Monoclonal antibody against Klebsiella capsular polysaccharide reduces severity and hematogenic spread of experimental Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important nosocomial pathogen causing severe pulmonary infections. The majority of clinical Klebsiella isolates produce a high-molecular-weight capsular polysaccharide (CPS) which is one of the dominant virulence factors. In the present study, we examined the potency of a murine immunoglobulin M monoclonal antibody (MAb) with specificity to Klebsiella type 2 CPS to protect rats against experimental Klebsiella pneumonia.

Stimulation of insulin release is uncoupled from insulin biosynthesis in tumoral RINm5F cells.

RINm5F cells, an insulin-secreting subclone of a rat insulinoma cell line, were incubated in serum-free medium up to 24 hours in the presence or absence of glucagonlike peptide-1(7-36)amide in various concentrations, 3-isobutyl-1 methylxanthine (1 mM), choleratoxin (10 nM), carbachol (1 mM), and potassium (40 mM). Insulin release and biosynthesis were measured by the immunoreactive insulin content of the cells and the medium. Steady-state levels of insulin-specific mRNA were determined by Northern and slot blot analysis.

[Somatostatin in preoperative therapy and postoperative diagnosis of a patient with Verner Morrison syndrome].

We report the case of a patient with Verner-Morrison syndrome due to a malignant MEN I-associated vipoma. Marked tumor-associated hypercalcemia could be treated successfully with somatostatin analogues prior to surgical therapy of the pancreatic tumor. Sixteen months after extirpation of the primary tumor recurrent tumor growth was diagnosed; at this time the patient was clinically asymptomatic and had no abnormal laboratory test results.

[Fluconazole in therapy of candidiasis of the oropharyngeal space in patients with HIV infection. Results of an open multicenter study of assessing the effectiveness and tolerance of fluconazole].

50 HIV-positive patients (CDC stage III to VI) with oral candidiasis proven by culture and typical clinical findings were treated with fluconazole (50 to 100 mg/day) over a period of eight to 22 days. After completion of treatment, clinical signs of oral candidiasis had disappeared in 45/50 patients. In 10/50 patients, however, increased concentrations of candida both in pharyngeal washes (greater than 10(2) PFU/ml) and throat swabs (greater than 20 colonies/culture) persisted.

Role of cholecystokinin in cholestyramine-induced changes of the exocrine pancreas.

This study was an investigation of the role of cholecystokinin (CCK) in the stimulatory action of cholestyramine on rat exocrine pancreas. Postprandial CCK release was significantly enhanced by acute administration of cholestyramine (12.7 +/- 1.

Aspirin-like drugs, ethanol-induced rat gastric injury and mucosal eicosanoid release.

The effect of oral administration of various non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs on ethanol-induced rat gastric injury and mucosal release of leukotriene C4, 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha and 15-hydroxy-5,8,11,13-eicosatetraenoic acid was investigated. It was found that besides sodium salicylate and high doses of aspirin, other salicylate-type drugs, such as diflunisal, 4-aminosalicylic acid, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and methyl salicylate, and several non-acidic compounds, such as proquazone, benzydamine and paracetamol, were gastroprotective. All these drugs inhibited ex vivo leukotriene C4 formation by ethanol-stimulated gastric mucosa.

Neuropsychiatric side effects after the use of mefloquine.

This study describes neuropsychiatric side effects in patients after treatment with mefloquine. Reactions consisted mainly of seizures, acute psychoses, anxiety neurosis, and major disturbances of sleep-wake rhythm. Side effects occurred after both therapeutic and prophylactic intake and were graded from moderate to severe.

Release of 15-hydroxy-5,8,11,13-eicosatetraenoic acid and cysteinyl-leukotrienes in carrageenin-induced inflammation: effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Inflammatory exudates obtained in rats after subcutaneous implantation of carrageenin-soaked sponges were found to contain relatively large amounts of 15-hydroxy-5,8,11, 13-eicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) and smaller amounts of cysteinyl-leukotrienes (LT) in addition to LTB4, thromboxane (TX) B2 and prostaglandin (PG)E2. Concentrations of 15-HETE and cysteinyl-LT were high 5 hours after sponge implantation and decreased significantly within 24 hours. This time-course, which is similar to that of TXB2, but differs from that of PGE2, suggests migrating leukocytes as a major source of 15-HETE and cysteinyl-LT.

[Clinical experiences with mefloquine in tropical malaria--a prospective study].

The therapeutic effects and side effects of mefloquine in falciparum malaria were investigated in an open prospective trial involving 20 patients. None of them had a history of neurologic or psychiatric disorders. Mefloquine was given in a total dose of 1500 mg base.

Fish oil reduces ethanol-induced damage of the duodenal mucosa in humans.

Eight healthy volunteers were studied before and after 3 weeks of dietary supplementation with fish oil (10.5 g day-1, 18% (1.9 g) eicosapentaenoic acid).

Decreased and variable systemic availability of zidovudine in patients with AIDS if administered with a meal.

The systemic availability of oral zidovudine has been studied in 13 patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) dosed either fasting or with breakfast. The mean peak plasma concentration and AUC of zidovudine were significantly 2.8- and 1.

[Cerebral and meningeal manifestations of AIDS: sensitivity of CT and T2-weighted MRT (129 patients)].

We studied 129 AIDS patients with suspected or proved intracranial manifestations of the disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic sensitivity of unenhanced and contrast enhanced CT and unenhanced T2-weighted MR. In 35/129 patients CT and MR findings were normal.

[Multiple amebic liver abscesses: ultrasound diagnosis and ultrasound-controlled puncture].

Amebic colitis and amebic liver abscess were diagnosed in a 45-year-old patient who had returned from Thailand. Ultrasound scans performed after starting treatment with metronidazole showed an abscess located above the right kidney that had enlarged to a maximum diameter of 9.7 cm.

Penetration of ciprofloxacin into the spinal fluid in patients with viral and bacterial meningitis.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of ciprofloxacin (Ciprobay) were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 20 patients with varying degrees of meningeal inflammation. Underlying clinical syndromes were viral meningitis (n = 10), convalescent phase of acute bacterial meningitis (n = 9), and acute phase of bacterial meningitis (n = 1). CSF concentrations following an intravenous dose of 200 mg ranged between 0.

Interaction of glucagon-like peptide-1 (7-36)amide and cholecystokinin-8 in the endocrine and exocrine rat pancreas.

The synergistic impact of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) (7-36)amide and cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) was studied in the rat pancreas. The GLP-1 (7-36)amide (1 pM-1 microM) had no effect on the basal or CCK-stimulated (1 nM-1 pM) amylase release from isolated pancreatic acini. The insulinotropic action of 0.

Pharmacokinetics of ciprofloxacin in liver cirrhosis.

The pharmacokinetics of ciprofloxacin were evaluated in 11 patients (3 patients with impaired renal function) with advanced liver cirrhosis after a single oral dose of 500 mg. Mean serum peaks were 2.80 +/- 1.

Atrial natriuretic factor has a weak insulinotropic action in the isolated perfused rat pancreas.

The effect of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF; 1, 10, 100, 1000 pmol/l) on insulin release from the isolated perfused rat pancreas was studied. ANF weakly augmented the glucose (10 mmol/l)-stimulated insulin release during the second (controls: 100%; 1 pmol/l: 99%; 10 pmol/l: 149%, P less than 0.05; 100 pmol/l: 111%; 1000 pmol/l 135%), but not the first phase of the secretory response.

Inverse relationship between glucose metabolism and glucose-induced insulin secretion in rat insulinoma cells.

Slowly growing X-ray-induced rat insulinomas and derived cell lines have been used as a model system for glucose-induced insulin release. During perfusions of tumors transplanted under the kidney capsule, the carbohydrates glucose and D-glyceraldehyde increased insulin secretion. These stimuli and the amino acids leucine and alanine also provoked insulin release in freshly isolated tumor cells.

Comparative efficacy of ciprofloxacin, azlocillin, imipenem/cilastatin and tobramycin in a model of experimental septicemia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in neutropenic mice.

The in vivo activity of ciprofloxacin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied in a septicemia model in neutropenic mice and compared to that of other antibiotics with established activity against P. aeruginosa. When given as a single agent, ciprofloxacin proved to be as effective as imipenem/cilastatin, whereas azlocillin and tobramycin were rather ineffective.