Iopamidol and meglumine diatrizoate: comparison of effects on patient discomfort during aortofemoral arteriography

Iopamidol was compared with Renografin-60 (meglumine diatrizoate, Squibb) in a controlled, randomized double-blind study of 40 patients undergoing peripheral arteriography for arteriosclerotic occlusive disease to determine which agent caused less discomfort. Each patient was evaluated for objective signs of discomfort and subjective feelings of pain and heat. Monitoring was achieved by multiple physical examinations, chemical tests, electrocardiograms, and intra-arterial pressure recordings. It is concluded that iopamidol is safe and causes significantly less patient discomfort than Renografin-60.     

Two HLA-linked loci controlling the fourth component of human complement.

An electrophoretic polymorphism of the fourth component of human complement (C4) is described. Three patterns of bands of C4 were observed in EDTA plasma from a panel of unrelated blood donors and family members by using the technique of immunofixation electrophoresis. These patterns consisted of four fast-moving anodal bands (F), four slow-moving cathodal bands (S), or a combination of both the F and S bands (FS). The C4 patterns of bands were observed in EDTA plasma and not in serum. Family studies showed that this polymorphism of C4 did not segregate with HLA histocompatibility genes in a fashion governed by two codominant alleles at a single genetic locus. The family data are in agreement with the hypothesis that two different genetic loci control the electrophoretic patterns of C4. One locus controls the presence (F) or absence (f0) of the four anodal (F) bands and the other controls the presence (S) or absence (s0) of the four cathodal (S) bands. The C4F and C4S loci are both closely linked to HLA-B.     

甲氨蝶呤的卷积极谱法测定和电极还原机理的研究

用高阶导数卷积极谱法研究了针剂和尿液中抗肿瘤药物甲氨蝶呤的微量测定法。在9.0×10^-8～1.6×10^(-5)mol/L内波高与浓度有线性关系。最低检测限为1.8×10^-8mol/L。与英国药典(1980)的标准方法进行了比较,极谱法具有更高的灵敏度。研究了甲氨蝶呤的电极还原机理。在Britton—Robinson缓冲溶液中甲氨蝶呤产生两个还原波。第一个波为可逆的2e—2H⁺电极还原过程,可供定量测定。第二个波为不可逆波。     

TRILINOLEIN INHIBITS THE ADHESION OF NEUTROPHILS TO ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

1. Trilinolein is a triacylglycerol with linoleic acid as the only type of fatty acid in all three esterified positions of glycerol. It was recently reported to have a myocardial protective effect in coronary ligated rats. We now study its effect on the adhesion of human neutrophils to cultured bovine endothelial cells. 2. Pretreatment of an endothelial monolayer with trilinolein at concentrations ranging from 10^-10 to 10^-6 mol/L significantly inhibited neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells. Trilinolein was less potent than sodium nitroprusside in inhibiting neutrophil adhesion. 3. The inhibitory effect of trilinolein was antagonized by methylene blue and N^G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. The inhibitory effect of trilinolein was not mediated through linoleic acid because linoleic acid did not inhibit neutrophil adhesion. 4. Pretreatment of neutrophils with trilinolein did not reduce neutrophil adhesion. However, in neutrophils activated with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, trilinolein inhibited the neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells. 5. We conclude that trilinolein inhibits neutrophil adhesion to the endothelial monolayer by stimulating the nitric oxide and cyclic GMP pathways in endothelial cells. It may also inhibit neutrophil adhesion by scavenging free radicals. The inhibitory effect of trilinolein on neutrophil adhesion may play a role in its myocardial protective activity.     

Outpatient lumbar myelography. Initial results in 79 examinations using a low-dose metrizamide technique

Seventy-nine patients underwent lumbar myelography on an outpatient basis, with a low (3.75 g) dose of metrizamide as the radiocontrast agent and a 25-gauge spinal needle used for lumbar puncture. No patient experienced significant neurotoxicity following the examination; 70.8% (56 of 79) experienced minimal (23%) or no (48%) side effects. Three patients (3.8%) were admitted to the hospital for management of common side effects (headache, nausea/vomiting, back pain). We obtained postmyelographic computed tomographic scans on 96% (76 of 79) of the patients. Our initial results suggest that outpatient lumbar myelography is safe and can be performed with a very acceptable incidence of side effects.     

Effect of captopril on functional, physiological and biochemical outcome criteria in aged heart failure patients.

1. Captopril was evaluated as an adjuvant to diuretic and digoxin therapy in heart failure in old age, using walking ability, minute ventilation and oxygen consumption and plasma atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) concentration as measures of outcome. 2. Twenty patients, mean (s.d.) age 81 (6) years, entered a double-blind, randomised, crossover study of three treatments, a twice daily regimen of captopril (AA), at a dosage established by titration against serum angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity, the same dosage in the morning with placebo at night (AP), and twice daily placebo (PP). Each treatment lasted 3 weeks. A 2 week run-in period on triple therapy, with AA captopril, was used to assess stability and compliance. Seventeen completed all treatments: three completed two. 3. Any benefit of captopril was modest and there was deterioration in gait on the titrated dosage 3 months afterwards (P = 0.04). Efficacy in the old may be greatest when the titrated dose (25 or 50 mg) is given once daily: the multiple daily doses recommended may be unnecessarily demanding. 4. Walking performance was measured by gait analysis (GA) at free walking speed and by a simple walking test (SWT), in which patients stopped at the first relevant symptom. There was a consistent tendency for four measures of performance (GA: speed, stride length and double support time; SWT distance) to be best on the AP treatment, next best on AA, and worst on PP but for the fifth, SWT speed, AP and AA were similar. The trend appeared most marked for SWT distance, mean (s.e. mean) values for AP, AA and PP being 123 (15), 94 (16) and 75 (16) m, respectively. However, the treatment effect did not reach statistical significance at the 0.05 level. 5. There was no significant difference between treatments in minute ventilation, minute oxygen consumption, or their ratio, either at rest or on exercise. 6. Resting ANF concentrations were nearly four times higher (P = 0.0001) in the patients than those, mean (s.e. mean) 66 (5) pmol l-1, in eleven healthy volunteers of mean age 80 (6) years, and the increase on exercise, seen in the controls (P less than 0.01), was absent. In the patients the resting plasma ANF concentration was significantly affected by treatment (P = 0.03), being less on both AP, 245 (9), and AA, 214 (9) than on PP, 264 (10) pmol l-1 (P = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively). 7. Baseline serum ACE activity was induced on active treatment. The change in ACE activity at 3 h post an active dose was significantly greater on AP than AA (P = 0.005). The increased sensitivity to inhibition during once daily administration was reflected in mean arterial pressure. The pre-dose standing pressure was less on AP than on PP (P less than 0.05), and the change in postural fall (pre-dose minus 2 h post), was greater (P = 0.004), but AA and PP were similar in these respects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Effect of postpartum maternal infection on proteins and trace elements in colostrum and early milk

In developing countries, maternal infections during lactation are common. In this study, we evaluated the effect of acute maternal postpartum infection on the composition of colostrum and early milk with special emphasis on milk proteins and trace elements. The study was carried out in two maternity hospitals in Lima, Peru. Subjects were normally nourished women (body mass index (BMI) > 20.0) who intended to exclusively breastfeed their child and who had fever and clinical symptoms of infection within the first 48 h postpartum ( n = 34). Non-ill women of similar characteristics were selected as controls ( n = 23). Blood and milk samples were taken on days 1 and 14 postpartum. An acute phase response was confirmed by significantly increased serum levels of C-reactive protein in infected women. Serum zinc levels increased significantly from day 1 to day 14, but were not affected by infection. Serum copper levels were significantly higher in ill women than in non-ill women on day 1. All participating women were breastfeeding on day 14. Whey protein levels, the whey/casein ratio and total protein levels decreased significantly with time, but were not affected by infection. There were no differences in milk iron or copper levels with time or infection. Milk zinc levels decreased significantly with time, but were not affected by infection. Maternal infection during the early postpartum period does not appear to adversely affect the initiation of lactation or milk protein and trace element contents.     

Effect of pH changes on the binding of vitamin B12 by intrinsic factor

The binding of vitamin B(12) by human gastric juice has been found to be pH dependent. Maximum binding occurs between pH 6.5 and 10. Outside this pH range the vitamin B(12)-binding ability of human gastric juice decreases and at pH below 2 or above 12.2 this drops sharply to about 10 to 15% of the maximum. Three commercial hog intrinsic factors have been found to give a similar response to pH changes. The pH-dependent binder in human gastric juice has been shown to be intrinsic factor by the addition of intrinsic factor-blocking antibody. About 10% of vitamin B(12) bound by human gastric juice is not bound by intrinsic factor and is not pH dependent. The reduction in the vitamin B(12)-binding capacity of human gastric juice induced by an adverse pH is reversed by neutralization. The physiological and clinical significance of these observations is discussed and their relevance to various procedures in vitro noted.     

Extracranial tumor vascularity: determination by dynamic CT scanning. Part II: The unit approach

Twenty-eight patients had combined conventional drip infusion CT scans. The information about the anatomic location of the lesion, its configuration, its cross-sectional appearance, its vascularity (as determined by dynamic signature curves), and its clinical presentation were considered as a single overall unit. This diagnostic approach allowed a diagnosis to be made on virtually all of these enhancing lesions without resorting to either a digital venous imaging study or angiographic procedure. In 17 of these cases, such an invasive second procedure was performed either to confirm the CT impression as part of this study or as part of a therapeutic embolization procedure.