Iatrogenic sclerosing cholangitis following hepatic arterial chemotherapy infusion

A case of common hepatic duct stricture secondary to hepatic artery chemotherapy infusion is described. CT and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) may be used in concert to differentiate this entity from other causes of jaundice--namely, hepatic replacement by tumor, porta hepatis adenopathy, and chemotherapy hepatotoxicity.     

Lack of acute effects of ascorbic acid on spirometry and airway responsiveness to histamine in subjects with asthma

Sixteen adult subjects with asthma in a clinical steady state were studied. On day 1, after baseline spirometry, they underwent four histamine inhalation tests with functional recovery between each test. The provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20) was obtained after each test. On days 2, 3, and 4, after baseline spirometry, active and placebo ascorbic acid (2 gm) was administered orally, double-blind, according to a 4.3.1 two-treatment crossover study design. One hour later, spirometry was performed, and PC20 was reassessed. We found no significant changes in FEV1 and FVC after ascorbic acid as compared with placebo administration. There was no difference between PC20 on days 2, 3, and 4 and by standardizing for the four PC20 results obtained on day 1. We conclude that ascorbic acid has no acute bronchodilator effect and does not alter bronchial responsiveness to histamine in subjects with asthma.     

Phonophobia in migraine

Quantitative measurement of sound-induced discomfort and pain thresholds showed that migraineurs ( n =65) were significantly more sensitive than headache-free controls ( n =80), both during and outside attack ( p <0.0001). Patients tested with head pain had lower thresholds than those tested without pain ( p <0.01). Migraine with and without aura did not differ as to sound sensitivity. There were no significant differences in thresholds between the symptomatic and nonsymptomatic sides ( p ≥0.78). Patients with unilateral headache or pain of pulsating character were more sensitive than those with bilateral headache or pressing pain ( p <0.05). Phonophobia did not correlate significantly with duration, frequency, or severity of attacks. The main results were in accordance with a questionnaire study concerning subjective evaluation of sound sensitivity Similarities between phonophobia and photophobia in migraine provide evidence that both phenomena share a common pathophysiological mechanism in this condition.     

6-取代氨基-1,2-双(对氯苯)-己烯-1 类化合物的设计、合成及钙调素拮抗活性的研究

对Ｔｏｐｌｉｓ寻搜法加以改进合成５个化合物，找到６氨基１，２双（对氯苯）己烯１化合物氨基上不同取代基的“合成终点”。用分子图形学的方法对其结构与活性的关系进行研究，结果表明药物的亲脂部分处于ＣａＭ活性部位的疏水“口袋”中，而亲水部分处于“口袋”的外部，氨基上的取代基对于药物与ＣａＭ的结合影响不大。     

Plasmids in bacteria exposed to activated neutrophils mediate mutagenesis when transferred to new hosts

The plasmid pUC18 contains a lacZ alpha-complementation gene that codes for a small peptide that can complement the delta M15 mutation of the Escherichia coli lacZ (beta-galactosidase) gene, converting bacteria carrying that mutated gene from the lacZ- to the lacZ+ phenotype. This plasmid was used in experiments designed to study mutagenesis by human neutrophils. E coli carrying pUC18 were incubated with neutrophils under conditions in which little ingestion of the bacteria took place; the plasmid was then isolated and transformed into an E coli strain (BOZO) that carries the lacZ delta M15 mutation. Of these transformants, 11 of 205,000 were lacZ, suggesting that in these 11, alpha-complementation had been lost through a mutation. No lac- colonies were detected among several hundred thousand BOZO transformed with plasmid isolated from incubations in which phagocytosis could take place, nor from incubations from which neutrophils were omitted. Despite the lac- phenotype of these 11 transformants, plasmids reisolated from nine of them showed normal alpha-complementing ability when transformed into fresh BOZO. These findings indicated that in these nine, the mutations were located in the chromosomes of the transformed BOZO. It thus appears that on exposure to activated neutrophils, a plasmid may acquire a lesion (? mutation) that can somehow be transferred to the genome of a recipient microorganism, resulting in repair of the damaged plasmid accompanied by mutation of the recipient's chromosome. Restriction mapping of the DNA from four of these nine chromosomal mutants suggested that the mutations did not represent major insertions or deletions in the portion of the bacterial chromosome corresponding to the pUC18 lac operon insert, nor in the remainder of the lacZ delta M15 gene. These results confirm previous work showing that exposure to activated neutrophils can induce mutations in biological systems, and provides an experimental model in which the mechanism of neutrophil-mediated mutagenesis may be examined.