts. No correlation was observed between the size of the cysts and the level of the immune response. Significant difference about the relative cholesterol concentration (cystic concentration/plasmatic concentration) was observed between pulmonary and extra-pulmonary cysts (respectively 0.0048 +/- 0.0032 and 0.018 +/- 0.01--p less than 0.05). No correlation was observed between the size of the cyst, or the corresponding levels of the immune response, and the cholesterol levels. The hypothesis of a greater membrane permeability in extra-pulmonary cyst is discussed.

[Diffuse hepato-pulmonary hydatidosis. Apropos of a case]

The authors report a case of diffuse hydatid disease of the lung and liver. This association accounts for about 20 per cent of cases. Diffuse lesions are, on the other hand, exceptional. In this case the lung and liver functions were both impaired. Surgical management involved resection of the top of the cyst protruding from the liver and pulmonary cystectomy. The relative simplicity of the postoperative course, restoration of liver function and improvement in lung function prompt the authors to recommend surgical management of these cases, which cannot be treated medically.

Effect of fatty acid modification of cultured hepatoma cells on susceptibility to natural killer cells

Rat hepatoma (Morris 7777) cells modified with either oleic or linoleic acid exhibited greater susceptibility to normal spleen cell-mediated lysis in a 16-hr 51Cr release assay. At effector:target cell ratios of 300:1, the specific lysis of fatty acid-enriched target cells (cultured for 2 days in fatty acid-supplemented medium) by the normal rat spleen cells was 60% higher than the untreated target cells (P less than 0.01). Prolonging the culture in fatty acid-supplemented medium up to 6 days produced similar effects. Analysis of the fatty acid composition of cellular lipids revealed that an elevation of oleic or linoleic acid was the only significant alteration in the hepatoma cells grown in the oleic or linoleic acid-supplemented medium, respectively. The percentage of the acids was increased in the total cellular phospholipids, the choline, ethanolamine, serine, and inositol phosphoglyceride fractions, and the neutral lipids. In conclusion, we suggest that the elevation of oleic acid and linoleic acid contents in the membranes of the fatty acid-modified hepatoma cells may contribute to the increased susceptibility of these cells to natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

In vitro activation and behavior of the ameboid sperm of Ascaris suum (Nematoda)

A system is described for the study of activation and motility of Ascaris spermatozoa in vitro. Activation was accomplished by addition of the sperm-activating substances (SAS), extracted from the male accessory gland, to cells incubated in phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4) at 37-39 degrees C under anaerobic conditions (95% N2, 5% CO2). Activation is characterized by a change from spherical to ameboid shape with coalescence of the refringent granules. The normal ameboid spermatozoa bear several stubby and needle-like filopodia at the lamellipodial margin. Within the lamellipodium are bundles of microfilament-like structures extending toward the pseudopodial membrane and concentrating within the needle-like filopodia. These filopodia exhibit a pendulous, sweeping motion with subsequent retraction and disappearence within the main lamellipodium. Membranes of the ameboid cells interact at the pseudopodial regions with partial fusion, as suggested by apparent membrane breakdown between interdigitating portions of the pseudopodia. Activation is complete in 5-15 min, is totally inhibited at 4 degrees C and/or by an atmospheric environment, but can be reinitiated by transfer to anaerobic conditions at 22-39 degrees C. Activation also requires favorable pH (6.8-8.7) and continual exposure to sufficiently high sodium concentrations (134-154 mM), i.e., lowering of sodium concentration to 10 mM causes irreversible inactivation. Sodium may be replaced by potassium or lithium but not by Tris or sucrose. Proteinases (10 microgram/ml) can act as activators even though SAS lack detectable proteolytic activity against azoalbumin, azocasein, TAME and BTEE and SAS activation was not inhibited by TLCK or soybean trypsin inhibitor.

Late mutilating bejel in the nomadic Bedouins of Kuwait

The clinicopathological findings in three sporadic cases of late mutilating bejel of the mid-face and mouth have been described in two bedouin men and a bedouin woman from the Great Arabian Peninsula on the outskirts of Kuwait. The epidemiology, differential diagnosis and the relevant literature of bejel or non-venereal endemic syphilis have also been discussed.