Kaposi's sarcoma in transfusion-associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A case report and review of the literature

Kaposi's sarcoma in transfusion-associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is rare; to our knowledge, only four previous cases have been reported. We report a unique case of transfusion-associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in a 74-year-old woman. At autopsy, both lungs were extensively affected by Kaposi's sarcoma, Pneumocystis carinii, and cytomegalovirus infection. These three processes led to respiratory failure and accounted for her death.

Modulation of neurotoxic esterase activity in vitro by phospholipids

Neurotoxic esterase (NTE), the proposed molecular site for the initiation of organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy, is a membrane-associated enzyme. NTE activity was solubilized from chicken brain microsomal membranes with the detergent 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1- propanesulfonate and partially separated from other solubilized hen brain esterases by DEAE-Sephacel anion-exchange chromatography using stepwise increases in salt concentration; however, there was poor recovery of NTE activity and only a slight increase in NTE specific activity. NTE activity in the "high salt" fraction (i.e., the NTE-enriched fraction) was markedly activated by a heat-stable factor(s) present in other fractions eluted from the column. This activating factor was extracted with organic solvents, suggesting that it may be lipid. In a related study, purified phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine were also found to activate the partially separated NTE activity in a concentration-dependent manner while phosphatidyl-inositol was found to inhibit the same partially separated NTE fraction in a concentration-dependent manner. The results suggest that lipids may modulate NTE activity and that the loss of lipid cofactors during chromatographic separations may underlie some of the difficulties encountered in isolation of active NTE.

Biochemical and morphological validation of a rodent model of organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy

Exposure to certain organophosphates (OPs) produces a delayed degeneration of the longest and largest nerve fibers (OPIDN). Until recently, investigators have used the chicken as the primary experimental model of OPIDN. Although the chicken is extremely sensitive to the ataxia associated with this neuropathy, it lacks an extensive biochemical, electrophysiological and pathological data-base. Because of this we set out to develop a rodent model of OPIDN with morphological and biochemical correlates similar to those seen in the chicken. Historically the rat had been labeled insensitive to OPIDN because of its lack of demonstrable ataxia in response to the neuropathic OPs. This paper describes the validation of a rodent model with biochemical and morphological endpoints similar to those described in the clinical and experimental literature for other models of OPIDN.

Comparison of incremental and steady state tests of endurance training

To compare the results obtained by incremental or constant work load exercises in the evaluation of endurance conditioning, a 20-week training programme was performed by 9 healthy human subjects on the bicycle ergometer for 1 h a day, 4 days a week, at 70-80% VO2max. Before and at the end of the training programme, (1) the blood lactate response to a progressive incremental exercise (18 W increments every 2nd min until exhaustion) was used to determine the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds (AeT and AnT respectively). On a different day, (2) blood lactate concentrations were measured during two sessions of constant work load exercises of 20 min duration corresponding to the relative intensities of AeT (1st session) and AnT (2nd session) levels obtained before training. A muscle biopsy was obtained from vastus lateralis at the end of these sessions to determine muscle lactate. AeT and AnT, when expressed as % VO2max, increased with training by 17% (p less than 0.01) and 9% (p less than 0.05) respectively. Constant workload exercise performed at AeT intensity was linked before training (60% VO2max) to a blood lactate steady state (4.8 +/- 1.4 mmol.l-1) whereas, after training, AeT intensity (73% VO2max) led to a blood lactate accumulation of up to 6.6 +/- 1.7 mmol.l-1 without significant modification of muscle lactate (7.6 +/- 3.1 and 8.2 +/- 2.8 mmol.kg-1 wet weight respectively). It is concluded that increase in AeT with training may reflect transient changes linked to lower early blood lactate accumulation during incremental exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biochemical and neuropathological assessment of triphenyl phosphite in rats

The putative neurotoxicity of the organophosphorus compound triphenyl phosphite (TPP) was examined in Long Evans, adult male rats. Animals were exposed to two 1.0 ml/kg (1184 mg/kg) injections (sc) of TPP spaced 1 week apart and sampled for biochemical and neuropathological examination. At the time of sampling, rats displayed dysfunctional changes including tail rigidity, circling, and hindlimb paralysis. Neuropathic damage was confined to the lateral and ventral columns of all spinal levels and consisted of myelin ellipsoids and giant axonal swellings filled with smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Wallerian-like degeneration was observed in the spinal roots, the sciatic nerve, and tibial branches. Biochemical assessment of brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and neurotoxic esterase (NTE) activity was determined 1, 4, 24, 48, and 72 hr after the second TPP treatment. Both enzyme activity concentrations were depressed maximally at 48 hr postexposure by 30 and 39%, respectively. Serum cholinesterase, sampled 48 hr after the second TPP exposure was depressed by 33%. Data from this study indicate that subchronic exposure to the organophosphite TPP results in severe neurotoxic consequences which differ from those previously described in rats with organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy.

Effects of hypothermia on the in vivo measurement of rapid axonal transport in the rat: a cautionary note

Rapid axonal transport of glycoproteins was examined in the retinofugal projections of hypothermic and normothermic adult male Long-Evans hooded rats previously receiving intraocular injections of [3H]fucose. The amount of retinal fucosylation appeared normal in the hypothermic animals 3.5 h after isotope injection, but glycoprotein transport was reduced relative to normothermic controls. This reduction was especially pronounced in the most distal structure of the retinofugal tract (superior colliculus). We conclude that rapid axonal transport decreases with reductions in mammalian body temperature. This finding emphasizes the importance of controlling body temperature in in vivo studies of mammalian axonal transport.

An in vitro comparison of rat and chicken brain neurotoxic esterase

A systematic comparison was undertaken to characterize neurotoxic esterase (NTE) from rat and chicken brain in terms of inhibitor sensitivities, pH optima, and molecular weights. Paraoxon titration of phenyl valerate (PV)-hydrolyzing carboxylesterases showed that rat esterases were more sensitive than chicken to paraoxon inhibition at concentrations less than or equal to microM and superimposable with chicken esterases at concentrations of 2.5-1000 microM. Mipafox titration of the paraoxon-resistant esterases at a fixed paraoxon concentration of 100 microM (mipafox concentration: 0-1000 microM) resulted in a mipafox I50 of 7.3 microM for chicken brain NTE and 11.6 microM for rat brain NTE. NTE (i.e., paraoxon-resistant, mipafox-sensitive esterase activity) comprised 80% of chicken and 60% of rat brain paraoxon-resistant activity with the specific activity of chicken brain NTE approximately twice that of rat brain NTE. The pH maxima for NTE from both species was similar showing broad, slightly alkaline optima from pH 7.9 to 8.6. [3H]Diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate (DFP)-labeled NTE from the brains of both species had an apparent mol wt of 160,000 measured by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In conclusion, NTE from both species was very similar, with the mipafox I50 for rat NTE within the range of reported values for chicken and human NTE, and the inhibitor parameters of the chicken NTE assay were applicable for the rat NTE assay.

Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride protects rats from Mipafox-induced delayed neuropathy

Initiation of organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) is thought to consist of two molecular events involving the phosphorylation of the target enzyme, neurotoxic esterase, or neuropathy target enzyme (NTE), and a subsequent "aging" reaction which transforms the inhibited NTE into a charged moiety critical to the neuropathic process. Compounds that inhibit NTE but cannot age because of their chemical structure abort this two-stage initiation process, and when administered before a neurotoxic organophosphorus compound (OP), protect against the neuropathy by blocking NTE's active site (Johnson, 1970). In support of this, we report that prior exposure to a nonaging NTE inhibitor, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), protects rats from neurological damage after subsequent exposure to a neurotoxic OP, Mipafox. Adult, male, Long Evans rats were exposed to either PMSF (250 mg/kg, sc) or to Mipafox (15 mg/kg, ip) and a time course of brain NTE inhibition and recovery was defined. A separate group of PMSF-treated rats was exposed to Mipafox when brain NTE inhibition was 87.7 +/- 2.3%. Conversely, another group of rats, pretreated with Mipafox, was dosed with PMSF when NTE inhibition was 90.2 +/- 0.8%. A third group of animals, treated with PMSF, was exposed to Mipafox 14 days later, when NTE activity had recovered to within 10 +/- 4.2% of control amounts. Histopathological survey (14 to 21 days post-exposure) indicated severe cervical cord damage (damage score greater than or equal to 3) in the following frequencies: PMSF, 0%; Mipafox, 85%; PMSF-4 hr-Mipafox, 0%; Mipafox-4 hr-PMSF, 100%; PMSF-14 days-Mipafox, 75%; controls, 0%. These data indicate that PMSF pretreatment protects rats against Mipafox-induced neurological damage and that the timing of administration and order of presentation are critical to this protection. These results support the hypothesis that the initiation of OPIDN is a multistage event involving inhibition and aging, and these stages are experimentally separable.

Body temperature-dependent and independent actions of chlordimeform on visual evoked potentials and axonal transport in optic system of rat

Pattern-reversal-evoked potentials (PREPs), flash-evoked potentials (FEPs), rapid axonal transport in the optic system and body temperature were measured in hooded rats, treated with either saline or the formamidine insecticide/acaricide, chlordimeform (CDM). Rats receiving chlordimeform had low body temperatures when housed at standard laboratory room temperature, 22 degrees C, but not at 30 degrees C. Peak latencies of flash-evoked potentials were prolonged by chlordimeform at 22 degrees C, but not at 30 degrees C. The rate of axonal transport was slowed in chlordimeform-treated hypothermic rats, but not in chlordimeform-treated warmed rats. These findings suggest that the flash-evoked potential and axonal transport changes produced by chlordimeform were an indirect consequence of hypothermia. In contrast, chlordimeform increased pattern-reversal evoked potential peak latencies and peak-to-peak amplitudes independent of body temperature. These findings confirm and extend previous reports of chlordimeform-induced hypothermia, emphasize the importance of changes in body temperature as a possible confounding factor in studies of neuroactive agents and demonstrate that chlordimeform has both body-temperature-dependent and independent actions in the visual system in the rat.

The relationship between neurological damage and neurotoxic esterase inhibition in rats acutely exposed to tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate

A rodent model of organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) has been developed using Long-Evans adult male rats exposed to tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (TOCP). In the present study an attempt was made to relate neurochemical with neuropathological changes in rats exposed to single dosages of TOCP ranging from 145 to 3480 mg/kg. The degree of neurotoxic esterase (NTE) inhibition, measured at 20 and 44 hr and at 14 days postexposure was correlated with the appearance of spinal cord pathology 14 days postexposure in a separate group of similarly dosed rats. Those dosages that inhibited mean NTE activity in spinal cord greater than or equal to 72% and brain greater than or equal to 66% of control values within 44 hr postexposure produced marked spinal cord pathology 14 days postexposure in greater than or equal to 90% of similarly dosed animals. In contrast, dosages of TOCP which inhibited mean NTE activity in the spinal cord less than or equal to 65% and in the brain less than or equal to 57% produced spinal cord pathology in less than or equal to 15% of the animals. These data indicate that NTE inhibition may be used as a biochemical predictor for TOCP-induced neurological damage in rats.

[Anatomo-vectorcardiographic correlation in ventricular growth in congenital heart diseases]

Anatomo-vectorcardiographic correlations were studied in 59 cases of congenital heart disease. In the group with interventricular septal defect and pulmonary hypertensión, a statistically significant correlation between the thickness of the free right ventricular wall, at its outflow tract, and the inscription time of the vertex of the S loop, was found. In the group of Fallot's tetralogy, the segmentary hypertrophy of the right ventricle, which is the most frequent, explains very well the terminal portion of frontal and sagittal vectorcardiograms located below the 0 point. In the group with interatrial septal defect and pulmonary hypertension, a statistically significant correlation between the thickness of the antero-lateral superior third of the free right ventricular wall and the inscription time of the vertex of the S loop, was shown. In the group of congenital malformations with repercussion on the left ventricle (interventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus and coarctation of aorta), a statistically significant correlation between the anatomical findings of a hypertrophied superior third of this ventricle and the inscription time of the vertex of the R loop, was observed.