Effect of repeated administration of prolactin releasing peptide on feeding behavior in rats

Prolactin releasing peptide (PrRP) has been reported to reduce food intake in rats. We tested the effect of i.c.v. administration of PrRP-31 on food intake in both food deprived and free-feeding rats. We did not find any effect of PrRP-31 on food intake after single injections of up to an 8-nmol dose, but observed a marked decrease in food intake and body weight in rats that received a repeated twice daily administration of 8 nmol of PrRP-31. This effect was associated with an adverse behavioral pattern, indicating that the repeated high doses of the peptide caused non-specific effects inducing anorexia. We also tested several other behavioral parameters like locomotion and exploratory time, grooming and resting time, using lower doses of PrRP that did not cause the adverse behavior. Moreover, we carried out locomotor and sensory motor activity tests at the doses that exerted the most pronounced effect on the food intake. None of these tests suggested any specific behavioral effect of PrRP. We conclude that the behavioral pattern induced by PrRP is likely to be different from those induced by many other neuropeptides affecting food intake in rats.     

Neurovascular complications of knee arthroscopy

During the last 3 decades, arthroscopy has revolutionized the way knee surgery is performed. The indications and the applications of arthroscopic procedures in the knee joint have enormously increased with the improvement in surgical technique and advent of new arthroscopic equipment. The use of arthroscopic techniques has led to a significant decrease in morbidity for the patient with intraarticular abnormalities, in terms of both diagnosis and surgical correction. Even though knee arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure with relatively low morbidity, it is not without risk of complications, of which neurovascular complications are among the most serious and devastating. The reported incidence of neurovascular complication is low, but it may be underestimated. Many neurovascular complications that occur are preventable with a thorough understanding of neurovascular anatomy, good preoperative and intraoperative planning, and attention to the details of basic techniques and the equipment used for the procedure. It is imperative that the surgeon who is performing arthroscopy be aware of these neurovascular complications, recognize them as early as possible, and initiate further evaluation and treatment as expeditiously as possible. In this article, the causes, management, prevention, and medicolegal implications of neurovascular complications of knee arthroscopy are reviewed.     

Preparation and achievement of American College of Surgeons level I trauma verification raises hospital performance and improves patient outcome

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact on patient outcome and hospital performance of preparing for and achieving American College of Surgeons (ACS) Level I trauma verification. METHODS: The center was a previously designated state regional trauma center located adjacent to a major metropolitan area. Preparation for ACS verification began in early 1996 and was completed in early 1998. Final verification took place in April 1999. Data were analyzed before (1994) and after (1998) the process. There was a marked increase in administrative support with trauma named one of the hospital's six centers of excellence. Two full-time board-certified trauma/critical care surgeons were added to the current six trauma surgeons. Their major focus was trauma care. Trauma support staff was also increased with case managers, a trauma nurse practitioner, additional trauma registrars, and administrative support staff. Education and continuous quality improvement were markedly expanded starting in 1996. RESULTS: There were 1,098 trauma patients admitted in 1994, and 1,658 in 1998. Overall mortality decreased (1994, 7.38%; 1998, 5.37%; p < 0.05). There was a marked decrease in mortality for severely injured (Injury Severity Score > 30) patients (1994, 44% mortality [38 of 86]; 1998, 27% [22 of 80]; p < 0.04). Average length of stay also decreased (1994, 12.22 days; 1998, 9.87 days; p < 0.02). This yielded an estimated cost savings for 1998 of greater than $4,000 per patient (total saving estimate of $7.4 million). CONCLUSION: Trauma system improvement as related to achieving ACS Level I verification appeared to have a positive impact on survival and patient care. There were cost savings realized that helped alleviate the added expense of this system improvement. The process of achieving ACS Level I verification is worthwhile and can be cost effective.     

Dietary modifications versus dicyclomine hydrochloride in the treatment of severe infantile colics

This study examined 120 infants, aged 3–12 weeks, with severe colics and compared the results of a specific hypoallergenic diet (group A) with those of pharmacological treatment (group B). Non-breastfed group A infants received soy milk and if unresponsive, hydrolyzed milk formulas; mothers of breast-fed infants received a diet without cow's milk, eggs or fish. Breast-fed and non-breast-fed group B infants received dicyclomine hydrochloride 3 mg/kg/day. Results, based on quantitative measurements of crying. indicated that in breast-fed infants there was no significant improvement between group A (62.5%) and group B (66.6%) infants. Among formula-fed infants, comparison of positive results using soy milk (65.9%) with positive results using dicyclomine (53.3%) was not significant; positive results using soy milk and hydrolyzed milk formulas in non-responders to soy milk, provided an improvement in 95.4% of cases. Pharmacological treatment provided an improvement in 53.3%) of cases. The diffcrence was significant ( p <0.01).     

The role of vision on postural strategy evaluated in patients affected by congenital nystagmus as an experimental model

The role of vision in postural control is crucial and is strictly related to the characteristics of the visual stimulus and to the performance of the visual system. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of chronically reduced visual cues upon postural control in patients affected by Congenital Nystagmus (CN). These patients have developed since birth a postural strategy mainly based on vestibular and somatosensorial cues. Fifteen patients affected by CN and 15 normal controls (NC) were enrolled in the study and evaluated by means of dynamic posturography. The overall postural control in CN patients was impaired as demonstrated by the equilibrium score and by the changes of the postural strategy. This impairment was even more enhanced in CN than in NC group when somatosensorial cues were experimentally reduced. An aspecific pattern of visual impairment and a pathological composite score were also present. Our data outline that in patients affected by CN an impairment of the postural balance is present especially when the postural control relies mainly on visual cues. Moreover, a decrease in accuracy of the somatosensory cues has a proportionally greater effect on balance than it has on normal subjects.     

Role of diagnostic imaging in abdominal lymphadenopathy

Abdominal lymph node chains and route of lymph drainage of various organs (stomach, duodenum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, small intestine, appendix, blind intestine, colon rectum) are analyzed according to their location. The role of conventional radiology and diagnostic imaging is evaluated in the study of abdominal lymphatic system with particular reference to lymphangiography and the new procedures of sonography, CT and MRI. Present methods used in inflammatory abdominal lymphadenopathy with special attention to tuberculous lymphadenitis, liver cirrhosis, neoplastic abdominal lymphadenopathy, colorectal and pancreatic cancer, are illustrated. Combined modality imaging is considered in gastric cancer based on the evolution of the classification of gastric lymph nodes. The role of sonography, endoscopic ultrasonography, spiral CT and MRI is assessed in gastric cancer N staging. A retrospective study is analyzed and perspectives for the application of a new CT protocol are proposed. PET potentialities in the study of abdominal lymph nodes are examined.     

A systematic review of comorbidity between cerebral palsy,autism spectrum disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Objectives

The aim of this systematic review was to examine the incidence and prevalence of comorbidity between Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Killing of K562 cells with conjugates between human transferrin and a ribosome-inactivating protein (SO-6)

Cellular iron uptake is mediated by binding of transferrin with specific surface receptors and internalization of the Fe-transferrin-receptor complex. This has been examined as a possible pathway for carrying into leukaemic cells a ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP), SO-6, derived from Saponaria officinalis. Purified human differic transferrin was conjugated with SO-6 and a pool of proteins was obtained, with variable numbers of SO-6 molecules linked to a single transferrin molecule. Human erythroleukaemic K562 cells were grown in the presence of human transferrin, SO-6 and human transferrin conjugated with SO-6. The conjugate was found to be internalized via binding with transferrin receptor. Whereas the presence of unconjugated human transferrin and SO-6 in the medium did not significantly influence K562 cell growth, the conjugated proteins displayed an inhibitory activity on cell proliferation. This was maximal after 72 h at a transferrin concentration of 10(-9) M, with about 50% of cells being killed. Bovine transferrin, present in fetal calf serum, did not appear to compete with human diferric transferrin in binding to K562 cells in suspension culture. In a clonogenic assay, colony formation by leukaemic cells was not influenced by free SO-6 or transferrin, whereas the conjugated proteins were markedly inhibitory (about 100% at 10(-9) M). Our findings indicate that SO-6 can be efficiently carried into mammalian cells via the transferrin-transferrin receptor cycle and exert its ribosome inactivating activity. This is in keeping with the existence of an alternative pathway of transferrin endocytosis in addition to the classic acidic endosome pathway. From a practical viewpoint, conjugates between transferrin and SO-6 can be useful tools for studying the expression of transferrin receptors, and deserve also to be investigated for a possible use in cancer therapy.