Effect of sucrose consumption on alcohol-induced impairment in male social drinkers

Two studies were conducted to examine the interaction between sucrose and ethanol in normal young fasting adult males. The first experiment employed a 3 (100 g sugar, 35 g sugar, 0 g sugar) x 3 (alcohol, placebo and sober) factorial design, which was carried out double-blind using aspartame to ensure that all the drinks were equally sweet. Subjects were tested for mood, memory, subjective intoxication and psychomotor performance at baseline and at times up to 3.5 h after ingestion of the drinks. An alcohol by sugar interaction was seen at 0.5 after drinking. Sugar attenuated alcohol intoxication at this time without influencing blood alcohol levels. Contrary to previous reports, the combination of alcohol and sugar failed to produce significant hypoglycemia, or any of the adverse behavioral effects associated with hypoglycemia, at later times after drink ingestion. The second experiment involved a simpler design, carried out single-blind in which the subjects receiving no sugar did not get aspartame. This was to rule out the possibility that aspartame was exacerbating alcohol intoxication instead of sugar attenuating it. The second experiment also showed that sugar can attenuate alcohol intoxication in fasting humans without altering blood alcohol levels significantly.     

Vasopressin levels in infants during the course of aseptic and bacterial meningitis

We measured urine vasopressin (VP) once daily on days 1 through 3 in 18 patients hospitalized with meningitis. Urine VP values were 215 +/- 100, 116 +/- 44, and 69 +/- 23 pg/mL on days 1 through 3, respectively, for children with bacterial meningitis and 34 +/- 14, 20 +/- 4, and 15 +/- 4 pg/mL for those with aseptic meningitis. Urinary VP levels of infants with bacterial meningitis were significantly greater than those of healthy ambulatory subjects (n = 18) on all three study days; VP values of infants with bacterial meningitis were also greater than those of infants with aseptic meningitis on study days 2 and 3. The VP levels for the subjects with aseptic meningitis were significantly greater than those of the controls on day 1 only. None of the infants exhibited the clinical syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion.     

Toxicity of aggressive multimodality therapy including cisplatinum, bleomycin and methotrexate with radiation and/or surgery for advanced head and neck cancer

A combined modality regimen employing induction chemotherapy with cisplatinum, bleomycin and methotrexate followed by surgery and/or radiation therapy was initiated in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. In the first 23 patients treated with this program there was a 90% response rate to induction chemotherapy (9% CR and 81% PR). Toxicity associated with radiotherapy, but not surgery, was increased with 11 of 23 patients (48%) who experienced some toxicity during or immediately after radiotherapy. Mucositis was worse than expected and severe delayed mucositis was seen in 2 patients, one or whom required hospitalization. Late complications, possibly related to therapy included one myocardial infarction and one episode of hypoglycemia, both of which were fatal. One other patient voluntarily failed to take prescribed oral leucovorin, dying of unrescued methotrexate toxicity during adjuvant therapy, a questionable suicide. Further follow-up and analysis of failure will be necessary to determine if the value of a combined modality regimen in producing an increased cure rate and long term survival will out weight increased toxicity.     

An autopsy study of eye involvement in acute leukemia of childhood

The eyes of 60 children who had died of acute leukemia between 1968 and 1977 at the Children's Hospital Medical Center have been examined pathologically. An attempt has been made to relate eye findings to the state of the systemic disease at the time of death. Eight of the 60 patients had leukemic retinal infiltrates and all eight had fulminant disease with terminal leukocyte counts over 100,000 per cubic millimeter and a high percentage of ?blast”? cells. Twenty-six patients (43%) had leukemic infiltration of the choroid that was inapparent clinically. Choroidal involvement was not correlated with high terminal leukocyte counts but was invariably associated with widespread infiltration of other organs. Four patients had optic nerve involvement; all four had coexistent meningeal leukemia. Isolated retinal hemorrhages could not be correlated with other parameters of the leukemic process.     

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone and amphetamine produce different patterns of behavioral excitation in rats

We compared the arousal and hyperactivity produced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH, pGlu-His-Pri-NH2; 10, 20, 30 and 60 mg/kg) and 0.3 and 2 mg/kg d-amphetamine (low and moderate amph., respectively) by measuring the occurrence of discrete behavioral items with a behavioral sampling and scoring method. To minimize extraneous variables affecting activity, rats were caged singly inside isolated observation chambers and tested in the daytime after a 2.5 h period of habituation. Under these conditions, vehicle (0.9% NaCl)-treated rats were inactive and either rested or slept through 80% of all time samples taken in the hour after injection. Both TRH and amph. produced significant arousal from sleeping, but TRH, at all doses tested, produced less arousal than moderate amph. and a pattern of behavioral responses which differed from both low and moderate amph. Moderate amph. produced marked increase in forward locomotion and rearing, but low amph. and TRH did not. Both TRH and low amph. increased grooming (perhaps simply by increasing wakefulness), but TRH failed to increase sniffing, a cardinal feature of ampha.-induced excitement. Unlike amph., TRH produced wet-dog shakes, piloerection, tail elevation and teeth chattering. Both mod. amph. and TRH significantly produced increased activity when compared to controls as assessed with photocell counts, though the amph. effect was more robust. The lack of arousal after i.p. injections of thyroid-stimulating hormone (10 I.U./kg) or melanocyte-stimulating hormone release-inhibiting factor (Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2; 60 mg/kg) is evidence that TRH-induced arousal is neither mediated by activation of the pituitary-thyroid axis nor by a non-specific effect of tripeptides generally.     

Bulk flow of amniotic fluid water in response to maternal osmotic challenge

Amniotic fluid volume is regulated by a complex system of fluid exchanges with fetal and maternal fluid compartments. To assess possible hormonal control of amniotic fluid water exchange with the maternal vascular compartment, we studied the effect of intra-amniotic injections of prolactin, vasopressin, or vasotocin on the amniotic to maternal water flux induced by the acute intravenous infusion of mannitol to the pregnant ewe. This mannitol stimulus increased amniotic fluid osmolality secondary to a shift of free water to the maternal vascular/extracellular compartments. Prior intra-amniotic injection of prolactin but not vasopressin or vasotocin blunted the amniotic fluid osmolar response to maternal mannitol infusion. These results suggest that resorption of amniotic fluid water may occur at the chorioamnion and that amniotic fluid prolactin may have a regulatory function in amniotic fluid volume and osmolar homeostasis.