Screening criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia in deaf patients.

Confusion about symptoms of schizophrenia in deaf patients leads to misdiagnosis or failure of diagnosis in some individuals. Consequently, we used Schneider's symptoms of schizophrenia, the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia's list of discriminating symptoms of schizophrenia, and a symptom checklist from DSM-III to evaluate retrospectively 13 deaf adult schizophrenic patients in whom diagnosis were made using DSM-II. Fifteen signs and symptoms were identified in those schizophrenic patients; six symptoms (poor insight, lability of affect, poverty of content, poor rapport, vagueness, and inability to complete a course of action) are usual in nonpsychotic as well as psychotic deaf patients.

Selective depolymerisation of heparin to produce radio-labelled substrates for sulfamidase, 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-D-glucosidase, acetyl-CoA:2-amino-2-deoxy-alpha-D-glucoside N-acetyltransferase, and 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose 6-sulfate sulfatase.

Heparin was carboxyl-reduced with NaBT4, and degraded under conditions of acid hydrolysis that selectively cleaved the 2-0-sulfo-L-idopyranosidic linkages. The resulting, radiolabelled-disaccharides and -tetrasaccharides were isolated by gel chromatography, and then fractionated by ion-exchange chromatography, paper chromatography, and paper electrophoresis. Of the nine disaccharides isolated and identified, eight were probably derived from the major repeating-disaccharide unit in heparin (2-deoxy-2-sulfoamino-D-glucosyl 6-sulfate leads to L-idosyluronic acid 2-sulfate).

The diagnosis of the Sanfilippo C syndrome, using monosaccharide and oligosaccharide substrates to assay acetyl-CoA: 2-amino-2-deoxy-alpha-glucoside N-acetyltransferase activity.

Glucosamine, galactosamine, mannosamine, several disaccharides and a tetrasaccharide were evaluated as substrates for the N-acetyltransferase involved in the pathogenesis of the Sanfilippo C syndrome. Glucosamine and alpha-D-glucosaminide disaccharides and a tetrasaccharide derived from heparin were exo-N-acetylated by homogenates of cultured skin fibroblast from normal individuals at pH 6.0 in the presence of acetyl-CoA, whereas fibroblast homogenates prepared from a Sanfilippo C patient failed to catalyse the N-acetyltransferase from acetyl-CoA to these substrates.

Radiolabelled oligosaccharides as substrates for the estimation of sulfamidase and the detection of the Sanfilippo type A syndrome.

(1) A series of tritiated oligosaccharides, 2-sulfamino-2-deoxy-D-[1-14C]glucose (GlcNS) and [sulfamino-34S]heparin were evaluated as substrates for sulfamidase present in cultured human skin fibroblasts. (2) The following radiolabelled disaccharides were prepared from heparin: O-(alpha-2-sulfamino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosyl)-(1 leads to 3)-L-[6,3H]idonic acid (GlcNS-IdOA) and O-(alpha-2-sulfamino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosyl)-(1 leads to 3)-2,5 anhydro-L-[6,3H]idonic acid (HlcNS-anIdOA). Other radiolabelled oligosaccharides evaluated as sulfamidase substrates were the disaccharides O-(alpha-2-sulfamino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosyl)-(1 leads to 4)-L-[6,3H]idose (GlcNS-Ido) and O-(alpha-2-sulfamino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosyl)-)1 leads to 4)-L-[6,3H]idose 2-sulfate (GlcNS-Ido(OS)) and a preparation containing the tetrasaccharide GlcNS-UA-GlcNS-l-idonic acid, GlcNS-UA-GlcNS-anhydro-L-idonic acid and GlcNS-UA-GlcNS-L-gulonic acid.

A fatal case of salmonellosis in a dugong.

Salmonella lohbruegge was isolated from the kidney and the liver of a captive dugong calf (Dugong dugon) which died after an illness of at least several weeks. Clinical signs included diarrhoea and anorexia and were apparent for a week before death. Necropsy and histopathologic examination revealed thickening of the intestinal mucosa, epithelial degeneration, and epithelioid cell infiltration of mucosa, submucosa and contiguous smooth muscle.

Immediate cardiovascular responses to oral prazosin--effects of concurrent beta-blockers.

Initiation of prazosin therapy may be complicated by the first-dose response of acute postural hypotension and tachycardia. The effects of beta-blocker on the responses to oral prazosin were studied in eight normotensive men. After 1 mg oral prazosin there was a marked postural fall in blood pressure to a lowest mean standing systolic pressure of 88 +/- 7 mm Hg (mean +/- SD), associated with a tachycardia of 117 +/- 13 bpm, and an increase in mean plasma norepinephrine concentration to 9.

Pharmacodynamic studies on mianserin and its interaction with clonidine.

There is evidence that clonidine's hypotensive effect is reduced by the concurrent administration of tricyclic antidepressants. It has been proposed that this results from an interaction at alpha 2-receptors in the brain stem where clonidine acts as a relatively selective agonist and the tricyclic antidepressants as antagonists. Mianserin is an antidepressant with a tetracyclic structure and, although it has been reported to cause less cardiovascular disturbance, there is evidence that it also has alpha-adrenoceptor blocking effects.

Effect of iron poly (sorbitolgluconic acid) complex on urinary cellular excretion.

The intramuscular injection of 250 mg iron poly (sorbitol-gluconic acid) complex caused no increase in urinary cellular or bacterial excretion in 8 patients with chronic pyelonephritis, 4 patients with non-infective renal disease, and 4 controls. However, in 4 patients with chronic infective disease of the renal tract given 500 g there was a significant increase in cellular excretion. This response was not seen in 2 control patients, nor in 2 patients with non-infective renal disease.

Changes in blood pressure, heart rate, and sympathetic activity on abrupt withdrawal of tiamenidine (HOE 440) in essential hypertension.

A limitation of clonidine therapy is the syndrome of rebound hypertension and sympathetic overactivity after withdrawal. Ten patients, four male, six female, aged 28--64 years, with essential hypertension, were treated for one year with an imidazoline derivative, tiamenidine. Blood pressure fell from an average of 178/108 mm Hg pretreatment to 152/86 mm Hg after 1 year.

The clinical pharmacology of a herbal asthma cigarette.

1 Herbal preparations containing atropine-like alkaloids are marketed as proprietory asthma remedies, typically in the form of cigarettes. 2 This randomised, cross-over study compares in six healthy volunteers the pharmacological effects caused by smoking a standard, medium tar, tobacco cigarette or a herbal cigarette. 3 Smoking a herbal cigarette is associated with a significant fall in heart rate consistent with the systemic response to atropine-like alkaloids and a significant increase in peak expiratory flow rate consistent with the bronchodilator effect of reduced cholinergic activity.

Whole body aluminium in chronic renal failure and dialysis encephalopathy.

Whole body calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen have been measured by in vivo neutron activation analysis in patients with chronic renal failure, including 9 with dialysis encephalopathy. Aluminium was also activated by this procedure, but to the same radioactive product as that from phosphorus: its presence was therefore detected as an increase in the apparent total body phosphorus above that expected for a person with the same calcium content. Patients with dialysis encephalopathy had slightly more apparent phosphorus than others with chronic renal failure, although the difference was not statistically significant.

Thrombophlebitis migrans: a further systemic complication of ulcerative colitis.

Thrombophlebitis migrans complicating ulcerative colitis has been reported only once previously when it occurred in a patient with chronic and extensive bowel disease. This report describes the occurrence of thrombophlebitis before any bowel upset in a patient who proved to have only a mild colitis, and no laboratory evidence of hypercoagulability. It seems that thrombophlebitis migrans is a further systemic complication of ulcerative colitis, and that its occurrence may precede overt bowel disease.

A pharmacokinetic and clinical evaluation of iron poly (sorbitol-gluconic acid) complex.

The pharmacokinetics of iron poly (sorbitol-gluconic acid) complex (IPSG) were studied following a single intramuscular injection of 59Fe-labelled IPSG to 4 iron deficient-patients. The results showed a more rapid uptake of iron from the site of injection than that reported with iron dextran while there was a lower urinary excretion than found with iron sorbitol citrate. A clinical study was carried out in 11 patients with iron deficiency anaemia.

Rupture of spleen at laparoscopy. Case report.

The induction of pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic sterilization caused distortion and stretching of perisplenic adhesions resulting in splenic rupture and a haemoperitoneum.

Occupational lead exposure and renin release.

Hypertension may result from chronic lead exposure. Lead poisoning arising from "moonshine whiskey" drinking has been associated with a rise in plasma renin activity. In the present study, plasma renin concentration following intravenous administration of frusemide was measured in eleven subjects with moderate or severe lead poisoning of industrial origin.

Alterations of phenytoin protein binding with in vivo haemodialysis in dialysis encephalopathy.

Protein binding of phenytoin was assesed in one patient with dialysis encephalopathy before and after haemodialysis. Phenytoin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay and continuous ultrafiltration was used to assess phenytoin binding. At a serum concentration of 60 micromol.

A radiotelemetry transmitter for transmitting temperatures from small animals.

A small, reliable temperature-telemetry transmitter was designed and tested for use in small laboratory animals. It transmits a continuous signal that makes it very reliable. It can be constructed of standard small parts and contains and electric watch battery as a source of power.

De novo purine synthesis in avian liver. Co-purification of the enzymes and properties of the pathway.

The enzymes of the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway have been partially co-purified from pigeon liver by a method dependent upon the use of the nonionic polymer polyethylene glycol for enzyme stabilization and cofractionation. Although the enzymes did not appear to constitute a large macromolecular complex it was evident that some particular inter-relationship between them was preserved during the purification procedure. Analysis of the end products and pathway intermediates was carried out primarily by sensitive high pressure liquid chromatographic techniques.