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Biomedical subjects

H Steinberg

Publications and source records attributed to H Steinberg.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Immunopathology of glomerulonephritis associated with chronic woodchuck hepatitis virus infection in woodchucks (Marmota monax).

Retrospective analysis of necropsy findings of 705 woodchucks was performed to determine the prevalence and morphology of immune-mediated glomerulonephritis, its relationship to woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) infection, and the presence of major WHV antigens. Twenty-six woodchucks had glomerular lesions. Renal tissue of the 26 animals was evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically for immune-mediated glomerulonephritis. Of these 26 animals, immune-mediated glomerulonephritis was diagnosed in six, all of which were chronic WHV carriers. Membranous glomerulonephritis was identified in three animals, two of which also had mesangial proliferation. Host immunoglobulin was present within the mesangium and along capillary loops in all three. Woodchuck hepatitis virus core antigen (WHcAg) was present along capillary loops of two of these animals, one membranous and one mixed, and in the mesangium of all three. Woodchuck hepatitis virus surface antigen (WHsAg) deposition was similar to WHcAg deposition but was only present along capillaries in those animals with mixed nephritis. The remaining three animals had mesangial proliferation. WHsAg and host immunoglobulin deposition were predominately mesangial; WHcAg was not detected. Transmission electron microscopy showed thickening of the capillary loop basement membranes and subepithelial electron-dense deposits in animal one, and deposits in the mesangium in animal six.

Animals↗

Cyclosporin A modulates the course of woodchuck hepatitis virus infection and induces chronicity.

Immunosuppression is known to influence the state of chronic hepatitis B virus infection, and is thought to increase the risk of developing chronic infection in newly exposed individuals. Cyclosporin A (CsA), an immunosuppressive agent that inhibits Th cell function, was administered to woodchucks chronically infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV), and resulted in a decreased severity of chronic hepatitis and an increased viremia during the treatment. Adult woodchucks inoculated with WHV and given CsA for 14 wk had increased viremias, decreased acute phase liver injury, and developed chronic infections at a higher rate compared with immunocompetent woodchucks given virus alone (chronicity in seven of seven WHV + CsA + vs zero of nine WHV + CsA-; p less than 0.001). These results in a relevant animal model of hepatitis B virus infection indicate: 1) that liver injury in acute hepadnavirus infections is immune-mediated and not a direct cytopathic effect of virus replication; 2) that Th cells function in the inflammatory response and in the immunologic control of hepadnavirus infection; and 3) that suppression of Th cell function in acute hepadnavirus infection decreases liver injury but alters the outcome of infection in favor of chronicity. These results also suggest continued challenges in the application of CsA in liver transplantation for hepatitis B virus-induced diseases.

Acute Disease↗

Effects of temporary withdrawal from regular running.

Forty regular male runners were divided into two similar groups and studied for six weeks. One group continued normal running, but the other stopped running for the middle two weeks of the study. Questionnaires were completed at the end of each week. Symptoms of depression were greater in the withdrawn than in the control group at the end of the second week of withdrawal. Somatic symptoms, anxiety, insomnia and feelings of being under strain were greater in the withdrawn group after both the first and second weeks of withdrawal. The groups did not differ in the final two weeks, when running had been resumed. These effects strengthen the view that stopping regular physical exercise produces a 'withdrawal syndrome', and that exercise might therefore be regarded as addictive. The increase in depression may reflect a more gradual loss of the antidepressive effect of exercise training.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Besnoitiosis of the reproductive tract of a Blue Duiker (Cephalophus monticola).

A mature male Blue Duiker that had been born in the United States was submitted for necropsy examination following a brief illness. On histologic examination of the reproductive tract several Besnoitia cysts were found in the epididymis, prostate and bulbourethral gland. The lack of an inflammatory response or any negative effect on fertility, based on histologic evaluation and breeding history, is in contrast with the severe orchitis, epididymitis and infertility of besnoitiosis in cattle. This is the first report of an autochthonous infection of Besnoitia in the United States as well as the first report of besnoitiosis in a Blue Duiker.

Animals↗

Endogenous opioids modulate the cardiovascular response to mental stress.

The role of endogenous opioids in the cardiovascular response to mental stress was investigated in two controlled studies. In the first, cardiovascular, hormonal and psychological measures were made in a group of subjects before, during and after presentation of either a mental stress task or a non-stressful control task in the presence of naloxone (8 mg), an opiate antagonist, or an equal volume of saline. The study was carried out in random order and single(subject)-blind. Naloxone specifically enhanced the heart rate response to the stressful task but had no effect on blood pressure, plasma epinephrine or norepinephrine, or feelings of anxiety. Naloxone increased plasma cortisol and ACTH in both stressful and control tasks. A second, double-blind, study replicated the effect on heart rate. An endogenous opioid mechanism thus appears to inhibit the cardiovascular response to stress.

Adolescent↗

Mapping and interpreting complex interactions between psychoactive drugs by simple computer-generated models.

Drug combinations often yield results not readily predictable from those of their separate constituents. Computer programs have been developed to generate models of dual drug effects to analyse the results of experiments involving drug combinations. Single and combined dose-response results of rat locomotor activity are expressed as three-dimensional models. A manually plotted isobol diagram, showing eqi-active dose combinations of amylobarbitone and dexamphetamine, is compared with isobols constructed by the computer. A simple dose model theory is proposed which assumes that the two drugs have merely additive effects; differences between expectations from this theoretical model and the experimental results actually obtained were found by the computer. This computer approach allows detailed analysis of results. Three-dimensional dose response surfaces can provide a simple visual guide to dose combinations whose effects deviate significantly from those expected if the constituents were simply additive. Areas of special interest can thus be highlighted.

Animals↗

Natural history of experimental woodchuck hepatitis virus infection: molecular virologic features of the pancreas, kidney, ovary, and testis.

The kinetic patterns of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) infection were monitored in the pancreas, kidneys, ovaries, and testes. Groups of woodchucks experimentally infected with a standardized inoculum of WHV were sacrificed at different times over a 65-week period beginning in the preacute phase of viral infection and continuing to the period of serologic recovery or the establishment of chronic infections and subsequent hepatocellular carcinoma (B. E. Korba, P. J. Cote, F. V. Wells, B. Baldwin, H. Popper, R. H. Purcell, B. C. Tennant, and J. L. Gerin, J. Virol. 63:1360-1370, 1989). Tissues from an additional group of long-term (2 to 3 years) chronic WHV carriers which had been infected with the same WHV inocula were also examined. Viral DNA replication intermediates were found in all four tissues during the acute phase of WHV infection. However, WHV DNA replication intermediates were observed only in the kidneys of a small proportion of the chronically infected animals. Following the acute phase of infection, WHV DNA was present only in the pancreas, kidneys, and ovaries of the chronically infected woodchucks. A progressive evolution of different WHV genomic forms related to the replicative state of WHV was observed in these tissues. Histologic evaluation of these four tissues revealed only minimal, localized lesions which were not correlated with the state of WHV activity. The observations compiled in this study further extend the tissue tropism of WHV.

Animals↗

Bronchioalveolar carcinoma with renal and hepatic metastases in a degu (Octodon degus).

A primary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma with renal and hepatic metastases was diagnosed in a mature male degu (Octodon degus) that was found dead in a zoological exhibit (Buffalo Zoological Gardens, Buffalo, New York, USA). Grossly, a discrete 0.5 cm diameter nodule was seen in the lung. Smaller, but similar nodules were present scattered in the liver and kidneys. Histologically, nests and sheets of an infiltrating population of cuboidal to low columnar neoplastic epithelial cells partially effaced pulmonary architecture. Vascular invasion was evident. Similar nests and sheets of neoplastic cells were present within the renal cortex and medulla, and a small nest was present within the hepatic parenchyma. This is the first record of this neoplasm in a degu.

Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar↗

Inhibition of human hemopoiesis by non-A, non-B hepatitis virus.

All etiologies of acute viral hepatitis are associated with a transient suppression of hemopoiesis and, rarely, with the development of aplastic anemia. Both hepatitis A and hepatitis B viruses directly inhibit the growth and differentiation of human bone marrow progenitor cells in vitro. We now report a similar effect of a non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis agent on human bone marrow progenitor cells. Three chimpanzees were inoculated with a putative NANB agent. Coded sera were blindly evaluated for their ability to affect human bone marrow colony formation in vitro. Sera obtained during the acute phase of NANB hepatitis inhibited the in vitro growth of human erythroid (CFU-E, BFU-E) and granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) progenitor cells, compared with sera obtained before inoculation. Sera obtained after remission of both the biochemical and histological hepatitis and sera obtained from a chimpanzee who underwent biochemical but not histological remission did not inhibit the stem cell assays as much as the acute phase sera. These results suggest an approach to identifying the viremic phase of NANB hepatitis. Inhibition of human bone marrow proliferation appears to be a common property of all known hepatitis viruses.

Animals↗

Fracture-associated osteogenic sarcoma and a mandibular osteoma in two goats.

An osteogenic sarcoma in association with a previously repaired fracture site and an osteoma were recorded in two aged Toggenburg and Toggenburg-cross goats. In one animal, five years after the surgical repair of a comminuted mid-shaft humeral fracture with an intramedullary pin, a sarcoma with osteoid production developed at the fracture site. A review of records revealed the previous occurrence of a mandibular osteoma inducing both subluxation of the temporal mandibular joint and contralateral mandibular deviation in a second animal. Such lesions are rarely documented in goats.

Animals↗

Leiomyoma of the tunica albuginea in a horse.

A leiomyoma of the left testicle was found in a 7-year-old Arabian stallion at routine castration. The neoplasm consisted of interlacing bundles of well-differentiated, haphazardly arranged, smooth muscle cells attached superficially to the tunica albuginea.

Animals↗

An aortic body carcinoma with multifocal thoracic metastases in a cat.

A necropsy performed on an aged cat with respiratory signs revealed a large white firm mass cranioventrally to the heart, and multiple similar masses scattered throughout the lungs, diaphragm, pericardial sac and intercostal muscles. The histological examination of the primary site and the metastases are consistent with a well-differentiated aortic body carcinoma.

Animals↗