Comparison of the concentration-dependent effect of sevoflurane on the spinal H-reflex and the EEG in humans.

Background: It has been shown that spinal reflexes such as the H-reflex predict motor responses to painful stimuli better than cortical parameters derived from the EEG. The precise concentration-dependence of H-reflex suppression by anaesthetics, however, is not known. Here we investigated this concentration-response relationship and the equilibration between the alveolar and the effect compartment for sevoflurane.

[The surgical results of correcting strabismus with inferior oblique hyperfunction].

Purpose: To evaluate the surgical results of correcting strabismus with inferior oblique hyperfunction.

Material And Methods: A retrospective chart review of 40 patients, who underwent surgery from 1999-2001 was performed. 7 patients had isolated inferior oblique hyperfunction, 5 with hypertropia, 23 patients had esotropia with inferior oblique hyperfunction and 5 patients had exotropia with inferior oblique hyperfunction.

Mutational analyses of the recombinant globular regions of human C1q A, B, and C chains suggest an essential role for arginine and histidine residues in the C1q-IgG interaction.

The first step in the activation of the classical complement pathway by immune complexes involves the binding of the globular domain (gC1q) of C1q to the Fc regions of aggregated IgG or IgM. Each gC1q domain is a heterotrimer of the C-terminal halves of one A (ghA), one B (ghB), and one C (ghC) chain. Our recent studies have suggested a modular organization of gC1q, consistent with the view that ghA, ghB, and ghC are functionally autonomous modules and have distinct and differential ligand-binding properties.

[The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)].

The authors present the role of VEGF in microaneurysm formation, blood-retinal barrier breakdown, development of capillary nonperfusion and retinal neovascularization in pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. Inhibitors of VEGF in treatment of diabetic retinopathy are presented.

Biophysical properties of Kv3.1 channels in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.

Biophysical properties of delayed rectifier K channels in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y were established using patch clamp recordings. The whole cell K+ conductance activated at membrane potentials positive to -20 mV. The midpoint of current activation was 9.

Monitoring of immobility to noxious stimulation during sevoflurane anesthesia using the spinal H-reflex.

Background: The spinal H-reflex has been shown to correlate with surgical immobility, i.e., the absence of motor responses to noxious stimulation, during isoflurane anesthesia.

[Growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor and insulin-like growth factor binding protein in young type I diabetes patients with the onset of diabetic angiopathy].

Unlabelled: Growth hormone, insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins are now gaining a great interest in the development of microvascular complications in diabetic children and adolescents. THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS: 1. Evaluation of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP-3) levels in youths with diabetes type 1.

Anticonvulsant pharmacology of voltage-gated Na+ channels in hippocampal neurons of control and chronically epileptic rats.

Voltage-gated Na+ channels are a main target of many first-line anticonvulsant drugs and their mechanism of action has been extensively investigated in cell lines and native neurons. Nevertheless, it is unknown whether the efficacy of these drugs might be altered following chronic epileptogenesis. We have, therefore, analysed the effects of phenytoin (100 micro m), lamotrigine (100 micro m) and valproate (600 micro m) on Na+ currents in dissociated rat hippocampal granule neurons in the pilocarpine model of chronic epilepsy.

Pharmacological modification of sodium channels from the human heart atrium in planar lipid bilayers: electrophysiological characterization of responses to batrachotoxin and pentobarbital.

Background And Objective: To investigate the effects of barbiturates on batrachotoxin-modified sodium channels from different regions of the human heart. Single sodium channels from human atria were studied and compared with existing data from the human ventricle and from the central nervous system.

Methods: Sodium channels from preparations of human atrial muscle were incorporated into planar lipid bilayers in the presence of batrachotoxin, a sodium channel activator.

Molecular and functional changes in voltage-dependent Na(+) channels following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in rat dentate granule cells.

Status epilepticus (S.E.) is known to lead to a large number of changes in the expression of voltage-dependent ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors.

Pulmonary embolism in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis transplant recipients.

The objectives of the study were the assessment of the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) in lung transplant recipients. We performed a retrospective review of the medical records in a tertiary center lung transplant program. A total of 72 lung transplants were performed.

A novel mechanism underlying drug resistance in chronic epilepsy.

The development of resistance to pharmacological treatment is common to many human diseases. In chronic epilepsy, many patients develop resistance to anticonvulsant drug treatment during the course of their disease, with the underlying mechanisms remaining unclear. We have studied cellular mechanisms underlying drug resistance in resected hippocampal tissue from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy by comparing two groups of patients, the first displaying a clinical response to the anticonvulsant carbamazepine and a second group with therapy-resistant seizures.

[Corneal endothelium in children and adolescents with myopia].

Purpose: To determine, whether the myopia could has an influence on corneal endothelium morphology.

Material And Methods: Patients' age was from 13-th to 18-th years. Lens wearers and patients with external eye diseases and ocular surgery in the history, were excluded.

Spiral CT following the Whipple procedure: distinguishing normal postoperative findings from complications.

Following a Whipple procedure for a patient with pancreatic cancer, postoperative imaging with CT is essential to exclude complications and to identify recurrence. Accurate interpretation of these examinations requires knowledge of the type of surgery performed and the normal appearance of the abdomen on CT following this complex surgery. The purpose of this pictorial essay is to illustrate the normal appearance of the bowel following a Whipple procedure as well as some of the complications.

Propofol and sevoflurane in subanesthetic concentrations act preferentially on the spinal cord: evidence from multimodal electrophysiological assessment.

Background: Animal experiments in recent years have shown that attenuation of motor responses by general anesthetics is mediated at least partly by spinal mechanisms. Less is known about the relative potency of anesthetic drugs in suppressing cortical and spinal electrophysiological responses in vivo in humans, particularly those, but not only those, connected with motor responses. Therefore, we studied the effects of sevoflurane and propofol in humans using multimodal electrophysiological assessment.

Protective roles of pulmonary surfactant proteins, SP-A and SP-D, against lung allergy and infection caused by Aspergillus fumigatus.

Pulmonary surfactant proteins, SP-A and SP-D, are immune molecules which can directly interact with pathogens and allergens, stimulate immune cells and manipulate cytokine and chemokine profiles during host's immune response. Using an opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus (Afu), we have attempted to understand participation of SP-A and SP-D in the host immunity. Afu causes a systemic infection via lungs, called invasive aspergillosis (IPA) in immunocompromised subjects.

Direct inhibition by cannabinoids of human 5-HT3A receptors: probable involvement of an allosteric modulatory site.

Excised outside-out patches from HEK293 cells stably transfected with the human (h) 5-HT3A receptor cDNA were used to determine the effects of cannabinoid receptor ligands on the 5-HT-induced current using the patch clamp technique. In addition, binding studies with radioligands for 5-HT3 as well as for cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors were carried out. The 5-HT-induced current was inhibited by the following cannabinoid receptor agonists (at decreasing order of potency): 9-THC, WIN55,212-2, anandamide, JWH-015 and CP55940.

Ketamine effects on human neuronal Na+ channels.

Background And Objective: Similar doses of ketamine are employed in regional and general anaesthesia. In contrast to commonly used local anaesthetic agents, accidental systemic application of local anaesthetic doses of ketamine will not result in seizure, dysrhythmia or cardiovascular depression. However, there is some doubt about the quality of regional analgesia induced by ketamine.

Bupivacaine inhibits human neuronal Kv3 channels in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.

Background: Information on molecular targets that may be involved in the neurotoxicity of bupivacaine is limited. Suppression of Kv3 channels has been demonstrated to result in abnormal patterns in the electroencephalogram and in seizures. Inhibition of Kv3 channels by bupivacaine may consequently contribute to its neuroexcitatory side-effects.

Malaria, monocytes, macrophages and myeloid dendritic cells: sticking of infected erythrocytes switches off host cells.

The adhesive phenotypes expressed by Plasmodium-falciparum-infected erythrocytes were previously thought simply to permit sequestration of parasites in the peripheral circulation. Recent work has illuminated how falciparum-infected erythrocytes may modulate the function of monocytes, macrophages and myeloid dendritic cells through the action of haemozoin from digested haemoglobin and through adhesion of infected cells to their surface.