Porphyria cutanea tarda in three generations of a single family

We examined conjugal and blood relatives of one kindred for evidence of porphyria cutanea tarda. The disease was identified in eight family members in three generations. Four were classified as having overt porphyria cutanea tarda because of four criteria: photo-enhanced dermatosis; excessive urinary excretion of uroporphyrins; characteristic thin-layer chromatographic pattern of urinary porphyrins; and decreased activity of erythrocyte uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase. Two patients with excessive excretion of uroporphyrins or characteristic chromatograms, or both, and decreased uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity were classified as having subclinical porphyria cutanea tarda, and two with decreased uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity only were classified as having latent porphyria cutanea tarda. This study provides further evidence that prophyria cutanea tarda can be a familial disease inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. We propose a reclassification of porphria cutanea tarda as an overt, subclinical or latent disorder.

Diathermy to the trigone and urethra in the management of the female urethral syndrome

The effects of diathermy to the trigone and upper urethra in the female urethral syndrome are compared with the effect of cystoscopy alone in the 27 cases. It is shown that the addition of diathermy gives superior results. The effects of such diathermy in the female urethral syndrome in 56 cases were reviewed by questionnaires 3 years later. 45% of the patients had had no further attacks and 90% thought that the treatment had been worth while.

The behaviour of the ureters following radiotherapy and Wertheim hysterectomy

The pyelographic appearances following Wertheim hysterectomy have been studied in 19 cases. The dilatation of the lumbar segments with unusually rapid transmission through the pelvic segments has been found 6 weeks postoperatively although this dilatation has disappeared in most cases by 6 months. Late ureteric dilatation is of no value in itself in determining the presence or absence of recurrent growth.

Chloracne from manufacture of a new herbicide

Forty-one chemical company workers had chloracne as a result of exposure to 3,4,3',4'-tetrachloroazoxybenzene (TCAB), an extraneous intermediate produced during the manufacture of a new herbicide. There was no laboratory evidence of significant hepatotoxicity or porphyria during the short time the herbicide was produced. An acnegenic when applied to the rabbit ear, TCAB is also a potent inducer of the microsomal enzyme aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase. Prevention of chlorance is a difficult industrial engineering task and treatment of the disease is even more perplexing.

Dermatologic hazards from ethylene oxide

The more recent application of ethylene oxide as a gas sterilizing agent for medical supplies has introduced new problems for this old chemical. Not only is ethylene oxide a potent skin irritant but also delayed hypersensitivity and immediate hypersensitivity have been reported, In this article, chemical properties of this agent and sources of industrial exposure are discussed, and the literature regarding ethylene oxide dermatitis is reviewed.

Immunologic reactions in penicillin factory workers

One hundred sixty-nine employees of a synthetic penicillin plant participated in this study to correlate immunologic reactions, allergic symptomatology and dustiness of the work area. Statistically significant positive correlations existed among the following: (1)presence or absence of symptomatology and increasing dustiness of the work area; (2)presence or absence of symptoms and the presence or absence of benzyl-penicilloyl specific hemagglutinating antibody (BPO-specific antibody); (3)the absence, presence and level of titer of BPO-specific antibody with the dustiness of the work area. Because synthetic penicillin dust in the workroom air is able to evoke immunologic responses and produce symptoms among workers exposed to high levels, it is recommended that a reasonable air level for penicillin in factories be in the range of those demonstrated in the least symptomatic group in the study with measurements below 0.1 mg/m3.

Kidney cooling in partial nephrectomy. Evaluation of a technique

A technique of cooling the isolated human kidney by immersing it in a plastic bag filled with iced saline slush is described. This technique is simple, swift to perform, requires no specialized equipment, and is inexpensive; it has proved to be effective and safe.

Bud, root, and growth-regulator activity in Acer saccharum during the dormant season

Exposure of dormant sugar maple seedlings to over 2000 h of winter temperatures of 5 °C and below was required for rapid and normal growth when seedlings were transferred to a warm greenhouse and extended photoperiods. Although chilling requirements were not fully satisfied until mid-March, a resurgence of metabolic activity occurred in early February. There was a marked shift in the potential for budbreak from the axillary to the terminal buds, and a surge in root growth occurred after a period of inactivity when the ground was frozen from late December to mid-January. The water content of the buds followed a pattern similar to that of the roots. It fell to a plateau in late fall well before the soil froze but began a steady increase with the resumption of active root growth in February. Inhibitory substances present in the buds did not exhibit significant changes during the overwintering period. However, cytokinin activity was observed beginning in February at the same time that root growth and bud succulence showed upward inflections. By the beginning of April there were two distinct peaks of activity which persisted through budbreak in early May.Seedlings that were brought into the greenhouse in the fall and never exposed to chilling temperatures did not break dormancy or show significant cytokinin activity or exhibit the physiological changes that occur under normal winter conditions.

Nitrogen ligands at the active site of alkaline phosphatase

The two Zn(II) ions of native Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1) that are necessary for activity have been replaced by (63)Cu(II). Titration of apoenzyme with up to 2 eq of Cu(II) gives a homogeneous species with an electron spin resonance typical for Cu(II) in an axially symmetric environment, with A(z) = 496 MHz, g(z) = g = 2.27, and g(x) = g(y) = 2.05. At least seven nitrogen hyperfine lines, spaced 11 G apart, are clearly resolved on the M = +[unk] Cu(II) hyperfine peak in the parallel region. When more than 2 eq of Cu(II) are added, the electron spin resonance spectrum shows at least two types of Cu(II) binding sites; the additional site, or sites, are characterized by lower g and higher A(z) values. When Cu(II) is added to native Zn(II) alkaline phosphatase or to apoenzyme incubated with 2 eq of Zn(II), the electron spin resonance spectrum shows little or no trace of the species with higher g values and nitrogen splitting. These results indicate that the species with higher g represents copper bound at the site normally occupied by the 2 Zn (II) ions necessary for enzyme activity, and that the metal ion at this site has at least 3 equivalent nitrogen ligands, probably histidyl side chains.

Electron spin resonance studies of carbonic anhydrase: transition metal ions and spin-labeled sulfonamides

Electron spin resonance (esr) spectra of Cu(II) and Co(II) carbonic anhydrase, and a spin-labeled sulfonamide complex of the Zn(II) enzyme, are reported. The coordination geometry of Cu(II) bound in the enzyme appears to have approximately axial symmetry. Esr spectra of enzyme complexes with metal-binding anions also show axial symmetry and greater covalency, in the order ethoxzolamide < SH(-) < N(3) (-) </= CN(-). Well-resolved superhyperfine structure in the spectrum of the cyanide complex suggests the presence of two, and probably three, equivalent nitrogen ligands from the protein. Esr spectra of the Co(II) enzyme and its complexes show two types of Co(II) environment, one typical of the native enzyme and the 1:1 CN(-) complex, and one typical of a 2:1 CN(-) complex. Co(II) in the 2:1 complex appears to be low-spin and probably has a coordination number of 5. Binding of a spin-labeled sulfonamide to the active center immobilizes the free radical. The similarity of the esr spectra of spin-labeled Zn(II) and Co(II) carbonic anhydrases suggests that the conformation at the active center is similar in the two metal derivatives.

Magnetic resonance studies of spin-labeled creatine kinase system and interaction of two paramagnetic probes

Creatine kinase from rabbit muscle has been specifically labeled with a derivative of a nitroxide free radical on the two essential sulfhydryl groups, one per active site. The conformation in the environment of the enzyme-bound free radical and the change in conformation induced upon binding of the substrate, metal adenosine diphosphate, has been monitored by two parameters of the bound spin label, its electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum and its contribution to the proton relaxation rate of water. The specificity in activation of the enzymic reaction of the series of alkaline earth ions, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, was not reflected by differences in conformation of the ternary enzyme metal substrate complexes observable with the spin probe. However, with the inhibitory zinc ion, the conformation of ternary complex was distinctly different. The electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of complexes with two paramagnetic probes, namely, spin-labeled enzyme with paramagnetic metal adenosine diphosphate complexes (Mn(II), Ni(II), and Co(II)) revealed a spin-spin interaction between the protein-bound free radical and the paramagnetic metal ions. From the magnitude of the interaction, the distance between the manganous ion and the electron spin of the nitroxide moiety in the MnADP-spin-labeled creatine kinase was estimated to be in the range of 7-10 A.