An Improved Method for the Synthesis of the of Indole[2,3-a]Pyrrolo[3,4-c]Carbazole-5,6-Dione N-Glycosides and their Cytotoxic Activity

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal - Use of formylindolylacetic acid as a reagent at the stage of preparing the glycosides of bis(indolyl)furan-2,5-diones and dioxane as solvent increased yields from...     

Identification of World War II bone remains found in Ukraine using classical anthropological and mitochondrial DNA results

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Gyula Ágner was a Royal Hungarian First Lieutenant (1st Lt.) during the World War II and died at 30 years old due to a mine shrapnel injury...     

Characteristics of peripheral blood lymphoid subpopulations of shigellosis patients

Chelyabinsk Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. D. Ado.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 113, No. 3, pp. 299–301, March, 1992.     

Effect of single-stranded breaks on ultrastructural organization and cytochemistry of tumor cell chromatin

Laboratory of Chemistry of the Cancer Cell, Latvian Research Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Ministry of Health of the Latvian SSR, Riga. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR I. B. Zbarskii.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 106, No. 11, pp. 591–593, November, 1988.     

Heart failure: Effects of beta receptor antagonists on left ventricular function in patients with clinical evidence of heart failure after myocardial infarction. A double-blind comparison of metoprolol and xamoterol Echocardiographic results from the Metoprolol and Xamoterol Infarction Study (MEXIS)

Two hundred and ten patients with clinical evidence of heartfailure, developing after an acute myocardial infarction, wererandomized to treatment with the ß₁ antagonist metoprolol50–100mg b.i.d. (n=106) or the ß₁ partial agonistxamoterol 100–200 mg bid. (n=104). Left ventricular systolicand diastolic function were assessed with echocardiography andtransmitral Doppler cardiography before and after 3 and 12 monthsof double-blind treatment. E-point septal separation and percent left ventricular fractional shortening were used as indicesof systolic function. The ratio between peak early and latemitral diastolic flow (E/A ratio) and isovolumic relaxationtime were used as indices of diastolic function. In the xamoterol group, there was a deterioration in E-pointseptal separation (P<0·05). A difference between thetreatment groups was present both at 3 months (E-point septalseparation 11·4 vs 13·0 mm, P<0·0l,fractional short ening 271 vs 252%, P<005) and 12 months(E-point septal separation Ill vs 13·2 mm, P<0·05fractional shortening 26·9 vs 25·0%, P<0·05).E/A ratio increased in the metoprolol group (P<0·05)but not in the xamoterol group. At 3 months there was a significantdifference (0·85 vs 0·67, P<0·005 betweenthe groups but not at 12 months. In comparison with the ß₁-receptor antagonist metoprolol,the ß₁ partial agonist xamoterol impaired left ventricularsystolic function in patients with clinical evidence of heartfailure after an acute myocardial infarction.     

Endogenous kynurenic acid disrupts prepulse inhibition.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies show that endogenous levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA) are increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenic patients. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex is an operational measure of sensorimotor gating that is reduced in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. Previous studies show that administration of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, such as phencyclidine or MK-801, leads to deficits in sensorimotor gating that mimic those observed in schizophrenic patients. METHODS: The present study examined the effects of the endogenous NMDA receptor antagonist KYNA on startle and PPI in rats. Elevation of endogenous brain levels of KYNA was achieved through intraperitoneal (IP) administration of kynurenine (100 mg/kg), the precursor of KYNA, or by intravenous administration of PNU 156561A (10 mg/kg). RESULTS: A fourfold increase in brain KYNA levels, as induced by kynurenine or PNU 156561A, significantly reduced PPI. There were no differences in startle magnitudes between control rats and drug-treated rats. The disruption of PPI was restored by administration of the antipsychotic drugs haloperidol (.2 mg/kg, IP) or clozapine (7.5 mg/kg, IP). CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that brain KYNA serves as an endogenous modulator of PPI and are consistent with the hypothesis that KYNA contributes to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.