Inhibition of rat glomerular mesangial cell sodium/hydrogen exchange by hydrogen peroxide.

1. pHi regulation in glomerular mesangial cells (GMC) includes both Na+/H+ and Cl-/HCO3-exchange. As a fall in pHi may protect against H2O2-mediated GMC damage during ischaemia-reperfusion, the involvement of these mechanisms in the GMC pH1 response to H2O2 was assessed using confluent GMC grown in RPMI medium with 20% fetal calf serum (10-15 passages).

Validation of a French-language version of the MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) in young healthy adults.

The MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) is designed to measure 8 dimensions of health in clinical and general population settings. The main aim of this paper was to examine the reliability and validity of this instrument in young adults. A secondary aim was to document the results of a rapid translation procedure of the instrument, to be compared later to the more thorough official French adaptation.

Mental health and choice between managed care and indemnity health insurance.

Objective: Populations enrolled in various health insurance plans may differ in their health care needs. Whether mental health affects choice among competing health plans is not clear. This study examined self-selection by participants in a Swiss indemnity insurance plan that was transformed into a managed care organization that controlled access to specialists through gatekeeping and restricted coverage for psychiatric treatments.

Interactions of anti-inflammatory 2-arylpropionates (profens) with the metabolism of fatty acids: in vitro studies.

This review shows conclusively that profens can enter physiological pathways of lipid biochemistry. The first step in this interaction is the formation of an acyl-CoA thioester. These conjugates can lead to the incorporation of the xenobiotic acid into lipids.

Randomized trial of use of a monetary incentive and a reminder card to increase the response rate to a mailed health survey.

Insufficient response rates are a frequent problem in mailed epidemiologic health surveys. As part of a health survey of 1,235 young adults conducted from November 1992 through January 1993 in Geneva, Switzerland, a randomized factorial trial was carried out to assess the contributions of two tactics to increase response rates. The first incentive was the promise of sending 10 Swiss francs (7 US dollars) to respondents; the second was a red postcard, mailed 2 days after the questionnaire, which reminded potential participants to complete the questionnaire.

Development of an ocular irritation test in the mouse: image analysis of corneal lesions.

An ocular irritation test in the mouse has been developed, in which corneal lesions consecutive to instillation of ophthalmic preparations are assessed by digital image processing. The high sensitivity of this method makes it possible to test very low (i.e.

Influence of palmitate and benzoate on the unidirectional chiral inversion of ibuprofen in isolated rat hepatocytes.

The influence of benzoic acid, a typical substrate of medium-chain acyl-CoA synthetase, and of palmitic acid, a substrate of long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase, on the metabolic chiral inversion of ibuprofen was investigated in freshly isolated hepatocytes. It was shown that the conjugation of benzoid to hippuric acid does not influence the chiral inversion of ibuprofen. In contrast, palmitic acid inhibited markedly the R-to-S inversion of ibuprofen.

[The adverse effects of local anesthetics on the eye in the development of ocular irritation test].

Referring to the ocular damage produced by local anaesthetics applied to the eye, the authors suggest the use of a test, to reveal the danger that some ophthalmic preparations may represent for patients. They review the studies devoted to the evaluation of ocular damage, particularly those which resulted into tests based on the methodology of Draize. A test scaled down to the mouse eye is described, in which the subjective appreciation is completed by an objective measurement.

Metabolic chiral inversion of ibuprofen in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Ibuprofen was used to demonstrate that isolated rat hepatocytes offer a suitable in vitro model to investigate the metabolic chiral inversion of anti-inflammatory 2-arylpropionic acids (profens). The inversion of the pharmacologically inactive (-)-(R)-ibuprofen to the active (+)-(S)-ibuprofen was shown to obey apparent first-order kinetics during 5 h and to increase linearly with increasing hepatocyte concentration up to 4 x 10(5) cells/ml. No elimination of (R)-ibuprofen by routes other than inversion was seen, whereas the elimination of (S)-ibuprofen appeared to be saturable.

[Psychopathology-oriented ergotherapy. An example of the treatment of negative schizophrenic symptoms using the batik technic].

Ergotherapy or occupational therapy is an indispensable part of psychiatric treatment, and which has an exceptionally long history of use ergotherapy focuses on psychopathology. Treatment of schizophrenic patients with batic-work exemplifies how product oriented creative work, with concrete materials, can be used to regain capabilities which have been lost during an illness and/or to foster healthy coping strategies in a compensatory manner. Ergotherapy can be viewed as a "mediator therapy" and as such, is always part of a complex, general treatment plan.

[Biopharmaceutics of ophthalmic drugs].

The importance of biopharmaceutics in the development of ophthalmic drugs is pointed out. Ophthalmic drugs have to be stable, sterile, well tolerated and effective. The constraints resulting from these requirements limit the number of pharmaceutical presentations.

Biopharmaceutical test of ocular irritation in the mouse.

A simple and accurate test for ocular irritation in mice has been developed in which the subjective evaluation of intolerance is supplemented by an objective measurement, based on the change in corneal permeability following ocular damage. An episcopic microscope is used to detect, under blue light, the amount of fluorescein that diffuses across the inflamed or damaged cornea. The fluorescence emitted by this fluorochrome is quantified by a photomultiplier.

Aryl ether O-dealkylase activity in the skin of untreated mice in vitro.

1. O-Dealkylation of p-nitroanisole and p-nitrophenetole in 10 000 g supernatant preparations of mouse skin is detectable and quantifiable. The reaction is NADPH-dependent and is mediated by cytochrome P-450.