Effect of adrenaline on the secretory activity of the ocular ciliary body in rabbits

In intact rabbits and in rabbits with intracerebral unilateral section of the n. oculomotorius, instillation of 2 drops of 0.1% adrenaline into the conjunctival sack increased and then decreased the intraocular pressure (IOP); i.v. administration of adrenaline (50 mcg) or electrophoresis decreased IOP. In conditions of disturbed parasympathetic innervation of the eye its sensitivity to adrenaline increased as revealed by a sharper lowering of IOP.     

A case-control study of menopausal estrogen therapy and breast cancer

The association between estrogen replacement therapy and female breast cancer was studied in two Los Angeles area retirement communities. The 138 study cases of breast cancer occurring in residents younger than 75 years were compared with age- and race-matched community control subjects. The risk ratio for a total cumulative dose in excess of 1,500 mg was estimated to be 2.5 in women with intact ovaries. This increase was present using various independent sources of drug usage information but was inconsistent at low dose and undetectable in oophorectomized women. No important sources of confounding could be identified, and no risk modifiers could be identified except for a history of surgically confirmed benign breast disease. In such women with intact ovaries, the risk ratio for a high cumulative dose rose to 5.7 relative to nonusers with normal breasts.     

Initial experience of clinical pharmacology and clinical pharmacy interactions in a clinical pharmacokinetics consultation service

International statistics indicate that there is a close correlation between the consumption of saturated fats (dairy fats and meat fats) and the mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD), and this conception has been confirmed by many epidemiological studies. Such studies alone, however, cannot prove the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between these two variables; dietary intervention trials are needed. The Finnish Mental Hospital Study was such a trial, conducted in two hospitals near Helsinki in 1959--1971. Practically total replacement of dairy fats by vegetable oils in the diets of these hospitals was followed by a substantial reduction in the mortality of men from CHD. Total mortality also appeared to be reduced. As to the causes of death other than CHD, none was significantly influenced by dietary change. This was also true for malignant neoplasms. To alleviate the burden of CHD on public health, many investigators have recommended important changes in the quantity and quality of dietary fats.     

The fluoride content of teeth in the canton of Vaud 5 years after the introduction of salt fluoridation

Fluroide concentrations in teeth from the canton of Vaud were about at the same level reported from regions with 1,0 ppm F in the drinking water and from children receiving fluoride tablets during tooth formation age.     

Early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

On the basis of own observations of courses the author adopts a definite attitude to the early symptomatology of the rheumatoid arthritis. During the first weeks of the rheumatoid arthritis the following symptoms are found: articular syndromes, more frequently in form of obstinate polyarthralgias, mono-oligoarthritis, accompanied by morning rigidity and accelerated BSR as well as impairment of the general condition. In the majority of the patients only the tentative diagnosis rheumatoid arthritis may be made. After a one to three months' course of the disease the diagnosis becomes more probable. It is above all based on constancy and symmetry, characteristic localisation of the articular process, morning rigidity, radiologically paraarticular loosening of the structure and morphological symptoms of an acute and subacute synovialitis. 6 to 12 months after the beginning of the disease a clinical picture forms which allows to make the diagnosis of a certain or classical rheumatoid arthritis in accordance with the criteria of the ARA. The occurrence of a high activity of multiple affection of the joints (permanent symmetrical polyarthritis including the small joints of the hands and feet), distinctive morning rigidity, high fever and much accelerated BSR, beginning with the first weeks of the disease, speaks for the possibility of the development of an arthrovisceral form of the course of rheumatoid arthritis.     

Biochemical markers of strophanthin arrhythmia

The increase of the concentration of fatty acids, the reduction in the concentration of serotonin, the lowering of the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and transketolase, and the development of compensated metabolic acidosis were discovered in the stage that preceded strophanthine arrhythmia. These characteristics may be recommended for a wider use on the clinical basis for predicting arrhythmias in the treatment of cardiac glycosides.     

Significance of adrenal hormones in brain energy metabolism

Intensity of glycolysis was studied under conditions of immobilization stress and adrenalectomy as well as with administration of adrenaline and hydrocortisone. The processes of aerobic glycolysis, activity of enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and mitochondria respiratory chain, content of total, free and protein-bound glycogen, glucose-I-phosphate, glucose-6-phosphate, pyruvate, alpha-ketoglutarate, cytrate and macroergs in the brain are shown to depend on the level of adrenal hormones producing a multilateral effect on a series of energy metabolism links.