Regional variations of muscle fibre characteristics in m. semitendinosus of growing cattle

The objectives of the present study were to elaborate an intra-muscular profile of metabolic enzyme equipment, contractile and morphometric features along the longitudinal axis of m. semitendinosus at various ages throughout the growth phase. Thirty-seven male Montbeliard cattle, about half of them castrated, were representatively allocated to various slaughter dates, scheduled at 4, 8, 12 and16 months of age. Samples were collected from proximal, medial and distal locations of m. semitendinosus. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (aerobic metabolism) and lactate dehydrogenase (anaerobic metabolism) were measured spectrophotometrically. Contractile muscle type was classified by quantification of myosin heavy chain I isoform proportion using the sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Mean muscle fibre area was obtained on histologically-stained cross-sections utilizing animage analysis system. Our results indicated the existence of a regular intra-muscular pattern of muscle fibre traits along the length of m. semitendinosus, with decreasing glycolytic activities and concomitantly an increase in oxidative capacity towards the distal extremity. The metabolic characteristics were in good agreement with decreasing cross-sectional muscle fibre areas and the slow myosin heavy chain I isoform proportion becoming gradually more abundant from proximal to distal regions of the muscle. Moreover, the observed gradient was found to be closely related to age and diminished with advanced physiological maturity. At the final slaughter age (16 months) no differences among the distinct portions were detected, m. semitendinosus was longitudinally homogeneous in all the characteristics studied This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN AS A SCREENING MARKER FOR DRINKING IN A GENERAL HOSPITAL POPULATION

We investigated the usefulness of the laboratory marker of alcoholconsumption carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in 101consecutively admitted patients in a surgical and internal medicalward of a hospital in a rural wine-growing area. Four majoraspects were considered: the influence of liver disease, themethod of expression of CDT values (relative % vs absolute units/1),level and pattern of alcohol consumption and comparison with     

HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY IMPROVES DIAGNOSTIC EFFICIENCY OF CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is considered a usefulbiochemical marker of regular high alcohol intake. CDT was measuredin the sera of 51 alcohol abusers, 20 patients with nonalcoholicliver disease and 30 healthy controls with an alcohol intakeof <30g/day. The mean CDT levels of these three groups respectivelywere determined with high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC; 4.6 ± 5.2%; 0.7 ± 0.2%; 0.7 ± 0.2%)and with a radioimmunoassay after microcolumn anion-exchangechromatography (MAEC/RIA; 34.2 ± 26.9 U/1; 16.9 ±3.8 U/1; 18.0 ± 5.7 U/1). CDT levels in patients withsevere alcohol abuse (161.6 ± 96.4g/day) were significantlyhigher than in the two other groups under investigation (P <0.0001). In heavily drinking subjects, the mean daily alcoholintake correlated with aspartate aminotransferase levels (ASAT)but not with the CDT levels determined either with HPLC or MAEC/RIA.With both methods, the CDT levels were slightly higher in patientswith an ASAT concentration >30 U/1, which may indicate anadvanced liver damage (P < 0.05). Analysis of receiver-operatingcharacteristic (ROC) plots demonstrated that the diagnosticaccuracy of the HPLC method, which determines the relative amountof CDT, was significantly higher than the established MAEC/RIAmethod, which measures the absolute amount of CDT (area underthe ROC curve: 0.95 ± 0.02 vs 0.73 ± 0.05; P <0.0001). At a specificity of >95%, the sensitivity of CDTdetermined with HPLC and MAEC/RIA was 80 and 47%, respectively.In addition, HPLC may be a useful and reliable method for thedetermination of this important biochemical marker, since theHPLC chromatogram is a visible document of the successful isotransferrinseparation and measurement.     

Circadian variation in the circumstances of delivery in a population at low obstetric risk

While circadian variations in birth and perinatal mortalityrates have previously been described in the literature, thereasons behind these observed rhythms remain unclear. The principalhypothetical causes include variations in obstetric practicesand an association between the time of birth and biologicalparameters. In order to explore this issue we analysed the distributionpatterns for time and day of birth, as well as circadian variationsin maternal characteristics, obstetric practices and neonatalrisk in a population at low obstetric risk. The study populationincluded 685 low-risk pregnant women consecutively admittedat an early stage of labour to six maternity units. The resultsshowed hourly variations in the birth rate and circadian variationsin obstetric practices that might explain the hourly patternobserved for the birth rate. By contrast, the frequency of apositive neonatal risk indicator was uniform across all timecategories in this population at low obstetric risk.     

Phenytoin modulates the pharmacokinetics of prednisolone and the pharmacodynamics of prednisolone as assessed by the inhibition of the mixed lymphocyte reaction in humans

Following induction of the microsomal liver enzymes, lower total prednisolone concentrations in plasma and an altered pattern of the prednisolone metabolites generated were observed. The purpose of the present study was to establish whether--as a consequence of an enhanced clearance--lower unbound concentrations of prednisolone in plasma are detectable after enzyme induction and to determine if the altered prednisolone metabolism modulates the biological effect. Before and during phenytoin dosage in ten volunteers, the mean (+/-SD) total body clearance (ml min-1 kg-1) of both total and unbound prednisolone increased from 2.74 +/- 0.47 to 3.94 +/- 0.66 (P less than 0.001) and from 10.76 +/- 2.68 to 16.00 +/- 3.17 (P less than 0.001), respectively. These increments were due to increased non-renal clearances. The immunosuppressive activity as a function of time in plasma determined as the percent inhibition of the mixed lymphocyte reaction decreased by one third after phenytoin dosing, while the EC50 values of unbound prednisolone were unaffected. Thus enzyme induction decreases both the unbound prednisolone concentration and the steroid efficacy.     

Cerebral vasculitis in severe Kawasaki disease: early detection by magnetic resonance imaging and good outcome after intensive treatment

Kawasaki disease is an acute vasculitis, that has a classic complication of acquired coronary artery aneurysm. Severe forms with multi‐organ involvement or neurological dysfunction are rare. Cerebral vascular involvement has been related to large‐vessel injury or cardioembolism, leading to focal brain infarction. A 4‐year‐old female presented with unusual, rapidly catastrophic Kawasaki disease with refractory shock, acute renal failure, and coma, requiring intensive haemodynamic management. The observation of diffuse micro‐haemorrhages (T2*‐weighted sequence) associated with white matter injury on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pointed towards lesions of the medium/small blood vessels. Cerebral vasculitis was suspected and the immunosuppressive treatment was increased Subsequently, the patient’s recovery was rapid. On follow‐up severe, bilateral vitritis was evident and surgery improved visual outcome. Early recognition of severe or unusual forms of Kawasaki disease could lead to more favourable outcome using appropriate treatment strategies. Diffuse cerebral micro‐haemorrhages on T2* brain MRI sequences might be a key sign for the diagnosis of medium or small cerebral vessel involvement.     

Case Report: Secondary biliary cirrhosis possibly related to congenital hepatic fibrosis. Evidence for decreased number of portal branch veins and hypertrophic peribiliary vascular plexus

A 30-year-old man with presinusoidal portal hypertension was transplanted for cryptogenic cirrhosis. On the explanted liver, few intrahepatic stones, biliary cirrhosis, chronic cholangitis of the large bile ducts and a peculiar proliferation of small dilated bile ducts at the periphery of the portal tracts led to the diagnosis of secondary biliary cirrhosis and cholangitis, possibly linked to ductal plate malformation, including congenital hepatic fibrosis associated with a minor form of Caroli's disease. Ex vivo portogram and histology showed the paucity of portal vein branches and the hypertrophy of the peribiliary vascular plexus. This hypertrophy, which has been reported in livers with presinusoidal hypertension, is another indirect argument to suggest the diagnosis of congenital hepatic fibrosis.     

Different cortical activation patterns in blind and sighted humans during encoding and transformation of haptic images

In this study, we investigated whether the occipital cortex of blind humans is activated during haptic perception and/or transformation of a haptic image. Slow event-related brain potentials were monitored from 18 electrodes in 12 sighted and 15 congenitally blind participants while they were engaged in a haptic mental rotation task. In both groups, slow negative shifts appeared over (a) the frontal cortex at the beginning of each processing episode, (b) the left-central to parietal cortex during encoding and maintaining of a haptic image, and (c) the central to parietal cortex during image transformation. A pronounced slow negative potential over the occipital cortex emerged only in the blind individuals and was time-locked to the processing epochs. Its amplitude increased with the amount of processing load. The slow wave effects observed in the blind individuals could indicate that occipital areas participate in specific, nonvisual functions or they could reflect a coactivation of these areas whenever the activation level of task-specific processing modules located elsewhere in the cortex is raised by nonspecific thalamocortical input.     

ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE: IS CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN A MARKER FOR ALCOHOL INTAKE?

We investigated %CDT (carbohydrate-deficient transferrin) in92 ethanol-intoxicated alcohol-dependent patients after consecutiveadmission to hospital and followed them for 28 days under controlledconditions. At admission, 63% (58 patients) showed elevatedCDT (>2.5%) and 34 patients (37%) had normal CDT levels (<2.5%).No correlation of the %CDT values to alcohol-related disabilities,severity of the withdrawal syndrome, alcohol-drinking patternbefore admission, or several other factors was found. The sensitivityof GGT (