We describe a new formulation for a hydrophilic resin, mostly composed of glycol methacrylate and hydroxypropyl methacrylate and here referred to as bioacryl, that allows the performance of morphological and immunohistochemical investigations at both light and electron microscopic levels. Immunolocalizations performed on bioacryl-embedded tissues are characterized by high specificity with virtually absent background staining. Finally, the new resin yields satisfactory fine-structural preservation, resulting in ultrastructural images of better quality than those obtained with Lowicryl K4M.

Forty patients with rosacea were entered into a study comparing clarithromycin with doxycycline in the systemic treatment of mild and severe rosacea. The patients, 25 women and 15 men, aged from 26 to 62 years, were subdivided into two homogeneous groups with regard to age, sex, and disease seventy. The first group of 23 patients, 14 women and 9 men, was treated with 250 mg of clarithromycin for 4 weeks twice daily, and then with 250 mg once daily for the following 4 weeks. The second group of 17 patients, 11 women and 6 men was treated with 100 mg of doxycycline for 4 weeks twice daily, and then with 100 mg once a day for the following 4 weeks. Both objective and subjective evaluations of the dermatosis were performed prior to therapy and after 4, 6, and 8 weeks of treatment.

The long-term urogenital dysfunctions in 46 of 104 surviving patients submitted to abdominoperineal resection for rectal carcinoma between 1972 and 1986 were collected and assessed. Urinary retention was present in 41 percent of the men and 35 percent of women, while incontinence was present in 10 percent of men and 29 percent of women. Impotence was reported by 59 percent of the males, all sexually active before surgery. Dyspareunia was present in 50 percent of the women in the study. The possibility of treating prostatic hypertrophy concurrently with abdominoperineal resection in selected cases to avoid urinary retention is discussed. The limited number of responders to the survey may interfere with the global statistical significance.

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A possible role of the peptide binding protein (PBP) 72/74 in antigen processing and presentation has been recently suggested in mice. In order to evaluate a possible analogous role of a PBP72/74-related protein in humans, immunoelectron microscope investigations, functional studies, and immunofluorescence analyses were performed on normal human peripheral antigen-presenting cells. We demonstrated that the determinant recognized by antiheat shock protein (HSP) 72/73 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) is constitutively expressed on the cell surface of monocytes as well as of B cells. Moreover, the capability of monocytes to present a recall antigen to T cells was significantly decreased when preincubated with an anti-HSP72/73 MoAb. These data add further strength to a potential role of a protein related to human PBP72/74 homologue in antigen processing and/or presentation. Finally, the capability of anti-HSP72/73 MoAb to impair the ability of fixed monocytes to present a synthetic peptide demonstrates that cell surface- localized PBP72/74-related protein could play a role in antigen presentation.

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A peroxidase-colloidal gold double labeling system in immunoelectron microscopy was used to investigate the ultrastructural features of human large granular lymphocytes (LGL) subpopulations. Three subsets of LGL, Leu-7+-Leu-11-, Leu-7+-Leu-11+, Leu-7- -Leu-11+, were characterized using combinations of the monoclonal antibodies anti-Leu-7 and anti-Leu-11. They showed different ultrastructural patterns. In fact, Leu-7+-Leu-11- cells showed a high nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio (N/C), a round nucleus, a cytoplasm with few organelles, and a rather even surface. Moreover, most of them lacked electron-dense granules. On the other hand, Leu-11+ cells displayed a low N/C, an irregular-shaped nucleus, and a cytoplasm containing a well-developed Golgi apparatus, many mitochondria, vacuoles, vesicles, and numerous electron-dense granules. Moreover, they exhibited an irregular cell surface. Thus, Leu-7+-Leu-11- cells seemed to represent an immature form of LGL, while cells expressing the Leu-11 antigen showed a fine structure specific for functional NK cells. Our findings suggest that the expression of HNK-1 (Leu-7) and Leu-11 antigens respectively represents subsequent stages in NK cell differentiation.