Tooth follicle extirpation and uvulectomy.

Migration is not only the movement of people, but also of their culture, customs and beliefs. As more people from developing countries in Africa migrate to industrialized countries, the more likely health professionals will find themselves providing care for people of whose customs and practices they have little knowledge. This review of the literature suggests that removal of deciduous canine follicles and uvulectomy are frequently practised in some African and neighbouring countries. Reasons given for deciduous canine extirpation include the prevention of vomiting, fever and diarrhoea. The indications for uvulectomy appear widespread, including treatment for persistent fever, coughing and growth retardation. The practices are usually performed by traditional healers. Risks for children who undergo these procedures are extensive, including septicaemia, potential for HIV transmission, numerous dental complications and death. With improved understanding between Western health teams and local, traditional people, an improved system may develop whereby the two systems can work together in providing improved health outcomes for the people.

Rhamnus cathartica (buckthorn) hepatocellular toxicity in mice.

The toxicity of the plant Rhamnus cathartica was assessed in mice after the plant was identified as a potential cause of an idiopathic neurologic disease in horses. Another member of the Rhamnaceae family, Karwinskia humboldtiana, is neurotoxic to mammals and birds and can induce hepatic degeneration and necrosis. To investigate the toxicity of R. cathartica, a 34-day feeding trial in mice was conducted using a complete rodent diet with 0, 5, or 25% added R. cathartica. No clinical signs or gross lesions were seen, and all major tissues were histologically normal except the liver. The livers of mice fed R. cathartica had marked hepatocellular swelling. Results from periodic acid-Schiff reaction staining and from electron microscopy confirmed that the swelling was due to deposits of monoparticulate glycogen (beta particles) in the cytoplasm. Glycogen deposition is an uncommon toxic change in cells. Apparently, compound(s) in R. cathartica directly or indirectly interfered with glycogen metabolism (either glycogenesis or glycogenolysis). Mechanistic and chronicity studies with R. cathartica are needed to investigate the pathophysiology of the glycogen disturbance and to determine if hepatic injury progresses and if other organs will be injured.

Replacement of the aliphatic chains of Clostridium acetobutylicum by exogenous fatty acids: regulation of phospholipid and glycolipid composition.

The membrane lipid aliphatic chains of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 4259 have been extensively modified by growth in biotin-free medium containing vitamin-free casein hydrolysate supplemented with either elaidic acid, oleic acid, or mixtures of palmitic and oleic acids. Growth with elaidic acid resulted in polar lipids containing 88.6% 18:1 acyl chains and 94.5% 18:1 ether-linked chains. Growth with oleic acid resulted in comparable levels of enrichment of the lipids with 18:1 chains and C19 chains containing cyclopropane rings. When cells were grown with mixtures of palmitic and oleic acids, the ether-linked chains of the plasmalogens were greater than or equal to 64% 18:1 plus C19 chains containing cyclopropane rings at all ratios of oleic to palmitic acid in the medium. The acyl chains reflected the palmitic acid content of the medium more closely. Marked changes were observed in both phospholipid and glycosyldiglyceride compositions as the lipid acyl and ether-linked chains became more enriched with unsaturated and cyclopropane chains. The ratio of the glycerol acetal of plasmenylethanolamine to phosphatidylethanolamine increased, the ratio of cardiolipin to phosphatidylglycerol decreased, and the ratio of diglycosyldiglyceride to monoglycosyldiglyceride increased. However, the monoglycosyldiglyceride/diglycosyldiglyceride ratio was lower for cells grown on 100% oleic acid than for cells grown on 60 or 80% oleic acid. In the membranes of cells grown on 100% oleic acid, the ratio of glycolipids to phospholipids was lower than that found in cells grown on 60% oleic acid. These results indicate that C. acetobutylicum regulates its polar lipid composition in a complex manner involving phospholipids and glycosyldiglycerides. These changes can affect the equilibria between those lipids that form bilayers and those lipids that tend to form nonlamellar phases when enriched with unsaturated aliphatic chains. Phosphoglycolipids of unknown structure were also observed in cells grown either with biotin or with fatty acids. The content of the most abundant phosphoglycolipid also varied with the degree of unsaturation of the cellular lipids.

Effect of dietary phosphorus levels on performance of turkey breeder hens.

One hundred 30-wk-old medium weight white Orlopp turkey breeder hens were equally divided into four treatment groups according to the level of available P in the diet (.15, .30, .50, and .70%, respectively). The P provided in the basal diet (.15% available, .35% total) was from cereal grains and soybean meal. No supplemental phosphate was added. During the 20-wk experiment, there were no differences in number of days required to come into lay and in subsequent egg production. Specific gravity, egg weight, number of shell pores, and body weight were similar under all treatments. The P levels of birds fed the four diets were 4.82, 4.93, 4.93, and 4.94 mg/100 mL, respectively, in serum and in femur were 15.8, 16.1, 16.8, and 16.4%, respectively. The P levels were slightly lower in birds fed the diet without added P. Excreta P levels (1.93, 2.49, 2.81, and 3.10%, respectively, in birds fed the four diets) were significantly (P less than .05) higher with each successive increase in dietary P. Hens fed diets containing .50 or .70% available P retained (46.9 and 54.8%, respectively) significantly more P than those fed diets containing .15 or .30% available P (28.1 and 33.8%, respectively). Fertility (76, 93, 90, and 89%, respectively) was significantly lower (P less than .05) from feeding the diet without added P. Hatchability rates of fertile eggs were similar for all treatments.

Regulation of bilayer stability in Clostridium butyricum: studies on the polymorphic phase behavior of the ether lipids.

Three of the major phospholipids of the cell membrane of Clostridium butyricum are phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), plasmenylethanolamine (PlaE), and the glycerol acetal of plasmenylethanolamine. When cultured in the absence of biotin in media supplemented with a cis-unsaturated fatty acid, the cellular lipids become highly enriched with the fed fatty acid. Under these conditions, the ratio of the glycerol acetal of PlaE to the sum of PE plus PlaE increases markedly over that seen in cells containing mixtures of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids [Johnston, N.C., & Goldfine, H. (1985) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 813, 10-18]. We have studied the polymorphic phase behavior of the phospholipids from C. butyricum grown on oleic acid using differential scanning calorimetry, 31P nuclear magnetic resonance, and X-ray diffraction. The mixed PE plus PlaE fraction undergoes a transition from the gel to liquid-crystalline state at -1.9 degrees C and a lamellar to reversed hexagonal (L----H) transition at or near 0 degrees C. The glycerol acetal of PlaE melts at 16.1 degrees C, and as predicted from lipid packing theory, the lamellar phase is stabilized, up to 50 degrees C. Addition of the oleate-enriched glycerol acetal of PlaE to dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine, or the PE plus PlaE fraction from oleate-grown cells, stabilized the lamellar arrangement of the mixtures. A ratio of glycerol acetal of PlaE to total PE (PE plus PlaE) of 0.5, which is close to that found in cells grown on palmitic plus oleic acid, 0.6-0.7, did not produce a lamellar phase at 37 degrees C when the lipids enriched with oleic acid were tested,(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Plasmid profile of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Nigeria and efficacy of spectinomycin in treating gonorrhoea.

The prevalence of penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) strains has been steadily rising in Nigeria since 1979, and now about 80% of the strains of gonococci isolated in Ibadan are found to produce penicillinase. Spectinomycin has consequently become widely used in treating these infections. To ascertain the emergence of spectinomycin resistance, this study was undertaken to assess the in vivo susceptibilities of gonococcal strains to spectinomycin and other common antibiotics. Five hundred and twenty seven isolates were tested, of which 452 (85.5%) were PPNG strains. None of the strains were found to be resistant to 100 micrograms spectinomycin discs in vitro, whereas all 370 patients treated with the antibiotic were bacteriologically cured. Plasmid analysis shows that both "Asian" and "African" PPNG types are circulating in Nigeria. For the moment spectinomycin remains highly effective in treating gonococcal infections in west Africa.

Biomedical surveillance: rights conflict with rights.

Medical screening and biomedical monitoring violate individual rights. Such conflicts of right with right are acted upon synergistically by uncertainty which, in some important respects, increases rather than decreases as a result of research. Issues of rightness and wrongness, ethical issues, arise because the human beings who are subjects of medical screening and biological monitoring often have little or no option whether to be subjected to them. We identify issues of rightness and wrongness of biomedical surveillance for various purposes of occupational health and safety. We distinguish between social validity and scientific validity. We observe that principles are well established for scientific validity, but not for social validity. We support guidelines as a way forward.

Resistance of neonatal calves given colostrum diet to oral challenge with a septicemia-producing Escherichia coli.

Twenty Holstein-Friesian male calves were obtained within 4 hours after bith (colostrum deprived) and allotted to 1 of 4 groups, each given a different feeding: colostrum, milk replacer, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and saline solution (0.85% NaCl). Each calf was fed 2 L of the respective diets every 12 hours. Rectal temperatures were recorded and blood samples were collected immediately before each feeding. At approximately 27 hours of age, all calves were inoculated orally with 1.5 X 10(10) viable organisms of a septicemia-producing Escherichia coli serotype O26: K60:NM. Within 8 hours, all calves had diarrhea. Coli-septicemia (E coli cultured from liver, spleen, and cardiac blood) was present in 1 of the 5 calves fed colostrum, in 5 or the 5 calves fed milk replacer, in 5 of the 5 calves fed PVP, and in 4 of the 5 calves fed saline solution. At necropsy of the calves (12 to 48 hours after oral inoculation), the same organism was isolated by cultural technique from small intestines of 19 of the 20 calves. Serum immunoglobulin G concentrations increased (P less than 0.01) in calves fed the colostrum diet in sharp contrast to the agammaglobulinemia occurring in calves fed the milk replacer, PVP, or saline solution. Results indicate that colostrum fed to the calf soon after birth provides protection from colisepticemia, but does not prevent the diarrhea of colibacillosis.

Hypothalamic morphology following ingestion of aspartame or MSG in the neonatal rodent and primate: a preliminary report.

Neonatal mice received oral doses of monosodium glutamate (MSG) at levels of 0.25, 0.5m 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 g/kg or aspartame at levels of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g/kg. Hypothalamic lesions were encountered at dose levels equal to or exceeding 0.5 g/kg (MSG) and 1.0 g/kg (aspartame). Aspartame administration resulted in a much smaller hypothalamic lesion than did equal dosages of MSG. Infant monkeys received MSG (1-4 g/kg) or aspartame (2 g/kg) by stomach tube. Hypothalamic morphology remained normal at both the microscopic and ultrastructural level. Thus, in contrast to the neonatal rodent, the neonatal primate is able to cope either metabolically or at the level of the blood-brain barrier with excessive amino acid loads.

Monosodium glutamate: absence of hypothalamic lesions after ingestion by newborn primates.

After receiving monosodium glutamate by stomach tube, the brains of infant macaques were perfused for examination by light and electron microscopy. No morphological differences were observed in the hypothalamic regions of treated and control monkeys. However, inadequately fixed tissue had the same appearance as that of the previously reported brain lesion in a newborn monkey.