Effect of cisapride on gastric and esophageal emptying in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The effects of cisapride on gastric emptying, esophageal emptying, gastrointestinal symptoms, and glycemic control were evaluated in 20 insulin-dependent diabetics who had delayed gastric emptying of the solid or liquid component of a meal, or both. A double-isotope technique was used to measure gastric emptying, and esophageal emptying was measured as the time for a bolus of the solid meal to enter the stomach. On 2 days each patient received cisapride (20 mg) or placebo orally, 60 min before an esophageal and gastric emptying test.

Alveolar pre-type II cells from the fetal rabbit lung: effect of confluence on the production of disaturated phosphatidylcholine.

Pre-type II alveolar cells isolated from the fetal rabbit lung on the 24th gestational day have been maintained in vitro for 14 days in a chemically defined medium supplemented with hormone-stripped serum. These cells replicate in culture. Measurement of the incorporation of [14C]choline into cellular disaturated phospholipid indicated that those cells grown in vitro under standard conditions for 8 days (pre-confluent) incorporate the radioactive precursor at a similar rate to cells maintained for 14 days (post-confluent).

Gastric emptying after gastric bypass.

Gastric emptying of two test meals, consisting of ground beef and water and ground beef with 25 percent dextrose was measured with a scintigraphic technique in patients after gastric bypass surgery and in control subjects. Solid emptying was slower and liquid emptying was more rapid after gastric bypass and 25 percent dextrose emptied as rapidly as water. The pattern of gastric emptying after gastric bypass would favour more rapid initial absorption with liquid calories and may also be implicated in the dumping syndromes sometimes seen after gastric bypass.

Propranolol inhibits the maturational effect of adrenocorticotropin in the fetal sheep lung.

We reported previously that metyrapone inhibited the maturational effect of adrenocorticotropin in the fetal sheep lung, even in the presence of exogenous glucocorticoids. To examine the role of beta-adrenergic input in this response we examined lung maturation in fetal sheep treated for 100 hours in vivo with adrenocorticotropin (66 ng/min for 15 minutes every 2 hours, n = 5); adrenocorticotropin plus propranolol (40 micrograms/min, n = 4), or saline solution (n = 8). Pulmonary maturation was assessed by pressure-volume curves, phospholipid content, and morphologic features.

Morphometric studies of fetal placental stem arteries in hypertensive disorders ('toxaemia') of pregnancy.

The mural thickness of fetal stem arteries of 3rd order was assessed morphometrically in 50 placentae from each of the 'toxaemia', normal pregnancy and acute fetal distress groups. Several clinical maternal and fetal variables and the syncytial sprout proliferation of the placentae were correlated with the morphometric findings. The results show that: (1) there was a significant reduction in the ratio of lumen-to-whole-diameter of the fetal arteries in 'toxaemia' as compared with the two other groups; (2) the mean lumen-to-whole-diameter ratio also differed between regions of the placenta in all groups, the most marked reduction being in the parachorial region and the least prominent in the parabasal zone; (3) no significant differences in the mean diameter ratio were found among the three sub-groups of the toxaemic pregnancies, i.

Acute and chronic effects of domperidone on gastric emptying in diabetic autonomic neuropathy.

Gastric emptying was studied with a double radioisotopic method in 12 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus complicated by autonomic neuropathy and in 22 control subjects. In the diabetics, the acute and chronic effects of oral domperidone on gastric emptying, symptoms of gastroparesis, and glycemic control were assessed. Gastric emptying of solid and liquid was slower in diabetics than controls (P less than 0.

Pulmonary surfactant.

The mammalian lung is stabilized by a specialized material, the pulmonary surfactant, which acts by reversibly reducing the surface tension at the air-liquid interface of the lung during breathing. Pulmonary surfactant contains approximately 90% lipid and 10% proteins. Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, the major lipid component, appears to be primarily responsible for the ability to reduce surface tension to near 0 dyn/cm (1 dyn = 10 microN).

Effects of prostaglandin E2 on salicylate-induced damage to the rat gastric mucosa: cytoprotection is not associated with preservation of the gastric mucosal barrier.

The effects of pretreatment with prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on salicylate-induced gastric damage in the rat were studied with a gastric chamber model. Transmural potential difference (PD) and net potassium ion (K+) efflux were monitored as indices of gastric mucosal barrier integrity. Topical application of 20 mM salicylate for 10 min produced an abrupt drop in PD, an increase in net K+ flux, and the formation of hemorrhagic erosions covering approximately 24% of the glandular mucosa.

Changes in gastric emptying rates with age.

A dual isotope technique which measures simultaneously the emptying of solids and liquids by the stomach was used to study gastric emptying in 35 subjects in the age range 21-84 years, who were all fit, mobile volunteers and were not taking any drugs. Solid and liquid emptying were significantly slower in older subjects, but this finding is unlikely to be of clinical significance because the changes were small and emptying rates were usually within the normal range for younger subjects.

Differentiation-arrested rat fetal lung in primary monolayer cell culture. IV. Paradoxical effect of a "fetal" pO2 on precursor incorporation into phospholipids and hormone responsiveness.

Differentiation-arrested lung cell cultures were developed from fetal rats of various gestational ages. In contrast to previously published observations with cultures in a pO2 of approximately 142 mm Hg, cultures developed in a pO2 of approximately 30 mm Hg, close to the normal fetal arterial pO2, have improved plating efficiency and a slightly increased growth rate. They did not, however, show gestation-dependent increases of choline incorporation into phospholipids, nor did immature lung cell cultures respond to dexamethasone or triiodothyronine, singly or in combination, by increased choline incorporation into saturated lecithin.

Gastric emptying after gastroplasty for morbid obesity.

Gastric emptying was studied in 11 patients who had undergone gastroplasty for morbid obesity 6 to 8 months previously and in 22 normal controls without gastrointestinal disease. A dual isotope technique for measuring solid and liquid emptying was used. Liquid emptying was slower in patients than controls.

Absence or impaired response of fetal breathing to intravenous glucose is associated with pulmonary hypoplasia in congenital myotonic dystrophy.

Two fetuses of a patient affected with myotonic dystrophy were studied ultrasonically from 28 to 34 weeks' gestation. After a 1-hour observation period, an intravenous injection of 25 gm of 50% glucose solution was given to the mother. Fetal breathing movements were 0% during the control period and increased to only 10% at 90 minutes after the injection of glucose; the episode lasted approximately 30 minutes.

Correlations between changes in indicators of gastric mucosal barrier integrity at time of exposure to "barrier breakers" and extent of hemorrhagic erosions one hour later.

We have examined the effects of seven different "barrier breakers" (including ethanol, aspirin, salicylic acid, isobutyric acid, Na taurocholate, thermal injury, and hyperosmotic glucose) on chambered gastric mucosae of rats in an attempt to identify variations in accepted indicators of mucosal barrier integrity which would accurately predict the extent of subsequent hemorrhagic erosion. When results from all experimental groups were considered, only the initial decrease in transmucosal potential difference (PD) showed significant correlation with final damage (lesion area). When the results were analyzed as separate subgroups, significant correlations were also found between net K+ efflux during the first 10 min after luminal infusion and final lesion area.

Use of the self-administered Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test in a family practice center.

This study was conducted to examine the feasibility of utilizing the self-administered Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) in a family practice center. The main objectives of the study were to extend the scope of investigations using the self-administered MAST in outpatient settings and to consider the amount, nature, and implications of missing data. Of 207 participants, the questionnaire was fully completed by 160 (77 percent).

Gastric emptying in normal subjects--a reproducible technique using a single scintillation camera and computer system.

The gastric emptying of a mixed solid and liquid meal was assessed in 24 normal subjects using a single camera/computer system which allowed continuous monitoring of both solids and liquids. It was shown that variation in tissue attenuation caused by the changing depth of radionuclide within the stomach accounted for large errors in the measurement of gastric emptying (alteration in 50% emptying time of up to 65%). A technique for the correction of attenuation is described which used factors derived from a lateral image of the stomach.

Morphology of fetal placental stem arteries in hypertensive disorders ('toxemia') of pregnancy.

Morphological features of 3rd order, fetal stem arteries of placentae from 50 'toxemic' patients, including all types, i.e., those with pre-eclampsia, essential hypertension, and chronic renal disease, were compared with similar arteries in 50 placentae of normal pregnancies.

Accelerated prepartum maturation of the fetal sheep lung with physiological doses of andrenocorticotrophin.

The role of Adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH), administered in physiological doses (12 micrograms/d), on lung maturation was investigated in the intact ovine fetus at 127-130 days of gestation. ACTH1-24 was administered in a pulsatile or continuous dose for 72 hours. Compared to untreated twins (n = 4) and saline infused fetuses (n = 4), the lungs of the pulsatile-ACTH (n = 10) and continuous-ACTH (n = 4) treated fetuses showed accelerated prepartum maturation by all indices used.

Alveolar pre-type II cells from the fetal rabbit lung. Isolation and characterization.

A method for preparing a homogeneous population of undifferentiated cells from the fetal rabbit lung is described. This method utilizes enzymatic digestion, differential adhesion to remove fibroblasts and centrifugation on a discontinuous metrizamide gradient. Cells isolated by this procedure replicate in vitro in medium supplemented with carbon-stripped fetal bovine serum.

Bovine pulmonary surfactant: chemical composition and physical properties.

Bovine pulmonary surfactant was obtained by endotracheal lavage of lungs from newly slaughtered cows followed by differential centrifugation. Lipid extracts of bovine surfactant contained 3% neutral lipid, mainly as cholesterol and diacylglycerol and 97% phospholipid. Phosphatidylcholine (79%) and phosphatidylglycerol (11%) accounted for most of the phospholipids with smaller amounts of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, lyso-bis-phosphatidic acid and sphingomyelin.

Alterations in renal cortex cation homeostasis during mercuric chloride and gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

To help better understand the role of changes in cellular cation homeostasis in the pathogenesis of renal tubular cell injury, the alterations in cation content of renal cortex and isolated renal cortical mitochondria occurring during models of nephrotoxicity secondary to gentamicin and HgCl2 were determined both during a developing phase of injury prior to the appearance of cell necrosis and after advanced injury when cell necrosis was present. At 3 hr after 5 mg/kg HgCl2 or after 4 daily doses of 100 mg/kg gentamicin, tubular cell integrity was still intact but mitochondrial functional changes were present. There were no alterations of renal cortex tissue electrolytes at this stage in the HgCl2 model but tissue K+, and more prominently, tissue Mg2+ were decreased in the gentamicin model.