Jeffrey P. Davis

Polymicrobial cholangitis and kaposi's sarcoma in blood product transfusion-related acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Before presenting to the Mayo Clinic, a 24-year-old white woman had received 35 transfusions of blood products over a 72-hour period in February 1981. Two and one half years later, the diagnosis of polymicrobial cholangitis (Cryptosporidium, Candida albicans, and Klebsiella pneumoniae) was established. Further evaluation demonstrated profound helper T lymphocyte suppression, disseminated Mycobacterium avium-intracellular infection with mycobacteremia, and Kaposis sarcoma of lymphoid tissue, confirming a diagnosis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This case represents an unusual infectious complication of AIDS. Additionally, this is believed to be the first report of Kaposis sarcoma occurring in a patient with AIDS associated with blood product transfusion.

The conformation of pyrimidine nucleosides. an application of the nuclear Overhauser effect

Abstract The conformation about the glycosidic bond of cytidine, uridine, 2′, 3′-isopropylidine uridine and thymidine were studied by observing nuclear Overhauser effects. It is concluded that the syn conformation as well as intermediate-range conformations must be considered as well as the usually accepted anti form.

Human Infection with Ehrlichia muris–like Pathogen, United States, 2007–2013

This pathogen has been detected in patients from 5 states, all of whom reported likely tick exposure in Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Evidence for clustering of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in wisconsin

Clustering of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) occurs in the western Pacific, but has not been convincingly demonstrated for the sporadic form of the disease which occurs throughout the rest of the world. Using death certificate data we identified 529 ALS-associated deaths in Wisconsin during the interval 1973-82, representing a statewide mortality rate of 1.12 deaths/100,000/yr. Using computer simulation we show that cases were not homogeneously distributed throughout the population and that there exists a significant cluster of cases in northeastern Wisconsin.

Liver Physiology and Disease Acute Cholestasis in Patients with Toxic-Shock Syndrome

Serum liver function tests were performed in 22 females fulfilling the criteria for toxic-shock syndrome. All patients showed evidence of hepatic dysfunction during their hospital course. These findings included hyperbilirubinemia in the absence of laboratory evidence for significant hemolysis, mild elevation of the transaminases, threefold increase in their serum bile salt concentration, and hypoalbuminemia. These findings are best explained by hypoperfusion of the liver and a canalicular injury secondary to staphylococcal exotoxin. Cholestasis appears to be a universal finding in toxic-shock syndrome.

Toxic shock syndrome: Relation to catamenial products, personal health and hygiene, and sexual practices

In 1980, the discovery of an association between vaginal tampon use and toxic shock syndrome affected the lifestyles of menstruating women and the catamenial products industry. It made both the general public and the medical community more aware of all aspects of menstruation. The relation between developing toxic shock syndrome and tampon use is unclear; tampon fluid capacity (absorbency) remains the best predictive measure of that risk. No unique aspect of tampon use other than absorbency seems to increase the risk of developing toxic shock syndrome, and numerous hygiene and medical history factors do not seem to play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Studies in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa indicate that 70% to 75% of women between the ages of 15 and 24, the group with the highest risk of developing menstrual toxic shock syndrome, continued to use tampons after news media attention in 1980 on the association of the syndrome with tampon use. This rate of use is higher than the rate found for the general population by recent tampon market research.

The gut supports neurogenic differentiation of periocular mesenchyme, a chondrogenic neural crest-derived cell population.

Periocular mesenchyme (PM) is a mesencephalic neural crest derived cell population which as a result of an interaction with the retinal pigment epithelium forms the scleral cartilage of the avian eye. Enteric neurons are derived from vagal crest cells which invade the gut. To study factors which regulate neuronal differentiation, we investigated whether the gut could direct neurogenesis in PM, a cell population that does not produce neurons in vivo. We report here that PM cultured in the presence of aneural chick hindgut on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), invaded the gut and formed large numbers of neurons. These were localized in enteric ganglia and contained neurofilament immunoreactivity, vasoactive intestinal peptide immunoreactivity, and somatostatin immunoreactivity. In the control PM cultured alone on the CAM, a small number of cells contained neurofilament immunoreactivity but lacked the appearance of mature neurons.

Pediatric Screening of Southeast Asian Immigrants

Statistics from the first three months of operation of the Santa Clara County Indochinese Health Screening Clinic were analyzed for prevalence of anemia, parasitism, and exposure to tuberculosis in Southeast Asian children and young adults, ages 9 months to 24 years. Anemia was extremely common in infants up to 5 years of age (35.7%) and decreased to 4.8% in the 15- 24 year-old category. Parasitism was not age-dependent, with an average of 58.8 per cent of those screened exhibiting infestation. Positivity in tuberculin skin testing showed a pattern opposite to that of anemia, with a prevalence of 13 per cent in infants and children, rising to 34 per cent in young adults. Over 90 per cent of the target population was successfully screened. Health problems of Indochinese immigrants may be age-related and are very efficiently and effectively identified by an area-wide screening program.

Tri-State Toxic Shock Syndrome Study: Methodologic Analysis

Abstract The case-control study method was used to ascertain risk factors for development of menstrual toxic shock syndrome in the Tri-State Toxic Shock Syndrome Study. Evaluation of the methods us...

Trigeminal ganglion cells cocultured with gut express vasoactive intestinal peptide

The plasticity of neural crest cells for the expression of adrenergic and cholinergic transmitter phenotypes has been well studied. The object of this study was to determine if cells of a sensory ganglion are capable of neuropeptide transmitter plasticity. We studied whether cells of the trigeminal ganglion, which do not express the neuropeptide vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in vivo, would express this peptide when grown with a tissue the gut, that contains large numbers of VIP neurons. Embryonic aneural chick rectum was explanted with the embryonic quail trigeminal ganglion on the chorioallantoic membrane of chick hosts for 7-8 days. The explants were fixed, sectioned, and stained for VIP immunoreactivity (IR), for neurofilament protein immunoreactivity, and for the quail nucleolar marker. In sections of the explants we observed two populations of quail neurons: small (10-13 microns) VIP-IR cells and large (25-32 microns) cells lacking VIP-IR and resembling native trigeminal neurons. Trigeminal ganglia explanted with embryonic heart or trigeminal ganglia explanted alone lacked small VIP-IR cells but contained large VIP-negative neurons. These results show that cells of the trigeminal ganglion grown with the gut can express a neuropeptide they do not express in the absence of the gut or in vivo. Thus the embryonic trigeminal ganglion contains cells that are plastic with respect to neuropeptide expression.