Neural changes in recurrent genital infection of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus in calves treated with dexamethasone

Recurrent genital infection with infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus was induced in calves by dexamethasone (DM) treatment 3 months after primary infection. The virus was first recovered from vaginal secretions on the 3rd day after the initiation of DM treatment; however, the virus was not recovered at all from nasal secretions or from the cerebrospinal fluid of the DM-treated calves. The significant neural changes in all recurrent infected calves were nonsuppurative poliomyelitis in the lumbosacral spinal cords and their ganglia, and they were more severe in the sacrospinal cords than in other parts of the spinal cord. The virus antigen was detected in the sacrospinal ganglia and peripheral nerve fibres in the submucosa of the vagina by the fluorescent antibody technique on the 4th and 6th days after the start of DM treatment. These observations indicated that nonsuppurative poliomyelitis may be a characteristic lesion in recurrent genital infection of IBR virus. The sacrospinal cords and ganglia are considered as latent sites of IBR virus.

Primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the tentorium with peculiar angiographic findings

Primary intracranial rhabdomyosarcoma is extremely rare, only nine cases have been reported in the world literature. To differentiate it from medullomyoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma should be devoid of neuroblastic elements. A case of rhabdomyosarcoma of the tentorial region in a 17-year-old boy is reported. Carotid angiograms demonstrated a peculiar neovascularity. Multiple cytologic preparations of CSF repeatedly contained rhabdomyosarcoma cells and CSF dissemination in the spinal subarachnoid space was documented at autopsy. The literature is reviewed.

The eighth Frederick H. Verhoeff Lecture. presented by saiichi mishima, MD Behçet's disease in Japan: ophthalmologic aspects

The problems of Behçet's disease in Japan have been reviewed with particular emphasis on the ophthalmologic aspects: the historical background for the Japanese works, diagnostic critieria, epidemiology, some statistics, ocular symptomatology, ocular histopathology, etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment. Behçet's disease is the most frequent entity in endogenous uveitis in Japan. Patients are found throughout the country, and the prevalence rate averages seven to eight per 100,000 population: the rate is higher in the northern than in the southern districts. The diagnosis is made on the basis of a combination of clinical symptoms that are divided into the major and minor criteria symptoms. The major criteria comprise the ocular involvement, aphthous ulcers of the oral mucous membrane, genital ulcers, and skin lesions. These symptoms recur often as attacks and the disease follows a chronic course. The ocular involvement is found in 83% to 95% in males and 67% to 73% in females; the male to female ratio in the number of patients is 1.78. Both into the anterior segment type and the fundus and panophthalmic types. The anterior segment type shows serous iridocyclitis with the classic type of hypopyon appearing in about 12% of the attacks. This type is found in about 20%, more often in females than in males, and the visual prognosis is more favorable than in the fundus and panophthalmic types. In the latter two types, attacks of retinal angitis resulting in intensive retinal edema, yellowish-white exudate, and hemorrhages recur particularly in the macular region, and the visual prognosis is poor. More than 50% of male patients lose visual acuity to less than 0.1 in five years, but this is the case in only 10% of female patients. Consequently, Behçet's disease is the cause of blindness in about 12% of acquired blindness in adults. The ocular histopathology during the attack is characterized by severe angitis with intensive infiltration of neutrophil leucocytes largely in the uveal tract and the retina; the latter is severely affected and loss of visual cells and other neural elements results. The etiology of this disease still remains unknown but genetic predisposition is suggested since this disease is strongly linked with HL-A-B5. Environmental factors are also considered. Various abnormalities are found in the blood chemistry, blood cells (particularly in neutrophil leucocytes), immunologic mechanism, fibrinolytic and blood clotting system, and hormonal system. Chemotractic factors are found in the aqueous humor. These changes are particulary enhanced just before and during the ocular attacks. Systemic corticosteroids are deleterious to the visual prognosis, but cyclophosphamide and colchicine appear to suppress attacks and help patients maintain the visual acuity. However, these drugs are toxic, particulary to the reproductive organs, and the patients must be informed of this side effect and be allowed to make a decision before they are used.

Neural changes in recurrent infection of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus in calves treated with dexamethasone

Recurrent infection by infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus was induced in calves by dexamethasone (DM) treatment (given 5 days) at 5 months after primary infection. The virus appeared in nasal secretions of the calves on the 4th day after initiation of DM treatment and continued until the 9th day. The calves were killed on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th days after DM treatment was started for examination by histopathologic and immunofluorescent antibody techniques. The most significant neural change was trigeminal ganglionitis with neuronophagia, which was observed from the 3rd to the 11th day. Significantly, the extent of changes in the trigeminal ganglion and medulla oblongata corresponded to the amount of DM treatment administered. The IBR virus antigen was first observed in the trigeminal ganglion cells, and thereafter, it was detected in the Schwann cells, satellite cells, neuroglia cells, and nasal mucosa until the 10th day. These observations indicate that the IBR virus is capalbe of producing a persistent infection in the trigeminal ganglion and that trigeminal ganglionitis may be a characteristic lesion for inducing the reactivation of lagent IBR virus.

Contact angle and surface tension in studies of lung surfactant

The contact angle (theta) was determined in combination with surface tension measured in a Langmuiur-Willhelmy surface tension balance. Correction of the surface tension by the contact angle factor (1/cos theta) was tried on the monolayer curve of dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC) and total lipid extracts from the bovine lung surfactant material (TLE). The contact angle was observed with an optical apparatus called a Contangulometer and pictures taken discontinuously, and was determined by drawing tangents at the peak of a junction between the water mensicus and a glass plate. The contact angle was about 15 degrees, and had a narrow range of variation until the surface tension became very low, less than 5 dynes/cm, and then the contact angle jumped to almost 90 degrees both in DPPC and in TLE. It is concluded that the directly recorded surface tension curve underestimates the value by about 3-4% and that when the surface tension becomes very low, less than 5 dynes/cm, the value is no longer valid because the contact angle becomes nearly 90 degrees.

Histochemical investigation of acid mucopolysaccharides in amyloid, colloid and hyaline

The carbohydrate component in amyloid was histochemically compared with that in colloid or hyaline. Alcian blue, azure A, and periodic acid Schiff were used to stain mucopolysaccharides. In a further attempt to identify various polyanions, staining was carried out with alcian blue containing various concentrations of electrolytes. Methylation, saponification, acid hydrolysis, and digestion with streptomyces or testicular hyaluronidase, or chondroitinase ABC were also employed. The results obtained suggest that the presence of heparitin sulfate in amyloid, of chondroitin sulfate A in hyaline, and of chondroitin sulfate C in colloid.

Chemical structure of the peptidoglycan of Vibrio parahaemolyticus A55 with special reference to the extent of interpeptide cross-linking

The chemical structure of the cell wall peptidoglycan of Vibrio parahaemolyticus A55 was studied. Estimation of cross linkages between peptide subunits in the peptidoglycan by dinitrophenylation showed that about 30% of the total 2,6-diaminopimelic acid (A2pm) residues were involved in cross linkages. The presence of interpeptide bridges was also demonstrated by isolating bisdisaccharide peptide subunit dimers from Chalaropsis muramidase digests of the cell wall peptidoglycan by gel filtration followed by ion-exchange column chromatography, although most of the building blocks obtained were uncross-linked disaccharide peptide monomers. The chain length of a glycan moiety of the peptidoglycan obtained by treatment with the L-11 enzyme and gel filtration of the digest was also studied. The chain length varied from 7 to 44, but 30% of the glycan fragments had muramic acid at the reducing end and a chain length of 28 to 44. In conformity with the above structural study it was demonstrated that a particulate enzyme fraction obtained by differential centrifugation of a sonicated preparation of V. parahaemolyticus catalyzed a penicillin-sensitive transpeptidation reaction, using UDP-MurNAc-14C-pentapeptide and UDP-GlcNAc as substrates.

Photocontrol of urease-collagen membrane activity

(1) Urease (EC 3.5.1.5.) was modified with beta-1-[3,3-dimethyl-6'-nitrospiro-(indoline-2,2'-2H-benzopyrene)] propionic anhydride. Three amino acid residues of urease were modified by the anhydride at a molar ratio of 2000. (2) The activity of modified urease was decreased with ultraviolet irradiation and then restored to the initial activity with visible light irradiation. (3) Modified urease was used to prepare a urease-collagen membrane. The apparent Michaelis constant (Km) of the modified urease-collagen membrane ultraviolet light was identical to that of the membrane under visible light. (4) The optimum pH of the modified urease-collagen membrane was displaced toward lower pH values with ultraviolet irradiation. At higher ionic strength, the pH activity curve of the membrane was displaced toward higher pH values. (5) The thermostability of urease was increased with its modification.