A study investigating the acute dose-response effects of 13 mg and 17 mg Delta 9- tetrahydrocannabinol on cognitive-motor skills, subjective and autonomic measures in regular users of marijuana.

Heavy use of marijuana is claimed to damage critical skills related to short-term memory, visual scanning and attention. Motor skills and driving safety may be compromised by the acute effects of marijuana. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of 13 mg and 17 mg Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on skills important for coordinated movement and driving and on subjective and autonomic measures in regular users of marijuana.

Brain imaging study of the acute effects of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on attention and motor coordination in regular users of marijuana.

Procedure: Twelve regular users of marijuana underwent two positron emission tomography (PET) scans using [18F] Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), one while subject to the effects of 17 mg THC, the other without THC. In both sessions, a virtual reality maze task was performed during the FDG uptake period.

Results: When subject to the effects of 17 mg THC, regular marijuana smokers hit the walls more often on the virtual maze task than without THC.

Comparison of a vegetable-based (soya) and an animal-based low-protein diet in predialysis chronic renal failure patients.

There is some experimental evidence to suggest that progression of chronic renal failure (CRF) is slower on diets based on soya protein than on diets based on animal protein. We have compared the effect of a soya-based vegetarian low-protein diet (VPD) and an animal-based low-protein diet (APD) in 15 patients with CRF. 15 patients with CRF (51Cr-EDTA-measured glomerular filtration rate 15-50 ml/min/1.

Gut decontamination reduces bowel ischemia-induced lung injury in rats.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of gut decontamination on endotoxin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels, and the associated lung injury in a rat model of bowel ischemia.

Summary Background Data: Gut ischemia induces disruption of the intestinal mucosal barrier, allowing translocation of bacteria and endotoxin into the blood, which may trigger a systemic inflammatory response and lung injury.

Methods: Thirty anesthetized rats were randomized into three groups: (1) ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) alone (a 60-min superior mesenteric artery occlusion and 4 h of reperfusion, n=10); (2) rats that underwent gut decontamination prior to ischemia (I/R+GD, n=10); and (3) control rats (sham operated, n=10).

Sphingomyelin biosynthesis and efflux correlates with cholesterol metabolism and is higher in vascular endothelial cells than in smooth muscle cells.

We compared the metabolism of cellular phospholipids in bovine aortic endothelial and smooth muscle cells in culture. [3H]Choline was incorporated in both cell types into phosphatidylcholine (86-90%) and sphingomyelin (10-14%). Endothelial cells demonstrated preferential efflux of sphingomyelin which represented 22.