Serum protein binding of propofol in patients with renal failure or hepatic cirrhosis.

Background: Serum protein binding is a limiting factor in the access of drugs to the central nervous system. Disease-induced modifications of the degree of binding may influence the effect of anesthetic drugs.

Methods: The protein binding of propofol, an intravenous anaesthetic agent which is highly bound to serum albumin, has been investigated in serum samples from healthy volunteers, from patients with chronic renal failure not undergoing hemodialysis, from patients with chronic renal failure included in a regular hemodialysis program, and from patients with hepatic cirrhosis.

Respiratory scleroma: a clinicopathologic and ultrastructural study.

Respiratory scleroma (rhinoscleroma) is a chronic granulomatous infection produced by Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis, a gram-negative aerobic coccobacillus. This disease is endemic to Africa, Central and South America, South Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and China. Sporadic cases have been reported in the United States, especially in persons who migrated from the aforementioned areas.

Energy of the Photosubstitutionally Reactive Excited State of Pentaammine(pyridine)ruthenium(II).

The photosensitized aquation of pentaammine(pyridine)ruthenium(II) by several dyes has been studied under conditions where only the sensitizers absorb light. The ratio of the quantum yields for ammine and pyridine substitution was the same as that for direct photoaquation. Sensitization was effective with singlet sensitizers Rhodamine-B (17 452 cm(-)(1)) and Safranine-T (17 690 cm(-)(1)), as well as the triplet sensitizer biacetyl (19 000 cm(-)(1)), but no reaction was observed with Neutral-Red (16 900 cm(-)(1)).

[Postoperative infection and anesthesia: analysis of various risk factors].

Objectives: To study the possible relation between anesthetic techniques and other perioperative circumstances and factors and the presentation of infections after surgery.

Patients And Methods: We studied 22 patients who suffered infections after surgery and 54 who did not, analyzing the anesthetic technique used as well as other data on age, sex, concomitant disease, toxic habits, practice of invasive procedures, duration and nature of the surgical procedure and the use of antibiotic prophylaxis. Multivariate analysis (logistical regression) was performed in order to identify independent risk factors.

Subclinic effect of the administration of T-2 Toxin and Nivalenol in mice.

Four experiments using T-2 toxin and nivalenol at different dosage, which represented the 25% and 40% of the LD50 (experiment A: 1.04 mg of T-2 toxin per kilogram of body weight, experiment B: 2.34 mg of T-2 toxin/kg b.

Distinct pattern of embryonic expression of the sea urchin CyI actin gene in Tripneustes gratilla.

Cloning and sequencing of Tripneustes gratilla genomic DNA and cDNA encoding a developmentally regulated, embryonic messenger RNA, referred to as Tg616, revealed an actin-encoding gene orthologous to the CyI actin gene described from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Tg616 and SpCyI share: (1) 150 nucleotides of highly conserved sequence 5' of the transcription start site, (2) 95% nucleotide sequence identity in the protein encoding regions, which specify identical amino acid residues in 375 of 377 positions, and (3) extensive nucleotide sequence identity in the 3' untranslated region of their messenger RNAs. Tg616 was therefore designated TgCyI.

Ticarcillin-clavulanic acid pharmacokinetics in preterm neonates with presumed sepsis.

The objective of the reported study was to characterize the pharmacokinetics of ticarcillin and clavulanic acid in premature low-birth-weight (less than 2,200 g) neonates with presumed sepsis. Eleven infants received 12 courses of ticarcillin-clavulanic acid at 75 mg/kg of body weight intravenously every 12 h. Blood samples were collected at 0.

Multifocal papilloma virus epithelial hyperplasia.

Multifocal papilloma virus epithelial hyperplasia is an infection of the oral mucosa produced by human papilloma virus types 13 and 32, which primarily bilaterally affects lips, lateral borders of tongue, and buccal mucosa. The attached oral mucosa, floor of mouth, soft palate, and oropharynx are sites that appear not to be affected. This study comprises 110 patients with multifocal papilloma virus epithelial hyperplasia identified over a period of 3 years in Guatemala City and neighboring rural areas.

Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on serial pattern performance in the rat.

The effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on serial-pattern learning was investigated in adult rats. Pregnant dams were administered a liquid diet which contained 35% ethanol-derived calories (35% EDC) on days 6-20 of gestation. Two control groups were included: a liquid diet control which was pair-fed and had sucrose substituted for ethanol (0% EDC); and a group fed standard lab chow throughout pregnancy.

Recognition of food in weanling rats exposed to alcohol prenatally.

Offspring of rats fed a liquid diet containing ethanol during their pregnancies were compared to controls on a caloric discrimination test beginning at 22 days of age. All pups received simultaneous choice between a palatable, noncaloric diet and a similar diet containing starch. Each diet contained a distinctive flavor.

The behavioral teratogenicity of alcohol is not affected by pretreatment with aspirin.

Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with a variety of developmental abnormalities, including neuroanatomical, physical, and behavioral features. Several mechanisms for alcohol's teratogenic effects have been proposed. This study addresses the role of prostaglandins in the abnormal development that often occurs after maternal alcohol consumption.

[Paradoxical reaction to midazolam after its use as a sedative in regional anesthesia].

We report 3 cases of paradoxical reaction to midazolam after being used for sedation during regional anesthesia. The picture was characterized by a marked aggressiveness. In one case the reaction was treated with general anesthesia, whereas in the other two patients the clinical picture was rapidly reversed by administration of flumazenil.

Fetal dexamethasone exposure alters macromolecular characteristics of rat brain development: a critical period for regionally selective alterations?

Fetal glucocorticoid exposure retards postnatal growth and evokes abnormalities of nervous system structure and function. To examine the underlying mechanisms, we administered 0.2 or 0.

Differential potentiation by calcium antagonists of neuromuscular blockade induced by pancuronium and succinylcholine in cats in vivo.

The effects of several calcium antagonists (verapamil, nicardipine and two diltiazem isomers, d-cis and l-cis diltiazem) alone and associated to non-depolarizing (pancuronium) and depolarizing (succinylcholine) neuromuscular blockers, were evaluated on sciatic nerve-tibialis anterior muscle preparations from cats in vivo. The calcium antagonists used (at 0.1 and 0.

Fetal dexamethasone exposure sensitizes neonatal rat brain to hypoxia: effects on protein and DNA synthesis.

Fetal exposure to glucocorticoids is known to produce long-term alterations in cell development within the central nervous system. The current study examines whether some of the adverse effects of prenatal dexamethasone treatment on brain development represent sensitization to hypoxia-induced damage. Pregnant rats were given 0.

Indomethacin pharmacokinetics in neonates: the value of volume of distribution as a marker of permanent patent ductus arteriosus closure.

Indomethacin (INDO) pharmacokinetics were examined in 18 neonates on 19 occasions, before and after patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure. Patients received INDO as an initial dose of 0.25 mg/kg intravenously, and INDO serum concentrations were measured 2 and 8 h after the dose.

Fetal dexamethasone exposure affects basal ornithine decarboxylase activity in developing rat brain regions and alters acute responses to hypoxia and maternal separation.

Although glucocorticoids are widely used to stimulate fetal/neonatal lung function, they also interfere with cellular development in the central nervous system. Dexamethasone was administered to pregnant rats in late gestation at a dose (0.8 mg/kg) that lies just above the threshold for stimulation of lung surfactant synthesis, and the impact on ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) was evaluated in three brain regions.

Modulation of apolipoprotein B-100 mRNA editing: effects on hepatic very low density lipoprotein assembly and intracellular apoB distribution in the rat.

We have studied the consequences of alterations to hepatic apoB mRNA editing on the biosynthesis and intracellular distribution of newly synthesized apoB variants together with their mass distribution in nascent Golgi very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). Radiolabeled liver membrane fractions were prepared from control or hypothyroid animals and separated by discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation. Hepatic apoB-100 synthesis in these groups accounted for 93-100% of total newly synthesized apoB species of Golgi fractions recovered from the sucrose gradients (G1 and G2).

Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing is modulated by thyroid hormone analogs but not growth hormone administration in the rat.

Recent work has demonstrated that the unique post-transcriptional editing reaction which modifies mammalian apolipoprotein (apo) B100 mRNA, producing an in-frame stop codon in the modified (apo B48) transcript, is modulated in vivo in the rat liver by thyroid hormone (T3). We now report the results of studies undertaken to examine the effects of two synthetic T3 analogs and GH on apo B gene expression together with their effects on hepatic apo A-I, A-IV, C-III, and malic enzyme (ME)mRNAs. The T3 analogs were previously shown to exhibit similar binding to the hepatic nuclear T3 receptor (50% and 38% of native T3) but differing biopotency (18 and less than 3% of native T3).

Characterization and expression of two sea urchin homeobox gene sequences.

We describe two homeobox sequences, TgHbox5 and TgHbox6, isolated from the Hawaiian sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla using a Drosophila Sex combs reduced probe. Sequence analysis shows that the encoded TgHbox5 homeodomain shares only 30-52% amino acid identity with homeodomains encoded by previously characterized genes, establishing that it is a divergent homeobox that is not in any known class of homeoboxes. TgHbox5 is expressed in the embryo as two major developmentally regulated transcripts.

Apolipoprotein gene expression in the rat is regulated in a tissue-specific manner by thyroid hormone.

We have studied the regulation of rat intestinal and hepatic apolipoprotein gene expression, in vivo, after alterations in thyroid hormone status. When compared to those of chow-fed controls, rates of synthesis of intestinal apoA-I and apoB-48 decreased 60-66% in hypothyroid animals and increased three- to fourfold after triiodothyronine (T3) administration. These changes were not accompanied by changes in mRNA abundance.