Adaptation of in vitro rat brain protein synthesis to long-term ingestion of n-butanol

Long-term treatment of rats with n-butanol leads to a change in in vitro brain protein synthesis which increases the resistance of this process to either ethanol or isopropanol. The change seems to be related to ribosomal events since the synthesis of aminoacyl-tRNA was not affected in the same conditions.     

Insulin sensitivity and metabolic clearance rate of insulin in familial multiple lipomatosis

Intolerance to glucose in certain kinds of lipomatosis is well documented. This article describes a euglucaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp study of alterations in glucose and/or insulin metabolism in four members of a single family with familial multiple lipomatosis. Fifteen normal subjects were studied as controls. The four patients exhibited no alteration in tolerance to orally administered glucose. When a Biostator Glucose-Controlled Insulin Infusion System (GCIIS) was used to clamp glycaemia at 4.44 mmol/L with successive insulin infusion rates of (a) 0.5 (b) 1.0 or (c) 5.0 mU/kg/min, there was no difference between patients and controls as regards the value of M, the rate of glucose infusion, but the concentrations of immunoreactive insulin recorded during the last 40 minutes of each phase of the clamp were greater in patients than in controls (45 +/- 2 vs 27 +/- 2 uU/mL (p less than 0.01), 83 +/- 2 vs 60 +/- 5 uU/mL (p less than 0.05) and 537 +/- 48 vs 377 +/- 25 uU/mL (p less than 0.05) for insulin infusion rates (a), (b) and (c) respectively), and the ratio M/IRI was consequently smaller for patients than controls (1.92 +/- 0.41 vs 3.06 +/- 0.19 (p less than 0.05) for an insulin infusion rate of 5 mU/kg/min). The metabolic clearance rate of insulin was likewise slower in patients than controls (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that the four patients studied (all members of the same family) have sub-normal sensitivity to insulin secondary to a sub-normal metabolic clearance rate for insulin.     

Hypercalcemia: A Risk Factor to Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Hypercalcemia may be associated with neoplastic disease, either as an epiphenomenon resulting from tumor-produced humoral substances or as a direct consequence of bone involvement. Endoscopic procedures are occasionally performed in this group of patients for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This report reviews the interaction of hypercalcemia and sedative hypnotic drugs and suggests that hypercalcemia might be a risk factor for those patients undergoing endoscopy.     

Chest Pain Associated with Nutcracker Esophagus: A Preliminary Study of the Role of Gastroesophageal Reflux

A review of our 402 motility records of patients undergoing evaluation of noncardiac chest pain identified 40 patients with the diagnosis of nutcracker esophagus. Gastroesophageal reflux was found in 13 of 20 patients (65%) who underwent pH studies, and endoscopy detected one patient with erosive esophagitis. Thus, at least 14 (35%) of our nutcracker esophagus patients had evidence of reflux. Twelve of these subjects agreed to enter an open-label therapeutic trial. After 8 wk of intensive antireflux treatment with high doses of ranitidine or omeprazole, repeat 24-h pH studies and endoscopy demonstrated normalization of pH parameters and healing of esophagitis in all patients. Ten (83%) patients obtained significant symptomatic improvement in frequency of pain episodes, number of days with pain, and pain severity. However, repeat manometry showed normalization of motor findings in only two (18%) patients. These observations warrant further placebo-controlled trials. Until more information is available, the results of this study suggest that gastroesophageal reflux should be excluded in patients with noncardiac chest pain and nutcracker esophagus before initiation of smooth muscle relaxant therapy.     

Pleuro-pericardial effusion following the early intragraft thrombolysis of an occluded aortocoronary graft]

A case of contrast extravasation associated with pleuro-pericardial effusion occurring during recanalization of an early occluded aortocoronary bypass by intragraft fibrinolysis is reported. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the second report of angiographically demonstrated contrast extravasation from an aortocoronary bypass graft during this technique and the first associated with pleural effusion as a clinical manifestation.