Consequences of blocking the nerve with a local anaesthetic on the evolution of multiinnervation at the regenerating neuromuscular junction of the rat.

A transient multiinnervation is observed in adult rats during reinnervation of the soleus muscle. Chronic blockage of the sciatic nerve with a cuff of the local anaesthetic lidocaine during reinnervation increases the number of multiply innervated muscle fibres. This result indicates that the selective elimination of redundant nerve terminals is regulated by the activity of the innervated muscle.

Effects of deuteration on locomotor activity of amphetamine.

The synthesis of fully deuterated amphetamine (phenyl-2-aminopropane-d11) in which 11 deuterium atoms are bonded to carbons and two other highly deuterated analogues is described. Their toxicities and in vivo spontaneous locomotor activities in mice were examined and compared with that of the parent protioamphetamine. A significant reduction in toxicities and a decrease in spontaneous locomotor activity were observed for these highly enriched deuterated analogues, as compared to protioamphetamine.

Reversible skeletal muscle damage after administration of local anesthetics with and without epinephrine.

Local anesthetic preparations with and without epinephrine, which are in common clinical use, produced reversible skeletal muscle damage in the rat after a single local administration. In addition, epinephrine alone, in concentrations of more than 1:200,000, caused similar but less extensive damage.

[Long-term results of aortocoronary bypass. 2 Angiographic aspects].

Follow-up arteriograms carried out between one and six years (mean follow-up period two years) in 80 cases of aorto-coronary bypass graft procedures showed a good correlation between the quality of the clinical results obtained -- as detailed in the first part of this article -- and a larger proportion of patent grafts: 82% of 130 grafts had remained patent, and 94% of patients have all or some of their grafts patent. Late occlusion of the grafts is rare, and does not appear to be influenced by abnormalities of the graft found at early follow-up, these abnormalities being fairly stable. These follow-up have especially shown the good correlation between the quality of the clinical results and the functional status of the coronary network in the long term, a function not only of the permeability of the grafts which have been carried out, but also of the complete or incomplete correction of the lesions of the three coronary trunks.

[Long-term results of aortocoronary bypass. 1. Clinical aspects].

Eighty patients undergoing one or several aorto-coronary bypass graft procedures had longterm clinical and arteriographic follow-up (mean follow-up period of two years, extremes 1 and 6 years). The indication fort operation in these patients was unstable angina in 39 (49%), threatened infarction in 16 (20%), Prinzmetal's angina in 8 (10%), and stable but incapacitating angina in 17 (21%). Significant lesions involved the three coronary trunks in 49 cases, two trunks in 25 cases, and one trunk in 6 cases.

Antiinflammatory activity of Tylopilus felleus (Bull. ex Fr.) P. Karst.

Tylopilus felleus lyophylised preparation (Tf) tested in the carrageenin induced oedema test in rats, exhibit a significant inhibition of inflammation at all doses above 50 mg/kg sc while oral administration produced no significant results.

Biological and phytochemical investigations of Dianthus barbatus cv. "China Doll" (Caryophyllaceae).

From the aerial parts of Dianthus barbatus cv. "China Doll", two saponins (barbatosides A and B) were isolated and shown to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. The aglycone of each saponin was identified as quillaic acid.

Comparison of a microcrystalline collagen preparation and gelatin foam in extraction wounds.

A microcrystalline collagen preparation and a gelatin foam were compared relative to their effects on hemostasis and healing in molar extraction sockets in cats. The agents were essentially equivalent in both hemostasis and the inflammatory response that accompanied healing. Healing was slightly retarded in comparison to that seen in untreated control sockets in a previous study.

Evaluation of a microcrystalline collagen preparation in extraction wounds.

The microcrystalline collagen preparation evaluated in this study appeared to create a slightly denser and longer lasting inflammation and to delay slightly the early phase of bone repair in this wound model. However, beneficial effects of more rapid achievement of hemostatis were also noted. On the basis of these findings, it would be of interest to compare this material with other more widely used materials, such as gelatin foam, in this wound model.

Biological and phytochemical evaluation of plants. XIV. Antiinflammatory evaluation of 163 species of plants.

One hundred and seventy-seven plant extracts, representing 163 species of plants and/or fungi, were evaluated in rats to determine their antiinflammatory activity using the carrageenin-induced pedal edema assay. Of the 163 species of plants and/or fungi tested, 17 exhibited between 30--39 per cent inhibition of inflammation, 21 between 40-49 per cent, 15 between 50--59 per cent, four between 60--69 per cent, and two gave greater than 70 per cent inhibition of carrageenin-induced pedal edema.

[Hemodynamic diagnosis of tricuspid insufficiency].

An analysis and comparison has been made of the value in the diagnosis and assessment of the degree of tricuspid incompetence of the following: the pressure curves of the right side of the heart, intracardiac phonocardiography and the venous dilution curves of ascorbic acid. The study was carried out on 49 patients, and a comparison made with selective right ventricular cineangiography, which was chosen arbitarily as a baseline. The information from the pressure curves and from intracardiac phonocardiography often contains errors of ommission or commission, but that from the venous dilution curves of ascorbic acid came out as the most reliable; these curves do tend to overestimate the degree of regurgitation, but they still allow us to reserve selective cineangiography, which is quantitatively a more precise method, for those cases in which the curves indicate a particularly severe degree of tricuspid incompetence.