Interaction of cholecystokinin and somatostatin with a selective mu-opioid agonist and mu- and kappa-antagonists in thermoregulation.

We examined the effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.

Antisense confirmation of mu- and kappa-opioid receptor mediation of morphine's effects on body temperature in rats.

Previous studies showed that parenterally administered morphine at 4-16 mg/kg markedly increased body temperature in the rat, but higher doses of morphine (> or = 30 mg/kg, subcutaneously, sc) caused a profound decrease in body temperature. Based on the use of selective opioid agonists and antagonists, we postulated that these effects were due to morphine's actions on mu and kappa receptors, respectively. In the present study, we sought to determine whether an antisense (AS) oligodeoxynucleotide (oligo) against cloned mu or kappa opioid receptors could affect morphine-induced body temperature changes.

Use of a mu-antisense oligodeoxynucleotide as a mu opioid receptor noncompetitive antagonist in vivo.

We examined whether mu-antisense (AS) oligodeoxynucleotide (oligo) treatment can be used in a manner similar to the mu-selective irreversible antagonist beta-funaltrexamine (beta-FNA) for in vivo pharmacology. Rats were injected intracerebroventricularly (icv) with a mu-AS or a missense (MS) oligo on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 and were tested for the antinociceptive effect of sc injection of morphine on days 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 in the cold water tail-flick (CWT) test. In another set of experiments, rats were also tested for the antinociceptive action of morphine twenty-four hours after icv injection of beta-FNA.

Renal gluconeogenesis and blood flow during endotoxic shock.

Objectives: To determine whether endotoxic shock decreases the renal gluconeogenic capacity and the renal artery blood flow.

Methods: An in-vivo, murine, nonrecirculating kidney perfusion model was studied in a trauma research laboratory. Each of 12 fasted, male Holtzman rats (shock n = 6, control n = 6) was injected with 1 mL of normal saline or endotoxin (20 mg/kg).

Outcome of temporal lobe epilepsy surgery predicted by statistical parametric PET imaging.

Unlabelled: PET is useful in the presurgical evaluation of temporal lobe epilepsy. The purpose of this retrospective study is to assess the clinical use of statistical parametric imaging in predicting surgical outcome.

Methods: Interictal 18FDG-PET scans in 17 patients with surgically-treated temporal lobe epilepsy (Group A-13 seizure-free, group B = 4 not seizure-free at 6 mo) were transformed into statistical parametric imaging, with each pixel representing a z-score value by using the mean and s.

Electrical stimulation at traditional acupuncture sites in periphery produces brain opioid-receptor-mediated antinociception in rats.

Previous studies in rats measuring latency to tail flick with radiant heat have shown that the antinociceptive effect induced by electrical stimulation of different frequencies at traditional acupuncture sites is mediated via different opioid receptors in the spinal cord. The present study was designed to observe (1) whether electrical stimulation at such sites could produce antinociceptive effects in the cold water tail-flick (CWT) test; (2) whether the antinociceptive effects could be blocked by s.c.

Shotgun slug injuries: case report and literature review.

Shotguns are usually used to fire multiple pellets; however, they are capable of firing a single projectile in the form of a slug. Although rare, shotgun slug injuries are severe, producing wounds comparable to those inflicted by high-velocity weapons with the potential for even more tissue destruction because of the slug's size and mass. We report the first survivor of a close range shotgun slug injury, with a review of this weapon's unique projectile ballistics and the relevant literature.

Use of flumazenil in the treatment of drug overdose: a double-blind and open clinical study in 110 patients.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy, usefulness, safety, and dosages of flumazenil required when flumazenil is used in the diagnosis of benzodiazepine-induced coma (vs. other drug-induced coma), and to reverse or prevent the recurrence of unconsciousness.

Design: A two-phase study: a controlled, randomized, double-blind study followed by a prospective, open study.

Mouse strain differences in immunosuppression by opioids in vitro.

An in vitro assay was used to compare the effect of opioids on antibody production by splenocytes from C3HeB/FeJ, C57BL/6J, C57BL/6ByJ and B6C3F1/J mice immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Spleen cells were removed from mice that had been injected 2 wk prior with SRBC. These mice received no opioids in vivo.

Migraine with aura as the presentation of leukemia.

We present the case of a man with new onset of migraine with aura as the presenting sign of acute promyelocytic leukemia and disseminated intravascular coagulation. This previously unreported association may support theories of platelet serotonin involvement in the pathogenesis of migraine. It would be valuable in the future to evaluate other patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation or acute promyelocytic leukemia for the presence of migrainous auras or headaches, symptoms which may be underreported by patients, particularly in the setting of severe illness.

Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides against mu- or kappa-opioid receptors block agonist-induced body temperature changes in rats.

PL017 and dynorphin A1-17 were shown previously to cause a marked increase and a profound decrease in body temperature (Tb), respectively. In this study, we examined whether an antisense (AS) oligodeoxynucleotide (oligo) against cloned mu or kappa opioid receptors could block PL017- or dynorphin A-induced body temperature changes. Treatment with an AS oligo against mu receptors, but not sense (S) oligo, missense (MS) oligo or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), abolished PL017-induced hyperthermia.

Case study: corticosteroid treatment of language regression in pervasive developmental disorder.

The authors describe a child whose language and behavior regressed at 22 months and in whom pervasive developmental disorder was later diagnosed. At 6 years, he displayed a profound receptive-expressive aphasia accompanied by behavioral disturbances characterized by hyperactivity, impaired social interactions, tantrums, gestural stereotypies, and echolalia. A single-photon emission computed tomography scan and steady-state auditory evoked potentials suggested bitemporal and left frontal pathophysiology.

Laparoscopic-assisted percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

The authors report the successful use of laparoscopic-assisted percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (LAPEG) in two children. Attempts at simple percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in both patients had failed. Subsequently, LA-PEG was easily accomplished.

Interaction between opioid agonists and neurotensin on thermoregulation in the rat. I. Body temperature.

To examine the role of neurotensin in opioid-induced thermo-regulation, Tyr-Pro-N-MePhe-D-Pro-NH2 (PL-017, 1.86 nmol i.c.

Nutritional support during pulmonary failure.

Malnutrition is both a cause and a result of pulmonary failure. A successful outcome to the treatment of pulmonary failure often hinges on appropriate and aggressive nutritional therapy. Metabolic stresses caused by nutritional therapeutic intervention in the patient with pulmonary failure must be anticipated.

Antinociception induced by simultaneous intrathecal and intraperitoneal administration of low doses of morphine.

The application of morphine simultaneously into the spinal cord and brain ventricles produces a supraadditive antinociceptive effect. In this study, we attempted to determine whether combined intrathecal (IT) and intraperitoneal (IP) administration of small doses of morphine also produces such a synergistic antinociceptive effect. The experiments were performed on male Wistar rats.

An antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to mu-opioid receptors inhibits mu-opioid receptor agonist-induced analgesia in rats.

We examined effects of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide against the mu-opioid receptor on mu-opioid receptor agonist-induced antinociception in the cold water (-3 degrees C) tail-flick test in rats. Rats were injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.

Cholecystokinin potentiates morphine anticonvulsant action through both CCK-A and CCK-B receptors.

Recent studies have suggested that cholecystokinin may have a role in modulating the effects of the endogenous opioid system in physiological functions such as thermoregulation and pain control. However, the possible interaction of cholecystokinin and morphine in epileptogenesis is unknown. We studied the effect of subcutaneous morphine and intracerebroventricularly administered cholecystokinin octapeptide sulphate ester and receptor antagonists CCK-A (MK 329) and CCK-B (L 365,260) on seizures provoked by maximal electroshock in male Sprague-Dawley rats.

[Early detection of opiate-induced respiratory depression in the postoperative phase].

We examined in 30 patients the efficacy of regular assessments of respiratory rate (every 15 minutes) and blood gas analysis (at 30, 60, 120, 180 minutes) and continuous monitoring via pulsoximeter and capnometer in recognizing early ventilatory problems. For postoperative analgesia the patients received randomly and double-blind patient-controlled intravenous or epidural analgesia with sufentanil. Within 15 minutes after the initial intravenous bolus injection of 15 micrograms sufentanil respiratory depression occurred in 4 patients.

Epidural morphine pretreatment for postepisiotomy pain.

Objective/design: A randomized double-blind controlled study was conducted on two groups of 45 parturients to evaluate the importance of the timing of epidural morphine administration for the relief of postepisiotomy pain. Both groups had preemptive analgesia by continuous lumbar epidural bupivacaine blockade. Upon completion of the episiotomy repair and before the onset of pain, the patients received epidural injections of 3 ml saline with or without 2 mg morphine in groups A and B respectively.

Paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus associated with anti-Hu antibody.

We report a 74-year-old woman with opsoclonus, myoclonus, ataxia, and encephalopathy who had small-cell lung cancer and high titers of anti-Hu antibody in her serum. At autopsy, there were perivascular inflammatory infiltrates in the brainstem, putamen, and meninges overlying the orbital frontal cortex. Immunohistochemical studies showed the expression of the Hu antigens by the tumor and the presence of deposits of anti-Hu IgG in the patient's cortex, brainstem, and cerebellum, suggesting that anti-Hu immune response was related to the patient's clinical syndrome.

Receptor selectivity of icv morphine in the rat cold water tail-flick test.

The cold water tail-flick test in the rat is somewhat unique in that it is sensitive to the analgesic effects of delta- and kappa- in addition to mu-opioid agonists. The present study was designed to test whether a component of morphine-induced analgesia in this test might be mediated by delta- or kappa-opioid receptors. Morphine was administered icv in combination with the non-selective opioid antagonist naloxone (NLX), as well as the mu-, delta- and kappa-selective antagonists, D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr (CTAP), naltrindole (NTI) and norbinaltorphimine (norBNI), respectively.

Ro 5-4864 has a negative inotropic effect on human atrial muscle strips that is not antagonized by PK 11195.

The effects of Ro 5-4864, a peripheral benzodiazepine receptor agonist (9 x 10(-6) M and 9 x 10(-5) M) and of PK 11195, a peripheral benzodiazepine receptor antagonist (3 x 10(-6) M and 3 x 10(-5) M), alone or together, on contraction parameters of human atrial muscle strips were studied. Atrial muscle strips were obtained from patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The strips were suspended in Krebs-Henseleit solution at 36.