acid-phosphatase and Aspergillosis

In the present study, two strains of Aspergillus flavus (one from a human corneal ulcer and one from the environment) were found to be strikingly similar in vitro in terms of thermotolerance, inability to grow in an anaerobic environment and in secreting proteinases; however, one obvious difference was that the clinical isolate produced 120 ppb of aflatoxin B1 in glucose salt medium while the environmental isolate did not produce this toxic metabolite. Alterations in the activities of acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glutathione-S-transferase were observed in the liver, kidney and serum in an experimental rat model, irrespective of whether the animal had been challenged with the clinical isolate or the environmental isolate of A. flavus. In rats that had been challenged with the clinical isolate, a significant decrease in the activity of kidney ALP was noted, whereas in rats that had been challenged with the environmental isolate, the reverse was observed. While these differential alterations may have occurred due to differences in the toxin-producing ability of the two isolates, further investigation is warranted to clarify whether other phenotypic, or genotypic, differences are also involved.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Aflatoxin B1; Alkaline Phosphatase; Anaerobiosis; Animals; Aspergillosis; Aspergillus flavus; Enzyme Activation; Glutathione Transferase; Hot Temperature; Kidney; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Liver; Male; Peptide Hydrolases; Rats; Species Specificity

Radiostrontium ((85)Sr) skeletal scintiscanning was done on 640 cases and 520 were included in a review. Forty-eight percent of 359 patients with biopsy-proved malignant disease had secondary skeletal involvement; in 17 percent the involvement was identified by scintiscanning alone. False-negative scintiscans were recorded in 0.9 percent. Unusual (85)Sr localization was found in a bone infarct, in proteus bursitis and in a pulmonary aspergillosis infiltrate. Serum alkaline phosphatase levels were found to be of little value in the evaluation for osseous metastasis, and normal acid phosphatase values in patients with prostatic carcinoma did not exclude the possibility of spread to the skeleton. Both the scintiscan and roentgenograms are essential in the evaluation of patients for metastatic bone disease.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Adult; Alkaline Phosphatase; Aspergillosis; Bone Neoplasms; Bursitis; False Negative Reactions; Female; Humans; Male; Neoplasm Metastasis; Prostatic Neoplasms; Radionuclide Imaging; Strontium Isotopes

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Animals; Aspergillosis; Cortisone; Female; Lung Diseases, Fungal; Macrophages; Mice; Pertussis Vaccine; Pulmonary Alveoli; Spores