Adhesion of Corynebacterium renale, Corynebacterium pilosum, and Corynebacterium cystitidis to bovine urinary bladder epithelial cells of various ages and levels of differentiation

The adhesion of Corynebacterium renale, Corynebacterium pilosum, and Corynebacterium cystitidis to various epithelial cell layers of bovine urinary bladders was examined. Adhesion was most efficient to the urinary sediment epithelial cells and the superficial cells immediately before shedding, followed by the remaining superficial cells and intermediate cells in this order, and least efficient to the deeper intermediate and basal cells. Incubation of the intermediate cells for 6 h increased the number of bacteria that adhered to these cells.

Radioisotope cisternography in acute viral encephalitis. A reappraisal

Five cases of presumed acute viral encephalitis with convulsions were examined with radioisotope (RI) cisternography six and 24 hours after an intrathecal injection of 1 mCi of pentetic acid labeled with either ytterbium 169 or indium 111. All cases showed abnormalities with this study. The "cold" areas observed with RI cisternography were well correlated with abnormal foci on the EEG. Although the findings are nonspecific, the CSF dynamics and patency of the subarachnoid space are easily examined by RI cisternography without appreciable complications. It is a useful supplementary diagnostic method to depict the extent of lobar abnormalities of cerebral cortex, particularly at an early stage, that either narrow or obliterate subarachnoid space and CSF pathways.

Paired anterior spinal arteries in a case of locked-in syndrome

Paired anterior spinal arteries have rarely been demonstrated angiographically, although several anatomical studies have shown that they are not uncommonly observed. This report describes the angiographic and autopsy findings of such a variation, which was observed in a 65-year-old man with a locked-in syndrome. The paired trunks of the anterior spinal artery were visualized in a retrograde fashion through the left inferior thyroid artery and a radical branch at the 5th cervical level by left retrograde brachial angiography. The uppermost segments of either vertebral artery and the lower portion of the basilar artery were opacified through these channels. The autopsy confirmed the paired trunks of the anterior spinal artery, occlusion of the vertebral arteries just caudal to the origin of the main branches of the anterior spinal artery, and an old infarct involving the pontine tegmentum and cerebellum.

Spectroscopic evidence for the generation of singlet oxygen in the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-dependent microsomal lipid peroxidation system

In the presence of Fe3+-ADP and NADPH, washed rat liver microsomes at 37 degrees and at pH 7.5 emitted ultraweak light with the peroxidative cleavage of endogenous lipid. The main light-emitting species of this system was analyzed spectroscopically in the visible region and estimated to be singlet oxygen. The addition of superoxide dismutase or catalase did not inhibit the light emission significantly. It is unlikely therefore that superoxide anion and OH are involved in the generation of singlet oxygen in the present system.

Biochemical aspects of Parkinson-dementia complex

Positron emission tomography of a parkinsonian patient with dementia revealed a decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) in the cerebral cortex and deep gray matter, whereas a parkinsonian patient without dementia showed a decrease in CBF and CMRO2 in the deep gray matter, but not in the cerebral cortex. The ratio of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid/L-dopa in the plasma after L-dopa administration was significantly increased in parkinsonian patients with hallucinations, indicating an accelerated metabolism of L-dopa. The concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) was decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of parkinsonian patients with psychiatric symptoms, especially with visual hallucinations. The serotonin level in mouse striatum was significantly reduced 1 week after methylphenyltetrahydropyridine (MPTP) injection, though returned to normal in 4 weeks. The 5HIAA level increased at both 1 and 4 weeks. The activity of tryptophan hydroxylase was increased in the striatum 1-4 weeks after MPTP injection, but was unchanged in the cerebral cortex. The choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity was significantly decreased in the hippocampus 1 week, but not 4 weeks after MPTP. The ChAT activity was not changed in the frontal cortex at either 1 or 4 weeks.