Tissue eosinophilia in chronic sinusitis: quantification techniques.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the reliability of a proposed method for quantifying tissue eosinophilia in sinus mucosa. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. INTERVENTIONS AND OUTCOME MEASURES: Pathology slides from patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis were independently assessed by 2 reviewers. Using a proposed systematic counting method, the degree of tissue eosinophilia was quantified. Disease severity was assessed by computed tomographic (CT) staging. Intrarater, interrater, and intrapatient reliability was determined using correlational reliability analysis. The degree of correlation between tissue eosinophilia and CT stage was determined. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-two slides from 65 patients were reviewed. The mean (SD) eosinophil density was 23.4 (37.2) eosinophils per high-power field. Only 12 patients (18%) had no eosinophils on histopathologic analysis. Strong intrarater (r> or =0.91 for each rater, P<.001) and interrater reliability (r> or =0.82 between raters, P<.001) was noted for the quantification method. A moderate degree of correlation was found between CT scan stage and degree of tissue eosinophilia (Spearman rho = 0.62, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method for quantifying tissue eosinophilia in sinus mucosa is reliable and valid. A relatively strong correlation exists between CT scan stage and tissue eosinophilia in chronic rhinosinusitis.

THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF PARTHENOGENETIC CNEMIDOPHORUS LEMNISCATUS (SAURIA: TEIIDAE). II. MATERNAL ORIGIN AND AGE INFERRED FROM MITOCHONDRIAL DNA ANALYSES.

Restriction endonuclease analyses were performed on mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) representing unisexual parthenogenetic (cytotypes A, B, and C) and bisexual (cytotypes D and E) populations of Amazonian lizards presently regarded as Cnemidophorus lemniscatus. The results of mtDNA cleavage map comparisons among these C. lemniscatus indicated that (1) there was no cleavage site variation among the unisexuals, (2) mtDNAs from the bisexual cytotypes D and E differed in sequence from one another by about 13%, and (3) mtDNAs from cytotypes A-C differed from those of cytotype D by about 5% and from those of cytotype E by about 13%. Higher resolution restriction fragment size comparisons confirmed the high degree of similarity among the unisexual mtDNAs, but identified 12 cleavage site variants among the 13 cytotype D mtDNAs examined. Both cladistic and phenetic (UPGMA) analyses of the data indicate that the unisexual and cytotype D mtDNAs form a single clade, suggesting that a female of cytotype D was the maternal progenitor of the unisexuals. The similarity among the unisexual mtDNAs and the variability among those of cytotype D suggest that the three unisexual cytotypes arose recently from a common maternal lineage. The mtDNA variability observed among cytotype D individuals has a strong geographic component, suggesting that the unisexuals arose from one or a few geographically proximal populations. The mtDNA comparisons also support the conclusion, based on allozyme comparisons (Sites et al., 1990, this issue), that cytotypes D and E, although presently allocated to C. lemniscatus, are separate species.

Seasonal study of the adrenal gland of some Indian avian species.

Adrenal glands of eight Indian species of birds, namely Columba livia, Passer domesticus, Corvus splendens, Acridotheres tristis, Acridotheres ginginianus, Milvus migrans, Francolinus pondicerianus and Bubulcus ibis were examined during the sexually active and inactive phases of their annual reproductive cycles. Excepting A ginginianus and M. migrans, among members of either sex of the remaining six species the weight of the adrenal gland increases during the period of sexual activity. Histologically, the interrenal tissue of these birds could be divided into a peripheral subcapsular zone and a central zone. The cytochemical content of these two zones varies between sexual activity and inactivity. In sexually active birds of both sexes, interrenal cells of the central zone exhibit an increased concentration of alkaline phosphatase, glycogen, acid mucopolysaccharides and gross lipids, while in the subcapsular interrenal cells there is a prominent increase of ascorbic acid content. Cytochemical contents of chromaffin cells remain unchanged except acid phosphatase, which increases during the sexually active phase.