Casual blood-ethanol estimations in patients with chronic liver disease.

Patients attending a clinic for diseases of the liver were tested for blood-ethanol by a gas chromatographic technique sensitive to about 5 mg/dl (1 mmol/1). Of 172 patients (51 men, 121 women) 36% gave a history of heavy drinking (greater than 80 g ethanol/day; equivalent to 8 fl oz of whisky or 1 litre of wine) and 13% had ethanol in the bloodstream at values of 8-400 mg/dl. 42 patients (24%) had the liver-biopsy changes of alcoholic liver disease, and 17 of these had ethanol in the blood at one time or another.

Spectroscopic evidence for the formation of a 4-keto intermediate in the UDP-apiose/UDP-xylose synthase reaction.

Uridine diphospho-D-glucose (UDP-Glc) and UDP-methyl-D-glucuronate (UDP-GlcUAMe) have been shown to be competitive inhibitors for the UDP-apiose/udp-xylose synthase from cell suspension cultures of parsley. The apparent Ki values for these substrate analogues were of the same order of magnitude as the apparent Km value for the substrate UDP-D-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcUA). The difference spectrum of the incubation mixture containing UDP-GlcUA, NAD+ and the highly purified enzyme showed a transient absorption with a maximum at 292 nm which disappeared upon addition of sodium hydroxide.

Training and organization for pathology in Britain. The role of chemical pathologists.

In Britain, the term "clinical pathology" indicates the discipline of pathology applied to patients, whereas "chemical pathology" refers to pathology in its chemical and biochemical aspects, both as a basic science and for patient care. The initial training of a chemical pathologist is usually in general pathology, in metabolic medicine, or in research. This training continues solely in chemical pathology, and the specialist qualification, namely Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists, is taken at about 32 years of age.

[Effect of arsenic on the incorporation of 14C-thymidine into DNAP of phytohaemagglutinin-treated lymphocytes (author's transl)].

In lymphocyte cultures stimulated with PHA Na2HAsO4 is able, independent of the arsenic doses used (10 mug, 30 mug, 50 mug/ml culture medium), to increase the 14C-thymidine incorporation in acid precipitable biopolymers. The increase was 17 plus or minus 4% at 1 hr exposure to arsenic, compared with control cultures which were not exposed to arsenic. The administration of 30 mug and 50 mug Na2HAsO4/ml medium at incubation periods between 2 and 18 hrs resulted in a decrease in the radioactive incorporation rate into the DNA which was dependent on dose and time.

[The effect of fumaric acid monoethylester on the synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins of PHA-stimulated human lymphocytes (author's transl)].

Fumaric acid monoethylester (FAME) inhibits the incorporation of 14C-Thymidin, 14C-Uridin, 14C-Alanin and 14C-Leucin into acid-insoluble biopolymers of cultivated PHA-stimulated human lymphocytes. At high concentrations of FAME (500 mug/ml culture medium) the inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis is 6 times higher on the average than the inhibition of protein synthesis. However, the application of the cis-isomer, maleic acid monoethylester (MAME), results in an increase of the incorporation rate of the labelled precursors into the RNA and DNA.

Training and career appointments in the pathological sciences in the United Kingdom.

Pathologists usually receive initial training in clinical work, or in general pathology, or in academic work, followed by speciality training as a senior registrar or lecturer. Consultant status is generally achieved by the age of 34, now almost always in a single discipline. The distribution of pathologists between disciplines, in National Health Service and university posts, is tabulated: there are many unfilled appointments.

Plasma alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in hepatobiliary disease.

BY CELLULOSE ACETATE OR ACRYLAMIDE GEL ELECTROPHORESIS IT IS POSSIBLE TO SEPARATE THESE ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE ISOENZYMES FROM SERUM: [anode] fast liver, slow liver, placenta/Regan, bone, intestine, bile [cathode]. Heat or chemical inhibition can confirm the differentiation. Normal adult serum always contains slow-liver isoenzyme, and sometimes bone isoenzyme: the latter is always present in serum of children.

[Phytochrome control of enzymes involved in flavonoid synthesis in cell suspension cultures of parsley (Petroselinum hortense Hoffm.)].

Enzymes involved in flavonoid synthesis in parsley (Petroselinum nortense Hoffm.) cell suspension cultures are induced by light. It has been suggested that the regulation of the enzymes of phenylpropanoid metabolism (group 1) is independent of that of the enzymes of flavonoid synthesis proper (group 2) [Hahl-brock, K.