Pyomyositis. Increasing recognition in temperate climates.

Pyomyositis is common in the tropics yet is rarely reported in temperate climates. A woman in whom pyomyositis developed in a temperate climate is presented. Computed tomography was the key in the diagnosis of the disease involving the muscles of the left lateral chest wall. The patient's condition responded to intravenous antibiotics and open abscess drainage. The 31 cases reported in the United States are reviewed. Unfamiliarity still poses a barrier to early diagnosis, although pyomyositis is being more frequently described in temperate climates.

Beta-receptor regulation: dynamics of density and function throughout the cardiac cycle.

Recent research shows beta-receptors in human myocardium can lose sensitivity to endogenous and exogenous stimulation. This decreased sensitivity known as down-regulation, explains several therapy. The clinical phenomena of concern to nursing and helps predict patient response to therapy. The concept of lusitropy (process of relaxation) and the use of pharmacologic beta-modulators are added to the traditional hemodynamic framework as integral parts of a new dynamic model.

Malignant melanoma in multiple endocrine neoplasia.

Because of its neurocrest APUD origin, malignant melanoma has been postulated to be a component of the multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndromes; however, such a case has not been previously described. Prior associations of melanocytes with the MEN syndromes have been confined to hyperplasia. This report describes the first case of malignant melanoma occurring in a patient with the MEN IIA syndrome (bilateral pheochromocytomas and medullary thyroid carcinoma). The role of melanocytic hyperplasia and neoplasia within the MEN syndromes is discussed.

Molecular cloning of the phenylalanine ammonia lyase gene from Rhodosporidium toruloides in Escherichia coli K-12.

A genomic library of Rhodosporidium toruloides DNA was constructed in bacteriophage lambda 1059. Recombinant phage containing phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) gene sequences were identified by using 32P-labeled cDNA to partially purified PAL mRNA. The PAL gene was subcloned on an 8.5-kilobase PstI DNA restriction fragment into pUC8 to generate the recombinant plasmid pHG2. A restriction map of the PAL gene, together with its flanking regions, was constructed. Northern hybridization analysis of R. toruloides RNA with a restriction fragment encoding part of the PAL gene indicates that PAL mRNA is 2.5 kilobases in length. A single-stranded DNA hybridization probe was constructed and used to quantitate PAL mRNA levels in R. toruloides grown under different physiological conditions. PAL mRNA levels paralleled changes in functional PAL mRNA and antigen. These data are consistent with control of PAL expression being at the level of transcription.