[Liver transplantation--considerations over 8 cases operated in the year 2000].

In the year 2000, at the Department for General Surgery and Liver Transplantation from The Fundeni Clinical Institute Bucharest, seven OLTs and one living-related transplantation were performed in 6 adults and 2 children. Postoperative complications were: bile leakage, hemoperitoneum, lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage, parietoabdominal hematoma. There was only one postoperative death due to septic complications in the 18th p.

Simultaneous generation of methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide from choline and ascorbic acid: a defensive mechanism against reductive stress?

Indirect evidence suggests that an abnormal increase in reducing power (reductive stress) may be associated with abnormal clinical states. We have recently proposed that under such conditions biomolecules with electrophilic methyl groups (EMGs) bound to positively charged nitrogen or sulfur moieties may act as electron acceptors and that this poising mechanism may entail the generation of methane gas. Here we report for the first time the generation of methane by rat liver mitochondria.

Endothelin-a receptor antagonist treatment improves the periosteal microcirculation after hindlimb ischemia and reperfusion in the rat.

Objectives: To examine the microcirculatory changes in the rat tibial periosteum after hindlimb ischemia and reperfusion and to evaluate the effects of endothelin-A (ET-A) receptor antagonist therapy in this condition. The healing and functioning of vascularized bone autografts depend mainly on the patency of the microcirculation, and the activation of ET-A receptors may be an important component of the tissue response that occurs during ischemia-reoxygenation injuries.

Methods: Wistar rats were subjected to 1 hour of hindlimb ischemia and 3 hours of reperfusion.

Kupffer cell phagocytosis blockade decreases morbidity in endotoxemic rats with obstructive jaundice.

Objective And Design: The consequences of Kupffer cell phagocytosis blockade were studied in endotoxemic rats with obstructive jaundice.

Material Or Subjects: 159 male Wistar rats.

Treatment: Obstructive jaundice was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL).

Experience with different methods of treatment of nonparasitic liver cysts.

Background And Aims: In a search for the optimal management of nonparasitic liver cysts, a study was made of the effectiveness of different methods.

Patients And Methods: Between 1 January 1982 and 15 December 2001 we treated 132 patients with nonparasitic liver cysts. In 72 patients 31 cysts were treated with enucleation, 60 with deroofing, and 24 with stitching by laparotomy; two liver resections were also performed.

[Reconstruction of cervical esophageal anastomosis using median sternotomy].

We performed cervical oesophageal anastomosis in 153 patients in 10 years. In 11 patients reconstruction or delayed anastomosis was performed through median sternotomy because cervical approach was not suitable. Reoperations were the following: 7 oesophageal stenosis which couldn't be dilated, 2 necrosis of the transplanted organ and 2 because of delayed anastomosis.

Endothelin-1 induces mucosal mast cell degranulation and tissue injury via ETA receptors.

The effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on mucosal mast cells are of special interest, since they may be an important component of the tissue response that occurs during ischaemic preconditioning or ischaemia/re-oxygenation injuries. Increasing doses of ET-1 were administered intravenously to anaesthetized rats. In a second series of experiments, animals were pretreated with the ET(A) receptor antagonists BQ-610 or ETR-P1/fl peptide, or with the ET(B) receptor antagonist IRL-1038.

Dalteparin sodium treatment during resuscitation inhibits hemorrhagic shock-induced leukocyte rolling and adhesion in the mesenteric microcirculation.

Background: Ischemia/reperfusion-induced polymorphonuclear neutrophil leukocyte (PMN) adhesion and extravasation are pivotal for the development of postinjury multiple organ failure. We hypothesized that the deleterious microcirculatory consequences of hemorrhagic shock (HS) could be altered by low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) therapy. Our aim was to investigate the effects of dalteparin sodium on leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions when LMWH treatment was initiated before HS or during resuscitation.

Dynamic in vivo observation of villus microcirculation during small bowel autotransplantation: effects of endothelin-A receptor inhibition.

Background: The aims of this study were to characterize the structural and microcirculatory changes in single intestinal villi during ischemia and reperfusion and determine the site of action of endothelin (ET)-A receptor inhibition during compromised mucosal perfusion.

Methods: Small bowel autotransplantation was performed in anesthetized dogs. One group was treated with the ET-A receptor antagonist ETR-p1/fl peptide.

[Use of crystal conversion reactions in the synthesis of pentacyclic alkaloid analogues].

During investigation of substitution of debenzorutaecarpine derivatives thermal cyclization reactions was observed to produce new fused heterocyclic systems. The optimal temperature of cyclizations was determined by differential calorimetric measurements of crystals of intermediate products. The thermolysis of 2-azido-3-formil-debenzorutaecarpine gave, after elimination nitrogen, izooxazolo-debenzorutaecarpine in good yield.

Betaine-palmitate reduces acetylsalicylic acid-induced gastric damage in rats.

Background: Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)-induced gastric injury is reduced when ASA is administered along with phosphatidylcholine. The hydrolysis of endogenous phosphatidylcholine leads to the production of betaine, which may participate in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. The present aims were to investigate the effects of exogenous betaine and its palmitic acid complex (betaine-palmitate) in the protection of the gastric mucosa in ASA-induced subacute damage.

Endothelin-1-induced airway and parenchymal mechanical responses in guinea-pigs: the roles of ETA and ETB receptors.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been shown to have a constrictor effect on the airways and parenchyma; however, the roles of the ETA and ETB receptors in the ET-1-induced changes in the airway and tissue compartments have not been fully explored. Low-frequency pulmonary impedance (ZL) was measured in anaesthetized, paralysed, open-chest guinea-pigs. ZL spectra were fitted by a model to estimate airway resistance (Raw) and inertance (Iaw), and coefficients of tissue damping (G) and elastance (H), and hysteresivity (eta = G/H).

[Methods for in vivo investigation of human microcirculation].

Microcirculatory disorders play a major role in the development of organ failure in a variety of conditions. Perfusion changes may be visualized by static and dynamic methods, with direct and indirect techniques. Orthogonal polarization spectral imaging is a novel method of imaging the human microcirculation.

Electrophilic methyl groups present in the diet ameliorate pathological states induced by reductive and oxidative stress: a hypothesis.

Reductive stress, characterised by an increased NADH:NAD+ ratio, may be as common and as important a consequence of redox imbalance as oxidative stress. It may also be an important predisposing cause of the generation of reactive oxygen species. Considerable experimental and indirect clinical evidence suggests that protection against reductive stress depends on biomolecules with electrophilic methyl groups (EMG) such as S-adenosylmethionine, betaine, carnitine and phosphatidylcholine.

Bile-induced adenosine triphosphate depletion and mucosal damage during reflux esophagitis.

Background: This study was designed to investigate the role of bile in a large animal model of acute esophageal reflux disease.

Methods: An agar electrode was used to measure the transmucosal potential difference of the esophagus in anaesthetized dogs. The vascular permeability index and the epithelial permeability index of the mucosa were evaluated by means of the Evans blue and the sodium-fluorescein clearance method, respectively.

[The role of nitric oxide synthase, and of granulocytes, in endotoxin-induced early myocardial depression].

Unlabelled: The aim of our study was to investigate the role of endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthase (eNOS and iNOS) and granulocytes during hyperdynamic endotoxemia, and to study the cardiovascular effects of the non-selective NOS-inhibitor N-omega-nitro L-arginine methylester (L-NAME) and the selective iNOS-inhibitor mercaptoethylguanidine (MEG) in the early myocardial depression.

Methods: Endotoxemia was induced in anesthetized dogs. Mean arterial pressure, cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance was monitored, left ventricular contractility was calculated.

Intravital microscopic assessment of pressure induced microcirculatory changes after enterocystoplasty in rats.

Purpose: Chronic over distention may lead to enterocystoplasty rupture. It is hypothesized that pressure induced microvascular derangement and subsequent ischemia of the enterocystoplasty intestinal patch may have a role in this process. We describe distention induced microcirculatory alterations in a chronic rat model of enterocystoplasty using intravital video microscopy.

Endothelin-1 induces mucosal mast cell degranulation in the rat small intestine.

The enhanced production of endothelial cell-derived vasoactive mediators and the activation of mast cells (MCs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of mucosal damage during ischemia and reperfusion injuries. The first objective of our study was to define the in vivo relation between endothelin-1 (ET-1) and the MC system. Secondly, we determined whether pretreatment with ET receptor antagonists would attenuate MC responses to exogenous ET-1.

Prevention of early myocardial depression in hyperdynamic endotoxemia in dogs.

In our study the pathomechanism of sepsis-induced early myocardial depression was investigated. We determined the effects of the inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and free radical scavenger mercaptoethylguanidine (MEG) on the myocardial contractility, the endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthase (eNOS and iNOS) activities, and the activation and tissue accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in hyperdynamic endotoxemia in dogs. Group 1 served as endotoxemic control.

Endothelin-A receptor antagonism improves small bowel graft perfusion and structure after ischemia and reperfusion.

Background: We hypothesized that endothelin-A (ET-A) receptor activation plays a central role in intestinal ischemia-reperfusion-induced hemodynamic changes and may trigger the process of mucosal barrier destruction. Our aims were to investigate and compare the effects of systemic and intragraft ET-A receptor antagonist therapy during the early revascularization phase of small bowel transplants.

Methods: In Groups 1, 2, and 3 orthotopic small bowel autotransplants were performed in anesthetized dogs.

Effects of selective nitric oxide synthase inhibition in hyperdynamic endotoxemia in dogs.

Objectives: Our aims were to investigate the systemic hemodynamic effects of constitutive endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS) inhibitors in hyperdynamic endotoxemia.

Patients And Methods: Group 1 comprised sham-operated controls, while in group 2, 3 and 4, a hyperdynamic circulatory reaction was elicited by a 2-hour infusion of Escherichia coli endotoxin (ETX) in a dose of 5.3 microg/kg.

The role of mast cell degranulation in ischaemia-reperfusion-induced mucosal injury in the small intestine.

The role of the intestinal mast cell system in the pathophysiology of postischaemic mucosal lesions is not understood. The present goals were to investigate the contributions of mast cells and mast cell-derived vasoactive mediators to mucosal injury caused by arterial occlusion. We evaluated the intestinal ischaemia-reperfusion-induced local morphological changes in mast cell-depleted anesthetized dogs.

Mast cell degranulation prior to ischemia decreases ischemia-reperfusion injury in the canine small intestine.

Objective: To determine the impact of previous mast cell degranulation on intestinal ischemia-reperfusion-induced mucosal damaged.

Materials: The hemodynamic and morphological consequences of complete arterial occlusion were evaluated in anesthetized dogs. The mast cell degranulator Cremophor-E1 (n = 5) and Compound 48/80 (n = 5) were used to investigate the involvement of gastrointestinal mast cells in ischemia-reperfusion-induced tissue reactions.

The role of endothelin-1 in circulatory changes during hypodynamic sepsis in the rat.

Our objective was to investigate the significance of endogenous endothelin-1-induced systemic circulatory reactions during hypodynamic sepsis. In the first part of this study, we observed the changes in global hemodynamic parameters in Wistar rats after exogenous endothelin-1 administration in order to test an intervention strategy aimed at preventing the development of hypodynamic cardiovascular derangement during intraabdominal sepsis. Cardiac output, mean arterial blood pressure, and peripheral vascular resistance were recorded, and the endothelin-A receptor antagonist BQ-610 and the endothelin-B receptor antagonist IRL-1038 were used to investigate the role of receptor subtypes in circulatory changes.

Endothelin (ET)-1 induced mucosal damage in the rat small intestine: role of ET(A) receptors.

The role of endothelin (ET)-1 as a mediator of small intestinal mucosal perfusion failure and tissue damage was investigated in the rat using intravital fluorescence videomicroscopy. The effects of intravenous infusion of ET-1 (3 nmol/kg) on functional capillary density, mucosal thickness, and the degree of mucosal damage were evaluated. Administration of ET-1 caused pronounced mucosal injury with a significant reduction of mucosal thickness compared with vehicle-treated control animals.