Hereditary amyloid polyneuropathy in north west Ireland

Seven cases of chronic sensorimotor polyneuropathy due to amyloidosis, from 7 different families, are described, in addition to the pathology in a sibling of 1 case. The age of onset ranged from 55 to 72 years. Cardiac involvement, intermittent diarrhoea and syncopal attacks were a frequent occurrence. Motor conduction velocity showed a moderate degree of slowing in 5 of 6 cases studied and marked slowing in 1. Amyloid deposits were seen in nerve biopsy material of all 8 subjects and in rectal mucosa from 1. Immunohistochemical identification revealed AF (transthyretin-derived)--amyloid in all 8 instances, confirming the presence of type 1 familial amyloid neuropathy. The genealogical data supported this analysis. Six of the 8 cases originated in a small area of the north-west coast of County Donegal in Ireland. The remaining cases also originated in the same county.

No liquid holding recovery for chromosomal aberrations or sister-chromatid exchanges in irradiated G1 human lymphocytes

We have tested G0 phase human peripheral lymphocytes for liquid holding recovery (LHR) mediated decreases in X-ray-induced chromosomal aberration yields and increases in sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) levels such as have been demonstrated for confluency-inhibited mouse cells in culture (Nagasawa and Little, 1981). No influence on either aberration yields or SCE levels was demonstrated. However, an effect at least superficially similar to the LHR effect was seen for rings and dicentrics, but not for deletions or SCE in lymphocytes in transition between G0 and G1 following PHA stimulation.

Cell and virus sensitivity studies with recombinant human alpha interferons

The cell sensitivity of recombinant human alpha interferons (rIFN-alpha) of greater than 95% purity (A,D and the hybrid A/D) and crude nature (B and F) was studied in human (WISH, HeLa, AG1732), bovine (MDBK, BT), monkey (Vero), mouse (L), rabbit (RK-13), and hamster (BHK-21) cells. Based on an activity of 100% in WISH cells, the other cells responded to rIFN-alpha A as follows: AG1732 (90%), HeLa (94%), and MDBK and BT cells (170-190%). Rabbit, mouse, and hamster cells had a relative sensitivity of less than 1%. rIFN-alpha B and F were essentially equivalent to rIFN-alpha A in terms of cell sensitivity, but MDBK and BT cells were about 20 times more sensitive to rIFN-alpha D than were WISH cells and rIFN-alpha D was 1/5 to 1/10 as active on L cells as on WISH cells. The activity of the hybrid IFN A/D on bovine, mouse, and human cells was similar. The inhibitory dose50 (U/ml) of rIFN-alpha A, B, D, and F against virus infections in WISH cells were: vesicular stomatitis virus (1-4), rhinovirus types 1 and 42 (2-18), and herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (45-70). Type 1 HSV, Semliki Forest (SFV) and encephalomyocarditis (EMC) viruses were tested against only rIFN-alpha A and D where SFV and EMC were the most sensitive to both IFNs (ID50-SFV, 0.2 U/ml, EMC, 1.2 U/ml) while 13 U/ml of rIFN-alpha A and D inhibited Type 1 HSV. The various rIFN-alpha s did not exhibit different antiviral spectra in vitro. When tested in mice rIFN-alpha A did not protect against infections with SFV, EMC, HSV, or influenza viruses. rIFN-alpha D and A/D protected mice infected with EMC, SFV, or HSV.