Kinderarztl Prax, 1979 Apr, 47(4), 169 - 74 {Mushroom poisoning in childhood}; Koloc C et al.; The authors describe frequency and importance of poisoning by Amanita phalloides . There are demonstrated the different toxins and their biochemical properties . The typical clinical symptoms of the intoxication by Amanita phalloides with vourse in two phases (1 . gastrointestinal phase, 2 . hepatonephrotic phase) are shown . The possibilities of diagnostic and differentialdiagnostic and the problems of therapy are discussed . It is pointed out, that in a modern treatment there must be given Penicillin-G-Natrium in high dosage as early as possible, also in cases of questionableness . Hemodialysis is only of effect till 40 hours after ingestion of Amanita. Rev Ig Bacteriol Virusol Parazitol Epidemiol Pneumoftiziol Bacteriol Virusol Parazitol Epidemiol, 1979 Apr-Jun, 24(2), 81 - 96 {Immunity aspects in syphilis}; Ionescu D et al.; Until lately, the host-parasite relationship in syphilis registered a certain latency because of the difficult approach to the problem and especially because of the enthusiasm caused by the possible eradication of the disease by penicillin . As these expectations were not confirmed, attention was again focussed on study by modern means of the biology of pathogenic treponema, its antigenic properties, possibility of in vitro cultivation and certain humoral and cellular immune aspects that govern the evolution of the disease and, probable, the acquiring of specific immunity . The attempts made for obtaining a live vaccine, attenuated by irradiation and experimented in animals, appear to foreshadow the possible use of this vaccine in the near future in man. Dermatol Monatsschr, 1979 Apr, 165(4), 257 - 63 {Attempts at developing a syphilis vaccine (author's transl)}; Metzger M; Numerous investigators tried over the years to induce artifically immunity against syphilis by use of a variety of treponema preparations . None of these immunization experiments performed by different means and routes provided clear evidence of acquired immunity in animals and humans given various vaccine preparations against challenge with even minimal doses of virulent T . pallidum . In recent years, however, promising results have been obtained in the immunization study . Two types of syphilis vaccine have been developed which were found very effective in conferring a protection against syphilitic infection on rabbits: (1) the first vaccine contains T . pallidum attenuated by gamma irradiation, and the other one (2) contains T . pallidum killed by penicillin . In addition, it has been demonstrated that the immunogenic activity of T . pallidum is related to their very labile protein component . Pretty much is also known on the factors influencing the immune response of artificially immunized rabbits, and on the immunological mechanisms underlying the development of syphilis immunity. Med Hypotheses, 1979 Apr, 5(4), 403 - 14 The pineal and regulation of fibrosis: pinealectomy as a model of primary biliary cirrhosis: roles of melatonin and prostaglandins in fibrosis and regulation of T lymphocytes; Cunnane SC et al.; Pinealectomy leads to increased formation of fibrous tissue in the abdominal cavity, increased skin pigmentation and elevated cholesterol and alkaline phosphatase levels . It also leads to reduced formation and/or action of prostaglandin (PG) E1 and thromboxane (TX) A2 . PGE1 plays an important role in enhancing function of T suppressor lymphocytes which control overactive antibody-producing B lymphocytes . In primary biliary cirrhosis there are increased skin pigmentation, hepatic fibrosis, elevated cholesterol and alkaline phosphatase levels, defective T lymphocytes and hyperactive B lymphocytes . Primary biliary cirrhosis may be a pineal deficiency disease . Serotonin is important in the pineal and the serotonin antagonist methysergide may cause retroperitoneal fibrosis by interfering with pineal function . There is a good deal of other evidence which suggests that melatonin PGE1 and TXA2 are important in the regulation of fibrosis in other situations such as "collagen" diseases, lithium-induced fibrosis and cardiomyopathies . This suggests that enhancement of formation of PGE1 and TXA2 may be of value in diseases associated with excess fibrosis and defective T suppressor cell function . PGE1 levels may be raised by zinc, penicillin, penicillamine and essential fatty acids . TXA2 levels may be raised by low dose colchicine . These new approaches to treatment may prove safer and more effective than existing ones . They may be of value in disorders such as cardiomyopathy, Hodgkin's disease and other lymphomas, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, atopy and other diseases in which defective T cell function is suspected. Neurology, 1979 Apr, 29(4), 432 - 47 Anticonvulsant and anesthetic barbiturates: different postsynaptic actions in cultured mammalian neurons; Macdonald RL et al.; Mammalian spinal cord neurons were grown in dissociated cell culture and used to study the effects of the anticonvulsant barbiturates phenobarbital and mephobarbital, and the anesthetic barbiturates pentobarbital, secobarbital, and 1,3-dimethyl-butylethyl barbituric acid on amino acid responses and neuronal membrane properties . All barbiturates augmented responses to GABA and diminished glutamate (GLU) responses, but the anesthetic barbiturates were more potent . The anesthetic barbiturates directly depressed excitability by increasing membrane conductance, an effect reversed by the GABA antagonists picrotoxin and penicillin . Anticonvulsant barbiturates, however, had only minimal GABA-mimetic inhibitory action at high doses . Modulation of synaptic events mediated by GABA and GLU might contribute to barbiturate anticonvulsant activity; and direct GABA-mimetic inhibition, combined with similar modulation of synaptic transmission, might underlie barbiturate anesthesia. South Med J, 1979 Apr, 72(4), 448 - 51 Pneumococcal endocarditis in infants; Tolaymat A et al.; A case of pneumococcal endocarditis in an infant is reported together with a review of seven cases previously described in the literature . The prominent presenting symptoms of this usually fatal disease consisted of tachycardia, tachypnea, and cardiomegaly . A new murmur was heard in six of the eight patients . Fever was infrequent . Blood cultures were positive when done . The mitral valve was the site of infection in seven of the patients . In contrast to adult patients, pneumonia and meningitis are rarely encountered in children with pneumococcal endocarditis . The disease was fatal in all four patients before the penicillin era and in three of four patients who received penicillin. Boll Ist Sieroter Milan, 1979 Mar 31, 58(1), 81 - 99 {Direct skin tests in the prevention of allergic reactions in surgical patients (500 cases)}; Nava C et al.; The methodology used to diagnose drug allergy in 500 surgical patients is described . After an introduction in which the choice of this method is justified, the used methods are shown in detail with the tested active pharmacological principles (it is a group of drugs for pre, intra and post-surgery use) . The tested patients have been clinically watched during all their stay in hospital . The results achieved are shown, as well as the good mutual relation between anamnesis and clinical progress with the answers obtained from the tests . The detailed analysis of skin-reactions showed that positive answers against penicillin (in more than 37% of the tested cases) clearly prevailed over other drugs (petidinum about 12%; propanididum about 10%) etc . Skin-test positivity against prometazinum (6%) is stressed as being quite considerable, considering its prevalent anthistaminic pharmacological effect . The work ends showing how this method, if correctly used, can give good results which can be compared with the results achieved by other more sophisticated methodologies . The kind of test is recommended to be adopted by other hospitals to reduce the incidence of immunological pathogenesis diseases which is more and more frequent. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 1979 Mar 15, 174(6), 597 - 600 Effect of carbadox on growth, feed utilization, and development of nasal turbinate lesions in swine infected with Bordetella bronchiseptica; Farrington DO et al.; Carbadox in combination with sulfamethazine did not interfere with the activity of sulfamethazine in clearing experimentally induced Bordetella bronchiseptica nasal infection . Evaluations in three field cases of infectious atrophic rhinitis indicated that carbadox in the feed was as effective as chlortetracycline + sulfamethazine + penicillin for improving growth rate and feed efficiency, as compared with nonmedicated controls, and in reducing the prevalence of lesions of infectious atrophic rhinitis. Neurosci Lett, 1979 Mar, 11(3), 347 - 52 Decrease of inhibitory driving force in crayfish stretch reception: a mechanism of the convulsant action of penicillin; Deisz RA et al.; The effect of penicillin on the evoked IPSP was investigated in the isolated crayfish stretch receptor . The IPSP driving force (IPSP reversal potential minus membrane potential) was reduced in a dose-dependent fashion but, when necessary correction was made for the decrease in resting membrane conductance, the synaptic conductance was only slightly reduced . The possibility that a penicillin-induced intracellular acidification was responsible for the decrease in IPSP driving force is considered. Isr J Med Sci, 1979 Mar, 15(3), 202 - 6 The emergence of cardiac nondisease among children in Iran; Joorabchi B; In a prospective study over a one-year period, 476 new patients, aged three days to 21 years, were seen in a pediatric cardiology clinic held three times a week in two hospitals . Of these patients, 290 (61%) were normal; in 238 (82%) of these a physician had made a definite diagnosis of heart disease . The usual bases for a diagnosis of heart disease in these cases of "cardiac nondisease" were an "elevated" antistreptolysin O titer, growing pains, hyperventilation and functional murmurs, or a combination of these . Of these 238 cardiac nondisease patients, 188 (79%) were under active treatment for up to seven years (mean, 1.23 years) . This treatment included monthy penicillin injections for 104 patients for up to seven years; restriction of physical activity in 98 patients; up to six months of aspirin therapy for 25; up to three months of bed rest for 23; steroids for 17; and 'prophylactic" tonsillectomies for 11 patients . Some patients with comfirmed heart disease (35 of 97) were receiving grossly inappropriate treatment . All this represents a significant change in the pattern of pediatric care from that which existed 10 years ago, when cardiac nondisease was nonexistent and many cases of heart disease went unrecognized and untreated . In this report, possible reasons for the emergence of cardiac nondisease are discussed. Arch Inst Cardiol Mex, 1979 Mar-Apr, 49(2), 200 - 8 {Penicillin allergy . Immunological bases in the diagnosis and prevention of acute reactions}; Reyes PA; Drug alergy is always a risk in Therapeutics . Penicillin allergy although less frequent than usually though, is very important because sometimes is life threatening . Penicillin allergy is an immunological phenomenon, it is possible to use in vitro and in vivo procedures able to demonstrate individual ability to develop allergical reaction, in particular to predict such severe reactions like anaphilaxis . This paper review current concepts regarding immune mechanisms for Penicillin allergy and immunological testing useful in its study. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol, 1979 Mar-Apr, 88(2 Pt 1), 160 - 5 Treatment of syphilitic hearing loss . Combined penicillin and steroid therapy in 29 patients; Zoller M et al.; Twenty-nine patients with presumed syphilitic hearing loss, either congenital or acquired, were treated on one or more occasions according to a three-month protocol using penicillin and prednisone . Changes in hearing were carefully followed during treatment and for at least one year thereafter . Of 58 ears studied in 29 patients, 19 demonstrated significant partial improvement in hearing during treatment . However, 11 ears returned to pretreatment hearing levels after therapy, and only 8 ears, or 15%, maintained the hearing gains one year later . Enhanced discrimination occurred more commonly than gains in pure tone threshold . Long-term alternate day prednisone therapy was required to sustain hearing improvement in a small number of patients. P N G Med J, 1979 Mar, 22(1), 24 - 9 The medical management of enteritis necroticans (pigbel); Shann F et al.; Pigbel is the commonest cause of death in children over 12 months of age at Goroka Hospital . The clinical features are described . The medical management of pigbel includes intravenous fluids, nasogastric suction, penicillin and chloramphenicol . The development of dehydration, anaemia, hyponatraemia, hypokalaemia and hypoalbuminaemia must be prevented . In severe pigbel prolonged starvation may result in malnutrition that impairs wound healing and increases mortality . Intravenous feeding is therefore desirable in some cases. Poult Sci, 1979 Mar, 58(2), 329 - 32 Effect of gamma irradiation, fractionation, and penicillin supplementation on the rachitogenic activity of rye for chicks; Mac-Auliffe T et al.; Experiments were conducted to study the effect of gamma irradiation on the rye-vitamin D antagonism in broiler chicks . In an initial study, the irradiated grain was exposed to gamma rays for 6 hr (2 Mrad) and was fed to rachitic chicks for only 12 hr before a single oral dose of vitamin D3 . In another trial, birds were fed during the entire experiment (12 days) on the different experimental diets, and the irradiated grain was exposed to gamma rays for 20 hr . Results indicate that the factor in rye that interferes with vitamin D utilization was largely inactivated by exposing this grain to gamma rays for 20 hr . Additional information is reported in this paper related to the alleviation by extraction or antibiotic supplementation on the rachitogenic properties of rye . These studies were conducted by feeding to rachitic chicks the test materials for only a short period of time (12 hr) before a vitamin D3 oral dose and measuring the bone mineralization 48 hr later . Results indicate that the rachitogenic factor in rye is not present in the ash portion of the grain, that it can be largely overcome by water extraction and penicillin supplementation, and that an organic solvent extraction has no effect . Cooked beans which depress growth and increase the growth response to antibiotics are not rachitogenic. Neurosurgery, 1979 Mar, 4(3), 244 - 53 Peripheral nerve injection injury: an experimental study; Gentili F et al.; In an attempt to answer questions regarding nerve injection injuries, we injected 11 agents in current use and commonly administered by intramuscular injection into the sciatic nerves of adult Wistar rats . Equal volumes of normal saline were used as control . We harvested the sciatic nerves at various times after injection and examined them by both light and electron microscopy . We performed myelinated nerve fiber counts and constructed histograms . Any impairment of motor function was also noted . We gave injections to 79 animals a total of 158 times; 116 injections were directly into the nerve fascicle (intrafascicular) and 42 were into the epineural tissue (extrafascicular) . The results revealed considerable variation in the degree of nerve fiber injury according to the agent injected . Minimal damage resulted from the injection of iron-dextran, meperidine, and cephalothin, and maximal nerve injury followed the injection of penicillin, diazepam, and chlorpromazine . The site of injection was crucial . Intrafascicular injection was invariably associated with severe nerve injury, but, with few exceptions, extrafascicular injection resulted in minimal damage . The quantity of drug injected was also important in determining the degree of injury . Large, heavily myelinated fibers were more susceptible to injection injury than smaller, thinly myelinated nerve fibers . The effect of the injected drug seemed to be related to injury of the nerve fiber unit--both the axon and the Schwann cell with its myelin sheath . Regeneration in damaged nerves was a constant finding; even the most severely injured nerves, with total axonal degeneration, underwent subsequent regeneration. Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat Im I P Pavlova, 1979 Mar-Apr, 29(2), 381 - 8 {Antidromal action potentials as a manifestation of trace excitation}; Ezrokhi VL et al.; The possibility of occurance of action potentials (AP) in neuronal terminals after preliminary excitation of a cortical area was studied in unanaesthetized, non-immobilized rabbits . It was found that a low-frequency subconvulsive stimulation of the sensorimotor cortex may lead to a spontaneous appearance of AP groups that spread antidromically toward the soma of callosal neurones in the opposite hemisphere . Groups of spontaneous antidromic AP were recorded in the cortex after the disappearance of convulsive activity caused by application of penicillin . It is assumed that the observed phenomena reflect a prolonged retention of increased excitability in the terminals of cortical neurones after the end of electrical stimulation or penicillin action. Prikl Biokhim Mikrobiol, 1979 Mar-Apr, 15(2), 233 - 9 {Biosynthesis of penicillin upon periodic culturing of Penicillium chrysogenum with an exponentially increasing glucose supply}; Shtoffer LD; Penicillium chrysogenum was cultivated under controlled conditions and at constant specific growth rates regulated by glucose supply . The rate of penicillin synthesis (units/mg dry weight.hr) and pattern of time changes of the synthesizing capacity of the culture depended on the specific growth rate (hr-1) . The arrest of penicillin synthesis was induced by the inherent changes of the culture rather than by external factors, e.g . use of substrates, changed limitation, accumulation of inhibitory metabolites, etc. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol, 1979 Mar, 46(3), 274 - 89 Effects of changes in cortical excitability upon the epileptic bursts in generalized penicillin epilepsy of the cat; Gloor P et al.; Previous studies had suggested that the epileptic bursts of feline generalized penicillin epilepsy represent the response of hyperexcitable cortex to thalamocortical volleys normally evoking spindles . If this were the case, it should be possible to convert the epileptic bursts of generalized penicillin epilepsy into spindles by decreasing the excitability of cortical neurons . In cats exhibiting the EEG signs of feline generalized penicillin epilepsy cortical excitability was decreased by hypoxia, by the topical application to the cortex of KCl (inducing spreading depression), barbiturates, GABA, AMP or noradrenaline . During generalized penicillin epilepsy, hypoxia and KCl-induced spreading depression abolished epileptic bursts which were replaced by spindles . When spindles and epileptic complexes occurring in the same animal were compared, a direct correlation between the frequencies of these two rhythms could be demonstrated, that of the epileptic complexes being about half that of the spindle waves . These observations support the hypothesis that the epileptic bursts of feline generalized penicillin epilepsy are induced by thalamocortical volleys normally involved in spindle genesis . Topical cortical applications of barbiturates, GABA, AMP and noradrenaline reduced or inverted the negative spikes of the spike and wave complexes, while augmenting the negative slow waves, or revealing them clearly in instances in which they had been poorly developed . This effect is interpreted as being due to a selective inactivation of the superficial cortical layers . That topical cortical application of barbiturates, GABA, AMP and noradrenaline was capable of transforming into typical spike and wave complex epileptic bursts, which had not previously conformed to this pattern, indicates that the intracortical electrophysiological events of typical and atypical epileptic bursts in feline generalized penicillin epilepsy are fundamentally the same and reflect an alternation between excitatory and inhibitory sequences. MMW Munch Med Wochenschr, 1979 Feb 16, 121(7), 247 - 50 {Treatment of bronchitis with cefaclor (Panoral) (author's transl)}; Kersten W et al.; 14 patients from the Allergy Unit of an outpatient clinic suffering from acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and 13 outpatients with acute bronchitis were treated with 250 mg cefaclor (Panoral) 3 times daily per os for 5 days . 59% of the organisms isolated from cefaclor-sensitive sputum at the time of prominent clinical symptoms were resistent to tetracycline, 53% of them were resistant to penicillin, and 37% were resistant to ampicillin . 12 out of the 14 patients with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis became asymptomatic, and no organisms could be detected in the sputum of 13 out of the same 14 patients two days after cessation of cefaclor treatment . In 12 out of the 13 patients with acute bronchitis, the acute clinical symptoms disappeared and in 11 out of the 13 patients the initial sputum organisms were two days after stopping cefaclor treatment. S Afr Med J, 1979 Feb 10, 55(6), 197 - 200 Gentamicin and penicillin in the treatment of severe respiratory infections; Wright JP et al.; A combination of penicillin and gentamicin has been used for severely ill patients in a respiratory intensive care ward . It has been shown that predictable mean blood levels of gentamicin can be obtained in these patients by relating the dose to surface area (60 mg/m2/8 h) . When renal function was initially normal it did not deteriorate during the course of therapy (10 days); gentamicin assays are not essential for safe treatment . In patients with renal failure, increasing the interval between doses also resulted in satisfactory levels, but close monitoring of the serum creatinine level is considered necessary . No clinical difference could be detected when gentamicin was given by constant or intermittent infusion. Albrecht Von Graefes Arch Klin Exp Ophthalmol, 1979 Feb 8, 209(4), 249 - 55 {Aqueous-and serum levels of cephalexin and penicillin V after oral application in man (author's transl)}; Engels T et al.; This clinical study implies orally administered cephalexin and penicillin V as agents with effective aqueous homor penetration in noninfected human eyes . Aqueous humor concentration of cephalexin increases up to 15% of the serum level 2 h after application . Administration of 1 g or 2 g cephalexin revealed no significant difference in aqueous humor concentration . So penetration of blood-aqueous-humor barrier can be regarded as a saturation process . Individual results of 92 cephalexin determinations are variant and not related to body weight or age of the patients. JAMA, 1979 Feb 2, 241(5), 495 - 6 Allergic reaction to transfused cephalothin antibody; Branch DR et al.; Antibodies to cephalothin sodium (Keflin) can be transferred passively via whole blood transfusion . In one case a mild allergic-type reaction was initiated in a patient who was receiving cephalothin therapy . This case is differentiated from a penicillin-caused allergic reaction . All patients that demonstrate allergic-type transfusion reactions should give drug histories . Investigation of passive transfer of antibodies to these drugs might be of benefit in any evaluation made. Br J Vener Dis, 1979 Feb, 55(1), 62 - 4 Treatment failure with penicillin in early syphilis; Giles AJ et al.; A patient with primary syphilis had a recurrence of his penile chancre after generally acceptable penicillin treatment . Retreatment with a similar but extended penicillin regimen was successful . This is the first report of such a treatment failure. Biull Eksp Biol Med, 1979 Feb, 87(2), 117 - 21 {Formation of epileptic activity complexes in the cerebral cortex as a result of a determinant focus induced by acetylcholine}; Kryzhanovskii GN et al.; Foci of increased excitability were created by means of weak strychnine and penicillin dilutions in experiments on cats . These foci worked at individual regimens . Creation with acetylcholine and proserine of a hyperactive focus led to increase of the amplitude and frequency of convulsive discharges at first in the nearest activity foci, and then in the ones remote from the hyperactive focus . The next stage was attended by qualitative changes in the activity pattern of strychnine and penicillin foci (the appearance of acetylcholine activity in them) and by the formation of a single functional focal complex working in the regimen of acetylcholine focus . Thus, the latter played the role of a determinant structure . Suppression of the determinant focus activity led to disappearance of the acetylcholine activity in all the other foci, restoration of the initial (penicillin and strychnine) activity, and to the epileptic complex decay. J Bacteriol, 1979 Feb, 137(2), 1013 - 6 Levallorphan-tolerant mutants of Excherichia coli with altered morphologies; Frelat G et al.; The penetration of levallorphan, a synthetic morphinan known to interact with the cytoplasmic membrane of E . coli, is seriously limited by the outer membrane . To select target-resistant mutants rather than outer membrane mutants, a two-step procedure was developed, which involved the selection by penicillin of an "intermediate" parental strain with a decreased penetration barrier and a subsequent positive selection of levallorphan-tolerant pseudo-revertant clones . Unlike the direct selection, this technique yielded various types of mutants in which the morphology, the septation ability, and the growth rate were greatly affected. Biull Eksp Biol Med, 1979 Feb, 87(2), 158 - 60 {Increase in the activity of an epileptogenic focus in frog hippocampus as a result of kynurenines and its reduction by serotonin}; Gusel' VA et al.; In frogs with epileptogenic focus induced by injection of penicillin (1000 U in 0.4 microliter) into the primordial hippocampus it was shown that pretreatment with two kynurenines (quinolinic acid -- 0.1 microgram, and d,l-kynurenine -- 1 microgram) into the focus region and their injection into the functioning epileptogenic focus led to a sharp increase of the interparoxysmal epileptiform discharges and electrographic correlates of the fit on the EEG . Anthranilic acid (5 microgram) did not influence the activity of epileptogenic foci, and serotonin (1 microgram) and 5-methoxytryptamine (1 microgram) decreased it significantly . It is suggested that the effect of kynurenines on neurones in the epileptogenic foci may play a certain role in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. Aust N Z J Med, 1979 Feb, 9(1), 69 - 70 Abdominal pain following intravenous benzyl penicillin administration; Robinson PC et al.; The occurrence of abdominal pain (in three patients) and lower chest pain (in one patient) either during or immediately after the intravenous administration of high doses of benzyl penicillin is reported . All four patients were diagnosed as having bacterial endocarditis and had been receiving between 8 and 18 mega units of the drug per day for 2--3 weeks, when the symptoms were first noticed . A skin rash also appeared in each case, at this time . Both the rash and abdominal pain disappeared when an alternative antibiotic was substituted for the penicillin. Bull N Y Acad Med, 1979 Feb, 55(2), 241 - 7 Management of obstetric and gynecologic infections resulting from trauma; Ledger WJ; PIP: Surgical procedures, abortion, and perforation by an intrauterine device (IUD) are the most prevalent obstetric and gynecologic injuries that may result in soft-tissue infection . Diagnosis and treatment must be aggressive because the abundant bacterial flora of the lower genital tract can serve as the inoculum for the serious soft-tissue pelvic infections . The large number of anaerobic organisms present contributes to the possibility of abscess formation if early antibiotic therapy is not appropriate and effective . Nevertheless, diagnosis is often difficult in a patient who becomes febrile within 48 hours of gynecologic surgery . Once diagnosis is made, however, the choice of an antibiotic depends on the severity of the illness and on the pathogens suspected of causing the infection . Because abdominal or vaginal hysterectomies crush tissue, the drug selected should provide a high-tissue level of antibiotic . Cultures should be taken before antibiotic therapy is started so that results are available if the patient does not respond to the initial antibiotic selected . Patients who are not severely ill or those who are allergic to penicillin may be traeted successfully with intravenous doxycycline . The author cites 3 clinical studies, including a total abdominal hysterectomy, a septic abortion, and an IUD perforation, which responded to this treatment . Br J Dermatol, 1979 Feb, 100(2), 183 - 5 Drugs causing fixed eruptions; Pasricha JS; Forty patients having fixed drug eruptions were subjected to provocation tests . Twelve patients failed to complete the provocation tests while in the remaining, the causative drugs were shown to be tetracyclines (6), analgin (metamizole) (6), oxyphenbutazone (5), phenobarbitone (4), sulphadiazine (3), sulphaphenazole (2), penicillin (1), suphadimethoxone (1), Saridon (1), sulphadimidine (1) and sulphamethoxypryridazine (1) . There was evidence of cross-sensitivity between tetracycline and demethylchlortetracycline and also between exyphenbutazone and phenylbutazone, but not between different sulphonamides, In 2 cases, the minimum dose of the drug capable of reactivating the lesions was 100 mg of sulphadiazine and 50 mg of Saridon respectively. Biotechnol Bioeng, 1979 Feb, 21(2), 261 - 70 Penicillin G production by immobilized whole cells of Penicillium chrysogenum; Morikawa Y et al.; Penicillium chrysogenum was immobilized in polyacrylamide gel prepared from 5% acrylamide monomers (85% acrylamide and 15% N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide) . Penicillin produced from glucose by the immobilized mycelium was 17% of that produced by washed mycelium . However, the activity of penicillin production of the washed mycelium decreased with repeated use . On the other hand, the activity of the immobilized mycelium increased initially and decreased gradually with repeated use . The rate of oxygen uptake of the immobilized mycelium was about 30% of that of the washed mycelium . The immobilized mycelium required oxygen for the production of penicillin. Am J Hosp Pharm, 1979 Feb, 36(2), 209 - 11 Stability of oral liquid penicillins in unit dose containers at various temperatures; Allen LV Jr et al.; The effect of freezing on the stability of reconstituted, unit dose packaged oral amoxicillin trihydrate and ampicillin suspensions and penicillin V potassium solutions was studied . Powders for suspension or solution of the three penicillins were reconstituted according to manufacturers' directions to yield a concentration of 250 mg/5 ml . Samples of 5 ml then were stored in amber, screw-cap, glass vials at 25 C, 5 C, 0 C, -10 C or -20 C for 5, 10, 20, 30 or 60 days . The concentration of active constituents remaining after storage was determined spectrophotometrically . All three penicillins retained at least 90% of their original activity for at least 60 days when stored at -20 C . Ampicillin and pencillin V potassium retained at least 90% of their activity after 60 days of storage at -10 C but amoxicillin concentration decreased to 88% and 87% of initial concentration after 60 days storage at -10 C and 0 C, respectively . Degradation appeared to be by a zero-order process for amoxicillin and ampicillin and by a first-order process for penicillin V potassium . It appears that oral solutions of amoxicillin, ampicillin and penicillin V potassium can be effectively stored for at least 50 days in a freezer at -10 C with little loss of activity. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol, 1979 Feb, 46(2), 189 - 96 The activity of cerebellar neurones during epileptiform activity induced by penicillin in the cerebral cortex of the rat; Gartside IB; In urethane anaesthetized rats an epileptiform focus was made in one cerebral cortex with penicillin (25 U) . The relationship between epileptiform spikes in the cerebral cortex and the activity of cerebellar cortical and nuclear neurones have been investigated by means of extracellular recording techniques and computation of peri-event histograms and 'CUSUMs' (cumulative sums of differences from the mean) . In the cerebellar cortex two distinct patterns of evoked activity were recorded: (a) In units showing little or no spontaneous activity, a brief evoked discharge followed the epileptiform spike . (b) In units showing steady spontaneous activity, a period of evoked inhibition followed the epileptiform spike . These included Purkinje cells and probably inhibitory interneurones . In the intracerebellar nuclei, cells with marked spontaneous activity showed a prolonged period of increased discharge following the epileptiform spike . It is concluded that the output of the intracerebellar nuclei is increased by epileptiform activity in the cerebral cortex . The significance of these results is discussed. Postgrad Med, 1979 Jan, 65(1), 62 - 6, 68-9, 72-4 Anaerobic pleuro-pulmonary infections; Green SL; Anaerobic pleuropulmonary infections usually arise from aspiration of oral bacteria . The degree of virulence depends on host factors, especially state of tissue oxygenation, and on size of inoculum . Fetid sputum, if present, frequently is diagnostic . Use of penicillin G is preferred therapy for all forms of anaerobic pleuropulmonary infection. J Pharm Sci, 1979 Jan, 68(1), 64 - 9 Carbon-13 magnetic resonance spectroscopy of drugs III: penicillins; Chang CJ et al.; The natural abundance 13C-NMR spectra of a series of penicillins (penicillin V methyl ester, penicillin V, penicillin G, methicillin, oxacillin, cloxacillin, and dicloxacillin) were studied . The chemical shifts were assigned using the pulse Fourier transform technique with the aid of long-range carbon-13 hydrogen coupling . The previous assignments of pencillin V methyl ester were revised. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 1979, 73(5), 579 - 83 Therapeutic trial of intracisternal human tetanus immunoglobulin in clinical tetanus; Vakil BJ et al.; A trial has been conducted of the efficacy of human tetanus immunoglobulin (250 I U) administered intrathecally (intracisternally) in addition to standard treatment (equine antitoxin intravenously, penicillin, anticonvulsants) . The trial was analysed sequentially and was stopped for 120 patients when there was no longer any chance of achieving a statistically significant difference in favour of intrathecal administration . The sequential plan was modified during the trial . A prognostic correlation was found between onset of the first symptom and admission to hospital. Arzneimittelforschung, 1979, 29(2a), 461 - 2 Investigations on group allergy reactions to cefazedone in patients with penicillin allergy of the anaphylactic type (type I) and of the delayed type (type IV); Schopf E; Allergological investigations (scratch test, intracutaneous test, RAST test, patch test) on 19 patients displaying allergies of type I or IV, respectively, against penicillin G according to Coombs and Gell, in the skin test with (6R,7R)-7-(2-{3,5-dichloro-4-oxo-1(4H)-pyridyl}-acetamido)-3-({(5-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-thio}methyl)-8-oxo-5-thia-1-azabicyclo{4,2,0}oct-2-ene-2-carboxylic acid (cefazedone, Refosporen) revealed in two cases group allergy against cefazedone . The studies demonstrate that group allergic reactions against cefazedone are quite possible in patients with primary allergy to penicillin derivatives or other beta-lactam antibiotics. Zh Nevropatol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova, 1979, 79(9), 1347 - 55 {Pathogenesis of stereotyped behavior}; Kryzhanovskii GN et al.; The paper concerns the syndrome of stereotyped behaviour in rats induced by disturbance of inhibition in both caudate nuclei under influence of tetanus toxin, penicillin, and pirotoxin injected in these nuclei . Stereotyped behaviour could be inhibited by administration of GABA into the same brain area, as well as by a systemic administration of haloperidol, diazepam, aminalon, and lithium chloride . The conclusion is made that the disturbance of GABA-egric control in the caudate nucleus is a significant pathogenetic condition of the hyperactive neostriar dofaminergic apparatus, appearing due to disinhibition . Both links compose the pathogenetic basis of the syndrome of stereotyped behaviour. Infection, 1979, 7 Suppl 6, 606 - 8 {Therapy of bronchitis and bronchopneumonia in adults with cefaclor (author's transl)}; Bohmer R; Sixty-two patients with bronchopneumonia or bronchitis were treated with cefaclor . In 42 patients (= 68%), the therapy was clinically successful . Of the patients who did not respond to therapy, cefaclor-resistant bacteria were found in the sputum culture of seven . Of the remaining 13 patients, ten suffered a secondary infection with cefaclor-resistant bacteria, and in three patients the pathogen found before therapy persisted, although sensitive to cefaclor on testing . In seven patients therapy was clinically successful although cefaclor-resistant pathogens were present before the start of therapy . In the entire group of patients investigated no increase of SGOT, SGPT, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, urea or creatinine was observed . In two patients alkaline phosphatase and SGOT increased slightly; in three patients SGPT increased slightly . On the other hand, in several patients initially elevated SGOT, SGPT and alkaline phosphatase activity decreased during therapy . Clinical side-effects were seen in two patients . In one patient with known penicillin allergy a pruritic exanthema developed; in the other patient, who had dermatitis herpetiformis, exacerbation of skin efflorescences occurred. Arzneimittelforschung, 1979, 29(12a), 1969 - 71 {Mezlocillin concentrations in human bone tissue}; Vent J; 20 patients undergoing extended hip surgery received a single i.v . injection of 2 g 6-{(R)-2-{3-methylsulfonyl-2-oxo-imidazolidine-1-carboxamido}-2-phenyl-acetamido}-penicillanic acid sodium salt (mezlocillin, Baypen) . At different times after the infections but simultaneously 31 samples of blood and bone (spongiosa) were collected for determination of mezlocillin concentrations . On an average, maximum concentrations of approximately 20 microgram/g bone were demonstrated 30 min after injection, these being within the clinico-therapeutical range . The concentration of azlocillin--another acylureido-penicillin--was comparatively higher. Infection, 1979, 7 Suppl 5, S499 - 502 Experimental evidence of a decreased incidence of penicillin allergy through use of pure penicillins; Ahlstedt S et al.; The results revealed the presence of high molecular weight impurities in commercially available penicillins, measured with a radioimmuno assay . The impurities had penicilloyl specificity and induced antibody formation in mice when the contaminated penicillin was administered in 50 mg/kg body weight daily for ten day periods with a 20 to 30 day interval . Penicillin of high purity similarly administered produced very few antibodies . Furthermore, experimentally contaminated penicillin given according to the same schedule caused IgE antibody formation against the penicilloyl moiety, while pure penicillin did not . These findings were explained by the weak immunogenicity of isologous penicilloylated serum albumin in rabbits both regarding the IgE and the IgG/IgM antibody formation compared to the immunogenicity of heterologous bovine serum albumin similarly penicilloylated. Exp Pathol (Jena), 1979, 17(7-8), 513 - 5 Studies on the quantification of local tissue injury following intramuscular injection of aqueous solutions . VIII . The local lesion after application of turimycin in different preparations; Low O et al.; The increase in drug concentration in aqueous solutions is not responded to by a comparable enlargement of volume of necrosis after intramuscular injection . After application of TURIMYCIN the lesion is more voluminous than those caused by penicillin, lower than those following OTESOLUT and nearly equal to those caused by 5% WOFAPYRIN (phenylbutazone + aminophenazone 1:1). Acta Neurochir (Wien), 1979, 48(1-2), 35 - 9 Syphilitic normal pressure hydrocephalus; Pedersen KK et al.; We report a case of presenile dementia with radiological and cisternographical features suggesting normal pressure hydrocephalus, caused by syphilitic infection . Treatment with penicillin resulted in considerable regression of the neurological and psychological signs. Infection, 1979, 7(3), 102 - 8 Comparative study of the binding of acylureidopenicillins and carbenicillin to human serum proteins; Rosenkranz H et al.; The binding of the acylureidopenicillins azlocillin and mezlocillin to serum proteins was investigated by means of equilibrium dialysis and ultracentrifugation . The penicillin concentrations were determined by the agar diffusion test and by circular dichroism . The degree of binding is dependent on the penicillin concentration . At a mean penicillin concentration of 20 microgram/ml 39% of azlocillin is bound by serum proteins and 35% of mezlocillin . The acylureidopenicillins are bound to about the same degree by the two proteins albumin and gamma globulin, which occur in different concentrations in serum . The binding affinity delta F degree for the interaction between azlocillin and mezlocillin to human albumin is equal to -15,389 J/mol . The corresponding values for the binding of ampicillin and carbenicillin are -17,340 and -16,800 J/mol . Albumin has one binding site of a high affinity and two binding sites of a low affinity for the acylureidopenicillins . Measurements of partition coefficients of the penicillins for isobutanol and aqueous solution show that the interaction between acylureidopenicillins and serum is mainly hydrophobic in nature . This can be deduced from the fact that for example in the presence of sisomicin azlocillin is not displaced from its albumin binding site, in contrast to carbenicillin . The reason for this difference in behaviour lies in the fact that carbenicillin, like sisomicin, is bound to the serum proteins mainly by ionic bonds . In the case of azlocillin, however, hydrophobic bounds predominate which are not influenced by the ionic bonds of sisomicin. Dermatologica, 1979, 159(3), 266 - 73 An abortive form of pemphigus vulgaris probably induced by penicillin; Ruocco V et al.; A case of an abortive form of pemphigus probably induced by protracted penicillin treatment is reported . Because of a positive patch test with penicillamine and the finding of such an amino acid in patient's plasma, the authors are induced to believe that the trigger factor could really have been penicillamine formed by the metabolic breakdown of the penicillin molecule. Padiatr Padol, 1979, 14(3), 225 - 32 {Asplenia and DIC (author's transl)}; Mitterstieler G et al.; 3 cases of severe septic shock are described; a 5 month old girl with congenital hyposplenia, a 2 3/12 year old boy splenectomized because of microspherozytosis and a 11 6/12 year old boy splenectomized because of Hodgkin's disease . In 2 cases pneumococci were found in the blood cultures . In all 3 cases the coagulation analysis showed a consumption coagulopathy . Intravenous streptokinase treatment was applied in addition to general treatment for shock and antibiotic therapy . 2 patients survived and made a complete recovery, whereas the 2 year old boy died . The histological findings showed a severe DIC . In the Department of Surgery, Innsbruck, 44 children have been splenectomized during the last 6 years, 38 of whom we were able to follow up on for an average of 3.3 years . After an average of 1.2 years following splenectomy, 4 patients (including the 3 cases mentioned above) contracted acute septicaemia; a further patient also incurring a probable sepsis with DIC . 3 of these 5 children died, representing a morbidity rate of 13% and a mortality rate of 8% . The mortality rate is thus as high as that caused by the primary disease, indicating the urgency of prophylaxis for infections of this kind . 3 prophylactic forms of treatment are suggested: protection with penicillin, active immunization with polyvalent pneumococcal antigen and spleen preservation whenever possible. Chemotherapy, 1979, 25(3), 129 - 39 Evaluation of the biliary excretion of pencillin G; Brogard JM et al.; Biliary excretion of penicillin G was studied experimentally by perfusion of isolated rabbit liver . Under these conditions, bile recovery accounted for 5% of the amount of penicillin G added to the perfusing blood (10 mg) . In man, after intravenous administration of a 599-mg dose of penicillin G (1,000,000 U) to patients provided with T-tube drainage (n = 10), the maximum biliary level averaged 18.0 +/- 8.0 microgram/ml at 2 h; biliary recovery of penicillin G accounted for 0.12% of the administered dose . The excretion of penicillin G in the juice collected through duodenal tubing in normal subjects averaged 0.07% of the administered dose . Peroperative assays showed that the concentrations determined 1 h after intravenous administration 599 mg of the drug attained 45.7 +/- 16.7 microgram/ml in the gallbladder bile and 93.5 +/- 16.3 microgram/ml in the common-duct bile. Can J Physiol Pharmacol, 1979 Jan, 57(1), 24 - 30 Effects of penicillin pretreatment on renal tubular para-aminohippurate transport in the immature rat; Noordewier B et al.; The effect of pretreatment with penicillin on para-aminohippurate (PAH) transport by the kidney of the immature rat was evaluated in vivo . After 3 days of penicillin administration, renal clearances of inulin (CIN), PAH (CPAH), and the renal tubular transport maximum (Tm) for PAH were measured in rats as young as 17 days of age . The CPAH in 19- to 21-day-old rats pretreated with procaine penicillin was 54% greater than that of their littermate controls . Similarly, CPAH of rats that received sodium penicillin was 31% greater than control . CIN was not increased after penicillin pretreatment . Pretreatment of rats older than 24 days did not change CIN or CPAH . The Tm for PAH of 17-day-old rats pretreated with sodium penicillin was 51% greater than that of control rats . It was concluded that pretreatment with penicillin enhances the renal secretion of organic anions by the immature rat. Contact Dermatitis, 1979 Jan, 5(1), 1 - 10 Predictive evaluation in animals of the contact allergenic potential of medically important substances . II . Comparison of different methods of cutaneous sensitization with "weak" allergens; Maurer T et al.; Results of the optimization method and of other methods used to assess contact allergy in laboratory animals were compared with known epidemiological data on the occurrence of hypersensitivity reactions in man . Tests were performed with preservatives (formalin, ethylenediamine and sorbic acid), drugs (penicillin G, Benzocaine and sulphathiazole) and other contactants belonging to widely different chemical classes (p-phenylenediamine, triclosan, pyrazole derivatives, nickel and chrome salts, eugenol, isoeugenol and mercaptobenzothiazole) . The degree of sensitization achieved in guinea pigs by the optimized procedure (intradermal test with adjuvant combination) and the maximization procedure was invariably superior to that produced by the epidermal method using prior irritation of the site of application . Both the optimized procedure and the maximization test seem to be capable of identifying contact allergens that cause hypersensitivity reactions in as few as 1 in 10,000 of the human population as a whole . The optimization test merits consideration as a standardized and efficiently predictive procedure. J Gen Microbiol, 1979 Jan, 110(1), 1 - 12 Induced quantitative variation for penicillin titre in clonal populations of Aspergillus nidulans; Simpson IN et al.; The variation in penicillin titre within populations of cultures of Aspergillus nidulans derived from untreated conidia and from conidia treated with ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS), near-ultraviolet light in the presence of 8-methoxypsoralen (8MOP) or N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG), each at several dose levels, was determined . Both mutagentreated and untreated populations showed a continuous distribution of pencillin titres . The population mean titre of the mutagenized populations was decreased and the range of titres was increased relative to those of the control populations . No differences between sister cultures could be detected in three untreated populations, but nine out of ten populations derived from mutagenized conidia showed significant variation for penicillin titre . In general the magnitude of this induced variation increased with increasing dosage of the mutagen . Comparisons at fixed survival levels indicate that 8MOP mutagenesis is less effective for the induction of variation in penicillin titre than EMS or NTG mutagenesis . A statistical procedure was adopted to classify the survivors as unchanged cultures ('0'), titre-increasing mutants ('+') or titre-decreasing mutants ("-") . The frequency of both '+' and '-' mutants increased following mutagenesis, with NTG being the most active of the three mutagens . Over all treatments, these two mutant classes were recovered with equal frequency . The frequency of "+" mutants was largely independent of mutagen dose, within the ranges used, and moderate treatments (around 10% survival) gave as high or higher frequencies than more extreme doses . All three mutagens, and in particular NTG, produced morphological mutants . These contained an increased frequency of titre-decreasing mutants, but increases in titre appeared to be independent of changes in colony morphology . Estimates based on the observed frequencies of penicillin titre mutants suggest that several hundred genes are potentially capable of affecting this continuous variable. J Bacteriol, 1979 Jan, 137(1), 644 - 7 Mutational evidence for identity of penicillin-binding protein 5 in Escherichia coli with the major D-alanine carboxypeptidase IA activity; Matsuhashi M et al.; The defect in D-alanine carboxypeptidase IA activity in the dacA11191 mutant of Escherichia coli was correlated with a defect in the release of penicillin G from penicillin-binding protein 5 . The results suggest that penicillin-binding protein 5 catalyzes the major D-alanine carboxypeptidase IA activity of the wild type and that the mutation results in a defect in the deacylation step catalyzed by this enzyme. Rev Infect Dis, 1979 Jan-Feb, 1(1), 127 - 31 Penetration of cefoxitin into human cerebrospinal fluid: comparison with cefamandole, ampicillin, and penicillin; Liu C et al.; Single, intravenously administered doses of cefoxitin and cefamandole did not penetrate into cerebrospinal fluid of normal humans . Multiple-dose administration with or without probenecid facilitated penetration of both antibiotics into the cerebrospinal fluid . Preliminary data showed that cefoxitin penetrated into cerebrospinal fluid of patients with inflamed meninges even when administered in a single dose without probenecid . However, the concentrations of cefoxitin in the cerebrospinal fluid of the individuals studied were not within the therapeutic range. J Reprod Fertil Suppl, 1979, (27), 293 - 7 The use of fibre-optic techniques in clinical diagnosis and visual assessment of experimental intrauterine therapy in mares; Mather EC et al.; Intrauterine fibroscopy was used in the clinical evaluation of 40 mares with established histories of subfertility . The average age of the mares was 12.2 years with a 2.8-year interval from last foaling in multiparous mares . Transluminal adhesions, endometrial cysts, diffuse fibrosis, fluid accumulation or myometrial tumours were found in 26 mares . When compared to other techniques, fibroscopy did not seem to be superior to uterine biopsy but had some advantage over rectal palpation as a single diagnostic technique . Only 3 mares failed to exhibit pathological findings when all 3 techniques were used . A second study was conducted to examine visually the effect of infusing various antibiotics and disinfectants into the uteri of clinically normal dioestrous mares . Fibre-optic examinations were performed before and after infusion of 3 mares/treatment . No gross pathological changes were seen 3 days after infusion of potassium penicillin, chloramphenicol succinate or a soluble oxytetracycline powder in a dextrose base . Lugol's solution caused severe inflammation, fibrin deposition, and ulceration of the endometrium . Ampicillin resulted in a white precipitate which adhered to the the endometrium for 10 days after treatment. Ciba Found Symp, 1979, (72), 19 - 47 Kinetic and chemical properties of ATP sulphurylase from Penicillin chrysogenum; Seubert PA et al.; Adenosine triphosphate sulphurylase (ATP: sulfate adenylyltransferase, EC 2.7.7.4.) has been purified from the filamentous fungus . Penicillium chrysogenum, and characterized physically, kinetically, and chemically . The P . Chrysogenum enzyme is an octomer (mol . wt . 440 000) composed of eight identical subunits (mol . wt . 55 000) . Some physical constants are S20,w = 13.0 X 10(-13)s, D20,w = 2.94 X 10(-7) cm2 X s-1, v = 0.733 cm3 X g-1, A1%1cm = 8.71 at 278 nm . The enzyme catalyses (a) the synthesis of adenosine 5'-phosphosulphate (APS) and MgPPi from MgATP and SO2-4, (b) the hydrolysis of MgATP to AMP and MgPPi in the absence of SO2-4, (c) Mg32PPi-MgATP exchange in the absence of SO2-4, (d) molybdolysis of MgATP to AMP and MgPPi, (e) synthesis of MgATP and SO2-4 from APS and MgPPi, and (f) Mg32PPi-MgATP exchange in the presence of SO2-4 . The Vmax values of reactions (a)-(c) are about 0.10-0.35 mumole X min-1 X mg enzyme-1 . The Vmax values of reactions (d)-(f) are about 12-19 mumole X min-1 X mg enzyme-1 . The catalytic activity of the enzyme in the direction of APS synthesis is rather low (0.13 unit X mg protein-1, corresponding to an active site turnover number of 7.15 min-1) . However, the ATP sulphurylase content of mycelium growing on excess SO2-4 is 0.22 unit X g dry wt.-1, which is sufficient to account for the maximum in vivo rate of SO2-4 assimilation . The normal catalytic reaction is Ordered Bi Bi with A = MgATP, B = SO2-4, P = MgPPi, and Q = APS . Several lines of kinetic evidence suggest that the E.MgATP and E.APS complexes isomerize (to E approximately AMP.MgPPi and E approximately AMP.SO4, respectively) before the second substrate binds . Chemical modification studies have disclosed the presence of essential arginine, histidine, carboxyl, and tryosine residues . The latter is rather acidic (pKa = 7 or less) . Nitration of the tyrosine increases the Km for MgATP without significantly affecting Kia for MgATP or Vmaxf . This result, and the fact that MgATP plus nitrate protects the enzyme against inactivation by tetranitromethane while MgATP alone does not, suggests that the essential tyrosine plays a role in nucleotide isomerization (perhaps as an adenylyl acceptor). J Immunol Methods, 1979, 30(3), 245 - 55 Periodate or glutaraldehyde for preparing peroxidase conjugates? Boorsma DM, Streefkerk JG. Conjugates of horseradish peroxidase with antibodies (anti-human IgG (H + L)) or their Fab' fragments were prepared according to the newest modification of the periodate (P-) method or the two-step glutaraldehyde (G-) method . The conjugates were analysed by gel chromatography and subsequently tested in three different applications . For tissue immunohistochemistry on sections of lupus erythematosus skin, G-conjugates were preferred to polymeric P-conjugates . In ELISA for detection of human antibodies against penicillin P-conjugates were superior to G-conjugates . For the detection of surface Ig on lymphoid cells both types of conjugate were more or less equally suitable . A scheme for the most suitable combinations of method of preparation and field of application is given. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol, 1979, 58(1), 20 - 9 Antigens in penicillin allergy . III . Antigen and antibody levels in mice treated with pure and contaminated penicillins; Ahlstedt S et al.; Using a radioimmunoassay, it was shown that commercially available ampicillin preparations often contain penicilloylated high molecular weight impurities . These possess immunological activities and stimulate penicilloyl-specific antibody formation in mice treated according to a therapeutic schedule . Using purified and experimentally contaminated preparations it was also found that exposure of the animals to Escherichia coli and Bordetella pertussis bacteria could increase the antibody formation to small amounts of impurities . In addition, penicilloylated antigen could be recorded in serum from treated animals . The antigen formed by penicilloylation in vivo, however, was very weak and did not induce much antibody formation when injected together with Freund's adjuvant in mice or rabbits. Prostaglandins Med, 1979 Jan, 2(1), 77 - 80 Penicillin and essential fatty acid supplementation in schizophrenia; Vaddadi KS; There is evidence of a prostaglandin deficiency in schizophrenia, possibly particularly of the 1 series . Treatment of neuroleptic-resistant schizophrenics with essential fatty acids and penicillin in an attempt to increase synthesis of 1 series prostaglandins had a therapeutic effect in six severely ill patients . Two detailed case histories are described. Zentralbl Bakteriol Naturwiss, 1979, 134(8), 721 - 32 The site of benzyl penicillin accumulation in Penicillium chrysogenum; Kurylowicz W et al.; Benzyl penicillin was localized in cells of Penicillium chrysogenum by means of enzymatical and immunological methods, enabling the determination of minute amounts of penicillin . The reactions were performed on ultrathin sections . They allow to determine the antibiotic inside of the cells . The results indicate that benzyl penicillin is present in the vesicles belonging to the Golgi apparatus . Benzyl penicillin is transported from the cytoplasm outside the cell membrane by the Golgi vesicles. Zentralbl Bakteriol Naturwiss, 1979, 134(8), 706 - 20 The ultrastructure of Penicillium chrysogenum in the course of benzyl-penicillin biosynthesis; Kurylowicz W et al.; The find structures of high- and low-yield mutants of Penicillium chrysogenum, producing 100 and 10,000 units/ml of penicillin G, were compared . The cells of both mutants demonstrated a typical eukaryotic ultrastructure . In the cytoplasm nuclei, mitochondira, lipid bodies, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi vesicles were observed . In the cells of high-yield mutant, during the biosynthesis of penicillin, the number of lipid bodies decreased . It is possible that the lipids are metabolized in the process of biosynthesis of penicillin . In the cytoplasm more multivesicular bodies and small vesicles, about 40 nm in diameter, could be seen . These Golgi vesicles, present in largest number in cells of high-yield mutant, fuse with the cell membrane and play an important role in the transport of penicillin from the cytoplasm to the cell environment . The cell walls of the high-yield mutant become three times thicker during the antibiotic biosynthesis . No comparable changes were observed in the ultrastructure of the low-yield mutant . The cell wall thickness did not increase, the cytoplasm contained few Golgi vesicles only, and the lipid bodies can be seen in all cells. J Hyg Epidemiol Microbiol Immunol, 1979, 23(2), 129 - 34 On the pathogenicity of nonstable Brucella L-forms and their revertants; Grekova NA et al.; The pathogenicity of B . abortus 870 L-forms obtained by long-term passaging of virulent culture on media with penicillin and of revertants obtained in vitro and in vivo was studied . L-form cultures stimulated only a mild response of the reticulo-endothelial system of the animal organism, at the same time displaying a certain level of toxicity . In vitro revertants approximated to L-forms, while in vivo revertants stood closer to the initial virulent culture, as regards pathogenicity . This seems to be evidence of a potential danger of brucella L-forms for the human and animal organisms. Padiatr Padol, 1979, 14(4), 477 - 80 {Therapy of bacterial infections in infancy and childhood (author's transl)}; Fink M et al.; 83 in-patients, age 3 months to 12 years, with tonsillitis, otitis, bronchitis and pneumonia were treated with a new galenic preparation of phenoxymethylpenicillin V potassium (Star-Pen Trockensirus SANABO) . The drug was very well tolerated, no skin-rash was observed, no problems occurred with the oral administration . Diarrhea, not infrequent in oral penicillin therapy, was -- with one exception -- not noticed in patients above one year of age. J Hyg Epidemiol Microbiol Immunol, 1979, 23(1), 51 - 8 Profiles of fourteen specific serum proteins in children with recurrent scarlet fever; Wiedermann D et al.; Venous blood samples were obtained from 42 children hospitalized for the recurrent episode of scarlet fever: immediately after admission and toward the end of one week's hospitalisation, after a three-week period and at a later control after four months . The 14 specific proteins were simultaneously quantitated in the serum specimens using radial immunodiffusion on antibodyagar plates . Antistreptolysin O titres were also determined and compared with the corresponding immunoglobulin levels . However, the titres showed only minor differences in various stages of illness the course of which was mild and without complications . Serum levels of prealbumin, albumin, alpha2HS-glycoproetin, transferrin and beta 2-glycoprotein I were found decreased at the acute clinical stage . Of the "negative acute phase reactants" prealbumin proved to be the most expressive one . Of a triad of "positive reactants" the largest relative increments showed haptoglobin, its increase was twofold of orosomucoid and that threefold of ceruloplasmin . C-reactive protein was increased almost in two thirds of patients on admission, but normalized in all cases about the end of the first week of penicillin therapy . No significant changes were found for alpha 2-macroglobulin . We could demonstrate significant rise and fall of IgD concentration in serum together with IgG, IgA, and IgM, all manifested the peak values already after one week's hospitalisation . In the recurrent episode of scarlet fever IgA showed significantly minor increments compared with the first illness. Physiol Bohemoslov, 1979, 28(5), 419 - 23 Correlation of the macrogram and the microgram of the penicillin focus in turtle (Testudo) cerebral cortex . Localization of the capillary microelectrode tip with Pontamine Sky Blue 6BX; Strejckova A et al.; Localization of the tip of the recording microelectrode with Pontamine Sky Blue 6BX introduced into the tissue iontophoretically was used to study the relationship of the morphological type of the neurone to a given type of elecrographic activity during the epileptic focal discharge . Paroxysmal depolarization shifts (PDSs) and short bursts of spikes in the negative phase of the focal discharge were found to be related to cells of the pyramidal type . Conversely, ovoid cells were active only in quiescent intervals and were inhibited throughout the whole duration of the focal discharge. Acta Derm Venereol, 1979, 59(2), 182 - 3 Scleredema of Buschke with IgA deficiency; Theodoridis A et al.; We describe here a case of Scleredema of Buschke in a female patient aged 63 with IgA deficiency . The disorder appeared after an acute episode of tonsillitis, followed by non-pitting, woody hardness of the skin of the face, neck, shoulders and upper part of the trunk . The disorder resolved after 5 months of penicillin treatment. South Med J, 1979 Jan, 72(1), 20 - 2 Penicillin-insensitive pneumococci: isolation from patients with pneumonia; Perlino CA et al.; Pneumococci relatively insensitive to penicillin G were isolated from the sputum of two patients with pneumonia . One of the organisms was also relatively insensitive to ampicillin, cefamandole, and cephalothin and was resistant to tetracycline . Because penicillin-insensitive pneumococci are being reported with greater frequency, continued surveillance of pneumococcal sensitivity to penicillin is appropriate. Dtsch Med Wochenschr, 1978 Dec 8, 103(49), 1958 - 60 {Hyperbaric oxygen treatment in gas gangrene (author's transl)}; Nier H et al.; Among 100 patients with proven gas gangrene surgical treatment was undertaken in 34 who also received 30--60 mega-units of penicillin, in addition to appropriate shock treatment . Since 1967, additional treatment in a hyperbaric chamber was undertaken in 66 patients . There was no clear-cut advantage of hyperbaric oxygenation as far as the death-rate was concerned . There was merely a moderate decrease in the amputation rate after limb injuries . Wide incision of the wound and radical surgical excision of all tissue affected by gas gangrene continues to be an essential form of treatment. Pediatr Radiol, 1978 Dec 4, 7(4), 229 - 31 The unusual case: persistence of metaphyseal changes in penicillin treated congenital syphilis; Reiter S et al.; A case of congenital syphilis is described in which the diagnosis was not made until the age of 9 and with persistance of metaphyseal changes in spite of prolonged penicillin treatment. Ann Neurol, 1978 Dec, 4(6), 524 - 30 Cerebrospinal fluid findings in asymptomatic patients with reactive serum fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption tests; Traviesa DC et al.; It is common to examine the cerebrospinal fluid in untreated or inadequately treated asymptomatic patients with a reactive serum fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test before initiating antibiotic therapy for syphilis . This prospective study evaluated the usefulness of such examination . Four hundred thirty-two patients over 40 years old, reporting for annual physical examination, had a serum FTA-ABS test . Thirty-seven (8.6%) patients and 2 of 4 spouses were reactive repeatedly . Of the 39 patients with reactive tests, 7 had a history of penicillin therapy for syphilis, 5 had received heavy metal therapy, and 27 had no history of syphilis . These 39 patients had a neurological examination, serum VDRL, Treponema pallidum immobilization (TPI), and repeat FTA-ABS tests by two other laboratories . The TPI test was reactive in 30 (77%) . Four had nonspecific neurological signs . Routine CSF examination (cells, total protein, VDRL, glucose, IgG%) on 30 patients with a history of inadequate treatment had a low diagnostic yield . Two patients had an unexplained total protein elevation (57 and 61 mg/dl) and 1 had a mildly increased IgG% (15%) . All cell counts, VDRL tests, and glucose levels were normal . Agarose electrophoresis demonstrated one or more CSF immunoglobulin bands in 10 (36%) of 28 patients, possibly representing an immunological marker of past or latent central nervous system infection. Epilepsia, 1978 Dec, 19(6), 637 - 42 Chronically isolated cerebral hemisphere in the cat: effects of parenteral administration of penicillin; Hablitz JJ; Brain electrical activity (EEG) of cats with chronic, complete, neural isolation of the cortex of an entire cerebral hemisphere was studied prior to and following intramuscular administration of penicillin (250,000--300,000 units/kg) . The most prominent feature of the isolated hemisphere's EEG during base-line recordings was irregular, aperiodic, slow-wave activity with intermittent sharp waves and occasional spike discharges . Following penicillin administration there was an increase in the number of spikes and sharp waves in the isolated hemisphere and an increase in amplitude of the background activity . Simultaneously recorded EEG activity of the intact hemisphere demonstrated the paroxysmal burts of sharp waves or spike-wave complexes that have been described previously in normal animals . There was complete independence of the electrical activity recorded from intact and isolated hemispheres . These results indicate that intramuscularly administered penicillin can exert a convulsant effect on cortical structures in the absence of subcortical connections, but the generalized epileptiform activity seen in normal animals is dependent on thalamocortical connections. J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 1978 Dec, 207(3), 726 - 36 Alteration of renal cortical palmitate utilization and p-aminohippurate (PAH) accumulation after penicillin treatment of neonatal rabbits; Hewitt WR et al.; The renal organic anion transport system has been linked to the selective extraction of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) from arterial blood . Consequently, p-aminohippurate (PAH) and palmitate may compete for a common intracellular binding site or may be handled by a common enzymatic pathway . The purpose of this study was to identify sites of interaction by correlating alterations in PAH accumulation and palmitate metabolism after selective stimulation of the PAH transport system . Penicillin treatment of immature rabbits increased PAH accumulation by suspensions of proximal tubules prepared nonenzymatically) and altered distribation of incorporated palmitate{14C} within tubule lipid classes . Penicillin increased palmitate{14C} esterified to triglycerides and decreased 14C recovered as NEFA . Administration of iodipamide had no effect on PAH accumulation and did not alter palmitate utilization . Penicillin treatment of mature rabbits did not alter either tubule PAH accumulation or palmitate esterification . These results suggested that palmitate and PAH share a common intracellular binding site and that penicillin enhanced PAH accumulation by removing endogenous inhibitors (NEFA). Am J Hosp Pharm, 1978 Dec, 35(12), 1535 - 8 Successful treatment of acrodermatitis enteropathica with zinc sulfate; Steiner GA; A case of a 22-month-old child with acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE) is reported . At five months of age, the patient experienced generalized oral and cutaneous candidiasis for which she was treated with nystatin and iodochlorhydroxyquin-hydrocortisone . She then had to be treated for secondary infection of the lesions . After three months, the cycle repeated, and the patient was treated with topical clotrimazole, Mycolog (nystatin, gramicidin, neomycin sulfate, triamcinolone acetonide) and oral nystatin . After a worsening of her condition, she was admitted to a hospital where she was treated initially with procaine penicillin G, then methicillin sodium and gentamicin sulfate . Treatment with zinc sulfate, 50 mg t.i.d., was initiated when laboratory studies showed a serum zinc level of 60 microgram/dl . Skin lesions were 99% resolved and serum zinc increased to 118 microgram/dl after 17 days of zinc sulfate therapy . Previous case reports and studies of the clinical features, treatment and pathogenesis of AE are reviewed. J Antibiot (Tokyo), 1978 Dec, 31(12), 1292 - 5 Enzymatic studies on the mechanism of action of cefoxitin . Correlation between the affinities of cefoxitin to penicillin-binding proteins and its rates of inhibition of the respective penicillin-sensitive reactions in E . coli; Matsuhashi M et al.; The affinities of cefoxitin, a cephamycin antibiotic, to penicillin-binding proteins of Escherichia coli were reexamined using a recently developed method for separating penicillin-binding proteins . The inhibitions by this antibiotic of four measurable penicillin-sensitive enzymatic reactions, the reactions of D-alanine carboxypeptidases IA and IB, cross-bridge formation and concomitant release of D-alanine, were also measured . An approximate correlation was found between the affinities of cefoxitin to the penicillin-binding proteins responsible for these reactions and its rates of inhibition of the respective penicillin-sensitive reactions. J Antibiot (Tokyo), 1978 Dec, 31(12), 1283 - 91 Membrane-bound penicillin-binding proteins of Escherichia coli . Comparison of a strain carrying an R-factor and the parent strain; Horikawa S et al.; Membrane-bound penicillin-binding proteins of an Escherichia coli carrying an R factor which mediated the resistance to penicillins were examined by slab gel electrophoresis and fluorography using beta-lactamase inhibitors such as methicillin, clavulanic acid and MC-696-SY2-A, and by affinity chomatography . By fluorography, it appeared that the penicillin-binding proteins of the strain carrying the R factor could not be distinguished from those of the parent strain . In both strains, methicillin had a preferential affinity for penicillin-binding proteins 2 and 3, clavulanic acid for 2 and 4, and MC-696-SY2-A for 1A at the concentration which was needed to inhibit about 75 approximately 80% of beta-lactamase activity of the membrane fraction from a strain carrying an R factor . This with other facts indicates that MC-696-SY2-A has a unique character in the binding to penicillin-binding proteins . By affinity chromatography using cephalexin-CH-Sepharose 4B column, two major cephalexin-binding proteins were detected . Their molecular weights were found to be 110,000 and 32,000, respectively . These two proteins correpsonded to penicillin-binding proteins 1 and 5/6 . From these results it was suggested that the R factor had no influence on the penicillin-binding proteins in the E . coli strain examined. J Bacteriol, 1978 Dec, 136(3), 1143 - 58 Morphology of an Escherichia coli mutant with a temperature-dependent round cell shape; Iwaya M et al.; Mutants of Escherichia coli capable of growing in the presence of 10 microgram of mecillinam per ml were selected after intensive mutagenesis . Of these mutants, 1.4% formed normal, rod-shaped cells at 30 degrees C but grew as spherical cells at 42 degrees C . The phenotype of one of these rod(Ts) mutants was 88% cotransducible with lip (14.3 min), and all lip+ rod(Ts) transductants of a lip recipient had the following characteristics: (i) growth was relatively sensitive to mecillinam at 30 degrees C but relatively resistant to mecillinam at 42 degrees C; (ii) penicillin-binding protein 2 was present in membranes of cells grown at 30 degrees C in reduced amounts and was undetectable in the membranes of cells grown at 42 degrees C . The mecillinam resistance, penicillin-binding protein 2 defect, and rod phenotypes all cotransduced with lip with high frequency . Thus the mutation {rodA(Ts)} is most likely in the gene for penicillin-binding protein 2 and causes the organism to grow as a sphere at 42 degrees C, although it grows with normal rodlike morphology at 30 degrees C . At 42 degrees C, cells of this strain were round with many wrinkles on their surfaces, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy . In these round cells, chromosomes were dispersed or distributed peripherally, in contrast to normal rod-shaped cells which had centrally located, more condensed chromosomes . The round cells divided asymmetrically on solid agar, and it seemed that the plane of each successive division was perpendicular to the preceding one . On temperature shift-down in liquid medium many cells with abnormal morphology appeared before normal rod-shaped cells developed . Few abnormal cells were seen when cells were placed on solid medium during temperature shift-down . These pleiotropic effects are presumably caused by one or more mutations in the rodA gene. Epilepsia, 1978 Dec, 19(6), 567 - 79 Epileptogenic agents applied to trigeminal ganglia: absence of neuronal hyperexcitability; Burchiel KJ et al.; Chronic application of alumina cream to the trigeminal ganglion in 10 cats failed to produce a long-lasting behavioral syndrome of facial dysesthesia . Histologic and electron microscopic analysis demonstrated morphologic similarities between these ganglia and primate neocortical alumina cream epileptic foci . None of 87 ganglia neurons recorded extracellularly exhibited evidence of intrinsic hyperexcitability, i.e., abnormal spontaneous or physiologically evoked activity or any significant differences in threshold of responses to antidromic or orthodromic electrical stimulation, compared to 67 normal ganglion cells . Furthermore, topical application of penicillin to normal ganglia failed to produce abnormal activity in 42 neurons tested . These data suggest that neuronal somata lacking either dendrites or postsynaptic membranes, or both, do not develop abnormal firing behavior when challenged with these two epileptogenic agents. Br J Vener Dis, 1978 Dec, 54(6), 364 - 8 Venereal syphilis in tropical Africa; Rampen F; A steady decline in the incidence of positive results to the Kahn test is reported in Malawian patients during the period 1968-75 . Other studies have shown that the incidence of early and late syphilis in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped considerably over the past few decades . The number of reported cases of early syphilis in certain urban areas, however, appears to be high . It is suggested that the downward trend in the incidence of syphilis in Africa is related to the increased and often indiscriminate use of penicillin. Brain Res, 1978 Nov 24, 157(2), 311 - 20 Effect of amino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA) on focal penicillin seizures; Collins RC et al.; The biochemical and behavioral effects of the anticonvulsant amino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA) have been studied in a model of focal penicillin seizures in rats . At 20 mg/Kg AOAA treatment results in a progressive 11 fold increase in GABA levels in cortex over three hours . There is a decrease in aspartate, ketoglutarate, alanine and glutamine, and an initial decrease followed by an increase in pyruvate and glutamate . These results reflect a functional inhibition of several B-6 dependent aminotransferase enzymes . When rats are pretreated 30 min before the onset of focal penicillin seizures there is a 60% reduction in the number of discharges and a 34% reduction in seizure duration . Pretreatment beyond 75 min results in progressively less anticonvulsant effect, such that seizures eventually become more severe than control . There is an increase in the number and duration of discharges, seizure spikes become complex, and tonic-clonic events develop . Penicillin seizures do not cause a change in levels of GABA, but result in a decrease in glutamate within the focus . AOAA pretreatment initially prevents this decrease in glutamate but later accentuates it . The biochemical effects of AOAA are complex, but biphasic anticonvulsant properties coincide in time with a change in the balance of excitatory and inhibitory amino acids in the seizure focus. Brain Res, 1978 Nov 3, 156(1), 83 - 96 Excitability increase of neurons in olfactory cortex slices of the guinea pig after penicillin administration; Voskuyl RA et al.; The mechanism underlying the effects of penicillin on slices of the olfactory cortex of the guinea pig was examined . In a previous report it was shown that penicillin increases the amplitude of the presynaptic action potential, the population EPSP and, more strongly, the population responses of the postsynaptic cells . Moreover, the postsynaptic population responses increased in number and suggested strong repetitive firing . These results were confirmed in the present study . Analysis of stimulus-response relationships suggested that the enhancement of the postsynaptic response was due to an increase in excitability of the postsynaptic neurons by penicillin . The amplitude changes of the presynaptic action potential and the EPSP were probably largely, if not completely, due to an increase in resistance of the bathing fluid . It was found that the changes in population responses paralleled to a large extent changes in cell discharge . In addition, penicillin was found to induce spontaneous firing of the postsynaptic cells . The changes in cell discharge were consistent with an increase in excitability of the postsynaptic cells. J Protozool, 1978 Nov, 25(4), 491 - 6 Some factors influencing the in vitro infectivity and replication of Encephalitozoon cuniculi; Shadduck JA et al.; Rabbit Encephalitozoon cuniculi were propagated in vitro using rabbit choroid plexus (RCP) cells . The organisms reached maximum titer and numbers by 15 days . The source and in vitro passage level of RCP cells moderately influenced the sensitivity of the cells to infection . Cells less than 1 week old were significantly less sensitive than older cells . A moderate increase in infectivity for RCP cells was demonstrated with increasing organism passage level in vitro . Rabbit E . cuniculi were not affected by penicillin-streptomycin or gentamicin in the culture medium . The organism survived more than 9 days in buffer at 37 C and least 24 days at 4 and 20 C . Storage at -70 C or in liquid nitrogen was successful for at least 6 months . Encephalitozoon cuniculi survived 60 but not 120 min at 56 C . They were killed after 10 min of autoclaving and by 2% (v/v) Lysol, 10% (v/v) formalin and 70% (v/v) ethyl alcohol . The organisms survived at least 24 h at pH 9 or pH 4 and were not affected by sonication, freezing and thawing, or distilled water but lost significant infectivity after 24 h in CsCl or 40% (w/v) sucrose. HNO, 1978 Nov, 26(11), 374 - 6 {A clinical report of luetic hearing loss (author's transl)}; von Schulthess G; Three patients with syphilitic hearing losses are reported . In these patients, the impairment of cochleovestibular function progressed rapidly and quite often with fluctuations . The prognosis of inner ear damage is generally poor . However, in one 24-year old patient, treatment with penicillin and cortisone was successful in arresting hearing loss . This loss began early in the second stage of the disease so that its luetic origin could be recognized at the onset of the otological symptoms. HNO, 1978 Nov, 26(11), 366 - 70 {Is surgery for infections of the maxilla and face still justified? (author's transl)}; Hollmann K et al.; Based on the authors' studies and on publications by others from the Vienna Department of Maxillo-facial surgery over the past 60 years common infections of the maxilla and face and the incidences and prognosis of their life-threatening complications and reviewed . Fatalities as expected became substantially less frequent after the introduction of antibiotics, but the number of deaths due to septicaemic abscesses in contrast to those due to local complications has fallen only slightly since penicillin usage . The danger of overrating the therapeutic potential of antibiotics is emphasized, and despite major advances in chemotherapy the discrimination between pathologies preferably treated surgically or conservatively has by no means changes. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 1978 Nov, 62(5), 276 - 82 Benzylpenicillin preparations can evoke a systemic anaphylactic reaction in guinea pigs; Muranaka M et al.; All of the five commercially available benzylpenicillin preparations obtained from different sources and a PcG preparation prepared by filtration of a commercial PcG on Sephadex G10 elicited the systemic anaphylactic reactions in guinea pigs which had been immunized with benzylpenicilloyl (BPO)-Ascaris extract conjugate (BPO-As) mixed with aluminum bydroxide gel . These preparations could evoke no such reactions in guinea pigs immunized with BPO-bovine gamma globulin conjugate (BPO-BGG) emulsified with complete Freund's adjuvant . The severity of the systemic anaphylactic reactions correlated significantly with the titers of either 8-day passive cutaneous anaphylactic (8-day PCA) reactions or 4-hr PCA reactions evoked with the same benzylpenicillin preparations . In vitro benzylpenicillin preparation contracted the tracheas of the guinea pigs immunized with BPO-As . These results indicated that the commercially available benzylpenicillin preparations have enough antigenicity to evoke systemic anaphylactic reactions in guinea pigs immunized with BPO-As mixed with aluminum hydroxide gel . Such guinea pigs represent an animal model for investigation of penicillin allergy. Minerva Med, 1978 Oct 13, 69(48), 3319 - 22 {Acute renal insufficiency caused by rifampicin}; Rossi E et al.; A case of acute renal insufficiency associated with acute hepatitis that arose in the course of intermittent rifampicine management is reported . Specific reagin-type antibodies were noted in the circulating blood . The clinical, morphological and pathogenetic aspects of the case are compared with those of kidney disease caused by penicillin . While certain clinical features appear in both situations, the histological and immunofluorescence data suggest that two separate pathological entities are involved. Brain Res, 1978 Oct 13, 154(2), 317 - 29 Selective amplitude histograms: a statistical approach to EEG-single unit relationships in generalized epilepsy; Wray DV et al.; Statistical analysis techniques that permit detection and quantification of EEG-single unit correlations were employed in a study of generalized penicillin epilepsy in the cat . Single unit activity was recorded in cerebral and cerebellar cortices and compared to the locally recorded EEG . It was found that during generalized paroxysmal activity the background EEG was significantly related to the time of occurrence of unit discharge . The degree of synchrony of various units differed but tended to increase as the duration and extent of paroxysmal activity increased . These relationships were usually not evident upon visual inspection of the original unprocessed data but were consistently detected by the analysis techniques described here . The results demonstrate the usefulness of a statistical approach to the analysis of single unit data and suggest that, not only is there a significant relationship between paroxysmal events and neuronal activity in generalized penicillin epilepsy, but also an overall trend to closer synchronization of EEG and single unit discharges during nonparoxysmal periods. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1978 Oct 12, 526(2), 572 - 9 {Kinetics of beta-lactamase inhibition by clavulanic acid}; Labia R et al.; The mechanisms of action of 3 R-factors on beta-lactamases (penicillin amido-beta-lactamhydrolase, EC 3.5.2.6) (TEM-1 pI = 5.4, TEM-2 pI = 5.6 and Pitton's type 2 pI = 7.7) have been kinetically analyzed for clavulanic acid inactivation . Clavulanic acid appears as a competitive and irreversible inhibitor (Kcat inhibitor) reacting in two steps: a, formation of a reversible enzyme . inhibitor complex (characterized by a Ki); b, evolution of the reversible complex into a new derivative (covalent, stable and inactive) by monomolecular kinetics characterized by a k6 (or Kcat) related to half-life . The kinetic constants are: TEM-1: Ki = 0.8 micrometer, k6 = 0.027 s-1; TEM-2: Ki = 0.7 micrometer, k6 = 0.03 s-1; type 2: Ki = 0.6 micrometer, k6 = 0.046 s-1 . These results justify the 'progressive irreversible' character of the inhibition generally described. Arch Microbiol, 1978 Oct 4, 119(1), 43 - 7 Uptake and metabolism of alpha-aminoadipic acid by Penicillium chrysogenum Wis 54-1255; Friedrich CG et al.; The uptake of 1-14C-DL-alpha-aminoadipate in resting mycelium of Penicillium chrysogenum Wis 54-1255 and its metabolism during benzylpenicillin formation were studied . The pH optimum for uptake at 25 degrees C was 6.4 . Over a range of concentrations from 0.01--1.0 mM, approximately 45% of 1-14C-DL-alpha-aminoadipate was taken up by carbon-starved mycelium . 14CO2 was formed at a low rate, and the total formed amounted to only 1--3% of the 1-14C-DL-alpha-aminoadipate supplied . The intracellular pool of alpha-aminoadipate appears to be expandable, depending on the concentration of alpha-aminoadipate in the medium . The rate of penicillin synthesis depended on the intracellular concentration of alpha-aminoadipate . Penicillin biosynthesis achieved half of the maximum rate at an intracellular concentration of 0.06 nmol alpha-aminoadipate/mg dry cell weight . This low concentration, the result of adding 0.01 mM DL-alpha-aminoadipate to the medium, was sufficient to reverse the inhibition of penicillin biosynthesis caused by 10 mM extracellular L-lysine . Aminoadipate appears to be recycled during penicillin formation . Labeled alpha-ketoadipate was formed from alpha-aminoadipate to the extent of about 25%. Sex Transm Dis, 1978 Oct-Dec, 5(4), 151 - 4 Etiologies of postgonococcal urethritis in homosexual and heterosexual men: roles of Chlamydia trachomatis and Ureaplasma urealyticum; Bowie WR et al.; Before treatment for urethral gonorrhea, Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from 18% and Ureaplasma urealyticum from 37% of 121 men . C . trachomatis was recovered from none of 18 homosexual men who had gonorrhea and from 22 of 95 heterosexual men who had gonorrhea (P less than 0.05) . After treatment with a penicillin, postgonococcal urethritis occurred significantly more often in heterosexual than in homosexual men (P less than 0.002) . Postgonococcal urethritis developed in all men from whom C . trachomatis was isolated . Among men without U . urealyticum infection, postgonococcal urethritis was significantly associated with C . trachomatis infection (P less than 0.02) . Among men without C . trachomatis infection, postgonococcal urethritis was less closely associated with U . urealyticum infection (0.1 greater than P greater than 0.05) . Postgonococcal urethritis was least frequent among men who had neither C . trachomatis nor U . urealyticum infection. Pediatr Res, 1978 Oct, 12(10), 992 - 7 Maturation of p-aminohippuric acid transport in the developing rabbit kidney: interrelationships of the individual components; Cole BR et al.; The excretion of both endogenous organic (aryl) acids, such as benzoic acid, and exogenous ones, such as p-aminohippuric acid (PAH), penicillin, and furosemide, is reduced in the human neonate and other immature animals . The unique developmental pattern of aryl acid transport in immature rabbit kidney cortex slices is produced by the interrelationships of PAH uptake, efflux, and amount of intracellular binding protein, all of which reach mature levels at different ages. Trop Doct, 1978 Oct, 8(4), 220 - 5 A successful programme for medical auxiliaries treating childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia; McCord C et al.; PIP: Paraprofessionals or medical auxiliaries require in-service training as well as continual analysis of program effectiveness . In a project in Punjab, India death surveys showed that diarrhea and pneumonia caused 66% of the deaths for children 3 years old and younger; therefore, in-service training programs were implemented to develop criteria for recognizing serious cases . Procedures were set up for field health workers to follow in the event of life-threatening illness and responsibility for patient care was left to the medical auxiliaries whenever possible . In diarrhea cases, mothers were taught how to properly care for their ill children since there were too many cases for field workers to handle adequately . To accomplish this, children were visited by paramedicals in their homes so that signs of dehydration could be pointed out . In pneumonia cases, single penicillin injections replaced daily procaine penicillin since mothers rarely returned their children for treatment . Since in-service training began there has been a 50% reduction in deaths due to diarrhea and a 45% reduction in pneumonia deaths despite a rise in both of the diseases . Ophthalmic Surg, 1978 Oct, 9(5), 43 - 6 The McCarey-Kaufman medium and penicillin allergy; Liesegang TJ et al.; Thirty-four donor corneas previously stored in McCarey-Kaufman medium containing 100 u/ml of penicillin G were transplanted into 32 recipients with a given history of penicillin allergy . There were no early or late ocular or systemic postoperative complications that could be related to a history of penicillin allergy . Thirty-two of the 34 grafts were clear on long-term follow-up, and penicillin allergy appeared to play no role in the grafts, either success or failure. Allergy, 1978 Oct, 33(5), 268 - 72 Identification and prevalence of culturable mesophilic microfungi in house dust from 100 Danish homes . Comparison between airborne and dust-bound fungi; Gravesen S; In order to encircle possible allergen sources, fungi from house dust were cultivated and identified . Dust from vacuum cleaners was inoculated on Petri dishes containing V-8 agar with addition of penicillin and streptomycin to eliminate the bacterial flora . The number of genera identified were for the most part consistent with the genera trapped from the air . However, presumably owing to their dispersal biology it was demonstrated that members of Mucorales were much more frequently represented in the samples obtained by this method compared with gravimetric and volumetric measurements . The method is recommended as a simple way to demonstrate and identify the mould contents in house dust and as a tool for the identification of some of the real allergenic sources in house dust. Antibiotiki, 1978 Oct, 23(10), 926 - 31 {In vitro diagnosis of penicillin and streptomycin allergy . The specific leukocyte alteration reaction using luminescence microscopy}; Latysh VN et al.; The method of fluorescent microscopy was used for studying the diagnostic value of the reaction of the leucocyte specific alteration (LSA) in patients with different syndromes of hypersensitivity, allergy in the anamnesis and without hypersensitivity to penicillin and streptomycin . It was found that only markedly positive results of the LSA reaction (independent of the sensibilization type) were of diagnostic value, the results of the reaction being stated in half of the patient with hypersensitivity in the anamnesis and in 3/5 of the patients with allergy . Simultaneous use of other tube immunological or skin tests was recommended for the other patients with lower levels of the positive results of the LSA reaction with a purpose of etiological diagnostics or revealing latent sensibilization before treatment with the antibiotics . The LSA reaction is recommended for practical use in complex with other methods of allergological examination. Ann Microbiol (Paris), 1978 Oct, 129 B(3), 397 - 406 Novel beta-lactamase from Branhamella catarrhalis; Hoi-Dang AB et al.; A strain of Branhamella catarrhalis isolated from sputum was shown to be resistant to penicillin and ampicillin . This strain produced a beta-lactamase which has been judged to be a novel enzyme, on the basis of substrat profil, isoelectric point and location of genetic determinant. Br J Vener Dis, 1978 Oct, 54(5), 326 - 9 Chlamydia trachomatis in gonococcal and postgonococcal urethritis; Terho P; Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the urethra of 38 (28.6%) out of 133 men with gonococcal urethritis (GU) . During the follow up of 72 men postgonococcal urethritis (PGU) was diagnosed in 50 (69.5%) patients . More than half (30 out of 50) of these patients with PGU were Chlamydia-positive . Out of 31 patients with Chlamydia 30 developed PGU whether or not procaine penicillin, spectinomycin, or gentamicin were used . These findings are discussed in relation to present recommendations for the treatment and follow up of patients with GU. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol, 1978 Oct, 45(4), 525 - 34 Interictal--ictal transition in the feline penicillin epileptogenic focus; Sherwin I; A study was undertaken to examine those EEG features which characterize interictal--ictal (II--I) transitions in the feline penicillin focus . The study describes certain complex changes in spike frequency and their statistical analysis, which appear to have predictive value in signaling II--I transitions . The significance of these data with respect to the conflicting results of other studies and their possible application to clinical epilepsy are discussed. Lancet, 1978 Sep 30, 2(8092 Pt 1), 707 - 9 Acute colitis related to penicillin and penicillin derivatives; Toffler RB et al.; 5 cases of acute transient colitis associated with the ingestion of ampicillin, an ampicillin derivative, and penicillin are discussed . The clinical presentation, course, and radiographic and sigmoidoscopic findings are distinct from those in pseudomembranous colitis . The colonic changes may be related to an allergic reaction in the intestine which results primarily in transient ischaemia . The presenting symptom is blood diarrhoea, and barium enema is the most productive diagnostic examination. JAMA, 1978 Sep 15, 240(12), 1253 - 4 Perihepatitis associated with salpingitis in adolescents; Litt IF et al.; Perihepatitis, one manifestation of complicated gonorrhea, is infrequently diagnosed and reported . This study was undertaken to examine the incidence of gonococcal perihepatitis in adolescents as well as to study the effect, if any, of this condition on tests of liver function . Accordingly, the records of 137 adolescents with salpingitis were evaluated . Right upper quadrant tenderness or hepatic enlargement was noted in 27, while amino transferase level elevations were observed in 19 of the 59 in whom these tests were performed . All findings resolved promptly following initiation of intravenous penicillin therapy . The observation of hepatic dysfunction in 27% of these adolescents suggests that perihepatitis occurs more frequently than reported in adults and should be considered in the evaluation of the conditions of adolescents with salpingitis or upper abdominal tenderness. Ophthalmology, 1978 Sep, 85(9), 975 - 85 Bilateral retinal artery and choriocapillaris occlusion following the injection of long-acting corticosteroid suspensions in combination with other drugs: II . Animal experimental studies; Wilson RS et al.; An experimental dog model was used to reproduce the clinical picture of bilateral arteriole and choriocapillaris occlusion from a unilateral intracarotid injection of long-acting corticosteroids combined with other drugs including lidocaine, epinephrine, and penicillin . All five known long-acting corticosteroids, when combined with 1:1000,000 epinephrine, elicited vasoconstriction followed by dilatation of the retinal vessels with particulate material occlusion of the retinal vessels and choriocapillaris associated with small retinal hemorrhages . The fluorescein picture is described . The particles were identified by polarization as the long-acting corticosteroid. Ophthalmology, 1978 Sep, 85(9), 967 - 73 Bilateral retinal artery and choriocapillaris occlusion following the injection of long-acting corticosteroid suspensions in combination with other drugs: I . Clinical studies; Wilson RS et al.; Two well-documented cases of bilateral retinal artery and choriocapillaris occlusions with blindness following head and neck soft-tissue injection with methylprednisolone acetate in combination with lidocaine, epinephrine, or penicillin are reported . One case had only a unilateral injection . The acute observations included hazy sensorium, superior gaze palsy, pupillary abnormalities, and conjunctival hemorrhages with edema . Follow-up changes showed marked visual loss, constricted visual fields, optic nerve pallor, vascular attenuation, and chorioretinal atrophy . The literature is reviewed, and possible causes are discussed. J Pediatr, 1978 Sep, 93(3), 389 - 93 Hemophilus influenzae type b pneumonia in 43 children; Asmar BI et al.; Using positive blood, lung, or pleural fluid cultures as definitive criteria for bacterial infection, 43 examples of Hemophilus influenzae type b pneumonia were identified in a 43-month period . The mean age of the patients was 26 months; 12% were older than 5 years of age . Associated infections were found in 34 patients and included upper respiratory infections, otitis media, epiglottitis, and meningitis . Positive nasopharyngeal cultures were observed in only 33% . Radiologically, segmental or lobar infiltrates accounted for 85% of the pneumonias . In two cases, death was attributed to the pneumonia alone . Treatment with penicillin G or ampicillin was equally effective . Our data suggest that H . influenzae pneumonia is commonly a serious infection that cannot be distinguished clinically or radiologically from other pneumonias. Postgrad Med, 1978 Sep, 64(3), 121 - 3, 126-9, 132-4 passim Sexually transmitted diseases . Advances in management; Holmes KK et al.; We have briefly presented practical approaches to the management of the most common disorders caused by sexually transmitted pathogens, including pelvic inflammatory disease, urethritis in men, genital lesions, vaginal discharge, and syphilis . Guidelines for the management of gonorrhea may change if penicillin-resistant strains become more prevalent . Areas which require further research include the treatment of genital herpes and the prevention of recurrences, the treatment of nonspecific vaginitis, and definition of the importance of metronidazole toxicity. J Pharm Sci, 1978 Sep, 67(9), 1197 - 204 Preparation and immunological cross-reactions of penicilloic and penilloic acids; Munro AC et al.; Methods are described for the preparation of pure crystalline samples of the penicilloic and penilloic acids of penicillin G, carbenicillin, cloxacillin, floxacillin, methicillin, penicillin V, and ticarcillin and the penicilloic acids of amoxicillin, ampicillin, phenethicillin, and propicillin . The interaction between the compounds and rabbit antibenzylpenicilloyl antibodies was evaluated by hemagglutination inhibition measurements . A significant correlation was found in this system between the reactivity of penicilloic acids and the corresponding penilloic acids; on average, the penicilloic acids were more reactive on a molar basis by a factor of 11 . The results are discussed in terms of the general immunochemistry and side-chain structure of the parent penicillins. J Fam Pract, 1978 Sep, 7(3), 493 - 6 The ampicillin rash as a diagnostic and management problem: case reports and literature review; Geyman JP et al.; Ampicillin is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic in the United States, and causes skin reactions in five to ten percent of patient populations . These reactions are considerably more frequent in patients with a viral illness, infectious mononucleosis, and lymphocytic leukemia . Skin reactions to ampicillin are usually of two types: a maculopapular rash in about two thirds of cases, and urticaria in about one third of cases . There is strong evidence that the maculopapular rash is a benign, nonallergic phenomenon . Patients with the maculopapular ampicillin rash are often incorrectly labeled as allergic to ampicillin/penicillin . Ampicillin can be continued and administered again in the future in these patients, and this kind of skin reaction resolves spontaneously in a few days without sequelae . Skin tests are neither required nor recommended to document the nonallergic basis of the maculopapular ampicillin rash. Otolaryngology, 1978 Sep-Oct, 86(5), ORL - 739-42 Actinomycosis of the larynx and pharynx; Brandenburg JH et al.; This paper presents a case report of a 67-year-old man who was seen in the Otolaryngology Clinic, University of Wisconsin Medical Center with a seven-month history of dyspnea and laryngeal stridor . On examination there were several slightly tender firm submucosal nodules in the soft palate and left tonsilar area and a 1.5-cm polypoid subglottic mass arising from the body of the cricoid cartilage . Because of the marked airway obstruction, a tracheotomy was necessary . The laryngeal polypoid mass was removed and biopsies were obtained from the submucosal nodular masses of the palate . Microscopic examination of the tissue revealed the lesions to be caseating granulomas, and actinomycosis was identified on the cultures . The patient received long-term penicillin therapy and has remained asymptomatic . A discussion of the biologic and clinical aspects of actinomycosis is included . A review of the literature revealed only one other description of endolaryngeal actinomycosis. JAMA, 1978 Aug 11, 240(6), 542 - 4 Intramuscular injection-site complications; Greenblatt DJ et al.; Among 26,294 hospitalized medical patients monitored by the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, 46% received at least one intramuscular (IM) injection . Drugs for which IM injection was the route of administration in more than 80% of all exposures included penicillin G procaine, mercurial diuretics, cyanocobalamin, streptomycin sulfate, colistimethate sodium, meperidine hydrochloride, cephaloridine, scopolamine hydrobromide, kanamycin sulfate, and iron dextran injection . Local complications of IM injection were reported in a total of only 48 patients (0.4% of all IM recipients) . Local complications were most commonly associated with IM injection of cephalothin sodium . Clinically important local complications are uncommonly associated with IM injections in general . However, certain drugs, eg, cephalothin, produce injection-site complications with relatively high frequency; the clinical role of IM injection of such drugs should be reevaluated. Pediatr Res, 1978 Aug, 12(8), 834 - 7 Stimulation of p-aminohippurate extraction in the maturing rabbit kidney; Kaplan MR et al.; In vivo studies were performed to evaluate maturational changes in PAH extraction (EPAH) in the rabbit and to determine whether accelerated maturation of this process could be achieved . Fifty-four animals were injected with penicillin before study at 10, 14, 21, or 28 days of life . Forty-eight rabbits served as saline-injected controls . PAH extraction in controls increased from 29.3 +/- 2.4% at 10 days of age to 35.9 +/- 3.3% at 14 days, 59.7 +/- 3.5% at 21 days, 71.6 +/- 1.9% at 28 days, and 72.7 +/- 2.3% at 35 days of life . Penicillin injection on the 3 days before study resulted in enhancement of EPAH on days 10 and 14 to 42.7 +/- 2.4% and 65.0 +/- 3.2% (P less than 0.005) . On days 21 and 28 less stimulation was noted (68.7 +/- 2.3%; 76.0 +/- 4.1%) . Preinjection on days 6--9 with study delayed to day 14 also led to augmentation (46.7 +/- 3.7% P less than 0.05) but less than that achieved after injection on days 10--13 . These data suggest that EPAH stimulation may be transient, descreases as maturation is approached and is likely related to substrate availability. Br J Surg, 1978 Aug, 65(8), 549 - 550 Depot penicillin as prophylaxis in accidental wounds; Hutton PA et al.; A series of 285 patients attending an accident and emergency department with wounds which required suturing was divided at random into two equal groups . The first group received a single dose of depot penicillin at the time of suture and the second group received no antibiotic cover . The incidence of subsequent wound infections was not significantly reduced in patients who received penicillin. Br J Anaesth, 1978 Aug, 50(8), 793 - 8 Frequency of atopy and allergy in an anaesthetic patient population; Dundee JW et al.; Ten thousand patients presenting for anaesthesia in the British Isles were questioned about a possible history of atopic or allergic disorders . The overall percentage frequency of atopy was 8.5, comprising eczema 2.4, hay fever 3.8 and asthma 3.5 . The frequency of allergies was 13.5, of which penicillin was the most common (6.2) . Females had a significantly greater frequency of atopy or allergy than males . Patients with a history of atopic disorders had a higher frequency of allergies than the non-atopic group (36.2% compared with 11.4%) and vice versa. Arch Intern Med, 1978 Aug, 138(8), 1265 - 7 Acute interstitial nephritis associated with carbenicillin therapy; Appel GB et al.; Although acute interstitial nephritis has been documented during therapy with many antibiotics of the