Acute traumatic cardiac tamponade treated solely by percutaneous pericardial drainage

The author suggests that anxiety disorders are related to a deficiency in the endogenous opioid system. The author classifies deficiencies of the endogenous opioid system as congenital or acquired, and also as real or relative. Individuals with 'real deficiency' cannot function adequately in any situations, including situations which are natural for human beings. Persons with 'relative deficiency' are unable to function adequately under circumstances which are unnatural for humans: their 'adaptational reserve' is insufficient. The use of opioid substances and alcohol is a form of self-medication to reduce anxiety. Acupuncture and its variations, psychotherapy, and the administration of placebo can decrease anxiety because these therapeutic maneuvers activate the endogenous opioid system.     

Blood trauma in plastic haemodialysis cannulae

To investigate the haemolysis in haemodialysis cannulae, an in-vitro set up is built, using a unipuncture dialysis system. This system is connected to a bag with fresh calf's blood, by the cannula under test, mounted in a large bloodline (5 mm diameter). The blood characteristics are kept constant by means of a bicarbonate dialysate in the dialyser. During a 6 h period, haematological parameters are regularly samples. Flow through the cannulae is recorded, which is about 500 mL/min. Four different cannulae are tested and compared to the results obtained without any cannula in the circuit. In all cases a linear increase in plasma free haemoglobin levels is found after 6 h. The cannulae can be ranked from 8F catheter over 13G, 14G to 16G cannula, the latter producing the highest degree of haemolysis. When using plastic cannulae at high blood flows, their haemolytic effect may not be neglected.     

Autocatalytic processing of heme by lactoperoxidase produces the native protein-bound prosthetic group

The covalently bound prosthetic group of lactoperoxidase (LPO) has been obtained by hydrolysis of the protein and identified as a dihydroxylated heme. A baculovirus expression system has been developed for LPO and used to obtain protein in which the heme is only partially covalently bound. Reaction of the purified heme. apoLPO complex with H2O2 results in both autocatalytic modification of the heme and covalent attachment to the protein. Hydrolytic experiments establish that the autocatalytically incorporated heme is bound normally. Two monohydroxylated heme intermediates have been detected. The peroxidative activity of LPO increases in proportion to the extent of covalently bound heme. The LPO results provide a paradigm for autocatalytic incorporation of heme groups into the mammalian peroxidases, including myeloperoxidase and eosinophil peroxidase, all of which exhibit strong sequence similarity with LPO and have covalently-bound heme groups.     

Drug release from hydrophilic matrices. 1. New scaling laws for predicting polymer and drug release based on the polymer disentanglement concentration and the diffusion layer

Two scaling laws for predicting polymer and drug release profiles from hydrophilic matrices were developed. They were developed on the basis of the diffusion layer and the polymer disentanglement concentration, rho p,dis, the critical polymer concentration below which polymer chains detach off a gelled matrix that is undergoing simultaneous swelling and dissolution. The relation between rho p,dis and molecular weight, M1 for (hydroxypropyl)methylcellulose (HPMC) in water was established as rho p,dis (g/mL) varies M-0.8. This power-law relationship for rho p,dis, along with the diffusion layer adjacent to the gelled matrix, leads to the scaling law of mp(t)/mp(infinity) varies Meq-1.15, where mp(t)/mp(infinity) is the fractional HPMC release. The scaling law explains the observation that polymer and drug release rates decreased sharply with M at low M and approach limiting values at high M. Experimentally, mp(t)/mp(infinity) was found to scale with Meq as mp(t)/mp(infinity) varies Meq-0.93, where Meq is the equivalent matrix molecular weight. Moreover, fractional drug release, md(t)/md(infinity), followed Meq as md(t)/md(infinity) varies Meq-0.48. These two scaling laws imply that, if the release profiles are known for one composition, release profiles for other compositions can be predicted. The above two power laws lead to two master curves for mp(t)/mp(infinity) and md(t)/md(infinity), suggesting that the release mechanism for soluble drugs from HPMC matrices is independent of matrix compositions, presumably via a diffusion-controlled process. Limitations of the power laws are discussed.     

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide immunohistochemical localization in the rat brain

The clinical features of Crohn's disease manifest during adolescence are varied as in adults. The potential complication of growth impairment and concomitant delay in pubertal development is unique to this population. Cytokines released from the inflamed bowel and chronic nutritional insufficiency are the major factors in the pathophysiology of growth inhibition. Hence reduction of intestinal inflammation and consistent provision of adequate nutrition are of paramount importance in management. Drug treatment mirrors that of adults; few specifically paediatric clinical trials have been conducted. Enteral nutrition is an important therapeutic alternative for young patients. There is evidence that it constitutes both a primary therapy of inflammation and a means of providing the calories needed for growth. In the setting of extensive disease, dependency on corticosteroids should be minimized through judicious administration of immunosuppressive drugs. For an adolescent with localized stenotic disease, optimal management includes a timely referral for intestinal resection as a means of providing an asymptomatic interval during which growth and pubertal development can normalize.     

Characterization of monoclonal antibodies to ovine tumor necrosis factor-alpha and development of a sensitive immunoassay

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and a polyclonal rabbit antiserum were raised against recombinant ovine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (rovTNF alpha). Ten mAbs specific for rovTNF alpha were isolated and designated TNF1-10. All mAbs were of the IgG1 isotype and reacted with rovTNF alpha in Western blot analysis. Eight of the ten mAbs, TNF1, TNF3-7 and TNF9 and 10, completely blocked the activity of rovTNF alpha and macrophage derived native ovTNF alpha, as measured by their ability to inhibit TNF alpha-mediated lysis of WEHI-164 or L929 cells. In addition, TNF3, -7, -9 and -10 blocked the cytolytic activity of recombinant human TNF alpha (rhuTNF alpha). However, when tested for the ability to inhibit TNF alpha induced thymocyte proliferation, only mAbs TNF1, -3, -5, -7, -9 and -10 could completely block activity. Competitive binding analysis using unlabelled and horseradish peroxidase (HRPO) labelled mAbs indicated that the mAbs could be divided into five groups based on their reactivity with rovTNF alpha. The mAbs were used to develop a sensitive sandwich immunoassay for the detection of ovTNF alpha. All combinations of mAbs and the polyclonal antiserum were tested to determine which pair of antibodies gave the most sensitive assay. The combination of TNF5 as the capture antibody and the polyclonal antiserum gave the most sensitive result, detecting less than 0.24 ng rovTNF alpha ml-1. A similar sensitivity was obtained when TNF4 was used as the capture antibody and TNF10 HRPO labelled mAb as the second antibody. The immunoassay was more sensitive than the WEHI-164 bioassay which had a detection limit of 1 ng ml-1 for rovTNF alpha. This immunoassay also detected glycosylated ovTNF alpha in the supernatant of COS-7 cells which had been transfected with an ovTNF alpha cDNA.     

Monotremes and the evolution of rapid eye movement sleep

Early studies of the echidna led to the conclusion that this monotreme did not have rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Because the monotremes had diverged from the placental and marsupial lines very early in mammalian evolution, this finding was used to support the hypothesis that REM sleep evolved after the start of the mammalian line. The current paper summarizes our recent work on sleep in the echidna and platypus and leads to a very different interpretation. By using neuronal recording from mesopontine regions in the echidna, we found that despite the presence of a high-voltage cortical electroencephalogram (EEG), brainstem units fire in irregular bursts intermediate in intensity between the regular non-REM sleep pattern and the highly irregular REM sleep pattern seen in placentals. Thus the echidna displays brainstem activation during sleep with high-voltage cortical EEG. This work encouraged us to do the first study of sleep, to our knowledge, in the platypus. In the platypus we saw sleep with vigorous rapid eye, bill and head twitching, identical in behaviour to that which defines REM sleep in placental mammals. Recording of the EEG in the platypus during natural sleep and waking states revealed that it had moderate and high-voltage cortical EEGs during this REM sleep state. The platypus not only has REM sleep, but it had more of it than any other animal. The lack of EEG voltage reduction during REM sleep in the platypus, and during the REM sleep-like state of the echidna, has some similarity to the sleep seen in neonatal sleep in placentals. The very high amounts of REM sleep seen in the platypus also fit with the increased REM sleep duration seen in altricial mammals. Our findings suggest that REM sleep originated earlier in mammalian evolution than had previously been thought and is consistent with the hypothesis that REM sleep, or a precursor state with aspects of REM sleep, may have had its origin in reptilian species.     

Immunosuppressive therapy with microemulsion cyclosporine A shortens the hospitalization of pediatric liver transplant recipients

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from S. typhimurium on exposure to gamma-radiation resulted in decrease in toxicity and was less mitogenic, Silver stained profiles of irradiated LPS on polyacrylamide gels revealed complete loss of its heteropolysaccharides which was confirmed further by analysing lipid A and LPS from Salmonella minnesota Re mutants on SDS-PAGE. Glucosamine and 2-keto 3-deoxy-octonate(Kdo) contents were significantly decreased on treatment. Lipid A obtained by removal of heteropolysaccharides from LPS was less toxic on exposure to gamma radiations.