Increased iron absorption in uroporphyrin-treated rats.

Rats were given 59Fe (28 micrograms) together with doses of 0, 2 and 200 micrograms of uroporphyrin III in paired observations. Absorption of 59Fe was determined by comparing whole body counts of the rats 30 min and 7 days after dosing. Prior treatment with 200 micrograms of uroporphyrin twice daily for 3 days was associated with significantly increased 59Fe absorption of 6.

Isolation and properties of a fatty acid-binding protein from the Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata).

1. A survey of 12 vertebrate species showed that palmitate was bound by an albumin-like serum protein in all classes tested except the dogfish and the lamprey. 2.

Prolonged nausea and vomiting associated with buprenorphine.

We conducted a trial to evaluate the histamine-releasing characteristics of morphine, meperidine, and buprenorphine when administered intravenously to 20 healthy adults without pain. Substantially more nausea and vomiting occurred with buprenorphine than with the other compounds, and was more intense on ambulation. High-affinity receptor binding may play a role in the long duration of nausea and vomiting after a single dose of this agent.

[Crisis in the American health care system].

According to Federal US law it is forbidden to reject patients or to curtail their care. The law may be seen as a democratic expression of the American people's wish to give all citizens access to the country's health services. Nevertheless it is estimated that millions of people in the USA wholly lack health insurance and very few of them succeed in paying their hospital bills.

Malakoplakia of the prostate.

Malakoplakia of the prostate is a rarely reported granulomatous inflammatory disorder which may clinically mimic carcinoma of the prostate gland. A case of a 70-year-old man, with long follow-up, is reported. Histologic diagnosis allows for effective antibiotic treatment.

The effect of activated charcoal on phenytoin pharmacokinetics.

Study Objectives: To examine the effect of administration of oral activated charcoal with or without sorbitol on the elimination of phenytoin.

Setting: Emergency department of a rural teaching institution.

Type Of Participants: Eight normal volunteers.

Small bowel injuries following blunt abdominal trauma. Early recognition and management.

We reviewed the cases of 15 patients with intestinal perforation following blunt abdominal trauma, which occurred between 1971 and 1988. Twelve patients were treated at The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital (Cooperstown, NY); three other patients were treated at surrounding area hospitals. These injuries included 11 motor vehicle accidents, three low-velocity impact injuries, and one blast injury.

Comparative bioavailability characteristics of commercial quinidine polygalacturonate and sulfate tablets.

This study compared the relative bioavailability characteristics of quinidine polygalacturonate (QP) and quinidine sulfate (QS) after oral administration of commercial tablets and a liquid form prepared from crushed tablets in 13 healthy adult male volunteers. Each subject received the following four single-dose treatments in a randomized, crossover manner with a one-week washout period between treatments: 400 mg QS liquid, two 200-mg QS tablets, 550 mg QP liquid, and two 275-mg QP tablets. All four treatments were equivalent in terms of the dose of quinidine base.

Medial external fixation with lateral plate internal fixation in metaphyseal tibia fractures. A report of eight cases associated with severe soft-tissue injury.

Eight patients with unstable fractures involving the articular surface and metaphyseal-diaphyseal bone of the proximal or distal tibia associated with severe soft-tissue injury or compounding wound were treated with irrigation, debridement, tetanus inoculation, antibiotic prophylaxis, and combined internal fixation with one-half frame external skeletal fixation for neutralization. All patients were followed to complete healing and functional restoration of the extremity. All fractures healed, but one superficial and one deep infection occurred.

Self-extubations. A 12-month experience.

Unplanned removal of an endotracheal airway tube by a patient (SXT) represents a potentially life-threatening incident. Prospective monitoring of all intubated adult ICU patients for one year revealed that 12 of 112 extubated themselves (overall incidence, 11 percent). Comparison of SXT patients with the NXT group disclosed no risk factors for this occurrence.

Systemic steroid therapy for acute gout: a clinical trial and review of the literature.

Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs are frequently used as initial therapy in acute gout. In select cases, however, colchicine has been recommended as an alternative therapy. A review of the literature raises significant concerns regarding the cost to benefit ratio of using colchicine in this setting.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy for bleeding periampullary tumors.

Periampullary neoplasms with necrosis or ulceration may have potentially troublesome and occasionally life-threatening bleeding. Four patients required pancreaticoduodenectomy for control of bleeding; three had adenocarcinoma of the duodenum and head of the pancreas, and one had an ulcerated carcinoid tumor of the duodenum. In two of these patients, incomplete resection was performed, and in one there was evidence of metastatic disease to the liver.

Intracellular lipid droplets in functioning transitional parathyroid oxyphil adenomas. A caveat.

Histochemical demonstration of intracellular lipid droplets on frozen section has been used to distinguish normal parathyroid tissue from that of adenoma and chief cell hyperplasia. Differentiation is based on the observation that the cells of adenoma and chief-cell hyperplasia largely lack intracellular lipid, which is present in the suppressed chief cells of normal glands in patients with adenoma. We present two functional transitional oxyphil adenomas that contained abundant intracellular lipid.

Spurious cell surface receptors: inadequate correction for saturable, nonspecific binding mimics receptor binding.

Methods commonly used for the characterization of receptors on cell surfaces may be subject to adsorption artifacts that mimic the action of receptors even when no receptors are present. Traditional techniques such as incubation in the presence of an unrelated protein to minimize adsorption or extensive washing to eliminate nonspecific binding may be inadequate to ensure that the observed binding is due to a cell membrane--ligand interaction. In this paper three serum proteins, albumin, transferrin, and immunoglobulin G, are shown to exhibit behavior suggestive of receptor-mediated binding even in the absence of cells.

Lack of effect of atenolol and nadolol on the metabolism of theophylline.

The effects of 7 days of pretreatment with atenolol, 150 mg day-1, or nadolol, 80 mg day-1, on the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of theophylline were determined in six male smokers. Theophylline clearance, volume of distribution, half-life and the urinary excretion of theophylline and its metabolites were unchanged during either treatment compared with control.

The prediction of midlife coronary heart disease and hypertension in young adults: the Johns Hopkins multiple risk equations.

Educating medical students about the identification of risk factors for coronary disease and hypertension should be enhanced by exercises in which medical students identify their own risk factors and visualize the impact of current risk status on future risk of disease. A cohort of 1,130 former Johns Hopkins medical students were examined in medical school and followed annually from 1948 to 1964 to identify youthful factors associated with the development of coronary heart disease and hypertension in midlife. In the ensuing years through 1984, 51 cases of coronary heart disease and 114 cases of hypertension developed.

Major genetic mechanisms in pulmonary function.

Regressive models were used to search for possible major gene effects on pulmonary function in two groups of families: one ascertained through patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD defined as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) less than 70% forced vital capacity (FVC)] and the other ascertained through patients with non-pulmonary disorders. There were 85 COPD families with data on 270 individuals and 56 non-pulmonary families with data on 199 individuals. The analysis was done on residuals obtained from a regression of FEV1 on age, sex, race, height, and ascertainment group.

The Bassett Farm Safety and Health Project.

The Bassett Farm Safety and Health Project was started in 1980 when Drs. May and Pratt made clinical observations on respiratory illnesses in farmers. The initial work involved the investigation of clinical syndromes associated with dust exposures and, from there, environmental dust studies.