Renal magnesium wasting in two families with autosomal dominant inheritance

Hypomagnesemia due to isolated renal magnesium loss was demonstrated in two unrelated families with autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. Magnesium infusions performed in two patients showed not only a reduced renal magnesium threshold but also a lowered renal tubular maximum for magnesium. All members of both families who presented with hypomagnesemia had also a lowered excretion of calcium in the urine, presumably as a consequence of increased reabsorption in Henle's loop.     

A comparison of the effects of climbing fiber deafferentation in adult and weanling rats

The climbing fiber input to the cerebellar cortex was destroyed using both electrolytic and chemical (3-acetylpyridine) lesions. The long-term effects of climbing fiber deafferentation on the ansiform lobule of weanling and adult rats were examined at both the light and electron microscopic levels. Image analysis of Golgi-impregnated Purkinje cells indicated a significantly lower number of smooth branches and spiny branchlets following climbing fiber deafferentation of both adult and weanling rats. The results suggest that the lower number of smooth branches and spiny branchlets following climbing fiber deafferentation of the weanling rat is the result of a loss of postnatal growth rather than transneuronal degeneration. Ultrastructural evidence is provided in confirmation of these quantitative findings. Formation of ectopic dendritic spines was found following climbing fiber deafferentation of the weanling rat, but not the adult. It is shown that ectopic spines and the denervated dendritic thorns of these animals were synaptically innervated by the parallel fiber system and basket axons. The formation of ectopic spines on climbing fiber deafferentated Purkinje cells may represent a form of dendritic plasticity. Ultrastructurally, the dendritic arborizations of weanling deafferentated Purkinje cells showed no signs of transneuronal degeneration. However, the primary response to climbing fiber deafferentation in the adult rat was marked transneuronal degeneration of the Purkinje cell dendrites. It is suggested that the inability of the adult Purkinje cell to form ectopic spines and to replace the excitatory postsynaptic potential of the climbing fiber varicosity is directly related to the Purkinje cell's subsequent transneuronal degeneration.     

'Reprofessionalization' or 'occupational imperialism'?: some reflections on pharmacy in Britain

Drawing upon preliminary research findings, this paper considers whether pharmacists in Britain face a crisis in their occupational status and identity as a result of changes in their work and market situations. It further examines some of the ways in which they are responding to the challenges and opportunities presented. The paper also comments on the utility of the concepts of 'reprofessionalization' and 'occupational imperialism' in the study of British pharmacy.     

The effectiveness of intrauterine transfusions

The results of treatment with intrauterine transfusion are presented. The analysis comprised 48 successful transfusions into 29 foetuses. The reference group consisted of 11 transfusions which proved nonfeasible or ineffective and 54 untreated cases. Following blood treatment, the newborn mortality rate dropped more than threefold. Long-term follow-up of 21 children generally showed their good physical and mental development. We also present 4 cases of supsequent pregnancies after intrauterine blood treatment in a preceding pregnancy, showing that it is possible to save the next baby of the same mother.     

Left ventricular volume, mass, and function following surgical correction of chronic aortic regurgitation

Following surgical correction of chronic aortic regurgitation, left ventricular (LV) volume falls to normal or near normal in most patients; this change generally occurs within the first week after surgery. During the ensuing six months, a significant regression of LV hypertrophy occurs, but most patients do not achieve a normal LV mass. The systolic ejection fraction may increase while the LV end-diastolic pressure almost uniformly falls to normal. Postoperative studies of LV volume mass and function should be aimed at identifying those patients which do not undergo these favorable changes so that medical therapy can be directed at this high risk group.     

Symptoms of tobacco withdrawal. A replication and extension

Smokers (n = 315) who wished to quit were randomly assigned in a double-blind manner to groups using either nicotine or placebo gum. Self-reported and observed symptoms of tobacco withdrawal were collected before cessation and at follow-ups of 1 to 2 weeks, 1 month, and 6 months. Self-reported and/or observed anger, anxiety, craving, difficulty concentrating, hunger, impatience, and restlessness were the most prominent symptoms of tobacco withdrawal. These symptoms had returned to precessation levels by 1 month except increased weight, hunger, and craving continued for 6 months in many smokers. Nicotine gum decreased most symptoms, including craving and hunger but not weight. Abstinent smokers with more intense withdrawal were not more likely to relapse. Abstinent smokers who gained more weight were less likely to relapse.     

Distribution of alpha 2-adrenergic receptor mRNAs in the rat CNS.

alpha 2-Adrenergic receptors (ARs) are involved in central nervous system (CNS) control of blood pressure. It is now known that there are three human genes that encode subtypes of alpha 2-ARs, but little is known regarding the distribution of these subtypes throughout the CNS. The availability of receptor clones allows the mapping of mRNAs encoding the individual alpha 2-AR subtypes in the CNS. In this communication, we report that there are three, closely related rat alpha 2-AR genes. We have developed subtype-specific hybridization probes from each of these genes and have used these reagents to measure alpha 2-AR subtype mRNA accumulation in extracts of discrete regions of the rat CNS. We found that mRNAs encoding the alpha 2A-AR and alpha 2C-AR subtypes are distributed widely, but unevenly, throughout the rat CNS. The A subtype is prominent in the midbrain, brainstem, spinal cord, pituitary and diencephalon while the C subtype predominates in basal ganglia and cerebellum. The cortex, olfactory bulb and hippocampus contain roughly equal amounts of the alpha 2A- and alpha 2C-AR mRNAs. A third subtype's (alpha 2B-AR) mRNA is far less abundant in brain tissues, and is only found in the diencephalon.