Dynamic and kinetic disposition of nisoldipine enantiomers in hypertensive patients presenting with type-2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: Nisoldipine (N) is a dihydropyridine calcium antagonist marketed as a racemic mixture and used for the treatment of hypertension. In the present study, we investigated the influence of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) on the enantioselective pharmacokinetic and dynamic parameters of N.

Methods: Seventeen hypertensive patients, nine of them with DM, were investigated in a cross-over study with administration of rac-N as coat-core tablets (20 mg day(-1)) or placebo for 15 days each.

[An accident involving Tityus serrulatus and its epidemiological implications in Brazil].

This is a case report of the first accident involving a scorpion Tityus serrulatus in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, that occurred in March, 2001. A 21-year-old male patient, while handling vegetables proceeding from other Brazilian states, was bitten by a scorpion Tityus serrulatus, developing local and systemic reactions, requiring an anti-scorpion antidote. The authors highlight the epidemiological importance of this case in the South of Brazil.

Acute local nerve lesions induced by Bothrops jararacussu snake venom.

Myonecrosis is one of the most common effects of Bothrops jararacussu venom, but little is known about the action of this venom on other tissues. In this study, we used transmission electron microscopy to examine the influence of B. jararacussu venom on nerve tissue.

Characterization and partial purification of a lectin from the hemolymph of the white shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti.

The agglutinating activity of the hemolymph of Litopenaeus schmitti is insensitive to calcium and specific for acetylated sugars, particularly sialic acid (Neu5Ac) and O-sialoglycoconjugates (bovine submaxillary mucin) and has varying specificity for different LPS, which may suggest a putative role in microorganism recognition. Affinity chromatography on fetuin-agarose of the agglutinin resulted in a 220 kDa band (lectin), and a 82.5 kDa band, which probably is hemocyanin.

Blastic CD4 NK cell leukemia/lymphoma: a distinct clinical entity.

We report the findings of three new cases of a distinct clinicopathologic natural killer (NK) cell malignancy characterized by cutaneous, nodal and bone marrow infiltration by CD3-CD4+CD56+ NK blastic cells. Tumor cells were detected in bone marrow and in peripheral blood smears and showed finely distributed nuclear chromatin with nucleoli and a moderate amount of cytoplasm. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA was negative in the two tested cases.

Acetylcholine receptors and nerve terminal distribution at the neuromuscular junction of non-obese diabetic mice.

Skeletal muscle is one of the main targets of the metabolic alterations in diabetes, in which protein synthesis is markedly reduced followed by increased proteolysis. Ultrastructural and functional changes in the presynaptic compartment of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) have been demonstrated, but little attention has been paid to the proteins in the postsynaptic muscle fiber membrane. In the present work, we studied the changes in acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and nerve terminal distribution in the NMJ of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice.

Antigenic specificity of the Mycobacterium leprae homologue of ESAT-6.

The sequence of the Mycobacterium leprae homologue of ESAT-6 shows only 36% amino acid correspondence to that from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Anti-M. leprae ESAT-6 polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies and T-cell hybridomas reacted only with the homologous protein and allowed identification of the B- and T-cell epitopes.

Alteration of the soluble guanylate cyclase system in the vascular wall of lead-induced hypertension in rats.

Low-level lead exposure is a known cause of hypertension that has been associated with increased reactive oxygen species activity and endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation impairment. The effect of lead exposure on the vascular nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic guanocine monophosphate (cGMP) system was analyzed. Wistar rats were exposed to 5 ppm lead acetate in the drinking water during 30 d.

[Standards to be observed in basic nursing procedures].

The authors present as an aid to teaching, a guide of some basic nursing procedures, described according to the norms to be observed.