Beneficial effect of fibronectin administration on chronic nephritis in rats.

We studied the effect of fibronectin (FN) on the course of chronic nephritis (induced by daily injections of ovalbumin) and on the clearance and catabolism of immune complexes in Wistar rats. Rats with chronic nephritis were treated with FN (2.5 mg/kg/48 hours) for 15 days after proteinuria was first detected.

Elevated plasma fibronectin levels in rats with immune and toxic glomerular diseases.

We measured plasma fibronectin levels by a rocket immunoelectrophoresis in rats with chronic serum sickness induced by repeated injections of ovalbumin and in rats with epithelial nephropathy induced by a single injection of adriamycin. In the early phases of the immune model, rats presented granular deposits of IgG in the mesangial area with no or descrete proteinuria (less than 40 mg/24 h). Fibronectin levels in that group were significantly higher (450 +/- 90 micrograms/mL) than in normal rats of the same age (350 +/- 46; p less than 0.

[Influence of isoxsuprine HCl on blood viscosity].

A decrease of blood viscosity is a working principle in the therapy of severe disorders of arterial blood flow. Isoxsuprine-HCl was found effective in lowering the blood viscosity when given intravenously in a dose of 30 mg over 60 min. This effect derives probably from a decrease of the tendency to aggregate and an increase of the flexibility of red blood cells.

A study of the metabolism of zinc its metalloenzymes in diabetes mellitus.

In a study of 24 diabetics, hyperzincuria was observed, especially in females. In the female diabetics serum lactic dehydrogenase activity was related to the serum zinc level and urinary zinc excretion. In male diabetics serum zinc and alkaline phosphatase were correlated as were serum lactic dehydrogenase and urinary zinc excretion.