Measurement of plasma catecholamine concentrations. An assessment of anxiety.

This study was designed to assess the value of measurement of plasma catecholamine concentrations as an objective index of anxiety. A preliminary study was undertaken on 11 healthy volunteers (medically qualified), to determine if venous cannulation per se produced any change in plasma catecholamine concentrations. There were no changes in plasma catecholamine concentrations in the 2 h following insertion of an i.

Resectional operations and long-term results in carcinoma of the esophagus.

The 5 year survival rate after resectional operations for carcinoma of the esophagus is still very low. Many factors have been identified as contributing to these poor long-term results. The main factor found in this study, comprising 102 patients undergoing resection out of 125 patients operated upon during a 10 year period, was nonradical resection.

Interference of endogenous lactoperoxidase antibodies in a solid-phase immunosorbent radioassay for antibodies to protein hormones.

Interference of endogenous antibodies to lactoperoxidase (EC 1.11.1.

Purification and storage of thyroglobulin. Two important factors influencing the radioimmunoassay for thyroglobulin.

The effect upon the assay of the quality of the thyroglobulin (Tg) used as standard and tracer was evaluated by comparison of two preparations, one purified with protease inhibitors added (Tg-PI) and the other without (Tg-O). Tg-PI proved more stable than Tg-O. After freezing in phosphate-buffered saline almost all 125I-Tg-O was found to have dissociated into 12 S Tg, while only about half the 125I-Tg-PI had done so.

A new sensitive immunosorbent radioassay for the detection of circulating antibodies to polypeptide hormones and proteins.

A solid-phase immunosorbent radioassay for the detection of circulating antibodies to protein hormones is described. The assay is based on the binding of the homologous 125I-labelled antigen to the antibodies which are then bound to anti-IgG antibodies covalently coupled to Sepharose. It can easily be applied as a complement to any radioimmunoassay for the detection of circulating antibodies to the ligand measured.

Non-parenteral postoperative analgesia. A comparison of sublingual buprenorphine and morphine sulphate (slow release) tablets.

Sixty-nine patients undergoing upper and lower abdominal surgery were studied after operation to compare the analgesic effects of sublingual buprenorphine (0.4 mg) and slow release morphine sulphate tablets (MST, 20 mg) given 6 hourly in a double-blind, double-dummy trial. Both MST and buprenorphine produced satisfactory postoperative analgesia but the linear analogue pain scores were significantly lower on the second post operative day with MST.

Quantitative assessment of individual renal function. A comparison between creatinine excretion and a radionuclide method.

Individual renal function was evaluated in 21 patients. Two methods were used in each case, namely gamma camera renography and measurement of creatinine excretion in urine collected via a nephrostomy. The scintigraphic technique utilized measurement of renal parenchymal radionuclide uptake in an early phase.

Lung expansion in premature newborn rabbits treated with emulsified synthetic surfactant; principles for experimental evaluation of synthetic substitutes for pulmonary surfactant.

This paper presents a sequence of tests for experimental evaluation of potential substitutes for pulmonary surfactant. Differential thermal analysis and the pulsating bubble technique were applied to identify an emulsified mixture of synthetic lipids with properties similar to those of natural surfactant. Instilled into the airways of premature newborn rabbits, this emulsion improved pulmonary pressure-volume characteristics and enhanced lung-thorax compliance during artificial ventilation.

Renal function after urinary diversion. A study of continent caecal reservoir, ileal conduit and colonic conduit.

Total and separate renal function, renal parenchymal thickness and dilatation of the upper urinary tract were studied in 40 patients preoperatively and 24 to 67 months after urinary diversion, using 51Cr-EDTA clearance test, scintillation camera renography and urography. In ten patients a continent caecal reservoir was used for diversion. In the other patients, an ileal or a colonic conduit (15 patients with each method) was used, one ureter being implanted with an anti-reflux method and the other with direct technique.

Methods of reducing the effect of spontaneous dissociation of antigen-antibody interactions in radioimmunoassays with special reference to internal sample attenuator counting (ISAC).

A time dependent decrease of sample counts was observed in an adsorption radioimmunoassay with internal sample attenuator counting. The drift caused a bias in the estimate of the amount of antigen in the samples. The size of this deviation was dependent upon the length of time after the calibration curve was made that the samples were measured.

Tri-iodothyronine and thyroxine in human milk.

The concentration of tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in human milk was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The analysis of T3 was performed on unextracted milk and on ethanol extracts of defatted milk. Analysis of unextracted milk was complicated by artifacts.

A method for determination of blood flow with 133Xe in human nasal mucosa.

The 133Xe wash-out technique was used as a method for calculation of the blood flow in human nasal mucosa. The disappearance of 133Xe from the nasal mucosa was followed using scintillation detectors. In laryngectomies it was shown that the disappearance of 133Xe from the mucosa depended mainly on the blood flow.

Radioimmunoassay of delta sleep-inducing peptide using an iodinated p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid derivative as tracer.

A highly sensitive radioimmunoassay for delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) has been developed. A p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid conjugate of DSIP was used for radioiodination. Using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography the labelled DSIP derivative was isolated in a high yield and with a high specific activity.

Diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis by 99mTc-human serum albumin microcolloid.

99mTc-human serum albumin microcolloid (HSAC) was evaluated for diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in the legs of 38 consecutive patients. Five and thirty minutes after IV injection, the 99mTc-HSAC activity in both legs was measured by external counting using a collimated NaI (T1)-detector. The relative predominance of 99mTc-HSAC activity in the diseased leg was calculated.

Radioimmunoassay of pro-gamma-melanotropin, the amino-terminal fragment of proopiolipomelanocortin.

A RIA has been developed for natural porcine pro-gamma MSH, the 103-amino acid peptide that represents the amino-terminal part of proopiolipomelanocortin. Rabbits were immunized with the purified peptide polymerized with glutaraldehyde. The antiserum is directed against the amino-terminal end of the antigen and does not cross-react with corticotropin, beta-lipotropin, beta-endorphin, gamma 3MSH, or gamma 2MSH.

On the presence of serotonin in the gut lumen and possible release mechanisms.

The possible presence of a luminal release of serotonin (5-HT) from gut enterochromaffin cells (EC) of the rat, was studied after the injection of the tritiated 5-HT precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan (3H]-5-HTP by electron microscopic autoradiography. The uptake of 5-HTP into gut epithelial cells was also studied by fluorescence histochemistry according to the Hillarp-Falck technique at the same post-injection interval as in the autoradiography experiments. 3 h after the injections of 5-HTP (100 mg/kg i.

Scintillation camera renography with 99mTc-DTPA and 131I-Hippuran.

Two different indicators for scintillation camera renography, 99mTc-DTPA and 131I-Hippuran, were compared directly in 37 patients. Quantitative data were obtained by means of a small digital computer. 99mTc-DTPA gave better kidney image quality, but also higher background than 131I-Hippuran.

Scintigraphic evaluation and dynamic studies with thallium-201 in thyroid lesions with suspected cancer.

Scintigraphic studies of the thyroid with thallium-201 chloride were performed in 46 patients in whom the final diagnosis was established by histology. In dynamic studies of 36 patients, sequential imaging was performed the first 40 min after injection. A single exponential, Cexp(-lambda t), was fitted to each of the curves generated from apparently pathological and from normal regions in each patient, as determined by earlier conventional scintigrams.

The effects of adrenergic antagonists on the serotonin levels of feline enterochromaffin cells after splanchnic nerve stimulation.

Cut splanchnic nerves were stimulated electrically at the preganglionic level in efferent direction in anesthetized cats with the adrenals ligated bilaterally. A significant decrease of the intracellular serotonin (5-HT) levels in populations (n = 20) of individual enterochromaffin cells (EC) in the mucosa from three different levels of the small intestine (distal duodenum, mid-jejunum and terminal ileum) was obtained. The intracellular 5-HT levels before and after stimulation were studied cytofluorimetrically in biopsies treated according to the Falck-Hillarp technique.

Management of massive gastroduodenal haemorrhage.

A special program for management of massive gastrointestinal bleeding was 1976 introduced in the surgical service of Sahlgren's Hospital in Göteborg. The main points in this program were: careful observation in an intensive care unit, standardized treatment, early diagnostic gastroduodenoscopy, strict indications for emergency operation and recommendation of type operation. This paper deals with 55 patients subjected to emergency operations in 1976 with the diagnosis erosive gastritis, gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer.

The effect of propranolol on the serotonin concentration in the portal plasma after vagal nerve stimulation in the cat.

Efferent cervical vagal nerve stimulation in the cat caused a marked increase of the portal plasma 5-HT concentration. This increase was more than two-fold within 15 min of stimulation. After cessation of stimulation portal plasma 5-HT returned to basal levels within 10 min.

Turnover of human lactoferrin in the rabbit.

Lactoferrin turnover was studied in the rabbit with 125I- and 131I-labelled human lactoferrin. Plasma lactoferrin activity showed a rapid decrease during the first 24 h, followed by a 'final slope' with a T1/2 of about 25 h. Turnover studies after transfer of plasma from one rabbit (A) 3 h after injection to another rabbit (B), showed a recovery of 100% compared to 30% in A rabbits but otherwise a similar disappearance curve.