The Corticospinal Tract in Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by progressive motor impairment. Therefore, the connectivity of the corticospinal tract (CST), which is the main white matter (WM) pathway that conducts motor impulses from the primary motor cortex to the spinal cord, merits particular attention. WM abnormalities have already been shown in presymptomatic (Pre-HD) and symptomatic HD subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the present study, we examined CST microstructure using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based tractography in 30-direction DTI data collected from 100 subjects: Pre-HD subjects (n = 25), HD patients (n = 25) and control subjects (n = 50), and T2*-weighted (iron sensitive) imaging. Results show decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased axial (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) in the bilateral CST of HD patients. Pre-HD subjects had elevated iron in the left CST, regionally localized between the brainstem and thalamus. CAG repeat length in conjunction with age, as well as motor (UHDRS) assessment were correlated with CST FA, AD, and RD both in Pre-HD and HD. In the presymptomatic phase, increased iron in the inferior portion supports the "dying back" hypothesis that axonal damage advances in a retrograde fashion. Furthermore, early iron alteration may cause a high level of toxicity, which may contribute to further damage.

Efficacy of partially hydrolyzed corn syrup solids as a replacement for lactose in manufactured liquid diets for neonatal pigs

Feeding manufactured liquid diets to early-weaned pigs improves growth performance and reduces days to market weight compared with pigs receiving pelleted dry feed. Few alternative dietary ingredients are utilized in manufactured liquid diets other than byproducts of the dairy industry, especially for sources of carbohydrates. This experiment was designed to evaluate the efficacy of starch from partially hydrolyzed corn syrup solids (CSS), at two different levels of hydrolyzation, as a replacement for lactose in manufactured liquid diets. Forty-eight pigs were removed from sows at 1 d of age and randomly assigned to one of three treatments: 1) control with lactose as the carbohydrate source, 2) lactose replaced (gram for gram) with CSS (dextrose equivalent [DE]-20), and 3) lactose replaced with DE-42. In addition, 10 pigs were randomly removed from several litters to provide estimates of initial body composition and small intestinal variables. Twenty-four pigs were removed from the study on d 10 of treatment, and the remaining 24 pigs were removed on d 20 of treatment. Pigs averaged 9,845 +/- 191 g at d 20 of treatment regardless of dietary treatment (P > 0.20). No differences in ADG, ADFI, or feed efficiency were detected between treatment groups from d 0 to 20 (P > 0.19). Whole-body water, protein, lipid, and ash accretion rates were unaffected by dietary treatment from d 0 to 10 or from d 0 to 20 (P > 0.20). The replacement of lactose with CSS did not affect intestinal villi height or width, or crypt depth (P > 0.10). Pigs fed lactose tended to have greater lactase activity on d 10 than pigs fed CSS (P < 0.07). Also, pigs fed lactose tended to have lower oligosaccharidase activity than pigs fed the DE-20 diet on d 20 (P < 0.07). No other differences in lactase, maltase, or long oligosaccharidase specific activity on d 10 or 20 of treatment were detected (P > 0.12). Plasma urea nitrogen concentrations were unaffected by diet on d 10 and 20 of treatment. In addition, dry matter digestibility of the diets averaged approximately 85.6 +/- 0.8% and was unaffected by dietary treatment or day of treatment. These results suggest that partially hydrolyzed CSS can be used as a replacement for lactose in manufactured liquid diets for neonatal pigs.

Maternal and fetal inherited thrombophilias are not related to the development of severe preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE

Thrombotic vascular disease may predispose patients to the development of preeclampsia. The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal or fetal genotype frequencies of the inherited thrombophilic gene mutations (factor V Leiden, methylenetetrahydrofolate, and prothrombin) are altered in severe preeclampsia.

STUDY DESIGN

We performed a prospective cross-sectional study to compare the maternal and fetal genotype frequencies of factor V Leiden, methylenetetrahydrofolate, and prothrombin. One hundred ten patients with severe preeclampsia were matched for gestational age to 97 normotensive pregnancies. Umbilical cord blood was obtained from 92 control patients and 75 patients with preeclampsia. Deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted from leukocytes and polymerase chain reaction was performed. Polymerase chain reaction products were digested with the appropriate restriction enzyme and fractionated by gel electrophoresis. Genotype frequencies were calculated. Statistical significance was determined by the chi(2) test.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences between patients with severe preeclampsia and control patients regarding frequency of maternal factor V Leiden G/506/A mutation (4.4% vs 4.3%; P =.96), methylenetetrahydrofolate CC/667/TT mutation (9.6% vs 6.3%; P =.54), or prothrombin G/20210/A mutation (0% vs 1.1%; P =.92). In addition, no statistical difference could be found between fetal thrombophilias and the development of preeclampsia. Findings were similar in both white (n = 47) and African American (n = 63) preeclamptic subsets. Moreover, there was no association between any of the maternal or fetal genetic polymorphisms and the incidence of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome (n = 21); eclampsia (n = 12); or intrauterine growth restriction (n = 9).

CONCLUSION

Inherited thrombophilias are not associated with severe preeclampsia.

Charge flow separation: quantification of nucleated red blood cells in maternal blood during pregnancy

We set out to ascertain the numbers of fetal cells that enter the maternal blood stream during pregnancy. Samples of 15-16 ml of whole blood were collected from 225 women--mostly 10-18 weeks pregnant--and then processed by charge flow separation, a novel method based on free flow electrophoresis in a buffer counterflow gradient. After their recovery in four different separation instruments, nucleated red blood cells (NRBC) were enumerated histologically. In some cases fetal NRBC were identified and enumerated by fluorescence in situ hybridization with probes for the X and Y chromosomes and fetal haemoglobin mRNA. Recoveries were consistent among the four separation instruments: the median numbers of NRBC obtained were 4190, 1590, 2805 and 3860. Our data show that approximately 30 per cent of those cells were fetal. Thus, recent reports on the separation of fetal NRBC by other methods, give underestimates of their frequency in maternal blood.

Effect of immunoglobulin source on survival, growth, and hematological and immunological variables in pigs

The effects of feeding different sources of immunoglobulins (sow's colostrum by nursing, SC; no colostrum, NC; bovine colostrum, BC; and porcine immunoglobulins, PI) to neonatal pigs during the first 2 d of life on their subsequent survival, growth, feed intake, feed conversion, incidence of diarrhea, and selected hematological and immunological variables were assessed throughout a 19-d experimental period. After d 2, all pigs were fed the same liquid basal diet. Crossbred neonatal pigs, 10 per treatment, were individually reared after birth (NC, BC, and PI) or 2 d of age (SC) with an automatic feeding device. All pigs of treatments SC and PI, and 80 and 30% (P < .01) of pigs of treatments BC and NC, respectively, survived to the end of the trial. Growth, feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency (gain/feed) of surviving pigs were similar (P > .05), regardless of treatment. A transient physiological scours was observed in 20 to 50% of the pigs between 5 and 7 d of age; by 10 d of age, all pigs had solid feces. Hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit in blood of pigs of treatment NC were lower (P < .05) than those of the other treatments. Concentrations of total serum proteins, trichloroacetic acid-precipitable proteins, and serum IgG of SC pigs were higher (P < .01) than those of pigs in the other treatments. These results showed that porcine immunoglobulins or bovine colostrum can be satisfactorily used as immunoglobulin sources in artificial rearing of colostrum-deprived neonatal pigs.

Identification of p53 mutations in endometrial adenocarcinoma by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism

OBJECTIVE

We determined whether mutations in p53 exons 5-6-7-8, as detected in the polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) test, might be correlated with stage or grade in endometrial adenocarcinoma.

METHODS

We amplified sequences containing exons 5, 6, 7, or 8 in DNA from tumors and controls. Mutation within the amplified sequences was indicated by changes in electrophoretic mobility (band shifts) in the SSCP test. The results were analyzed statistically and compared with the results of other, similar studies.

RESULTS

We identified 15 band shifts among 47 endometrial tumors studied (band shifts in two different exons in two cases) and none among 42 controls. Band shifts in exons 5 and 8 were associated uniformly with grade 2 or grade 3 histology. In other studies p53 mutations were correlated with advanced-stage malignancy.

CONCLUSION

Further evaluation of particular p53 mutations and their relation to disease course in endometrial adenocarcinoma seems warranted. The PCR-SSCP test seems well-suited to this purpose.

Fetal cells in the maternal circulation: isolation by multiparameter flow cytometry and confirmation by polymerase chain reaction

During pregnancy, nucleated fetal erythrocytes enter the maternal circulation and can be isolated efficiently from the maternal cells by multiparameter flow cytometry. Male DNA, implying presence of a male fetus, can be identified in flow-sorted maternal blood by polymerase chain reaction with oligonucleotide primers flanking single-copy Y-specific DNA sequences. Among flow-sorted samples, we correctly identified fetal sex in 17/18 (94%) pregnancies of 10-21 weeks gestation. Maternal blood thus provides a potential opportunity for prenatal diagnosis that could preclude the need for invasive procedures in current use.

The impact of ambulatory glycemic control on the insulin-dependent diabetic gravida

The pursuit of maternal euglycemia is the cornerstone of contemporary perinatal management of the insulin-requiring diabetic gravida and its achievement has been associated with reduced perinatal morbidity and mortality. The maternal and perinatal results of a pregnancy management protocol for insulin-requiring diabetic gravidas which emphasizes rigorous glucose control via ambulatory patient utilization of reflectance meter determinations of fasting and two-hour postprandial blood glucose is summarized in this report. The authors describe the excellent maternal and neonatal outcomes achieved with this protocol, and emphasize the efficacy of this ambulatory approach to the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetic pregnancies.

Some physical and immunological properties of ox kidney biliverdin reductase

The liver, kidney and spleen of the mouse and rat and the kidney and spleen of the ox express a monomeric form of biliverdin reductase (Mr 34,000), which in the case of the ox kidney enzyme exists in two forms (pI 5.4 and 5.2) that are probably charge isomers. The livers of the mouse and rats express, in addition, a protein (Mr 46,000) that cross-reacts with antibodies raised against the ox kidney enzyme and may be related to form 2 described by Frydman, Tomaro, Awruch & Frydman [(1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 759, 257-263]. Higher-Mr forms appear to exist in the guinea pig and hamster. The ox kidney enzyme has three thiol groups, of which two are accessible to 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate) in the native enzyme. Immunocytochemical analysis reveals that biliverdin reductase is localized in proximal tubules of the inner cortex of the rat kidney. Biliverdin reductase antiserum also stains proximal tubules in human and ox kidney. The staining of podocytes in glomeruli of ox kidney with antiserum to aldose reductase is particularly prominent. The localization of biliverdin reductase in the inner cortical zone of rat kidney is similar to that described for glutathione S-transferase YfYf, and it is suggested that one function of this 'intracellular binding protein' may be to maintain a low free concentration of biliverdin to allow biliverdin reductase to operate efficiently.

On the possible role of biliverdin stimulation of cyclic AMP levels as a trigger for liver regeneration in the rat

Contrary to a recent report by Okazaki et al. (Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun., 1978, 81, 512-520) we show that high concentrations of biliverdin (100 mg/kg, i.p.) slightly reduce the mitotic rate in rat liver. Adenylate cyclase and both the "high Km" and "low Km" phosphodiesterase of rat liver plasma membranes are inhibited by high concentrations of biliverdin. Biliverdin has no effect on cyclic AMP production in isolated hepatocytes. An intracellular binding protein (glutathione-S-transferase B) is shown to bind biliverdin providing a mechanism for maintaining a low free intracellular concentration of the tetrapyrrole analogous to that of albumin in plasma. In conclusion, these results are not consistent with a role for biliverdin in stimulating liver regeneration in the rat via a mechanism involving elevated cyclic AMP levels.