. Bossart conducts teaching and service-related work in the Wildlife and Avian Laboratory and research on avian and marine mammal diseases. One specific focus of his research involves disease diagnosis utilizing traditional pathologic methodology combined with new immunologic and molecular pathologic techniques. He has collaborative research projects with the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Miami Museum of Science. Dr. Bossart is specifically concerned about the future of the critically endangered West Indian manatee. This species is endangered largely due to loss of habitat and human-related mortality, primarily the BREVETOXICOSIS IN MANATEES 277and pulmonary edema and hemorrhage were also seen. Consistent microscopic lesions consisted of catarrhal rhjnitis. pu~monary hemorrhage and edema, multiorgan hemosiderosis, and nonsuppurative leptomeningitis. Immunohistochemical staining using a polyclonal primary antibody to brevetoxin (GAB) showed intense positive staining of lymphocytes and macrophages in the lung, liver, and secondary lymphoid tissues. Additionally, lymphocytes and macrophages associated with the inflammatory lesions of the nasal mucosa and meninges were also positive for brevetoxin. These findings implicate brevetoxicosis as a Component of and the likely primary etiology for the epizootic. The data suggest that mortality resulting from brevetoxicosis may not necessarily be acute but may occur after chronic inhalation andor ingestion. Immunohistochemical staining with interleukin-1 -P-converting enzyme showed positive staining with a cellular tropism similar to GAB. This suggests that brevetoxicosis may initiate apoptosis and/or the release of inflammatory mediators that culminate in fatal toxic shock.
Global cerebral ischemia selectively damages neurons, but its contribution to glial cell death is uncertain. Accordingly, adult male rats were sacrificed by perfusion fixation at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 14 days following 10 minutes of global ischemia. This insult produces CA1 hippocampal neuronal death at post-ischemic (PI) day 3, but minor or no damage to neurons in other regions. In situ end labeling (ISEL) and immunohistochemistry identified fragmented DNA of dead or dying glia and distinguished glial subtypes. Rare ISEL-positive oligodendroglia, astrocytes, and microglia were present in control brain. Apoptotic bodies and ISEL-positive glia significantly increased at PI day 1 in cortex and thalamus (p < 0.05), but were similar to controls in other regions and at other PI intervals. Most were oligodendroglia, although ISEL-positive microglia and astrocytes were also observed. These results show that oligodendroglia die rapidly after brief global ischemia and are more sensitive than neurons in certain brain regions. Their selective vulnerability to ischemia may be responsible for the delayed white matter damage following anoxia or CO poisoning or that associated with white matter arteriopathies. Glial apoptosis could contribute to the DNA ladders of apoptotic oligonucleosomes that have been found in post-ischemic brain.
Summary: Apoptosis is an active, gene-directed process of cell death in which early fragmentation of nuclear DNA pre cedes morphological changes in the nucleus and, later, in the cytoplasm, In ischemia, biochemical studies have detected oli gonucleosomes of apoptosis whereas sequential morphological studies show changes consistent with necrosis rather than ap optosis, To resolve this apparent discrepancy, we subjected rats to 10 minutes of transient forebrain ischemia followed by I to 14 days of reperfusion, Parameters evaluated in the CAl region of the hippocampus included morphology, in situ end labeling (ISEL) of fr'l-gmented DNA, and expression of p53, Neurons were indistinguishable from controls at postischemic day I but displayed cytoplasmic basophilia or focal condensations at day 2; some neurons were slightly swollen and a few appearedThe neuronal response to brain ischemia depends on the severity and duration of the ischemic insult as well as on intrinsic neuronal factors that impart selective vulner ability to specific brain regions (Scholz, 1953), Brief periods of global ischemia kill vulnerable neurons in the CAl region of the hippocampus whereas longer intervals of vascular occlusion kill neurons in the cerebral cortex and corpus striatum as well (Ito et aI., 1975; Pulsinelli et aI., 1982a), Although seemingly undamaged, neurons in other brain regions such as the CA3 region of the hip pocampus or the paramedian cerebral cortex undergo transient alterations as evidenced by reversible changes 967normaL In situ end labeling was absent At days 3 and 5, approximately 40 to 60% of CAl neurons had shrunken eosin ophilic cytoplasm and pyknotic nuclei, but only half of these were ISEL By day 14, many of the necrotic neurons had been removed by phagocytes; those remaining retained mild ISEL Neither p53 protein nor mRNA were identified in control or postischemic brain by in situ hybridization with riboprobes or by northern blot analysis, These results show that DNA frag mentation occurs after the development of delayed neuronal death in CA I neurons subjected to 10 minutes of global isch emia, They suggest that mechanisms other than apoptosis may mediate the irreversible changes in the CAl neurons in this model. Key Words: Global ischemia-Apoptosis Necrosis-Delayed neuronal death-In situ end labeling-Rat in their subcellular organelles (Petito and Pulsinelli, 1984a,b), The postischemic interval required for the ap parent development of selective neuronal necrosis is in versely proportional to the severity or duration of the ischemic insult-the so-called maturation phenomena described by Ito et al. (Ito et at, 1975), This interval is especially prolonged in the CAl neurons of the hippo campus (Ito et aI., 1975; Pulsinelli et aI, 1982a). The term delayed neuronal death has been applied to this process (Kirino, 1982).During the past few years, the concept of cell death via apoptosis has become increasingly important. This mechanism of cell death is mediated by regulated path ways involving defined gene product...
We employed laser capture microdissection to remove individual pyramidal neurons from the CA1, CA3, and CA4 regions of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded hippocampus from 8 AIDS brains and 2 HIV-1-seronegative normal brains. We amplified HIV-1 gag and nef gene sequences using separate, double round PCR reactions for each of the primer sets. In all 3 hippocampal regions, amplification efficiency was best with sequence length between 284 and 324 bp; HIV-1 nef gene sequences were more common than HIV-1 gag sequences; and rank order for percent positive amplification was CA3 > CA4 > CA1 samples. These results are the first to detect HIV-1 gene sequences in microdissected human tissue. They indicate that brain neurons in vivo contain HIV-1 DNA sequences consistent with latent infection by this virus, and suggest that neurons display a selective vulnerability for HIV infection. Neuronal HIV infection could contribute to neuronal injury and death or act as a potential viral reservoir if reactivated.
Objective. To document the histology of Ross River virus (RRV) arthritis and to examine inflamed synovium for viral RNA. Methods. Biopsy tissue from the inflamed knees of 12 patients with RRV infection was studied using conventional and immunostaining techniques. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction technology was used to probe for the presence of viral RNA in the synovial biopsy samples and in serum. Results. Hyperplasia of the synovial lining layer, vascular proliferation, and mononuclear cell infiltration were the main histologic changes. RRV RNA was found in knee biopsy tissue that was obtained from 2 patients at 5 weeks after the onset of symptoms. Conclusion. RRV RNA was identified in inflamed synovium more than a month after symptoms began. Inflammation was apparent in the absence of detectable virus in the majority of patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.