Rolando's Fracture: Treatment by Closed Reduction and External Fixation.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Sanchez.
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Gene amplification is clearly an important aspect of tumour growth and development and has prognostic significance in certain tumours. The identification and genetic characterisation of new areas of amplification in human malignancy remains an important goal in understanding the underlying genetic lesions within these tissues. In the present work, arbitrarily primed-PCR (AP-PCR) has been applied to detect and characterise amplified DNA fragments in human non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our results show that gains of genomic sequences occur at high frequency (64% of all genomic changes analysed). Moreover, we succeeded in detecting a genomic sequence that is highly amplified in one of the tumours analysed. The amplification intensity of this DNA fragment was also increased in 29 (45%) of the 65 NSCLC patients from our study. The amplified DNA fragment was isolated and identified as a 600 bp sequence mapped to chromosome 6p12. This sequence did not show significant homology with known human DNA sequences. Interestingly, a gene related to cancer processes, the pim-1 oncogene, is placed neighbouring to this region on chromosome 6. Survival studies revealed that disease-free interval of NSCLC patients was shorter in patients bearing the amplified sequence (p = 0.05 by the Breslow test). Our findings suggest that the amplified sequence located on chromosome 6 might be relevant in the pathogenesis of human NSCLC. Int. J. Cancer (Pred. Oncol.), 84:344-349, 1999.
In this work we report the existence of several evaginations extending out of the third ventricle within the mediobasal hypothalamus of the rat. In coronal sections, these evaginations appear as very narrow canaliculi integrating a canalicular system, which increases the contact surface between the ventricular lining and the nervous tissue. Consequently these evaginations enlarge the ventricular route for the transport of active principles present in the cerebrospinal fluid, such as (neuro)hormones and neurotransmitters. The mediobasal hypothalamus includes the arcuate nucleus and the median eminence (both involved in neuroendocrine mechanisms and in the regulation of pituitary function). A possible implication of our finding is that the neuroactive substance-containing ventricular cerebrospinal fluid may reach the intercellular spaces of the surrounding neuropil of the arcuate nucleus. According to literature these substances cross the ependyma of the lateral wall of the infundibular recess of the third ventricle. We suggest that such substances might also pass through the ependymal lining of the canalicular system, which displays the same ultrastructural characteristics as the rest of the ependyma of the lateral wall of the third ventricle. Therefore, the arcuate neurons may be influenced not only by synaptic inputs (afferent fibers) but also by non-synaptic diffusion neurotransmission (by means of neuroactive substances present in the cerebrospinal fluid).
We studied the evolution of susceptibility of Streptococcus pyogenes isolated in our hospital from 1987 to 1996. Susceptibility to penicillin, ampicillin, cefotaxime, cefuroxime, imipenem, erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, vancomycin, ciprofloxacin, rifampin, and chloramphenicol was determined by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards broth microdilution method. Differentiation of phenotypes of erythromycin-resistant strains was performed using the double-disc method. All isolates remained very susceptible in vitro to penicillin and all of the other beta-lactam agents tested. Between 1987 and 1995 the incidence of erythromycin resistant strains remained below 5%; the difference in the resistance rate between 1995 (2.6%) and 1996 (17.1%) was statistically significant. The macrolide resistance M phenotype was the most frequent. The isolation rates of tetracycline-resistant strains increased from 2.2% in 1987 to 11.2% in 1988. The marked increase in the incidence of erythromycin resistance observed in our area warrants periodic surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility of S. pyogenes isolates and emphasizes the need to control outpatient antibiotics. The preponderance of the M phenotype may have implications in the choice of antibiotic.
Human Fab (IgG1kappa) phage display libraries were constructed from bone marrow RNA from 2 donors who recovered from infection with Ebola (EBO) virus during the 1995 outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The libraries were initially panned against a radiation-inactivated EBO virus-infected Vero cell lysate, but only weak binders were identified. In contrast, panning against secreted EBO glycoprotein (SGP) resulted in Fabs showing very strong reactivity with SGP in ELISA. These Fabs also reacted with a virion membrane preparation. The Fabs were strongly positive in IFAs with cells infected with EBO (subtype Zaire) virus but negative with uninfected cells, with a characteristic punctate staining pattern in the cytoplasm. The Fabs showed weak or no reactivity with the virus cell lysate although donor serum did react. The Fabs are now being characterized in structural and functional terms. Major interest will focus on the ability of antibodies to neutralize EBO virus and, later, to protect animals against infection.
Ebola (EBO) viruses were detected in specimens obtained during the hemorrhagic fever outbreak among humans in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1995 (subtype Zaire) and during an outbreak of disease in cynomolgus macaques in Alice, Texas, and the Philippines in 1996 (subtype Reston). Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assays were developed and proven effective for detecting viral RNA in body fluids and tissues of infected individuals. Little change was seen in the nucleotide or deduced amino acid sequences of the glycoprotein (GP) of these EBO virus subtypes compared with those of their original representatives (i.e., the 1976 Yambuku, DRC, EBO isolate [subtype Zaire] and the 1989 Philippines and Reston, Virginia, isolates [subtype Reston]). The nonstructural secreted GP (SGP), the primary product of the GP gene, was more highly conserved than the structural GP, indicating different functional roles or evolutionary constraints for these proteins. Significant amounts of SGP were detected in acutely infected humans.
Ebola virus persistence was examined in body fluids from 12 convalescent patients by virus isolation and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) during the 1995 Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Virus RNA could be detected for up to 33 days in vaginal, rectal, and conjunctival swabs of 1 patient and up to 101 days in the seminal fluid of 4 patients. Infectious virus was detected in 1 seminal fluid sample obtained 82 days after disease onset. Sequence analysis of an RT-PCR fragment of the most variable region of the glycoprotein gene amplified from 9 patients revealed no nucleotide changes. The patient samples were selected so that they would include some from a suspected line of transmission with at least three human-to-human passages, some from 5 survivors and 4 deceased patients, and 2 from patients who provided multiple samples through convalescence. There was no evidence of different virus variants cocirculating during the outbreak or of genetic variation accumulating during human-to-human passage or during prolonged persistence in individual patients.
In April 1996, laboratory testing of imported nonhuman primates (as mandated by quarantine regulations) identified 2 cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) infected with Ebola (subtype Reston) virus in a US-registered quarantine facility. The animals were part of a shipment of 100 nonhuman primates recently imported from the Philippines. Two additional infected animals, who were thought to be in the incubation phase, were identified among the remaining 48 animals in the affected quarantine room. The other 50 macaques, who had been held in a separate isolation room, remained asymptomatic, and none of these animals seroconverted during an extended quarantine period. Due to the rigorous routine safety precautions, the facility personnel had no unprotected exposures and remained asymptomatic, and no one seroconverted. The mandatory quarantine and laboratory testing requirements, put in place after the original Reston outbreak in 1989-1990, were effective for detecting and containing Ebola virus infection in newly imported nonhuman primates and minimizing potential human transmission.
In May 1995, an international team characterized and contained an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Active surveillance was instituted using several methods, including house-to-house search, review of hospital and dispensary logs, interview of health care personnel, retrospective contact tracing, and direct follow-up of suspect cases. In the field, a clinical case was defined as fever and hemorrhagic signs, fever plus contact with a case-patient, or fever plus at least 3 of 10 symptoms. A total of 315 cases of EHF, with an 81% case fatality, were identified, excluding 10 clinical cases with negative laboratory results. The earliest documented case-patient had onset on 6 January, and the last case-patient died on 16 July. Eighty cases (25%) occurred among health care workers. Two individuals may have been the source of infection for >50 cases. The outbreak was terminated by the initiation of barrier-nursing techniques, health education efforts, and rapid identification of cases.
Ebola (subtype Reston [EBO-R]) virus infection was detected in macaques imported into the United States from the Philippines in March 1996. Studies were initiated in the Philippines to identify the source of the virus among monkey-breeding and export facilities, to establish surveillance and testing, and to assess the risk and significance of EBO-R infections in humans who work in these facilities. Over a 5-month period, acutely infected animals were found at only one facility, as determined using Ebola antigen detection. Three of 1732 monkeys and 1 of 246 animal handlers tested had detectable antibodies; all were from the same facility, which was the source of infected monkeys imported to the United States. Virus transmission, which was facilitated by poor infection-control practices, continued for several months in one facility and was stopped only when the facility was depopulated. None of the 246 employees of the facilities or 4 contacts of previously antibody-positive individuals reported an Ebola-like illness. This investigation suggests that human EBO-R infection is rare.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) patients treated at Kikwit General Hospital during the 1995 outbreak were tested for viral antigen, IgG and IgM antibody, and infectious virus. Viral antigen could be detected in virtually all patients during the acute phase of illness, while antibody was not always detectable before death. Virus was also isolated from patients during the course of their febrile illness, but attempts to quantify virus in Vero E6 cells by standard plaque assay were often unsuccessful. IgG and IgM antibody appeared at approximately the same time after disease onset (8-10 days), but IgM persisted for a much shorter period among the surviving convalescent patients. IgG antibody was detectable in surviving patients through about 2 years after onset, the latest time that samples were obtained. Detection of Ebola virus antigens or virus isolation appears to be the most reliable means of diagnosis for patients with suspected acute EHF, since patients with this often-fatal disease (80% mortality) may not develop detectable antibodies before death.
Ebola viruses contain a single glycoprotein (GP) spike, which functions as a receptor binding and membrane fusion protein. It contains a highly conserved hydrophobic region (amino acids 524 to 539) located 24 amino acids downstream of the N terminus of the Ebola virus GP2 subunit. Comparison of this region with the structural features of the transmembrane subunit of avian retroviral GPs suggests that the conserved Ebola virus hydrophobic region may, in fact, serve as the fusion peptide. To test this hypothesis directly, we introduced conservative (alanine) and nonconservative (arginine) amino acid substitutions at eight positions in this region of the GP2 molecule. The effects of these mutations were deduced from the ability of the Ebola virus GP to complement the infectivity of a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) lacking the receptor-binding G protein. Some mutations, such as Ile-to-Arg substitutions at positions 532 (I532R), F535R, G536A, and P537R, almost completely abolished the ability of the GP to support VSV infectivity without affecting the transport of GP to the cell surface and its incorporation into virions or the production of virus particles. Other mutations, such as G528R, L529A, L529R, I532A, and F535A, reduced the infectivity of the VSV-Ebola virus pseudotypes by at least one-half. These findings, together with previous reports of liposome association with a peptide corresponding to positions 524 to 539 in the GP molecule, offer compelling support for a fusion peptide role for the conserved hydrophobic region in the Ebola virus GP.
Ebola virus infection is highly lethal and leads to severe immunosuppression. In this study, we demonstrate that infection of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with Ebola virus Zaire (EZ) suppressed basal expression of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) family of proteins and inhibited the induction of multiple genes by alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) and IFN-gamma, including those coding for MHC I proteins, 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase [2'-5'(A)N], and IFN regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1). Induction of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ICAM-1 by IL-1beta was not suppressed by infection with EZ, suggesting that the inhibition of IFN signaling is specific. Gel shift analysis demonstrated that infection with EZ blocked the induction by IFNs of nuclear proteins that bind to IFN-stimulated response elements, gamma activation sequences, and IFN regulatory factor binding site (IRF-E). In contrast, infection with EZ did not block activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB by IL-1beta. The events that lead to the blockage of IFN signaling may be critical for Ebola virus-induced immunosuppression and would play a role in the pathogenesis of Ebola virus infection.
The activity of antibodies against filoviruses is poorly understood but has important consequences for vaccine design and passive prophylaxis. To investigate this activity, a panel of recombinant human monoclonal antibodies to Ebola virus antigens was isolated from phage display libraries constructed from RNA from donors who recovered from infection in the 1995 Ebola virus outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo. Antibodies reactive with nucleoprotein (NP), envelope glycoprotein (GP), and secreted envelope glycoprotein (sGP) were characterized by immunofluorescence and radioimmunoprecipitation assays. Four antibodies reacting strongly with sGP and weakly with GP and two antibodies reacting with NP were not neutralizing. An antibody specific for GP neutralized Ebola virus to 50% at 0.4 microgram/ml as the recombinant Fab fragment and to 50% at 0.3 microgram/ml (90% at 2.6 microgram/ml) as the corresponding whole immunoglobulin G1 molecule. The studies indicate that neutralizing antibodies are produced in infection by Ebola virus although probably at a relatively low frequency. The neutralizing antibody may be useful in vaccine design and as a prophylactic agent against Ebola virus infection.
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Fatal cases of filoviral infection are accompanied by a marked immunosuppression. Endothelial cells play a vital role in the host immune response through the expression of several immunomodulatory genes in addition to the expression of the antiviral genes, 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase [2'-5'(A)N], and the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase (PKR). dsRNA, an intermediate generated during viral replication and gene transcription of many viruses, leads to the induction of immunomodulatory genes in endothelial cells. In this report, we show that induction of the major histocompatibility complex class I family of genes, 2'-5'(A)N, interleukin-6 (IL-6), PKR, interferon (IFN)-regulatory factor-1, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) by dsRNA in human umbilical vein endothelial cells is suppressed by infection with the filovirus Ebola-Zaire (EZ). In contrast, induction of IL-6 and ICAM-1 by IL-1 is intact in EZ-infected cells. Gel shift analysis demonstrates that dsRNA-induced protein binding to IFN-responsive elements is strongly suppressed by EZ-IFN, whereas NF-kappa B activation by dsRNA remains intact. We previously reported that IFN signaling is suppressed by EZ infection, and these data strongly suggest that elements shared between IFN and dsRNA signaling are being inhibited by EZ. Inhibition of IFN and dsRNA responsiveness could play a role in the immunosuppression seen in EZ infections and would play a role in the pathogenesis of disease caused by EZ.
OBJECTIVES: To know the clinical characteristics in the presentation of Buerger's disease in San Juan de Dios Hospital, Bogota, Colombia, between 1986 and 1996, and compare them with a previous series from the same Hospital and another reported in international literature; To determine the changes in the form of appearance of the disease. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical information of 22 patients with diagnosis of Buerger's disease, observed between 1986 and 1993, and we added the information of the clinical histories of eight other patients with equal diagnosis, observed between 1994 and 1996 in our Unit. RESULTS: We observed 30 patients: 28 men (93%) and two women (7%), with a ratio M:F of 14:1, with an average age of 39+10 years (range from 18 to 52 years). Sixty percent were younger than 40 years and only the 10% were older than 50 years. The most frequent reasons for consultation were: pain in rest in the affected extremity, gangrene and ulceration in more than 50%. Raynaud's phenomenon in 30%, and the related surgical history in 40%. The pedal pulse was the most compromised followed by popliteal, poster or tibial and femoral. We did not observe the presence of thrombophlebitis. Eighty percent showed compromise of more than one extremity. All of them were active smokers. Three patients showed IgG anticardiolipine antibodies at high level. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical characteristics are similar to those reported, we find also a reduction of the disease diagnosis. It calls to our attention that no thrombophlebitis was found in the present series and the less compromise of the upper extremities with a frequent femoral compromise. All this points toward a change in the natural history of the disease.
The mechanisms by which Ebola virus evades detection and infects cells to cause hemorrhagic fever have not been defined, though its glycoprotein, synthesized in either a secreted or transmembrane form, is likely involved. Here the secreted glycoprotein was found to interact with neutrophils through CD16b, the neutrophil-specific form of the Fc gamma receptor III, whereas the transmembrane glycoprotein was found to interact with endothelial cells but not neutrophils. A murine retroviral vector pseudotyped with the transmembrane glycoprotein preferentially infected endothelial cells. Thus, the secreted glycoprotein inhibits early neutrophil activation, which likely affects the host response to infection, whereas binding of the transmembrane glycoprotein to endothelial cells may contribute to the hemorrhagic symptoms of this disease.