RESUMEN
545 male patients with a tentative diagnosis "urethritis" were examined between November 1984 and December 1994 in the Department of Dermatology and Venerology of the Military Hospital in Ulm. The patients, aged from 18 to 58 years (mean age 24.1 years), were examined according to a standardized diagnostic procedure: Smear preparations from the urethra with subsequent gram staining, bacterial cultures for aerobic bacteria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (cultures and Phadebact gonococcus test), mycoplasma cultures (Mycoplasma hominis (M. hom.); Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. u), and Chlamydia trachomatis using several methods, primarily DIFT (Syva Micro-Trak). Trichomonas vaginalis counts in urine sediment 441 patients (81%) had 4 or more leukocytes per high-power (x1000) field in the gram stained specimens. In these 441 urethritis-patients the following germs could be detected: Trichomonas vagin 3 (1%), N. gonorrhoeae 80 (18%), Mycoplasma 94 (21%) [U. u. 59, M. hom. 24, both 11], C. trachomatis 114 (26%), other pathogenic bacteria 135 (31%). In 114 patients (26%) no bacteria could be identified. A single infection was diagnosed in a total of 242 patients (55%), a double infection was determined in 71 patients (16%) while a triple infection was found in 14 patients (3%). The spectrum determined in the single infection included the following: N. gonorrhoeae 41 (9%), Mycoplasma 45 (10%), C. trachomatis 67 (15%), other pathogenic bacteria 89 (20%) (most frequently found germs were Enterococcus, beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, Escherichia coli, Staph. aureus). In the double infections combinations with aerobic bacteria dominated. In triple infections, mycoplasma were most common. During the investigation period the number of patients with urethritis symptoms declined at a constant rate.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones Bacterianas/microbiología , Uretritis/microbiología , Adolescente , Adulto , Bacterias/aislamiento & purificación , Infecciones Bacterianas/diagnóstico , Técnicas Bacteriológicas , Humanos , Masculino , Uretra/microbiología , Uretritis/diagnósticoRESUMEN
A reciprocal t(17;22)(q11.2;q11.2) was found in a female patient with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and in her affected daughter. Sequence analysis of cloned junction fragments traversing the breakpoints allowed the identification of the structures involved in the rearrangement. Aberrant bands in Southern hybridizations of restriction enzyme-digested DNA of the patient pointed to the disruption of the NF1 gene in intron 31. Semispecific polymerase chain reaction analysis of the genomic DNA of the patient with the specific primer anchored at NF1 exon 31 was used to obtain the breakpoint-spanning fragment of the derivative chromosome 17. The intron 31 sequence turned out to be interrupted within a large irregular (AT) repeat. The chromosome 22-derived sequence of the der(17) junction fragment allowed us to identify cosmids of the corresponding region from a chromosome 22 specific cosmid library. With the support of the breakpoint-spanning cosmids, the chromosome 22 region upstream of the fragment carried by the der(17) was characterized. Primers deduced from the sequence of this upstream region were used in combination with a primer in NF1 intron 31 distal to the breakpoint on chromosome 17 to amplify the der(22) junction fragment. The structure of the junction sequences suggested that the translocation had arisen by unequal homologous recombination between (AT)-rich repeats on chromosome 22 and on chromosome 17 in intron 31 of the NF1 gene. However, our data support the assumption of additional rearrangements prior to, or in the course of, the recombination event, leading to a loss of the sequences between the involved (AT) repeats on chromosome 22. In the direct vicinity of these (AT) repeats, two members of a previously undescribed low-copy repetitive sequence have been found, copies of which are also present on human chromosome 13.
Asunto(s)
Cromosomas Humanos Par 17 , Cromosomas Humanos Par 22 , Neurofibromatosis 1/genética , Translocación Genética , Adulto , Secuencia de Bases , Células Cultivadas , Preescolar , ADN , Femenino , Humanos , Hibridación Fluorescente in Situ , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Mapeo Restrictivo , Alineación de SecuenciaRESUMEN
Using beta-bungarotoxin (beta-BTX) as a tool to eliminate the preganglionic cholinergic nerve supply to the embryonic rat adrenal gland, we have investigated whether or not these nerves affect the differentiation of embryonic chromaffin cells (pheochromoblasts). Rat fetuses received a single injection of 1 or 2 micrograms beta-BTX or an identical volume of saline at embryonic day (E) 17 and were taken for morphological and biochemical analyses at E 21. Administration of beta-BTX caused a 15 to 20% reduction in body weight, crown-rump-length and adrenal weight. Spinal cord development was reduced and acetylcholinesterase-positive cells in ventral and lateral columns were virtually absent in toxin-treated animals. In adrenal glands, a decrease of choline acetyltransferase activity to 13% of control levels and a concomitant decrease of ultrastructurally identifiable nerve fibers and axon terminals revealed that application of 2 micrograms beta-BTX effectively reduced the neuronal input to E 21 adrenal glands. Values for total adrenal catecholamines, relative amounts of adrenaline and noradrenaline, tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase activities were unaltered. All ultrastructural features of pheochromoblasts (except the lack of synapse-like axon terminals) were inconspicuous. Corticosterone levels in adrenals and plasma were identical to controls. These data strongly suggest that normal embryonic development of adrenal chromaffin cells does not require an intact nerve supply.