Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N Müller.
The fewer the remaining teeth, the more difficult is prosthetic rehabilitation in the old patient. In the case of patients with disordered motoricity or mental disturbances, as well as those who refuse implants, or in whom implants are not possible for health reasons, the stepwise adaption of existing prostheses should be given preference over the provision of completely new dentures.
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Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a neurobehavioral disorder of childhood onset that is characterized by motor and vocal tics and associated behavioral disturbances including obsessive-compulsive symptoms. We performed 30 channel quantitative electroencephalograms (EEGs) on 13 Tourette patients and 26 controls and studied both resting and manumotor/music perception activation conditions. Resting EEGs did not show any differences between patients and controls, as known from the literature. However, during simple and complex hand movements, as well as music perception tasks, there were subtle differences predominantly in alpha frequency. They suggested reduced brain activation during motor tasks in frontal and central regions, and on music perception in temporal and parietal regions, respectively. These findings may add evidence to the functional neuroanatomy of Tourette syndrome, affecting more areas than disturbed motor circuits.
Quantitative analysis of scalp EEGs was performed on 13 patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) and 25 matched controls. The analysis method was adaptive segmentation, which describes the topography and sequence of brain electric fields in continuous EEG. The GTS patients showed an abnormal increase in fields with a right-frontal/left-posterior configuration. The GTS patient's EEGs did not differ from normal controls in the average duration of the brain electric microstates, field stability and EEG carrier frequency. To find out whether the abnormal activity is similar to movement-related activity a simple and a complex motor task were performed. Both tasks led to distinct changes of brain electric activity, but not to an increase in right-frontal-/left-posterior-oriented patterns. Motor-related activity was contrasted with two auditory tasks. We conclude that GTS patient's EEG show abnormal topographic patterns of brain electric activity. Unlike other psychiatric disorders, the temporal descriptors of the EEG aspects are unaffected. The abnormal EEG patterns in GTS patients are not similar to those elicited by simple or complex movements; thus, the presence of abnormally facilitated, near-threshold motor activity in GTS patients seems not a likely explanation.
The present study describes a transmission electron microscopical investigation of trophozoites from Giardia lamblia clone GS/M-83-H7 after exposure to monoclonal antibody (MAb) G10/4. From previous studies it is known that this antibody immunoreacts with the parasite's major surface antigen VSP (variable surface protein) and exhibits a complement-independent cytotoxic effect on trophozoites of clone GS/M-83-H7. Our investigations revealed that cytotoxicity of MAb G10/4 is associated with shedding of VSP-containing membrane vesicles from the parasite surface and a concomitant partial disruption of the cellular membrane. These morphological alterations depend on the cross-linking capacity of the antibody because the immunoreactivity of respective monovalent F(ab)' has no significant influence on the cell-surface structure. These findings indicate that the membrane-disintegrative activity of MAb G10/4 may be responsible for the parasitocidal function of the antibody.
Alterations in protein composition are often present in diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Inflammatory processes causing these alterations have been suggested by many authors to underlie the cerebral disturbance in some cases of schizophrenia. In a previous study, two disease-associated additional polypeptides P1 and P2 could be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 60 out of 123 (49%) schizophrenic patients. These polypeptides were identified as cleavage products of the beta-chain of fibrin(ogen), an acute-phase protein which is increased in inflammatory processes. Because investigations of brain tissue might better reflect the disease process than cerebrospinal fluid, we examined 6 post mortem brains (3 schizophrenics, 3 normal controls) for the presence of fibrin(ogen) and its cleavage products by two dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting. We detected fibrin(ogen) and its degradation products P1 and P2 in all schizophrenic brain tissue samples, but not in that from controls. These results are consistent with previous CSF observations and suggest that a CNS inflammatory process may be occurring in a subgroup of schizophrenic patients.
The variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) of African trypanosomes form a dense surface coat on the bloodstream parasites. VSGs are immunodominant antigens that stimulate a rapid antibody response in trypanosome-infected individuals. In the present study, we examined VSG-specific antibodies present not only in sera from infected individuals but also in sera from individuals that had never been exposed to trypanosomes. Native antibodies against different VSGs were detected in sera from uninfected mice, bovines, and humans; the antibodies were revealed to be exclusively directed against variable determinants of the antigens. Further experimentation demonstrated that such native antibodies immunoreact with cellular components of mice and thus are most likely produced by the self-reactive B-cell compartment of the murine immune system.
Neonatal ZU.ICR mice were infected with trophozoites of Giardia lamblia clone GS/M-83-H7 expressing the variant surface protein (VSP) H7 and were subsequently investigated for their serum antibody response directed against VSPH7. Recombinant polypeptides, representing overlapping segments of VSPH7, and native Giardia proteins were used as antigenic reagents to examine the antigenic substructure of VSPH7 and the extent of antigenic variation in vivo. VSPH7 proved to be the predominant antigen of the parasite with respect to serum antibody reactivity. The data indicated that VSPH7 basically consists of two antigenically distinct parts: (i) a unique, variant-specific 314-amino-acid N-terminal region which elicits a low antibody response preferentially detectable during the early phase of the infection and (ii) a 171-amino-acid C-terminal region which elicits a high antibody response during the later phase or after resolution of the infection. The epitopes of the C-terminal region appear to be shared by other, as yet uncharacterized, variant antigens. The highly conserved 34-amino-acid stretch at the extreme C terminus of VSPH7 exhibited no immunoreactivity to any of the sera tested. Further investigations indicated that antigenic variation of the intestinal parasite population was associated with a diversification into at least six to nine new antigen types. These variant antigens were extremely heterogeneous in size ranging from approximately 50 to 115 kDa. None of these proteins shared antigenic epitopes with the 314-amino-acid N-terminal portion, but several of them cross-reacted with antibodies specific to the 171-amino-acid C-terminal portion of the VSP from the original inoculum.
A recently described PCR test for the identification of Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii has been further developed and optimized in view of its practicability for routine diagnostic application. The N. caninum-specific PCR was adapted to the diagnostic operating standard of the T. gondii-specific PCR in that the uracil DNA glycosidase system was introduced, which eliminates potential carry-over contaminations of amplified target DNA from previous reactions. Furthermore, both PCR tests were optimized by including a DNA hybridization immunoassay based on the use of the commercially available Gen-eti-k DEIA kit. This assay allowed highly sensitive and specific detection of respective DNA amplification products and thus substantially facilitated the reading and interpretation of the test results.
We report an atypical case of Ganser's syndrome in a 54-year-old male patient. The following symptoms which include approximate answers perceptual disturbances and dissociative mechanisms were observed over 7 years, improved during hospitalization, but reappeared just before the patient's discharge. The extremely long presence and bizarre manifestation of symptoms, the course of the disorder and the patient's premorbid high intelligence level point to an unusual presentation of this case. Following the concept of hysteria and dissociation, we discuss its diagnosis within the scope of the DSM-III-R, DSM-IV and ICD-10 classification of Dissociative Disorders. Problems in the differential diagnosis which result from an increasing awareness of Dissociative Disorders are outlined.
Exaggerated airway narrowing in response to bronchoconstricting stimuli is a characteristic feature of asthmatic subjects. It is unknown whether the site of airway narrowing differs in asthmatic subjects from that observed in normal subjects. Increased airway wall thickness has been suggested as a contributing cause for airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma, based on histologic measurements. We measured airway wall thickness and the site and magnitude of airway narrowing in response to inhaled methacholine in normal subjects and in patients with mild to moderate asthma using high resolution computed tomography (HRCT). After a comparable decrease in FEV1, there were no differences in the site or magnitude of airway narrowing for any category of airway size in asthmatic subjects and normals. However, the results show that the smaller airways of the asthmatic subjects are significantly thickened and that the airway wall area does not change after bronchoconstriction whereas it decreases in normal subjects. We conclude that airway wall thickening and the lack of a change in airway wall dimensions following bronchoconstricting stimuli could contribute to exaggerated airway narrowing in asthma.
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The PCR is now widely introduced as a diagnostic and epidemiological tool in veterinary and human parasitology. Certain parasitic infections are detected using PCR with much higher sensitivity compared to conventional methods, and novel molecular approaches are considered for the analysis of infectiological questions. A broad spectrum of parasites relevant for veterinary and human parasitology already can be diagnosed by PCR. In the present review article, PCR-based methods developped or applied at the Institute of Parasitology in Berne for the detection of protozoan infections (Tritrichomonosis, Neosporosis, Toxoplasmosis) and helminthic infections (Echinococcosis, Taeniosis) are summarized.
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SAG-M RCCs were prepared in triple conventional or quadruple top/bottom bag systems and filtered at +4 degrees C using the in-line filter system Leucoflex LCR 4 Macopharma after 16-24-30 h of storage. Postfiltration WBC content was determined by Nageotte hemocytometer counting. The mean WBC content of the units prepared in conventional bag systems and filtered was higher than that of the units prepared in T/B bag systems. The best results could be obtained in T/B RCCs stored for 24 h; potassium and hemolysis levels were also improved. The Leucoflex LCR 4 in-line filter T/B system can be recommended for application in the clinical routine by virtue of the effective leukocyte elimination.
Bumetanide is a weak organic acid which is transported into hepatocytes by a transport system that is related neither to the cloned sodium-dependent taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide Ntcp nor to the cloned organic anion transporting polypeptide oatp. Bumetanide is known to be transported in the kidney by a multispecific organic anion transporter which is the pAH-transporter from the proximal tubule cell. In the liver, bumetanide uptake competes with bile acid uptake, indicating a functionally related multispecific transporter for bile acids and drugs in hepatocytes. This multispecific bile acid transporter MBAT has not been cloned yet. When basolateral membranes were photoaffinity labeled with [3H]bumetanide, several bumetanide binding proteins were separated and identified after protein sequencing from two-dimensional electrophoresis gels.