The Scimitar syndrome: CT findings in partial anomalous pulmonary venous return

An anomalous pulmonary vein draining into the subdiaphragmatic inferior vena cava was initially demonstrated on computed tomographic (CT) scans. The diagnosis of scimitar syndrome was confirmed with digital subtraction angiography. In retrospect, the anomalous vein and dextroposition of the heart were shown on chest radiographs.     

Folic acid in the treatment of acute watery diarrhoea in children: a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial

One-hundred and six male children aged 6-23 months with a history of acute watery diarrhoea of less than 72 h duration were randomized to receive either folic acid in a dose of 5 mg at 8-h intervals or placebo for 5 d. There were 54 children in the folic acid group and 52 in the placebo group. The admission characteristics were comparable between the two groups. No significant differences were observed in the intake of oral rehydration solution or stool output between the groups. The mean ± SD of total stool output (g kg⁻¹) was 532 ± 476 vs 479 ± 354 and the duration (h) of diarrhoea was 108 ± 68 vs 103 ± 53 in the folic acid vs placebo group, respectively. The findings, therefore, should have a positive influence on preventing the inappropriate use of folic acid in acute diarrhoea.     

Body position and cardiac dynamic and chronotropic responses to steady-state isocapnic hypoxaemia in humans

Neural mediation of the human cardiac response to isocapnic (IC) steady-state hypoxaemia was investigated using coarse-graining spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Six young adults were exposed in random order to a hypoxia or control protocol, in supine and sitting postures, while end-tidal PCO2 (PET,CO2) was clamped at resting eucapnic levels. An initial 11 min period of euoxia (PET,O2 100 mmHg; 13.3 kPa) was followed by a 22 min exposure to hypoxia (PET,O2 55 mmHg; 7.3 kPa), or continued euoxia (control). Harmonic and fractal powers of HRV were determined for the terminal 400 heart beats in each time period. Ventilation was stimulated (P < 0.05) and cardiac dynamics altered only by exposure to hypoxia. The cardiac interpulse interval was shortened (P < 0.001) similarly during hypoxia in both body positions. Vagally mediated high-frequency harmonic power (Ph) of HRV was decreased by hypoxia only in the supine position, while the fractal dimension, also linked to cardiac vagal control, was decreased in the sitting position (P < 0.05). However, low-frequency harmonic power (Pl) and the HRV indicator of sympathetic activity (Pl/Ph) were not altered by hypoxia in either position. These results suggest that, in humans, tachycardia induced by moderate IC hypoxaemia (arterial O2 saturation Sa,O2 85 %) was mediated by vagal withdrawal, irrespective of body position and resting autonomic balance, while associated changes in HRV were positionally dependent.     

Effects of estrogen replacement on the progression of coronary-artery atherosclerosis

BACKGROUND: Heart disease is a major cause of illness and death in women. To understand better the role of estrogen in the treatment and prevention of heart disease, more information is needed about its effects on coronary atherosclerosis and the extent to which concomitant progestin therapy may modify these effects. METHODS: We randomly assigned a total of 309 women with angiographically verified coronary disease to receive 0.625 mg of conjugated estrogen per day, 0.625 mg of conjugated estrogen plus 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate per day, or placebo. The women were followed for a mean (+/-SD) of 3.2+/-0.6 years. Base-line and follow-up coronary angiograms were analyzed by quantitative coronary angiography. RESULTS: Estrogen and estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate produced significant reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (9.4 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively) and significant increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (18.8 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively); however, neither treatment altered the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. After adjustment for measurements at base line, the mean (+/-SE) minimal coronary-artery diameters at follow-up were 1.87+/-0.02 mm, 1.84+/-0.02 mm, and 1.87+/-0.02 mm in women assigned to estrogen, estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate, and placebo, respectively. The differences between the values for the two active-treatment groups and the value for the placebo group were not significant. Analyses of several secondary angiographic outcomes and subgroups of women produced similar results. The rates of clinical cardiovascular events were also similar among the treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Neither estrogen alone nor estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate affected the progression of coronary atherosclerosis in women with established disease. These results suggest that such women should not use estrogen replacement with an expectation of cardiovascular benefit.     

Elastin point mutations cause an obstructive vascular disease, supravalvular aortic stenosis

Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) is an inherited obstructive vascular disease that affects the aorta, carotid, coronary and pulmonary arteries. Previous molecular genetic data have led to the hypothesis that SVAS results from mutations in the elastin gene, ELN. In these studies, the disease phenotype was linked to gross DNA rearrangements (35 and 85 kb deletions and a translocation) in three SVAS families. However, gross rearrangements of ELN have not been identified in most cases of autosomal dominant SVAS. To define the spectrum of ELN mutations responsible for this disorder, we refined the genomic structure of human ELN and used this information in mutational analyses. ELN point mutations co-segregate with the disease in four familial cases and are associated with SVAS in three sporadic cases. Two of the mutations are nonsense, one is a single base pair deletion and four are splice site mutations. In one sporadic case, the mutation arose de novo. These data demonstrate that point mutations of ELN cause autosomal dominant SVAS.      

Nutritional status and diarrhoeal pathogen in hospitalized children in Bangladesh

We studied the relationship between nutritional status and infection due to specific enteropathogens in young children with diarrhoea. Overall, 26% of the children were severely underweight, 27% were severely wasted and 19% were severely stunted. Children with Shigellae and V. cholerae O1 were significantly more severely underweight, wasted and stunted than those with rotavirus diarrhoea ( p < 0:0001). Our results indicate that an effective nutrition programme for young children might have greater impact on diarrhoeal illness caused by Shigella and V. cholerae than by rotavirus diarrhoea.     

Isolation and characterization of propagable cell lines (HUNC) from the androgen-sensitive Dunning R3327H rat prostatic adenocarcinoma

The Dunning H rat prostate tumor (R3327H) is a widely used experimental model of human prostatic adenocarcinoma (CaP). The Dunning H tumor has been characterized as androgen-sensitive, androgen-receptor (AR) positive, prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) positive. To date, the tumor has been maintained by serial passage in vivo because of the lack of an in vitro cell line that retains the characteristics of the in vivo tumor. The objective of the present study was to establish a propagable cell line from R3327H adenocarcinoma that maintained androgen sensitivity and expression of AR, PSA and PAP. Tissue harvested from an in vivo R3327H tumor was dissociated with collagenase and placed into Richter's improved media (with supplements). A cytokeratin-positive epithelial cell line (HUNC- E) and a vimentin-positive stromal cell line (HUNC-S) were generated from the primary culture, subcultured continuously for >300 days, and passaged >50 times. Survival of the HUNC-E cell line in vitro depended on several media supplements, including nicotinamide, insulin, transferrin, selenium and epidermal growth factor (EGF). HUNC-E cells expressed AR and produced PSA and PAP throughout the culture period, as confirmed by immunocytochemistry and Western blot analyses. Addition of 14 nM testosterone (T) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to HUNC-E cells, stimulated DNA synthesis as well as anchorage-independent growth and PSA production, which demonstrated the androgen-sensitive nature of the cells in vitro. When HUNC-E and HUNC-S cells were combined in a 3:1 ratio and introduced subcutaneously into syngeneic male hosts, tumors formed in 2/3 animals with an average latency of 7 months. RT-PCR and immunocytochemical characterization of the HUNC cell lines revealed that the cells expressed several growth factors and their cognate receptors, including HGF, TGF-alpha and the TGF-betas, indicating the establishment of potential autocrine loops in the neoplastic cells. The HUNC-E and HUNC-S CaP cell lines, which retain the characteristics of the epithelial and stromal components of the in vivo R3327H tumor, will allow a more thorough and informative molecular and biological analysis of prostatic adenocarcinoma.      

Inhibition of cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adducts in rat tissues by dietary oltipraz

The present study investigated the effects of dietary oltipraz on cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adduct formation. Female Sprague- Dawley rats were exposed daily to sidestream cigarette smoke in a whole- body exposure chamber 6 h/day for 4 consecutive weeks. One group of rats was maintained on control diet while another group received the same diet supplemented with either a low (167 p.p.m.) or high (500 p.p.m.) dose of oltipraz, starting 1 week prior to initiation of smoke exposure until the end of the experiment. Analysis of lipophilic DNA adducts by the nuclease P1-mediated 32P-post-labeling showed up to five smoke-related adducts. Adduct no. 5 predominated in both the lung and the heart while adduct nos 3 and 2 predominated in the trachea and bladder, respectively. Quantitative analysis revealed that the total adduct level was the highest in lungs (270+/-68 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), followed by trachea (196+/-48 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), heart (141+/-22 adducts/10(10) nucleotides) and bladder (85+/-16 adducts/10(10) nucleotides). High dose oltipraz treatment reduced the adduct levels in lungs and bladder by >60%, while the reduction in lungs in the low-dose group was approximately 35%. In trachea, the effect of low and high dietary oltipraz on smoke DNA adduction was equivocal, while smoke-related DNA adducts in the heart were minimally inhibited by high-dose oltipraz. In a repeat experiment that employed a 3-fold lower dose of cigarette smoke, oltipraz (500 p.p.m.) was found to inhibit the formation of DNA adducts in rat lungs and trachea by 80 and 65%, respectively. These data clearly demonstrate a high efficacy of oltipraz in inhibiting the formation of cigarette smoke-induced DNA adducts in the target tissues.      

差示分光光度法测定制剂中硝苯啶的含量

利用硝苯啶溶液对光不稳定的性质,在波长350nm处测其光照前后的吸收度差值(△A),△A与硝苯啶乙醇溶液浓度在10～60μg/ml范围内呈线性关系。使用本法对硝苯啶片进行了含量测定,并对其类似物进行了干扰试验,排除了组分的干扰。该法的精密度日内为1.3%,日间为1.9%,平均回收率为99.96%。方法简便、快速,不需色谱等分离手段即可达到分析目的,专一性、重复性均较好,是分析硝苯啶制剂的一种新途径。     

马蓝的化学成分研究

Seven compounds have been isolated from the whole plant of Strobilanthes cusia (Nees) O. Ktze. Three of them are triterpenes (Ⅰ～Ⅲ), two are indole alkaloids (Ⅳ, Ⅴ), two are quinazolinone alkaloids (Ⅵ, Ⅶ). On the basis of spectral analysis and physicochemical properties, their structures were established as lupeol (Ⅰ), betulin (Ⅱ), lupenone (Ⅲ), indigo (Ⅳ), indirubin (Ⅴ), 4 (3H)-quinazolinone (Ⅵ), 2, 4 (1H, 3H)-quinazolinedione (Ⅶ). Ⅵ and Ⅶ were found from natural plant for the first time.The results of the pharmacological tests demonstrate that compound Ⅴ has anticancer activity and compound Ⅵ has hypotensive action. Compound Ⅶ can be quantitatively determined by HPLC, which may serve as a quality control standard for materia medica and its preparations. Compounds Ⅵ and Ⅶ have been confirmed by means of synthesis.