Propantheline as an adjuvant to weight loss after vertical gastroplasty

Studying peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) has become an important diagnostic tool in lysosomal storage diseases. Previous studies revealed that B and subclasses of T lymphocytes participate in the storage process, whereas the role of circulating monocytes was not clear. In this study, the involvement of CD14+ monocytes in lysosomal diseases was investigated. Blood samples from six patients with different lysosomal storage disorders were studied, including one with late--infantile and three with juvenile neuronal ceroid--lipofuscinoses, and two with mucopolysaccharidosis type VI. CD14+ cells were separated immunomagnetically from PBMCs and studied by light and electron microscopy. In all investigated disorders, disease-specific lysosomal storage material could be found in monocytes. The ratio of affected to non-affected cells did not differ from previously reported data on lymphocytes and their subforms in these diseases. Our data were obtained by studying a small number of different lysosomal storage disorders. Nevertheless, they suggest that lysosomal storage in the monocyte-macrophage system might also be found in other forms of lysosomal diseases.     

The effects of behavioral tasks on the in vitro phosphorylation of intermediate filament subunits of rat hippocampus are mediated by CaMKII and PKA

In the homodimeric hemoglobin from Scapharca, HbI, functional communication between the two heme groups is based on their direct structural linkage across the subunit interface through the heme propionates. The heme-protein interactions have been altered in deutero- and meso-HbI by substituting the vinyl groups at positions 2 and 4 of protoheme with hydrogen and ethyl groups, respectively. In meso-HbI the introduction of the ethyl groups in the heme pocket induces significant alterations in the conformation of the heme peripheral substituents, including the propionates, and in the structure of bound CO, as revealed by the resonance Raman spectra. The functional counterpart of these structural changes is the loss of cooperativity in carbon monoxide binding and in the rate of oxygen dissociation. Oxygen pulse and flash photolysis experiments indicate that meso-HbI is locked in the liganded conformation. It is postulated that the ethyl groups, which occupy a larger volume than vinyl ones, impair the ligand-linked movement of the heme relative to its pocket and in turn the expression of cooperativity. In deutero-HbI structural alterations have not been monitored. Functionally, cooperativity in the CO binding kinetics is increased as if hydrogen atoms at positions 2 and 4 permitted more marked movements of the heme than in the native protein.     

Regulation and function of steroid production by mid gestation ovine fetal adrenal cortex in vivo

By mid-gestation (75-85 days, term=150 days), the ovine fetal adrenal gland is zoned into cortex and medulla. The cortex has an outer layer of cells which have the morphological characteristics of zona glomerulosa cells, containing mitochondria with lamellar cristae. It has been reported that cultured adrenal cells from mid-gestation bovine and ovine fetuses can be stimulated to increase aldosterone production, ten fold, by angiotensin II, and that this can be maintained for at least 3 days. However, the situation in vivo is unknown. In the current report we show that in chronically cannulated ovine fetuses at mid-gestation, angiotensin II (1 microg/h) does not increase aldosterone either in the short term (3 hours) or long term (3 days). However, ACTH (450 ng/h) can increase plasma aldosterone in the short but not long term. ACTH at this dose produces progressive and large increases in cortisol production. Angiotensin II is pressor and produces a modest diuresis without stimulating cortisol.     

Value of transcranial Doppler indices in predicting raised ICP in infantile hydrocephalus. A study with review of the literature

Cerebral hemodynamic changes in infants with progressive hydrocephalus have been studied with the transcranial Doppler (TCD) technique. Several authors have referred to the correlation between the hemodynamic changes and increased intracranial pressure (ICP). Despite conflicting conclusions on the value of pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) measurements for monitoring infantile hydrocephalus, these pulsatility indices are the most commonly used for this purpose. Although clinical signs of raised ICP are highly variable and unreliable in infants, assumptions have been made in most of the studies about the presence of elevated ICP on the basis of the patient's clinical state. Few studies have reported on actual ICP values, however, and a direct relationship between ICP and TCD changes has never been adequately demonstrated. In the present study, this relationship was investigated in long-term simultaneous TCD/ICP measurements, in an attempt to develop a noninvasive method of monitoring the effect of ICP on intracranial hemodynamics. Two groups of data sets were established. Group I consisted of pre- and postoperative (shunt implantation) TCD/ICP measurements. Group II were long-term simultaneous TCD/ICP recordings showing significant ICP variations. In most of the postoperative measurements there was a decrease in the average PI and RI values. The correlation between PI or RI and ICP in the long-term simultaneous recordings, however, was generally poor. The risk of obtaining false positive or false negative PI or RI values in short-term measurements was also demonstrated. It can be concluded from our results, besides the wide range of reference values for the Doppler indices and extracranial influences upon them, that the present Doppler indices are inadequate for monitoring the complex intracranial dynamic responses in patients with raised ICP.