Serum specimens for reovirus antibody survey were collected from 60 pigs, 50 buffalos, 30 rabbits, 30 guinea pigs, 20 albino rats, 60 Swiss mice, 15 Taiwan monkeys, 14 goats and 12 dogs. Serum antibodies were measured by the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. HI antibodies to reovirus were found in a high percentage of pigs, albino rats, Swiss mice, dogs and goats, and less frequently in rabbits, guinea pigs, Taiwan monkeys and buffalos.

Animals↗

PubMed1976

[Meningococcus group carrier status in Chinese recruits].

During the period, May 1974 approximately April 1975, 4 groups of Chinese basic training recruits from different cities in Taiwan were examined for cases of nasopharyngeal Neisseria meningitidis. Before training the carrier rate of N. meningitidis was 13.7%. However, 7 approximately 8 weeks after training the carrier rate had increased to 20%. The majority of strains isolated were serogroup A. However, serogroups C and B, in that order of frequency, were also isolated. Only four strains were serologically untypable. Of 344 strains tested for drug susceptibility, 186 (54.1)% of these strains were found to be resistant to sulfadiazine.

Carrier State↗

PubMed1975

Epidemic hemorrhagic keratoconjunctivitis.

A new type of acute keratoconjunctivitis developed throughout Southeast Asia, beginning in Singapore in the summer of 1970. It was highly contagious and probably was transmitted from person to person by the hand to eye route. Sixteen cases, diagnosed by viral isolation or serologic study, or both, were subjected to detailed clinical observation. The characteristic features included a short incubation period of one or two days, watery or serous discharge, subconjunctival hemorrhage, and pinpoint superficial keratopathy. The disease usually resolved rapidly within one to two weeks without sequelae.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1972

Ophthalmology in the republic of China.

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Adult↗

PubMed1972

Field studies on Mccoy cell cultures for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis.

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Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Tumor vaccination that enhances antitumor T-cell responses does not inhibit the growth of established tumors even in combination with interleukin-12 treatment: the importance of inducing intratumoral T-cell migration.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) treatment is effective in the CSA1M but not in the Meth A and CSA1M-variant tumor models. The authors investigated the cause by which IL-12 treatment fails to induce tumor regression in these two tumor models. T cells from CSA1M-bearing mice have high levels of IL-12 responsiveness, whereas cells from Meth A-bearing mice display marginal levels of responsiveness. Because IL-12 responsiveness in T cells is induced after T-cell receptor stimulation, the lack of IL-12 responsiveness suggests that T cells in Meth A-bearing mice are not sensitized to Meth A tumor antigen. Immunization of normal mice with attenuated Meth A tumor cells resulted in a protective immunity, as shown by the rejection of challenged viable Meth A cells. Such an immunization, when performed in Meth A-bearing mice, induced potent IL-12 responsiveness in T cells. Nevertheless, IL-12 treatment in these mice did not inhibit tumor growth. In another IL-12-incurable (CSA1M-variant) model, IL-12 responsiveness was observed before tumor cell immunization. However, IL-12 treatment was ineffective regardless of whether tumor cell immunization was performed. In these two models, the failure of IL-12 treatment to induce tumor regression was associated with the lack of T-cell migration to tumor sites. These results indicate that the sensitization of T cells to tumor antigens and generation of IL-12 responsiveness are insufficient to induce tumor regression when these sensitized T cells are not allowed to migrate to tumor sites.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Implications of serum basic fibroblast growth factor levels in chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Angiogenesis occurs in response to tissue damage, and is of vital importance for tumor growth and metastasis. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a well-known angiogenic factor, has been suggested to be a useful diagnostic marker in certain hypervascular tumors. However, the relevance of its detection has not been well evaluated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and benign chronic liver diseases. In the current study, immunoassay of bFGF was performed on serum samples from 39 patients with HCC, 21 with liver cirrhosis, 22 with chronic hepatitis and 40 normal subjects. The serum bFGF level was significantly increased in patients with liver cirrhosis and HCC when compared with those with chronic hepatitis or normal subjects (all p-values < 0.001). However, no difference was observed between the groups with liver cirrhosis and HCC (p > 0.05). If we set 9.6 pg/ml (mean + 3 standard deviations of bFGF in the control group) as the upper limit of normal serum level of bFGF, elevated bFGF concentrations were noted in 9.1%, 42.9% and 51.3% of patients with chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and HCC respectively. In non-cancer patients, the coexistence of acute illness (p = 0.000) was an independent factor related to the elevation of serum bFGF. On the other hand, a multivariate analysis demonstrated that both advanced stage of cancer (p = 0.026) and coexistence of acute illness (p = 0.000) influence the serum level of bFGF in patients with HCC. We conclude that serum bFGF levels are significantly higher in patients with HCC and are positively correlated with advanced tumor stage. Nevertheless, elevation of serum bFGF may also be observed in a significant number of patients with liver cirrhosis. Therefore, measurement of serum bFGF alone cannot be satisfactory as a tumor marker for diagnosis of HCC. In addition, it is important to point out that coexistence of acute illness may be a crucial confounding factor in the diagnosis or monitoring of any cancer by the estimation of serum bFGF.

Adult↗