Cotton thread method for measuring tear secretion, suitable for soft contact lens wearers (method no. 3)

Two methods of measuring lacrimation with a cotton thread and fluorescein have been described hitherto. Method 3 is intended for testing lacrimal flow in wearers of soft contact lenses. Fluorescent paper can be used to facilitate the measuring procedure. The method has been shown to be reliable in numerous control tests on subjects with normal eyes and in comparisons with the authors' methods 1 and 2. With the test, values of less than 5 mm indicate severe lacrimal deficiencies.     

Isometric and isokinetic hip abductor strength in persons with above-knee amputations

Recently introduced prosthetic socket designs for the above-knee amputee (AKA) feature a narrow medial-lateral dimension and emphasize maintenance of the residual limb in full physiologic adduction. Quantitative data on the effect of frontal plane limb position on the isometric hip abductor strength of ten otherwise healthy AKAs were obtained in the standing position. Residual limb isometric and isokinetic abductor strength was also measured and compared with that of the intact limb and with that of ten healthy age-, sex-, and height-matched control subjects using an identical technique. The testing hardware consisted of a modified Cybex II Isokinetic Dynamometer with a custom-made pelvis and trunk stabilizing device. Anthropometric measurements were taken. Results showed an essentially linear increase in residual limb abduction strength with progressive adduction from 30 degrees abduction to 16 degrees adduction. The average increase in abduction torque was .97% (range .29 to 1.5) of the peak neutral position strength per degree of change in femur angle when corrected for the effect of gravity. Similar strength increases with adduction of the femur were found for intact and control limbs. Mean residual limb isometric abduction torque measured 30% less than the intact limb value (p = .0018). The difference between the intact and the control limb mean isometric abduction torques was less than 1%. Isokinetic testing was technically more difficult than isometric testing but revealed similar weakness of the residual limb abductors when compared to the intact and control limbs.     

Pharmacokinetics--a relevant factor for the choice of a drug?

Pharmacokinetics may be utilized as a tool in the drug development process, either with respect to therapeutics or in allowing a drug's disposition characteristics to be defined. If two drugs of the same class have a similar dose-efficacy profile, then the favourable/unfavourable balance of the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the drugs may determine the drug of choice. Pantoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor, appears to meet the above criteria and has been found to exhibit reliable, predictable pharmacokinetic characteristics as opposed to other members of the class. The pharmacokinetics of pantoprazole over a range of intravenous and oral doses are described in healthy volunteers and are compared with values obtained for omeprazole. Studies in patients with severe cirrhosis, renal failure, and in the elderly are also described as well as potential interactions due to food and five other drugs.     

REPERFUSION FOLLOWING MYOCARDIAL ISCHAEMIA ENHANCES INOSITOL PHOSPHATE RELEASE IN THE ISOLATED PERFUSED RAT HEART

1. Global myocariial ischaemia (MI) for periods greater tan 5 min caused an inhibition of phosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase C (PtdIns-PLC) activity. 2. Two min reperfusion following a 20 min MI period, a time point associated with reperfusion-induced arrhythmias, resulted in an activation of PtdIns-PLC activity, dependent on endogenous noradrenaline and mediated via al-adrenoceptors. 3. This 2 min reperfusion response, in contrast to healthy myocardium, resulted in: (i) enhanced PtdIns-PLC activity; (ii) increased sensitivity to endogenous noradrenaline; (iii) rapid increases in inositol(1,4,5)trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3); and (iv) PLC hydrolysis primarily of PtdIns(4,5)P₂, such that the majority of InsP isomers derive from Ins(1,4,5)P₃. 4. Together, these data suggest a functional role for Ins(1,4,5)P3 under postischaemic reperfusion conditions, and provide a possible link between al-adrenoceptor stimulation of the PtdIns turnover pathway and reperfusion injury.     

VASOCONSTRICTOR RESPONSES TO COMPONENTS OF THE RENIN-ANGIOTENSIN SYSTEM IN CYCLOSPORIN-INDUCED HYPERTENSION IN THE RAT

1. Since plasma renin activity is increased in cyclosporin A (CsA)-induced hypertension in the rat, the role of the vascular renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in CsA-induced hypertension was investigated in rat mesenteric resistance vessels. 2. Female Wistar rats received CsA (10 mg/kg per day, s.c.) or vehicle for 30 days. CsA treatment increased tail-cuff systolic blood pressure (CsA treated 135 ± 3 mmHg vs control 125 ± 1 mmHg, P<0.0001). 3. Mesenteric resistance arteries (200–300 μm) were isolated and mounted in a microvessel myograph. Concentration-response curves to tetradecapeptide renin substrate (10-¹¹-10^?6 mol/L), angiotensin I (10-^l1-10^?6 mol/L) and angiotensin II (10-¹²-10^?6 mol/L) showed no differences between CsA-treated and control groups. 4. Mesenteric vascular angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) characteristics were determined by radioligand binding. There were no differences in the content or affinity of ACE between CsA-treated and control rats. 5. These results suggest that the mesenteric vascular RAS does not play a major role in CsA-induced hypertension in the rat.     

Developmental cellular electrophysiologic effects of propafenone on the rabbit atrioventricular node.

Transmembrane recordings and surface electrograms were used to evaluate the influence of propafenone on the cellular electrophysiology of isolated neonatal and adult rabbit atrioventricular node (AVN) preparations. An automatic interval of 863 +/- 82 ms (mean +/- SEM, n = 14) in neonates was found to be significantly shorter than the 1510- +/- 205-ms (n = 12) automatic interval observed in adults. Propafenone in a concentration of 5 x 10(-6) M significantly increased the automatic interval of neonatal pacemakers but not that of the adult preparations. These changes in automaticity produced by propafenone were not dependent on the adrenergic receptor-blocking action of the drug. The pacemaker escape time after overdrive pacing was also shorter in the neonate than in the adult. Propafenone prolonged the escape time of the neonatal tissues but not those of the adult. AVN refractory period, A-H interval, and antegrade Wenckebach rate were comparably increased in a concentration-dependent manner in both age groups. The maximum diastolic potential was decreased by propafenone in the neonatal atrionodal tissue but not in other regions of the AVN and not in any region of the adult AVN. Action-potential duration was increased in all regions of the AVN in both age groups. Action-potential amplitude and maximum upstroke velocity were decreased by propafenone in both age groups. Unlike other excitable tissues of the heart, the action-potential duration of AVN nodal cells increased with decreasing pacing intervals as the pacing interval approached the Wenckebach interval.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)