An experimental study of the anti-ulcer properties of an extract of poplar bark

Marked antiulcerative properties of a Populus tremula bark extract were demonstrated in experiments on mice and rats with stress-, reserpine-induced, and acetylsalicylic ulcers. The gastroprotective activity of the extract was expressed in decrease in the number of animals with mucosal ulcers and in marked decrease in the number of ulcers. It exceeded similar parameters of alanton, plantaglucide, and Hippopheae oil.     

The effect of salben on the rheological properties of the bronchial secretion

We report a case of a 1.5 cm cystine staghorn calculus of the right lower pole in a 32 year female known cystinuric patient. With a 200 microns Holmium laser probe through a 9,5 F flexible ureteroscope the calculus was fragmented in small particles. An internal ureteral stent was inserted at the end of the procedure. All but one small residual fragments were evacuated spontaneously after removal of the stent. This case shows that flexible ureteroscopy combined with the Holmium laser is a safe and efficient procedure to treat medium size renal cystine calculi. It can be repeated in case of recurrence with minimal trauma to the urologic tract.     

Prostaglandin and tumor necrosis factor levels in early wound inflammatory fluid: effects of parenteral omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid administration

Monokines are important mediators of wound healing. Specifically, the proportions of proinflammatory (tumor necrosis factor and PGE2) and antiinflammatory (PGF2 alpha) monokines may modulate its early phases. Using a polyvinyl alcohol sponge model of rat wounding, the authors determined the temporal changes in the levels of monokines in wound inflammatory fluid, and examined whether dietary manipulation for 6 days with the precursors (omega 6 fatty acids) and inhibitors (fish oil omega 3 fatty acids) of the prostaglandin-2 series influenced monokine composition of wound fluid. For 3 days before the wounding, adult rats received isocaloric, isovolemic, and isonitrogenous total parenteral nutrition (TPN), in which lipids supplied either 35% (Intralipid [IL] or fish oil emulsion [FO]) or 8% (minimal essential fatty acid; EFA) of the total calories. Control rats received isocaloric enteral chow. The controls were studied at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours, and the experimentals at 72 hours after wounding. Cell counts were performed, and cell-free fluid was analyzed for PGE2, PGF2 alpha, and TNF. In control rats, the total WBC count was highest at 24 to 48 hours, and decreased significantly by 96 hours. The percentage of mononuclear cells progressively increased throughout the 96 hours, and the total mononuclear cell count peaked at 72 hours. The TNF and prostaglandin levels were highest at 24 hours; these decreased rapidly by 72 hours. At all time-points, the levels of PGE2 remained higher than those of PGF2 alpha.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Medical-technical basis for creation of functional eye prosthesis - technical means for compensation of poor vision and blindness

Thirty-six hospitalized patients who were considered by emergency room physicians to have ingested medically serious tricyclic overdoses were studied. The purpose of the project was to determine if psychiatric diagnosis and associated psychiatric factors correlated with the severity of the overdose as defined by plasma drug levels. Medically serious overdoses were ingested by patients with alcoholism, primary affective disorder, undiagnosed psychiatric illness, and Briquet's syndrome. Prior psychiatric treatment, prior admissions, prior overdoses, or precipitating events did not correlate with the medical severity of the ingestion. Attempting to predict the individual medical severity of the overdose from psychiatric factors resulted in a dangerous underestimation of the risk of patients with Briquet's syndrome and an overprediction in the case of primary affective disorder.     

The effects of clomiphene citrate on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in anorexia nervosa

Serum luteinizing hormone (LH) responses to a course of clomiphene citrate were studied in eleven patients with anorexia nervosa at different stages of the illness. In malnourished patients basal levels of LH were invariably low. With the resumption of a normal weight a small but definite rise in LH levels was observed but this spontaneous response to weight gain was variable in that many patients continued to exhibit abnormally low LH levels. The response to clomiphene in terms of a rise in basal LH levels after administration of the drug, followed by a second peak of LH and subsequent menstrual bleeding, was clearly dependent in part on the patient's nutritional state. In the malnourished state the response to clomiphene was usually either absent or incomplete. After the resumption of a more normal weight, the patients invariably showed an initial rise in LH after the clomiphene, but the second LH peak and subsequent menstruation were frequently not demonstrated. Six patients maintained a normal body weight for at least six months after a course of clomiphene, but only three of them resumed cyclical menstrual bleeding. It was concluded that factors additional to the nutritional state contribute to the prolonged amenorrhoea in anorexia nervosa and that clomiphene appears to have only a limited role in the treatment and management of patients with the disorder. Some aspects of current knowledge of the endocrine mechanisms that regulate normal menstruation and of the mode of action of clomiphene are outlined. The results of the present study are discussed against this background in an attempt to elucidate further the hypothalamic disorder underlying the amenorrhoea in anorexia nervosa.