Synthetic scotophobin in goldfish: specificity and effect on learning.

Synthetic rat scotophobin was injected intracranially into common goldfish (Carassius auratus) which were then trained to avoid light or dark. The substance interacts with the learning process in goldfish in an apparently specific way, facilitating the acquisition of dark avoidance, a task homologous with that acquired by rats from which the natural peptide was isolated, while inhibiting acquisition of light avoidance.

Hydrolysis of pork muscle sarcoplasmic proteins by Debaryomyces hansenii.

Strains of Debaryomyces hansenii originally isolated from sausages were screened for proteinase and aminopeptidase activity towards synthetic substrates. On the basis of these results, D. hansenii CT12487 was selected for further assays. The activities of the whole cells (WC), cell-free extracts (CFE) and a combination of both from the selected strain on pork muscle sarcoplasmic protein extracts were determined by protein, peptide and free amino acid analyses. There was a pronounced hydrolysis of protein bands of 110 kDa and 27-64 kDa regardless the incorporation of WC, CFE or a combination of both. The proteolytic activity also resulted in the generation of polar and non-polar peptides showing noticeable differences depending on the addition of WC or CFE. Whole cells generated greater amounts of free amino acids than the cell-free extracts.

Audiogenic seizures and brain extracts: enhancement by extracts from C57BL/6J mice subjected to audiogenic priming.

Donor C57BL/6J mice were given audiogenic priming (AP) by exposure to noise at 16 days of age (To) and sacrificed at intervals from 1 hr to 18 days therafter. Brains from AP and littermate non-AP mice were extracted in 1 M acetic acid, and passed through a filter with a nominal mol. wt. cutoff of 10,000 daltons. The filtrates were lyophilized and resuspended in H2O (0.1 ml/brain). Recipient C57BL/6J mice were also exposed to 30 sec of 127 +/- 2 dBA at 16 days of age, and injected IP with one brain-equivalent of extracts from either AP or non-AP donors immediately therafter. All recipients were tested for convulsability at 18 days of age. There were no differences in audiogenic convulsion rates between groups given AP or non-AP extracts from donors sacrificed 1 to 4 hr after To. Recipient convulsion rates were higher in AP relative to non-AP extract-injected mice whenAP donors were sacrificed 1 to 18 days after To. The extract taken from donors 1 day after To appears more potent than extract taken either before or later.

Histoplasmosis presenting as acute respiratory distress syndrome after exposure to bat feces in a home basement.

This report describes the clinical and epidemiological findings of an outbreak of histoplasmosis in Brazil involving four persons of the same family, one adult and three children. Contamination by fecal material of bats in the basement of the house was found to be the most likely cause of this outbreak. None of the patients had evidence of immune deficiency. The adult died of acute respiratory distress syndrome. A more severe presentation of the disease in this patient may be partly explained by a heavier exposure to the feces of bats.

[The cerebrospinal fluid in bacterial meningitis]. / Aspectos dos líquidos cefalorraquidianos nas meningites bacterianas.

Samples of 1815 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were studied in a meningitis outbreak during 1989 in São Paulo, Brazil. Neisseria meningitis 56% with 44% type B, Haemophilus influenzae 17%, from which 72% in children (days to 3-year-old) and Streptococcus pneumoniae 14% from which 60% in children (day to 1-year-old) of 443 (24%) of all strains. Cytochemistry study showed: purulent or turbidity aspects in 70 to 79% positive bacterioscopy or culture of CSF; white cells count > 500/mm3; glucose < 45 mg/dl; protein > 90 mg/dl in 90% of all patients. We concluded that: CSF prognostic factors: (aspect and cytochemistry) were correlated with bacterial meningitis. Bacterioscopy and positive cultures were correlated to NM, SP and HI isolation from these patients (Goodman Test).