Growth hormone resistance in uremia

Growth retardation is a major complication in children with uremia. Protein restriction, calorie deficit, metabolic acidosis, renal osteodystrophy, and endocrinologic disturbances contribute to the growth failure. The effect of these factors on growth retardation can be attenuated in part by therapy with vitamin D metabolites, adequate nutrition, alkalization, and dialysis. Linear growth in children with uremia is markedly retarded despite normal or increased levels of circulating serum growth hormone. An increased growth hormone level in children with uremia is due to normal growth hormone secretion from the pituitary gland and impaired growth hormone clearance in the kidney. However, the elevated growth hormone level does not lead to a commensurate rise in serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I); the serum IGF-I level is decreased or normal in relation to the degree of renal failure. This discrepancy suggests growth hormone resistance in the liver in uremia. Recent molecular techniques open a new era in studying the gene expression for growth hormone or IGF-I. There is no doubt today that growth hormone treatment has the beneficial effect of growth promotion in children with uremia, which also suggests endogenous growth hormone resistance in target organs or target cells in uremia.     

乌司他丁对严重烧伤患者伤后早期心肌损害的防治作用

目的观察乌司他丁（UTI）对烧伤“休克心”的防治作用，探讨其可能的机制。方法选择笔者单位收治的伤后24h内入院、烧伤面积〉50％TBsA的34例特重度烧伤患者，分为烧伤组和UTI治疗组，每组17例。两组患者均进行常规治疗，且UTI治疗组患者入院后立即给予UTI10万U静脉滴注，3次／d，连续7d。于两组患者伤后2、4、7d采血，检测其血浆中性粒细胞弹性蛋白酶（PMN elastase）、心肌肌钙蛋白I（cTnI）含量和心肌型肌酸激酶同工酶（CK—MB）活性，以公认的各指标正常值作参考，并对3项指标进行相关性分析。结果（1）伤后2、4、7d，两组患者血浆PMN elastase及cTnI含量均显著高于正常值（P〈0．01）；UTI治疗组与烧伤组比较，两指标偏低。（2）与正常值比较，伤后2、4、7d烧伤组患者CK—MB活性明显升高（P〈0．01），第4天达高峰；UTI治疗组伤后2、4d CK—MB活性明显高于正常值（P〈0．05或0．01），但与烧伤组比较升幅较小，第7天降至正常值水平（P〉0．05）。（3）34例烧伤患者PMN elastase、cTnI含量及CK—MB活性三者间均呈现显著正相关，前两者的相关系数为0．904，后两者的相关系数为0．922，PMN elastase含量与CK-MB活性的相关系数为0．829（均为P〈0．01）。结论UTI能够显著减轻严重烧伤患者心肌损害的程度，有效抑制PMN elastase的过度释放。     

Spontaneous regression of optic pathways gliomas in three patients with neurofibromatosis type I and critical review of the literature

Case reports The authors report their experience about three children (two girls, one boy; average age 1.6 years) with a spontaneous regression of optic gliomas. All of them had a previous diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF 1). None of them underwent surgery or biopsy nor received chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The complete regression was documented by MRI scans performed during a mean follow-up of 6.3 years.Literature review Moreover, the authors analyze the features of the 16 cases previously reported in English literature of spontaneously regressed optic gliomas with an overview of the different therapeutic strategies. The knowledge that this kind of tumor, particularly in young patients, may regress is important in the decision of the best therapeutic approach.     

不稳定性心绞痛患者肌钙蛋白I及C反应蛋白的临床意义

【目的】探讨不稳定性心绞痛 (UA)病变程度及其预后与血浆肌钙蛋白I (cTnI)及C反应蛋白(CRP)水平的关系。【方法】测定 5 8例经选择性冠状动脉造影证实为冠心病的患者血浆cTnI及CRP浓度 ,并与对照组 (健康者 5 0例 )相比较 ,分析cTnI及CRP的临床意义。【结果】①血浆cTnI及CRP浓度在对照组、稳定性心绞痛组 (SA)、UA组分别为 :(0 4 2± 0 0 6 ) μg/L ,(2 2 93± 10 8) μg/L ;(0 5 9± 0 13) μg/L ,(5 2 16± 32 8) μg/L ;(1 92± 0 5 8) μg/L ,(13811± 86 1) μg/L ;SA组及UA组明显高于对照组 (分别为P <0 0 5 ,P<0 0 1)。②观察 4w ,在UA组心脏事件发生率为 35 5 % ,明显高于SA组 (P <0 0 5 )。③cTnI与CRP具有一定相关性 (r =0 5 1,P <0 0 5 )。【结论】血浆cTnI及CRP水平在临床评价UA病情程度及预后方面具有一定的指导意义     

Use of insulin glargine during pregnancy: a case-control pilot study

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the use of insulin glargine during pregnancy is associated with an increase in the incidence of fetal macrosomia or adverse neonatal outcome. DESIGN: A matched case-control study. SETTING: Women's Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. SAMPLE: Sixty-four pregnant women treated with insulin during their pregnancies, 20 with type I diabetes and 44 with gestational diabetes. METHODS: Two groups of women were compared in matched pairs. A study group of 32 pregnant women with diabetes treated with insulin glargine during their pregnancy and a control group of 32 pregnant women treated with an intermediate-acting human insulin (isophane or insulin zinc suspension) and matched for weight at booking, height, gestation at delivery, parity, fetal sex, duration of insulin use in pregnancy and glycaemic control during the third trimester of pregnancy (glycosylated haemoglobin [HbA(1c)] concentration and mean blood glucose concentration). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Birthweight, centile birthweight, the incidence of fetal macrosomia (birthweight > 90th percentile) and neonatal morbidity in the two study groups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the birthweight or centile birthweight of babies born to the women treated with insulin glargine during pregnancy and that of the babies born to those in the control group treated with intermediate-acting human insulin. The overall incidence of fetal macrosomia was 12/32 (37.5%) in the insulin glargine group and 13/32 (40.6%) in the control group. There was no significant difference in neonatal morbidity between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot study indicate that insulin glargine treatment during pregnancy does not appear to be associated with increased fetal macrosomia or neonatal morbidity.     

复方保元煎对绝经后CHD患者脂代谢和血流变影响的研究

目的:研究复方保元煎对绝经后冠心病(CHD)患者脂代谢、血流变的影响。方法:观察180例患者,随机分为治疗组102例,对照组78例。治疗组采用中药复方保元煎治疗,对照组采用维尼安治疗,分别于治疗前后测定脂代谢、血流变指标。结果:治疗后两组脂代谢、血流变指标均有不同程度的改变。治疗组在降低总胆固醇(TC)、甘油三酯(TG),低密度脂蛋白(LDL-C)、载脂蛋白B(apoB)、血流变指标优于对照组(P<0.05或P<0.01)。结论:复方保元煎能改变血脂代谢、调节血黏度,对预防和逆转绝经后的CHD的发生和发展有积极的治疗作用。     

Comparison of [123I]metaiodobenzylguanidine kinetics with heart rate variability and plasma norepinephrine level

Background  [¹²³I]Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging has been used to assess cardiac sympathetic nerve abnormalities. We evaluated the clinical significance of myocardial MIBG imaging as a measure of cardiac sympathetic nervous system function by comparing it to heart rate variability and plasma norepinephrine level. Methods and Results  In 211 subjects, we analyzed heart rate variability with 24-hour electrocardiography, performed scintigraphy with MIBG, and measured plasma norepinephrine levels. Time and frequency domain measures of heart rate variability were calculated with the Marquette heart rate variability program (Marquette Electronics, Milwaukee, Wis.). Early and late myocardial MIBG uptakes were measured at 15 and 150 minutes after injection, respectively. MIBG clearance rate from the heart and heart-to-lung and heart-to-mediastinum ratios of MIBG activities were calculated. On the whole, heart rate variability, including low-frequency power, correlated positively, but modestly so, with late MIBG uptake and negatively with MIBG clearance rate. The plasma norepinephrine level correlated negatively with late MIBG uptake and with heart rate variability, including low-frequency power, and positively with MIBG clearance rate. Similar correlations were also observed in patient subgroups with coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and renal failure, but these correlations were weak (R ²<0.5). Conclusions  Increased cardiac sympathetic nervous system activity may be associated with increased myocardial MIBG clearance and decreased heart rate variability, including low-frequency power. Because these associations were not strong, however, the combination of heart rate variability with MIBG may allow an interactive assessment of the cardiac autonomic nervous system.     

A quantitative light and electron microscopic analysis of taurine-like immunoreactivity in the dorsal horn of the rat spinal cord.

Taurine has been proposed as an inhibitory neurotransmitter or neuromodulator in the vertebrate central nervous system. Within the spinal cord, taurine has been shown to have a direct inhibitory effect on spinal neurons and to have a selective antinociceptive effect on chemically induced nociception. Although sufficient data exists to suggest that taurine plays a neurotransmitter or neuromodulatory role in the spinal cord, it is not known whether this amino acid is present in axon terminals nor if this amino acid has a unique pattern of distribution within spinal tissue. To address these questions a monoclonal antibody against taurine was employed to localize taurine-like immunoreactivity in the dorsal horn of the rat spinal cord by using both light and electron microscopic techniques. Taurine-like immunoreactivity was most dense and most prominent in laminae I and II of the dorsal horn. A moderate amount of immunoreactivity was also present in laminae VIII and IX and X while the remaining laminae were only lightly stained. In laminae I and II taurine-like immunostaining was evident within neuronal cell bodies, dendrites, myelinated and unmyelinated axons, axon terminals, and astrocytes and their processes. Cell counts of these two laminae indicated that approximately 30% of neuronal perikarya at the C2 level, 52% of neuronal perikarya at the T6 level, and 18% of neuronal perikarya at the L2 level of the cord exhibited taurine-like immunoreactivity. With preembedding diaminobenzidine staining, approximately 20% of the axons examined in laminae I and II were found to be immunoreactive for taurine. Using postembedding immunogold staining in combination with quantitative procedures, the highest densities of gold particles were found in axon terminals containing pleomorphic vesicles and forming symmetrical synapses (36.8 particles/micron2), in a subpopulation of myelinated axons (34.2 particles/micron2), in a subpopulation of neuronal dendrites (32.6 particles/micron2), and in capillary endothelial cells (39.8 particles/micron2). Moderate labeling occurred in astrocytes (20.9 particles/micron2) and neuronal perikarya (18.7 particles/micron2). The localization of taurine to presumptive inhibitory axon terminals provides anatomical support for the hypothesis that taurine may serve an inhibitory neurotransmitter role in the superficial dorsal horn of the spinal cord. On the other hand, its localization to astrocytes and endothelial cells within both the dorsal ventral horns implies that it serves other nonneuronal functions as well.     

Effects of acute and chronic desipramine treatment on somatostatin receptors in brain

The effects of acute (5 mg/kg, IP twice daily for 2 days) and chronic (5 mg/kg IP twice daily for 21 days) administration of desipramine (DMI) on [¹²⁵I]-Tyr¹¹-somatostatin binding sites in brain were examined. There was no change in [¹²⁵I]Tyr¹¹-somatostatin binding in membranes prepared from the frontal cortex, striatum, and hippocampus of rats acutely or chronically treated with DMI as compared to non treated animals. [¹²⁵I]Tyr¹¹-Somatostatin binding was increased in membranes prepared from the rat nucleus accumbens only after chronic DMI administration. Scatchard analysis of the binding data from the nucleus accumbens showed that [¹²⁵I]Tyr¹¹-somatostatin labels a single population of somatostatin binding sites with an affinity constant, K_d, of 1.8±0.60 nM and a B_max of 330±90 fmol/mg protein. Chronic treatment with DMI increased the B_max (500±140 fmol/mg protein) but had no effect on the K_d. This finding shows a regional effect of DMI on [¹²⁵I]Tyr¹¹-somatostatin binding sites in rat brain and suggests that somatostatin may play a role in the pathophysiology of depression.