Certain morphological features of intracellular crystal formation within the midgut glands of Limnoria lignorum (Rathke) have been studied with the electron microscope and cytochemical methods. A correlation has been established between Golgi membranes and formation of the crystals.The Prussian blue reaction reveals quantities of iron localized in the intracellular crystals and in small granular structures seen in the apical region of the cells. These granules can be identified as accumulations of Golgi membranes, with which iron-containing particles are associated. When these membrane configurations are studied with the electron microscope, they can be classified and arranged in an assumed sequence which is thought to represent successive stages in the development of crystals.As the membrane systems become progressively specialized, increasing accumulations of dense granular material appear within their interstices. This material is rich in iron and probably represents the component responsible for the positive Prussian blue reaction. This material also appears to be a precursor substance for iron-containing protein molecules which are synthesized and arranged to make up the crystals. These iron-containing molecules are first deposited in orderly array as double rows of dense particles on certain internal membranes of the specialized Golgi complexes. The membranes later disappear and the particles form definitive crystals by rearrangement into a hexagonal close-packed pattern.

Thirty women with systemic lupus erythematosus were categorized into groups with and without significant renal involvement on the basis of renal biopsy and subsequently followed for an average of 9.4 years. At this time 53% of the patients with renal disease and 70% of the "nonrenal" patients had died. While 80% of the deaths in the "renal" group were due to renal disease, none of the nonrenal patients died of this complication. Major central nervous system involvement was eventually noted in 100% of the nonrenal group. After 8.3 years, mortality in the nonrenal patients exceeded that in the renal group, mainly because of the emergence of central nervous system disease.Although a number of reports have dealt with the renal involvement (1 -8) and long-term prognosis (3, 5, 6, 9-1 1) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), there has been a paucity of data concerning the ultimate prognosis of patients without significant renal involvement ( 5 , 7 , 8,10). In the present study a group of SLE patients has been classified ac- cording to their renal histology, and their rlinical course documented over a prolonged followup period which averaged 9.4 years. MATERIALS AND METHODSThis prospective study was conducted among patients admitted to Parkland Memorial Hospital during the years [1960][1961][1962][1963][1964][1965][1966][1967]. During this interval, 48 patients with SLE were hospitalized one or more times; all fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of the American Rheumatism Association (12). Ropes (13), and the British Medical Research Council (14) for SLE. Of the 48 patients, 30 females (21 black, 6 white, 3 Latin American: mean age 30.8 years, range 8 to 63 years) were included in the study on the basis of availability of a renal biopsy on admission and continued attendance in the outpatient clinic. Biopsies were performed without regard to the presence or absence of clinical evidence of renal disease. The date of onset of SLE was arbitrarily chosen as the time when the patient was first hospitalized with definite symptoms of SLE. All patients seen in the Arthritis Clinic with SLE were hospitalized one or more times during the period of the study. Admissions to the study were closed in 1967, and the patients were followed in the outpatient clinic by their respective physicians until January 1972, when all records were reviewed. The mean follow-up period was 9.4 years, ranging from 11 months, when death intervened in 1 case, to 15.5 years.Although cyclophosphamide and 6-mercaptopurine were used in 9 of the 30 patients studied, these were administered merely as an adjunct to steroid therapy and only in the final 670

In rats injected with gold thiomalate, electron-dense deposits were observed in the lysosomes of glomerular epithelial cells indicating passage through the capillary wall. The formation of these deposits appeared to be dependent on the sulfur-containing portion of the gold thiomalate molecule since similar, though not identical, deposits were seen in animals injected with sodium thiomalate. In 2 patients with gold nephrotoxicity, the kidney showed deposits in the peripheral capillary wall of the glomerulus resembling the deposits seen in immune-complex disease and differing in appearance from the "gold inclusions" produced by gold thiomalate.

Background: Posttransfusional changes of preserved red blood cells can influence the oxygen equilibrium curve which is mainly affected by the concentration of erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG). Material and Methods: The regeneration kinetics of DPG and nucleotides (ATP, ADP, AMP, GTP, GDP) was determined over a period of 0-48 h in surgically treated patients following transfusion of DPG-depleted packed red cells stored for 14 days in CPD-SAGM. Results: 3 h after transfusion the DPG levels raised up to 40% of the patients’ prior DPG concentrations. Complete regeneration of the DPG concentrations occurred 36-48 h after transfusion. Changes in the nucleotide pattern indicate, after a temporary decrease of ATP and GTP levels (after 10-30 min) and an activation phase (after 3-12 h), the full regeneration of these parameters 24-48 h after transfusion. Conclusions: The regeneration kinetics of DPG should be taken into consideration for transfusions with blood units stored for more than 14 days, especially in patients with reduced compensatory mechanisms (coronary and cerebral scleroses, pacemaker, etc.) and large transfusion volumes.