Granulomatous hepatitis and pleuritis after ileal bypass for obesity.

A patient is presented who developed a granulomatous hepatitis and pleuritis approximately 7 months after an ileal bypass procedure for morbid obesity. Although the etiological agent was presumed to be Mycobacterium tuberculosis no pathogenic organism was grown from the liver, pleura, bone marrow, sputum, or gastric aspirate. The possibly increased susceptibility of these patients to mycobacterial infections is discussed. The value of obtaining serum levels of ethambutol, isoniazid, and rifampin, in patients with malabsorption is stressed. Although this patient seemed to respond to antituberculous therapy, other possible causes for the granulomatous process are explored.

[Effect of immunomodulators on selected functions of neonatal polymorphonuclear neutrophils in vitro]. / Wplyw immunomodulatorów na wybrane funkcje granulocytów obojetnochlonnych noworodka in vitro.

Phagocytosis, bactericidal capacity, production of superoxide anions O2- and expression of receptor for the Fc portion of IgG of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) were estimated in umbilical venous blood of neonates and their mothers. We also evaluated the influence of immunomodulating agents on these parameters. The influence of the maternal serum on the function of neonatal PMN was examined. The obtained results indicate that functional defect of neonatal PMN may be corrected under the influence of the maternal serum and/or immunomodulating agents.

[Antibiotic therapy of acute dysentery in children with immunologic deficiency conditions]. / Antibiotikoterapiia ostroi dizenterii pri immunodefitsitnom sostoianii organizma u detei.

One hundred children with acute Sonnei and flexneri dysentery were followed up with respect to the infection process and main immunity indices. In 32 children the immunity indices were physiological (group 1) and in 68 children secondary immune deficiency was observed (group 2). The children were treated with aminoglycoside antibiotics and prodigiozan and it was stated that the time of recovery in the children with immune deficiency was longer by 5.2 days as compared to that in the children without immune deficiency. In the children with immune deficiency the combined use of one of the aminoglycosides, prodigiozan and lysozyme, led to a reduction of the host immunological reactivity and recovery within the same periods as those recorded for children with the physiological immunity status. It is recommended to use the antibiotic combination with prodigiozan and lysozyme in the treatment of all the forms of dysentery in children with secondary immune deficiency.

[Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD): in vitro enhancement of bactericidal activity of CGD phagocytes by rifampicin]. / Granulomatose septique chronique: modification du pouvior bactéricide des phagocytes par la rifampicine

In a series of 29 experiments on CGD patients, we have studied the in vitro bactericidal capacity of normal and CGD phagocytes against penicillin, streptomycin and rifampicin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. The bactericidal activity of phagogyte preparations was tested at different intervals during a 21 hour incubation. The CGD-phagocyte bactericidy peaks after 90 min when penicillin is used; in contrast, a significant enhancement of the bactericidal activity is noted with rifampicin and best noted after 21 hours of incubation. To elucidate the mode of action of this antibiotic, a rifampicin resistant S. aureus was used in a series of experiments; The results point to a mixt type of action: antimicrobial and metabolic.

Pyoderma gangrenosum associated with regional enteritis. Improvement in defective granulocyte function and healing of skin lesions during administration of clofazimine.

A defective uptake of oxygen by peripheral blood granulocytes during phagocytosis, indicating a subnormal phagocytic capacity, has been found in a patient with regional enteritis complicated by pyoderma gangrenosum (PG). During administration of clofazimine and granulocyte function normalized and the skin lesions healed. It is possible that a defective granulocyte function may sometimes be involved in the pathogenesis of PG and that a clofazimine-induced improvement in the function will favour healing of the lesions. The result of treatment in our patient and in other cases recently published indicates that the drug may be worth trying in PG.

Diseño de coloides para el transporte específico de fármacos a células diana mediante procesos de reconocimiento molecular / Formulation of drug nanocarriers to target cells by molecular recognition processes

Los agentes quimioterápicos utilizados en la actualidad tienen una especificad muy escasa por las células malignas, lo que reduce su eficacia clínica y aumenta la incidencia de reacciones adversas severas. Se han investigado diferentes soluciones para este problema, p. ej., la introducción de modificaciones químicas en la estructura molecular del antitumoral y el desarrollo de coloides para el transporte de principios activos. Así se pretende aumentar la localización/acumulación del fármaco en la masa tumoral y, de esta forma, la eficacia anticancerosa, junto con una minimización de la incidencia y severidad de los efectos adversos. Esta última estrategia sólo logra aumentar la eficacia de la quimioterapia en el tratamiento de tumores asociados al sistema fagocítico mononuclear. Recientemente, el transporte activo de fármacos basado en procesos de reconocimiento molecular (transporte mediado por ligandos) ha recibido especial interés en el tratamiento del cáncer. En este trabajo investigamos las estrategias más importantes de transporte de fármacos basadas en procesos de reconocimiento molecular, analizando sus posibilidades reales en clínica(AU)

Conventional chemotherapy relies on the premise that rapidly proliferating cancer cells should be easily killed by a chemotherapy agent. However, these molecules have almost negligible specificity, resulting in very low activity, and severe side effects. In order to beat this challenge, several approaches, e.g., chemical modifications and development of colloids for drug delivery, have been proposed to improve drug localization at the tumor region and, hence, to increase anti-tumor efficacy, while reducing systemic side effects. The latter strategy has merely led to improved chemotherapy in tumors located in the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS). Recently, the formulation of colloids foractive drug targeting through molecular recognition processes (ligand-mediated drug delivery) has gained important attention for the delivery of anticancer drugs to tumors. In this work we investigate the most significant strategies for drug targeting to specific tissues based on molecular recognition processes. Additionally, we carefully analyze the real possibilities of such nanostrategy in drug delivery(AU)