The diagnosis of disseminated toxoplasmosis in a 14-year-old allogeneic bone marrow recipient with graft-versus-host disease was determined by the detection of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites in sputum smears. Sputum analysis is a valuable alternative in the clinical assessment of pulmonary toxoplasmosis, especially when conventional invasive techniques are not practicable.

Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) was studied in the lungs of 15 naturally-affected sheep (9 with classical and 6 atypical lesions) by transmission electron microscopy. Two lung samples from normal sheep were used to develop the ultrastructural criteria. Pathologic lesions consisted of focal-multifocal to coalescent nodules or masses in the cranioventral or diaphragmatic lobes. Ultrastructur...

The physiological role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in regulation of vascular tone in the perinatal lung is controversial. Recent studies suggest that ET-1 contributes to high basal pulmonary vascular resistance in the normal fetus, but its role in the modulation of pulmonary vascular tone remains uncertain. We hypothesized that high ET-1 activity opposes the vasodilator response to some physiologica...

Pulmonary infections may be induced in experimental animals by using several exposure routes. Inhalation of microbial aerosols is often viewed as the most relevant exposure route, although the comparability of either intranasal (i.n.) or intratracheal (i.t.) inoculation to aerosol inhalation is unclear. In these studies, the infection of mice with either Streptococcus zooepidemicus or influenza...

An outbreak of leptospirosis in sheep is recorded as the first epidemic of ovine leptospirosis in Egypt. The sick animals showed typical symptoms such as fever, jaundice, red urine and abortion, with a fatal course. Acute and convalescent sera were tested for demonstration of seroconversion using the microscopic agglutination testto confirm infection. Long-acting tetracycline was successfully u...

P53 is a protein which is related to DNA, and has been called tumor suppressor, and is coded in human by the gene TP53(1). This protein plays a vital role in complex organisms, and regulates cell cycle. It functions as tumor suppressor to prevent occurrence of cancer. P53 is called genome protector or arrowhead of genome protection or head of genome watchers, all of which indicate its protectiv...

Similar to infants born with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), there is an increase in circulating endothelin-1 (ET-1) and decreased cGMP-mediated vasodilation in an ovine model of PPHN. These abnormalities lead to vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling. Our previous studies have demonstrated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels are increased in pulmonary arterial ...

BACKGROUND Endothelial cell co-culture assays are differentiation assays which simulate the formation of capillary-like tubules with the aid of a supportive cell layer. Different cell types have been employed as a supportive cell layer, including human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and human mammary fibroblasts. However, these sources of human tissue-derived cells are limited, a...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE The molecular pathophysiology of lung hypoplasia in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) remains poorly understood. The Wnt signaling pathway and downstream targets, such as bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) 4 and other factors such as late gestation lung protein 1 (LGL1), are essential to normal lung development. Nitrofen-induced hypoplastic CDH rodent lungs demonstrate dow...