Solid Organ Transplantation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Era: "The Great Bet" in the North Italy Transplant Program Area.

Introduction: Solid organ transplantation is challenging for waitlist patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Aim: This study investigates COVID-19 incidence and mortality in patients transplanted in the North Italy Transplant program (NITp) during the outbreak.

Materials And Methods: All consecutive patients transplanted from February 20 to April 3, 2020 (6 weeks), were included in our cohort and were observed for at least 4 weeks.

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on liver transplantation programs in Northern Italy.

In January 2020, Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulted in a global pandemic, creating uncertainty toward the management of liver transplantation (LT) programs. Lombardy has been the most affected region in Italy: the current mortality rate of COVID-19 patients is 18.3% (10 022 deaths; April 10th) with hospitals in Lombardy having to expand the total number of ICU beds from 724 to 1381 to accommodate infected patients.

Implementation of a combat casualty trauma registry.

The Joint Theater Trauma Registry is a standardized, retrospective data collection system for all echelons of combat casualty care. Military-specific data elements include expanded demographic data to include military branch, service, rank, military occupation, and personal protective equipment. Varying data from each echelon are entered into the Joint Theater Trauma Registry, version 3.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in alcohol and nonalcohol abusers with liver disease.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) has been demonstrated to be a marker of prolonged heavy alcohol consumption. We compared this marker with gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in alcohol and nonalcohol abusers with liver disease. Our results confirm that the sensitivity of CDT in alcoholics is high, although lower than that of GGT and MCV; however, the specificity of CDT was higher than that of the other two markers.

Simultaneous modeling of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of midazolam and diazepam.

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of midazolam and diazepam were compared after intravenous infusions of 0.03 and 0.07 mg/kg midazolam and 0.

Rat lung metallothionein and heme oxygenase gene expression following ozone and zinc oxide exposure.

We have conducted exposures in rats to determine pulmonary responses following inhalation of two common components of welding fumes, zinc oxide and ozone. To examine their effects on target-inducible gene expression, we measured mRNA levels of two metal-responsive genes, metallothionein (MT) and heme oxygenase (HO), in lung tissue by RNA slot-blot analysis. A 3-hr exposure to ZnO fume via a combustion furnace caused a substantial elevation in lung MT mRNA at all concentrations tested.

The effects of cimetidine and ranitidine on the pharmacokinetics of cifenline.

Twelve healthy subjects completed an open single dose study to evaluate the effect of co-administration of cimetidine and ranitidine on the pharmacokinetics of cifenline. Each subject received a single 160 mg dose of cifenline alone, in combination with cimetidine (300 mg four times daily), and with ranitidine (150 mg twice daily). The H2-receptor antagonists were given with breakfast 1 h prior to cifenline dosing and continuing for 48 h.

Calcium-force coupling mechanisms during vasodilator-induced relaxation of ferret aorta.

1. The effects of three vasodilators, nifedipine, hydralazine and forskolin, were determined on isometric force and intracellular ionized calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) as indicated by aequorin in ferret aorta. Three types of contraction were studied: the intrinsic tone induced by warming from 22 to 37 degrees C; the contraction to the phorbol ester 12-deoxyphorbol-13-isobutyrate-20-acetate (DPBA); and the contraction to potassium depolarization.

The influence of food on the pharmacokinetics and ACE inhibition of cilazapril.

1. The influence of food on the pharmacokinetics and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory effects of oral 5 mg doses of cilazapril was investigated in a two-way crossover study in 16 volunteers. 2.

The pharmacokinetics and dose proportionality of cilazapril.

1. The pharmacokinetics and dose proportionality of cilazapril, an orally active angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, were investigated in a four-way randomized crossover study in 24 volunteers, over the 0.5 to 5 mg dose range intended for therapeutic use.

Ca2+ signals obtained with multiple indicators in mammalian vascular muscle cells.

Enzymatically isolated single cells from ferret portal vein were loaded with the fluorescent dyes fura-2 and chlortetracycline. Ferret portal vein intact strips were loaded with the luminescent indicator aequorin. At short loading times, fura-2 loading resulted in relatively homogeneous images of labeled cells.

A comparison of two different indicators: quin 2 and aequorin in isolated single cells and intact strips of ferret portal vein.

A comparison between the fluorescent indicator quin 2 and the bioluminescent indicator aequorin was performed in the same smooth muscle cell type. Aequorin was loaded into intact strips and quin was loaded into enzymatically isolated single cells from ferret portal vein. Both indicators gave qualitatively the same calcium profiles when the tissue was challenged with agonists.

The effects of amrinone and related drugs on intracellular calcium in isolated mammalian cardiac and vascular smooth muscle.

The effects of amrinone and related agents were studied in mammalian cardiac and vascular smooth muscle preparations loaded intracellularly with aequorin, a bioluminescent calcium indicator that emits light when it combines with Ca++. In cat papillary muscles, the effects of amrinone on the amplitude and time course of the aequorin light signal, as they relate to changes in uptake and release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and to changes in the sensitivity of the myofilaments to Ca++, were consistent with reports that, in positive inotropic doses, the predominant action of amrinone is to increase intracellular concentrations of cyclic AMP. However, amrinone also produced dose-related caffeine-like effects on the aequorin light signal, suggesting additional subcellular actions.

Calcium-force relationships as detected with aequorin in two different vascular smooth muscles of the ferret.

The bioluminescent calcium indicator aequorin was chemically loaded into isolated strips of ferret portal vein and ferret aorta. Aequorin light emission (a function of [Ca2+]i) was recorded simultaneously with tension. Assuming an [Mg2+]i of 0.

Alterations of excitation-contraction coupling by platelet-derived growth factor in enzymatically isolated and cultured vascular smooth muscle cells.

We studied stimulus-specific alterations of the excitation-contraction coupling pathway in freshly isolated contractile and subcultured non-contractile vascular smooth muscle cells. Using the calcium indicator aequorin, we detected physiological increases in cytoplasmic free calcium [( Ca2+]i) in subcultured smooth muscle cells subjected to angiotensin or 33 mM potassium depolarization. These increases were qualitatively identical to those previously measured in intact vascular strips.

Responses of enzymatically isolated mammalian vascular smooth muscle cells to pharmacological and electrical stimuli.

A modified method for enzymatically isolating mammalian vascular smooth muscle cells has been developed and tested for ferret portal vein smooth muscle. This method produces a high proportion of fully relaxed cells and these cells appear to have normal pharmacological responsiveness. The ED50 values for both alpha stimulation and potassium depolarization are not significantly different in the isolated cells from those obtained from intact strips of ferret portal vein, suggesting that the enzymatic treatment does not destroy receptors or alter the electrical responsiveness of the cells.

A chemical procedure for loading the calcium indicator acquorin into mammalian working myocardium.

The bioluminescent calcium indicator aequorin was successfully loaded into mammalian working myocardium of ferrets by a chemical procedure which makes the cells reversibly hyperpermeable through exposure to Ethylenebis-( oxyethylenenitrilo ) tetraacetic acid (EGTA). After undergoing the loading procedure, developed tension at Lmax was 103 +/- 26% of the control, which indicates that the muscles regained normal function. The configurations of the aequorin signals (i.