RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLATELET CYTOSOLIC FREE CALCIUM CONCENTRATION AND PLASMA RENIN ACTIVITY

1. Plasma renin activity (PRA) and platelet cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) were simultaneously determined in 18 untreated essential hypertensive subjects and 17 normotensive controls. A significant positive correlation was found between [Ca2+]i and PRA (slope = 42 nmol/l/ng/ml/h) in these 35 subjects. 2. Two determinations more than one week apart in nine subjects confirmed the parallel fluctuations of [Ca2+]i and PRA. A strict sodium restriction produced a progressive PRA elevation associated with a parallel rise in [Ca2+]i in one subject. 3. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that angiotensin II causes a concentration-dependent calcium mobilization.     

Bilateral fracture dislocation of the sacroiliac joint

 We present a rare case of a 27-year-old man sustaining a bilateral fracture dislocation of the sacroiliac joints without disruption of the anterior pelvis, following a fall from a height. Reconstructed images in the coronal plane and three-dimensional CT images were invaluable in the diagnosis and assessment of this injury.     

Evaluation of spontaneous histamine release from colorectal mucosa in patients with colorectal adenoma,patients with gastrointestinally mediated allergy and in a healthy control group

Inflammation Research -     

Mood Matters: Negative Mood Induction Activates Dysfunctional Attitudes in Women Vulnerable to Depression

Cognitive theory holds that dysfunctionalattitudes are important risk factors for depression.Critics have questioned this view, noting that, althoughdysfunctional attitudes are elevated in depression, they are not evident in vulnerable individualswho are asymptomatic. To deal with this criticism,Miranda and Persons (1988) have advanced the mood-statedependent hypothesis, which suggests that cognitive vulnerability factors are indeed present invulnerable individuals, but remain dormant untilactivated by negative mood. To test this hypothesis, 33women with and 67 women without histories of depression reported dysfunctional attitudes before andafter a film negative mood induction. As predicted,vulnerable subjects who reported increased negative moodreported increased dysfunctional attitudes.Unexpectedly, nonvulnerable subjects who reported increasednegative mood reported decreased dysfunctionalattitudes. These findings support the mood-statedependent hypothesis, and suggest that a deficit in theability to regulate negative emotions may be animportant feature of vulnerability todepression.     

Comparison of ethanol absorption during continuous and intermittent flow irrigation in transurethral resection.

Transurethral resection of the prostate was performed using intermittent-flow bladder irrigation (n = 50), or by continuous-flow irrigation, using a suprapubic trocar (n = 50). The irrigant solution contained 1.5% glycine +1% ethanol and fluid absorption was measured from the ethanol content of the expired breath. Fluid absorption was significantly lower in patients receiving continuous-flow irrigation (p less than 0.007) although major absorption occurred in one of these patients. The immediate detection of absorption with the ethanol method allowed us to stop one of the operations performed with intermittent bladder irrigation, at which 2 l of fluid had been absorbed in 20 min. With correction for the amount of removed prostatic tissue, there were no differences in operation time or blood loss between the two types of irrigation.     

Nulliparity, decade of first birth, and breast cancer in Connecticut cohorts, 1855 to 1945: an ecological study.

Risk of breast cancer increases with age at first birth, and is lower in women who bear their first children while young than in nulliparous women. While previous studies have investigated risk of breast cancer in birth cohorts by examining partial aspects of cohort childbearing, the present ecological study assesses total cohort childbearing risk in Connecticut women born between 1855 and 1945. In each cohort, the proportion of women nulliparous and first bearing children in their twenties, thirties, and forties are weighted by relative risks associated with these events as ascertained in previous studies. Summed cohort childbearing risks are compared to the incidence of breast cancer in women 40 years of age and older in the same cohorts. Changes in decade of first birth and nulliparity do not explain the changes in breast cancer incidence observed: while cohort childbearing risk has declined over the period examined, breast cancer incidence has increased in the same cohorts. Alternative explanations for cohort increases in breast cancer incidence are reviewed.     

Spatial summation and visual adaptation in the inner part of the frog retina

The spatial summation of the proximal negative response (PNR) of frog retina was analyzed during different states of adaptation induced by repetitive light stimulation with either 15 sec or 1 min interstimulus interval. The spatial summation area of the PNR was found to be wider during relatively more dark adapted conditions compared to relatively more light adapted ones. This finding indicates that lateral mechanisms in the inner network of the retina seem to be activated by adapting stimuli. Secondly, the results suggest that the activity of the amacrines, as reflected by the PNR, may initiate the series of neuronal events which underlie the oscillatory potentials (OPs) of the electroretinogram (ERG).     

Electrophysiological changes in the acute “axonal” form of Guillain–Barre syndrome

The acute “axonal” form of Guillain—Barre syndrome is characterized by rapid progression to severe widespread paralysis and respiratory dependence within 2–5 days of the onset of weakness with very poor and delayed recovery. In 3 cases studied within the first 7 days, the maximum thenar, hypothenar, tibialis anterior, and extensor digitorum bervis “M” potentials were either very reduced in size or absent in response to stimulation at the usual most distal sites of stimulation at the wrist, fibular head, and/or ankle. In the latter instances, advancing the site of stimulation closer to the motor point often evoked an M response. Furthermore, continued distal advance of the site of stimulation evoked progressively larger sized M potentials. Over succeeding days even these very distally evoked M potentials. Maximum conduction velocities in motor nerve fibers just prior to total loss of excitability were often very reduced. The pattern in these cases is most consistent with progressive loss of excitability and conduction in nerve fibers undergoing axonal degeneration, although coexisting primary demyelination in the terminal segment could not be excluded as the basis for the sometimes very slowed conduction velocities. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The influence of molsidomine on myocardial ischemia and ventricular dynamics an in-vivo study in anesthetized dogs by means of computer tomography

Summary In six anesthetized dogs with myocardium partially damaged by ischemia (LAD occlusion), the effect of an i.v. bolus injection of 0.05 mg molsidomine/kg body weight followed by a 6-h i.v. infusion of 0.5 g molsidomine/kg/min on the volume of myocardial ischemia, the relative remaining blood flow in the ischemic area, and the dynamics of the left ventricle were examined by means of computer tomography.The extent of the ischemic volume in the group treated with molsidomine was by far lower than in the control group; this difference was significant if one takes into account the individual heart size. The relative remaining blood flow in the ischemic region was not influenced by molsidomine. The reduction of preload and afterload resulted in corresponding changes in left ventricular areas, segments of these areas, the long axis, thickness of myocardium, ejection fraction and stroke volume. Aortic pressure was lowered insignificantly, heart rate remained nearly unchanged. Plasma analyses of molsidomine, SIN 1 and SIN 1C show that the applied dosage was sufficient to reach a constant concentration over the whole period of observation in the dog.Corvaton^®, Cassella-Riedel Pharma GmbH, Frankfurt/M.