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Two cases of cutaneous nocardial infection are reported. The Nocardia species are gram-positive, partially acid-fast bacteria. Cutaneous involvement may develop as one of four types: (1) mycetoma, (2) lymphocutaneous (sporotrichoid) infection, (3) superficial skin infection, or (4) systemic disease with cutaneous involvement. A review of each of these types of infection is included, as well as potential clues that may suggest the diagnosis of nocardiosis.

A significant linear correlation was found between serum total porphyrin concentration and 24-hour total urinary porphyrin excretion in 18 patients with porphyria cutanea tarda sampled at diagnosis and during and after treatment on 73 occasions. This confirms that the serum porphyrin level parallels urinary porphyrin excretion and is an appropriate indicator of disease activity useful for monitoring patients in clinical practice.

Severe DF-2 sepsis with disseminated intravascular coagulopathy developed following dog bites in two patients who had undergone prior splenectomy. Eschariform lesions developed at the site of the animal bite in both patients. DF-2 is an unusual animal-borne slow-growing gram-negative rod that can cause fulminant sepsis in splenectomized patients. Splenectomized patients should be aware of the hazards from a dog bite. The presence of eschariform lesions in such patients should provide a clinical clue to the presence of DF-2 infection.

Monoclonal antibody Cat-301 was previously shown to recognize a surface-associated antigen on subsets of mammalian CNS neurons whose expression is regulated by neuronal activity early in an animal's postnatal life. We now present the partial purification and characterization of the Cat-301 antigen and demonstrate that it is a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan. Extracellular localization of the Cat-301 epitope is demonstrated by staining live, intact neurons in situ. Extraction of the antigen from membranes in the absence of detergent indicates that it is either a peripheral membrane protein or a component of an extracellular matrix. The Cat-301 antigen migrates on Western blots of SDS gels with a molecular weight of integral of 680,000 dalton and is purified by DEAE chromatography and Sepharose gel filtration in 8 M urea (pH 4.9) buffer. The antigen is sensitive to chondroitinase ABC, indicating that it is a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan. Furthermore, we provide strong evidence that the biochemically characterized antigen is indeed the histologically detected species by using a second antibody, Cat-304, that produces immunohistological staining patterns identical to those of Cat-301 and reacts with the purified antigen, but at a distinct epitope. Our earlier developmental findings and the present localization and biochemical results suggest that the antigen may play a role in the maturation of functional connections between neurons, perhaps through stabilization of axosomatic and axodendritic synapses.

We report a 68-year-old man with penile encrustation caused by a condom catheter used for urinary incontinence. High-resolution x-ray crystallographic analysis of the encrustation revealed struvite [MgNH4PO4.6H2O] and apatite [Ca5(PO4)3(OH)]. Physicians should be aware that penile encrustation may occur as a complication of condom catheter use. The problem of encrustation is discussed. A brief review of condom catheter complications is presented.