Physiology of Neuxstrophil Proliferation, Maturation and Circulation

Histopathological features of the brain, liver, kidney and spleen following an innovative polytrauma model of the mouse

OBJECT

Among the various introduced experimental traumatic brain injury models, there is a clear paucity of proper experimental polytrauma models. To overcome this experimental gap we introduced such a polytrauma model in the mouse including traumatic brain injury. Here, we report on the histopathological features of the brain, lung, kidney, spleen and liver.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

20 male C57BL mice with a mean weight of 23 g were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine. The anaesthetized animals were subjected to a controlled cortical impact (CCI) over the left parieto-temporal cortex using rounded-tip impounder for application of a standardized brain injury. Following fracture of the right femur using a guillotine, a volume-controlled hemorrhagic shock was induced. The control groups included animals with CCI only (n=20) and animals with femur fracture plus hemorrhagic shock without CCI (n=20). Subjects were sacrified at 96 h following trauma. Brain, lung, kidney, spleen and liver of the animals underwent histopathological examinations.

RESULTS

The mortality rate at 96 h was 25% in the polytrauma group versus 10% in the control groups. Within the histopathological investigations, polytraumatized animals differ from those with a single trauma (traumatic brain injury or femur fracture with hemorrhagic shock) with various severity.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study show that such a polytrauma model can be standardized resulting in a reproducible damage. This model fulfills the requirements of a standardized animal model. It allows adequate analogies and inferences to the clinical situation of a polytrauma in humans.

Effect of antileukemia chemotherapy on marrow, blood, and oral granulocyte counts

This study was designed to elicit the effects of antileukemia chemotherapy on marrow production, blood carriage, and oral extravasation of granulocytes, and on the phagocytic activity of those harvested from the mouth. Fifteen adult patients with various morphologic forms of acute leukemia were followed through one to four courses of chemotherapy. Oral saline rinse samples were obtained thrice weekly and prepared for enumeration in a hemocytometer. The oral granulocyte counts were compared with concurrent counts in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. Phagocytic activity of the oral granulocytes was measured by the method of Smith and Rommel. The 15 patients were followed through 30 courses of chemotherapy and recovery. During each, there was a drug-induced decrease in marrow, blood, and oral granulocytes that was reversed when therapy was discontinued and bone marrow activity was restored. Phagocytic activity of the oral granulocytes was not perceptibly affected by the antileukemic drugs. Oral granulocyte counts provide a noninvasive method for monitoring the onset and recovery of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression and granulocytopenia in patients with leukemia.

Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase in hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Response to initiation of thyroxine replacement therapy

Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase (LAP) activity was determined in normal subjects, and in untreated, symptomatic patients with primary hypothyroidism or thyrotoxicosis. The means +/- 1 SD of (n) subjects were, respectively: 61.7 +/- 27.5 (16), 149.9 +/- 56.3 (9) and 96.9 +/- 27.7 (9). The mean LAP values of the hypothyroid and thyrotoxic groups were significantly different from that of the normal group (P less than .01). Values were above the normal range (20 to 120) in seven of the nine hypothyroid patients. LAP values were in the upper half of the normal range in eight of the nine thyrotoxic patients. In the two hypothyroid patients studied at 24-hour intervals, LAP activity was altered markedly within 48 hours of initiation of thyroxine therapy, 25 micrograms daily. In five hypothyroid patients followed for several months after initiating thyroxine replacement, LAP levels were essentially normal within 1 to 2 months. In the thyrotoxic patients, LAP values declined within the first month of medical management, but tended to remain within the normal range.

Experimental nasal infection of normal and leukopenic mice with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Histological and ultrastructural changes in the nasal mucosa of normal and leukopenic mice exposed to Pseudomonas aeruginosa were compared and correlated with changes in the distribution of pseudomonads by use of immunoperoxidase labeling. Pseudomonas was limited to the surface of the nasal mucosa of normal mice and was cleared rapidly. Concurrently, granulocytes were recruited across unaltered nasal epithelium and contained phagocytosed bacilli within two hours. Pseudomonas was limited to the surface of the nasal mucosa of most leukopenic mice at two hours. By four hours, pseudomonads had penetrated interepithelial junctions of all leukopenic mice. Granulocytes were not recruited and nasal epithelium underwent necrosis at points of invasion. These results show that neutrophils participate in the clearance of P. aeruginosa from the surface of the nasal mucosa and that the failure to recruit granulocytes may be important in the breakdown of epithelial barriers. Possible mechanisms of mucosal invasion are discussed.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a relatively rare disease, with a number of features that make it especially suitable for observations on leukemogenesis in man. These include known etiologic agents, often a prolonged preclinical and active stage, cells with identifiable morphological and histochemical characteristics and the presence of the unique Ph' chromosome. The transition of CML to blast crisis is a catastrophic event; however, recent clinical and biochemical studies have raised important questions as to the nature and origin of blast cells in this disease. During the past 10 years, we have followed 113 cases olf CML throughout their course and results of observations on the clinical, hematological and other apsects of the disease are presented in this communication.

The hemodialysis-induced reaction in patients with leukemia

The white blood cell count response was documented in various patients following transfusions of 500 ml of autologous or unrelated donor blood that had been subjected to 10 minutes of dialysis with 15 minutes of stagnation. Patients studied included 1 patient with acute nonlymphocytic (ANLL) and 2 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The control group consisted of 4 patients with renal failure. The ANLL patient showed a normal two-phase reaction after administration of donor's blood. It is possible that even under conditions of severe disturbance of hemopoiesis the general dependence on normal humoral regulation remains. The CLL patients showed a marked drop in circulating WBC in the first descending phase of the hemodialysis-induced reaction (HDIR). All blood cell types including lymphocytes and blast cells took part in this decrease of blood count; this suggests a cell-nonspecific effect. It is presumed that leukocytes that leave the circulation do not return into the blood and the procedure may be considered as a form of leukophoresis in vivo, with possible therapeutic value.