When strips of human skeletal muscle from biopsies of normal children and donors with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are explanted in organotypic coculture with fetal mouse spinal cord, many regenerating muscle fibers develop, become innervated, and maintain a remarkable degree of mature structure and function for more than 3-6 months in vitro. Sequential light microscopy in correlation with electron-microscopic and electrophysiologic analyses showed that despite cross-species innervation, these human muscle fibers develop stable cross-striations, peripherally positioned myonuclei, and mature, functional motor endplates. Of special interest is the onset of significant progressive abnormalities, e.g., unusual focal myofibrillar lesions, in substantial numbers of innervated mature DMD muscle fibers after 2-4 months in culture. The focal myofibrillar lesions were not detected in normal muscle fibers maintained as long as 6 months in coculture, nor are they comparable to the generalized loss of cross-striations observed in muscle atrophy following in vitro denervation of mature DMD fibers.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Chemical neurotoxicity: detection and analysis in organotypic cultures of sensory and motor systems.

Screening of chemical substances for human neurotoxic (and therapeutic) properties may be carried out with the aid of organotypic tissue cultures composed of foetal explants of mouse sensory and neuromuscular tissues that develop in vitro their characteristic cytoarchitectural and functional organization. Supporting this statement is a wealth of studies describing a range of specific, chemically-induced responses in organotypic neural cultures that parallel changes induced in the nervous system of humans and animals.

Culture Techniques↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in a splenectomized patient with Hodgkin's disease.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), is a disease or syndrome of unknown etiology and a high mortality rate. Treatment of TTP has been largely unsuccessful despite the trial of many therapeutic modalities. The antiplatelet drugs, aspirin and dipyridamole, have been recently recommended in the treatment of TTP. We report the successful treatment of a TTP syndrome that complicated the course of a splenectomized patient with stage IVB Hodgkin's disease and skin metastases. This is the third reported case in which TTP developed in a previously metastases. This is the third reported case in which TTP developed in a previously splenectomized patient. The role of splenectomy in the treatment of TTP is also discussed.

Aspirin↗