Inorganic fluoride nephrotoxicity: prolonged enflurane and halothane anesthesia in volunteers

The effects of prolonged enflurane and halothane administration on urine-concentrating ability were determined in volunteers by examining their responses to vasopressin before anesthesia and on days 1 and 5 after anesthesia. A significant decrease in maximum urinary osmolality of 264 +/- 34 mOsm/kg (26 per cent of the preanesthetic value) was present on day 1 after enflurane anesthesia, whereas subjects anesthetized with halothane had a significant increase in maximum urinary osmolality of 120 +/- 44 mOsm/kg. Serum inorganic fluoride level peaked at 33.6 muM and remained above 20 muM for approximately 18 hours. Thus, the threshold level for inorganic fluoride nephrotoxicity is lower than previously suspected.     

Association of in vitro radiosensitivity and cancer in a family with acute myelogenous leukemia

The gamma-ray sensitivity of skin fibroblasts from six members of a cancer family was investigated using a colony-forming assay. Fibroblasts from the three members with cancer (two sisters with acute myelogenous leukemia and the mother with cervical carcinoma) showed a significant (p less than 0.05) increase in radiosensitivity, while three members without cancer (the father and two sons) showed a normal radioresponse. The possibility that the increased gamma-ray sensitivity was due to defective DNA repair was investigated using assays for DNA repair replication, single-strand break rejoining, and removal of enzyme-sensitive sites in gamma-irradiated DNA. Results of these assays indicate that the kinetics of enzymatic repair of radiogenic DNA damage in general, and the rejoining of single-strand scissions and excision repair of base and sugar radioproducts in particular, were the same in the cell lines from the sensitive and clinically normal family members.     

Reliable, inexpensive microcomputer interface for the optical multichannel analyzer (OMA)

A microprocessor system and interface for the optical multichannel analyzer (OMA) is described. The interface hardware and software are very simple and easy to implement. The microcomputer is used in conjunction with the OMA in the 2-d (two-dimensional) mode as the data acquisition, analysis and storage system for a 8-ps-resolution transient absorption spectrometer. However, the microcomputer and interface hardware and software are of general use in any application where rapid transfer, processing and storage of spectroscopic information from the OMA are required.     

Heat stroke and fluphenazine therapy: report of a case

A fatal case of heat stroke in a 21-year-old man with chronic schizophrenia is reported. Phenothiazine therapy is thought to have been a factor of major importance in the induction of this syndrome. These cases may become the responsibility of the medical examiner, and the importance of obtaining a complete drug history is stressed.     

Amino acid metabolism in liver tissue

Following determination by the method of ion-exchange chromatography of free amino acids in the blood drawn from the portal and liver veins and the abdominal aorta 30 minutes after introduction of a casein suspension to rats it was found that only 50 per cent of amino acids with ramified chain are retained in the liver. Most of the other amino acids, however, become metabolized largely in the liver and it is only their insignificant part that goes into the general circulation. These data may be of use in considering problems related to the peculiarities of metabolism of amino acids with ramified chain.