Growth in children with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome

Background: Nephrotic syndrome in children usually has an onset between 2–8 years of age and steroids form the mainstay of management. Therapy may affect growth in children with relapsing nephrotic syndrome. This study was carried out to correlate growth with the cumulative dose of steroids in children with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS).     

Outpatient lumbar myelography. Initial results in 79 examinations using a low-dose metrizamide technique

Seventy-nine patients underwent lumbar myelography on an outpatient basis, with a low (3.75 g) dose of metrizamide as the radiocontrast agent and a 25-gauge spinal needle used for lumbar puncture. No patient experienced significant neurotoxicity following the examination; 70.8% (56 of 79) experienced minimal (23%) or no (48%) side effects. Three patients (3.8%) were admitted to the hospital for management of common side effects (headache, nausea/vomiting, back pain). We obtained postmyelographic computed tomographic scans on 96% (76 of 79) of the patients. Our initial results suggest that outpatient lumbar myelography is safe and can be performed with a very acceptable incidence of side effects.     

In vivo rat hemoglobin thiyl free radical formation following administration of phenylhydrazine and hydrazine-based drugs

We have employed the ESR spin trapping technique in vivo to detect the formation of the 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO)/hemoglobin thiyl free radical adduct in the blood of rats following administration of hydrazine-based drugs. The drugs examined were isoniazid, iproniazid, phenelzine, and hydralazine. In addition, phenylhydrazine and acetylhydrazine were also studied in a like manner. Of the four drugs, only phenelzine and iproniazid were able to induce the formation of the DMPO/hemoglobin thiyl free radical adduct in vivo, whereas only phenelzine and hydralazine were able to form this adduct in vitro. We were able to decrease the in vivo iproniazid-induced adduct formation by pretreating the rats with bis-para-nitrophenylphosphate, an arylamidase inhibitor. Our results support the idea that iproniazid is hydrolyzed in the liver to a more reactive metabolite, most likely isopropylhydrazine, which is subsequently released into the blood stream. In addition to the drug studies, experiments were performed to provide additional evidence that the radical adduct we detected was indeed of a hemoglobin thiyl free radical. Studies employing alpha-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone (PBN) as the spin trap in place of DMPO also showed the formation of the PBN/hemoglobin thiyl free radical adduct.     

苯甲吗啉类药物的代谢及代谢产物的研究

本文报道苯甲吗啉类药物的气相色谱与气质联用检测方法。用HP-5890A气相色谱仪、氮专属性检测器,对服药后不同时间排尿中原型药及主要代谢产物,以内标法定量测定,绘制尿累积排泄曲线.醚提取物用三氟醋酐衍生化、气相色谱、气质联用分析比较衍生化前后保留时间及质谱数据,鉴定主要代谢产物苯甲吗啉,微量代谢产物去甲麻黄素、去甲伪麻黄素、麻黄素和伪麻黄素,方法灵敏、结果可靠,适用于此类药物的临床监测与运动员尿样检测。     

Cerebrospinal fluid analyses in migraine patients and controls

To investigate the role of central neurotransmitters in the pathogenesis of migraine, we measured cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of certain amino acids (glycine, taurine, glutamine) and metabolites of biogenic amines (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and homovanillic acid) in 38 migraine patients and compared them with the levels from 10 headache-free controls. The levels of taurine, glycine and glutamine were significantly higher in the migraine patients (p < 0.0001 for taurine and glycine; p < 0.0009 for glutamine); there were no significant differences among the three migraine subgroups (infrequent migraine, frequent migraine and transformed migraine). In seven patients subsequently treated with divalproex sodium, CSF taurine levels decreased significantly from pretreatment baseline values. These data support the concept that migraine is at least in part a disorder of central neurotransmission.     

Plaque accumulation on different dental filling materials

abstract — The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether some dental filling materials collect more plaque than others under standardized conditions in vitro and in vivo . Round disks of the filling materials of silicate, composite and amalgam were prepared and placed on an agar/sucrose medium or hung in liquid medium containing 5% sucrose. The mediae were inoculated with Streptococcus mutans OMZ 176 and OMZ 52–3. After 6 d the disks were rinsed in distilled water and the plaque that had accumulated on the surfaces was scraped off and measured by the orcinol method. The materials were also fitted to acrylic plates and introduced into the mouth. Six patients wore two plates each for comparison of the materials and were told to rinse their mouth every hour with 15% sucrose solution. After 8 h the plaque was scraped off and measured. Silicate disks on agar medium invariably produced inhibition zones of about 4 mm. Composites and amalgam showed no such zones. In liquid medium an insignificant amount of plaque was absorbed to the silicate disks, whereas abundant amounts were found on composite materials and some on amalgam disks. The same trend could be demonstrated in the clinical experiments.     

A method for the covalent attachment of cells to glass slides for use in immunohistochemical assays

A method for covalently attaching viable cells to glass slides is described. The cells are linked covalently to the slide without the use of drying or other fixation procedures that normally destroy cellular surface antigens. The attachment is permanent, and the slides with attached cells may be cryopreserved. The use of the avidin-biotin-peroxidase procedure with this procedure shows excellent sensitivity comparable to flow cytometry.