Salt-induced hypertension in Dahl salt-resistant and salt-sensitive rats with NOS II inhibition.

Although recent evidence suggests that reduced nitric oxide (NO) production may be involved in salt-induced hypertension, the specific NO synthase (NOS) responsible for the conveyance of salt sensitivity remains unknown. To determine the role of inducible NOS (NOS II) in salt-induced hypertension, we treated Dahl salt-resistant (DR) rats with the selective NOS II inhibitor 2-amino-5,6-dihydro-6-methyl-4H-1,3-thiazine (AMT) for 12 days. Tail-cuff systolic blood pressures rose 29 +/- 6 and 42 +/- 8 mmHg in DR rats given 150 and 300 nmol AMT/h, respectively (P < 0.

Paracrine role of adventitial superoxide anion in mediating spontaneous tone of the isolated rat aorta in angiotensin II-induced hypertension.

The relationship between vascular generation of superoxide anion and spontaneous tone observed in the isolated aorta was studied in hypertensive rats infused with angiotensin II. Aortic rings from hypertensive, but not from sham-operated rats, demonstrated oscillatory spontaneous tone that represented 52+/-5.6% of the maximal contraction to KCl.

Marital status transitions and psychological distress: longitudinal evidence from a national population sample.

Background: Evidence is conflicting as to whether the association between marital status and psychological distress is due to selection (i.e. distress influences marital status) or causation (marital status influences distress).

Comparison of the effects of AT1 receptor blockade and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition on atherosclerosis.

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce the development of atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic animals across a wide range of species. Although the mechanism for these effects has not been well delineated, it has been assumed generally that both angiotensin II suppression and interference with the breakdown of bradykinin are involved. To determine whether angiotensin II receptor blockade provides similar effects as those observed with ACE inhibition, we examined the influence of irbesartan, an AT1 receptor antagonist, on aortic atherosclerosis in Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits using the identical protocol that was employed in our earlier studies involving ACE inhibitors.

The relationship between parental separation in childhood and problem drinking in adulthood.

Aims: To investigate the association between parental separation and alcohol consumption and problem drinking in early adulthood (at ages 23 and 33).

Design: The study used longitudinal data from the 1958 British birth cohort study, a large representative national sample followed to age 33.

Setting: Great Britain.

Parental divorce and adult psychological distress: evidence from a national birth cohort: a research note.

An association was found between childhood parental divorce and adult psychological distress in a British national birth cohort at ages 23 and 33. No moderating effects were found for gender, age at separation, or remarriage of the custodial parent. Participants who were young adults when their parents divorced also showed increased levels of symptomatology, whereas those who experienced parental death in childhood showed no increased risk.

Use of the PCR and fluorescent probes to recover SSU rRNA gene sequences from single cells of the ciliate protozoon Spathidium.

A two-stage heminested PCR approach was developed to amplify small subunit (SSU) rDNA sequences, via two overlapping fragments, from single cells of microbial eucaryotes. The method was evaluated using the ciliate protozoon Spathidium when PCR products were obtained from nine of 10 cells tested. Southern blotting demonstrated that all fragments contained the same sequence in a region of SSU rDNA which is normally highly variable between species.

Dissociation between the antiatherosclerotic effect of trandolapril and suppression of serum and aortic angiotensin-converting enzyme activity in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit.

This study was undertaken to determine whether low doses of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor trandolapril affected atherosclerosis in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit. Trandolapril (10 micrograms/kg body weight per 48 hours) was begun at 3 months of age and continued for 9 months. The selected dose reduced serum ACE activity but did not influence blood pressure.

Interactions between populations ofPseudomonas putida leading to the expression of a cryptic dehalogenase gene (dehll).

In appropriate environments containing 2-monochloropropionic acid (2MCPA), mutations in a population of nondehalogenatingPseudomonas putida, strain PP40-040 (parent population), resulted in the formation of 2mcpa(+) papillae as a result of the decryptification of adehII gene. Increasing the size of the parent population, for example by increasing the availability of a metabolizable substrate such as succinate or lactate, increased the number of 2mcpa(+) papillae formed because there were more parent cells available for mutation to the 2mcpa(+) phenotype. The presence of a dehalogenating population, such asP.

Cryptic dehalogenase and chloroamidase genes in Pseudomonas putida and the influence of environmental conditions on their expression.

Mutants of two strains of Pseudomonas putida expressed two cryptic chloroamidases (C-amidase and H-amidase) and one cryptic dehalogenase (DehII). The mutants were selected on either 2-chloropropionamide (2CPA) or 2-monochloropropionate (2MCPA), developing as papillae in parental colonies growing on a metabolisable support substrate. Mutants expressing C-amidase were selected if 2CPA was utilised as either a carbon or a nitrogen source.

Streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia is decreased by nitric oxide inhibition.

1. Diabetes mellitus type I was induced in 3-month old male C57 BL/KS-mdb mice (N = 24) by ip injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 45 mg/kg body weight) for 5 days. 2.

Large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) as an alternative to both local ablative and cone biopsy treatment: a series of 1000 patients.

One thousand patients, referred to the Oxford Colposcopy Clinic, were treated with either large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ, 891 cases) or LLETZ cone (109 cases). Forty-five LLETZ cones were performed empirically, 64 under microcolposcopic guidance. Over 98% of patients were managed as outpatients under local anaesthesia, and 87% of new patients treated with LLETZ had treatment at their first visit.

Trandolapril inhibits atherosclerosis in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit.

The effects of trandolapril (0.25 mg/kg body wt per 48 hours) on aortic atherosclerosis were examined in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit treated from 3 to 12 months of age. Trandolapril caused a significant decrease in atherosclerotic involvement of the intimal surface of total aorta from 56.

Environmentally directed mutations in the dehalogenase system of Pseudomonas putida strain PP3.

Favourable mutations involving the two dehalogenases (DehI and DehII) of Pseudomonas putida PP3 and derivative strains containing the cloned gene for DehI (dehI) occurred in response to specific environmental conditions, namely: starvation conditions; the presence of dehalogenase substrates (halogenated alkanoic acids--HAAs) which were toxic to P. putida; and/or the presence of a potential growth substrate. Fluctuation tests showed that these mutations were environmentally directed by the presence of HAAs.

Direct bilirubin measurements in jaundiced term newborns. A reevaluation.

To investigate the usefulness of measuring direct bilirubin in jaundiced term newborns, we reviewed the outcome of 5255 such measurements on 2877 term (37 weeks' gestation) newborns in two hospitals. Direct bilirubin tests were ordered 15 times as often per infant at the University of California, San Francisco, as at Stanford (Calif) University, and the reported results were more than twice as high. In most of the 149 infants with high (greater than 95th percentile) direct bilirubin levels, the high levels remained unexplained (52% of cases) or were due to apparent laboratory errors (21% of cases).

Interferon-gamma modulates fetal hemoglobin synthesis in sickle cell anemia and thalassemia.

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) has been shown to influence globin gene expression in cord blood and normal adult progenitor-derived erythroblasts. To explore the influence of IFN-gamma on fetal hemoglobin (HbF) synthesis in the hemoglobinopathies, erythroid progenitors (BFU-E, burst forming unit-erythroid) from patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and thalassemia were co-cultured with or without IFN-gamma. Hemoglobin content in progenitor-derived erythroblasts was assessed by radioligand assay (RIA).

Integration of formulary systems with centralized pharmaceutical procurement.

The integration of formularies with pharmaceutical group purchasing and supply systems for multiple hospitals and ambulatory health centers in the Indian Health Service of the US Public Health Service is described. Two models by which these systems have been integrated are presented. The approach of one group of facilities for maintaining high-quality therapeutics in a cost-effective manner was to maintain separate P & T Committees and formularies for each facility, with one centralized drug procurement center.