[Brachytherapy in the treatment of prostatic carcinoma]

Radiotheraphy of prostatic cancer began using brachitherapy. In 1910 Paschkis and in 1911 Pasteau reported treatment of prostatic carcinoma with radium needles. In 1952, Flocks began implanting a colloidaly radioactive gold-198 solution into the prostate after surgical exploration. This approach was optimized by Carlton in 1965 using solid gold-198 implants combined with external beam therapy. In 1972 Withmore et al reported the use of iodine-125 seeds for interstitial irradiation. In 1977 Court and Chassagne introduced after loading techniques using iridium-192. This technique has been developed further by Syed et al. In these settings interstitial radiotherapy is used as localized boost in combination with external beam therapy. Prostate brachytherapy can be divided into temporary implantation using high activity sources, or permanent brachytherapy using the interstitial implantation of iodine-125 or palladium-103 sources. We reported an overview.

Astrogliosis in von Economo's and postencephalitic Parkinson's diseases supports probable viral etiology

A marked generalized astrogliosis was observed in the frontal and temporal white matter from a case of von Economo's disease and another of postencephalitic Parkinson's disease, which areas were otherwise devoid of any other demonstrable microscopic lesions. No similar astrocytic reaction of any severity was observed in the same areas in a number of other brain diseases or controls, except when other kinds of lesions were present in the same section, with reactive astrocytes being present within the primary or defining lesion or immediately close by. The marked astrogliosis in von Economo's and postencephalitic Parkinson's diseases in areas "distant" from the primary lesions seeming to indicate extensive pathological involvement, added to the strong qualitative and quantitative similarity of this reaction to that observed in concurrently studied cases of encephalitides caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, lend further factual support to the hypothesis of a viral etiology, albeit unspecified, in both von Economo's and postencephalitic Parkinson's diseases.

A study of viral genomes and antigens in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease

The presence of viral nucleic acid sequences and antigens from a variety of conventional viruses in selected brain regions of cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD), diagnosed pathologically, was investigated using molecular hybridization and immunocytochemical techniques. Seven DNA and 4 RNA viruses were used as probes in 18 AD and 5 control brains. With Southern blot hybridization, no viral DNA sequences could be detected in the cerebral cortex. With dot blot hybridization, results were also negative, except for 2 cases, 1 a control brain, the other an AD brain, which gave a positive signal in the RNA extracted from the substantia innominata when c-DNA from measles virus was used as a probe. Four specific brain areas from each of 8 AD brains and 5 controls tested with viral probes (3 DNA and 5 RNA viruses), using immunocytochemical techniques for viral antigens, showed no positive reproducible specific reactions. These results, although negative, do not totally exclude the possibility that conventional viruses may play a role in the aetiology and pathogenesis of AD.

Kasokero virus: a new human pathogen from bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in Uganda

Two virus strains were isolated by mouse inoculation from blood of Rousettus aegyptiacus fruit-eating bats collected from Kasokero Cave in Uganda. Shortly after these strains were introduced in the laboratory, four additional strains were recovered from laboratory workers who had developed mild to severe illnesses presumably as a result of laboratory infection. Serological studies established that these six isolates are strains of the same virus. Serological tests showed also that this virus is related to Yogue, an unclassified virus.

The isolation of arboviruses including a new flavivirus and a new Bunyavirus from Ixodes (Ceratixodes) uriae (Ixodoidea: Ixodidae) collected at Macquarie Island, Australia, 1975-1979

Pools of ticks, Ixodes (Ceratixodes) uriae collected between 1975 and 1979 at Macquarie Island, yielded 33 strains of at least 4 different viruses: Nugget virus (Kemerovo group), 1 strain; Taggert virus (Sakhalin group) 9 strains; a previously undescribed flavivirus, related to Central European Tickborne encephalitis virus, for which the name "Gadgets Gully" is proposed, 9 strains; a virus serologically related to the Uukuniemi serogroup, family Bunyaviridae, for which the name "Precarious Point" is proposed, 10 strains. Three isolates were mixtures of Nugget and Gadgets Gully viruses; the remaining virus strain remains unidentified.

DNA binding protein profiles in Alzheimer's disease

Eleven frozen autopsy specimens from cerebral cortex were tested for DNA-binding protein profiles. Six were Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains, 1 was Parkinson's/senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type and 4 were age-matched control brains. Proteins were extracted in a guanidine thiocyanate-containing solvent and freed of all nucleic acids by density gradient sedimentation. The proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose by electroblotting under conditions which favor renaturation of proteins containing only one type of polypeptide. The nitrocellulose was treated with partially denatured radiolabeled DNA, washed and subjected to autoradiography. An Mr = 43 000 (43 K) DNA-binding protein was detected in 5 of the 6 AD brains and was found to be absent or at least greatly reduced in any of the other 6 brains. No other DNA-binding proteins were found which could be associated with AD brains. The nature of the 43 K protein has yet to be determined.

Antigenic characterization of Tettnang virus: complications caused by passage of the virus in mice from a colony enzootically infected with mouse hepatitis virus

Neutralization assays were undertaken for the purpose of antigenically characterizing three strains of Tettnang virus from two geographic regions. The previously reported relationship of Tettnang virus strains to mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) was confirmed. However, the precise relationship of the Tettnang strains to prototype MHV strains was obscured in our study by the finding that the isolates had been passaged in mice from a colony subclinically infected with MHV. An Egyptian strain of Tettnang which had not been passaged in that colony was reciprocally related to the neurotropic JHM strain of MHV. Our data stress the importance of microbiological monitoring of apparently healthy laboratory animals used for virologic research.

Antineurofilament antibodies in postencephalitic and idiopathic Parkinson's disease

Autoantibodies to neurofilaments were found by the immunofluorescence technique in serum of patients with postencephalitic (von Economo's) and idiopathic Parkinson's disease in the same proportion as in age-matched neurological and non-neurological controls. In addition, similar neurofibrillary staining was detected in age groups of 29 years and younger, but rarely in the first year of life. Persons over 70, with or without disease, showed a prevalence of antibodies significantly higher than in persons under 70. Serum from 1 case of Alzheimer's disease out of 4 tested, was positive for neurofilament antibodies; serum from the only case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease tested was negative. A total of 298 serum specimens, each from a different person, was tested. The use of cryostat-frozen longitudinal sections of normal rat spinal cord as a substrate has been confirmed to be an effective, reproducible and simple procedure for the detection of antineurofilament antibodies in human sera by indirect immunofluorescence.

The viral hypothesis in parkinsonism

The most crucial unanswered question in Parkinson's disease is its fundamental cause. Since Carlsson's original suggestion that dopamine may be a transmitter in the central nervous system involved in the control of motor function and that it may be involved in the Parkinsonian syndrome (Carlsson, 1959), and the now-classic paper by Ehringer and Hornykiewicz (1960) which definitively showed the significant reduction of dopamine concentration in the neostriatum of cases of idiopathic Parkinson and postencephalitic parkinsonism, the vast amount of work on the subject has focused on the biochemical and pharmacologic correlates of this dopaminergic system failure involving particularly the nigrostriatal pathways. The concept of a specific neurotransmitter deficiency associated with a specific neurological syndrome potentially amenable to replacement therapy, has appropriately generated a considerable degree of clinical and research interest for over 20 years, but, with few exceptions, there has been hardly any focused or concerted research effort on looking at direct causal factors or primary initiating events in this disease process. As in Alzheimer's disease, another of the degenerative diseases of the brain of unknown origin with a specific biochemical substrate, any etiologic hypothesis for Parkinson's disease--whether a virus, an age-related immune system dysfunction, a genetic factor, a "trophic" substance, or a toxin--would have to explain the selective involvement of specific transmitter-defined neuronal pathways, the non-specificity of the brain lesions that define the disease, and the clinical involvement of a sizeable segment of the aging population. Of the several plausible hypotheses mentioned earlier, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive, we would like to critically consider the possibility of a viral cause.

Virus inoculation in mice bearing Ehrlich ascitic tumors: antigen production and tumor regression

Ehrlich ascitic carcinoma, as developed in albino mice, has been used as a source of hemagglutinating and complement-fixing antigens, and it proved to be suitable for one type of antigen, or both, for at least 12 viruses of 16 tested. Hemagglutinins were obtained with members of arbovirus groups A, B, and C; complement-fixing antigens were obtained for at least one member of each antigenic group tested. Ehrlich ascitic tumor was compared with sarcoma 180 as a source of antigens; although sarcoma 180 showed many advantages over Ehrlich tumor, the latter gave, in general, better results for complement-fixing antigens. Oncolytic effect with complete recovery of the mice was observed in some instances. The highest recovery rate resulted with Congo and UNA viruses (40%), and the second highest rate resulted with dengue 2, St. Louis, Hazara, and Uukuniemi viruses (20%). The best survival was observed, in decreasing order, with Congo, St. Louis, dengue 2, Tacaribe, Sindbis, Junin, and Amapari viruses.

Detection of La Crosse (California encephalitis) virus antigen in mouse skin samples

La Crosse (LAC) viral antigen was detected in the skin of inoculated mice. Antigen was detected principally in the dermis of 102 of 120 (85%) mice with clinical signs of illness. To demonstrate the specificity of the fluorescence, LAC virus was isolated from selected samples and was identified by the complement-fixation test. Antigen was most often detected in skin rich in vascular and nerve tissue and was probably disseminated by hematogenous spread. Antigen was found in muscle, vascular, nervous, and other tissues of the dermis, depending on the age of the mice. Antigen was first detected in the skin of 80% of the mice (5 to 6 days of age) on postinoculation day (PID) 3. On PID 4, 100% of these mice were positive, but on PID 5, only 40% were positive, indicating that clearance or neutralization of antigen had occurred in peripheral areas. The skin biopsy technique may be applicable to diagnosis of arboviral infections in other vertebrates.

Indirect fluorescent-antibody technique for serological diagnosis of La Crosse (California) virus infections

A clinically relevant indirect fluorescent-antibody technique (IFA) was developed for the serological diagnosis of La Crosse virus infections. The IFA (67%) was as sensitive as the hemagglutination inhibition (58%) and neutralization (58%) tests in the detection of antibodies in acute-phase specimens. Immunoglobulin M antibodies were detected by the IFA test in 48% (11 of 23) of these specimens. Diagnostically significant increases in IFA titer were detected in 86% (19 of 22) of the paired samples. Antibodies were detectable in some patients 7 years after infection; however, the IFA test was not as sensitive as the other two tests in the detection of previous infections.

Structural characteristics of nairoviruses (genus Nairovirus, Bunyaviridae)

Viruses from six antigenic groups of arthropod-borne viruses [Crimean--Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), Nairobi sheep disease (NSD), Qalyub (QYB), Sakhalin (SAK), Dera Ghazi Khan (DGK) and Hughes (HUG) serogroups], some previously categorized as bunyavirus-like viruses and others previously ungrouped, have recently been assembled by serological analyses into a new genus of viruses (Nairovirus genus) in the Bunyaviridae. Molecular studies of the virion RNA and viral polypeptides have been undertaken with representative members of the different serogroups [Hazara (HAZ) and Congo (CON) viruses, CCHF group; Dugbe (DUG) virus, NSD group; QYB, Omo and Bandia (BDA) viruses, QYB group; Avalon (AVA) virus, SAK group; DGK and Abu Mina (AM) viruses, DGK group; and HUG virus, HUG group]. In agreement with a recent study of QYB virus and in part agreement with an earlier report on DUG virus, the results of these molecular analyses indicate that nairoviruses have: (i) three virion RNA species (large, L, medium, M, and small, S) with apparent mol. wt. of 4.1 x 10(6) to 4.9 x 10(6), 1.5 x 10(6) to 1.9 x 10(6) and 0.6 x 10(6) to 0.7 x 10(6) respectively; (ii) a 48 x 10(3) to 54 x 10(3) mol. wt. nucleocapsid (N) polypeptide; and (iii) two external glycopolypeptides, 72 x 10(3) to 84 x 10(3) mol. w. (G1) and 30 x 10(3) to 40 x 10(3) mol. wt. (G2). Cross-immune precipitation analyses have confirmed that viruses in the Nairovirus genus share antigenic determinants and are antigenically distinct from representative members of th Bunyavirus, Phlebovirus and Uukuvirus genera (Bunyaviridae).

Epidemic hemorrhagic fever in Hubei Province, The People's Republic of China: a clinical and serological study

Between July 1975 and April 1980, 71 patients were admitted to the Second Attached Hospital of Hubei Provincial Medical College in Wuchang with the diagnosis of epidemic hemorrhagic fever (EHF). The clinical course among these patients was similar to that described for patients with Korean hemorrhagic fever, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome of the U.S.S.R. The overall mortality was 11.2 percent. Sera obtained from some of these patients as well as from patients admitted to the First Attached Hospital of Hubei Provincial Medical College were tested against an antigen associated with Korean hemorrhagic fever and showed exceedingly high antibody titers. We conclude that EHF in Central China represents the same or a closely related disease process as Korean hemorrhagic fever.

Nosocomial outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by Crimean Hemorrhagic fever-Congo virus in Pakistan, January 1976

This paper describes the clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory investigations undertaken to isolate and identify the etiological agent of a nosocomial cluster of hemorrhagic fever cases due to Crimean hemorrhagic fever (CHR)-Congo virus. Since this virus is usually transmitted by ticks it was surprising that the index case, in a nomadic shepherd, occurred during the winter season when ticks are relatively inactive. These are the first cases of CHF-Congo virus found in humans in Pakistan. Investigations on other biological properties, particularly strain differences and virulence, are being continued at the Islamabad laboratory.

Close relationship of Crimean hemorrhagic fever-Congo (CHF-C) virus strains by neutralizing antibody assays

Strains of Crimean hemorrhagic fever-Congo (CHF-C) virus originating in widely separated points representing diverse zoogeograhiczl and ecological areas were compared by a neutralization of fluorescent foci of infection-test, in an attempt to determine whether antigenic differences could be detected among the strains. Minor differences were found which could be confirmed by reciprocal kinetic neutralization tests with one-injection immune sera if the results were analyzed by linear regression. However, CHF-C virus strains cannot be reliably subdivided into geographic variants on the basis of the minor antigenic variations observed. In this apparent paucity of antigenic diversity over its wide distribution, CHF-C virus differs from other arboviruses with similar or even lesser distribution.

Bunyaviridae

The family Bunyaviridae comprises over 200 viruses (serotypes, subtypes, and varieties) that infect vertebrates and/or invertebrates. Four genera of viruses have been defined (Bunyavirus, Nairovirus, Phlebovirus, and Uukuvirus). The main characteristics of the member viruses are: (i) the virus particles are for the most part uniformly spherical, 80-110 nm in diameter, and possess a unit membrane envelope from which protrude polypeptide spikes 5-10nm long; (ii) the viruses have three helical nucleocapsids, often in the form of supercoiled circles, each consisting of a single species of single-stranded RNA, major nucleocapsid polypeptide, N, and at least in some cases minor amounts of a large polypeptide which may be a transcriptase component; (iii) the genome is composed of three species of RNA (L, large; M, medium; and S, small), organized in end-hydrogen bonded circular structures; (iv) most viruses have three major virion polypeptides (N, and two surface polypeptides, designated G1 and G2); (v) for at least some member viruses, the virions have been shown to contain an RNA-directed RNA polymerase, believed to be responsible for the synthesis of viral complementary mRNA, so that bunyaviruses are considered to be negative-stranded viruses; (vi) at least some bunyaviruses are capable of heterologous virus genome segment reassortment and can form recombinant viruses at high or low frequency; (vii) viruses appear to mature primarily at smooth membrane surfaces and accumulate in Golgi vesicles and saccules, or nearby; (viii) transovarial, venereal and/or transstadial transmission in arthropods has been shown to occur for some members of the family.

Arbovirus isolations from ixodid ticks infesting livestock, Kano Plain, Kenya

In a study conducted on the Kano Plain, Kenya, virus isolation attempts were made on ixodid ticks collected, over a 14-month period, from livestock held in family enclosures (bomas) before releasing the animals for daily foraging. 8735 Amblyomma variegatum (Fabricius) were tested, 98.6% of which were taken from cattle, yielding 36 strains of Dugbe (DUG), four strains of Nairobi sheep disease (NSD), three strains of Bhanja (BHA), one strain of Thogoto (THO) and five strains of virus which could not be characterized. 6549 Rhipicephalus spp. ticks were collected (60.3% from cattle). NSD, DUG and BHA viruses were each isolated twice from ticks taken from cattle. One BHA virus strain was recovered from ticks from a sheep. One strain recovered from ticks on cattle could not be characterized.