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In a study that underscores the risks of oral sex, scientists have found that an AIDS-like virus can infect monkeys after it is dabbed on the backs of their mouths. Six of seven rhesus monkeys in the experiment became infected with the monkey AIDS virus, or SIV, even though there were no sores, cuts or gum disease in their mouths, the scientists report in an article being published today in the journal Science. She said it is highly unlikely that the human AIDS virus, HIV, is transmitted by casual contact, like kissing or the sharing of eating utensils and toothbrushes, as distinguished from oral sex

In a study that underscores the risks of oral sex, scientists have found that an AIDS-like virus can infect monkeys after it is dabbed on their backs of their mouths. Six of seven rhesus monkeys in the experiment became infected with the AIDS monkey virus even though there were no sores, cuts or gum disease in their mouths, scientists report in the journal Science on Jun 7, 1996

In a study that underscores the risks of oral sex, scientists have found that an AIDSlike virus can infect monkeys after it is dabbed on the backs of their mouths. Six of seven rhesus monkeys in the experiment became infected with the monkey AIDS virus, SIV, even though there were no sores, cuts or gum disease in their mouths, the scientists report in today's edition of Science. Two main reasons are that epidemiological studies have limited evidence of such transmission, and 'the risk for oral infection appears to be limited to higher' amounts of virus than have been found in saliva, said the researchers, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Tulane University in New Orleans

In a study that underscores the risks of oral sex, scientists have found that an HIV-like virus can infect monkeys after it is dabbed on the backs of their mouths. Six of seven rhesus monkeys in the experiment became infected with SIV, the monkey version of the virus that causes AIDS, even though there were no sores, cuts or gum disease in their mouths, the scientists reported in today's issue of Science. These and other findings 'should be a warning that oral sex is not safe sex,' said Dr. Ruth Ruprecht, head of the research team from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Tulane University in New Orleans

On Jun 3, 1996 the FDA approved a new test, which measures the amount of the AIDS virus in the blood, to help determine how fast an individual's infection with HIV is progressing to full-fledged AIDS. Roche Diagnostic Systems Inc received approval to market and distribute the test, called the Amplicor H.I.V.-1 to laboratories in the US

New York Yankees pitcher David Cone, who underwent surgery on May 10, 1996 to remove an aneurysm in an artery of his right shoulder, pitched a complete game on May 2. The dangers associated with the aneurysm, and the Yankees' decision to allow Cone to pitch despite their knowledge of his condition, are examined

In a move affecting all pregnant women, federal health officials have recommended new strategies to reduce the incidence of a serious and often fatal bacterial infection in newborns. The recommendations to prevent the infection, from group B streptococci, are likely to lead to treating hundreds of thousands of pregnant women with antibiotics during labor. The recommendations affect about a million pregnant women who carry these bacteria in their intestinal and genital tracts without developing illness, but who can transmit the microbe to their babies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said in publishing the recommendations this week

Sensitive responses of monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils to bacterial LPS require membrane-bound CD14 (mCD14) and a plasma protein called LPS-binding protein (LBP). Cells lacking mCD14 respond to complexes of LPS and soluble CD14 (sCD14); these responses do not require LBP. To determine whether LBP is necessary for responses of mCD14-bearing cells to LPS, we measured responses of macrophages and neutrophils to complexes of LPS and sCD14 formed in the absence of LBP. We found that the amount of LPS needed to induce adhesive responses of neutrophils or cytokine production by macrophages was the same whether LPS was added with LBP or as LPS-sCD14 complexes, and was >100-fold less than when LPS was added alone. This result supports the view that LBP transfers LPS to CD14, but is not directly involved in responses of CD14-bearing cells to LPS. Responses of neutrophils to LPS-sCD14 complexes could be inhibited partially by blocking mCD14, suggesting that LPS may move rapidly from sCD14 to mCD14. Additionally, we found that responses of neutrophils to LBP and smooth LPS were made 30 to 100 times more sensitive when sCD14 was added. Our findings show that LBP is not necessary for the activation of CD14-bearing cells with LPS, and suggest that LPS-sCD14 complexes are an important intermediate in the inflammatory responses of leukocytes to LPS.

The metabolism of 3 alpha,7 alpha-dihydroxy-25,26-bishomo-5 beta-cholane-26-sulfonate (bishomoCDC-sul), the sulfonate analogue of bishomochenodeoxycholic acid, and its effect on biliary bile acid composition were studied during chronic administration in the hamster. After oral administration of radiolabeled bishomoCDC-sul, more than 80% of the radioactivity was excreted into the feces within 7 days, both as the unchanged sulfonate (38.5%) and two more polar metabolites (50.0% and 11.5%). The half time of the fecal excretion was 1.6 days. In gallbladder bile, the unchanged sulfonate and its major metabolite accounted for 19.1% and 19.8% of total bile acids, respectively. In another experiment, hamsters were fed bishomoCDC-sul with antibiotics to evaluate the site of biotransformation. Even when the number of intestinal microorganisms was greatly reduced, the same three metabolites were found in the feces: bishomoCDC-sul (44.0%) and the two polar metabolites (30.8% and 25.1%). The major metabolite was isolated from feces of the hamsters fed bishomoCDC-sul without antibiotics. Its chemical structure was identified by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as the 15 alpha-hydroxylated derivative, namely sodium 3 alpha,7 alpha,15 alpha-trihydroxy-25,26-bishomo-5 beta-cholane-26-sulfonate. These results indicate that after oral administration, the sulfonate analogue of bishomochenodeoxycholic acid underwent enterohepatic circulation like a natural bile acid and was transformed, in part, into the 15 alpha-hydroxylated derivative and another more polar metabolite in the liver of hamsters. There was no evidence that bishomoCDC-sul was dehydroxylated to a lithocholic acid analogue during enterohepatic cycling.

Vesicles and micelles, the major carriers of cholesterol in bile, play a role in the formation of cholesterol gallstones. A simple and rapid ultracentrifugation method was developed to isolate these biliary cholesterol carriers when only microliter amounts of bile were available. The proposed method employs a 46 to 0% sucrose density gradient, a NVT90 near-vertical rotor, and a centrifugation time of one hour. As little as 25 microL of bile can be used with no disruption of the carriers. The method was validated by comparison with gel filtration column chromatography using 6 mM taurocholate in the elution buffer. The sucrose linear density gradient ultracentrifugation procedure described here is simple, fast, and compares favorably with the gel filtration chromatography method for the separation of cholesterol carriers from bile.