The intracellular mechanisms of glutaminergic and cholinergic signal transduction in the cerebral cortex

Stimulation of glytamate- and cholinoreceptors by the agonists induced a prolonged calcium and phosphoinositide responses to short-term anoxia or administration of an antioxidant agent in cortical structures. Processes of adaptation essentially modified these responses.     

C1q augments platelet activation in response to aggregated Ig

Immune complexes and aggregated IgG (agg-IgG) induce platelet aggregation and the release reaction. Immune complexes also activate the complement system and interact with the complement component C1q. Since platelets possess both Fc and C1q receptors capable of signal transduction, the present study focused on the interaction between these binding sites and platelet activation. Subaggregating doses of agg-IgG (20-400 microg/ml) were identified for washed platelets from each of 11 healthy donors, and platelet aggregation was monitored in the presence or the absence of increasing concentrations of C1q (5-100 microg/ml). C1q produced a dose-dependent potentiation of platelet alphaIIb/beta3 integrin activation, platelet aggregation, and granule secretion when combined with low doses of agg-IgG. C1q alone was without effect. Maximal enhancement of agg-IgG-induced platelet activation was noted at C1q concentrations ranging from 50 to 100 microg/ml. The observed C1q-induced potentiation of platelet aggregation in response to agg-IgG was blocked by polyclonal antibody F(ab')2 directed against platelet binding sites recognizing the collagen-like domain of C1q (cC1qR) or by mAb Fab (IV.3) directed against platelet FcgammaRII receptors. These data suggest a cooperative interaction between platelet FcgammaRII and cC1q receptors and support a potential role for platelet cC1q receptors in pathologic platelet activation by circulating immune complexes often associated with in vivo thrombosis and thrombocytopenia.     

Relationships between left hemisphere predominance and disturbances of lipid metabolism in different ethnic groups

In neonates and infants, hearing impairment leads to impaired language and cognitive development. For that reason, early detection of this sensory deficit is of outstanding importance, particularly in pre-term neonates, who constitute a high risk population in regard to very early acquired hearing loss. Evoked (EOAE) and spontaneous otoacoustic emission (SOAE) recording in 93 pre-term and full-term neonates revealed that this technique is potentially useful for auditory screening in neonatology units. EOAEs and SOAEs can be recorded successfully from 30 weeks of conceptional age. SOAEs were found to be prevalent in females and presented higher peak numbers in right than in left ears. Furthermore, SOAE incidence in pre-term and full-term neonates was found to be high in EOAE positive ears, associated with strong and robust EOAEs.     

Long-term therapy of bronchial asthma with ingacort

To study the effectiveness of ACE-inhibitors in diabetic nephropathy (DN) 12 male and 16 female patients aged 13-21 years with DN having normal blood pressure (BP) were given ramipril (tritace) in a dose 2.5-5 mg/day in the course of 12-24 weeks. Efficacy and safety of the treatment were assessed by changes in albuminuria and proteinuria, BP. Reduction of albuminuria occurred in 19(79.1%) out of 24 patients with microalbuminuria, in 13(54.1%) of them urine excretion of albumin returned to normal levels. All the patients with proteinuria and macroalbuminuria benefited from ramipril therapy because their proteinuria diminished or even disappeared (2 cases). The persistence of the antiproteinuria effect on posttreatment week 12 was 66.6%. Ramipril effect on BP was minimal. It is inferred that ramipril is effective in the treatment of DN at the stage of microalbuminuria and proteinuria in patients with normal BP.     

Vladimir Andreevich Oppel'' (1872-1932)

A total of 46 pregnant women with premature delivery and preserved amniotic sac were examined. The effect of tocolysis applied was recorded at different control periods of time with the aid of obstetrical monitor. The basic frequency of uterine contractions was more than 3--84.78%. In the 120th min after tocolysis with Partusisten 50% of the cases did not show any labour activity: after 120 min the inhibition was very successful--82.61%. This success was mainly recorded in the cases with uterine contractions over 4 for 10 min (31.61%) followed by those with 3-4 contractions (34.78%) and those with up to 2 uterine contractions (15.22%). On the basis of the results obtained it is concluded that the quicker and earlier the tocolytic was applied, the quicker and lasting was the effect. The statistical analysis revealed that all uterine contractions in the second and particularly in the third group depending on the time of tocolysis gradually passed into the first and second group.     

Hernia survey of the Section on Surgery of the American Academy of Pediatrics

The members of the Section on Surgery of the American Academy of Pediatrics were surveyed to determine the practice of North American pediatric surgeons in infants with inguinal hernia (IH). Case-scenario multiple-choice-design questionnaires regarding hernias and hydroceles were sent to all members of the Surgical Section, and responses were received from 292 (50%). In healthy full-term infant boys with asymptomatic reducible IH, 82% of responders perform repair electively, no matter what the age or weight. In full-term girls with a reducible ovary, 59% perform surgery at the next available time; if the ovary is nonreducible but asymptomatic, 44% operate emergently or urgently and 42% at the next elective slot. In former preemies, the pattern of repair is as follows. (1) For those recently discharged after 2 months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with reducible IH, 65% perform the repair when convenient. (2) A general anesthetic is used in 70%; 15% use spinal anesthesia, and 11% use caudal block with sedation. (3) If the repair is done in the hospital outpatient (same-day) unit, 36% wait until 50 weeks postconception (PC) and 33% wait until 60 weeks PC. (4) if the baby's weight is at least 1,000 g. 71% perform the repair before discharge. The pain control choice after childhood IH repair is Tylenol for 30%, local infiltration biquivacaine for 30%, caudal block for 22%, regional block for 11%, and Tylenol/codeine combined for 7%. In 6-week-old full-term infants with communicating hydroceles without definite "hernia," two thirds treat as an IH with elective repair as soon as possible. With respect to contralateral exploration in infants with unilateral IH, 65% perform it in males if they are < or = 2 years of age and 84% use it in females of up to 4 years of age. This approach is not influenced by presenting side, presence of hydrocele, or history of prematurity. Laparoscopic evaluation of the contralateral IH is performed by only 6% of responders, 40% of whom use the open ipsilateral sac for laparoscope introduction.     

Time-dependent changes in heart rate and pupil size during desflurane or sevoflurane anesthesia

To better characterize alterations in autonomic function associated with prolonged anesthesia, we tested the hypothesis that the time-dependent effects of sevoflurane and desflurane differ. We studied seven male volunteers, each anesthetized for 8 h with 1.25 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration desflurane on one study day and with 8 h sevoflurane on another. These volunteers did not undergo surgery and were minimally stimulated during the study. Measurements included blood pressure, heart rate, pupillary size and light reactivity, concentrations of serum catecholamines, and carbon dioxide production. Over time, heart rate and pupil size increased significantly. During 6 of the 14 anesthetics (45%), heart rate at some point exceeded 95 bpm; similarly, pupil size at some time exceeded 5 mm during 8 anesthetics (57%). In contrast, plasma catecholamine concentrations and carbon dioxide production remained unchanged, and blood pressure remained nearly constant. There are thus substantial time-dependent changes in autonomic functions during prolonged anesthesia, even in unstimulated, nonsurgical volunteers, but we could not detect a difference in these changes during desflurane compared with sevoflurane anesthesia. Implications: Pupil size and heart rate changes are used to guide the delivery of anesthesia. In volunteers, pupil size and heart rate increased with increasing duration of constant desflurane or sevoflurane anesthesia. Thus, anesthetic duration alters heart rate and pupil size independent of surgery and changes in anesthetic delivery.     

Persistence of hepatitis C virus in newborn mice brain cell culture

A model of chronic infection of primary cultures of suckling mouse brain (SMB) cells actively producing hepatitis C virus (HCV) is developed. Destruction and repopulation of cells was observed for at least 6 months; this phenomenon was paralleled by virus release in culture medium. Persistent HCV contained in SMB cultures induced a cytopathogenic effect in PS, BHK-21, Vero, HAK, and click embryo cell cultures, its infective titers being 10.0-12.0 lg TCD50/0.2 ml. Persistent HCV formed heterogeneous plaques under agar in chick embryo cells. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) regularly detected the HCV RNA at the stage of cell destruction in the culture fluid of HCV-infected cell cultures. The cytopathogenic activity of persistent HCV was neutralized by anti-HCV positive patients' sera with the neutralization index of 8.0-9.0 lg. The results of persistent HCV neutralization were confirmed by PCR. Immunofluorescence detected virus-specific HCV antigens in 15-40% of infected cells. Hence, the SMB-HCV system realized the cytopathogenic potential of HCV circulating in the blood of patients with hepatitis C. This system is promising for the study of the pathogenesis of HCV infection at a cellular level, for screening for specific and nonspecific antiviral agents, and for preparing native virus-specific proteins and RNA.