Cervical spinal cord compression in hereditary multiple exostoses

Spinal cord compression is an extremely serious complication of hereditary multiple exostoses (HME). A case of HME with compression of the cervical spinal cord is reported. Complete recovery following surgery was achieved. A review of the relevant literature revealed 51 previous cases of HME with cord/cauda equina compression. Most patients were under 30 years of age with more men affected than women. The family history was positive in 60%. The cervical and thoracic areas were predominantly affected, with the symptoms usually developing slowly. Recovery following surgery is to be expected in the majority of cases. In patients with HME and suffering from neurological symptoms, the possibility of spinal cord compression should be considered. Prompt diagnosis and surgical excision provide the best prognosis.     

Immediate elimination of labile HbA1c with allosteric effectors of hemoglobin

Our aim was to find a simple method of removing labile glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from blood samples before it is measured by cation-exchange chromatography. Labile HbA1c is formed by the binding of glucose to the NH2-terminal valine of the beta-chain of HbA. We sought a more competitive binder for the same site to dissociate labile HbA1c to glucose and HbA. Inorganic phosphates were found to have a strong allosteric effect and a great ability to eliminate labile HbA1c. We developed our method with 4 mM tetrapolyphosphate in the hemolyzing solution to eliminate labile HbA1c during the automatic processing (at pH 6 and heated for 2 min at 45 degrees C) of blood samples for HbA1c estimation. This may be useful when estimating HbA1c by the manual method.     

Effects of fasting on biperiden pharmacokinetics in the rat

The effects of fasting on the pharmacokinetics of biperiden in rats were examined. Total clearance of biperiden was greater than 90% ascribable to hepatic clearance and was essentially blood-flow dependent. The number of compartments in the preferred pharmacokinetic model of biperiden changed from three (for normal rats) to two (for fasted rats). The smaller mean residence time (MRT) values found for fasted rats were attributable to decreases in distribution volume. Biperiden showed much higher lipophilicity than haloperidol, thiopental, and hexobarbital, and its tissue-to-plasma partition coefficient in adipose tissue was 20-fold higher than that in muscle. The influence of changes in volumes of adipose tissue and muscle on distribution volume (Vdss/BW) was evaluated from tissue-to-plasma partition coefficients. The value of Vdss/BW was predicted to decrease with decrease of adipose tissue, and to increase with decrease of muscle tissue. These results suggest that the observed decrease of Vdss/BW in fasted rats reflects reduced capacity to trap biperiden in the body, especially in adipose tissue. Possible clinical implications of these results are discussed.     

Phase I study of E1040, a new parenteral cephem antibiotic

The safety and pharmacokinetics of E1040, a new injectable cephem antibiotic, were evaluated in healthy volunteers. In single-dose studies, 125, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg of E1040 were administered by I.V. infusion over 1 hour. Results of 5 minutes I.V. infusions of 500, 1000 and 2000 mg of the drug were also studied. Plasma concentration-time profiles were well suited to a two-compartment open model. The half-life of elimination from plasma was 1.85 +/- 0.16 hours, and the Cmax and AUC paralleled the doses given. The mean urinary recovery within the first 24 hours was 85.7 +/- 6.43% of the dose. In a multiple-dose study, 2000 mg of E1040 (I.V. over 1 hour) was administered every 12 hours (total 9 times) and no abnormal accumulation of the drug in plasma was observed. There were no significant differences in plasma levels or in urinary recoveries between single- and multiple-dose regimens. There were no subjective or objective abnormal findings definitely attributable to the drug except that one subject given 250 mg over 1 hour reported diarrhea, and another complained of nausea during the infusion of 2000 mg over 5 minutes. From these results E1040 was concluded to be safe and well tolerated.     

Development of a simple image viewer designed for small X-ray field CT equipment 3DX

Objectives To develop a simple image viewer that utilizes image files in general-purpose formats that are written from the original 3DX volume data. Methods We used FLASH MX2004 for Macintosh to develop a simple image viewer. In developing the software for the simple image viewer, we decided that the viewer should provide the following features: (1) be available to both Windows OS and Mac OS, (2) allow interlocking of the 3D images, (3) display image enlargement, and (4) allow distance measurements. The accuracy of the distance measurements was evaluated. Results The procedure was as follows: (1) write 3D images in jpeg format to a folder on i-VIEW; (2) place the folder containing the 3D images into the directory of the simple image viewer software on a PC; (3) start the software and open the window to input the folder name containing the 3D images; and (4) display the 3D images. Our viewer had features such as image enlargement, interlocking 3D images, drawing, and distance measurements. No significant differences were shown between the measurements made by our simple viewer and the actual values of the images in any direction. Conclusions Our image-viewing software for 3DX is beneficial for clinical use.     

Clinico-pharmacological evaluation of omeprazole, as a proton pump inhibitor, compared with H2-blockers]

We evaluated the safety, tolerance, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of omeprazole, a new anti-ulcer agent chiefly on the basis of our studies in healthy male volunteers. The type and incidence of side effects of omeprazole have been reported to be similar to those of H2-antagonists, and in our studies too, omeprazole was estimated to be safe and tolerable. Following single doses, the increase in AUC was not proportional to the increase in dosage. In the multiple-dose study, the AUC was greater on day 7 than on day 1. This finding may be due to a partial saturation of first pass elimination. Repeated omeprazole treatment (20 mg once daily for 4 days) inhibited the basal and stimulated acid secretion. Though H2-blockers inhibit the basal and stimulated pepsin secretion, omeprazole inhibited the stimulated pepsin secretion only.     

Extraction of Potential Difficult-to-Manage Psychiatric Cases among Criminal Offenders: 5-Year Data from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office

Abstract: In order to examine the characteristics of potential difficult-to-manage psychiatric cases, seven potential subgroups were extracted from the criminal offenders who were sent to the division of psychiatric diagnosis, Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office for Pre-Prosecution Psychiatric Justice (PPPJ). The following criteria were used to select the potential subgroups: offenders who had experienced compulsory discharge from a mental hospital, those who had experienced Involuntary Admission to the mental hospital by the Prefectural Governor at least twice, those who had experienced admission to mental hospitals on more than 5 occasions, those who had been put on PPPJ previously for other criminal matters at least 3 times, those who had previously attempted suicide, and those who had committed homicide or arson. From the results of this study, it could be concluded that at least two types of "difficult-to-manage" psychiatric cases exist in the criminal offenders.     

Observation on the effects of Chinese medicine zhenxuanyin for improving cerebral blood flow in rats with cerebral ischemia.

Zhenxuanyin [symbol: see text] is composed of pure Chinese medicinal herbs, such as gastrodia tuber, poria cocos, ligusticum wallichii etc. 4-verssel occlusion (4VO) model rats were reperfused after 30 minutes' complete occlusion, and Zhenxuanyin was administered 3 times a day. 24 hours later, 123I-IMP uptake in the brain was evaluated as an index of cerebral blood flow (CBF). The results show that Zhenxuanyin (0.03 g/kg, 0.3 g/kg, 1 g/kg, or 3 g/kg a day) can greatly improve the blood flow in the main cerebral regions, and 0.3 g/kg can increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) to the normal level.     

Activation of phospholipase D by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in rat C6 glioma cells: possible role in mitogenic signal transduction.

The effects of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) on phospholipase D (PLD) activity and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis in rat C6 glioma cells have been investigated. Pretreatment of serum-starved C6 cells with PDGF results in enhanced choline production and the phosphatidylethanol (PEt) formation in the presence of ethanol, indicating the activation of PLD acting on phosphatidylcholine (PC). The dose-response curve for choline generation and DNA synthesis were comparable. In addition, the effects of PDGF on both PEt formation and [3H]thymidine incorporation into acid-precipitable material was blocked by the potent protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolinesulphonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7) but not by N-(2-guanidinoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulphonamide (HA1004), a relatively weak inhibitor of PKC, suggesting that PDGF plays an important role as a positive regulator of glioma cell growth via a PLD-mediated mitogenic signal transduction cascades, which depends largely on the activation of PKC.