Role of genetic resistance in invasive pneumococcal infection: identification and study of susceptibility and resistance in inbred mouse strains.

From a panel of nine inbred mice strains intranasally infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae type 2 strain, BALB/c mice were resistant and CBA/Ca and SJL mice were susceptible to infection. Further investigation revealed that BALB/c mice were able to prevent proliferation of pneumococci in the lungs and blood, whereas CBA/Ca mice showed no bacterial clearance. Rapidly increasing numbers of bacteria in the blood was a feature of CBA/Ca but not BALB/c mice. In the lungs, BALB/c mice recruited significantly more neutrophils than CBA/Ca mice at 12 and 24 h postinfection. Inflammatory lesions in BALB/c mice were visible much earlier than in CBA/Ca mice, and there was a greater cellular infiltration into the lung tissue of BALB/c mice at the earlier time points. Our data suggest that resistance or susceptibility to intranasal pneumococci may have an association with recruitment and/or function of neutrophils.

Erythrocyte membrane calcium binding in normotensive and hypertensive subjects.

Calcium binding to erythrocyte membranes has been determined in patients with essential hypertension (EHT) and normotensive subjects with (NT + FH) and without (NT - FH) a family history of hypertension, to investigate its relationship to high blood pressure. The calcium content of erythrocyte membranes was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry after incubation in 0 (basal) or 40 mmol/l (maximal binding) calcium chloride. Basal calcium binding was reduced to a similar extent in both EHT and NT + FH subjects (11.4 +/- 0.5 and 10.9 +/- 0.9 mumol/g protein versus 13.7 +/- 0.6 mumol/g protein in NT - FH, P less than 0.01 for both). Maximal binding showed a similar pattern. These data suggest that cell membrane calcium binding is not directly related to blood pressure elevation but is the result of an inherited cell membrane defect which is present in essential hypertension patients and their relatives and which affects several membrane functions.

Intermittent pressure cuffing for oedematous digits.

A double-walled rubber cylinder, made of cheap, readily available materials, is described. This device enables intermittent positive pressure to be applied to individual fingers during the course of management of post-surgical or post-traumatic finger oedema. It has a number of advantages over the standard total hand splint currently used.

Nerve grafting in leprosy

SIR, - Dr Crawford says that nerve grafting should not be doe in leprosy, because the sensory loss leading to burns, trophic ulcers, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, and bone resorption is due to a generalised peripheral neuropathy rather than a localised lesion of peripheral nerves.

Nerve conduction studies in leprosy.

Motor and sensory nerve conduction studies have been performed on the peripheral nerves in the upper and lower limbs of 30 control subjects, and 36 subjects with leprosy from the Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory of Australia. Impairment of conduction was demonstrated in the vast majority of clinically abnormal nerves, and a large proportion of nerves which appeared clinically to be uninvolved. In a third group of subjects, abnormal conduction was demonstrated in a significant number of nerves which were considered to be clinically enlarged but in whom the diagnosis was initially in doubt. The majority of these patients were subsequently proven to have leprosy. It is concluded that nerve conduction studies are of considerable value in the diagnosis and management of leprosy.

Nerve grafting in leprosy / Nerve grafting in leprosy

The most serious disability from which patients with leprosy suffer is sensory