LPS-induced lung inflammation is linked to increased epithelial permeability: role of MLCK.

The respiratory system is directly exposed to low levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), present as a contaminant on airborne particles. In cystic fibrosis, the prevailing data identify structural changes of the airway epithelium, as well as tight junction dilatation. This study was aimed at determining the contribution of myosin light chain kinase to maintaining airway epithelium barrier integrity in the lung inflammatory response to LPS in rats.

Beneficial effect of trimebutine and N-monodesmethyl trimebutine on trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis in rats.

The use of local anesthetics, such as lidocaine, has been proposed in the treatment of distal ulcerative colitis. Trimebutine maleate (TMB) displays a local anesthetic activity higher than that of lidocaine in rabbit corneal reflex. TMB and nor-TMB its main metabolite in human show similar affinity to that of bupivacaine toward sodium channel labeled by [3H]batrachotoxin and block sodium currents in sensory neurons from rat dorsal root ganglia.

Antidiarrhoeal properties of a novel sigma ligand (JO 2871) on toxigenic diarrhoea in mice: mechanisms of action.

Background And Aims: Sigma ligands display antisecretory activity against various secretagogues, suggesting antidiarrhoeal properties. In this study, we evaluated: (i) the antidiarrhoeal effect of JO 2871, a high affinity sigma ligand, in three models of toxigenic diarrhoea in mice; and (ii) the site and mechanism of action of this compound.

Methods: Faeces were collected after toxin or vehicle administration in male DBA2 or NMRI mice.

Pregabalin (CI-1008) inhibits the trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced chronic colonic allodynia in the rat.

In human, digestive disorders are often associated with visceral pain. In these pathologies, visceral pain threshold is decreased indicating a visceral hypersensitivity. Pregabalin [CI-1008; S-(+)-3-isobutylgaba] presents antihyperalgesic actions in inflammatory somatic pain models.

Antinociceptive effect of pregabalin in septic shock-induced rectal hypersensitivity in rats.

Pregabalin [S-(+)-3-isobutylgaba] is a novel compound under development for its analgesic, anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant properties, and its interaction with the alpha(2)delta-subunit of voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels. In this study, we investigate the antinociceptive activity of pregabalin in a rat model of delayed visceral hyperalgesia induced by i.p.

Gastrointestinal functional bowel disorders: new therapies.

Present therapies for functional gastrointestinal disorders are symptomatic and mainly treat altered bowel habits. New therapies are focused on nerve-gut communication dysfunction: 5-HT3 antagonists and 5-HT4 agonists have demonstrated activity in clinical trials. Promising targets for upper gut dysmotility drugs are motilin and cholecystokinin A receptors.

[Mass treatment of onchocerciasis in 1996].

Mass treatment of onchocerciasis has changed radically in the last 20 years. With implementation of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP), use of insecticides to control vector larvae has been effective but has not been extended to all infected areas due to the cost. The consequences of this problem have been lessened thanks to ivermectin, an effective drug that can be administered in a single yearly dose.

Neuropeptide Y and sigma receptor agonists act through a common pathway to stimulate duodenal alkaline secretion in rats.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) has been shown to mimic the effects of some sigma receptor agonists in the brain and to possess the same proabsorptive effect as these agonists in the isolated mouse jejunum. The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of NPY on duodenal alkaline secretion in the rat and to define its mode of action. NPY (0.

Effects of a new sigma ligand, JO 1784, on cysteamine ulcers and duodenal alkaline secretion in rats.

Background: The ulceroprotective effects of JO 1784 [(+)-N-cyclopropyl-methyl-N-methyl-1,4-diphenyl-1-ethyl-but-3-en-1-yl amine, hydrochloride], a new specific and highly selective sigma ligand, were examined in rats.

Methods: Different models of gastric ulcers (4-hour restraint stress, aspirin, ethanol, and taurocholate) and cysteamine-induced duodenal ulcers were used. The gastric acid secretion (4-hour Shay rat preparation) and the duodenal bicarbonate secretion were also studied.

[Ambulatory surgery of cataracts in Eastern Senegal].

The epidemiologic data and surgical results of 253 cataract extractions performed in a new department of Ophthalmology in Eastern Senegal were reviewed. 87 per cent have been operated without hospitalization, with restricted follow up. The complication rate was low, showing that this kind of surgery was suitable to local socio-economical conditions.

Central and peripheral effects of prostaglandin E2 and enprostil on exocrine pancreatic secretion in rats.

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has been reported to exert some centrally mediated effects on intestinal motility and secretion and on gastric secretion, but it is not known whether such central effects exist on pancreatic secretion. The central and peripheral effects of PGE2 and enprostil, a long-acting, potent PGE2 analogue, were studied in conscious and anesthetized rats fitted with pancreatic fistulae. In chronically implanted, conscious rats, PGE2 inhibited the secretion of fluid, bicarbonate, and total protein in the pancreatic juice, both after i.

[Orbital and ocular tumors in the Republic of Mali].

Analysing 82 cases of oculo-orbital tumours in Malian patients, the authors find the classical features characterizing ocular carcinoma in Africa, i.e. early arising, development, late request for treatment.

Growth-hormone releasing factor does not antagonize somatostatin effects on pancreatic and gastric secretions.

The effect of human GRF 44 upon somatostatin-inhibited pancreatic and gastric secretions was studied in rats with chronic fistulas. GRF did not show any antagonist action of somatostatin on these gastro-intestinal organs. GRF alone had a small inhibitory effect on gastric acid output.

[Ocular lesions in lepromatous leprosy (author's transl)].

Ocular lesions observed in III cases of lepromatous or borderline leprosy are described. Tables are included which indicate the visual acuity, corneal sensitivity, and lesions noted in the appendages. Particular attention is paid to lesions in the pars plana, which include true posterior cyclitis having the appearance of "ants eggs" or "pearls" deposits on the retina, associated with vascular lesions and peripheral hyalitis.

[Corneal sensibility in 57 black Africans. A study based on 113 biomicroscopically normal ocular globes (author's transl)].

This study of the corneal sensitivity in 57 sahelian black Africans with a biomicroscopically normal cornea demonstrated that most of them (80,8 p. 100) had a normal corneal esthesia. The others (19,2 p.

[An Ota's naevus in a West African child (author's transl)].

Report of a case of Ota's naevus fuscocaeruleus ophtalmomaxillaris in an african child. The authors are not aware of a previous report of this deformity in Africa (South of the Sahara). They review the clinical and histological features of this naevus and describe in this case a pigmentary infiltration of corneal stroma.