No changes in lung function after a saturation dive to 2.5 MPa with intermittent reduction in Po2 during decompression.

Decompression stress and exposure to hyperoxia may cause a reduction in transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide and in maximal aerobic capacity after deep saturation dives. In this study lung function and exercise capacity were assessed before and after a helium-oxygen saturation dive to a pressure of 2.5 MPa where the decompression rate was reduced compared with previous deep dives, and the hyperoxic exposure was reduced by administering oxygen intermittently at pressures of 50 and 30 kPa during decompression.

[Updated reference intervals for clinical chemical components].

Background: More or less outdated reference intervals are still in common use with many clinical biochemical components. In order to update them, a Nordic cooperative project (the Nordic reference interval project, NORIP) was organised.

Material And Methods: 102 Nordic laboratories participated; 3036 persons aged 18 years or above were included.

Increased oxygen before and during decompression reduces bubble formation in rats.

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that increased oxygen partial pressure shortly before and during decompression from hyperbaric pressures would decrease venous gas bubble formation. Bubbles were detected by an ultrasound Doppler technique in conscious, freely moving rats. All rats were exposed twice to 6 bar for 2 hours.

[Muscle enzymes in differential diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction and rhabdomyolysis. Evaluation of the parameter creatine kinase isoenzyme MB index (CKMB index)].

Both serum creatine kinase activity (CK) and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB mass concentration (CKMB) may be elevated in patients with either skeletal muscle damage or myocardial infarction. In a prospective study we evaluated the parameter CKMB index in discriminating these different events in 70 hospitalised patients with elevated CK-values, of whom 38 satisfied the WHO criteria for acute myocardial infarction. The sensitivity and specificity of the index for diagnosing myocardial infarction with various cut-off values between negative and positive tests are presented.

Single-dose pharmacokinetics of lomefloxacin in patients with normal and impaired renal function.

The quinolone antibiotic lomefloxacin was administered as a 400 mg single oral dose to 12 subjects with renal impairment (creatinine clearance 5-65 mL/min/1.73 m2) and to 13 healthy subjects (creatinine clearance 80-135 mL/min/1.73 m2).

Automated method for the determination of angiotensin-converting enzyme in serum.

A method for the determination of angiotensin-converting enzyme in serum (S-ACE; EC 3.4.15.

Smoking during pregnancy--effects on the fetal thyroid function.

Infants delivered at term by mothers smoking at least 10 cigarettes daily during pregnancy (n = 46) were found to be growth retarded compared to infants of non-smoking mothers (n = 49), birthweights 3,445 +/- 385 (SD) g and 3,667 +/- 392 g respectively (p less than 0.05) in the two groups. Cord serum thyrotropin (TSH) was significantly decreased (8.

Accumulation of pyroglutamic acid (5-oxoproline) in homocystinuria.

A 12-year-old boy with homocystinuria due to a cystathionine synthetase defect was shown to accumulate large amounts of pyroglutamic acid (pyroglu). In four different urine samples the concentration ranged between 4.1 and 9.

Disulphide reduction in glutathione-deficient erythrocytes from a patient with pyroglutamic acidemia.

Erythrocytes from a patient with pyroglutamic acidemia, containing about 5% of the normal content of glutathione, were able to reduce cystamine at a relatively high rate (about 50% that of normal cells) at low concentrations of the disulphide. Compared to normal cells, the reduction of disulphide by the patient's cells were highly sensitive to inhibition by high concentrations of the disulphide. This inhibition was noted whether glucose or inosine were used as carbohydrate substrate, and was also present when hemolysates were used and NADPH was added directly to the reaction mixture.

Studies of amino acid content and transport in glutathione-deficient erythrocytes from a patient with pyroglutamic acidemia (5-oxoprolinemia).

Repeated biochemical studies of the erythrocytes of a patient with pyroglutamic acidemia have shown a varying biochemical disorder in these cells. Whereas earlier studies demonstrated absence of glutathione and massive amino acid loading in erythrocytes, these cells later contained small but readily measurable amounts of glutathione and had a relatively normal amino acid content. The marked increase in amino acids after acid hydrolysis of erythrocytes had also disappeared.

Studies on the accumulation of L-pyroglutamic acid in guinea pig epidermis.

The activities and properties of the enzymes involved in the formation and degradation of pyroglutamic acid (2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid, 5-oxoproline) in guinea pig epidermis have been studied. The enzyme pattern was characterized by an extremely high activity of gamma-glutamyl cyclotransferase. The epidermal extracts possessed a measurable, but rather low activity of pyroglutamate hydrolase.

The cerebral lesions in a patient with generalized glutathione deficiency and pyroglutamic aciduria (5-oxoprolinuria).

The clinical and pathologic features of a male patient with generalized glutathione deficiency and pyroglutamic aciduria are presented. The patient died at the age of 28 years. He was mentally retarded from infancy and developed progressive tremor, retardation of movement, and ataxia as from the age of 16.