Drinking patterns as predictors of alcohol withdrawal reactions in DBA/2J mice

Individually housed DBA/2J mice were fed a liquid diet in which ethanol supplied 33% of the calories. The level of physical dependence that developed was estimated by scoring convulsions, elicited by handling the mice, after discontinuing the alcohol diet. The severity of the withdrawal reaction increased progressively with duration (5-12 days) of alcohol administration. A 2-day period on the diet produced no withdrawal reaction. Pretreatment of the mice with alcohol in their drinking water slightly increased the subsequent intake of the liquid diet. "Effective" alcohol intake was defined as uninterrupted alcohol consumption above 10 g/kg/day. Withdrawal scores correlated better with effective intake than with total intake under a variety of conditions. We interpret this to mean that brief interruptions in drinking (1 day) may allow the accrued physical dependence to disappear. On the basis of their effective alcohol intake, mice could be assigned to nondependent, moderately dependent or severely dependent groups for further study of the nature of physical dependence.     

Sulphure in epidermal keratohyalin granules: a quantitative assay by x-ray microanalysis

The elemental composition of different types of keratohyalin granules from the epidermis of newborn and adult rats was studied by means of an EMMA-4 analytical electron microscope, equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. An absolute quantitation of the sulphur concentration in keratohyalin granules was performed. The results demonstrate that epidermal keratohyalin granules are chemically heterogeneous. A type of keratohyalin granule present in the nuclei and cytoplasm of epidermal cells from both newborn and adult rats - termed single granules - is rich in sulphur, having a content of 2-5-3-6%. Other types of keratohyalin granules, which differ in newborn and adult rats, contain a sulphur-poor component; they often have a sulphur-rich component as well. The sulphur-poor keratohyalin contains 0-6-0-9% sulphur. It is suggested that the sulphur-rich keratohyalin granules are the source of the peripheral envelope protein of cornified cells.     

Clinical experience with technetium-99m stannous polyphosphate for myocardial imaging

Myocardial imaging with technetium-99m stannous polyphosphate was performed on 46 patients. Eleven patients had no cardiac disease, 22 had acute myocardial infarction, and 13 had stable arteriosclerotic heart disease. Distinct patterns of myocardial activity were noted: (1) the patients with no obvious cardiac disease showed no cardiac activity; (2) stable arteriosclerotic heart disease showed faint, ill-defined cardiac activity, primarily in the anterior or inferior aspect of the left ventricle; (3) acute myocardial infarction showed intense, focal, well-defined activity, with a shape that characterized the location of the infarct.     

The significance of focal glomerular sclerosis in children who have nephrotic syndrome

This study was undertaken to learn the significance of focal glomerular sclerosis in children who have nephrotic syndrome. Tissue obtained by percutaneous renal biopsy 10-15 years previously was re-examined. Initially, two of the 29 biopsy specimens contained focal segmental hyalinosis or sclerosis and five of the 29 had focal glomerular obsolescence. The paraffin blocks were serially sectioned and examined. Following this procedure, seven of the 29 biopsies had focal segmented hyalinosis and 16 of the 29 had focal glomerular obsolescence. The percentages of focal segmental hyalinosis and focal glomerular obsolescence were recorded. Only those patients whose focal segmental hyalinosis exceeded 2% progressed to renal failure. Age-matched autopsy material from patients dying without renal dysfunction was used as a control. Focal glomerular sclerosis was seen in 75.8% of the control specimens, although few glomeruli within each specimen were involved. Focal glomerular sclerosis may be found normally; it may be found in nephrotic children who do not develop renal failure. The quantification of sclerotic lesions may be of prognostic significance in childhood nephrosis.     

Hemodynamic effects of vasodilator agents in dogs with experimental ventricular septal defects

The ratio of pulmonary to systemic vascular resistance (Rp/Rs) largely determines the amount of left-to-right shunting and pulmonary to systemic flow rat (Qp/Qs) in the presence of a large isolated ventricular septal defect. The possibility that pharmacologic reduction of systemic vascular resistance with alpha-adrenergic receptor blockade or beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation would increase the ratio Rp/Rs, and therefore reduce the ratio Qp/Qs, was studied in dogs in which ventricular septal defects had been surgically created. Administration of phentolamine and phenoxybenzamine caused a 42% reduction in Rs and no reduction in Rp. Qs was unchanged and Qp declined by 24% and the ratio Qp/Qs fell by 32%. Infusion of the beta-adrenergic receptor stimulant isoproterenol also reduced Qp/Qs. However, this was accomplished as a result of an increase in Qs and at the expense of an increase in heart rate. As a decline in the ratio Qp/Qs has been shown to be beneficial to patients with large left-to-right shunts, pharmacologic reduction of systemic vascular resistance may prove to be helpful in treating congestive heart failure in those patients with large left-to-right shunts at the ventricular level who are refractory to the usual decongestive measures.     

Peyer''s-patch-associated synthesis of immunoglobulin in germ-free, specific-pathogen-free, and conventional mice

The synthesis of immunoglobulins G, A, and M has been studied in Peyer's patches together with closely associated intestinal mucosa and in small intestine distant from Peyer's patches in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) Swiss mice and conventional and germ-free C3H mice. Thissue fragments were cultured in vitro in medium containing 14C-labelled amino acids, and newly synthesized proteins were detected by radioimmunoelectrophoresis. Small intestine from SPF and conventional animals synthesized almost exclusively IgA. No immunoglobulin synthesis was detectable in germ-free intestine. In contrast, the Peyer's patches and associated mucosa of all the groups of mice synthesized IgG, IgA, and IgM. This observation is discussed in relation to the possible role of the Peyer's patches as a source of precursors for immunoglobulin-producing cells in the intestine.