New cyclic depsipeptide antibiotics, clavariopsins A and B, produced by an aquatic hyphomycetes, Clavariopsis aquatica. 1. Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation, and biological properties

Clavariopsins were isolated from the fermentation broth of Clavariopsis aquatica AJ 117363. Clavariopsins are cyclic depsipeptide antibiotics with the molecular weight of 1,153 and 1,139. Clavariopsins showed in vitro antifungal activity against not only Aspergillus fumigatus but also, although to a lesser extent, A. niger and Candida albicans.

Immunohistology of skin and oral biopsies in graft-versus-host disease after bone marrow transplantation and cytokine therapy

BACKGROUND

Early diagnosis of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after bone marrow transplantation is often difficult, particularly when the patients are immunosuppressed by chemotherapy or irradiation.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the influence of cytokines on skin lesions after bone marrow transplantation.

METHODS

Biopsy specimens of skin and oral mucosa were obtained from bone marrow transplant patients with GVHD and were subjected to histologic and immunohistochemical examination.

RESULTS

Administration of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor caused atopic dermatitis-like lesions in two patients, who had infiltration of neutrophils, eosinophils, and lymphocytes around the hair follicles of the skin and no signs of GVHD in other organs. Only patients who were treated with cytokines developed acute GVHD. Immunohistochemical examination of skin biopsies from 18 patients with acute GVHD and 11 patients with chronic GVHD after cyclophosphamide administration or irradiation showed that the maculopapular skin lesions characteristic of acute GVHD contained infiltrates of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes. There was also an increase in numbers of epidermal keratinocytes expressing intercellular adhesion molecule-I and HLA-DR antigens.

CONCLUSION

These findings support the involvement of cytokines in GVHD and suggest that immunostaining of skin biopsies may be useful for the early diagnosis of this condition.

Studies on metabolites of mycoparasitic fungi. V. Ion-spray ionization mass spectrometric analysis of trichokonin-II, a peptaibol mixture obtained from the culture broth of Trichoderma koningii

The sequence of a peptide, trichokonin-II (TK-II), obtained from the culture broth of Trichoderma koningii OUDEMANS, was examined by ion-spray ionization mass spectrometry (ISI-MS), including the collision-induced dissociation (CID) technique. TK-II was concluded to be a mixture of three peptaibols, TK-IIa, TK-IIb, and TK-IIc.

Studies on metabolites of mycoparasitic fungi. IV. Minor peptaibols of Trichoderma koningii

Three minor peptaibols, trichokonins (TKs)-Ia, Ib, and IX, were obtained from the culture broth of Trichoderma koningii Oudemans. Primary structures of these peptaibols were elucidated by ion-spray ionization mass spectrometry (ISI-MS) including the collision-induced dissociation (CID) technique together with two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY).

Studies on metabolites of mycoparasitic fungi. II. Metabolites of Trichoderma koningii

Four peptaibols, named trichokonins (TKs) V, VI, VII, and VIII, were isolated from the culture broth of Trichoderma koningii Oudemans. Primary structures of these peptaibols were elucidated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), FAB-MS, and collision-induced dissociation (CID) techniques along with nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY).

Treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes with all-trans retinoic acid. Leukemia Study Group of the Ministry of Health and Welfare

We treated 23 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS); 2 refractory anemia (RA) with prior therapy, 11 RA with excess of blasts (RAEB), and 10 RAEB in transformation (RAEB-T), with daily oral 45 mg/m2 all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in a multiinstitutional prospective study. In two patients with RAEB and one with RAEB-T, a more than 1,000/microL increase of peripheral neutrophil counts was observed with some reduction of blast percentage in the bone marrow 2 to 9 weeks after the start of ATRA. However, the effect was transient and did not last for more than 5 weeks despite the continuation of ATRA therapy. In one other patient with RA, one patient with RAEB, and one patient with RAEB-T, slight increase of hemoglobin levels or reduction of blast percentage in bone marrow was noted. Toxicities attributable to ATRA were minimal and included cheilitis, xerosis, dermatitis, gastrointestinal disorders, abnormal liver function tests, and high serum triglyceridemia. Although ATRA works remarkably as a differentiation therapy in acute promyelocytic leukemia, its effect in MDS included in this study was modest. Further study of this agent alone or in combination may be warranted in less advanced stages of this disease.

A taxonomic study of Rhodosporidium capitatum

Several strains of Rhodosporidium capitatum Fell, Hunter and Tallman, thought to be an obligate marine yeast, have been isolated from terrestrial leaf litter and from sand of a river, a brackish lake, and a seashore. Some unknown features of the life history have been elucidated in our study. Septal ultrastructure in R. capitatum was found to be similar to that of species of Tilletia, Filobasidium, and Filobasidiella; it is a primitive type of dolipore rather than the simple pore found in other species of Rhodosporidium. Septal ultrastructure appears to be correlated with promycelial type and physiological characteristics. Rhodosporidium is concluded to be a heterogenous taxon and taxonomic changes are needed.