Antimalarial activity of neurolenin B and derivates of Eupatorium inulaefolium (Asteraceae).

Dried stems and leaves of Eupatorium inulaefolium (Austroeupatorium inulaefolium) (Asteraceae) were used to obtain four crude extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and ethanol). Two fractions were obtained from the hexane extract (S1 and S2) and three compounds (neurolenin B, lobatin A and lobatin B) from the dichloromethane extract. The ethanol, hexane, dichloromethane and methanol extracts, two fractions from the hexane extract (S1 and S2), and neurolenin B were evaluated in vitro against Plasmodium falciparum, FCB-2 strain.

V804M RET mutation and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma: report of a large family with expression of the disease only in the homozygous gene carriers.

Background: Only 9 families with familial medullary thyroid carcinoma due to V804M mutation have been reported until now. We describe a large kindred with not only heterozygous but also homozygous members with the V804M mutation. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a homozygous RET mutation.

[Nutrition in the sport practice: adaptation of the food guide pyramid to the characteristics of athletes diet].

In spite of all the advances in sport nutrition and the importance of an adequate food intake in order to improve sport performance, both recreational and professional athletes forget frequently to include planning an optimum diet and fluid intake in their global strategy for performance. Physiological and metabolic adaptations produced as a consequence of physical exercise lead to the necessity of increasing caloric (in accordance to energy output) and protein (based on the trophic needs of the organism) intake. Likewise, paying major attention to vitamin and mineral intake, specifically B vitamins and zinc and chromium, is required, in order to optimize carbohydrate metabolism, the ultimate limiting factor for sport performance.

Growth hormone release after glucagon as a reliable test of growth hormone assessment in adults.

Objective: To investigate the GH response to glucagon in adult patients with GH deficiency and in controls compared with the GH response to the insulin tolerance test (ITT) in patients with GH deficiency and to determine whether the use of glucagon results in a diagnostic utility test.

Patients And Design: Seventy-three patients with adult GH deficiency and organic hypothalamic-pituitary disease were recruited, along with 46 controls. The patients were divided into five groups according to the number of associated hormone deficiencies present.

Percutaneous transluminal therapeutic ultrasound for high-risk thrombus-containing lesions in native coronary arteries.

We assessed the short-term outcome of percutaneous coronary ultrasound thrombolysis (CUT) for high-risk thrombus-containing lesions in native coronaries in the setting of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Data were prospectively collected in a multicenter (n = 32) registry of consecutive ACS patients. The study population (n = 126) had mostly (84%) totally occluded vessels.

Predisposing conditions for atrial fibrillation in atrial septal defect with and without operative closure.

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence and predisposing conditions for atrial fibrillation (AF) in adults with atrial septal defect (ASD) and to evaluate the influence of age at surgical repair. The study population consisted of 286 adults with ASD (mean age 39.5 +/- 19 years).

Discrete subaortic stenosis in adults: increased prevalence and slow rate of progression of the obstruction and aortic regurgitation.

Objectives: We sought to determine the prevalence and rate of progression of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) and aortic regurgitation (AR) in adults with discrete subaortic stenosis (DSS).

Background: Discrete subaortic stenosis is an uncommon form of LVOTO, with rapid hemodynamic progression in children, but the prevalence and rate of progression in adults have not been studied so far.

Methods: The prevalence of DSS was determined in 2,057 consecutive adults diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD).

nm23-H1 immunoreactivity as a prognostic factor in differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Several prognostic factors have been proposed to identify the patients at risk to develop metastases in differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Reduced nm23-H1 expression (a metastatic suppressor gene) has been correlated with high tumor metastatic potential in various human carcinomas, but the results obtained in differentiated thyroid carcinoma remain controversial. To elucidate the usefulness of nm23-H1 as a differentiated thyroid carcinoma prognosis factor, we evaluate the relationship between nm23-H1 immunoreactivity as well as both clinical status and patient outcome.

Left atrial dissection: pathogenesis, clinical course, and transesophageal echocardiographic recognition.

Left atrial dissection is an uncommon entity. It is generally associated with mitral valve replacement, but other predisposing factors should be considered in pathogenesis. We discuss a series of 11 patients with pathologically confirmed left atrial dissection who had been diagnosed previously by transesophageal echocardiography.

Hydrothermal synthesis and structural characterization of the (C(n)H(2n+6)N(2)[Mn(3)(HPO(3))4] (n = 3-8) new layered inorganic-organic hybrid manganese(II) phosphites. Crystal structure and spectroscopic and magnetic properties of (C(3)H(12)N(2)[Mn(3)(HPO(3))4].

The (C(n)H(2n+6)N(2))[Mn(3)(HPO(3))(4)] (n = 3-8) compounds have been prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and characterized by X-ray diffraction data and spectroscopic techniques. The crystal structure of (C(3)H(12)N(2))[Mn(3)(HPO(3))(4)] has been solved from single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The unit-cell parameters are a = 9.

Transfer coefficient measurements of uranium to the organs of Wistar rats, as a function of the uranium content in the food.

Groups of animals (Wistar rats) were fed with rations doped with uranyl nitrate at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 100 ppm. The uranium content in the ashes of the organs was measured by the neutron-fission track counting technique.

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in factory workers from Transkei, South Africa.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in a group of peri-urban black South Africans.

Design: Cross-sectional study in which an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed on each subject.

Setting: Two of the largest factories in the surroundings of Umtata, the capital of the former homeland of Transkei, South Africa.

Short-term hypothyroidism has no effect on serum leptin concentrations.

The aim of the study is to determine the effect of short-term hypothyroidism on serum leptin levels. For this purpose 30 patients with past medical history of thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma were included. Serum leptin concentrations were similar when patients were on thyrotrophin-suppressive thyroxine therapy than when were admitted 4 weeks after stopping thyroxine treatment to perform a routine 131I scan in hypothyroid status (17.

A new inorganic-organic hybrid iron(III) arsenate: (C2H10N2)[Fe(HAsO4)2(H2AsO4)](H2O). Hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structure, and spectroscopic and magnetic properties.

A new iron(III) arsenate templated by ethylenediamine, (C2H10N2) [Fe(HAsO4)2(H2AsO4)](H2O), has been prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. The unit-cell parameters are a = 8.705(3) A, b = 16.

[Pheochromocytoma associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A and sporadic: differential characteristics].

Background: To study distinctive clinical features of pheochromocytoma in the setting of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN 2A) in comparison with sporadic pheochromocytoma.

Patients And Method: All patients diagnosed of sporadic pheochromocytoma (n = 29) and in the setting of MEN 2A (n = 16) between 1976 and 1998 in a tertiary hospital were included in the study. The following variables were compared: age at diagnosis, symptoms, presence and characteristics of hypertension, size of the tumor, localization and malignancy.

Relationship between lipoprotein(a) phenotypes and plaminogen activator inhibitor type 1 in diabetic patients.

It has been demonstrated in vitro that lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] increases the endothelial synthesis of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1). However, this effect in vivo is controversial, and the possible relationship between PAI-1 and Lp(a) phenotypes has not been evaluated. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of Lp(a) and its phenotypes on PAI-1 serum concentrations in diabetic patients.

Determination of chloride, sulfate and nitrate in groundwater samples by ion chromatography.

Groundwater is a significant source of water for both domestic and agricultural use in some regions of the Maracaibo lake basin in Venezuela. Chemically suppressed ion chromatography with a Dionex Model 2000i/sp, lonpac AS11, ASRS-I system was used for the analysis of major inorganic anions in groundwater samples. About 50 samples of groundwater, taken over several months in three different locations, were analyzed after filtration and sometimes dilution.

Hepatocyte growth factor in vitreous and serum from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Background: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is an endothelium specific growth factor that has been implicated in angiogenesis, a crucial event for the development of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). The aim of the study is to determine the intravitreous concentrations of HGF in diabetic patients with PDR, and to investigate whether its serum levels could contribute to its intravitreous concentration.

Methods: 17 diabetic patients and seven non-diabetic patients in whom a vitrectomy was performed were studied.

Encephalopathy associated to autoimmune thyroid disease: a more appropriate term for an underestimated condition?

Hashimoto's encephalopathy is a severe and rather infrequent clinical condition initially described in patients suffering from chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Its origin is still controversial but it can be agreed to have an autoimmune etiology. In fact, its most characteristic finding is the high titre of antithyroid antibodies, especially antimicrosomal.

Vitreous levels of IGF-I, IGF binding protein 1, and IGF binding protein 3 in proliferative diabetic retinopathy: a case-control study.

Objective: To evaluate vitreous levels of IGF-I and its binding proteins IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3 in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Because intravitreal proteins are elevated in patients with PDR due to the disruption of the blood-retinal barrier, we have corrected vitreal IGF-I and IGFBPs by total vitreal proteins to avoid this confounding factor.

Research Design And Methods: We compared 21 diabetic patients with proliferative retinopathy (group A) and 13 nondiabetic patients (group B) in whom a vitrectomy was performed.

[Diagnostic performance of serum thyroglobin and iodide-131 Na scan according to the type of recurrence in differentiated thyroid carcinoma].

Background: There is no consensus about the best follow-up protocol in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). The aim of this study is to evaluate the usefulness and prognostic value of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) and the iodide-131 whole body scan (WBS) in DTC recurrences as a whole and according to the type of recurrence (local recurrence or distant metastases).

Patients And Methods: Thirty-four patients with recurrent DTC recruited in our institution over 15 years, with a minimum 5 years of follow-up and without either distant metastases at time of diagnosis nor detectable anti-Tg antibodies were included in the study.

Global experience in cervical carotid artery stent placement.

The purpose of this article is to review and update the current status of carotid artery stent placement in the world. Surveys to major interventional centers in Europe, North and South America, and Asia were initially completed in June 1997. Subsequent information from these 24 centers in addition to 12 new centers has been obtained to update the information.