Polymorphonuclear leukocyte function in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

The aim of this study was to determine whether polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis, adhesion, and electrophoretic mobility were altered in inflammatory bowel disease and whether such alterations could be related to prior ingestion of immune complexes. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes from patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease showed significantly impaired stimulated migration (P less than 0.05), increased adhesiveness (P less than 0.01 in ulcerative colitis, P less than 0.001 in Crohn's disease), and reduced electrophoretic mobility (P less than 0.02 in ulcerative colitis, P less than 0.001 in Crohn's disease) compared with healthy controls. The disease control of patients with rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated reduced stimulated migration (P less than 0.025) but normal adhesion. Preincubating normal cells in inflammatory bowel disease sera suggested that the altered migration and adhesion were due to circulating serum factors. Circulating immune complexes, detected by the C1q PEG binding assay, were present in 12.5% of patients with ulcerative colitis and 30% with Crohn's disease. Direct immunofluorescence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes suggested binding and/or ingestion of complexes in 57% of patients with ulcerative colitis, and 67% with Crohn's disease. There was a direct correlation between positive immunofluorescence and impaired cell migration in ulcerative colitis (P less than 0.05), but no such relationship was found in the other parameters of polymorph function.

Increased responsiveness of rheumatoid B lymphocytes to stimulation by Epstein-Barr virus

Blood lymphocytes from rheumatoid patients and normal subjects were examined for responsiveness in culture to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection by outgrowth assay and 3HTdR uptake. With both unseparated and B-cell-enriched lymphocytes the frequency and rate of outgrowth to form permanent cell lines were significantly higher for rheumatoid than for normal cells. In B-enriched rheumatoid preparations the proportion of responsive cells was also greater, and DNA synthesis was induced by a lower infecting dose of EBV in rheumatoid than in normal cells. The percentage of autologous T cells needed to ensure regression of B-cell proliferation in EBV-infected cultures was considerably higher with rheumatoid than with normal cells. These findings suggest that in rheumatoid arthritis the abnormal lymphocyte responsiveness to EBV has two components, a T-cell immunoregulatory defect, and a separate increased responsiveness of B cells to EBV.

Serial right ventricle thallium-201 imaging after exercise: relation to anatomy of the right coronary artery

The relation of the appearance of the right ventricle on serium thallium-201 myocardial imaging to coronary artery anatomy was examined in 88 consecutive patients undergoing exercise thallium-201 testing and coronary angiography for the evaluation of chest pain. Transient defects in the right ventricle were found in 8 patients. All had high grade (greater than or equal to 90%) stenosis of the proximal right coronary artery. Nonvisualization of right ventricular (RV) activity occurred in 10 patients. Nine of the 10 (90%) had significant (greater than or equal to 50% stenosis) disease of the proximal right coronary artery and 7 (70%) had high grade stenosis. The right ventricle appeared normal in 70 patients. Twenty-nine (41%) of these patients had significant proximal right coronary artery disease. Right ventricular appearance was not affected by the presence or absence of disease of the left anterior descending or left circumflex artery or by the appearance of the left ventricle. Thus, with serial RV thallium-201 myocardial imaging after exercise, we found that (1) RV transient defects suggest the presence of high grade proximal right coronary artery stenosis, (2) non-visualization of RV activity also predicts significant proximal right coronary disease, and (3) the right ventricle frequently appears normal despite proximal right coronary artery disease and therefore this finding does not exclude such disease.

The identification of Linda Agostini. The significance of dental evidence in the Albury 'pyjama girl' case. A case report

The discovery in 1934 of the badly burned, pyjama clad body of a young woman protruding from a roadside culvert near Albury, N.S.W., led to one of the largest investigations in the history of Australian crime. Two simple errors, made by a local dentist with no previous experience in forensic odontology called by the police to examine the teeth of the victim, resulted in a delay in identification for 10 years. This paper examines the background of the odontological evidence which ultimately led to the identification of the victim and the conviction of the offender.

Initial and delayed right ventricular thallium-201 rest-imaging following dipyridamole-induced coronary vasodilation: relationship to right coronary artery pathoanatomy

The relationship of coronary anatomy to right ventricular (RV) appearance on serial thallium-201 myocardial imaging (TI) following dipyridamole (DP)-induced coronary vasodilation was examined in 71 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of chest pain. Transient defects of the RV were found in 18 patients. All 18 had significant (greater than or equal to 50%) stenosis of the proximal right coronary artery (RCA). Nonvisualization of RV activity occurred in 13 patients. Six of these 13 (46%) had proximal RCA disease (p less than 0.05 compared to transient defects). Normal RV appearance was seen in 40 patients, of whom only six (15%) had proximal RCA disease (p less than 0.001 compared to transient defects). RV appearance was not affected by left anterior descending or left circumflex artery disease or by the thallium-201 uptake in the left ventricle. Thus with serial (initial and delayed) TI following DP (1) transient RV defect appears to indicate significant proximal RCA disease; (2) normal RV appearance suggests the absence of proximal RCA disease; and (3) however, nonvisualization of the RV appears to be nondiagnostic.

The identification of Linda Agostini: the significance of dental evidence in the Albury Pyjama Girl case

The partly burned and battered body of a young woman was found in a culvert near Albury, New South Wales, Australia, on September 1, 1934. Although identification was delayed for 10 years, it was finally achieved by dental comparison, following which the crime was quickly solved and the woman's husband brought to trial for murder. The mystery surrounding this bizarre case attracted international attention at the time. The dental identification was hotly disputed and even today is a subject of controversy. This paper briefly reviews some of the circumstances that contributed to the long delay in establishing identification and contrasts the identification procedures used then with those available now. Some important lessons may be learned from the experience of this case that have particular relevance to forensic odontology today. Apart from occasional references to this case in the scientific literature, a number of stories about it have been published in the popular press from time to time. The most recent, reliable, and comprehensive account was published in 1978 in a book by Robert Coleman entitled The Pyjama Girl. This paper has drawn heavily from Mr. Coleman's research, as well as from original court files.

Immunoglobulin inclusions in rheumatoid arthritis polymorphonuclear cells: lack of correlation with circulating immune complexes

A discriminating direct immunofluorescent test has been used to identify immunoglobulin inclusions in polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) isolated from the blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These inclusions are thought to represent phagocytosed immune complexes, since normal PMNs incubated in RA sera known to contain raised levels of immune complexes developed similar immunoglobulin inclusions. Inclusions did not develop in normal PMNs incubated in normal serum. No correlation was found between the percentage of either RA blood PMNs with immunoglobulin inclusions or normal PMNs developing inclusions after incubation in RA sera, and levels of immune complexes in the corresponding sera. Using heat-aggregated IgG as a laboratory model of immune complexes, a simple relationship has been demonstrated between the uptake of IgG aggregates by normal PMNs and the concentrations of IgG aggregates in the test solutions over a concentration range of 12.5-200 micrograms . ml-1. These results indicate that the C1q- PEG test gives no measure of the actual amounts of immune complexes available in serum for phagocytosis.

Polymorphonuclear cell function in rheumatoid arthritis and in Felty's syndrome

Tests for polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) chemotaxis, adherence, and electrophoretic mobility (EPM) were carried out on blood PMN isolated from 27 normal subjects, 16 patients with uncomplicated rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 9 patients with Felty's syndrome. Chemotaxis was measured by a modification of the Boyden chamber technique, adherence by retention of cells on nylon fibre columns, and EPM in a cylindrical electrophoretic assembly. There was no significant difference between the chemotactic migration of normal and rheumatoid PMN as assessed by the leading front measurement. However, PMN from patients with Felty's syndrome showed significantly reduced chemotaxis (P less than 0.001). Computerised image analysis showed this impaired migration to be due to an overall reduction in cell motility rather than loss of a subset cells. Activated serum from patients with RA and Felty's syndrome were as good chemoattractants as activated pooled AB serum. There was no significant difference in the adhesiveness of PMN from normal persons and rheumatoid patients, though PMN from patients with Felty's syndrome did show a trend to lower adhesiveness. Both RA and Felty's syndrome patients had an increase in the proportion of PMN of lower surface charge than controls. Direct correlations were observed between cells of high surface charge and nonadhesiveness.

Carotid sinus reflex in patients undergoing coronary angiography: relationship of degree and location of coronary artery disease to response to carotid sinus massage

Heart rate and blood pressure responses during and after carotid sinus massage were examined in 66 patients just before coronary angiography. A significant relationship was found between heart rate and blood pressure responses and (1) angina pectoris class, (2) total coronary artery disease score and (3) presence of high-grade (> 90%) stenosis of any of the three major coronary arteries. Only patients with contraction abnormalities of the anterolateral left ventricular region had greater cardionhibitory responses than patients with normal left ventricular angiograms. Among patients with normal left ventricular angiograms, those with more than 50% stenosis of one or more vessels had significantly (p < 0.01) greater responses than those with no or minimal coronary artery disease. All 21 hypersensitive (asystole longer than 3 seconds) patients had significant multivessel coronary artery stenoses or single-vessel high-grade stenosis (greater than or equal to 90%) proximal to the atrioventricular nodal artery. None of the 11 patients with normal coronary arteries had an exaggerated response to carotid sinus massage. These data support the association of an exaggerated response to carotid sinus massage in the presence of symptomatic coronary artery disease and suggest that the magnitude of response is influenced by the severity of the disease.

Anti-RANA antibody: a marker for seronegative and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis

Without prior knowledge of the diagnosis or clinical status, sera from patients with various arthritides were screened for antibody against rheumatoid-arthritis-associated nuclear antigen (RANA) with indirect immunofluorescence on cytocentrifuged Raji cell preparations. 93% of 103 seropositive rheumatoid patients had anti-RANA antibody, in contrast to 16% of 50 normal controls and a mean of 19% (10-29%) of 122 patients with other arthritides. Anti-RANA antibody was also demonstrated in 95% of 21 patients with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis characterised by symmetrical erosive peripheral polyarthritis. No correlation was found in rheumatoid arthritis between anti-RANA antibody and disease activity, duration of disease, drug therapy, or extra-articular manifestations. RANA staining was absent in a non-Epstein-Barr-virus (EBV) cell line (Ramos). In 10 rheumatoid patients, discordance between the presence of antibodies to EBV antigens (viral capsid antigen [VCA] and EBNA) ANd RANA antibody was demonstrated. Anti-RANA antibody could be a useful marker for rheumatoid arthritis.

Electrophoretic behaviour of blood and synovial fluid lymphocytes in rheumatoid arthritis

Probit analysis of the electrophoretic mobilities of human blood lymphocytes identifies at least three main subpopulations. According to their rate of movement in an electrical field, the subpopulations are referred to as the fast, intermediate and slow cell distributions. Lymphocytes of the fast and intermediate populations appear to be T cells, while the slow cell population includes cells with B cell characteristics. Compared with normal subjects, lymphocytes of intermediate mobility are significantly increased in the blood of rheumatoid patients and comprise a major fraction of the lymphocyte exudate in rheumatoid synovial fluid.

Suppressive effect of 3-methylcholanthrene on phagocytic activity of mouse peritoneal macrophages for Torulopsis glabrata

The effect of 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) on the phagocytic activity of mouse peritoneal macrophages for Torulopsis glabrata was investigated. Macrophages were maintained in glass scintillation vials or on cover slips in Leighton tubes with the use of Hanks' balanced salt solution plus 30% horse serum. Graded amounts of MCA were incorporated into the medium and the macrophages were parasitized with viable cells of T. glabrata. Macrophages from C3H mice, a strain highly susceptible to MCA carcinogenesis, were more prone to the suppressive effect of MCA than were the macrophages from CFW mice, a relatively resistant strain. Significant suppressive effect on phagocytosis of macrophages from C3H mice was observed with 5 micrograms MCA/ml, whereas up to 50 micrograms MCA/ml did not alter the phagocytic activity of CFW macrophages. However, 100 micrograms MCA/ml also suppressed the phagocytosis of CFW macrophages. Suppression in phagocytosis of C3H macrophages was observed after 6 hours' exposure to MCA, whereas a similar effect on CFW macrophages was seen after 12 hours. Treatment with 100 micrograms MCA/ml imparied the fungicidal activity of both C3H and CFW macrophages. These results indicate a correlation between the suppressive effect of MCA on macrophage activity and the strain susceptibility of mice to chemical carcinogenesis.

Vocalization in the cat and kitten

Vocal responses of kittens and mature cats were recorded in a variety of standard behavioral situations. Sonographic analysis of these responses showed similarities of responses obtained repeatedly from different cats within each recording situation. Marked differences in response patterns were noted in different recording situations. The kitten and cat vocal repertoires thus include a variety of specific responses to particular motivational or behavioral circumstances.

In vitro effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on human polymorphonuclear cells and lymphocyte migration

1. The action of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), sodium salicylate, aspirin, phenylbutazone and indomethacin was investigated on the migration of human polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) and lymphocytes, using the system of migration of leucocytes from glass capillary tubes. 2. All NSAID produced a dose-dependent inhibition of cell migration, and were more effective on the migration of the PMN than on lymphocytes. 3. Drugs optimally suppressed PMN migration after 20 to 24 h incubation, and lymphocytes after 3 to 6 h. 4. Prolonged incubation of cells with several concentrations of NSAID demonstrated an 'escape' from inhibition in PMNs prepared from one subject.

Action of nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs on human and rat peripheral leucocyte migration in vitro

Using an in vitro system of cell migration from glass capillary tubes, the nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory agents sodium salicylate, aspirin, ibuprofen, phenylbutazone, and indomethacin were shown to inhibit the migration of human peripheral leucocytes in a dose-related manner. This drug action was not confined to one species, as shown by the modification of rat peripheral leucocyte motility by sodium salicylate and aspirin. The relevance of the human findings to the clinical effectiveness of these agents is discussed.

Cell electrophoretic analysis of lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Cell electrophoresis was performed on peripheral-blood lymphocytes obtained from 11 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (R.A.) and 16 normal controls. On the basis of cell frequency/mobility histograms each subject's lymphocyte electrophoretic profile was resolved into a bimodal distribution of fast and slow cells. The mean electrophoretic mobility (E.P.M.) of the fast-cell population was similar in controls and in R.A. patients but the mean E.P.M. of the slow population was significantly slower in R.A. than in the controls. In the R.A. patients the E.P.M. of the polymorphonuclear cell population was significantly slower than that of P.M.N. cells in the peripheral blood of controls.

The effect of p-aminosalicyclic acid on iron transport and assimilation in mycobacteria

p-Aminosalicylic acid inhibits growth of Mycobacterium bovis BCG and Mycobacterium smegmatis more effectively if cells are growing with a sufficiency of iron (more than 1 mu g Fe/ml) in the medium than if cells are deficient in iron (smaller than 0.1 mu g Fe/ml). In iron-deficient cultures formation of mycobactin, an ionophore for iron transport, is strongly inhibited by p-aminosalicylic acid. Uptake of iron into cell suspensions is also inhibited and the activity of several iron-containing enzymes declines in cells exposed to p-aminosalicylic acid during their growth. p-Aminosalicylic acid is about 50 times more effective towards a mutant of M. smegmatis which required mycobactin under iron-deficient growth conditions than towards the wild-type parent. p-Aminosalicylate is taken up into cells by an active process independent of the salicylate uptake system, possibly by the route used for assimilation of p-aminobenzoate. (This could account for why p-aminobenzoic acid, but not salicylic acid, antagonizes the action of p-aminosalicylic acid.) With iron-deficient cells, salicylate assimilation is about 50 times greater than either p-aminosalicylate or p-aminobenzoate but with iron-sufficient cells and with the mycobactin mutant salicylate uptake is negligible whereas p-aminobenzoate and p-aminosalicylate uptakes are unaffected. p-Aminosalicylic acid at 3.3 mM (500 mu g/ml) partially inhibits the uptake of both p-aminobenzoate and, if it is occurring, that of salicylate as well. As p-aminosalicylic acid is always more effective when the intracellular concentration of salicylic acid is low, it probably acts as an anti-metabolite of salicylic acid, not, however, by inhibiting the conversion of salicylic acid to mycobactin, but probably somewhere along the metabolic pathway of iron uptake.

Circadian rhythms in cell migration in vitro, and its effect on antigen-induced migration inhibition

White cell migration from capillary tubes has been studied using blood taken from man and rats over a 24-hr period. When the blood white cell count was lowest in both species, the migration areas were maximal. In man, this variation did not affect the migration index obtained in response to a specific antigen.