Chronic hepatitis C in patients with persistently normal alanine transaminase levels.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Many patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) have persistently normal serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels. We compared characteristics of chronic hepatitis C patients with patients with normal and elevated ALT levels using data from 3 randomized phase III trials of peginterferon alfa-2a (40 kDa). METHODS: The characteristics of 480 patients with normal ALT values (on >or=3 occasions without any increases in ALT level over a 6- to 18-month period) and 1993 patients with elevated ALT levels were compared. Sixty-eight of the 480 patients with normal ALT levels were randomized to no treatment and monitored for 72 weeks. RESULTS: More patients with normal ALT levels than patients with elevated ALT levels were women (59% vs 32%; P<.01). The serum HCV RNA titer was significantly lower in patients with normal ALT levels (P<.01 vs in patients with elevated ALT levels). Patients with normal ALT levels had significantly lower inflammation and fibrosis scores on liver biopsy examination than patients with elevated ALT levels, but almost two-thirds had portal fibrosis and 10% had bridging fibrosis. No correlation between baseline ALT activity, HCV RNA level, and liver histology was observed in patients with normal ALT levels. During the 72-week follow-up period, ALT activity elevated above the upper limit of normal in 53% of the untreated patients with normal levels of ALT. None became HCV RNA undetectable. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic hepatitis C patients with normal ALT levels should be evaluated in a similar manner as patients with elevated ALT levels because they are at risk for developing significant liver disease. The decision to treat with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin should be based on multiple factors, rather than on ALT levels alone.     

Left pulmonary artery evaluation through transesophageal echocardiography.

INTRODUCTION: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has become increasingly useful in the study of patients with suspected pulmonary thromboembolism. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the usefulness of TEE in the study of the distal part of the left pulmonary artery (LPA) as well as the influence of this procedure on total echocardiographic exam duration. METHODOLOGY: A prospective study in two groups of consecutive patients referred for TEE with a one- year interval between evaluation of Group A: 33 patients, 17 male, mean age 54 +/- 24 years, and Group B: 42 patients, 20 male, mean age 48 +/- 27 years (p = NS). The procedure was considered long when it took more than 3 min to evaluate the distal part of the LPA. RESULTS: In group A we were able to visualize the distal part of the LPA in 24 patients (73%) without significant prolongation of total exam duration in 16 patients (48% of group A). In one of the patients with suspected pulmonary thromboembolism thrombi were only observed in the distal part of the LPA. In group B we were able to visualize the distal part of the LPA in 36 patients (86%) without significant prolongation of total exam duration in 26 patients (61% of group B). CONCLUSIONS: 1. Visualization of the distal part of the LPA was possible in more patients, and with TEE time prolongation in less patients, in group B. These differences can be accounted for by the training of the operator in this technique. 2. The importance of visualization of this part of the LPA in guiding treatment in the subset of patients with pulmonary thromboembolism confirms the usefulness of this specific procedure.     

Modeling in Frequency Domain Used for Assessment of In Vivo Dissolution Profile

Purpose. To present a model-dependent approach for the assessment of the in vivo drug dissolution profile based on in vitrodata for the multiple unit dosage form, as an alternative to the numerical method proposed in the study by Hayashi et al, Pharm. Res. 12:1333–1337 (1995). Methods. The data for aspirin granules administered to healthy subjects obtained in the above mentioned study were re-evaluated. The subject dissolution system was considered to consist of two subsystems connected in series, i.e. the subsystem describing the gastric-emptying process and the subsystem describing the intestinal dissolution process. The frequency response method was used to model the subject dissolution system. Results. The model in vivodissolution profile of aspirin, assessed as the integral of the model weighting function of the subject dissolution system, was in agreement with the in vivo cumulative absorption profile calculated by the Wagner-Nelson method. Conclusions. Comparison of dynamic properties of the subject dissolution system with the subsystem describing the gastric-emptying process yielded quantitative confirmation of the decisive role of the gastric-emptying process in the in vivodrug dissolution after administration in the multi unit dosage form.     

Effect of maternal and infant covariates on sibship correlation in birth weight

Birth weight on 12,644 singleton infants from 6,196 sibships born in Maryland between 1980 and 1984 were used to estimate the effects of nine maternal and infant covariates on the sibship correlation in birth weight. Assuming a homogeneous correlation across all families, the estimated intraclass correlation was 0.4664 (+/- 0.0099). This high sibship correlation makes it possible to predict, with reasonable accuracy, the birth weight of a child given information on previous sibs, as well as covariates on the mother and/or infant pertinent to a given pregnancy. The reduction in variance associated with incorporating information on the nine covariates used here was approximately equal to that obtained by conditioning on a single previous sib. Testing for heterogeneity in correlation among different groups of families showed that a crude measure of parity (first live birth vs. other), time between births, mother's marital status, and maternal age at the birth of the last child significantly influenced the sibship correlation in birth weight.     

Effect of the amount of body fat on the age-associated increase in serum cholesterol

This study investigates the contribution of body fat stores on the age-associated increase in serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Percentage of body fat was measured by hydrostatic weighing, and serum cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were determined in a sample of 472 healthy men and women ages 18-50 years. In both sexes, body fat mass was significantly correlated with serum cholesterol (r = 0.21 in men and r = 0.24 in women, P less than 0.01) and triglyceride (r = 0.33 in men and r = 0.24 in women, P less than 0.01) levels. After adjustment for the association between age and serum cholesterol, no correlation was observed between body fat mass and serum cholesterol (r = 0.01 in men and r = 0.09 in women). After correction for age, serum triglyceride levels remained significantly correlated with body fat mass (r = 0.26 and r = 0.17 in men and women, respectively, P less than 0.05). As body fat also increases with age, the possibility that a partial correlation coefficient procedure eliminated a portion of the age effect mediated by an age-related increase in fat, was addressed by performing further analyses. Within each sex subsample two sets of analyses were performed on (a) three groups of subjects individually paired for age but with different levels of body fat stores, and (b) three groups of subjects paired for the amount of body fat but differing in age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Is colonic electrical activity a similar phenomena to small-bowel electrical activity?

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate colonic spike bursts regarding 1) their migration behavior, 2) their pressure correlates, and 3) comparing colonic short spike bursts with spike bursts from migrating myoelectric complex from the small bowel. METHODS: Rectosigmoid electromyography and manometry were recorded simultaneously in seven normal volunteers and electromyography alone in five others during two hours of fasting and for two hours after one 2,100-kJ meal. One patient with an ileostomy was also studied by the same method to record the migrating myoelectric complex from the terminal ileum during fasting. RESULTS: Three kinds of spike bursts were observed in the pelvic colon: rhythmic short spike bursts, migrating long spike bursts, and nonmigrating long spike bursts. The meal significantly increased the number of migrating and nonmigrating long spike bursts (from 25 to 38.7 percent of the recording time; P <0.01). These bursts of potentials showed a peak 15 minutes after the meal, which may be caused by the gastrocolic reflex. Migrating long spike bursts started anywhere along the rectosigmoid and migrated from there aborad 82 percent of the time and orad or in both directions in 10 or 7 percent of the time, respectively. They originated pressure waves 99 percent of the time. Short spike bursts were more frequent before the meal (15.1 percent before and 9.6 percent after the meal), but the difference was not significant; they neither propagated nor initiated pressure waves detected by the miniballoon. CONCLUSIONS: Migrating long spike bursts were the only potentials that migrated, sometimes for short distances. Short spike bursts are a different phenomenon from the small-bowel migrating myoelectric complex because they do not migrate; they can occur during the postprandial period and never originated intraluminal pressure waves.Supported by a grant from the Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica, Proc. DBI-22086.Presented at the meeting of the Portuguese Congress of Gastrenterology, Vila Moura, Portugal, June 2 to 5, 1993.     

Missense mutations in codon 225 of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) result in decreased amounts of OTC protein: A hypothesis on the molecular mechanism of the OTC deficiency

Mutations P225L and P225R were identified in codon 225 of the gene for ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) in two patients with the neonatal form of OTC deficiency. The mutations occur at a CpG dinucleotide and eliminate a unique MspI restriction site in exon 7 of the OTC gene. They do not alter existing splice sites or create new sites, as judged from the nucleotide sequence. Both mutations are associated with undetectable levels of OTC antigen in liver homogenates, and with either complete lack of OTC activity (P225R mutation) or very small residual activity (0.15% of normal in the P225L mutation). The residual activity observed with P225L exhibits normal pH dependence, little or no increases in the Km values for ornithine and carbamoyl phosphate and normal stability at either 37°C or, in the presence of 0.66 mol/L urea, at 0°C. The latter conditions were used to examine whether the P225L mutation favours dissociation of the active OTC trimer. Given the normal stability and lack of tendency to dissociation of the mutant enzyme, it appears likely that the dramatic reduction in the level of OTC protein is due to inefficient conversion of the mutant OTC precursor polypeptide (pOTC) into the correctly localized, appropriately folded, mature enzyme trimer, suggesting degradation of pOTC in transit to the mitochondria.     

Experiments on the nature of the signal that induces spinal neuroplastic changes following a peripheral lesion.

This study aimed at identifying the signal(s) that elicit myositis-induced neuroplastic changes in background activity and responsiveness of spinal neurones. It is based on previous data suggesting that in dorsal horn neurones, responsiveness to peripheral input on one hand and background activity on the other are probably controlled by different mechanisms. In anaesthetized rats, myositis was induced in the gastrocnemius-soleus muscle and the activity of single dorsal horn neurones was recorded in segment L3. Impulse traffic and axoplasmatic transport in dorsal roots L4 and L5 were selectively blocked by lignocaine or vinblastine for various time periods relative to the induction of the myositis. The results show that the main triggering signal for the myositis-induced changes in both responsiveness and background activity is the altered impulse activity in primary afferent fibres. In contrast, 'no axonally transported chemical signal controlling the discharge behaviour of dorsal horn neurones was found. However, the time course of the electrical signals that cause the myositis-induced changes in background activity and responsiveness is different. For changes in responsiveness, a rather narrow time window of 2 h directly after induction of the myositis existed, during which the impulses from the inflamed muscle must reach the spinal cord. Accordingly, to prevent the increase in responsiveness, the electrical input had to be blocked during the first 2 h; a block of the same duration at another time had no effect. The change in background activity seems to be due to a continuous input from the inflamed muscle which adds up over the hours. Therefore, with regard to background activity, blocking the electrical signals is effective at any time, but only a block of long duration has a significant effect.