Prenatal nicotine exposure increased duration of nicotine-induced analgesia in adult rats.

The effect of prenatal exposure to nicotine on nicotine-induced analgesia was studied in rats. The analgesic effect of a single dose of nicotine (1 mg/kg SC) was measured by the tail-flick technique, and two subsequent studies were carried out. In the first study, 7-month-old male rats, born to dams chronically treated with nicotine during pregnancy (NIC), exhibited prolonged nicotine-induced analgesia compared to matched controls.

Refinements in the ultrasonic detection of popliteal vein reflux.

Color-flow and duplex ultrasonography were used to determine the optimal method for documenting venous valvular reflux. Popliteal veins were examined in 10 normal limbs and 11 limbs with clinical evidence of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Peak reflux velocity (spectral) and duration of reflux (spectral and color) were measured with the patient in supine and standing positions, with manual and pneumatic compression applied sequentially to thigh and calf.

Are positive axillary nodes in breast cancer markers for incurable disease?

Objective: This study was designed to determine if resection of positive regional nodes in patients with breast cancer provided a group of cured patients.

Summary Background Data: Previous studies of long-term follow-up of patients with breast cancer have demonstrated that 30% of patients with positive nodes may be alive at 10 or 20 years. Randomized, prospective studies have not shown a difference in survival between modified radical and total mastectomy.

Regulation of the cytosolic pH set point for activation of the Na+/H+ antiport in human platelets: the roles of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange, the Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransport and cellular volume.

To explore further the mechanisms that regulate the Na+/H+ antiport in human platelets, we examined the effect of Na+ pump inhibition by ouabain and K+ removal from the extracellular medium on parameters of this transport system. Treatment with ouabain resulted in increased cytosolic free Ca2+ and Na+, coupled with an alkaline shift in the cytosolic pH set point for the Na+/H+ antiport. Inhibition of the Na+ pump by the removal of K+ from the medium increased the cytosolic Na+ but not the cytosolic Ca2+; yet this treatment also produced a substantial alkaline shift in the cytosolic pH set point for the Na+/H+ antiport.

Brain-heart interactions. The neurocardiology of arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.

Neuroanatomic connections between the brain and the heart provide links that allow cardiac arrhythmias to occur in response to brain activation. Recognition and analysis of such links in the pathogenesis of malignant cardiac arrhythmia are emphasized in this review. Neurocardiac links have been shown to produce arrhythmia both experimentally and clinically; specific examples, including stroke, epilepsy, and environmental stress are presented.

Modulation of nicotine-induced analgesia by calcium agonist and antagonist in adult rats.

The involvement of calcium in nicotine-induced analgesia in male rats was explored using the tail-flick test. A single dose of nicotine (1 mg/kg SC) produced a maximal effect on tail-flick latency (15 s) within 8-10 min, which lasted for 4 min. Pretreatment with the calcium chelator, EDTA (250 microM/kg SC four injections at 15 min intervals), before the single dose of nicotine accelerated the onset and prolonged the duration of the nicotine-induced analgesia.

Comparison of clinical benefits and outcome in patients with programmable and nonprogrammable implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

Technological advances in implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have provided a variety of programmable parameters and antitachycardia therapies whose utility and impact on clinical outcome is presently unknown. ICDs have capabilities for cardioversion defibrillation alone (first generation ICDs), or in conjunction with demand ventricular pacing (second generation ICDs), or with demand pacing and antitachycardia pacing (third generation ICDs). We examined the pattern of antitachycardia therapy use and long-term survival in 110 patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF).

Lens GSH depletion and electrolyte changes preceding cataracts induced by buthionine sulfoximine in suckling mice.

Cataracts were induced in suckling mice by multiple injections of L-buthionine-S,R-sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of GSH biosynthesis, starting on post-natal day 7. The earliest visible lens aberrations began approximately 2 days after t(o), following 99% depletion of lens GSH. Cataract development then proceeded through four stages within less than 24 hr.

Progressive modifications of mouse lens crystallins in cataracts induced by buthionine sulfoximine.

L-buthionine-S,R-sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of GSH biosynthesis, was administered four times daily to mouse pups on post-natal days 7 and 8, inducing initiation of opacification on day 9. The initial progression of the cataract (less than 24 hr) was divided into four stages: (1) developing floriform; (2) mature floriform; (3) degenerate floriform; and (4) amorphous translucent cataract. Following this, dense corticonuclear opacities developed within several days.

Retinoids and a retinoic acid receptor differentially modulate thymosin beta 10 gene expression in transfected neuroblastoma cells.

1. Investigations have demonstrated that the gene encoding thymosin beta 10 (a 43-amino acid member of a family of related proteins originally described in the rat immune system) is a target for morphogenic retinoids in both human and rat neuroblastoma cells. 2.

Differential modulation of thymosin genes in the immature rat ovary by gonadotropins.

A cloned thymosin beta-10 cDNA and a synthetic oligonucleotide specific for the thymosin beta-4 gene were used to study the in vivo expression of these two genes in the immature rat ovary in response to exogenously administered gonadotropins. Despite the fact that both genes were co-expressed in the rat ovary, it became evident that they exhibit distinctly unique differential responses to in vivo hormonal challenge. Administration of pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) to immature rats provoked a pronounced stimulation of ovarian thymosin beta-10 expression, the maximal effect (2- to 4-fold) of which coincided with the time at which folliculogenesis was also maximally enhanced.

Clinical efficacy of dual electrode systems for endocardial cardioversion of ventricular tachycardia: a prospective randomized crossover trial.

In order to eliminate the need for epicardial electrodes, two large transvenous catheter electrodes or one catheter and one extrathoracic patch electrode have been proposed as alternative electrode configurations for defibrillation and ventricular tachycardia cardioversion by implantable cardioverter/defibrillators. We compared the efficacy and safety of endocardial shocks delivered through these two electrode systems in man in a prospective randomized crossover study. Twelve patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia and heart disease undergoing electrophysiologic study were evaluated.

Current application of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in the management of malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias.

Several studies have uniformly demonstrated a marked reduction in expected arrhythmic/sudden death rates in patients with either drug-refractory sustained ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation or survivors of cardiac arrest following the implantation of cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD). Significant advances in these devices over the past 10 years have permitted programmability and demand pacing. There has been sophistication in tachycardia detection and the characteristics of the delivered electrical therapy.

Characterization of serum and urinary bile acids in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry: effect of ursodeoxycholic acid treatment.

We have studied the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid on the serum and urinary bile acids in seven patients with moderate to severe primary biliary cirrhosis. Bile acids were characterized by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and quantified by capillary gas-liquid chromatography. Serum bile acids were elevated 26-fold over control values, with 2.

Characterization of sarcosylsarcoursodeoxycholic acid formed during the synthesis of sarcoursodeoxycholic acid.

This report describes the isolation of sarcosylsarcosine conjugate of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) formed during the synthesis of sarcoUDCA by the mixed anhydride method. The compound was characterized by its chemical ionization mass spectrum. The diamino acid conjugate was formed only when the free amino acid was used for conjugation.

Procoagulant effect of aqueous humor on in vitro clotting of blood and plasma.

Fresh and previously frozen aqueous humor was found to shorten the recalcification time of both canine citrated blood and human citrated plasma. This state of accelerated coagulation was dose related and preliminary studies indicate that aqueous humor acts as a procoagulant rather than a thromboplastin-like substance.

Electrodiagnosis and recovery of function.

The study of electrodiagnosis with respect to recovery of function is in its infancy. There is a need for better understanding of the mechanisms of recovery and for better techniques to monitor recovery. This paper reviews the potential uses and limitations of current electrodiagnostic tests to predict and monitor neuromuscular recovery.