Evidence for the involvement of the nitric oxide–cGMP pathway in the antinociception of morphine in the formalin test

The effect of inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis and guanylate cyclase on the peripheral antinociceptive effect of morphine was assessed by using the formalin test in the rat. Saline, N^G-monomethyl-

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-arginine, a nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor (50 μg) and methylene blue, a guanylate cyclase inhibitor (500 μg), did not exhibit any antinociceptive activity. However, morphine (10 μg) produced a significant antinociceptive effect in phases 2a and 2b, which was reduced by pretreatment with either N^G-monomethyl-

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-arginine or methylene blue. These results suggest that the local administration of morphine induces antinociception by the activation of the

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-arginine–nitric oxide–cGMP pathway.     

Giant epignathus in the newborn: report of a case and review of the literature

Epignathus is a congenital teratoide tumor in the oral cavity. It is extremely rare and usually lethal. The authors present a case treated successfully. Important aspects of the diagnosis, clinical management and surgical procedures are discussed. Extensive review of the literature is presented.     

Surfactant replacement therapy: a multicentric trial comparing two dosage approaches

This is an interim analysis of a multicentric trial that took place in 7 Neonatal Units to compare two initial doses of exigenous pulmonary surfactant (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of phospholipids)by using a porcine surfactant for the treatment of very severe Hyaline Membrane Disease. The initial higher dose produced better oxigenation of arterial blood, reducing the time in high oxygen concentrations,while retreatments were necessary in less than half of the infants receiving 200 mg/kg as initial dose. The protocol of this study allowed the administration of additional doses only when FiO(2) was equal or greater than 0.40 instead of > 0.21, as in a large study recently published, where the same initial doses were given. This resulted in more than 40% reduction in the amount of surfactant administered,with apparently similar clinical outcome.     

Discriminating the ecotoxicity due to metals and to low pH in acid mine drainage

Several techniques have been developed to assess the ecotoxicity of contaminated watercourses. Most of these techniques involve chemical alterations of water samples, by diluting it or by adding chelating agents. These changes become particularly severe when assessing the toxicity of samples with very low pH and with high quantities of contaminants. Trying to overcome this problem, a novel toxicity test, specific for acid waters, was previously developed and field validated. The toxicity of acid samples is assessed using the survival time of Ceriodaphnia dubia. During this study, the novel test was applied to a field situation, where an aquatic system is seriously impacted with acid mine drainage. Its efficiency was tested and compared with two classical toxicity tests: the Microtox and the median lethal dilution with C. dubia. The survival time test was performed without adjusting pH and after adjusting pH to a fixed value (pH 2, 3, and 4). At pH 2 and 4 no acceptable results were obtained; at pH 3 it was possible to distinguish the toxicity due to pH from the toxicity due to other toxicants. The test conducted at local pH was able to discriminate toxicity sources only for highly contaminated samples. The toxicity evaluation of acid mine drainage samples was possible neither with the median lethal dilution test nor with Microtox.     

The influence of parental age on the risk of Wilms' tumour

The Brazilian Wilms' Tumour Study Group carried out a hospital-based multicentre case-control study of potential risk factors for the disease between April 1987 and January 1989. The parents of 109 cases of Wilms' tumour (WT) were interviewed when they were admitted to hospital for diagnosis and treatment. Also interviewed were the parents of two controls per case, matched for age, sex and interviewer, who were admitted to the same or nearby hospitals for treatment of non-neoplastic conditions. Odds ratios adjusted for family income and parental education were calculated by conditional logistic regression. Among cases diagnosed before 25 months of age there was a marked gradient of increasing risk of WT with increasing maternal age at the time of the child's birth. There was no increased risk for cases diagnosed after 25 months of age. The effects of paternal age were less marked. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.     

Post-parotitis myocarditis: case report

In November, 1993,M.G., a 6 year and 11 month-old girl, was admitted at Hospital Infantil Joana de Gusm?o--Florianópolis, SC, Brazil--with post-parotitis myocarditis and congestive heart failure. Three days after admission it was evidenced, on an echocardiogram, a thrombus in the left ventricle apex which, despite of correct treatment, embolized to iliac and small mesenteric arteries. Epidemic parotitis (mumps) is very common, being endemic around the world. Complications are rare and myocarditis, one of them, is more common than diagnosed because of its poor and benign manifestations, generally transient abnormalities of cardiac rhythm and conduction. This case was astonishing because of its rare subsequent event, that is, the formation of a ventricular mural thrombus during an acute myocarditis.     

Anodontites trapesialis: A biological monitor of organochlorine pesticides

The mussel Anodontites trapesialis (Lam, 1819) was used as an indicator of organochlorine pollutants in the Pardo River, located in the municipality of Ribeirão Preto (21° 07S and 47° 45W), State of São Paulo, Brazil.Biological monitoring was performed for one year at the site of a sugar cane grove on the left bank of the river. Forty-three animals were placed in two aluminum enclosures on the river bottom at this site and 4 animals of each enclosure were sacrificed for pesticide analysis at 3-month intervals, each collection corresponding to one season of the year.The animals were found to have been exposed to DDT, lindane, heptachlor, aldrin and dieldrin. Endrin was not detected in any of the analyses.Research supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP).     

Changes in local cerebral blood flow,local EEG,and flow in the distal stump of the middle cerebral artery in cats with occlusion of the middle cerebral artery

Summary The local EEG, the local cerebral blood flow (1CBF), and the flow in the distal stump of the occluded middle cerebral artery were simultaneously recorded in 28 acute experiments in cats. Nembutal anaesthesia was used eleven times, and Halothane anaesthesia 17 times.The recordings were made via platinum electrodes: 12 in the ischaemic hemisphere, and 2–3 in the opposite non-ischaemic hemisphere. The flow in the occluded middle cerebral artery was recorded via a platinum electrode introduced into this artery via the transorbital approach. The changes in 1EEG, 1CBF, and middle cerebral artery flow were studied during normotension, hypertension, and hypotension. A beneficial effect of hypertension was noted in the acute phase of brain ischaemia. Hypertension counteracted also the diaschisis in the non-ischaemic part of the ischaemic hemisphere and in the opposite non-ischaemic hemisphere. A correlation between 1EEG changes and 1CBF changes was noted. In addition an interesting discrepancy was observed between the rapid H₂ clearance in the middle cerebral artery stump and the much slower H₂ clearance in the ischaemic brain area.Significant differences between experiments under Halothane and experiments under Nembutal anaesthesia were noted. In the acute phase those changes are probably the result of the different levels of blood pressure in those two groups.     

Somatic responses of ventrobasal thalamic neurones in polyarthritic rats

Rats rendered polyarthritic by injection ofMycobacterium butyricum into the tail were used as a model for the study of ‘chronic pain’.In such rats unitary responses of ventrobasal thalamic neurons to somatic stimulations were dramatically modified by comparison to those described in normal rats investigated in the same anaesthetic conditions.

(1) Only the neurons with receptive fields located on inflamed areas (168/194 in 33 rats) have been considered in this study. 27/168 activated only by brushing displayed the classical properties of lemniscal responses; only 20/168 were activated exclusively by intense cutaneous stimuli and 13/168 already activated by light cutaneous stimuli had enhanced discharges when the stimulus intensity was increased. By contrast numerous units (108/168) were excited by mild stimulations applied to the joints or to adjacent cutaneous areas (82 were driven by joint movement and/or mild lateral pressure on the articulation, 26 by brushing the overlapping skin); these responses presented atypical characteristics and displayed unusual patterns with very long afterdischarges of duration several times that of the stimulus.

(2) In 20 additional arthritic rats, responses to transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) and/or to noxious heat, were obtained for 34 neurones responding to joint stimuli.

(a) 16 of 18 neurones tested with transcutaneous electrical stimulation had latencies of 25–100 ms, and thresholds of 1–4 mA (width of shock 2 ms). (b) Neurones activated by joint stimuli frequently responded to noxious heat (radiant or waterbath). Initially, their response thresholds tested in 16 neurones were higher by about 4°C than those of ‘noxious’ VB neurones in normal rats; however, following sensitization to heat, thresholds were decreased by 4°C. For 8 neurones there was a linear relation between stimulus intensity and responses.

(3) Several different factors which could explain the important modifications of neuronal responses in VB complex of arthritic rats by comparison with normal are proposed in the discussion.