Thoracic computed tomography (CT) in 232 patients with either primary staging of new or suggested relapsing lymphoma was compared with conventional chest radiography and both were correlated with ...clinical staging. Particular attention was given to the possibility of reducing routine thoracic CT, which is the current method used in this hospital in all patients with suggested lymphoma. Mediastinal lymphoma was detected by CT in 95 per cent of patients with clinically active mediastinal lymphoma, and by conventional chest radiography in 56 per cent. CT was found to be less reliable in evaluation of the hilar region than in that of other mediastinal areas. No areas of particular difficulty were found with chest radiography. CT also provided additional information concerning extra-mediastinal lymph adenopathy and involvement of the thoracic wall and pericardium. Routine thoracic CT examination was considered justifiable in all patients with suggested lymphoma.
Preterm labor is associated with histologic chorioamnionitis and intraamniotic infection. Chorioamnionitis is characterized by infiltration of the fetal membranes by granulocytes. In intraamniotic ...infection, white cells accumulate in amniotic fluid. Granulocytes and mononuclear cells have been shown to release products that stimulate prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production by amnion cells. The aim of the present study was to identify some of these products. Cell-free supernatant obtained from formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP)-activated granulocytes was subjected to size exclusion chromatography. The fractions obtained were analyzed for their stimulatory effect on PGE2 production by human amnion cells in culture. Two peaks of PGE2-stimulatory activity were found. The activity present in one of these was synergistic with interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) in stimulating amnion cell PGE2 production and was found to contain mainly transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) immunoreactivity. This cytokine originated at least in part from eosinophils. The PGE2-stimulatory activity present in the other peak contained IL-1 beta, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). The release of IL-beta, TNF-alpha, TGF-alpha, and EGF by granulocytes differed from that of mononuclear cells. We have previously shown that TGF-alpha and EGF are synergistic with IL-1 and TNF-alpha in enhancing amnion cell PGE2 production. The different pattern of prostaglandin-stimulatory cytokines released from different types of white cells suggest that the cells may potentiate each others' effects.
The aim of this study was to examine how the diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in one child affects the consumption patterns of milk and fat among nondiabetic siblings. Food ...habits of 478 Finnish nondiabetic siblings (3–19 years) of children with IDDM (<14 years) were reported on a self-administered questionnaire at the time of diagnosis and four times during a 2-year follow-up period and compared with the food habits of 548 nondiabetic population-based control subjects (5–17 years). The use of high- and low-fat milk, butter on bread, and butter and margarines in food preparation became less common, whereas the use of skim milk, margarines on bread, and oils in food preparation became more common in nondiabetic siblings after the diagnosis of IDDM in the proband. Siblings in farmers’ or low-income families used high-fat milk and butter more often than other siblings before the diagnosis of the proband. Two years after the diagnosis, high-fat milk and butter were still more common in the diet of farmers’ children and in the diet of siblings whose mother's education was short (≤12 years). A recommended dietary change (from high- to low-fat dairy products, from butter to margarines and oils) was more common in the diet of urban children and of siblings whose mothers had a longer education (>12 years). As compared with population-based control subjects, the use of high-and low-fat milk, butter on bread, and butter and margarines in food preparation was less common and the use of skim milk, margarines on bread, and oils in food preparation more common among the nondiabetic siblings 2 years after the diagnosis of IDDM in the proband. The diagnosis of IDDM in a child has significant and beneficial effects on the choice of the type of milk and dietary fat of his/her siblings. Farmers and families in lower socioeconomic groups need more attention to modify the diet after the diagnosis of IDDM in a child.
Sex differences in the choice of vegetable Juntunen, K; Lappalainen, R; Jaervinen, R. (Kuopio Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Clinical Nutrition) ...
Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition. Supplement (Sweden),
1994
29
Journal Article
We determined the occurrence of birth rust fungus
(Melampsoridium betulinum) within mature mountain birch
(Betula pubescens var.
czerepanovii) trees and compared the airborne urediniospore
...concentrations with overall rust infection levels over five successive
years. Fifteen groups of three trees 3–5 m high were chosen
from a homogenous mountain birch stand. Each group contained a tree
with ‘low’, ‘moderate’ and ‘high’
infection covering the natural range of infection levels. The
difference in rust classes remained
constant throughout the study; trees in class ‘high’
consistently had always highest infection levels and trees in class
‘low’ always
the lowest infection levels. Infection levels remained constant
between years in ‘low’ class, while the infection levels varied
significantly between years in ‘moderate’ and
‘high’ classes. The incidence of disease caused by
M. betulinum varied from year to
year and was correlated with the total airborne urediniospore counts.
The data indicate that trees differ in resistance to birch rust
and that infection levels of susceptible compared to resistant trees
are more dependent on environmental conditions.
Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is an important participant in infectious and inflammatory conditions. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) prevents the effect of IL-1. We have shown that injection of ...interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) into the amniotic fluid of pregnant rabbits stimulates the expression of surfactant protein-A (SP-A) in the lungs of the fetuses. We hypothesized that IL-1 alpha similarly enhances the expression of SP-A in rabbit lung explants in vitro. Explants obtained from 22-day fetal rabbit lungs were cultured in Waymouth's medium on a rotating platform in the presence or absence of IL-1 alpha (5.7-570 ng/ml) or IL-1ra (1-10 micrograms/ml). Dibutyryl cAMP (1 mM) served as a positive control. After 3 days in culture, the explants were harvested and Northern analysis of SP-A was performed using the 1.9-kb rabbit SP-A cDNA probe. IL-1 alpha and dibutyryl cAMP increased the expression of SP-A twofold, as judged by video densitometry. IL-1ra did not change SP-A expression as compared with controls, suggesting that endogenous IL-1 activity was not responsible for the basal level of SP-A expression in the explants. Dibutyryl cAMP increased the expression of SP-B mRNA, whereas IL-1 alpha had no effect on SP-B mRNA concentration. We conclude that inflammatory mediators interact with lung cells to alter synthesis of important components of the surfactant system.
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