The relationship between number of interphase nors and nor-bearing chromosomes in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The ribosomal genes (located on the acrocentric chromosomes 13-15, 21-22) may be identified by their silver stained gene products, i.e. NOR related proteins.

Open study of ciprofloxacin in enteric fever.

Thirty adult patients with typhoid or paratyphoid fever were treated with ciprofloxacin. All patients were cured with eradication of the causative organism. No major adverse reactions were seen.

Actinomycetes in pyogenic liver abscess.

Three patients with pyogenic liver abscesses had actinomycetes cultured from aspirated pus, although it is unusual for hepatic actinomycosis to present in this way. The spectrum of bacteria found in liver abscesses appears to be changing, with the increased isolation of anaerobes partly due to improved techniques. It is important to recognise the presence of actinomycetes so that appropriate chemotherapy can be given.

Therapeutic progress in intensive care--rational use of vasoactive and inotropic drugs in the intensive care unit.

Vasoactive (vasodilating and vasoconstricting) and inotropic drugs are widely used in intensive therapy. Major progress in their use in recent years has been due to a greater understanding of the physiological derangements of the critically ill. This progress is the consequence of improved standards of haemodynamic monitoring in the intensive therapy unit (ITU).

New vaccines.

New technology is allowing the development of more effective and safer vaccines to replace old vaccines and provide protection against a wider range of diseases. The worldwide priority, however, must be to increase the uptake of existing vaccines to reduce childhood mortality and morbidity.

Determination of rotavirus serotype-specific antibodies in sera by competitive enhanced enzyme immunoassay.

A method is described for the specific detection of antibody to individual rotavirus serotypes in sera. A competitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was developed in which rotavirus serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies against VP7 compete with antibodies in test sera for rotavirus serotype-specific antigen bound to a solid phase. There was an excellent correlation between serotype-specific EIA results and serotype-specific neutralization titres (r = 0.

Increased levels of vaccenic acid in bronchogenic carcinoma tissue.

Employing capillary gas liquid chromatography the levels of palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, cis-vaccenic, linoleic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids were measured in lung tissue and lung tumours from 28 patients undergoing surgery for bronchogenic carcinoma. There were significant increases in the majority of fatty acids in tumour tissue compared to normal tissue when the results were expressed in absolute units. However, when the relative changes in fatty acid concentration were studied, the most consistent findings were a significant rise in vaccenic acid and a fall in palmitic acid in tumour tissue compared to normal tissue.

Chronic hepatitis B in male and female children of HBsAg carrier mothers.

We have studied a group of children born to HBsAg+ mothers, resident in the English West Midlands; none of the children had sought medical attention for hepatitis B-related problems. Forty-two out of 48 children born to HBeAg+ mothers were HBsAg+. Among these children, the mean age of the HBeAg+ girls was significantly lower than that of the HBeAg+ boys (P = 0.

Occupational asthma due to soft corrosive soldering fluxes containing zinc chloride and ammonium chloride.

Two cases of occupational asthma due to soft corrosive soldering fluxes used in metal jointing are described in which the diagnosis was based on work related deterioration in daily peak expiratory flow rate and positive responses in bronchial provocation tests. Both fluxes contained ammonium chloride and zinc chloride. Occupational asthma provoked by these agents has not previously been reported.

Swimming in chlorinated water and its effect on Eustachian tube function.

Middle-ear effusion in children is considered to be the result of multiple factors. Swimming in chlorinated water has been incriminated as one such possible aetiological factor. To test the hypothesis that the chemical disinfectant in the swimming pool is probably responsible for the Eustachian tube dysfunction, 30 children between the ages of four and eight years were selected at random from the community health department computer records and were randomly allocated into two groups.

Minitracheotomy: a simple alternative to tracheostomy in obstructive sleep apnoea.

A patient with obstructive sleep apnoea sufficiently severe to cause papilloedema was managed temporarily with a minitracheotomy. This allowed arterial oxygen saturation to return to normal while he lost weight, before surgery for his enlarged tonsills.

The acute effects of intravenous xamoterol ('Corwin', I.C.I. 118, 587) on resting and exercise haemodynamics in patients with mild to moderate heart failure.

The known properties of xamoterol, a partial beta 1-agonist, provide a basis to pharmacologically modulate cardiac responses to variations in sympathetic tone. Haemodynamic variables were assessed at rest and on exercise before and after intravenous xamoterol (0.2 mg kg-1), in 30 patients with mild to moderate cardiac failure.

Pneumomediastinum in diabetic ketoacidosis.

A 13-year-old girl was admitted with diabetic ketoacidosis. She was found to have a pneumomediastinum. This resolved spontaneously on correction of the metabolic disturbance.

Measurement of respiratory morbidity in general practice in the United Kingdom during the acid transport event of January 1985.

The Weekly Returns System of the Royal College of General Practitioners was used to assess the effect on respiratory illness of the acid transport event that occurred during January 1985. The pollution event, as assessed by SO2 and smoke levels measured at pollution monitoring stations within and without the affected area showed only modest rises in SO2 levels, which were less than levels that occurred 4 years earlier. January is the peak time of year for reporting of acute respiratory episodes, and the minor increase in pollution was not reflected in any rise in respiratory morbidity, both for all ages and for different age bands.

Effects of perindopril on ambulatory intra-arterial blood pressure, cardiovascular reflexes and forearm blood flow in essential hypertension.

The effects of monotherapy with the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor perindopril (8 mg once daily) on 24-h ambulatory intra-arterial blood pressure, forearm blood flow, left ventricular mass, vasoactive hormones and cardiovascular reflexes were determined in eight hypertensive patients using a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol. Six weeks of perindopril treatment was associated with a significant reduction of ambulatory blood pressure and a significant increase in forearm blood flow. Whilst the haemodynamic responses to Valsalva's manoeuvre, tilt, isometric forearm exercise and cold pressor testing were unaffected by perindopril, significant augmentation of the bradycardia during facial immersion was seen after chronic therapy.

Treatment of refractory and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with ifosfamide, methotrexate and etoposide.

The combination of ifosfamide, etoposide and methotrexate was evaluated in 22 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) whose disease had relapsed or was resistant to first-line adriamycin-containing treatment. Only 4 of the 22 patients underwent remissions, 3 of which were complete and 1, partial. Two of the complete remissions occurred in patients with "high-grade" histology who received IMVP-16 after first-line treatment had induced only a partial remission.

Effect of naproxen on renal haemodynamics in elderly patients with arthritis.

The effects of naproxen on renal haemodynamics were observed in ten elderly arthritic patients who were otherwise healthy and without clinical evidence of renal disease. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR,51Cr-EDTA clearance) and effective renal plasma flow (ERPF, 125I-iodohippurate clearance) were measured after 2 weeks' treatment with naproxen 500 mg twice daily and again after 2 weeks off the drug, in random order. Baseline values for GFR and ERPF were within normal limits (mean 72 ml/min/1.

Tissue penetration and clinical efficacy of enoxacin in respiratory tract infections.

Enoxacin, in common with other new oral 4-quinolones, has a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity which includes most pulmonary pathogens (with the exception of Streptococcus pneumoniae, against which its activity is poor); this spectrum has provided the impetus for investigation of its potential in the treatment of respiratory infections. Initial pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that the drug has a large volume of distribution and achieves concentrations in the secretions of the respiratory tract that are at least as high as those attained in the serum. These concentrations are sufficient to suggest that enoxacin would be effective treatment for most respiratory infections.

Effects of xamoterol on resting and exercise haemodynamics in patients with chronic heart failure.

1. A bicycle exercise test was used to investigate functional capability and haemodynamics in 30 patients with heart failure (13 NYHA Class II, 17 Class III), before and after i.v.

The value of NOR numbers in neoplastic and non-neoplastic epithelium of the stomach.

Using a silver staining technique, nucleolar organizer region-associated proteins (AgNORs) have been studied in paraffin sections of 15 benign gastric ulcers, seven early gastric cancers, 13 gastric adenocarcinomas and 10 control cases. A significant difference in the mean number of AgNORs per nucleus was found when control and benign groups were compared with the malignant group. However, there was an overlap between each category.