The effects of somatostatin and octreotide on experimental and human acute pancreatitis.

The role of somatostatin and octreotide for AP has been studied for two decades, yet the data still remain inconclusive. The inconsistencies of the results of experimental studies and clinical trials may stem from the fact that the optimal therapeutic modality has not been determined. Furthermore, although they are similar in structure and physiologic activities, the mechanisms of action and effects of somatostatin and octreotide in AP may be different.

Cumulative damaging effect of liver hypoperfusion and cyclosporine a on the peribiliary capillary plexus: a study in an isolated dually perfused rat model.

Background: Cyclosporine (CsA) is an essential posttransplantation immunosuppressive drug. It may cause hepatotoxicity, mostly cholestasis, by unknown mechanism. CsA causes nephrotoxicity mainly by increased vascular resistance.

Pulsatile ocular blood flow in diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To assess circulatory properties of eyes with progressive stages of diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: The intraocular pressure, pulse amplitude (PA) and pulsatile ocular blood flow (POBF) were measured with a pneumatonometer (OBF Labs UK Ltd). The eyes were grouped: (a) normal control, n = 26, (b) diabetes with no observable diabetic retinopathy (NDR), n = 18, (c) mild to moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), n = 20, and (d) very severe pre-proliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PPDR/PDR), n = 12.

Stroke during sleep: epidemiological and clinical features.

Stroke during sleep is an unexplored area of vascular neurology and its pathogenesis; clinical significance and prevention still remain uncertain. The aim of our study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical patterns of ischemic stroke occurring during sleep. Consecutive patients (n = 1822) with acute ischemic stroke recorded in the Tel Aviv Stroke Register were studied.

Comparison of flash lamp pulsed-dye laser (585 nm) and conventional surgery in the delay of random dorsal rat flaps.

Background And Objective: Delay is a basic surgical technique used by flap surgeons to improve the blood supply to the distal parts of a random skin flap. The aim of this study was to determine whether a scarless delay can be done by the use of the flash lamp pulsed-dye laser operating at a wavelength of 585 nm.

Study Design/materials And Methods: The pilot study showed that 6 J/cm(2) had a selective photothermolysis effect and therefore was chosen for testing the delay procedure on 15 rats.

Assessment of hazardous dust exposure by BAL and induced sputum.

Objectives: BAL, an important tool in assessing occupational lung diseases, is unsuitable for screening programs, exposure evaluation, or monitoring hazardous dust because it is an invasive technique. The results of induced sputum (IS) analysis were compared with BAL and evaluated as a possible alternative.

Methods: We compared BAL with IS analysis of 5 workers exposed to asbestos and 14 exposed to silica and hard metals.

Sternal wound infections in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting using bilateral skeletonized internal mammary arteries.

Objectives: This study evaluated the risks of sternal wound infections in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization using bilateral skeletonized internal mammary arteries (IMAs).

Background: The skeletonized IMA is longer than the pedicled one, thus providing the cardiac surgeon with increased versatility for arterial myocardial revascularization without the use of vein grafts. It is isolated from the chest wall gently with scissors and silver clips, and no cauterization is employed.

Circadian rhythm of acute pulmonary edema.

We found that the onset of acute pulmonary edema demonstrates circadian periodicity. Most episodes occur in the morning or at night. Pulmonary edema occurs more frequently during the colder months.

Phase II study of carboplatin and etoposide as salvage treatment for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

A phase II study of carboplatin and etoposide as salvage polychemotherapy in metastatic, infiltrating breast carcinoma was carried out with 25 multiply pretreated patients. Six of 25 patients (24%) had a partial response that lasted an average of 3.5 months; of the six responders, four had undergone either four or five previous chemotherapeutic treatments.

Effects of fibric acid derivatives and metformin on postprandial lipemia.

It was suggested that postprandial lipoproteins (PPLp) may play an important role in atherogenesis. We studied PPLp metabolism and its response to drugs in seven hypertriglyceridemic subjects, 23 men with isolated low HDL-C levels, and nine non-diabetic glucose intolerant subjects. Results were compared with those found in a group of 19 healthy normolipidemic individuals.

Electroencephalographic discharges of temporal lobe seizures in children and young adults.

We investigated the discharge morphology and propagation patterns of electroencephalographic seizures of temporal lobe onset in 21 children and young adults who underwent invasive long-term EEG monitoring (LTM). Of those, 15 subsequently underwent anterior temporal lobectomy. The onset was focal in 63%.

Strontium-89 (89Sr) analgesia for rare thymic carcinoid tumor with bony metastases.

The authors report the cases of two patients in whom strontium-89 (89Sr) was used to relieve diffuse metastatic bone pain. The type of cancer involved, thymic carcinoid tumor, is itself rare and the risk of its metastasizing to the bone is very low. Both patients showed a measure of response to treatment, suggesting that this analgesic method has value for some patients.

One-week triple therapy with omeprazole, clarithromycin, and nitroimidazole for Helicobacter pylori infection in children and adolescents.

Background: Resolution of Helicobacter pylori infection is important in the management of peptic ulcer disease and reduces peptic ulcer recurrence in both adults and children. Various anti-H pylori treatment regimens have been proposed, reflecting the incomplete clinical success of each. A combination of omeprazole, clarithromycin, and tinidazole, given for 1 week, has been shown to be highly tolerable and effective, achieving a success rate of >90% in the adult population.

Dorfman-Chanarin syndrome: morphologic studies and presentation of new cases.

Dorfman-Chanarin syndrome, or neutral lipid storage disease with ichthyosis, is a rare inherited metabolic disorder characterized by accumulation of neutral lipids in different tissues. Variability in dermatologic severity is not understood. We report two new cases, compare their features with other reported cases, and examine the possible relationship between the severity of the dermatologic condition and lipid accumulation in various types of skin cells.

Estrogen stimulation of creatine kinase B specific activity in 3T3L1 adipocytes after their differentiation in culture: dependence on estrogen receptor.

We have demonstrated previously that rat adipose tissue showed sex and depot-specific responses to gonadal steroids. The epididymal fat pad in males responded exclusively to androgens by increased specific activity of the brain type isozyme of creatine kinase (CK). In females, the parametrial adipose tissue responded exclusively to estrogens.

Gut decontamination reduces bowel ischemia-induced lung injury in rats.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of gut decontamination on endotoxin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels, and the associated lung injury in a rat model of bowel ischemia.

Summary Background Data: Gut ischemia induces disruption of the intestinal mucosal barrier, allowing translocation of bacteria and endotoxin into the blood, which may trigger a systemic inflammatory response and lung injury.

Methods: Thirty anesthetized rats were randomized into three groups: (1) ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) alone (a 60-min superior mesenteric artery occlusion and 4 h of reperfusion, n=10); (2) rats that underwent gut decontamination prior to ischemia (I/R+GD, n=10); and (3) control rats (sham operated, n=10).

Sex and depot-specific stimulation of creatine kinase B in rat adipose tissues by gonadal steroids.

We report a sex- and depot-specific response of rat adipose tissues to gonadal steroids. The epididymal fat pad in male rats responded to androgens (testosterone and dihydrotestosterone; DHT), but not to 17beta-estradiol (E2), by increased specific activity of the brain type isozyme of creatine kinase (CK). In female rats, the parametrial fat as well as the fat surrounding the spleen responded to E2 but not to dihydrotestosterone.

Highly elevated lactate dehydrogenase level in a healthy individual: a case of macro-LDH.

Macroenzymes are complexes of serum enzymes with a plasmatic protein. They have a higher molecular weight and a more prolonged serum half-life than those of unbound enzymes. Although macroenzymes may be found in the serum of post-myocardial infarction patients, they are not usually associated with any specific disease.