Assessing prion infectivity of human urine in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative conditions associated with a misfolded and infectious protein, scrapie prion protein (PrP(Sc)). PrP(Sc) propagate prion diseases within and between species and thus pose risks to public health. Prion infectivity or PrP(Sc) presence has been demonstrated in urine of experimentally infected animals, but there are no recent studies of urine from patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a single dose of recombinant human growth hormone after subcutaneous administration by jet-injection: comparison with conventional needle-injection.

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) were studied after a single subcutaneous dose given by jet-injection, and have been compared with the results obtained after conventional needle-injection. Twelve healthy male volunteers completed an open label, randomised, two-way crossover study, with a 7-day washout period between the two single sc doses. Pharmacokinetic parameters were derived from rhGH concentrations in blood samples collected regularly over 24 h after dosing on Day 1 of each period.

Rapid reduction of uterine leiomyomas with monthly injections of D-Trp6-GnRH.

Ten women with intramural leiomyomas were treated with the microencapsulated GnRH analogue Decapeptyl for 24 weeks. Four (4) mg Decapeptyl was injected, starting on day 21 of the menstrual cycle, and injections were repeated every 4 weeks for a total of 24 weeks. All patients showed a marked reduction in uterine size: before treatment it measured 284 +/- 57 cm3, after 8 weeks 122 +/- 33 cm3, and after 24 weeks 89 +/- 14 cm3.

Some properties of carbonic anhydrase from mineralizing hamster molars.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity in mineralizing hamster molars was determined with a radiochemical assay. Hamster molar CA appeared to be very similar to CA from other sources. No pH optimum could be determined; the KM was 13.

Matrix depletion of young and old human articular cartilage by cultured autologous synovium fragments: a chondrocyte-independent effect.

Human articular cartilage of different ages was cultured for 8 days and proteoglycan (PG) release into the medium was measured. Retinol and synovial co-culture increased the PG release of cartilage of all ages. The effect of retinol was dose-dependent.