Effect of somatostatin on gallbladder volume and small intestinal motor activity in humans

The effects of different doses of somatostatin (36, 180, 360 pmol/kg/h) on the motor patterns of the duodenum and on gallbladder volume in the postprandial period were evaluated. Gallbladder volume and small intestinal motor activity were monitored simultaneously in 9 normal subjects. Gallbladder volume was measured every 5 min throughout the study by real-time ultrasonography while intestinal motility was recorded manometrically by means of a low-compliance pneumohydraulic system. On day 1, the response of the gallbladder to a 972-kcal test meal was evaluated ultrasonographically to assure a normal response. On day 2, at least 2 consecutive phase III complexes of the interdigestive motor cycle were recorded. Gallbladder volume varied cyclically during the interdigestive motor cycle, with the minimum value late in phase II and the maximum early in phase I (p less than 0.01); the test meal was then administered. Following the induction of a typical pattern of postprandial motility, somatostatin infusion was started and continued for 150 min. Somatostatin, at the 180- and 360-pmol/kg/h doses, interrupted the fed pattern and induced consecutive bursts of propagated clustered activity. The characteristics of these somatostatin-induced motor patterns were similar to the spontaneous phase III of the interdigestive motor cycle. An initial reduction in gallbladder volume cycle. An initial reduction in gallbladder volume followed the ingestion of the meal; during somatostatin infusion, gallbladder volume increased to values greater than fasting values and varied cyclically with minimum values before the second episode of propagated clustered activity. These results show that somatostatin interrupts the fed pattern and elicits consecutive clusters of propagated motor activity in the duodenum that are coordinated with cyclic fluctuations in gallbladder volume.     

Analysis of prognostic factors in 106 cases of carcinoma of the rhinopharynx treated with cobalt teletherapy

A series of 106 patients affected with nasopharyngeal carcinomas and treated by definitive external irradiation from January 1975 to December 1986 was retrospectively reviewed. The median follow-up, from the end of the treatment, was 43 months (range 24-90). The nasopharynx received not less than 60 Gy to the midplane: the clinically negative neck (N0) was treated with a total dose of 50 Gy and the patients who had N1-3 disease received not less than 60 Gy. Thirty-eight patients had a recurrence in the irradiated areas (31 in the nasopharynx, and 7 in the neck); 17 patients developed distant metastases. Disease-free survival at 60 months was 42%. The most significant prognostic factor (p less than 0.05) was the presence of advanced neck involvement (N2-3), since most of the lymphatic and distant recurrences were observed in this group of patients. The overall results did not reveal but slight differences in the survival according to histology, even though patients with undifferentiated carcinomas had a local recurrence rate significantly lower than those with squamous cell carcinomas. Our findings suggest that patients with N2-3 neck diseases or with locally advanced involvement (T3-4) be treated by adjuvant chemotherapy in order to decrease the risk of local and distant relapses.     

Effect of cholinergic agonists and antagonists on gallbladder volume in fasting man

Summary The effect of direct cholinergic stimulation and blockade on gallbladder volume, determined by real-time ultrasonography (RUS), was evaluated in twenty normal, fasting subjects. Eleven subjects received atropine sulphate or placebo and 9 subjects a series of 3 injection of prostigmine, bethanechol or placebo, randomly assigned, at intervals of 24 h.RUS was performed under basal conditions after fasting for 12 h and every 5 min after drug injection up to 45 min in the atropine study and up to 60 min after prostigmine and bethanechol.There was no significant variation from fasting gallbladder volume after placebo in either group. After atropine sulphate gallbladder volume at first decreased and then significantly increased. With bethanechol and prostigmine, the volume fell significantly to a trough after 30 to 35 min, and then it returned to the basal value within 60 min. It is suggested that cholinergic mediation is involved in maintaining fasting tone in the gallbladder and that cholinergic stimulation causes contraction of the gallbladder by a direct effect.     

Motor effect of dopamine on human sigmoid colon. Evidence for specific receptors

The effect of dopamine on human sigmoid motility has been studied in 26 subjects. To record mechanical activity of the sigmoid colon, two small, air-filled balloons mounted on a probe introduced through a sigmoidoscope were used. The recordings were made at a distance of 25 and 15 cm from the anal edge. Dopamine was infused for 10 min after a 30-min control infusion of physiologic solution. Mean amplitude, mean duration, mean frequency, percentage of motor activity, and motility index of the pressure waves were determined. The motor response to dopamine was characterized by an increased baseline pressure with phasic waves superimposed. Dopamine produced a significant response at the dose of 5 microgram/kg/min. Alpha and beta antagonizing agents failed to oppose the effect of dopamine, while anticholinergic drugs enhanced its motor action. These studies suggest that dopamine may stimulate the motor function of human large bowel through specific receptors.     

Multimodal architectonic subdivision of the rostral part (area F5) of the macaque ventral premotor cortex

We used a cyto‐, myelo‐, and chemoarchitectonic (distribution of SMI‐32 and calbindin immunoreactivity) approach to assess whether the rostral histochemical area F5 of the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) comprises architectonically distinct areas, possibly corresponding to functionally different fields. Three areas were identified, occupying different parts of F5. One area, designated as “convexity” F5 (F5c), extends on the postarcuate convexity cortex adjacent to the inferior arcuate sulcus and is characterized, cytoarchitectonically, by a poorly laminated appearance, resulting from an overall cell population rather homogeneous in size and density. The other two areas, designated as “posterior” and “anterior” F5 (F5p and F5a, respectively), lie within the postarcuate bank at different anteroposterior levels. Major cytoarchitectonic features of F5p are a layer III relatively homogeneous in cell size and density, a cell‐dense layer Va, and the presence of relatively large pyramids in layer Vb. Major cytoarchitectonic features of F5a are the presence of relatively large pyramids in lowest layer III and a prominent, homogenous layer V. Furthermore, our results showed that F5c and F5p border caudally with a caudal PMv area corresponding to histochemical area F4, providing additional evidence for a general subdivision of the macaque PMv into a caudal and a rostral part, corresponding to F4 and to the F5 complex, respectively. The present data, together with other functional and connectional data, suggest that the three rostral PMv areas F5p, F5a, and F5c correspond to distinct cortical entities, possibly involved in different aspects of motor control and cognitive motor functions. J. Comp. Neurol. 512:183–217, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Effect of the lactic acid bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus on stratum corneum ceramide levels and signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis patients

A reduced amount of total ceramides could be responsible for functional abnormalities of the skin of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. The ability of an experimental cream containing sonicated Streptococcus thermophilus to increase skin ceramide levels in healthy subjects has been previously reported. The aim of the present work was to investigate the effects of the topical administration of a S. thermophilus-containing cream on ceramide levels of stratum corneum from AD patients. A 2-week application of the cream, containing a sonicated preparation of the lactic acid bacterium S. thermophilus, in the forearm skin of 11 patients led to a significant and relevant increase of skin ceramide amounts, which could have resulted from the sphingomyelin hydrolysis through the bacterial sphingomyelinase. Moreover, in all patients the topical application of our experimental cream also resulted in the improvement of the signs and symptoms characteristic of AD skin (i.e. erythema, scaling, pruritus).     

Prevalence of Cryptosporidium in children with enteritis in Southern Italy

Cryptosporidium parvum is a protozoan which causes self-limiting diarrhea in immunocompetent subjects, and severe life-threatening disease in immunocompromised patients. Cryptosporidiosis is more common in developing countries and in infants. In this paper we have evaluated the prevalence of C. parvum in 368 hospitalized children with enteritis, of whom 359 were immunocompetent and 9 HIV-infected. Stool specimens were concentrated by sedimentation and stained with a modified Ziehl-Neelsen method. Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were found in 7 (1.90%)out of 368 subjects. Six of these were immunocompetent (with an infection rate in this population of 1.67%) and 1 HIV-infected, asymptomatic except for diarrhea. In all children symptoms of enteritis and oocyst excretion cleared within 10 days. These results indicate that the prevalence of C. parvum as a causative agent of diarrheal illness in hospitalized immunocompetent children is rather low in our region (Apulia, South Italy).     

Genotoxicity of Acqueous Elutions of Industrial Soils

The genotoxicity of industrial soils was evaluated. A single cell electrophoresis assay or comet assay, using eleocyte cells of Eisenia foetida, was performed to assess the genotoxicity of aqueous elutions. These were obtained from industrial soils containing metals. All soil samples meet the environmental quality guidelines for metal concentrations. However, elutions have produced genotoxic effects at dilutions as low as 6%. Total metal concentrations for each aqueous elution could express synergistic effects of these compounds.