Laser Doppler imager (LDI) scanner and intradermal injection for in vivo pharmacology in human skin microcirculation: responses to acetylcholine, endothelin-1 and their repeatability.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the repeatability of forearm skin blood flow responses to intradermal injections of acetylcholine (ACh) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) using a double injection technique (DIT) and a laser Doppler imager (LDI) scanner in the human skin microcirculation.

Methods: We used a laser Doppler imager (Moor LDI V3.01) to continuously monitor the change in skin blood flow during intradermal administration of physiological saline (0.

Augmentation index is associated with cardiovascular risk.

Objectives: Augmentation index is a parameter measured by pulse wave analysis (PWA) and is used as a surrogate measure of arterial stiffness. The aim of this study was to assess whether augmentation index is associated with cardiovascular risk, as well as to evaluate whether the determinants of augmentation index are different in patients with cardiovascular disease compared to healthy subjects.

Design And Methods: We related augmentation index to risk scores in 216 subjects with or without a cardiovascular disease.

Tissue elastance influences airway smooth muscle shortening: comparison of mechanical properties among different species.

We have observed striking differences in the mechanical properties of airway smooth muscle preparations among different species. In this study, we provide a novel analysis on the influence of tissue elastance on smooth muscle shortening using previously published data from our laboratory. We have found that isolated human airways exhibit substantial passive tension in contrast to airways from the dog and pig, which exhibit little passive tension (<5% of maximal active force versus approximately 60% for human bronchi).

Incidence of pulmonary disease caused by mycobacteria other than tuberculosis in British Columbia.

Context: The incidence of pulmonary disease due to mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (TB) in Canada has not been documented.

Objective: To determine the incidence of pulmonary disease due to mycobacteria in the nonimmunocompromised population of British Columbia.

Design: A retrospective cohort study of 110 cases of mycobacteria infection other than TB identified from 1991 to 1995.

The focal adhesion protein paxillin regulates contraction in canine tracheal smooth muscle.

The adapter protein paxillin localizes to the focal adhesions of adherent cells and has been implicated in the regulation of cytoskeletal organization and cell motility. Paxillin undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation in response to the contractile stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle. We therefore hypothesized that paxillin may be involved in regulating smooth muscle contraction.