The relationship between diuretics and serum cholesterol in Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program participants

The effect of diuretics, mainly chlorthalidone, on serum cholesterol was studied in 7,006 of the Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program (HDFP) hypertensive patients not on antihypertensive medication at baseline. Several investigators have reported that diuretic therapy increases serum cholesterol in treated subjects. However, data from two long-term studies indicated that no increase in cholesterol occurred after two years of diuretic treatment. In the present study, yearly changes in serum cholesterol in hypertensives treated with diuretics were observed. The results were in agreement with those reported from both short-term and long-term studies, in that a significant increase in cholesterol was observed in six months to one year into the study but not from the second to the fifth year of therapy. In fact, the serum cholesterol levels were the same as baseline values after two years of drug treatment and decreased slightly thereafter. In the untreated group, no change or a decrease in serum cholesterol was observed during the course of the study. The possible causes for changes in serum cholesterol concentration such as regression to the mean, change in body weight, baseline cholesterol concentration, and the action mechanism of diuretic drugs are discussed.     

The synaptic responses of the neurons in the medulla oblongata to stimulation of the stepping stria of the spinal cord in the cat

Synaptic responses of bulbar neurons to stimulation of stepping points in the dorsolateral funiculus were recorded in decerebrate cats. 40% of neurons were excited from both ipsi- and contralateral stepping points, the rest of them were excited only from one of those points. Part of the neurons was activated from stepping points at both C2 and Th12 spinal cord levels. Latencies of the synaptic responses to stimulation of the stepping point at the cervical level were from 2 to 18 ms. These results suggest that bulbar neurons as well as propriospinal ones contribute to initiation of locomotion.     

Pharmacological activity and clinical effects of trecrezan and other tris-(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium salts of arylheteroacetic acids (A review)

The results of an experimental and clinical study on the pharmacological properties of new compounds representing tris-(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium salts (TES) of arylheteroacetic acids-in particular, tris-(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium-2-methylphenoxyacetate (trecrezan)-are summarized. Trecrezan exhibits a modulating action on immunity and hemopoiesis and offers a promising approach to immune correction for the treatment of immune deficiency and autoimmune disorders. Recovery of the proliferative activity of the early precursors of erythropoiesis with the aid of trecrezan (experimental model) leads to the normalization of immunity and hemopoiesis. A method involving trecrezan administration has been developed for the complex treatment of acute viral hepatitis B as well as hepatitis A and B complicated by occupational anamnesis. Trecrezan has also been successfully applied for the complex treatment of ischemic heart disease and multiple sclerosis. Trecrezan stimulates the regeneration of hepatocytes during partial hepatectomy and acts as an effective adjuvant in the complex therapy of tuberculosis. Trecrezan analogs (TES) show antitumor, hepatoprotective, and adaptive activity, increase the resistance of animals to oxygen insufficiency and to poisoning with heavy metal salts and organophosphorus compounds, and improve the endurance of animals under physical load and emotional stress conditions. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 13–17, May, 2007.     

Interaction of thiamine deficiency and voluntary alcohol consumption disrupts rat corpus callosum ultrastructure.

The relative roles of alcohol and thiamine deficiency in causing brain damage remain controversial in alcoholics without the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Experimental control over alcohol consumption and diet are impossible in humans but can be accomplished in animal models. This experiment was designed to differentiate the separate and combined effects on the macro- and ultrastructure of the corpus callosum of thiamine deficiency and voluntary alcohol consumption. Adult male alcohol-preferring (P) rats (9 chronically alcohol-exposed and 9 water controls) received a thiamine-deficient diet for 2 weeks. There were four groups: five rats previously exposed to alcohol were treated with pyrithiamine (a thiamine phosphorylation inhibitor); five rats never exposed to alcohol were treated with pyrithiamine; four alcohol-exposed rats were treated with thiamine; and four rats never exposed to alcohol were treated with thiamine. On day 14, thiamine was restored in all 18 rats; 2 weeks later the 10 pyrithiamine-treated rats received intraperitoneal thiamine. The rats were perfused 61 days post-pyrithiamine treatment at age 598 days. Brains were dissected and weight and volumes were calculated. Sagittal sections were stained to measure white matter structures. The corpus callosum was examined using transmission electron microscopy to determine density of myelinated fibers, fiber diameter, and myelin thickness. The corpus callosum in the alcohol/pyrithiamine group was significantly thinner, had greater fiber density, higher percentage of small fibers, and myelin thinning than in the alcohol/thiamine and water/thiamine groups. Several measures showed a graded effect, where the alcohol/pyrithiamine group had greater pathology than the water/pyrithiamine group, which had greater pathology than the two thiamine-replete groups. Across all 16 rats, thinner myelin sheaths correlated with higher percentage of small fibers. Myelin thickness and axon diameter together accounted for 71% of the variance associated with percentage of small fibers. Significant abnormalities in the alcohol/pyrithiamine group and lack of abnormality in the alcohol-exposed/thiamine-replete group indicate that thiamine deficiency caused white matter damage. The graded abnormalities across the dually to singly treated animals support a compounding effect of alcohol exposure and thiamine depletion, and indicate the potential for interaction between alcohol and thiamine deficiency in human alcohol-related brain damage.     

The use of lipid indicators and indexes for assessment of ischaemic heart disease

The informative value of various lipid indicators and indexes in healthy subjects and in patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is compared. In 10 investigated biochemical indicators significant differences were found between healthy people and subjects with epidemiological or clinical signs of IHD. The first places in the order according to Anderson-Bahadur intervals were held by the cholesterol atherogenity index, total cholesterol (CS) and the percent of high-density lipoproteins cholesterol (HDL-CS) in total CS. The cholesterol atherogenity index and HDL-CS percent in total CS were closely correlated with the severity of angiographically proved changes in the coronary arteries.