Aneurysm of right-sided cervical arch: surgical removal and graft replacement.

Right-sided cervial aortic arch is a rare congenital anomaly which may cause respiratory symptoms or dysphagia. In the past, surgical correction of the cervical arch has not been attempted except in one patient in whom an erroeous diagnosis of aneurysm of the innominate artery led to an unsuccessful operation. A case is reported of a 39-year-old woman with an extensive fusiform aneurysm of a right-sided cervical arch. The arch aneurysm was successfully removed surgically and normal circulation was restored to the arch vessels. At the same operation, a ventricular septal defect was repaired with the aid of temporary cardiopulmonary bypass.


Coronary perfusion and myocardial metabolism during open-heart surgery in man.

Myocardial oxygen consumption and extraction of lactate and free fatty acids (FFA) have been measured in six patients during cardiopulmonary bypass at two coronary flow rates differing by 25 per cent (109 and 148 ml. per minute). Significant differences were found between these flows and between natural and artificial coronary perfusion. This fact indicates the presence of anaerobic metabolism, especially at the lower coronary flow. These findings are discussed in relation to criteria for coronary flow and perfusion pressure during open-heart procedures.


Subclavian-coronary artery anastomosis in infancy for the Bland-White-Garland syndrome: a three-year and five-year follow-up.

Two infants, 4 months and 8 months of age, with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery, underwent direct anastomosis of the left subclavian artery to the left coronary artery. In the patient operated upon at 4 months of age, the anastomosis proved to be patent by angiographic study 3 years postoperatively. However, in the patient operated upon at 8 months of age, the study 5 years postoperatively revaled clinically unsuspected occlusion at the anastomosis site. After operation, both patients symptomatically improved. The heart size decreased on radiograms, the left ventricular ejection fraction improved, and the electrocardiographic abnormality resolved to a great extent. Since the preferred treatment for this abnormality and the ideal age for operation are yet to be established, long-term angiographic follow-up of all such surgically treated patients is needed. An advantage of the subclavian-coronary artery anastomosis is its applicability in the infant.


Prosthesis endocarditis: treatment of a case occurring five years after a Rastelli-Ross operation.

A severe staphylococcal septicemia originating from an unknown focus occurred in a 17-year-old patient who had undergone a Rastelli-Ross operation 5 years earlier. The clinical course was complicated by extensive bilateral pneumonia, diffuse intravascular coagulation, and glomerulonephritis. After 4 weeks of intensive conservative treatment, including a daily regimen of 16 Gm. of cloxacillin, the patient was operated upon for a rapidly progressive false aneurysm, which had resulted from dehiscence of the anastomosis between the prosthesis and ventricle. The excised prosthesis proved to be sterile. The postoperative course was uneventful. Cloxacillin treatment was continued for 6 months, initially parenterally and later orally. After discontinuation of therapy, no signs of infection have occurred. Right-sided intracardiac or intravascular prosthetic material may be particularly susceptible to infections originating from the body surface.


The management of aortopulmonary window: advantages of transaortic closure with a dacron patch.

Since 1970, 7 patients varying in age between 1 month and 3 years have had successful correction of an aortopulmonary septal defect. Three of these patients had associated cardiac lesions which were repaired at the same time. Extracorporeal circulation was used in 3 patients and profound hypothermia with limited extracorporeal circulation in 4. In 5 patients the defect was closed with a Dacron patch through a transaortic approach. The advantages of this method are discussed.


Patch aortoplasty for insertion of the porcine heterograft.

The porcine heterograft has been shown to be a very satisfactory replacement for the diseased aortic valve. In certain cases, the advantage of a low thromboembolism rate without anticoagulation must be weighed against the suboptimal orifice size noted in the smallest heterografts. In using the largest replacement possible, the surgeon may encounter difficulty with closure of the aortotomy. Patch aortoplasty, as used in the 4 cases reported here, allows implantation of a larger heterograft. The technique is simple and adds little time to the operation. In selected cases, enlargement of the aortic root should result in better long-term hemodynamic performance.


Mitral valve replacement in infancy: a case report.

A 1.7 cm. Björk-Shiley prosthetic valve was successfully inserted into the mitral annulus in a 7-month-old infant weighing 4.5 kilograms. Rapidly progressive pulmonary arteriolar hypertension and heart failure required surgical intervention. Postoperative problems are discussed. This patient's rapid clinical improvement after the operation further indicates that valve replacement is an important therapeutic alternative in carefully selected infants.


Sarcoma associated with dacron prosthetic material: case report and review of the literature.

A case of a fibrosarcoma arising in association with a Dacron prosthetic graft is reported. This is the second report of such an association. Animal studies have shown that polymeric substances can induce similar sarcomas and that pore size between the polymeric strands is an important consideration in determining carcinogenicity. Grafts with pore size less than 0.4 mu in diameter should be avoided in man until they are absolutely proved incapable of tumorogenesis.


12. Index of ADL.

The Index of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) encompasses six basic human functions: bathing, dressing, toileting, transfer, continence, and feeding. It provides an objective method of classifying heterogeneous groups of people with chronic illnesses, disabilities and impairments, and of describing their health needs and outcomes.


4. Isslues in the assessment of the health status, needs, and treatment of the mentally and physically handicapped.

The importance of information for evaluating the health status, needs, and progress of the mentally and physically handicapped has been consistently argued. However, the varied nature of handicapping conditions, often aggravated by the presence of multiple conditions, the extended periods of treatment, the diverse professional groups involved, and the multiple uses and users of data pose difficult problems for uniform data collection. For these heterogenously disabled populations whose conditions are generally not fully remediable, it is especially important to have 1) data on functional ability, both current and potential, and 2) information characterizing the nature of the care environment in terms of its social and educational stimulus, barriers to functional development, and availability of supportive services in the community. In both areas, considerable work has been done to develop measurement instruments for the institutional and noninstitutional handicapped.


Ageing of Neurospora crassa. I. Evidence for the free radical theory of ageing from studies of a natural-death mutant.

A recessive mutant of Neurospora crassa, called natural-death, is characterized by a decreasing clonal growth potential under all nutritional conditions and the irreversible cessation of growth. The primary molecular defect of this mutant is not known. Evidence presented here, based upon measurements of the activities and thermolabilities of several enzymes, suggests that faulty protein synthesis is probably not a cause of the senescence and death of the mutant, as suggested by Lewis and Holliday (Nature, 228 (1970) 877). Three lines of evidence indicate that lipid autoxidation and associated free radical reactions contribute to the senescence and death of this mutant: (1) The relative times before the onset of senescence and death of mutant clones in the last 40% of their chronological life-span were prolonged 2 to 3-fold by either dietary antioxidants or selenite and the total life-span was increased by 40% to 80%. These compounds also alleviated the senescent morphology and enhanced biomass production; (2) Senescing clones accumulated a green fluorescent pigment in situ, but dietary antioxidant nordihydroguaiaretic acid prevented this accumulation. The fluorescent pigment exhibited the spectral properties of lipofuscin, an end product of lipid autoxidation; (3) Relative to wild type, mycelial extracts of the mutant exhibited a 2 to 4-fold excess of activities of the antioxygenic enzymes superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase. We briefly review: (1) the roles of antioxygenic enzymes and antioxidants in their protection against cellular damage from lipid autoxidation and free radical reactions; and (2) the major lines of evidence which appear to support a form of the free radical theory of ageing, encompassing the interrelated processes of membrane deterioration, lipid autoxidation and deleterious free radical reactions as the major causes of cellular deterioration.


7. Information for community planning and coordination of long-term care services.

Information indicating the number of persons requiring care and the nature of their problems is fundamental to the planning, coordination, and provision of long-term care services for a community or defined population. Need for care must be defined not only in diagnostic terms, but also in terms of the patient's disabilities and the type of service required to deal with them. The data must show how patient needs alter throughout life, and how they may be modified by social and environmental influences; for this purpose, the data system must be capable of linking information from several sources and from the same source on different occasions. The information should also make it possible to predict the demand for services in response to changes in the frequency of conditions needing long-term care and to advances in medicine. The data set for patients should include the following information: identification; description of clinical illness and disabilities; major caring agencies, transfers, and use of other services; family background; [corrected] environmental situtation, particularly housing; and financial resources.


[Chronic arsenic water pollution in the Republic of Argentina].

Arsenical pollution of water supplies is a chronic problem of great medical, social and sanitary importance in Argentina. The well-known cutaneous manifestations of chronic arsenical toxicity, palmar and plantar keratoses, melanoderma and multiple epitheliomas are described. The interest which this disease has evoked in the last few years is emphasized when new arsenical areas are discovered with clinical cases of chronic arsenical intoxication. Furthermore it is shown that the high content of arsenic in drinking water may be the determining factor in the incidence of visceral neoplasms. Contrary to classic beliefs, the chronic toxic effects from arsenic may be present in young children but the palmar and plantar keratoses may be absent. The histochemical localization of the arsenic in the skin and its relation to thyroid function and the production of leukoplakia and laryngeal cancer are noted. When one analyses all the recent reports it is evident that patients with chronic arsenical intoxication must now be thoroughly studied bearing in mind the multiple localization of this carcinogenic agent.


[Statistical study of the results obtained from patients that visited the allergy department during the last 3 years. Comparative study with other results obtained in other clinics].

A review of the results obtained during the last three years in the Allergy Section of the Department of Dermatology of the Faculty of Medicine of Barcelona is made by the authors. In the series of contact dermatitis patients (1646) the order of frequency of each allergen is analysed. Positive reactions from occupational allergens, cross-reactions and concomitant reactions are reported. The authors have carried out a comparative study with the results obtained by Brum in Geneva over a period of 2 years and by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group.


Ageing of Neurospora crassa. II. Organic hydroperoxide toxicity and the protective role of antioxidant and the antioxygenic enzymes.

Cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide at sublethal concentrations initially prevent growth of mycelia of wild-type Neurospora crassa, but after a time the cells grow at a subnormal steady-state rate. The antioxidant nordihydroguaiaretic acid protects unadapted cells from hydroperoxide inhibition, leading to a decrease in the time before growth begins, an increase in steady-state growth rate and an increase in biomass production. The results of growth transfer experiments and enzyme measurements indicated that the acquired resistance to the hydroperoxides is physiological and most likely involves the induction of the synthesis of the antioxygenic enzymes superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid normalizes the levels of activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase during culture with hydroperoxide. Molecular-induced homolysis of the hydroperoxides, a process that is induced by unsaturated fatty acids of membrane lipids, leads to lipid autoxidation in a chain reaction which produces lipid hydroperoxides, which in turn decomposes to form more free radicals. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid, a well-known free radical scavenger, probably serves to minimize hydroperoxide decomposition, lipid autoxidation and molecular damage from free radicals, whereas the coupled enzyme system glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase minimizes these processes by decomposing the hydroperoxides to harmless alcohols. We suggest that either free radicals derived from these processes or some consequent non-radical products may serve as the inducers of this enzyme system, rather than the hydroperoxide substrates.


Adverse reactions to drugs: relationship to immunopathic disease.

Immunopathic disease resulting from drug treatment occurs when drugs interact with lymphoid cells and induce an immunological reaction. Drugs, being foreign to the body, are immunogenic, either as such or as haptens bound to carrier proteins. The immune response is usually innocuous or unnoticed but occasionally becomes pathogenic. The impact is especially obvious when the immunopathic response affects blood, skin, liver or kidney. Immunopathic responses and effector mechanisms of injury, whether to drugs or other antigens, are considered in terms of four types: Type I--anaphylactic and mediated by immunoglobulin (Ig) E antibody, and exemplified by immediate penicillin reactions; Type II--cytolytic and complement-associated, mediated by IgG antibody, and exemplified by haemolytic reactions; Type III--vasculonecrotic (Arthus reaction), mediated by immune complexes, and exemplified by serum sickness-like reaction; Type IV--delayed hypersensitivity involving T lymphocytes but no antibody, and exemplified by contact dermatitis. In addition, certain drugs induce true autoimmune reactions exemplified by reactions to procaine amide (lupus erythematosus) and alpha methyldopa (positive Coombs test result). Drug reactions must be interpreted in terms of modern immunology, with involvement of both the B and T lymphocyte systems. Inherited predisposition exists, probably dependent both on immune response genes and on the rate of enzymatic handling of drugs. Diagnosis depends on a carefully taken history of drug administration, recognition of clinical manifestations, and results of tests now available in departments of clinical immunology.


Tetrabenazine in the treatment of Huntington's chorea.

The effectiveness of tetrabenazine in controlling choreic movement in Huntington's chorea has been confirmed in a long-term study. Side effects noted included postural hypotension, dysphagia and pneumonia. Careful supervision of patients taking this effective agent is urged.


Oral use of biotin in seborrhoeic dermatitis of infancy: a controlled trial.

A double-blind cross-over trial of biotin given by mouth in the treatment of seborrhoeic dermatitis of infancy did not show a statistically significant advantage of biotin over placebo.


[The nitrogen fixing activity of actinomycetes in the dark chestnut soil of Northern Kazakhstan].

About 250 strains of actinomycetes have been isolated from dark chestnut soil of the Northern Kazakhstan in crop rotation. Nitrogen fixing actinomycetes constituted 12% of the total number. Their productivity was rather low: from 0.11 o 1.77 mgN2/g of assimilated sucrose. But since their number is high, these microorganisms may play an important role in fixation of molecular nitrogen and maintenance of nitrogen equilibrium in soil during crop rotation.


Airflometer: new toy or worthwhile advance?

The Airflometer provides a useful index of expiratory flow rate and as such it is a worthwhile advance. It can provide an accurate index of FEV1 provided it is individually calibrated. Perhaps the only limitation is the lack of response of the instrument at low flow rates, for example, with an FEV1 of less than one litre. It is remarkably inexpensive.


Biochemical studies on the nit mutants of Neurospora crassa.

One allele at each of the five nit loci in Neurospora crassa together with the wild type strain have been compared on various nitrogen sources with regard to (i) their growth characteristics (ii) the level of nitrate reductase and its associated activities (reduced benzyl viologen nitrate reductase and cytochrome c reductase) (iii) the level of nitrate reductase and (iv) their ability to take up nitrite from the surrounding medium. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that nit-3 is the structural gene for nitrate reductase, nit-1 specifies in part of molybdenum containing moiety which is responsible for the nit-3 gene product dimerising to form nitrate reductase, nit-4 and nit-5 are regulator genes whose products are involved in the induction of both nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase and nit-2 codes for a generalised ammonium activated repressor protein. Studies on the induction of nitrate reductase (and its associated activities) and nitrite reductase in wild type, nit-1 and nit-3 in the presence of either nitrate or nitrite suggest that each enzyme may be regulated independently of the other and that nitrite could be true co-inducer of the assimilatory pathway. Nitrite uptake experiments with nit-2, nit-4 and nit-5 strains show that whereas nit-4 and nit-5 are freely permeable to this molecule, it is unable to enter the nit-2 mycelium.


[Gynecological aspects of prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies (author's transl)].

In the light of our own observations, the technique of amniotic fluid puncture in early pregnancy is described, the risk of the procedure to the mother and child is set forth and further responsibilities are explained. Two indication groups predominate: pregnant women of older maternity age and women who have already given birth to a child presenting Down's syndrome. As can be derived from the figures, all gynecologists nowadays must include the possibilities of prenatal recognition of congenital anomalies in family planning and maternity care. An anomaly can be excluded in about 95% of potential genetic risk pregnancies.


[The clinical importance of tissue antigens (HL-A) in man (author's transl)].

The HL-A system is part of the main histocompatibility complex of man which is located on chromosome A6. The clinical importance of this antigen system lies in its application in the immunological choice of donor for transplantations, it being clear that still other important transplantation systems must be located on chromosome 6. The fact that in many diseases certain HL-A antigens occur more frequently has acquired a certain diagnostic significance in ankylosing spondylitis, iritis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The associations with HL-A observed can best be explained by the assumption HL-A-coupled defective immunoresponse genes which are partly responsible for sensitivity to disease.


[Clinical and hemodynamic aspects of myocardial diseases (author's transl)].

Definition, arrangement into primary and secondary forms and classification of myocardial diseases are used irregularly in the literature. The great variety of clinical and hemodynamic parameters are shown with reference to our own patients and an attempt is made to arrange them in individual types. Followup examinations show that signs of congestive failure, heart size and other clinical and hemodynamic parameters may be considerably altered. For this reason it is proposed to describe myocardial diseases accoridng to clinical and hemodynamic parameters in order to obtain a closer insight into the pathomechanism of these diseases.


Evaluation and re-evaluation of genetic radiation hazards in man. I. Interspecific comparison of estimates of mutation rates.

A detailed presentation is made of the experimental data from the various systems used by Abrahamson et al. [2] to conclude that the per locus per rad (low LET) radiation-induced forward mutation rates in organisms, whose DNA content varies by a factor of about 1000, is proportional to genome size. Additional information pertinent in this context is also reviewed. It is emphasized that the mutation rates cited by Abrahamson et al. [2], although considered as pertaining to mutations at specific loci, actually derive from a broad variety of genetic end-points. It is argued that an initial (if not sufficient) condition for sound inter-specific mutation rate comparisions, covering a wide range of organisms and detecting systems of various sensitivities, requires a reasonalbly consistent biological definition of a specific locus mutation, namely, a transmissible intra-locus change. Granting the differences between systems in their resolving power to detect intragenic change, the data cited in this paper do not support the existence of a simple proportionality between radiotion-induced intra-locus mutation rate and genome size for the different species reviewed here. Furthermore, in Drosophila melanogaster, where individual salivary gland chromosome bands (that can differ greatly in DNA content) are usually associated with individual loci or at least distinct complementation groups, radiation-induced intra-locus mutation rates are not correlated with apparent differences in the DNA content of bands. This result is incompatible with the notion that most of the DNA in a band represents a radiation-mutable target capable of eliciting the kind of mutation observed in mutation rate experiments. All these considerations argue against the validity of the hypothesis of Abrahamson et al. [2] and their generalization that, for the evaluation of genetic radiation hazards in man, we can now "extrapolate from mutation rates obtained in lower organisms to man with greater confidence" on the basis of DNA content (italics are ours).


[Quantitative measurement of the basilar arterial flow in the dog-electromagnetic flow-meter study of the extra-and intracranial arterial occlusion (author's transl)].

Recent advances in microneurosurgery have markedly improved the result of surgical treatment of aneurysm and arteriovenous malformation in the posterior cranial fossa. However, more precise study on hemodynamics of the vertebro-basilar system may be necessary for further progress in treatment of the vascular lesions. From this point of view, the authors studied the basilar arterial flow of the dog by means of an electromagnetic flow-meter and the flow probe which was specially devised by the authors. (1) The ratio of absolute value of the mean basilar flow to the total brain weight was calculated, and the flow rate was expressed in ml/100 g brain/min. Mean value was 7.1 ml/100 g brain/min under normocapnea. (2) The effect of occlusion of the common carotid, of the external carotid, of the intracranial internal carotid, and of the extracranial internal carotid on the basilar flow was less remarkable in this order. (3) Under normocapnea, occlusion of the unilateral common carotid artery produced 115% increase in the basilar arterial flow. Bilateral common carotid occlusion resulted in 312% increase of the flow, demonstrating a remarkable ability of compensation of the basilar artery through the circle of Willis and leptomeningeal anastomoses. Under hypercapnea, unilateral common carotid occlusion was followed by 81% increase in the basillar flow. Occlusion of both common carotids caused 230% increase in the basilar flow. Percent increase in the basilar flow after unilateral or bilateral common carotid occlusion under normocapnea was significantly larger than under hypercapnea (p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.01 respectively). It may be supposed that under normacapnea the increased basilar flow following bilateral common carotid occlusion may compensate the decrease in total cerebral blood flow due to carotid occlusion. However, the compensatory rise in the basilar flow under hypercapnea may be not enough to supply the dilated vascular bed in the carotid and basilar territories. There might be even a risk of deficiency of blood supply in the territory of the basilar artery, if the vascular resistance in the carotid area could become less than that in the basilar. The significance of CO2 inhalation therapy for ischemic cerebral lesion was discussed. (4) After the both common carotid arteries were occluded, the basilar aretry was clamped temporarily. Following release of basilar occlusion, reactive hyperemia was observed in the basilar flow. Magnitude and duration of the reactive hyperemia increased progressively depending on duration of the basilar occlusion to some extent. The phenomenon may be best explained by a progressive accumulation of vasodilating metabolities in the ischemic area. (5) Unilateral vertebral occlusion caused 37% decrease in the basilar flow. Bilateral vertebral occlusion resulted in reverse of the basilar flow, averaging 61% of the original value in flow rate. (6) Occlusion of the unilateral subclavian artery produced "subclavian steal phenomenon"...


Ultrastructural study of a muscle biopsy in a case of GM1 gangliosidosis type I.

The main ultrastructural findings in a muscle biopsy from a child aged 11 months with a GM1 gangliosidosis were cytoplasmic inclusions of two different types: (1) inclusions filled with a moderate electron dense and polymorphous material thought to correspond to ganglioside accumulation and lying only in the Schwann cells of intramuscular nerves. (2) Vacuolar inclusions regarded as containing polysaccharides and observed in perineurial cells, endothelium and pericytes of blood vessels, and also in muscle satellite cells. The muscle fibres only exhibited moderate and non-specific changes. The study shows that in a muscle biopsy of GM1 gangliosidosis the two characteristic types of storage deposits and their preferential localization in different cells may be demonstrated, providing that the intramuscular nerves and motor end plates are examined.


An especially mild myopathic form of glycogenosis type II. Problems of clinical and light microscopic diagnosis.

Report of a 20 months old child showing a mild form of glycogenosis type II (POMPE, 1932) with preferential involvement of skeletal muscle. First muscle biopsy reveals, on light microscopic examination, only a mild vacuolar myopathy. By PAS-staining pathologic glycogen storage can be shown. Glycogenosis type II is proved by ultrastructural and biochemical studies of muscle tissue obtained by a second biopsy. Consequently in all cases of a floppy infant syndrome with myopathic features it is necessary to obtain tissue for biochemical and ultrastructural analysis and to carry out these techniques if by light microscopic examination a vacuolar myopathy with increase of glycogen is found.


[Pathophysiological implications of antigen-antibody complexes (author's transl)].

Seventy years after the description of the Arthus phenomenon, the concept of immune complex mediated pathology is widely recognized in clinical pathophysiology. The availability of methods for the detection of soluble immune complexes opens new paths for clinical investigation in this field. This is demonstrated for systemic lupus erythematosus, viral hepatitis B and herpes zoster disease. New experimental approaches deal with the question of tissue localization of immune complex mediated diseases, e.g. through affinity of antigens for certain tissue structures.


Purine dysfunction in cells from patients with adenosine deaminase deficiency.

Conversion of adenosine to inosine is decreased in adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient fibroblasts at all concentrations of adenosine tested. Adenosine is not differentially toxic to ADA-deficient fibroblasts except at very high (5 X 10(-4) -1 X 10(-3) M) adenosine levels. Conversion of [14C] adenosine to GTP is not decreased in ADA-deficient cells compared with control cell strains. Adenosine conversion to ATP is the same as that in mutant cells except at high nonphysiologic concentrations, at which it is slightly decreased in ADA-deficient fibroblasts. This effect is probably not related to the biochemical pathology of ADA-deficient lymphocytes in vivo. Uridine, a pyrimidine compound, "rescues" control cells from the effects of adenosine toxicity, as previously reported, but it has no protective effect on ADA-deficient fibroblasts. This suggests that uridine will have no therapeutic role in the treatment of the ADA-deficient form of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) disease.


[Results of isolated aortic valve replacement].

Progress in surgical technique and decreased early and late postoperative risk should lead to a modification in the indications for aortic valve replacement, before irreversible myocardial changes have definitively compromised the result of surgery. One hundred and seventy aortic valve replacements (100 pure or predominant aortic stenoses, 70 cases of aortic insufficiency) were carried out by the same surgeon over a period of 4 years with a minimum follow-up of one year and average of 25.4 months, using à Bjork prosthesis or a homograft. Early postoperative mortality was 5.3%, not differing from that associated with other types of valve replacement (mitral, polyvalvular). It is related more directly to surgical technique than to preoperative prognostic factors. Late mortality was 8.1%. Almost one third of these late deaths were related to the surgical technique or to the model of aortic prosthesis used. Stage IV cardiac failure plays a pejorative role in this late mortality, whilst no prognostic role could be demonstrated with respect to angina, meancardiac surface, Sokolow index, mean pulmonary artery pressure or diastolic pressure in the left ventricule. One year after surgery there was found to be a significantly important decrease in the Sokolow index and a modest decrease in mean radiological cardiac surface area. Beyond one year, no further improvement was seen. The majority of the patients surviving surgery had a good functional result since only 1% of the aortic stenosis patients and 7% of the aortic insufficiency group remained in stage III or IV cardiac failure. 78% of the patients who were working before operation were able to resume their professional activity after an average period of 6.2 months. However only 40% of the patients with stage IV failure who underwent surgery could return to work.


[Detection of circulating immune complexes by the C1q complement fraction deviation test. 1st application in the study of human glomerulopathies].

The C1q deviation test measures the interference of circulating immune complexes in the fixation of radioactive C1q on target cells. The test was carried out in a large sample of cases of glomerular nephropathies, on the serum of patients with hypertension and on control sera. Positive results were frequently obtained with the sera of patients suffering from acute glomerulonephritis and membranous glomerulonephritis. Positive results were rarer in cases of minimal change discase and of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. These results suggest that the deviation of C1q in the serum of patients with various types of glomerulone phropathy may be due to circulating complexes but also to other substances. They indicate that efforts should be continued to isolate and biochemically identify the C1q binding substances in pathological sera.


[Subacute myelogenous leukemia with Phildelphia chromosome].

Twenty-five cases of a special pattern of chronic myeloid leukemia characterized, at the first evaluation, by excessive amount of blasts in blood or bone marrow (myeloblasts greater than or equal to 20%), Ph1 chromosome, and short evolution (median survival = 14,5 months) are reported. Age, spleen volume, white blood cell count are in keeping with those found in usual chronic myeloid leukemia (C.M.L.). However, clinical course is more severe with fever, bone pains, and anemia. Myelogibrosis, high circulating basophil polymorphonuclear count, platelet and megacaryocyte abnormalities (in morphology and number) are frequently associated with blastic excess. Subacute myeloid leukemia Ph1 positive (L.M.S. Ph1+) is proposed as an appellation for these cases in order to distinguish them from chronic myelocytic leukemia (C.M.L.) and other subacute myelogytic leukemias. The association of Ph1 chromosome excess of blasts and bone marrow fibrosis distinguishes L.M.S. Ph+ from: 1 degree C.M.L. with myelogibrosis; 2 degrees unusual cases of Ph1 positive myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (M.M.M.); 3 degrees h1 positive acute leukemia. Forms of L.M.S. Ph+ with heavy blastic involvement are probably transitional cases with Ph1 acute myeloblastic leukemia. Prognosis is poorer than in C.M.L. but better than in acute blastic crisis occurring after chronic phase, which can be very similar to L.M.S. Ph1+, when seen for the first time.


Chemotaxis and phagocytosis in anucleated cytoplasmic fragments of human peripheral blood leucocytes.

Viable anucleated fragments of hyaloplasm were obtained by heating human blood leucocytes. These anucleated cytoplasmic fragments exhibited random migration, chemotaxis (necrotaxis) toward red cells which had been destroyed by a laser beam and they were capable to ingest heat-killed Staph. albus.


[Hemoglobin Stanleyville II and mucoviscidosis in an Alsatian family].

Hemoglobin Stanleyville II, resembling hemoglobin D, has been found several times in individuals from Central Africa. This paper now reports its discovery in Alsace, in an 8 year old girl with cystic fibrosis. The mother and 5 out of 7 siblings had the abnormal hemoglobin. Only 2 of these 5 children had all the symptoms of cystic fibrosis. The family has been living in Alsace for many generations. Cystic fibrosis, a congenital disease, has a high incidence (1/1,800) among white children but is rare in black people.


[Neo-natal hyperbilirubinemia and G-6-PD Ankara deficiency, a new enzymatic variant discovered in a Turkish family (author's transl)].

A G-6-PD deficiency has been found in a Turkish male premature with neo-natal hyperbilirubinemia. His parents have no hemolytic antecedents. The propositus has a severe enzym deficiency in erythrocytes, a very decreased activity in leukocytes and platelets. His mother was heterozygous for this variant and his father had no abnormality. The deficient enzym was a new variant: G-6-PD Ankara. The main characteristics of this variant were the following: 1 degree severe enzym deficiency in erythrocytes (8% of normal); 2 degrees fast starch gel electrophoretic mobility (110% of normal); 3 degrees enzym instability in vivo and in vitro; 4 degrees increased KiNADPH; 5 degrees decreased molecular specific activity (58% of normal). Only variant B(-) G-6-PD deficiency have hitherto been described in Turkey. In contrast, G-6-PD Ankara is a fast variant and is unlike any other known variants.


[A new case of hemoglobin G Georgia (author's transl)].

A new case of hemoglobin G Georgia (alpha95 Pro yields Leu) is described in a portuguese patient with lymph node tuberculosis. The patient had a slight anaemia with haemolytic crises and moderate splenomegaly. The electrophoretic mobility of this unstable, abnormal haemoglobin was slower than that of Hb S. The percentage of the major (alpha2 G beta2) and the minor (alpha2 G delta2) abnormal components was determined by DEAE-sephadex chromatography and was 18% and 1% respectively. Structural analysis showed the replacement of a proline residue in position 95 (G) in the alpha chain by a leucine residue. This residue alpha 95 interferes with the alpha 1-bêta 2 contact. Functional studies have shown an increased oxygen affinity, a reduced hem-hem interaction and a normal Bohr effect.


Histoenzymatic studies on the adaptation of villi of the small intestine segment left after extensive enterotomy.

After extensive resection of the small intestine in rats, histochemical reactions of selected enzymes were studied during seven weeks to one year in the remaining segment. The rise of activity of the hydrolytic, oxidative and proteolytic enzymes in enterocytes of elongated intestinal villi indicates enhanced active transport and adaptation.


Developments in histocompatibility testing.

Recent progress in HLA typing involves new methods which allow typing for MLC (mixed lymphocyte culture) and Ia (immune associated) antigens. These antigens seem to play a major role in transplant rejection in HLA non-immunised patients. When the new typing methods eventually become applied in matching of kidneys it seems likely that the results of kidney transplantation will be significantly improved.


[Second generation sulfonylurea preparations in the therapy of diabetes mellitus].

The authors present the results of treatment of the patients with diabetes mellitus with hypoglycaemic preparations (sulphonylurea preparations of the second generation): glibenclamide, glibornuride and glydiazinamide. The following preparations were used: glibenclamide of Soviet make, maninil, daonyl, euglucon-5, euglucon, glutryl, glydiazinamide, glipizid. The treatment was carried out in 298 patients. The hypoglycaemic action of the active substances contained in one tablet of each of the preparation was approximately the same. Preparations of the second generation proved to be highly effective without any side-effects which required suspension of the treatment. The best results were obtained in complex therapy with the preparations of the second generation and with biguanides of prolonged action.


Rehabilitation of Danish dialysis and transplant patients.

An evaluation of the extent of rehabilitation of 512 Danish dialysis and transplant patients, based on a questionnarie, has been carried out. All transplanted patients and dialysis patients and dialysis patients with only slightly limited working capacity before treatment experienced an improvement, whereas disabled dialysis patients did not experience major changes. Sixty per cent of the patients receive disablement pension and the allotment of pension early in the course of treatment is suspected to be one of the main reasons for the low degree of vocational rehabilitation.


Isolation and characterization of conditional lethal mutants of Escherichia coli defective in transcription termination factor rho.

Polarity suppressor mutants that are conditional lethal for growth have been isolated in E. coli K12. The mutations map between the ilv and cya loci of the E. coli chromosome. Rho factor isolated from one of these ts mutants does not show transcription termination activity at any temperature tested; however, it is found to be temperature sensitive for its poly(C)-dependent ATPase activity. Unlike the previously known polarity suppressor mutants (suA and psu), the rho mutation suppresses all types of polarity. Other interesting properties of these mutants include ultraviolet sensitivity, recombination deficiency, and decreased ability to lysogenize temperate phages lambda and P1. Our results suggest that rho has an essential function in the growth and normal physiology of cells. The rho(ts) mutant allows the growth of phage lambda defective in the N gene. This result supports the model that N gene product prevents transcription termination by antagonizing rho activity.


Potassium cyanate, an in vitro inhibitor of lymphocyte blast transformation without in vivo activity.

Potassium cyanate (400 mug/ml) inhibited the blastogenesis of lymphocytes in response to PHA and the response of lymphocytes in mixed lymphocyte cultures. Cyanate administered to mice at a dose of 30 mg per kg per day did not delay allograft rejection.


Hyperglycemic activity of some non-nitrosated streptozotocin analogs.

Six non-nitrosated and three nitrosated analogs of the antitumor and diabetogenic agent, streptozotocin, have been found to produce hyperglycemia in fasted rats. The hyperglycemia produced by the non-nitrostaed analogs was of early onset and did not result in the production of permanent diabetes. The data emphasizes the important role of the nitroso group of streptozotocin in the production of the hypoglycemic and permanent diabetic phases while the sugar moiety may have a direct influence on production of the early hyperglycemia phase.


Effect of deoxycorticosterone acetate and 16beta-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone on blood pressure and plasma renin activity of rats.

Intact female Sprague-Dawley rats were given daily injections of either 3.125 mg of deoxycorticosterone or 5.0 mg of 16beta-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone, calculated from the activities reported for each to be equivalent mineralocorticoid dosages. The former caused hypertension, cardiorenal enlargement, increased urine output and depressed PRA. Treatment with 16beta-OH-DHEA had no such effect, raising questions regarding its classification as a mineralocorticoid.


Protective effect of digitoxin in adrenal-compression hypertension.

Bilateral compression of the adrenal glands combined in mononephrectomy and followed by the imposition of a high NaC1 intake resulted in severe hypertension in all rats so treated. It was accompanied by enlargement of the heart, kidneys, and adrenal glands, atrophy of the thymus, and the occurrence of severe nephrosclerosis. Digitoxin treatment delayed the onset, reduced the incidence, and ameliorated the magnitude of the hypertensive response in such animals; it also reduced the degree of cardiac hypertrophy and the severity of nephrosclerosis and completely prevented enlargement of the adrenals and kidneys and atrophy of the thymus.


Enhancement of insulin secretion by human chorionic somatomammotropin and related hormones.

Hypophysectomized rats were treated for 6 days with 200 mug per day of either human chorionic somatomammotropin, human pituitary growth hormone, plasmin-modified human pituitary growth hormone, or ovine prolactin. All hormone preparations except ovine prolactin enhanced the ability of the pancreases of hypophysectomized rats to secrete insulin in the isolated pancreas perfusion system.


LSD acts synergistically with serotonin depletion: evidence from behavioral studies in cats.

Administration of LSD (100 mug/kg, IP) or the serotonin depleting drug p-chlorophenylalanine (150 mg/kg/day for 5 days) both induce dramatic behavioral changes which include the common stereotyped responses of rapid flicking movements of the limbs and abortive attempts at grooming. The combined action of LSD and p=chlorophenylalanine results in a marked increase in the occurrence of these behaviors, suggesting that LSD acts synergistically with serotonin depletion. These data therefore support the hypothesis that the behavioral effects of LSD may be attributable to its well known electrophysiological effect of depressing the activity of serotonin containing neurons. In addition, limb flicking and abortive grooming may serve as a useful behavioral model for studying the actions of LSD, since these behaviors are quantifiable, easily scored, and occur with an extremely low frequency in normal cats.


Copulation in noncopulators: effect of PCPA in male rats.

Twenty eight virgin male rats who failed to mount spontaneously on four successive mating tests were randomly assigned to two equal groups. One group received four daily injections of PCPA (100 mg/kg-IP), and the other, four vehicle injections. About 24 hr after the last injection all rats were subjected to a mating test. Eight rats of the PCPA group and only two of the vehicle, started to copulate. The difference is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tail). The 18 rats that did not start to copulate, failed to do so also on a repeated test a week later, and were then given four additional daily injections of PCPA. Sixteen of them started to copulate on the following mating test. Most of the rats copulated successfully on additional mating tests that took place three to eight weeks later, in the absence of further PCPA treatment.


Taming effects of p-chlorophenylalanine on the aggressive behavior of septal rats.

Septal irritability and shock-induced aggression were suppressed by the administration of p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) to septal rats. The levels of septal irritability and shock-induced fighting were significantly lower in septal, PCPC-treated rats than in nontreated septal rats. Since both parameters of septal aggression were reduced by PCPA, and while PCPA has no effect on shock-induced fighting of unlesioned rats under similar parameters, it appears that both forms of aggression may function through a common neural mechanism.


Effects of taurine on the ATPase activity in the human erythrocyte membrane.

Effects of taurine on the total ATPase activity inhibited by ouabain were investigated in the human erythrocyte membrane. The enzyme activity was not activated by taurine in the absence of calcium, but was significantly activated by taurine (15-60 mM) in the presence of calcium (5 mM) by which the enzyme is inhibited. Since taurine does not form a chelate complex with calcium ion, this activation may be due to an action of taurine in the presence of calcium through competition with these ions on the membrane.


Contingent feedback for training children to propel their wheelchairs.

Three multiply handicapped children were taught self-movement of their wheelchairs. This behavior was established through the use of contingent reinforcement within 30-minute therapy sessions. When a high number of self-movement responses were obtained, the reinforcement was systematically withdrawn to allow the responses to come under the control of the natural environmental consequences.


Myofeedback: a new method of teaching breathing exercises in emphysematous patients.

The diaphragm of the emphysematous patient is low and limited in its excursions, producing an increased functional residual capacity and decreased pulmonary ventilation. This report describes our experiences with a new technique for 1) the training of abdominal-diaphragmatic (A-D) breathing and 2) the relaxation of accessory respiratory muscles in emphysematous patients. Abdominal muscle contraction during expiration has been shown to increase diaphragmatic excursions and, hence, pulmonary ventilation. Use of this technique has been limited, however, because of the difficulty in learning this breathing pattern. Through continuous audio and visual feedback of myoelectric potentials (myofeedback) from abdominal muscles, 12 patients learned A-D breathing. The lower rectus abdominis muscle was found to be the most suitable muscle for obtaining the myoelectric potentials. Similarly, by providing the patients with myofeedback from their accessory muscles, they decreased the use of these muscles, thus increasing their respiratory efficiency. With myofeedback, patients appear to learn new breathing patterns effectively and in fewer sessions than with conventional procedures.


The long-term effects of hard alloplastic implants when put on bone.

The resorption of bone beneath 4 alloplastic materials has been studied for periods up to 18 months in rabbit skulls. When the effects of pressure were negated, there was no significant difference in bone resorption attributable to placement above or below the periosteum. Dacron backing or polyurethane backing were associated with more inflammation and greater bone reaction than were plain silicone or stainless steel. The changes noted at 18 months were essentially the same as those noted at 6 months.


Properties of the calcium-activated adenosine tri-phosphatase from L-cell membranes.

Preparation of surface membranes from mouse L-cells using a technique previously described in the literature [Perdue & Sneider, 1970] allowed characterization of a Ca-activated ATPase apparently separate from the mitochondrial ATPase also dependent on calcium. This enzyme is associated with the Na-K-ATPase, a marker for surface membranes, and not wilth alkaline phosphatase, a mitochondrial enzyme. In temperature sensitivity, pH dependence and inhibition by ethacrynic acid, the partially purified enzyme has properties similar to those previously described for active calcium efflux from these cells. For maximal activity of the enzyme system magnesium and sodium are required, although the calcium transport from whole cells was apparently independent of both. Adenosine triphosphate only was metabolized by the enzyme system, whereas CTP could be utilized for calcium transport from 'ghost' cells, probably as a result of intracellular conversion to ATP. It is suggested that the active calcium transport from cultured L-cells is closely linked to the calcium dependent ATPase, and that the method of calcium extrusion is similar to that described for red blood cells.


The effect of fractionated administration of locetamic acid (Cholebrine) on gallbladder visualization.

Fractionated administration of iopanoic acid (Telepaque) has already been shown to result in superior visualization of the gallbladder. A similar study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of fractionation when iocetamic acid (Cholebrine) is employed. It was found that the gall bladder is opacified better if Cholebrine is given in a single dose.


Analgesic effect of fluoxetine hydrochloride (Lilly 110140), a specific inhibitor of serotonin uptake.

Rats treated with Lilly 110140, a specific inhibitor of serotonin re-uptake in brain, are less sensitive to electroshock. Lilly 110140 antagonizes the hyperalgesia following injections of p-chlorophenylalanine and potentiates morphine analgesia. Naloxone blocks the analgesia following morphine, but has no effect on Lilly 110140-induced analgesia. Brain serotonin neurons may, at least in part, mediate analgesia.


Cholinergic imbalance hypotheses of psychoses and movement disorders: strategies for evaluation.

It has been proposed that the etiologies of tardive dyskinesia and Huntington's chorea and of some forms of schizophrenia and the affective disorders involve a cholinergic imbalance with respect to a second neurotransmitter. This relative over- or underactivity of the cholinergic system could result from altered synthesis, storage, release, degradation, or reuptake or from a variety of receptor interactions. Under these hypotheses, clinical symptoms would reflect both the brain region in which the imbalance occurs and the neurotransmitter with which acetylcholine is interacting. Effective treatments could involve the correction of this hypothetical imbalance by changing the relative availability of either one or both of the neurotransmitters. Both precursor loading with choline or dimethylaminoethanol and cholinesterase inhibition may be useful in evaluating the effects of increased cholinergic activity in these disease states; the relative merits of these strategies are discussed.


On the use of selective neurotoxic amine analogs to measure the blockade of norepinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine uptake systems by antidepressants.

In pargyline or carbidopa pretreated mice, 6-hydroxydopa causes a depletion of brain norepinephrine. Several antidepressant compounds block the depletion after pargyline but not after carbidopa pretreatment. Similarly, p-chloromethamphetamine-induced depletion of brain 5-hydroxytryptamine is blocked by several antidepressants. Diazepam antagonizes the ability to imipramine to block the norepinephrine depletion induced by 6-hydroxydopa but not the 5-hydroxytryptamine depletion induced by p-chloromethamphetamine. Blockade of selective neurotoxic induced depletions of biogenic amines is a useful in vivo technique for determining the effects of drugs on the amine uptake systems. However, the results for compounds with mixed antidepressant/anxiolytic activity must be viewed with caution.


Increased erythrocyte Na+ pump and NaK-ATPase activity during lithium therapy.

A significant mean increase of 18% in erythrocyte sodium pump activity (p less than 0.01, t test) was observed during lithium treatment, as compared with the activity before lithium treatment was started, in a group of 20 patients who were treated with lithium therapy for a variety of psychiatric conditions. The mean level of erythrocyte membrane ouabain-sensitive ATPase activity in a group of 35 subjects who were receiving lithium therapy was significantly higher than that of a different group of 38 subjects who were not receiving lithium therapy (p less than 0.005, t test). These observations may offer a biochemical mode of action for lithium in the treatment of bipolar affective disorder, since a deficiency of sodium pump activity has been shown to be associated with that disorder.


Regional lung perfusion and pulmonary artery pressure in chronic obstructive lung disease.

In 22 chronic bronchitics with or without emphysema, the authors measured regional pulmonary perfusion in the supine position and calculated the ratios of radio-active tracer (131I-MAA) concentrations in the lung apices and bases (U/L ratio). This ratio was found to be normal in the right lung and tendentially high (though not to a statistically significant degree) in the left lung, this being probably due to the presence of an enlarged heart (13 patients showed evidence of right ventricle hypertrophy and/or overload). The correlation between the U/L ratio and functional impairment of respiration expressed spirometrically failed to reach statistical significance and the same was true of the correlation between the U/L ratio and mean pulmonary arterial pressure at rest.


Changes in the pattern of breathing caused by chest vibration.

Vibration of 100 Hz was delivered longitudinally onto the sternum of anaesthetized cats and rabbits. Vibration consistently reduced the tidal volume by 10-15% without altering the end-expiratory point, and occasionally reduced the respiratory rate. Vibration applied during inspiration reduced the tidal volume as much as if delivered over several breaths. Expiratory vibration did not alter the course of the expiration, nor the volume of the following inspiration. The inhibition of inspiration was unaffected by deafferentation of chest wall skin, bilateral vagotomy, bilateral division of the phrenic nerves and low thoracic spinal transection. Spinal transection above the thoracic cord (C8/T1) abolished usual responses to vibration. The receptors for this reflex probably lie in the chest wall. Vibration inhibited the development of alae nasi tension during inspiration indicating that supraspinal reflex loops were involved. A role for intercostal muscle spindles is suggested.


[Huntington's chorea and cerebellar atrophy. Apropos of amanatomo-clinical case].

The authors report the clinical and pathological findings in a 46 years old woman with Huntington's chorea and cerebello-olivar atrophy. Eight previously reported cerebellar atrophies in Huntington's chorea with pathological examination are reviewed. The primary or secondary nature of the cerebellar lesions is discussed.


[Centromuclear myopathy with late clinical manifestations. Clinical, histological and ultrastructural study of a new case].

A new case of late-onset centronuclear myopathy is reported. Clinical manifestations only occurred after 27 years age and consisted in diffuse muscle weakness without any ocular involvement. No other case was found in the family. In muscle biopsies the frequence of central nuclei was close to 100 p. 100. With the myofibrillar A.T.Pase reaction, almost all the fibers were type I. Furthermore, the electron microscopic study showed frequent vacuoles and splitting aspects of the muscle fibres, with "en passant" myotendinous junctions. Unusual granular bodies were found near the basement membrane, in particular within the subneural folds of the end-plates.


Psychiatric and social factors related to low-back pain in general practice.

In a study of 1499 patients over six years in a general practice, an association was found between a history of low-back pain and a history of psychological illness, in several demographical groups. The association was strongest in patients of both sexes, aged 35--44, and in women aged 55--74. Patients with a history of low-back pain were more likely to have had a diagnosis of 'anxiety' than non-low-back-pain patients, whereas there was no significant difference in the incidence of 'depression' between those with, and those without, low-back pain.


Gastrointestinal blood loss on phenylbutazone and feprazone.

Feprazone, a new anti-inflammatory drug, is a useful antirheumatic preparation which causes little gastrointestinal upset. This short cross-over study shows no significant gastrointestinal blood loss with either feprazone or phenylbutazone by the red-cell chromium-51 labelling method.


Some studies of feprazone.

Feprazone, 200 mg t.d.s., was compared with indomethacin, 25 mg t.d.s. rising to 50 mg t.d.s., in an eight-week double-blind cross-over study in twenty-three patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. Both therapies proved equally efficacious and acceptable. Measurement of the plasma levels of the two drugs showed no consistent correlation between efficacy and plasma concentrations.


Gelatinous transformation of bone marrow in prolonged self-induced starvation.

In bone marrow from 3 patients with prolonged, severe self-induced starvation, fat atrophy, hypoplasia of haemopoietic cells and characteristic gelatinous transformation of marrow were noted. The gelatinous substance appeared amorphous and stained pink with the Wright-Giemsa stains. Histochemical and ultrasturctural studies indicated that it consisted of acid mucopolysaccharides and was extracellular in nature. Similar marrow abnormalities were produced in rabbits by limitating their food intake for 4 months. These marrow abnormalities in the experimental animals could be reverted to normal by restoring their nutritional status. It is proposed that the gelatinous transformation of marrow is caused by excessive production of mucopolysacchrides of the ground substance to compensate for the mobilization of marrow fat which occurs to meet the energy requirement. It is further postulated that excessive production of acid mucopolysaccharides may provide a microenvironment unsuitable for haemopoietic proliferation. The relevance of these findings to other conditions associated with marrow aplasia, is discussed.


Disability social distance hierarchy for population subgroups.

This investigation studied the disability attitudes of ten population subgroups including the general public, professionals, college and grade school students and disabled individuals. A total of 2576 subjects were tested in a seven-year period with one of three instruments. The results showed that a stable hierarchy of preference characterized these seemingly disparate groups.


Muscle fiber composition in patients with traumatic cord lesion.

Muscle fiber composition and oxidative and glycolytic enzymatic activity have been studied with complete traumatic transection of the spinal cord and spastic paralysis of the lower extremities. Muscle sample were taken by means of needle biopsy from the vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles. Biopsies were also taken for comparison from the deltoid muscle. Fibers staining darkly for alkaline stable myofibrillar ATP-ase (type II) dominated or were the only fibers identified in the paralysed muscles. The deltoid muscles of the same patients had a rather even mixture of type I and II fibers. Staining pattern was reversed after acid preincubation (pH 4.3). Mean diameters in the paralysed muscles were reduced for both fiber types. All fibers stained relatively weakly for NADH-diaphorase. Succinyldehydrogenase activity was low and phosphofructokinase activity usually moderately reduced. The findings imply that neuronal influence on the muscular fibers had led to a change in the staining characteristics of the muscle fibers. Such a change migh indicate altered contractile characteristics, though the detailed nature of the observed findings in still unclear.


Expression of C4 on human lymphoid cells and possible involvement in immune recognition phenomena.

Immunochemical studies revealed the presence of the fourth component of complement (C4) on surfaces of human lymphoid cells. Antiserums to C4 inhibited the mixed lymphocyte reaction and the mitogenic response to phytohemagglutinin, suggesting a role for membrane-associated C4 in the afferent phase of immune recognition phenomena.


Mg2+, Ca2+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase as receptor for divalent cations in bacterial sensing.

The Mg2+, Ca2+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase responsible for interconversion of the energized membrane state to adenosine triphosphate is the receptor for divalent metal ions in bacterial chemotaxis. The receptors controlling bacterial behavior show a common pattern of dual functions.


The effectiveness of topical and oral tetracycline for acne.

A group of 135 college students with acne was evaluated in a 12-week, double-blind study comparing placebo, oral tetracycline 0.5 gm daily, and a new topical tetracycline preparation. The topical tetracycline preparation containing n-decyl methyl sulfoxide to enhance penetration, produced statistically significant improvement of acne as compared to placebo after 7, 10, and 12 weeks of treatment. Oral tetracycline, 0.5 gm daily, was statistically significantly more effective for acne than placebo after 4, 7, 10, and 12 weeks of therapy. The placebo group also had marked improvement which may have been related to sun exposure. Emotional stress produced by final examinations had no apparent effect on the patients given placebo, oral, or topical tetracycline. Side effects of the topical tetracycline included a slight yellowish discoloration of the skin in 25% of the subjects and transient stinging or tingling sensation after application in 36%.


Repair of massive abdominal wall defects. Combined use of pneumoperitoneum and Marlex mesh.

The most important aspects of repairing massive hernias, eventrations, or surgically created abdominal wall defects are preoperative preparation of the patient and conservative judgment in indications for use of prosthetic material. Before operation, most patients (excluding those with trauma or severe sepsis) can be prepared electively by progressive preoperative pneumoperitoneum. The procedure is safe, simple, and effective. As described, it involves no special techniques or equipment and may be carried out as an inpatient or outpatient procedure. Prosthetic material should be used only to obviate tension on a suture line, for this must scrupulously be avoided. It should not be used routinely as onlay grafts in small or moderate hernias as primary fascial suturing gives better results with few wound complications when closure without tension is possible. Progressive preoperative pneumoperitoneum, combined when necessary with Marlex mesh to obviate tension, enables closure of even gigantic defects. The technique avoids the severe and sometimes fatal preliminary complications resulting from sudden increase in abdominal pressure and diaphragmatic elevation that accompany replacement of abdominal viscera that have lost their "right of domain" with large hernias or abdominal wall defects. This technique also markedly diminishes postoperative pain and aids satisfactory pulmonary management and thus permits early postoperative mobilization and discharge from the hospital.


Development of specific nonreactivity in human cadaveric renal allograft recipients.

The development of specific nonreactivity and mixed leukocyte culture blocking factor activity (MLC-BFA) was serially studied in three cadaveric renal allograft recipients. All patients developed hypo and/or nonreactivity in the MLC reaction to the specific donor but not to an indifferent donor. Specific hypo and/or nonreactivity observed in the MLC reaction was independent of recipient's response to PHA which remained normal. Broad reacting MLC-BFA declined and subsequently disappeared after the state of specific nonreactivity was achieved. Several allograft rejection crisis occurred during the active stage, but these crises subsided once the nonreactivity was achieved.


Quantitative analysis of cardiac hypertrophy due to pressure load in reference to the relations of blood pressure, left ventricular weight and left ventricular capacity.

In almost all of the cases of cardiac hypertrophy due to sustained hypertension, left ventricular capacity is increased in proportion to increased left ventricular weight, even in the absence of manifest cardiac insufficiency. The condition is regarded as the general expression of cardiac response to pressure load, and the concept of "isomorphic hypertrophy" is proposed. Concentric hypertrophy of the current concept is observed only on rare special occasions, and its role in cardiac adaptation to pressure load is obscure. The increase in myocardial mass is sufficient to maintain the work done by a unit myocardial volume at a normal level. However, the calculation on pertinent models demonstrates that hypertrophied hearts of any type expel the normal stroke volume with smaller shortening of muscle fibers under larger stress, which is further elevated with the progress of cardiac contraction. Because the maximum force generated by muscle fibers declines with advancing cardiac contraction, hypertrophied hearts harbor a latent risk of mechanical insufficiency. Even under pressure load, ventricular dilation seems to precede the re-inforcement of ventricular wall in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. A common mechanism may be therefore assumed underlying the development and performance of all types of hypertrophied hearts, regardless of the difference in the character of physical loads.


Sponge matrix allografts. A model for analysis of killer cells infiltrating mouse allografts.

A method for isolation of allograft-infiltrating cells in a functionally viable state is described in this article. The method is based on the use of a spongious tissue into which cells of strain A (e.g., fibroblasts or tumor cells) are grown. The resulting graft is then transplanted to a strain B animal, and the infiltrating cells are released from it by gentle compression. The graft-infiltrating cells are completely recovered, and they may be processed for further experimentation and analysis by employing exclusively physical methods of cell preparation. As an example of future applications, some preliminary results on density- and charge fractionation of the graft-infiltrating cells are also reported.


A sensitive micromethod for generating and assaying allogeneically induced cytotoxic human lymphocytes.

A sensitive micromethod for generating and assaying allogeneically induced cytotoxic human lymphocytes in vitro is described. Responding lymphocytes are cultured with mitomycin-C treated allogeneic stimulating cells in wells of replicate microtrays for both one-way mixed leukocyte culture (MLC) and cell-mediated lympholysis (CML) assays. On day 5, MLC response is determined by measuring 3H-thymidine (3H-TdR) incorporation directly in wells of the MLC tray. On day 6 or 7 CML response is determined by measuring 51Cr released from labeled target cells added to replicate culture cells in the CML tray. It is thus possible to measure both MLC and CML responses of the 2.5 X 10(4) -U X 10(5) responding lymphocytes originally placed in replicate wells. 51Cr-labeled target cells can be added to wells containing dilutions of the stimulated cells and a log-linear relationship between the per cent specific 51Cr release and number of effector cells is observed. Significant levels of specific cytoxicity are detected at ratios as low as one effector cell per target cell; little cross-killing on third-party cells and no autokilling is observed. Lymphocytes purified from whole blood that is stored overnight at room temperature and purified lymphocytes stored overnight in the cold generate MLC and CML responses comparable to those of lymphocytes purified from fresh blood. Only 2 or 3 ml of whole blood are required to perform both MLC and CML assays, thus enabling the study of both proliferative and cytotoxic lymphocyte responses in young children and other individuals from whom only a few milliliters of blood can be obtained.


Donor-specific cellular and humoral immunity after clinical kidney transplantation.

The cellular and humoral immune response against donor lymphocytes was studied in 10 patients transplanted with kidneys from living related donors. Nine of the grafts were functioning well at the time of the study. No direct (T) cell-mediated cytotoxicity against donor cells was demonstrated. Specific anti-donor antibodies were found in two recipients with well accepted grafts. Their antisera were active in antibody-induced cell-mediated cytotoxicity (AICC) and inhibited the mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC), but were negative in complement-dependent cytoxicity (CDC). Thus, no single immunological factor responsible for a favorable clinical course could be demonstrated. Neither complete T nor complete B cell tolerance against donor cells had developed, and a well tolerated graft could co-exist with antibodies directed against donor cells.


The humoral responses of haemodialysis patients to antigen challenge.

Twenty-four patients on regular haemodialysis had repeated serum samples tested for lymphocyte cytotoxicity and for factors which inhibit the mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC). It was found that serum with a high urea content did not increase the incidence of inhibition of MLC. In 16 patients on haemodialysis there was inhibition of MLC by autologous serum and the same combinations of lymphocytes were inhibited in repeated tests. The serum from 10 of these patients was also cytotoxic for lymphocytes. Serum from 12 patients was not cytotoxic but 6 of these caused inhibition MLC. It is suggested that inhibition of MLC may be produced by factors which are not specific for HLA. Serum from patients who previously rejected kidney transplants or who had pregnancies or multiple blood transfusions showed increased cytotoxicity, but these factors did not increase the frequency of serum inhibition of MLC. The significance of serum inhibitory factors and cytotoxic antibodies in the early clinical course of 12 cadaver transplants is discussed.


Role of MLC compatibility in intrafamilial kidney transplantation.

The role of compatibility at the HL-A and mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) loci for graft survival was analysed in 45 recipients of intrafamilial kidneys. MLC tests performed after transplantation when the recipients were on maintenance immunosuppressive therapy did not show a reduced reactivity of the recipient lymphocytes as compared to tests performed before surgery. The results with the two-way MLC test was paradoxical: patients with functioning grafts had a higher mean stimulation than did those with nonfunctioning grafts. Subsequent clinical correlations were based on one-way MLC carried out before or after transplantation. The 1-year survival of grafts from HL-A compatible donors was 94% and that of graft from HL-A incompatible donors was 75%. When the comparison was between grafts from MLC-negative and MLC-positive donors the figures were 100 and 75%, respectively. If the cases were divided in those displaying a low relative reactivity (RR), indicating identity at the major (LD-1, HL A-D) MLC locus, towards their donors in MLC and those with a high RR, the graft survival was 100% versus 70% (P less than 0.05). The prognosis seemed to be worse the higher the relative reactivity. At 3 years all grafts from donors with negative reaction or low RR in the MLC were still functioning. Analysis of the few exceptional cases in which there was compatibility for either the HL-A or MLC locus but not for the other points to the major MLC locus as being most important for graft survival.


[Peritoneoscopy in differential diagnosis of jaundice].

162 endoscopic studies were conducted in 158 patients. It was found that in obscure cases peritoneoscopy could be successfully employed for differential diagnosis between mechanic and parenchymatous jaundice. Irrespective of the duration of jaundice a reliable information can be obtained endoscopically, in particular in bilirubinemia being over 5 mg%. A peritoneoscopic conclusion as to the character of jaundice was correct in 87% of cases. By means of peritoneoscopy, judging by the appearance of the liver, one could have an idea about the site and character of obturation of bile ducts in over a half of patients.


[Clinical form of syngamiasis of pheasants and its treatment with mebendazole].

For the subdueing of the clinical form of the synagamosis of pheasants we successfully applied Mebendazole in the dose of 120 mg kg-1 of the feed. Because of the lack of drug we administered the dose of 120 mg kg-1 of the feed in one group in the course of seven days to a number of animals, the others (approx. 4000 animals) received the drug only in the course of three days. On the third to fourth day after the application of the preparation the clinical symptoms disappeared and mortality stopped. To the group intended for dissecting for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Mebendazole, the dose of 120 mg kg-1 of the feed was applied in the course of 13 days. From the fifth day after the beginning of the application we found no gapeworm (Syngamus trachea) in the trachea, and the clinical symptoms disappeared completely from the seventh day onwards. In the control group mortality continued and in the trachea we found mature parasites numbering from 1 to 13 pairs. Thus we consider the dose of 120 mg kg-1 of the feed to be suitable, though it is necessary, by means of further investigation, to determine the most favourable time of administration, both for the prophylactic dehelminthization in dependence on the concrete ecological conditions in the system of rearing, and also for the therapy of the clinical form in dependence on the stage of the pathological process and of the epizootological situation.


[Laparoscopy in oncologic diseases].

Among 160 laparoscopies 58 were performed in oncological patients. The diagnosis of abdominal tumor was supported in 18 patients, the diagnosis was rejected - in 13, pinpointed further - in 15, primarily established- in 12 patients. Of 58 examined patients distal metastases were detected in 21, that made it possible to obviate an unnecessary laparotomy. No complications relative to the use of laparotomy and biopsy were noted.


[Quantitative K and Na levels in different parts of the heart in cases of sudden death from coronary disease, acquired heart valve defects and violent death].

The quantitative potassium and sodium contents in the separate regions of the heart and m. rectus abdominis in cases of sudden and violent death were investigated. The disturbances of the electrolyte metabolism of potassium and sodium were established to be the earliest changes in coronary disease (acute coronary insufficiency resulting from functional disturbances of the coronary circulation and myocardial infarction). The decrease of the quantitative potassium contents and sodium increase in myocardium depend on the ischemia duration and the stage of the myocardial lesion. The highest potassium decrease was observed in the left ventricle and right auricle. Not very high but even decrease of potassium and sodium contents in the separate heart regions was observed in the deceased by electrocution and strangulation, the decrease being most negligible in the deceased by electrocution. The changes observed in potassium and sodium contents are not pathognomic signs of coronary disease. Only the sharp, focal decrease of the contents of those element is a reliable sign of myocardial infarction.


Piriform syndrome.

Among a variety of deep muscle trigger points, the piriform muscle trigger point is selected for individual scrutiny. This seems fully justified by the great potential for confusing this entity with discogenic disease and consequently having unnecessary surgical procedures carried out.The diagnosis can be made from findings on simple physical diagnostic tests and an appropriate history. Low back and hip pain with pain radiating down the back of the leg should suggest piriform syndrome as part of the differential diagnosis. This is especially true if a female patient has complaint of dyspareunia. Pain and weakness on resisted abduction-external rotation of the thigh is a sign of piriform syndrome. This is confirmed by tenderness and reproduction of the patient's complaints by digital pressure over the belly of the piriform muscle, completing the diagnostic criteria. Local injection of the muscle belly is curative. There are no laboratory or x-ray findings leading to a diagnosis.


[Aging--risk factor for arteriosclerosis].

The changes of the arteries appearing diffusely caused by ageing as a rule favour the development of the focal arteriosclerotic changes. Already due to the increasing blood lipid level the ageing vessel is exposed to increased loads. It is more difficult for it to cope with them, since caused by ageing the cell functions of endothelium, intima and adjacent media decrease, whereas the diffundibility increases. The alterations of the mucopolysaccharide spectre in old age also render difficult the maintenance of the integrity of the arterial wall. The decrease of the distensibility of the arterial wall, partly consequence of increasing cross-linking, partly expression of senile fibrosis, is partially compensated by dilatation of the vascular tube. When arteriosclerotic beds supervene on account of solidification caused by old age additional difficulties appear. On principle the genuine changes caused by old age smooth the way for the development of arteriosclerotic changes.


A double blind trial of a new topical steroid formulation containing desoximetasone against fluocinolonacetonid cream.

A randomized double-blind left-right comparative trial was carried out between a new steroid Desoximetason 0,25% (Ibaril) and fluocinolone acetonide 0,025% cream. Evaluation of symptoms on 50 patients suffering from endogenous eczema was recorded after 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks. There was a significantly better effect of Ibaril compared to Fluocinolone-acetonide as judged by the observer during the 1st, 3rd and 4th week of treatment. After the 2nd week treatment Ibaril showed a better effect, however, a significancy could not be established.


[Clinical testing of a new local corticoid: desoximethasone].

In a double-blind comparative trial on 37 patients with symetric dermatoses, the clinical effect of desoximetasone (0.25%) has been compared to fluocinolone acetonide (0.2%). After 7 days of treatment an improvement or cure of the lesions could be seen in 34 patients treated with desoximetasone, and only on 22 patients treated with fluocinolone acetonide (0.2%). The better effect of desoximetasone was especially evident on erythema and pruritus. Differences between the drugs were statistically significant.


Chemically induced esthesioneuroblastomas in rats.

Malignant tumours of the nasal cavity were induced in 19 of 56 (34%) female MRC-Wistar rats by 1-nitrosopiperazine administered orally for life. These tumours were of neurogenic origin, according to classical histologic criteria.


Experimental studies on the effect of induced antifibrinolysis on per-operative tumour cell shedding.

Previous experimental data suggested a pronounced inhibition of the spontaneous intravascular tumor cell shedding by induced antifibrinolysis. Furthermore, the growth rate of primary tumours was reduced. This initiated the present investigation, in which the effect of antifibrinolysis, induced with tranexamic acid, on the per-operative intravascular release of cells from a 20-methylcholanthrene induced rat sarcoma was studied. Tumour cell shedding was estimated by registration of the outgrowth of secondary tumours in animals transplanted intrasmuscularly or intravenously with blood from the operatively treated tumour area. Induced antifibrinolysis was not found to influence the intravascular shedding of tumour cells. However, a significantly increase release of tumour cells was found during biopsies on large primary tumours compared to the same operative procedure on small tumours.


[On the cytosic action of N-methyl-N-beta-chloraethyl-hydrazine and its benzaldehydhydrazone (author's transl)].

N-Methyl-N-beta-chloroethyl-hydrazine and its benzaldehydhydrazone are two new cytostatic methylhydrazines. Administered intraperitoneally, they are more effective in inhibiting the ascites tumor growth (Ehrlich's carcinoma in mice and Yoshida sarcoma in rats) than procarbazine in vitro as well as in vivo. The intraperitoneal administration of hydrazone shows a minor effect on the solid tumor. This may be explained by a different pharmacocinetical behaviour. Hydrazone is less toxic than procarbazine.


[Adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, and 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of metastasizing breast cancer (author's transl)].

In a prospective study eleven patients with metastasizing breast cancer were treated with 5-fluorouracil, adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide )FAC). Complete remission occurred in three patients, with two of them still in remission four and thirteen months later. Partial remission (50% decrease in tumour size for more than four weeks) was achieved in five cases, with three of them still in remission. Time for remission induction was one to three months. The mean duration of complete remissions is not yet reached after thirteen months- that of partial remissions was 6.5 months. Two patients showed stable disease for four and more than eleven months, respectively. Only in one case progressive disease was noticed. Mean survival time from the start of therapy was 7.5 months for all patients. For complete and partial responders mean survival is not yet reached after eighteen months. With one exception therapy was given on an outpatient basis. Experimental and clinical data on therapeutic synergism of adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, and 5-fluorouracil show no advantage of the three-drug combination over the combination of adriamycin and cylophosphamide alone.


Ossification in cancer of the stomach: an experimental study.

In rats with Nitrosoguanidine induced carcinomas of the gastric stump, heterotopic ossifications are found freqently. The following stages of differentiation during the desmal ossification in the stump carcinomas are demonstrated: 1. Osteoblasts, 2. Osteoid, 3. Woven bone, 4. Lamellar bone. --The islands of metaplastic bone cells are predominantly located in the invasive marginal zone of the carcinoma of the gastric stump. The histology of the heterotopic ossification in the gastric stump of the rat is similar to that one seen in stomach cancer of men. The model here described seems to be suitable for further study of metaplastic bone formation in the gastrointestinal tract.


[Toxicological effects of diethylinitrosamine (DENA) in guppies (Lebistes reticulatus) (author's transl)].

In a chronical test guppies were incubated in the darkness in diethylnitrosamine-concentrations of 26 and 100 mg/1 up to seven months. This treatment led, because of the toxicity of the compound, to lesions in organs of the peritoneal cavity. Tumors were not observed. The cause of the lack of carcinogenic activity is discussed.


Comparative studies of neoplastic response to a single dose of nitroso compounds. 5. The effect of dimethylnitrosamine in Swiss, ASW/SN and A-strain mice.

The tumorigenic effect of dimethylnitrosamine given once at 5 different dose levels was compared in adult Swiss, ASW/SN and A-strain mice. Considering the overall tumour incidence, at the highest dose level an increase was found in Swiss and ASW/SN mice, but not in A-strain animals. However, the effect of treatment was unequivocal for lung neoplasms. The rate of carcinomas rose significantly in all 3 strains, although a clear dose response-relationship could be established only in Swiss and ASW/SN mice. A dose-dependent effect for adenomas was found solely in Swiss mice.


Structural limits of specificity of methylcholanthrene-repressible nitrosamine N-dealkylases. Inhibition by analog substrates.

The dealkylation of dimethyl-, diethyl- and dipropylnitrosamine by hepatic microsomes of Sprague-Dawley rats is repressed by pretreatment of the animals with 3-methylcholanthrene (MC), and this repression progressively decreases with the increase of alkyl chain length. In contrast to its effect on the demethylation of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), in vivo phenobarbital induces rather than represses the deethylation of diethylnitrosamine. The rates of demethylation of the DMN analog substrates (dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, dimethylpropionamide, and dimethylbutyramide), although low as compared to DMN, increase with the acyl chain length. These analogs are potent in vitro inhibitors of Dmn demethylation when used in combination with DMN as substrates, and the inhibition decreases with the length of the acyl chain. Dimethylaminoacetone, which corresponds to the insertion of a CH2 group between the N atom and the carbonyl group in dimethylacetamide, is not an in vitro inhibitor of DMN demethylation; the demethylation rates are additive when theis compound is used as substrate in combination with DMN. The rate of demethylation of dimethylaminoacetone is substantially higher than the rates of the dimethylacylamides, and is significantly repressed by MC-pretreatment. The rate of demethylation of methylphenylnitrosamine is not influenced by MC-pretreatment; the compound is, however, a potent inhibitor of demethylation when used as substrate in combination with DMN. The demethylation rates of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (the reduction product of DMN) and dimethylaniline are not influenced by MC-pretreatment; neither do they  affect the overall rate of demethylation when used as substrate in combination with DMN.


Analysis of the structure of cancer literature based on SABIR-C. III. A survey of the distribution of the world oncological publications from 1969-1974.

The great number of disciplines involving oncology and the exponential growth in the number of publications make it increasingly more difficult to keep abreast of the important oncological literature appearing in a large number of periodicals. It is, therefore, essential for the oncologist to be up to date with the journals and to read the papers relevant to his specialty. The cancer literature information system SABIR-C developed by the French and German Cancer Research Centers was created for this purpose. The present paper analyses 54496 papers published in periodicals covered by the SABIR-C system in the period from January 1969 to October 1974. The tables included contain the titles of periodicals which are of particular relevance for cancer research. They permit a quick orientation with regard to the important sources of oncological publications. These tables also assist the librarian working in a cancer research institution in selecting the most important and quantitatively most productive periodicals. This is especially important since he usually has only limited financial resources at his disposal. Further tables give a survey of the countries of origin and the categories to which the latest oncological literature belongs.


[Relation between RNA-synthesis and electrophoretic mobility of peripheral lymphocytes (author's transl)].

PHA and pokeweed mitogen increase the RNA-synthesis and decrease the electrophoretic mobility (e.m.) of normal peripheral lymphocytes. The increase in RNA-synthesis is not observed culturing lymphocytes from some patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In these cases the electrophoretic mobility remains unchanged. In some patients with CLL an increase in RNA-synthesis develops later than in normal controls. Correspondingly the decrease of the e.m. can be observed with delay. Erythrocytes and thrombocytes are not influenced by the mitogens. Since an increase in RNA-synthesis and decrease of the e.m. is also observed in mixed lymphocyte cultures without the presence of mitogens it is followed that the increase in RNA-synthesis is responsible for the decrease of the e.m.


[Systolic and diastolic load of right heart and right bundle block].

Analysing the Ecg and VCG of 818 subjects, healthy or with different congenital and acquired cardiopaties, the frequency of right bundle branch block (RBBB) is established to decrease with the increase in age of children, and is observed to be 8.9% in healthy adults. The right bundle block is observed in 82.5% of the patients with atrial septal defect and quite often in patients with right ventricle tension loading, gradually decreasing with the level of the left ventricle loading, as well as with the development of extreme right ventricle hypertrophy. Out of 50 experiments with dogs with acute and chronic right heart tension loading it is evident that the number of certain and marginal (uncertain) cases with RBBB steadily increases. At the same time this increase cannot be connected with the type of loading, in dogs in which dilatation of the right ventricle is presented as well as in others with light or marked hypertrophy. Besides, under the same conditions and durations of loading some hearts exhibit RBBB, while others do not. What has been stated before gives enough grounds to accept that RBBB in healthy subjects, as well as in patients with congenital and acquired cardiopaties manifests the electromotive tension (EMT) of persistent from foetal and children-age more pronounced physiological hypertrophy (as normal variant) of the basal part of the right ventricle. Whether the picture of RBBB is retained, pronounced or disappears is determined by the correlation between the quantity and the time-manifestation of EMT of the left ventricle and of the corps part of the right ventricle.


[The regulation of cell proliferation by chalones experimental investigations on epidermal hyperplasia (author's transl)].

The pattern of epidermal cell proliferation, following a single application of a hyperplasia inducing agent, can well be interpreted in cybernetic terms. This concept implies that the local concentration of a possible growth inhibiting signal substance should exhibit variations compatible with the changes seen in the cell kinetics of the epidermis. This signal substance has been called the epidermal chalone, first preliminary characterized by Bullough et al. (1964c). Meanwhile a considerable number of other chalone systems have been identified in different organs. From the experimental results a chalone was considered an anti-mitotic substance, which is synthesized within the same tissue on which it specifically acts. It was found not to be species-specific; it reveals a rapid and reversible inhibition by diffusion and passes throughout the tissue and into the blood. Later investigations have exhibited that the epidermal chalone probably consists of at least two separate compounds (proteins), one acting on cells in the postsynthetic, pre-mitotic G 2-phase, the other one on cells in late G 1 (Marks, 1971; Elgjo et al., 1971, 1972). The proliferative behavior of epidermal cells following an application of different irritants was the main subject of the present investigations. All experiments were performed in vivo with hairless mouse epidermis, which was treated with 20-methylcholanthrene (MCA) as carcinogen and crotonoil as cocarcinogen, both dissolved in acetone, and with repeated Scotch tape stripping. Different methods were employed in order to determine epidermal proliferation parameters such as: a. the cytophotometrically measured amount of nucleic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of Feulgen-stained epidermal basal cells, b. the total DNA content of whole epidermis, c. the number of Colcemid(R) arrested metaphases (mitotic rate) in the basal cell layer, d. the incorporation of H3-thymidine into DNA of epidermal basal cells. The number of epidermal basal cells revealing an increased DNA content is significantly lowered for more than 24 hours after MCA and for 12 hours after Crotonoil administration. This effect was not observed after Scotch tape stripping. In all the treated groups this period was followed by a proliferation wave exhibiting more cells with an increased DNA-content during the first 6-10 days after irritation. Only after MCA treatment this higher cell number appeared with a lag phase of 3 to 4 days and coincided with a decrease of the total amount of epidermal DNA. All irritants produced a marked epidermal hyperplasia during the first two weeks after application.


Postmorten glycolysis in ground skeletal muscle as influenced by prerigor freezing and subsequent thawing.

Ground bovine longissimus and rabbit white muscles were frozen (-25 degrees C) in the prerigor state and subsequently thawed(+20 degrees C) to determine the combined effect of grinding and freezing on glycolytic metabolites and enzymes. Frozen ground muscle, when compared to unfrozen ground tissue, showed significantly lower hexose monophosphates and significantly greater levels of all metabolites from fructose diphosphate to phosphoenolpyruvate, indicating activation of phosphofructokinase and inhibition of pyruvate kinase during the freezing process. Thawing caused rapid glycolysis and the metabolites returned to near unfrozen levels by the time glycolysis ceased, due to strong activation of phosphorylase by Ca2+. Both muscle types had a similar pattern of changes.


[Studies on investigation of primary pathologic deterioration of the lower limbs. Calcific deposits in the veins (author's transl)].

Veins of the limbs of 193 sudden deaths are examined concerning the frequency, extent and localisation of sclerosis. The macroscopic process of preparation has been satisfactory. Correlations to several factors, especially age and diseases of heart and arteries, are presented and discussed.


[Long-term therapy of rheumatoid arthritis with perclusone].

124 patients afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis were being treated with gold salts or antimalarial preparations with the addition of corticoids as well as other antirheumatic preparations. If the Lansbury-Index fell under 30% of the initial value, the therapy was interrupted, and that in 84 patients. One half of these patients were then given Perclusone (Clofezone) in the dose of 600 mg daily for 4 years. The other half of patients -- as control group-- were given various non-steroid antirheumatics, mostly acetylsalicylic acid, phenylbutazon or indomethacin in normal doses. The course of the disease of both groups was followed up clinically and the Lansbury-Index as well as the number and duration of reactivations were determined. In the group treated with Perclusone, the previously obtained remissions remained substantially more stable, only rarely reactivations ensued and their duration was then also remarkably shorter. Tolerance of Perclusone was very good, no side-effects whatsoever have been ascertained. In the group treated with other antirheumatics distinctly more frequent and longer-lasting reactivations were ascertained. Tolerance of these drugs was generally worse and they had to be changed more frequently. Perclusone has thus proved efficient as a very good stabilizing drug in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.


[Influence of antiphlogistics, antireheumatics, and acid mucopolysaccharides on in-vitro collagen fibril formation].

41 compounds, anti-inflammatory agents, acid mucopolysaccharides, and other substances were investigated in vitro for their ability to influence the formation of collagen fibrils. The acid anti-inflammatory agents accelerated the formation of collagen fibrils partially, acid mucopolysaccharides inhibited it. The results are discussed regarding the effects exhibited by anti-inflammatory agents and mucopolysaccharides in rheumatoid arthritis and osteo-arthrosis.


[Excretion of catecholamines and tryptophan derivatives in schizophrenia].

In order to study the correlations between the metabolism of biogenic monoamines and the type of development) of schizophrenia, the morning urine excretion of 30 patients (15 with continuous progressive schizophrenia and 15 with shift-like forms of development) was examined. The author studied the percentage of distribution of data, dophamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline and the correlation between these ingredients in the catecholamine system, as well as the distribution of tryptophane. It was established that in schizophrenia there is a noradrenaline deficit and a drop in the activity of tryptophane metabolism towards the serotonin way. Besides, in patients with continuous progressive forms of the disease there was a simultaneous drop in the intensity of dophamine synthesis from dopha, while in patients with shift-like schizophrenia-an excess of dophamine, conditioned probably not only by an inhibition of phamine-B-oxydase, but by an increase of dophadecarboxylase activity.