Laser endarterectomy: a comparison of thrombotic potential following CO2 laser vs surgical endarterectomy.

Although laser endarterectomy has recently been suggested as useful in the treatment of arteriosclerotic obstructions, the "in vivo" clotting effects have not been well delineated. In this study, the common carotid and femoral arteries of ten mongrel dogs were exposed, and alternating 1 cm segments of each artery were treated with surgical endarterectomy and low-powered CO2 laser endarterectomy. Segments were then harvested, and subjected to histologic examination and vascular prostacyclin synthesis determinations, as measured by 6-keto PFG1a radioimmunoassay.

Gastrointestinal microflora in mammalian nutrition.

A mammal is a complex organism consisting of eukaryotic animal cells and eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbial cells. Most of the microorganisms reside in communities in the gastrointestinal tract. These gastrointestinal microfloras are known to serve nutritional functions in ruminants, pseudoruminants, and monogastric mammals with only modest or no foregut fermentations but with extensive hindgut fermentations in blind cecal pouches.

The association of lipoprotein cholesterol with vitamin A.

Several studies have linked total serum cholesterol concentrations below 200 mg/dl with increased cancer risk, especially among men. Cancer risk appears to be associated primarily with low concentrations of total cholesterol and of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol but not of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). It has been suggested that low concentrations of total cholesterol are associated with increased cancer risk indirectly by virtue of their association with low concentrations of carotene and/or retinol.

Prenatal exposure to ethanol retards the development of kindling in adult rats.

The development of kindling was examined in adult rats exposed to ethanol prenatally. Pregnant Wistar rats were fed a liquid diet containing either 6.7% ethanol or pair fed an isocaloric equivalent.

Reversible inhibition of central precocious puberty with a long acting GnRH analogue.

A 7 year old girl with precocious puberty was treated with buserelin, a long acting analogue of gonadotrophin releasing hormone. Spontaneous and stimulated gonadotrophin secretion became prepubertal but returned to pubertal values when buserelin was withdrawn, suggesting that normal sexual maturation should follow cessation of treatment.

Lymphokine-activated killer cells are generated before classical cytotoxic T lymphocytes after bone marrow transplantation in mice.

Lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells are demonstrable within 2 wk after syngeneic or allogeneic (H-2-compatible) bone marrow transplantation in mice. Classical cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are not active until at least 4 wk after transplant. Both LAK cells and CTL bear the Thy-1 marker and do not possess the murine natural killer cell marker asialo GM.

Anthropoid origins in Asia? New discovery of amphipithecus from the eocene of burma.

A new fossil of the primate Amphipithecus mogaungensis Colbert from the late Eocene of Burma shows that this species has a mandibular and molar morphology very similar to Oligocene and post-Oligocene higher primates. It has an exceptionally deep jaw. Its brachybunodont first and second molars have smooth enamel but lack hypoconulids.

Purification and characterization of flagella from Roseburia cecicola, an obligately anaerobic bacterium.

Flagella from Roseburia cecicola, an obligately anaerobic bacterium originally isolated from murine caecal mucosa, were purified by mechanical shearing followed by differential centrifugation. Purity of the flagellar preparation was determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electron microscopy and chemical analysis. The flagella were composed of a single protein subunit (flagellin) with an estimated molecular weight of 42 000.

Pubertal growth in diabetics.

Mean values for two variables of the pubertal growth spurt, peak height velocity and age at peak velocity, of children attending the diabetic clinic in Bristol are reported. The growth spurt was normal both in timing and intensity in boys, but the peak velocity was reduced and age at peak velocity more variable among girls.

Epidemiologic features of isolated syncope: the Framingham Study.

To obtain epidemiologic information regarding syncope, 2336 men and 2873 women aged 30 to 62 years at entry to the study were evaluated for syncope. During 26 years of surveillance, evidence of cardiac or neurologic morbidity and mortality was also recorded. At least one syncopal episode was reported by 71 (3.

The diabetic with a diabetic parent.

Six of eight children with diabetes who have a parent with type I diabetes mellitus presented serious management problems. The doctor and diabetic health visitor should be aware that these families may require extra support.

[Scoliosis studies with low-dose X-rays].

A modification of the Oxford technique for the radiological examination of scoliotic curvatures in school-children has been devised. Satisfactory image quality is achieved in this way and the radiation dose to patients, despite examinations every 3 months, is only a fraction of the maximum permissible level for radiation workers. The method is simple.

Cryptic plasmids in Lactobacillus strains isolated from the murine gastrointestinal tract.

Ten of twenty Lactobacillus strains isolated from the gastrointestinal tracts of animals of several species contained plasmids of 80 to 90 megadaltons or less than 2.6 megadaltons in size, as analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The large plasmids were found only in strains originally isolated from the keratinized epithelium of the murine stomach.

Production and response to interleukin 2 in vitro and in vivo after bone marrow transplantation in mice.

Lymphoid cells from bone marrow radiation chimeras do not produce normal levels of IL 2 but are capable of responding to IL 2 in mitogenic and cytotoxic assays in vitro. The administration of recombinant human IL 2 into host mice that have received allogeneic, H-2-compatible marrow did not enhance mortality.

An investigation into the validity of the present classification of inflammatory bowel disease.

To assess the validity of the present subdivision of patients with inflammatory bowel disease into those with Crohn's disease of the small bowel or of the colon and those with ulcerative colitis, 252 patients with inflammatory bowel disease have been studied by questionnaire and case note review. One hundred and seventy-two variables concerning the nature and frequency of symptoms in remission and relapse, the incidence of complications and results of investigation have been analysed by computer. As expected, there were many highly significant variables between patients with ulcerative colitis and those with Crohn's disease of the small bowel.

Knife cuts of entorhinal cortex: effects on development of amygdaloid kindling and seizure-induced decrease of muscarinic cholinergic receptors.

This report examines the effect of transection of the entorhinal hippocampal projection on amygdaloid kindling. We found that: bilateral knife cuts of entorhinal cortex but not of dorsal neocortex antagonize the development of amygdaloid kindling; and bilateral knife cuts of entorhinal cortex eliminate the seizure-induced decrease in number of muscarinic receptors of dentate granule cells. We suggest the following interpretations of these data: the hippocampal formation circuitry facilitates the development of amygdaloid kindling; and the decline of muscarinic receptors after kindled seizures is due to excessive activation of granule cells by axons from entorhinal cortex, a noncholinergic afferent.

Growth hormone responses to sleep, insulin hypoglycaemia and arginine infusion.

This study compares the peak serum growth hormone (GH) concentration during slow wave sleep with the serum GH responses to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia and intravenous arginine infusion in 23 children referred because of short stature (20) or precocious puberty (3). Peak serum GH concentration during sleep correlated significantly with peak GH response to insulin hypoglycaemia (r = 0.64, p less than 0.

Lysis of spontaneous murine breast tumors by human interleukin 2-stimulated syngeneic T-lymphocytes.

In vitro and in vivo cytotoxic assay systems show that primary explants of spontaneous mammary tumors from CD8F1 mice are susceptible to lysis by interleukin 2-stimulated, syngeneic T-lymphocytes.

Race, poverty, and survival in multiple myeloma.

To identify possible interracial differences in the behavior of multiple myeloma, the records of 52 black myeloma patients at Harlem Hospital Center (HHC) and 46 black and 46 white patients at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC) were reviewed. In addition to clinical variables such as tumor burden, azotemia, and hypoalbuminemia, the effect of poverty on prognosis was examined, using socioeconomic indices from the United States census block group data of each patient. The median survival of CPMC black and white patients was comparable (34 and 29 months, respectively) whereas that of the HHC group was 12 months (Breslow test, P less than 0.

Reduced kainic acid binding in rat hippocampal formation after limbic kindling.

The specific binding of [3H]kainic acid to hippocampal membranes was examined autoradiographically in rats kindled by tetanic stimulation of the amygdala or angular bundle. One day after the last of 3 class 4-5 kindled seizures, the specific binding of [3H]kainic acid in stratum lucidum of area CA3 was 47-61% less than in electrode-implanted unstimulated controls. Specific binding in the inner third of the dentate molecular layer was reduced to a lesser degree.