Action of acetylcholine on the atropinised heart of the frog during summer months

During summer months high doses of acetylcholine produced positive inotropic and chronotropic actions in 19 out of 22 preparations of atropinised perfused heart of the frog. Hexamethonium failed to block both the positive inotropic and chronotropic actions of Ach. Interestingly another ganglion blocking agent mecamylamine as well as beta adrenergic blocking agent propranolol blocked the positive inotropic action but not the positive chronotropic action.     

Psychosocial correlates of chronic cannabis use

The psychosocial effects of chronic heavy use of cannabis were studied in a rural population of males in north India. The user group comprised thirty persons who had been taking only cannabis at least 11 times a month over a period of five years or more. The controls were fifty subjects selected from among the general population to which the users belonged. The controls had not been using any drugs. The subjects had similar age distribution, occupation, socioeconomic status, and educational background.Psychosocial adaptation was assessed by enquiries into such areas as self-aspiration, present occupation, occupational satisfaction, marital status, marital relationships, sexual behaviour, self-reported deviant behaviour, and future planning for children.On no variable were the present users found to be different from the non-user control group.     

Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome: a rare syndrome in otology

Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome, or pontobulbar palsy with deafness, is a rare disorder characterized by bilateral sensorineural deafness and a variety of cranial nerve disorders usually involving the motor components of the lower cranial nerves. Less commonly, spinal motor nerves and upper motor neurons are involved. Familial and sporadic cases have been reported. Based on evidences, this syndrome has been related to autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant and X-linked inheritance. Autoimmune origin has been considered as well.In this paper, we report the case of a 38-year-old female patient who primarily presented with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and then progressively developed Xth and VIIth cranial nerve paralysis. Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome was diagnosed with this symptom complex of sensorineural hearing loss and pontobulbar palsy.     

Wegener's granulomatosis mimicking a parotid abscess

We present the case of a previously healthy 59-year-old man who was under treatment for scleritis and episcleritis when he developed a parotid-gland swelling and pus-producing sinus. On surgical exploration, the features were those of a parotid abscess, but the lesion not only failed to heal post-operatively but increased in size very significantly. There was also severe necrotizing keratitis of the eyes. Due to clinical suspicion and a positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies test, Wegener's granulomatosis was diagnosed and the patient successfully treated with cyclophosphamide and steroids. Previously, a number of cases of Wegener's granulomatosis causing salivary-gland swelling have been reported in the literature; this is the first case in which the disease has masqueraded as a parotid abscess.     

Cystic glioblastoma multiforme: survival outcomes in 22 cases

OBJECT: The goal of this study was to determine whether the presence of a large tumor cyst was associated with improved outcome in patients undergoing surgery for newly diagnosed glioblastomas multiforme (GBMs) by comparing these patients with a matched cohort of patients with noncystic GBMs in clinical features, tumor imaging characteristics, survival, and time to tumor recurrence after surgery. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 22 patients by using imaging information and chart reviews of operative reports of GBMs with large cysts (> or = 50% of tumor volume) at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center between 1993 and 2002. Clinical and neurosurgical outcomes and recurrence rates were studied. A statistical comparison was made with a matching cohort of 22 patients with noncystic GBMs. No significant differences in clinical variables were found between the cohort with cystic GBMs and the matched cohort with noncystic GBMs. To avoid bias in preoperative assessment of tumor volume, the tumor burden was compared in patients whose tumors had cysts (excluding the cystic mass) and in patients whose tumors did not contain cysts. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.8). In patients with cystic GBMs the median survival time after surgery was 18.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 11.9-24.5 months) and at 2 years 43% of the patients were still alive. In comparison, in patients with noncystic GBMs, the median survival time was 14.3 months (95% CI 12.1-16.4 months) and only 16% of patients were alive at 2 years. The median time to tumor recurrence was 7.6 months (95% CI 0.01-18 months) in patients harboring cystic GBMs and 4.2 months (95% CI 1.8-6.6 months) in the matched cohort (log-rank test, p = 0.04). In the cystic GBM group, no recurrence was observed in 53% of patients at 6 months, 45% at 1 year, and 38% at 2 years after surgery, whereas the corresponding numbers for the noncystic group were 36, 14, and 9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that patients harboring a GBM that contains a large cyst survive longer and have a longer time to recurrence than those who lack such a cyst. This is the first such observation in the literature.     

Protein thiol oxidation and lipid peroxidation in patients with uraemia

BACKGROUND: Patients with uraemia are exposed to increased oxidative stress. In this study, a series of oxidative stress markers were measured in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and patients with CRF on haemodialysis (HD) compared to normal controls to establish whether there is enhanced oxidative stress on HD therapy in uraemic subjects. METHODS: Protein thiol oxidation, lipid hydroperoxides, albumin and uric acid concentrations were estimated in patients receiving HD and patients with CRF and compared with those in healthy controls. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in the level of protein thiols in CRF (p = 0.0001) and HD patients (p = 0.0001) compared with that in controls. Lipid hydroperoxides were significantly higher in CRF (p = 0.026) and HD patients (p = 0.003) than in controls. However, there was no significant difference in protein thiols and lipid hydroperoxides between CRF and HD patients. Serum protein thiols correlated negatively with lipid hydroperoxides and positively with serum albumin. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that both CRF and HD patients have increased plasma protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation. However, HD therapy per se did not contribute to oxidative stress already present in uraemia. Owing to the variability in lipid peroxidation products as markers of oxidative stress and the vital role played by thiol antioxidants in the biological system, it is suggested that protein thiol oxidation may be a better marker of oxidative stress.