Variability of clinical and pressure-flow study variables after 6 months of watchful waiting in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms and benign prostatic enlargement

PURPOSE: We quantified the physiological variability of clinical and pressure-flow study variables in patients with symptomatic benign prostatic enlargement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Symptom scores were measured, and advanced urodynamic studies with pressure-flow analysis were performed in 178 patients before and 6 months after a period a watchful waiting. RESULTS: Patients without bladder outlet obstruction experienced significant symptomatic improvement. Symptoms in patients with obvious bladder outlet obstruction did not improve significantly. The reproducibility of mean pressure-flow variables was evident. However, there was an important intra-individual variability. Patients with obvious bladder outlet obstruction showed a significant decreases in detrusor pressure at maximal flow of 14cm. water, a significant decrease in the urethral resistance factor of 7 cm. water and a significant decrease of 1 obstruction class on the linear passive urethral resistance relation nomogram, indicating less severe bladder outlet obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: Mean differences among therapy groups must be regarded critically, especially when the difference are slight and possibly within physiological variability.     

Meditation as an adjunct to a happiness enhancement program

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) plays an important role in the control of a gonadal hormone-dependent communicative behavior in the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) called flank marking. Previous studies have shown that gonadal hormones alter the amount of flank marking stimulated by the microinjection of AVP into the medial preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus (MPOA-AH). The purpose of the present study was to determine if testicular hormones alter the amount of flank marking stimulated by the microinjection of AVP into two other sites involved in the control of flank marking, the lateral septum-bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (LS-BNST) and the central gray. The data of the present study indicate that testicular hormones may influence the amount of AVP-stimulated marking in the central gray and LS-BNST; however, these effects are subtle and appear to occur primarily at high concentrations of AVP. When taken together with previous studies, these data indicate that gonadal hormones have greater effects on AVP-stimulated marking in the MPOA-AH than in the LS-BNST or central gray.     

Nitric oxide-synthesising neurons in the central subnucleus of the nucleus tractus solitarius provide a major innervation of the rostral nucleus ambiguus in the rabbit

We describe an intramedullary nitric oxide synthase (NOS) neural pathway that projects from the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) to the rostral nucleus ambiguus (NA) in the rabbit. With the use of NADPH diaphorase histochemistry and NOS immunohistochemistry, a compact group of NOS-positive perikarya was identified in the central subnucleus of the NTS dorsomedial to the tractus solitarius and rostral to the obex. A dense network of NOS terminals was seen in the rostral NA. We investigated whether NOS terminals in the NA derive from NOS perikarya in the central NTS and whether the central NOS pathway links esophageal afferents and efferents. In some rabbits, the central NTS was unilaterally lesioned. In others, Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) was injected into the central NTS, or cholera toxin-gold was injected into the NA, or cholera toxin-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the wall of the esophagus. The medulla was subsequently processed to demonstrate PHA-L, cholera toxin-gold, HRP, and NOS reactivity. Seven days after the NTS lesion, we observed a marked decrease in the density of NOS terminals in the ipsilateral NA. After injection of PHA-L into the central NTS, a dense group of PHA-L fibres was seen in the rostral NA, principally ipsilaterally. Afferent fibres from the esophagus were found around the NOS cell bodies in the central NTS, and many of these NOS neurons were double labeled with cholera toxin-gold after injection of this tracer into the NA. NOS terminals were found around NA neurons that were retrogradely labelled from the esophagus. We conclude that the NOS neurons in the central NTS act as interneurons in a central pathway connecting esophageal afferents and efferents.     

Mismatch repair of heteroduplex DNA intermediates of extrachromosomal recombination in mammalian cells

Previous work indicated that extrachromosomal recombination in mammalian cells could be explained by the single-strand annealing (SSA) model. This model predicts that extrachromosomal recombination leads to nonconservative crossover products and that heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) is formed by annealing of complementary single strands. Mismatched bases in hDNA may subsequently be repaired to wild-type or mutant sequences, or they may remain unrepaired and segregate following DNA replication. We describe a system to examine the formation and mismatch repair of hDNA in recombination intermediates. Our results are consistent with extrachromosomal recombination occurring via SSA and producing crossover recombinant products. As predicted by the SSA model, hDNA was present in double-strand break-induced recombination intermediates. By placing either silent or frameshift mutations in the predicted hDNA region, we have shown that mismatches are efficiently repaired prior to DNA replication.     

Fetal experience with milk or an artificial nipple alters appetitive and aversive responses to perioral cutaneous stimuli

Fetal rats exhibit oral grasping of an artificial nipple. The authors examined interactive effects of sensory stimuli normally encountered in the suckling environment on subsequent responses to the nipple. Embryonic Day 20 rat fetuses received an infusion of milk, lemon, or saline through a hollow artificial nipple or an intraoral cannula (producing no nipple stimulation). One minute after sensory pretreatment, behavioral responses of fetuses to an artificial nipple were recorded on videotape for frame-by-frame analysis. Preexposure to the artificial nipple decreased the number of oral grasps and facial wipes directed toward the artificial nipple but increased the duration of grasp responses. Milk uniformly reduced fetal responsiveness to the nipple. Furthermore, the artificial nipple enhanced fetal responses to perioral cutaneous stimulation, whereas milk suppressed perioral responsiveness. These data suggest that the perinatal rat's 1st experience with milk or the nipple can alter subsequent responses to suckling stimuli.     

Responses of dairy cows supplemented with somatotropin during weeks 5 through 43 of lactation

Beginning at wk 5 of lactation, 136 cows (34 per treatment) were supplemented daily for 38 wk with 0, 10.3, 20.6, or 41.2 mg of recombinantly derived bST monomer. Cows were obtained from University of Kentucky, University of Minnesota, University of Pennsylvania, and The Ohio State University. Nine cows (4 at 0 mg/d, 1 at 10.3 mg/d, 1 at 20.6 mg/d, and 3 at 41.2 mg/d) did not complete the experiment because of health problems. Data from these cows were included in the reproduction and health databases but not in the production database. Cows supplemented with bST produced more milk, consumed more feed, had lower rates of BW gain, and had improved efficiencies of milk production (conversion of feed and NEL to milk). Additional increases in productivity were modest at 20.6 and 41.2 mg/d versus productivity at 10.3 mg/d of bST. Concentrations of fat, protein, and TS in milk were unaffected. At 10.3 mg/d, bST did not adversely affect reproduction or health.     

Efficacy of various therapeutic regimens in eliminating Pasteurella pneumotropica from the mouse

Pasteurella pneumotropica, a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen, can be isolated from the oropharynx, intestinal tract, and reproductive tract of clinically normal mice and has been associated with various clinical syndromes, including conjunctivitis, infections of the reproductive tract, otitis, and subcutaneous abscess formation. Enrofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone bactericidal antimicrobial, has been shown to be effective in eliminating P. multocida from rabbits. We sought to determine whether enrofloxacin would eliminate P. pneumotropica from mice known to be asymptomatically infected with the agent. Pasteurella pneumotropica-positive (culture and immunofluorescence assay) male (n = 55) and female (n = 55) C57BL/6N mice were randomly assigned to one of seven treatment groups or to a control group. These groups were designed to evaluate the efficacy of enrofloxacin administered orally via the drinking water or parenterally at three dosages (8.5, 25.5, and 85.0 mg/kg of body weight per day) over a 14-day treatment period. A tetracycline-treated group (60 mg/kg per day) and an untreated control group were included for comparisons. Repeated oropharyngeal swab and fecal specimens were obtained for culture through posttreatment day 30, and specimens from numerous enteric and reproductive organs collected during necropsy were used to evaluate group differences. Enrofloxacin eliminated evidence of P. pneumotropica from all sites when administered at 25.5 or 85 mg/kg but not at 8.5 mg/kg by either route for at least 30 days after treatment. Tetracycline-treated and control groups remained consistently culture-positive throughout the study. We concluded that the oral route may be a more practical method for treating large numbers of mice. Enrofloxacin may be a practical and inexpensive alternative to cesarian rederivation or embryo transfer for the elimination of P. pneumotropica in mice.