Parameters for the measurement of long-term effects of an orally administered drug in organic and functional circulatory disorders. Preliminary communication

In many cases of drug-induced allergic hepatitis, peripheral lymphocytes were transformed by the stimulation with a given drug in the presence of autologous serum. However, when rat liver microsome fraction of soluble liver specific antigen fraction was added to the culture instead of autologous serum, the drug-induced lymphocyte transformation was more efficiently seen than autologus serum, while rat liver mitochondria fraction was less effective. On the other hand, in the cases of allergic drug eruption which did not show any liver injury, the addition of liver subcellular fractions were much less effective to induce the lymphocyte transformation than autologous serum. These results may suggest that liver subcellular component is involved in pathogenesis of drug-induced allergic hepatitis.     

Higher-plant mitochondrial ribosomes contain a 5S ribosomal ribonucleic acid component

Ribosomes from higher-plant mitochondria contain 5S rRNA, in contrast with the mitochondrial ribosomes of animals and fungi, in which such a component has not been detected. In common with the ribosomes of prokaryotes and chloroplasts, higher-plant mitochondrial ribosomes do not appear to contain an RNA equivalent to the 5.8 S rRNA that is found in eukaryoytes hydrogen-bonded to the largest of the cytoplasmic rRNA species.     

Cytolytic antibodies to murine lymphomas elicited by immunization with allogenic and syngenic tumors

Five quaternary ammonium germicides (QAGs) were tested for their adsorption by agar. This was found to be in the following ascending order: alkylbenzylmethyl-ammonium chloride, alkyltrimethylammonium bromide, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, cetylpyrimidinium chloride and cetylbenzyldimethylammonium chloride. An inverse relationship was established between the extent of agar binding of the QAGs and their inhibition zones. In an attempt to develop a sensitive cup-plate assaying technique suitable for QAGs, important factors affecting the agar-diffusion of QAGs were investigated. These included the influence of various polysorbates, buffer ions, agars and test organisms. Furthermore, the effect of the pH and/or the concentration of the selected polysorbate and the buffer were studied. The best medium developed for the sensitive agar-diffusion assay of QAGs was nutrient agar-Tris (0.05 M, pH 8) provided that distilled water and polysorbate 20 (0.5%) were used as diluents for the mixed alkyl and the pure cetyl QAGs, respectively.     

Experimental colitis

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are complex, problematic diseases of unknown etiology in man, and appropriate experimental models would be useful in elucidating their pathogenesis and treatment. Although there have been numerous attempts to produce inflammatory ulcerative colonic disease in laboratory animals resembling those human disease forms, none has been entirely successful. Investigators have conducted experiments involving almost every etiological factor suggested for initiation of these diseases. The methods reviewed in this paper include production of experimental colitis by vascular impairment, and immunological methods such as bacterial infection, allergic reactions, direct and indirect hypersensitivity reactions, as well as autoimmune mechanisms. The results of carrageenan-induced colitis, irradiation, dietary, and drug-induced techniques are also discussed and the frequency and nature of spontaneous colonic lesions in animals is summarized.     

Plasma urea in hypertensive patients

The annual increase in plasma urea was measured in 253 hypertensive patients. On average there was a significant increase in plasma urea with time which did not depend on the sex of the patient or the type of hypertension. It did, however, depend on the initial level of plasma urea. A table giving the upper limits for expected annual increment may prove useful in clinical assessment. The relation between plasma urea and presenting blood pressure and age was examined in 1217 patients seen at the Hammersmith Hospital hypertension clinic from 1952 to 1967. The plasma urea was significantly related to both age and diastolic and systolic blood pressure. It was higher in men than in women up to 60 years of age, but not above that age, and it increased with presenting mean blood pressure in both sexes, but the increase was greater in men. There was a quadratic relation between age and plasma urea in both men and women. In both sexes the plasma urea increased between the ages of 60 and 80.     

Antibiotic therapy for infectious enteritis in childhood

A brief review of the actual knowledge on the infantile enteritis caused by infectious agents is given. The antibiotic therapy of bacterial enteritis is still acute, but the range of indications is limited. This kind of therapy aims at the curative effect, but not at the sanitation of the stools, for which no reliable method exists. Any kind of infantile enteritis needs dietetic treatment.     

A pharmacological study of Renshaw cell inhibition

1. In cats anaesthetized with pentobarbitone a pharmacological investigation was made of the inhibition of Renshaw cells by dorsal root afferent volleys and ventral root antidromic volleys, and of the inhibition of motoneurones by Renshaw cells. 2. The effects of strychnine, bicuculline and tetanus toxin indicate that both glycine and GABA operate as inhibitory transmitters released on Renshaw cells by dorsal root volleys. 3. The 'mutual' inhibition of Renshaw cells, and the recurrent inhibition of motoneurones by Renshaw cells, are suppressed by strychnine: Renshaw cells are thus glycinergic inhibitory neurones, a proposal consistant with recent evidence for strychnine-sensitive inhibition of Ia interneurones by Renshaw cells. 4. The 'pause' which follows high frequency synaptic excitation of Renshaw cells is insensitive to strychnine, bicuculline and tetanus toxin, and is considered unlikely to be the consequence of synaptic inhibition.     

On the nature of brain stem disorders in severe head injured patients

In head injured patients changes were found in the CSF levels of metabolites of the dopaminergic and the serotonergic neurotransmission (HVA and 5-HIAA). After the fifth day following trauma a significant decrease of the HVA levels in the lumbar CSF after probenecid treatment was found. The intensity of this decrease was found to be related to the severity of the trauma (period of unconsciousness), but not to the state of consciousness. Also the probenecid-induced 5-HIAA levels in conscious patients were decreased after the fifth post-traumatic day. In unconscious patients, the period of unconsciousness, particularly in the period of 5-20 days after trauma. Between 21 and 60 days after trauma the 5-HIAA concentrations in unconscious patients decreased remarkably, but they were still significantly higher than in the conscious patients. It can be concluded that during unconsciousness serotonergic neurons have a high rate of turnover, but that both neurotransmitter systems are damaged by the direct or indirect consequences of the injury.     

A test of the practical value of estimating breath sound intensity. Breath sounds related to measured ventilatory function

An acromegalic patient with galactorrhea-amenorrhea who conceived following long-term 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine (CB-154) therapy is described. During CB-154 therapy, determinations of serum prolactin (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH)-human chorionic gonadotropin, follicle-stimulating hormone a reduction in PRL level followed by an LH peak, a rise in basal body temperature and menstruation. The patient became pregnant during the next cycle, but therapeutic abortion was performed because of the active acromegaly. These results demonstrate that CB-154 can restore ovulatory function not only to the patient with a hypothalamic disorder but also to the acromegalic patient with an enlarged sella turcica.     

Pyloric stenosis: a 13-year experience in operative management

Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is best treated surgically, after an appropriate period of rehydration and resuscitation. Our experience with this entity has resulted in the performance of fewer contrast studies to establish the diagnosis as well as the use of an operative technique which can be safely applied to the teaching environment.