M R Kidd — Page 2 | Search PubMed

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The children of Chernobyl.

During the past twelve months much media attention has been focused on the plight of the children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union. The visit to Australia by several groups of these children during 1991 has heightened community interest in the innocent victims of the world's worst nuclear accident. As medical adviser for one of these visits, I saw how some of the children of Chernobyl benefited from their holiday away from radioactivity.

Accidents↗

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CLINICam.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Family Practice↗

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Induction of pulmonary granulomas, macrophage procoagulant activity, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha by trehalose glycolipids.

Trehalose 6,6' dimycolate (TDM), a mycobacterial glycolipid, induces granulomas and hemorrhagic toxic reactions when administered in oil but not as a suspension in saline. It was previously demonstrated by us that TDM forms highly structured layers at oil-water interfaces and then postulated that its toxicity derives from the adhesive properties of these layers. To test this hypothesis, an evaluation was made of the ability of TDM and two analogs, trehalose 6-monomycolate (TMM) and galactose-galactose 6, 6' dimycolate (GDM), to induce pulmonary granulomas and stimulate expression of procoagulant activity (PCA) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Intravenous injection in mice of oil-in-water emulsions of TDM produced more and larger pulmonary granulomas than injection of TMM or GDM. Similarly, TDM on the surface of beads induced higher levels of PCA and TNF-alpha in human mononuclear cells than the analogs. The correlation of these results with the structure of surface layers of the glycolipids strengthens the hypothesis that the particular surface structure formed by TDM is necessary for its biologic activity.

Animals↗