A preliminary study of the changes in the direct-acting mutagenicities of several nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons after exposure under sunlight

Five commercially available nitropolyclyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAH), namely, 4-nitrobiphenyl, 2-nitrofluorene, 9-nitroanthracene, 1-nitropyrene, and 2,7-dinitrofluorene, were exposed under restricted sunlight in the open air. The direct-acting mutagenicities of the samples after an exposure of 45 days were measured in order to compare them with those of the original samples in the Ames Salmonella typhimurium bioassay. It was found that the mutagenicities of some nitro-PAH do not change significantly while the mutagenicities of others increase or decrease after exposure. A preliminary study of nitro-PAH reaction products after exposure using GC, GC/MS, and FT-IR is also reported.     

The Effect of Flurbiprofen on Steady-State Plasma Lithium Levels

Study Objective . To evaluate the effects of flurbiprofen therapy on the pharmacokinetics of lithium. Design . Placebo-controlled, single-blind, crossover study. Setting . University-affiliated hospital. Patients . Eleven healthy women with bipolar disorder. Interventions . The subjects received therapeutic doses of lithium administered as an immediate-release capsule every 12 hours. In addition, they received one placebo tablet every 12 hours during phase I and flurbiprofen 100 mg every 12 hours during phase II of the study. Measurements and Main Results . Steady-state pharmacokinetic parameters were measured for each phase. Lithium trough plasma concentration (C_min) and area under the curve were statistically significantly increased (p<0.05) when patients received flurbiprofen. Flurbiprofen also caused decreases in lithium clearance and 24-hour lithium urine excretion, although the changes did not reach statistical significance. Clinically significant increases in C_min appeared to be associated with a greater than 1000-μg/24 hour decrease in urinary excretion of prostaglandin E₂. Conclusion . Patients with clinically normal renal function may experience an increase in lithium levels with the initiation of flurbiprofen therapy.     

Hereditary characteristics of enzyme deficiency and dermatoglyphics in congenital color blindness

The hereditary characteristics of enzyme deficiency and dermatoglyphics in congenital color blindness (CCB) were studied. We propose that there is a linkage between the two loci on the X-chromosome determining CCB and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), based on our study of a high incidence of G6PD deficiency in 156 male cases with CCB. The CCB gene is closely linked with that of G6PD deficiency from our pedigree investigations. The rise in the frequency of eight or more whorls, the low value of atd angle and the presenting rate of real palmar patterns of the thenar, hypothenar and I, areas presented the hereditary traits of congenital color blindness.     

Clinical and experimental study of xiao er ke cuan ling oral liquid in the treatment of infantile bronchopneumonia]

Xiao Er Ke Chuan Ling Oral Liquid (KCL) is a Chinese herbal preparation consisted of 10 herbs such as Prunus armeniacae, Scutelaria baicalensis, Lonicera japonica etc. 30 children suffering from bronchopneumonia and/or acute bronchitis were treated with KCL (treated group) and another 30 cases were treated with penicillin and aminophylline (control group). Results: cure rate and effective rate in treated group was 26.6%, and 93.3% respectively. While in control group was 30% and 96.6% respectively. No significant differences were seen between them(P > 0.05). The pharmacodynamic experiment showed KCL had potent pharmacological action. The experiment on tracheal fragment of Guinea pig in vitro showed it caused moderately strong smooth muscle relaxation, through inhibition the effect of histamine and acetylcholine. Asthma induction experiment of Guinea pig in vivo showed KCL could significantly prolong the latent period of asthma and alleviate asthmatic symptom. Ammonium water cough induction experiment in mice showed it may apparently prolong cough latent period and reduce times of cough relapse and alleviate cough symptom. KCL had potent antipyretic effect on fever model induced by triple vaccine in rabbits. Bacteriostatic and antiviral experiment in vitro showed the drug had quite strong inhibitory effects for Streptococcus hemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, Flexners Dysentery bacillus, Diplococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and it could potently inhibit the respiratory syncytial virus. KCL is an effective drug in treating bronchopneumonia and acute bronchitis.     

An etiological study on fulminant viral hepatitis]

Viral markers were studied in 79 cases of viral hepatitis with hepatic failure. The results were shown as follows: 8 cases were positive for anti-HAV IgM (10.12%); 76 cases positive for HBsAg or anti-HBc IgM (96.20%) and 41 cases positive for anti-HCV antibodies (51.89%). Among those with anti-HCV positive, 35 cases were co-infected with HBV, 5 cases with HAV and/or HCV, only one was infected with HCV alone 2 cases were HD-Ag positive (2.52%) and one not identified (1.27%). With the reference of clinical findings, patients co-infected with HBV/HCV or anti-HBc IgM positive were more critical and usually entail higher mortality. In cases with HCV co-infections, the positive HBV replication markers seems to be reduced. Hepatic failure without HBV replicative markers had a high rate of hepatic coma as well as poor outcome.