Transient myocardial thickening in a Bartonella henselae-positive cat.

A 3-year-old castrated male domestic shorthair presented to the Cornell University Hospital for Animals for acute onset respiratory distress. Thoracic radiographs, echocardiogram, and electrocardiogram (ECG) revealed left-sided congestive heart failure, myocardial thickening with left atrial dilation, and sinus rhythm conducted with a left bundle branch block, respectively. Cardiac troponin I was elevated and continued to increase over 36 h (1.9 ng/mL, 3.1 ng/mL, and 3.5 ng/mL, sequentially every 12 h). The cat tested positive for Bartonella henselae and was treated with azithromycin (30 mg/kg by mouth (PO) every 24 h for 30 days), along with furosemide (1 mg/kg PO every 24 h), benazepril (0.4 mg/kg PO every 24 h), pimobendan (0.23 mg/kg PO every 12 h), and clopidogrel (18.75 mg PO every 24 h). Reevaluation at 6 weeks revealed normal respiratory rate on physical examination, normal cardiac structures and function on echocardiogram, resolution of left bundle branch block on ECG, and normal cardiac troponin I levels (0.06 ng/mL). All medications were discontinued at this time, and the cat continued to do well 5 months after reevaluation. Here, we report a case of transient myocardial thickening in a cat that was also positive for B. henselae.

Derivation of conditionally immortalized cell lines containing the Min mutation from the normal colonic mucosa and other tissues of an "Immortomouse"/Min hybrid.

The Multiple Intestinal Neoplasia (Min) mouse carries the murine homologue of the human APC gene. To overcome the difficulties of culturing normal colonic mucosal cells in vitro we developed an F1 hybrid mouse ("Immortomouse" (H-2Kb-tsA58 SV40 large T)x Min) which carries both the Min mutation and a temperature-sensitive mutant of the SV40 large T gene. We have derived epithelial cell lines from both isolated colonic crypts and the liver of this hybrid mouse. The colonic epithelial cultures are only conditionally immortalized and growth ceases at the non-permissive temperature indicating that these cells have retained their normal phenotype. Fibroblast cultures have also been obtained from both small intestinal stroma and skin. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays indicated that the cell lines all contain both the Min mutation and the SV40 large T gene. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the "Immortomouse" for developing cultures from tissues such as the intestine that have previously proved very difficult to culture in vitro.

The role of single photon emission computed tomography brain imaging with 99mTc-bicisate in the localization and definition of mechanism of ischemic stroke.

99mTc-bicisate (99mTc-ECD) is a new brain perfusion imaging agent formulated from a radiochemically stable kit (Neurolite). A multicenter trial was conducted to determine the sensitivity and specificity of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging with 99mTc-bicisate in the localization of ischemic stroke; 170 subjects were enrolled, 128 patients with stroke and 42 controls. Imaging results from 148 subjects (107 stroke patients and 41 controls) were considered evaluable. In the evaluable subjects, SPECT brain imaging with 99mTc-bicisate (21.0 +/- 2.5 mCi) was interpreted without clinical information and was compared with a final assessment using all clinical, diagnostic, and laboratory procedures except the 99mTc-bicisate SPECT results. 99mTc-bicisate was safe and well-tolerated. SPECT imaging with 99mTc-bicisate demonstrated a specificity of 98% and a sensitivity of 86% for localization of strokes (kappa, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.86). Results were unchanged over time and were similar for all stroke mechanisms except for lacunar disease (sensitivity, 58%). In a secondary analysis, a normal image or small, deep (e.g., subcortical) perfusion defect was highly predictive of a lacunar mechanism. Defects involving the cortical surface were strongly associated with nonlacunar mechanisms. SPECT imaging with 99mTc-bicisate is a sensitive marker in the localization of perfusion defects associated with ischemic stroke and may assist in the determination of the underlying mechanism of a stroke.

99mTc-bicisate (neurolite) SPECT brain imaging and cognitive impairment in dementia of the Alzheimer type: a blinded read of image sets from a multicenter SPECT trial.

A blinded read of images obtained with 99mTc-bicisate and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was conducted to determine if a relationship exists between the severity of abnormalities on SPECT brain images and the severity of cognitive impairment in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and to examine the interreader agreement for visual reading of images in a multicenter SPECT study. Images for a total of 86 subjects were available for the blinded read. The images for 28 subjects were rated as noninterpretable due to technical inadequacies. Images for 58 subjects (45 DAT patients and 13 normal volunteers) from 10 SPECT centers were selected for further analyses. The severity of abnormality was rated as mild, moderate, or severe by three readers. In DAT patients, a significant negative correlation (p < 0.05) of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score with global severity of abnormality was noted for two of the three readers. A significant correlation (p < 0.05) between MMSE score and severity of abnormality was observed for all three readers for the posterior temporoparietal region. The blinded readers rated a median of 92.3% of normal volunteers' images as normal and a median of 82.2% of DAT patients' images as abnormal. For the regional severity of abnormality, the median percentage interrater agreement across all regions ranged from 95 to 100% in normal volunteers and from 81 to 98% in DAT patients. These results suggest that SPECT brain imaging with 99mTc-bicisate provides functional information about the severity of cognitive impairment in DAT patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cloning and partial nucleotide sequence of human glutamic acid decarboxylase cDNA from brain and pancreatic islets.

We report partial nucleotide sequences of the human enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) from brain and pancreatic islets which encode the middle 180 amino acids of GAD. The brain and islet GAD sequences display a high degree of sequence homology with the equivalent region of other mammalian brain GAD cDNAs. Alignment of the brain and islet GAD sequences showed that there were 45 nucleotide differences which, at the translational level, would result in seven amino acid substitutions. These results which suggest that different isomeric forms of human GAD exist in brain and pancreas may be relevant to the pathogenesis of stiff man syndrome (SMS) and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), respectively, two distinct but associated clinical disorders in which GAD is the target of autoantibodies.

Plant retrotransposon from Lilium henryi is related to Ty3 of yeast and the gypsy group of Drosophila.

The lily retrotransposon del 1-46 is 9345 base pairs (bp) long. It has long terminal repeats (LTRs) of 2406 bp (left) and 2415 bp (right), which differ in sequence by 1.4%. Sequences similar to those involved in priming DNA synthesis in retroviruses occur in the internal region. Near the left LTR is a sequence complementary to 18 residues at the 3' end of methionine initiator tRNA of three plant species, and a run of 12 purines occurs close to the right LTR. One internal reading frame of del 1-46 has relatively few stop codons. The 1462-codon product from this frame has motifs, in N to C terminus order, corresponding to those identified with RNA binding, protease, reverse transcriptase, RNase H, and integrase functions in retroviruses and certain other retrotransposons. Amino acid sequence comparisons of three conserved pol regions show del to be closely related to the Ty3 retrotransposon of yeast (37-40% identity). del is also related to the gypsy group of Drosophila (17.6, 297, gypsy/mdg4, and 412), showing closer identity with their reverse transcriptase (32-38%) and RNase H (36-45%) domains than with their integrase domain (21-26%). It is proposed that a gypsy group ancestor exchanged the integrase region with a more distantly related element since its divergence from a del/Ty3 common ancestor. The occurrence of related retrotransposons in three different kingdoms (plants, animals, and fungi) strongly implies their horizontal transmission in recent evolutionary time.

Identification of genetic variants in erythrocyte lysate by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by silver-staining has been employed to study 27 red cell lysates for genetic variation. Forty-six polypeptides selected without respect to variability were considered suitable for scoring. Only 23 of the total of 1,242 polypeptides could not be scored unambiguously. Of the remaining 1,219 polypeptides, 38 exhibited the combination of a normal and a variant polypeptide. All variants were present in either the father or the mother of the subjects. The observed index of heterozygosity was 3.1% +/- 0.5%.

Patterns of exchange induced by mitomycin C in C-bands of human chromosomes. I. Relationship to C-band size in chromosomes 1, 9, and 16.

Frequencies of exchange were determined in C-bands of chromosomes 1, 9 and 16 in six normal males, and related to relative C-band area. Comparing these different chromosomes, more exchanges occurred on average in 9 than in 1 although their mean C-band sizes were similar. Chromosome 16 exchanges were fewer, both overall and relative to C-band area. Comparing the same chromosome between individuals, there was a positive correlation between relative frequency and band size in both 1-1 and 9-9 exchanges. No clear trend was observed for other exchange events. If homology is required for interchange, it cannot be dependent solely on overall C-band size. Perhaps certain DNA sequences, sensitive to mitomycin C damage, are located in part of each C-band, with less per unit area in chromosome 1 than in 9 and still less in chromosome 16. X- and U-type exchanges between chromosome 9s occurred in near equal frequencies in all individuals. If synapsis of specific, affected sequences is a pre-requisite for interchange, this observation suggests that the affected sequence in chromosome 9 is arranged in both orientations relative to the centromere.

Patterns of exchange induced by mitomycin C in C-bands of human chromosomes. II. High frequency of Y-Y exchange in XYY cells.

In XY cells, exchanges in the Y C-band were rare (less than 0.8%). However, in XYY cells we observed 58 Y chromosomes involved in exchange out of 208 (28%). Most were Y-Y interchanges. Therefore mitomycin C does affect Y C-bands, but subsequent interchange requires the presence of a homologue. This may be the consequence of interphase association of the homologues, or by homologous interaction of an affected DNA sequence in the two Ys. If the latter, the proposed sequence cannot be localized to proximal or distal parts of the Y C-band, as exchange points were observed in both. Also, it may be oriented in one direction in the Y, as the Y-Y exchanges which could be unambiguously classified were X-type events.