A human T-cell antigen defined by xenoantiserum to Sézary leukemic cells: immunochemical and functional studies

Xenoantiserum to Sézary cell leukemia cells (ASS) was developed by immunizing rabbits with those cells and was absorbed with human red cells, liver, tonsil B cells, and cultured Raji cells. This reagent reacted by immunofluorescence with virtually all human thymus and T cells. In the thymus, medullary cells reacted more strongly with ASS than did cortical thymocytes. When immunoprecipitates that formed between ASS and 125I-labeled lymphocyte surface glycoproteins were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it was found that ASS precipitated a 72K molecular weight (MW) glycoprotein from T cells but not from B cells. On the one hand, it was shown by functional studies that T cells sensitive to the cytotoxic effect of ASS contained T cells that could aid the immunoglobulin synthesis of B cells induced by pokeweed mitogen. On the other hand, suppressor T cells induced by concanavalin A resided in those cells rather resistant to its cytotoxic effect. These data support the idea that the 72K MW glycoprotein on human thymus and T cells might be homologous to mouse Lyt-1 antigens.

Studies on 125I-alpha bungarotoxin binding sites in rat brain

The distribution and properties of 125I-alpha bungarotoxin (125I-alpha BTX) binding in rat brain using micropunched tissue homogenates were examined with a binding technique. Highest level of 125I-alpha BTX binding was observed in the hypothalamus, followed by hippocampus, cortex, globus pallidus, nucleus caudatus and nucleus accumbens. Although high levels of 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H-QNB) binding in the striatum were found at dorso-lateral sites and low levels in the central regions, the level of 125I-alpha BTX binding within the striatum was almost equal. There was no significant correlation between 125I-alpha BTX binding and choline uptake which could be useful as a marker for functional cholinergic nerve terminals. The inhibition of specific 125I-alpha BTX binding to the hippocampal homogenates by nicotine, d-tubocurarine and other nicotine drugs was studied. The results of these studies suggest that alpha BTX binding sites in the brain are not likely the binding sites of nicotine or the physiological ACh R sites.

[Experience with high-dose methotrexate therapy for malignant solid tumors]

Thirteen patients with malignant solid tumors, mainly osteogenic sarcomas, were treated by high-dose MTX therapy, 50-400 mg/kg, in a total of 72 cycles. It has been proved that this therapy was relatively safe provided careful clinical surveillance were assured. Of 8 patients with osteogenic sarcomas, 6 had no metastatic lesions on the chest X-rays before this therapy: three were alive without any evidence of disease for 18-25 months after high-dose MTX therapy. In some cases of other malignant solid tumors, particularly intracranial tumors, clinical efficacy was observed. Dose-time relationships, etc. should further be studied for more therapeutic efficacies of high-dose MTX therapy.

[Pharmacokinetics and clinical evaluation of ceftizoxime (author's transl)]

Pharmacokinetics of ceftizoxime (CZX), a new cephalosporin antibiotic, was investigated in 9 children with normal renal and hepatic function. In addition, the clinical effect of CZX was evaluated in 26 pediatric patients with various infections. In 4 of the 9 children with normal renal and hepatic function, intravenous bolus injection of CZX in a dose of 20 mg/kg yielded a mean peak serum level of 36.5 micrograms/ml at 1/2 hour after infusion, and mean serum levels of 12.5 micrograms/ml at 2 hours and 6.0 micrograms/ml at 4 hours after infusion. The biological half-lives of CZX were estimated to be 1.25--2.55 hours. In another child, serum levels of CZX at 1/2, 2 and 4 hours after intravenous bolus injection in a dose of 10 mg/kg were 19.60, 5.96 and 2.06 micrograms/ml, respectively. The clear difference in dose response between 20 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg reflected the doubled dose levels. In the remaining 4 children, drip infusion of CZX in a dose of 20 mg/kg (1 child 17 mg/kg) over 0.5--1.5 hours yielded peak serum levels at the end of infusion. The biological half-lives of CZX were estimated to be 0.95--1.50 hours. About 80% of CZX was excreted in the urine within 6 hours after infusion in the 4 children tested. Twenty-six pediatric patients with various infections were treated with CZX intravenous doses of 20 mg/kg to 118 mg/kg b.i.d.--q.i.d. for 3--14 days. Of the 12 patients with acute bronchitis and pneumonia, 5 showed excellent response, 6 good and 1 fair response. Of the 5 patients with urinary tract infection, 4 showed excellent response and 1 good response. One patient each with colitis, tonsillitis and facial cellulitis, pharyngitis showed excellent response and 1 patient each with purulent thyroiditis and gluteal abscess showed good response. The single patients with sepsis showed excellent response. One patient each with pyothorax, purulent arthritis and cerebral abscess showed poor response. Overall effectiveness rate was 84.6%. although 22 of all 26 patients treated had serious underlying diseases such as APL, AML. A mild increase in GOT and GPT was observed in 1 patient during treatment with CZX, and the values returned to normal after discontinuation of the drug. These results suggest that ceftizoxime is 1 of the most important antibiotics for treating a wide range of infections in children as well as in adults.

Application of live attenuated measles and mumps vaccines in children with acute leukemia

Eight children with acute leukemia in remission were immunized with live attenuated measles vaccine and 4 with mumps vaccine. Immunological examinations before vaccination showed that the numbers of white blood cells, percentages of lymphocytes, levels of immunoglobulins and responses to skin tests with DNCB, PPD, PHA and varicella antigen were within normal ranges in most of these children. Chemotherapy against leukemia was stopped for 2 weeks, from one week before to one week after vaccination. One child had a transient fever 10 days after measles vaccination, but no side reactions were observed in the others. Seroconversion was observed in all but one child who received measles vaccine, and neutralizing antibodies have persisted for at least 4 weeks and at most 3 years, when this study was terminated.

[Laboratory and clinical studies cefroxadine in pediatric field (author's transl)]

Cefroxadine (CGP-9000, CXD) is an orally active cephalosporin which has been newly developed by Ciba-Geigy. Its antibacterial activity against clinically isolated organisms, absorption and excretion after oral administration and clinical responses of patients with infections were studied. Its antibacterial activity against S. aureus and K. pneumoniae was comparable to that of CEX. Against E. coli, it showed slightly stronger activity than CEX. The serum concentrations of CXD was measured in 6 patients given orally 10 mg/kg of it after meals. The peak mean serum level attained 1 hour after administration was 11.66 mcg/ml. Forty-three children with various infections (upper respiratory infections, lower respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, etc.) were given 17 approximately 46 mg/kg (averaged 28.7 mg/kg) of CXD daily. The result was excellent in 26 cases, good in 12 cases, fair in 3 cases, fair in 3 cases and poor in 2 cases, showing an effective rate of 88.4%. Side effect of transient leukopenia and elevation of S-GOT were noticed in 2 cases. However, there were no serious adverse reactions in our study. It is concluded that CXD might be effective in rather mild cases of respiratory or urinary tract infections.

[Effectiveness of acetylspiramycin for Mycoplasma pneumonia in children (author's transl)]

The clinical efficacy and safety of acetylspiramycin for Mycoplasma pneumonia in children were studied at a dose level of 50 mg/kg/day q.i.d. and the following results were obtained. Acetylspiramycin showed effect in 24 patients out of 25 (96.0%). The level of transminase was increased in 3 cases on admission. One of them was an uneffective case, and eruption was seen after administrating the drug. Diarrhea and poor appetite were observed in one case as side effects, and they were controlled easily. It may be concluded from these results acetylspiramycin was relatively free from side effects and considered to be useful for Mycoplasma pneumonia.

Effect of imipramine on high potassium evoked 3H-dopamine release in the rat striatum

The effects of three different types of dopamine (DA) uptake inhibitor, imipramine, cocaine and nomifensine, were examined on high potassium evoked 3H-DA release using tissues obtained from rat striatum by a micropuncture technique. Imipramine caused an increase in 3H-DA efflux and this imipramine-induced efflux is Ca2+-independent. Moreover, imipramine reduced the high potassium evoked release, and at 50 microM, the release by potassium stimulation was entirely abolished. These results support that imipramine depletes vesicular DA which is released by potassium stimulation as well as an inhibitory effect on DA uptake. However, nomifensine dose not have such an effect.

Properties and distribution of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in rat striatal micropunched tissue homogenates

The properties of muscarinic receptors in rat striatal micropunched tissue homogenates were studied with a binding technique using [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) as ligand. Among the agonists, oxotremorine was the most potent inhibitor (ID50 value, 2.20 X 10(-5) M), followed by pilocarpine, acetylcholine, carbachol and bethanechol. No marked differences were found between the binding properties of QNB in the micropunched tissue homogenates and membrane fractions. Therefore, the detailed distribution of muscarinic receptors in the striatum was examined using the micropunched tissue homogenates. High levels of QNB binding in the striatum were found at dorso-lateral sites and low levels in the center regions of the striatum. The technique presented here for studying small regions of the striatum should be useful in further studies of the function of cholinergic neurons.

[Laboratory and clinical studies of cefoxitin in pediatrics (author's transl)]

Laboratory and clinical studies of CFX were conducted on 30 pediatric inpatients at the Department of Pediatrics of Mie University. The results of the sensitivity evaluation conducted on 37 clinical isolates consisting of 16 species were in accordance with the findings reported hitherto in the literature, i.e., CFX was superior to CEZ and CET in terms of the growth inhibitory effect against Gram-negative rods. The serum peak level was obtained 5 minutes after an intravenous injection of 25 mg/kg, and 15 minutes after a drip infusion of 30 minutes using the same dose. The average terminal half life was 13 minutes 15 seconds for the former and 20 minutes for the latter. Clinical evaluation was made on a total of 22 eligible patients. The results were classified as follows: Excellent in 4 cases, good in 12, fair in 4 and poor in 2. The effective rate of CFX was 72.7%. Side effects observed were vascular pain, rash and vomiting, all of which were mild in nature and disappeared immediately after discontinuation of, or change in the routine of drug administration.

The emergence of Schistosoma japonicum cercariae from Oncomelania quadrasi

The release of Schistosoma japonicum cercariae from Leytean Oncomelania quadrasi snails was observed under laboratory conditions. Two patterns of emergence were noted. The initial, nonperiodic emergence occurred immediately after submerging the snails in water and was followed by a periodic, diurnal emergence which peaked in the afternoon. The daily cercarial output of the periodic emergence appeared to be affected by exogenous light intensity. Furthermore, there was a cessation or reduction in cercarial output every 3rd or 4th day.

Negative chronotropic effect of catecholamines on adrenergic receptors in cardiac ganglia in the spinal dog

The effects of catecholamines (CAs) on cardiac chronotropism were investigated in the spinal dog. The CAs were administered through the right subclavian artery (i.a.) to reach the cardiac sympathetic ganglia. Without preganglionic stimulation. CAs administered intra-arterially induced a slight negative chronotropic effect, which was reversed to a positive chronotropic effect after neostigmine (200 microgram, i.a.) in many cases. With preganglionic stimulation, intra-arterial injection of norepinephrine (0.5-25 microgram), epinephrine (0.1-10 microgram), or dopamine (0.1-500 microgram) caused dose-dependent bradycardia. The negative chronotropic effect of dopamine was significantly inhibited intra-arterial phentolamine (2 mg), dihydroergotamine (0.4 mg), apomorphine (0.5 mg), haloperidol (0.5 mg), or chlorpromazine (5 mg) but not by propranolol (0.1 mg) or bulbocapnine (1 mg), whereas the same effect of epinephrine was significantly reduced by alpha-blockade but not by propranolol or the dopamine antagonists. These results suggest that CAs exert a negative chronotropic action by inhibiting cardiac ganglionic transmission and that the receptors for dopamine are alpha-adrenergic and dopamine-specific and those for epinephrine are alpha-adrenergic specific.

Annual fluctuation of Schistosoma japonicum infection in field rats, Rattus rattus mindanensis, in Dagami, Leyte, Philippines

The annual fluctuation of Schistosoma japonicum infection in field rats, Rattus rattus mindanensis, in Leyte, the Philippines was investigated. One hundrend live-traps were set for one week every month from February, 1978 to February, 1979, in and around Central Elementary School II, Diagami, Leyte. Out of 199 rats, 163 (81.9%) were infected. The prevalence rate of S. japonicum infecton in rats was high during the relatively dry season, April to July, 1978. Meanwhile, the prevalence rate of schistosome cercariae in Oncomelania quadrasi of the study area increased during the relatively rainy season, October, 1978 to February, 1979. It is supposed that miracidia hatched from eggs discharged in the feces of rats during the relatively dry season would encounter snails, following which the emerging cercariae would penetrate the mammalian hosts, such as humans and rats, during the relatively rainy season. This might be the transmission dynamics of schistosomiasis in the endemic areas of Leyte. It is also suggested that this annual prevalence rate could be used as a parameter to formulate and evaluate control works. No infection was established in the youngest age group, the weanling. Then, the prevalence increased gradually by age. All rats of the older age group were infected. According to age composition, the field rat had no definite breeding season in Leyte. COP reaction was weak in sera of infected rats, but strongly exhibited in sera from rats possessing eggs in the spleen. Consequently, field rats not only maintain the infection as reservoir hosts, but also are an important source of infection as definitive hosts in the endemic areas of Leyte Island. Specifically, the rat role must be stressed, should human schistosomiasis ever be controlled.

[Fundamental and clinical studies of cefoperazone in pediatric patients (author's transl)]

1. Susceptibility, concentrations in serum and spinal fluid, and clinical effect of cefoperazone (CPZ), a newly developed cephalosporin in Japan, were examined in 28 infants from 2 days to 12 years of ages with various infections. 2. The overall clinical evaluation in 22 cases received CPZ alone was found to be markedly effective in 11 cases and effective in 6 cases; the efficacy rate was as good as 85.0%. 3. The mean half-life following a single intravenous injection of 25 mg/kg to 3 infants was 80.7 minutes. 4. The side effects observed during the therapy were 2 cases of rash and 1 case of vascular pain and these symptoms improved after interruption of therapy. The side effects of CPZ seemed to be not more noticeable than other cephalosporins.