Epithelioid hemangioma of the temporal artery: a case report

Temporal or giant cell arteritis is the most common vasculitis affecting the temporal artery. We encountered an unusual case of involvement of the temporal artery, which showed marked proliferating capillaries admixed with a dense infiltrate of eosinophils affecting all layers of the vessel. It was concluded that these changes were those of an epithelioid hemangioma of the temporal artery.     

Comparison of smear cytology with histopathology of the CT guided stereotactic brain biopsy

The study was undertaken to determine the accuracy of cytological diagnosis of CNS lesions by comparing it with the final histopathological diagnosis of CT guided stereotactic brain biopsy. Squash preparations were prepared from 25 cases of CNS lesions operated in two years. These included 18 astrocytomas, 1 metastatic deposits, 1 epidermoid cyst, 1 Toxoplasmosis, 1 granulomatous inflammation and 3 cases showing normal brain parenchyma. The cytological diagnosis was available to the neurosurgeon within 10 minutes. The cytohistological correlation with paraffin block sections worked out to be 92%. Thus, this proved to be a fairly reliable and rapid method for immediate intra-operative diagnosis.     

Demonstration of pharmaceutical tablet coating process by injection molding technology

We demonstrate the coating of tablets using an injection molding (IM) process that has advantage of being solvent free and can provide precision coat features. The selected core tablets comprising 10% w/w griseofulvin were prepared by an integrated hot melt extrusion-injection molding (HME-IM) process. Coating trials were conducted on a vertical injection mold machine. Polyethylene glycol and polyethylene oxide based hot melt extruded coat compositions were used. Tablet coating process feasibility was successfully demonstrated using different coating mold designs (with both overlapping and non-overlapping coatings at the weld) and coat thicknesses of 150 and 300?μm. The resultant coated tablets had acceptable appearance, seal at the weld, and immediate drug release profile (with an acceptable lag time). Since IM is a continuous process, this study opens opportunities to develop HME-IM continuous processes for transforming powder to coated tablets.     

Inhibition of agonist-induced down-regulation of the delta-opioid receptor with a proteasome inhibitor attenuates opioid tolerance in human embryonic kidney 293 cells

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that inhibition of agonist-induced delta-receptor down-regulation would block the development of opioid tolerance in a cell-based model. A human embryonic kidney 293 cell line was established that expressed an epitope-tagged delta-opioid receptor (DOR). Treatment of DOR cells with Tyr-d-Ala-Gly-Phe-d-Leu-enkephalin (DADL) resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the B(max) of delta-opioid receptor binding sites and immunoreactive receptor protein. When cells were coincubated with the proteasome inhibitor N-benzyloxycarbonyl-l-leucyl-l-leucyl-l-leucinal (ZLLL) and DADL, the magnitude of the agonist-induced decrease in B(max) and immunoreactive receptor protein was reduced compared with DADL treatment alone. Acute treatment of DOR cells with DADL caused a 3-fold increase in the level of phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Prior exposure of DOR cells to DADL completely abrogated the agonist-induced activation of MAP kinase. When DOR cells were coincubated with DADL and ZLLL, the proteasome inhibitor prevented the loss of agonist activation of MAP kinase. Acute treatment of DOR cell membranes with DADL stimulated [(35)S]guanosine 5'-3-O-(thio-)triphosphate (GTPgammaS) binding. When DOR cells were preincubated with DADL, the agonist-induced increase in [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding was attenuated. Coincubation of ZLLL and agonist partially prevented the decreased responsiveness to agonist stimulation. The results of this study demonstrated that inhibition of agonist-induced down regulation with a proteasome inhibitor attenuated opioid tolerance in a cellular model, and suggest that coadministration of a proteasome inhibitor with chronic opioid agonist treatment may be useful for limiting opioid tolerance in vivo.     

Use of captopril as an isolated agent for the management of stable angina pectoris--a double blind randomised trial.

In this double blind randomised placebo controlled study, we investigated the antianginal efficacy of oral captopril in 33 patients of angiographically documented coronary artery disease (chronic stable angina). Apart from sublingual nitrates, all other antianginal drugs were withdrawn. Patients were then evaluated both subjectively by questionnaire and objectively by treadmill stress test. No patient had more than mild hypertension and all patients had good left ventricular function. One group of patients received oral captopril while the other group was given placebo. A repeat assessment was done after six weeks and the results compared with baseline. Anginal attacks decreased from 20.11 +/- 1.86 per week on placebo to 9.92 +/- 1.38 (p < 0.01) on captopril as also the number of sublingual nitrates (18.84 +/- 3.01 to 11.14 +/- 2.94, p < 0.01). Assessment by the treadmill stress test showed that in comparison to the pretreatment test, captopril therapy resulted in a significantly increased exercise duration (6.26 +/- 0.21 to 6.98 +/- 0.31 minutes, p < 0.05), total work done (6.76 +/- 0.26 METS to 7.48 +/- 0.29 METS, p < 0.05). In addition there was a significant increase in time to angina (6.16 +/- 0.18 to 6.85 +/- 0.24 min, p < 0.05) and time to 1mm ST depression (5.18 +/- 0.26 to 6.46 +/- 0.30 min, p < 0.01). We conclude that captopril is an effective monotherapy for patients with chronic stable angina and has both antianginal as well as anti-ischemic effects, possibly secondary to direct coronary vasodilation.     

Thymoma and myotonic dystrophy: successful treatment with chemotherapy and radiation: case report and review of the literature

We present the case of a 42-year-old woman with myotonic dystrophy and thymoma. She was treated with combination chemotherapy followed by external beam radiation, and remains in remission 19 months after thymoma was diagnosed. The myotonic dystrophy is unchanged. Only six cases of this nature have been reported in the literature, and this patient is the first to be successfully treated with combined modality therapy.