A cluster of four cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome in children occurred in Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic, between 15 June and 7 July, 1995. All the cases had significantly elevated titres of anti-O157 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies as detected by the indirect haemagglutination assay. All but one of them had drunk unpasteurized goat's milk from the same farm within the week before the disease. Evidence of E. coli O157 infection was subsequently found in 5 of 15 regular drinkers of the farm's raw goat's milk; four of them were asymptomatic, 1 had mild diarrhoea at the end of June. Verocytotoxin 2-producing E. coli O157:H7 strains of phage type 2 and of identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns were isolated from 1 of 2 farm goats and from 1 of the asymptomatic goat's milk drinkers. The frequency of anti-O157 LPS antibodies found among regular drinkers of the farm's raw goat's milk (33%; 5 of 15) was significantly higher than that found in control population (0%; none of 45) (P = 0.0005; Fisher's exact test). Our findings indicate that goats may be a reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 and a source of the infection for humans; raw goat's milk may serve as a vehicle of the pathogen transmission.
In whole-body 1Gy-irradiated mice a modification of early cellular damage by means of preirradiation dipyridamole and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) treatment was investigated. Both drugs were given either alone or in combination, AMP being administered i.p. at doses of 5, 10 and 15 mg, dipyridamole s.c. at the dose of 2 mg, 20 min before AMP. The thymidine level in plasma and the amount of free polynucleotides in the thymus and spleen, both estimated at the interval of 4 h after irradiation, were used as indices of early cellular damage in vivo. The elevated level of thymidine observed in the plasma of irradiated controls decreased significantly after the administration of AMP (5 mg) alone to 71%, after the combination of dipyridamole and AMP a still deeper significant fall to 60% was observed. Such a protective effect was observed when injecting AMP 15 min before irradiation. Using the interval of 65 min between AMP administration and irradiation, no protection was detected. The higher doses of AMP (10, 15 mg) enhanced the protective effect manifested in plasma thymidine level only moderately. The amount of free polynucleotides, elevated in the thymus and spleen of irradiated mice, was significantly decreased in the thymus of mice pretreated with the combination of dipyridamole and AMP. The results suggest that the treatment used decreases the radiation damage of the sensitive thymocyte population. It is proposed that the joint use of AMP, an adenosine prodrug, and dipyridamole, a drug inhibiting adenosine uptake by cells, leads to an elevation in extracellular adenosine which activates cell surface adenosine receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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