Evidence for Mycoplasma ssp., Chlamydia pneunomiae, and human herpes virus-6 coinfections in the blood of patients with autistic spectrum disorders

We examined the blood of 48 patients from central and southern California diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) by using forensic polymerase chain reaction and found that a large subset (28/48 or 58.3%) of patients showed evidence of Mycoplasma spp. infections compared with two of 45 (4.7%) age-matched control subjects (odds ratio = 13.8, P < 0.001). Because ASD patients have a high prevalence of one or more Mycoplasma spp. and sometimes show evidence of infections with Chlamydia pneumoniae, we examined ASD patients for other infections. Also, the presence of one or more systemic infections may predispose ASD patients to other infections, so we examined the prevalence of C. pneumoniae (4/48 or 8.3% positive, odds ratio = 5.6, P < 0.01) and human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6, 14/48 or 29.2%, odds ratio = 4.5, P < 0.01) coinfections in ASD patients. We found that Mycoplasma-positive and -negative ASD patients had similar percentages of C. pneumoniae and HHV-6 infections, suggesting that such infections occur independently in ASD patients. Control subjects also had low rates of C. pneumoniae (1/48 or 2.1%) and HHV-6 (4/48 or 8.3%) infections, and there were no coinfections in control subjects. The results indicate that a large subset of ASD patients shows evidence of bacterial and/or viral infections (odds ratio = 16.5, P < 0.001). The significance of these infections in ASD is discussed in terms of appropriate treatment.

Nucleoprotein gene tracking: localization of specific HIV-1 genes to subchromatin nucleoprotein complexes containing endonuclease activity in HIV-1-infected human cells

We developed a technique with which to isolate specific subchromatin deoxyribonucleoprotein/ribonucleoprotein precursor complexes containing discrete genes from intact mammalian nuclei by direct restriction enzyme treatment with MspI. These nucleoprotein complexes can be further fractionated and purified by two-dimensional isoelectric focusing/sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After electroelution and removal of detergent, virtually thousands of nucleoprotein complexes can be examined for the presence of tightly bound genes and enzymatic activities. Nucleoprotein gene tracking procedures were applied to study the acidic nucleoprotein complexes from steady-state human H9 cells uninfected or infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) virus. The purified nucleoprotein complexes were screened for the presence of loosely and tightly associated HIV-1 gene sequences (pol, env, tat, and rev) using a DNA hybridization protocol. In HIV-1-infected cells, four specific nucleoprotein complexes out of several hundred were found to contain tightly bound HIV-1 pol gene sequences after purification. By contrast, the other HIV-1 gene sequences (env, tat, and rev) were not tightly bound to any of the nucleoprotein complexes in HIV-infected cells. The observations suggest that certain HIV-1 genes associate with specific chromatin nucleoprotein complexes, regardless of their pattern of DNA integration into the human genome. At least two of the HIV-1 pol-containing nucleoprotein complexes of apparent M(r) approximately 94,000, pI approximately 6.5, and M(r) approximately 47,000, pI approximately 5.1 contain DNA endonuclease activity. This was confirmed in the present study, using linearized pUC19 plasmid substrate. The technique can be used to study a variety of problems concerning the association of specific genes and enzymes with specific nucleoprotein complexes J. Cell. Biochem. Suppls. 32/33:158-165, 1999.

Gulf War illnesses: complex medical, scientific and political paradox

Gulf War illnesses are a collection of disorders that for the most part can be diagnosed and treated, if effective programmes exist to assist veterans, and in some cases their immediate family members. Although these illnesses are complex and have multi-organ signs and symptoms, a proportion of these patients can be identified as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and/or Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). Although there are many possible causes of CSF/ME/FMS, chronic infections can explain, at least in a subset of patients, the apparent transmission of these illnesses to family members and the appearance of chronic, multi-organ and auto-immune signs and symptoms. Unfortunately, many veterans who have been diagnosed with chronic infections, such as mycoplasmal infections, cannot obtain adequate treatment for their condition, resulting in their reliance on private physicians and clinics for assistance. This lack of response may ultimately be responsible for the transmission of the illness to non-veterans.

The eight myths of Operation 'Desert Storm' and Gulf War syndrome

Several conventional claims regarding Gulf War Syndrome are criticized: that Gulf War veterans are no sicker than the civilian population as a whole; that Gulf War Syndrome is a myth invented by the press; that GWS cannot be defined as a legitimate medical syndrome; that since its cause cannot be determined, it is not a problem associated with Operation 'Desert Storm'; that the US and UK governments are doing all they can to investigate and treat illness in veterans or deny existence of over 100,000 cases in veterans and their families; that GWS will settle without treatment; that the armed forces were well prepared for integrated conflict involving chemical and biological warfare in the Middle East, increasing the risk of this in the future.

Chromatin nucleoprotein complexes containing tightly bound c-abl, p53 and bcl-2 gene sequences: correlation with progression of chronic myelogenous leukemia

We previously developed a technique to isolate subchromatin nucleoprotein complexes (NPC) that contain tightly bound genes and enzymatic activities. NPC fractions (NPCF) were prepared by directly treating isolated nuclei with MspI to generate six NPCF (S1, M1, S2, M2, 0.1K and R). The NPCF have been used to predict the potential efficacy of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) [Nicolson et al., Gene 159 (1995) 105-111]. Here the NPCF were probed for the presence of tightly bound c-abl, p53 and bcl-2 genes. We found that the NPCF isolated from the nuclei of leukocytes of normal individuals rarely contained detectable quantities of tightly-bound c-abl, p53 or blc-2 genes or gene sequences, whereas in CML nuclei these genes were often found in tight association with multiple NPCF. Examination of NPCF isolated from the leukocyte nuclei from patients with highly progressive CML for the presence of the three genes revealed that more NPCF contained the three tightly-bound genes than leukocyte NPCF from patients with stable or less progressed CML. These data suggest that as CML progresses to more malignant states, oncogenes, suppressor genes and apoptosis-associated genes become tightly associated with NPCF.

Interferon-alpha directly inhibits DNA polymerase activity in isolated chromatin nucleoprotein complexes: correlation with IFN-alpha treatment outcome in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia

We have developed an in vitro assay to assess and predict the potential efficacy of in vivo interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment (5 x 10(6) units/m2 per day) for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Although determining the numbers and affinities of IFN-alpha receptors on CML cells has been developed as a method for predicting treatment response to IFN-alpha, it fails to predict response in CML. Previously, we and others observed that mitogens, toxins and lectins that bind to cell-surface receptors are endocytosed, escaping endosomes in order to act directly on cellular targets. Therefore, we tested the ability of low concentrations of IFN-alpha (5-10 units) to act directly on DNA polymerase (Pol) in purified chromatin nucleoprotein complexes (NPC). NPC were prepared by a methodology that uses direct treatment of leukocyte nuclei with MspI to generate six NPC-containing fractions (S1, M1, S2, M2, 0.1K and R). We found three general categories of in vitro DNA synthesis response for the six different NPC fractions isolated from the white blood cells of patients with CML (n = 19) before their treatment with IFN-alpha. IFN-alpha induced either stimulation, inhibition or had no apparent effect on Pol activity in the six different NPC fractions in a blind assay. In most of the NPC fractions isolated from the leukocytes of patients with progressive CML and in those from CML patients who failed to show a clinical response to IFN-alpha, this cytokine stimulated or had no effect on Pol activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)