Laser in the management of stenosing oropharyngeal scleroma.

We present here our experience of laser for the management of stenosed oropharyngeal scleroma. The diagnosis of scleroma was made 14 years ago and the patient underwent repeated procedures like dilatation, diathermy excision of adhesions and cryosurgery during this period. He attended our out-patient department with complaints of dysphagia and difficulty in breathing, progressing to stridor.

Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for operable esophageal cancer: a pilot clinical study.

Thirty-eight patients with node positive squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were entered into a pilot clinical study using postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (cisplatinum 100 mg/m2 and methotrexate 150 mg/m2 x 4 cycles) with an intent of improving cure rates and overall survival. Patient compliance was excellent and toxicity minimal. At 24 months of follow-up 22 patients (58%) were disease free, while 14 patients (37%) have relapsed and 2 were lost to follow-up.

Isolation, characterization, and immunoprecipitation studies of immune complexes from membranes of beta-thalassemic erythrocytes.

beta-Thalassemia, a hemoglobinopathy that results in the precipitation of denatured alpha-globin chains on the membrane, is characterized by erythrocytes with significantly reduced lifespans. We have demonstrated previously that hemoglobin denaturation on the membrane can promote clustering of integral membrane proteins, and that this clustering in turn leads to autologous antibody binding, complement fixation, and rapid removal of the cell by macrophages. To evaluate whether this pathway also occurs in beta-thalassemic cells, we have isolated and characterized the immune complexes from the membranes of these cells.

An in situ perfused guinea-pig eye model for blood-ocular transport studies: application to amino acids.

A technique for in situ vascular eye perfusion (VEP) in the guinea-pig has been developed for measurements of the blood-ocular transport kinetics of substrates under controlled conditions of arterial inflow. The blood-aqueous and blood-vitreous barriers remained intact to the vascular space marker [3H]dextran (MW 70 kDa) with the perfusion pressure maintained between 80 and 100 mmHg. Several 3H-, 14C- or 35S-labeled amino acids, and 3H- or 14C-labeled sucrose (extracellular space marker) were used to validate the VEP model for transport kinetic studies.

Anorexic contribution to increased linoleate mobilization and oxidation in lymphoma-bearing mice.

To test for a regulatory defect in adipose triacylglycerol (essential) fatty acid mobilization in lymphoma-bearing mice, free [1-14C]linoleic acid/mouse serum albumin was injected iv into lymphoma-bearing and control mice, adapted to a reversed light cycle, and studied in three dietary states in the dark period. Mean daily food intake decreased in mice with small and large tumor burdens. Plasma free fatty acid (FFA) oxidation rates, which approximate FFA mobilization rates, were estimated by multicompartmental analysis (CONSAM).

Isolation and partial characterization of antibody- and globin-enriched complexes from membranes of dense human erythrocytes.

In previous studies we have described a process whereby an erythrocyte in biochemical distress can initiate its own removal by macrophages of the reticuloendothelial system. This process involves the clustering of the integral membrane protein band 3 by denatured haemoglobin and the subsequent recognition of the exofacial poles of clustered band 3 and associated proteins by autologous antibodies. To determine whether this clearance pathway might mediate normal cell turnover, the fraction of normal erythrocytes containing the 0.

Amiodarone toxicity. II. Desethylamiodarone-induced phospholipidosis and ultrastructural changes during repeated administration in rats.

The contribution of desethylamiodarone (DEA), principal metabolite of the antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone, to the major side effects of amiodarone is unclear. The effects of repeated DEA administration to rats on tissue drug accumulation, ultrastructural changes, and phospholipid concentrations were studied. Two groups (n = 8/group) of male Sprague-Dawley rats (250 g body wt) were administered a 5% aqueous solution of DEA (Dose I, 40 mg/kg/day; Dose II, 60 mg/kg/day) intraperitoneally for 21-23 days, while a third group (control, n = 8) received saline.

Evidence for carrier-mediated transport of glutathione across the blood-brain barrier in the rat.

Information on the origin of brain glutathione and the possibility of its transport from blood to brain is limited. We found a substantial uptake of 35S-labeled glutathione by the rat brain using the carotid artery injection technique. The brain uptake index of glutathione with and without an irreversible gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase inhibitor, acivicin, was similar.

Reduced suppression of plasma saturated fatty acid mobilization and oxidation by feeding in lymphoma-bearing mice.

Lymphoma-bearing mice have a circulating lipid-mobilizing factor, but increased plasma free fatty acid (FFA) turnover has not been demonstrable in earlier studies using postabsorptive tumor-bearing mice. We hypothesized that FFA mobilization in lymphoma-bearing mice is only elevated in fed mice and may best be observed at night (dark, reversed light cycle). AKR mice with early and advanced tumors (10(6) SL-3 lymphoma cells, i.

Effect of amiodarone on non-deiodinative pathway of thyroid hormone metabolism.

Amiodarone, an iodine containing anti-arrhythmic drug, causes a significant decrease in molar ratio of daily production rates of T3 and T4 from 0.75 in controls to 0.36 in amiodarone-treated rabbits.

Tissue drug accumulation and ultrastructural changes during amiodarone administration in rats.

Pulmonary and hepatotoxicity are the two major side effects of chronic amiodarone therapy. We studied the accumulation of amiodarone and its principal metabolite, desethylamiodarone, in lung and liver of rats treated ip for 21 to 23 days with either 40 or 80 mg/kg/day amiodarone. The ultrastructural changes in liver, lung, and alveolar macrophages in saline controls and in rats on the two amiodarone dosage regimens were investigated.

Electrophysiologic effects of flecainide relative to serum and tissue concentrations in rabbits after chronic drug administration.

The effects of chronic treatment with flecainide on the cellular electrophysiology and the relationship of the electrophysiologic effects to serum and myocardial flecainide concentrations were determined in rabbit ventricular myocardium. Two groups of rabbits were administered flecainide at doses of 7.5 mg/kg body weight (dose I) and 20 mg/kg body weight (dose II) intraperitoneally (i.

Therapeutic tolerance, hemodynamic effects, and oral dose kinetics of dilazep dihydrochloride in hypertensive patients.

The oral dose metabolism of dilazep dihydrochloride [tetrahydro-1H-1,4-diazepine-1,4(5H)-dipropanol 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate] was examined in six hypertensive patients receiving a single oral dose of 600 mg of dilazep (3-3.8 mg/kg BW). Blood was collected at 0.

Isolation and characterization of the hemichrome-stabilized membrane protein aggregates from sickle erythrocytes. Major site of autologous antibody binding.

Because the interaction of denatured hemoglobins (i.e. hemichromes) with the red cell membrane has been associated with several abnormalities commonly observed in hemichrome-containing erythrocytes, we have undertaken to isolate and characterize the hemichrome-rich membrane protein aggregates from sickle cells.

Dose-dependent tissue uptake of flecainide during chronic administration in rabbits.

This study was designed to examine the metabolism of flecainide after repeated administration to rabbits. New Zealand White rabbits were administered either 7.5 mg/kg body weight (dose I) or 20 mg/kg body weight (dose II) flecainide twice daily intraperitoneally for 12-14 days.

Electrophysiologic effects of desethylamiodarone, an active metabolite of amiodarone: comparison with amiodarone during chronic administration in rabbits.

During acute superfusion studies by means of the standard microelectrode technique, we previously showed that both amiodarone and its major metabolite, desethylamiodarone, had a modest effect on the lengthening of the action potential duration (APD) at high drug concentrations and produced a rate-dependent block of the sodium channel in cardiac muscle. In this study the comparative electrophysiologic effects of the two compounds in rabbits treated chronically with these compounds were determined with particular reference to repolarization and sinus node automaticity. The changes were correlated with those in serum and tissue drug levels and in thyroid hormone indices.

Identification of the octapeptide lophyrotomin in the European birch sawfly (Arge pullata).

Larvae of the European birch sawfly Arge pullata were shown to contain lophyrotomin, an octapeptide liver toxin containing four D-amino acids. Lophyrotomin was previously isolated from Lophyrotoma interrupta sawfly larvae in Australia.

Lack of effect of 3,3'5'-triiodothyronine (reverse T3) on cardiac function in the rabbit.

In a recent study, we have shown that the antiarrhythmic drug, amiodarone caused significant elevations of serum rT3 levels and inhibition of the peripheral conversion of T4 to T3 (Kannan et al. Endocrinology 115:1710-1716, 1984). In this study we have examined whether or not rT3 has a direct effect on the monodeiodinase enzyme activity and electropharmacology of the rabbit myocardium.

Amiodarone efficacy in a young population: relationship to serum amiodarone and desethylamiodarone levels.

Serum amiodarone and desethylamiodarone levels were measured in children and young adults receiving chronic amiodarone therapy. The study population consisted of 34 children and young adults with ventricular tachycardia (36%), atrial flutter (36%), and recurrent supraventricular tachycardia (27%). The mean age was 12.

Sensitive method for the measurement of amiodarone and desethylamiodarone in serum and tissue and its application to disposition studies.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the measurement of amiodarone (AM) and its metabolite(s) in serum and tissues was developed. The method uses a 5-micron silica column, methanol containing 0.02% perchloric acid at pH 4 as the mobile phase, and ultraviolet detection at 240 nm.

Heinz bodies induce clustering of band 3, glycophorin, and ankyrin in sickle cell erythrocytes.

In earlier model studies we demonstrated that artificially denatured hemoglobin binds to and clusters the protein, band 3, in the plane of the erythrocyte membrane. To determine whether denatured hemoglobin also clusters band 3 in vivo, we have compared the locations of denatured hemoglobin aggregates (Heinz bodies) with band 3 in sickle cells using phase contrast and immunofluorescence microscopy. We report that where Heinz bodies are found associated with the cytoplasmic surface of the membrane, clusters of band 3 are usually colocalized within the membrane.