Lack of effect of maternal cocaine administration on myometrial electromyogram and maternal plasma oxytocin concentrations in pregnant sheep at 124-146 days' gestational age.

Although cocaine abuse during human pregnancy is associated with an increased incidence of preterm labor, there are few reports on the effects of cocaine on myometrial activity during pregnancy in experimental animals. Cocaine (0.5, 1, or 2 mg/kg) or vehicle was randomly administered intravenously to 15 pregnant ewes between 124-146 days' gestation (term is 147 days). Neither cocaine nor vehicle administration altered total myometrial electromyographic activity from pre-dose levels 1 or 6 hours after administration. Maternal arterial plasma oxytocin did not change during the study. Using a positive control, we confirmed observations of other investigators that administration of 2 mg/kg cocaine significantly increases maternal arterial blood pressure. The results indicate that cocaine does not stimulate myometrial contractility significantly in late pregnancy in sheep.     

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in Japanese children with ulcerative colitis

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (UC) in Japanese children.
Methodology Serum samples from 23 children with UC (17 Japanese, 6 non-Japanese), 27 children with Crohn's disease (CD) (10 Japanese, 17 non-Japanese), 10 children with other diarrhoeal diseases, and 33 normal, healthy adult volunteers were assayed for ANCA using an indirect immunofluorescence technique.
Results ANCA were detected in 6/17 (35%) UC patients and 0/10 (0%) CD patients in Japanese children, and in 3/6 (50%) UC patients and 3/17 (18%) CD patients in non-Japanese children. The difference in prevalence between Japanese and non-Japanese children with UC was not statistically significant ( P >0.05). ANCA were not found in other diarrhoeal patients and volunteers.
Conclusions Although ANCA have been reported to be useful in the diagnosis of UC in adults, they may be of limited use in Japanese children. This might reflect the heterogeneity of UC.     

Addressing tobacco in managed care: a survey of dentists' knowledge,attitudes, and behaviors

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the tobacco cessation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of dentists participating in a large managed care dental plan. METHODS: Participating dentists in 4 states were surveyed via mail. RESULTS: Dentists' perceived success in helping patients quit using tobacco was highly correlated with discussion of specific strategies for quitting, advice about the use of nicotine gum, and time spent counseling patients. Dentists who were confident about their smoking cessation knowledge frequently advised patients to quit and spent more time counseling patients about tobacco cessation. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco cessation is not a routine part of dental practice. Knowledge, time spent counseling patients, and specific strategies for quitting were associated with dentists' perceptions of success.     

Elephantiasis nostras verrucosa: beneficial effect of oral etretinate therapy

Elephantiasis nostras verrucosa is characterized by chronic secondary, non-filarial lymphoedema due to recurrent lymphangitis, dermal fibrosis, and epidermal changes consisting of hyperkeratotic, verrucous and papillomatous lesions. Histologically, there is pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia. Therapeutic efforts should aim to reduce lymph stasis, which will also lead to improvement of the cutaneous changes. In this study, rapid disappearance of the hyperkeratotic and verrucous lesions, remarkable flattening of the papillomatous nodules and improvement of lymphoedema occurred in three obese patients treated with etretinate in an initial dose of 0.6-0.75 mg/kg/day for 4-6 weeks. Monitoring of plasma concentrations of etretinate, acitretin and 13-cis-acitretin by HPLC revealed sufficient short-time absorption (4 h) and bioavailability of the drug (30 days; two out of three patients). Long-term maintenance therapy in one patient produced a remarkable improvement in the lymphoedema; another patient relapsed after discontinuation of the etretinate and responded again after this was reintroduced. In the third patient treatment was withdrawn because of an increase in triglycerides, but improvement persisted 6 months later. The clinical side-effects of oral retinoid therapy were moderate and well tolerated.     

Effect of chronic intoxication with (+)-amphetamine on its concentration in liver and brain and on (14C) leucine incorporation into microsomal and cytoplasmic proteins of rat liver

Rats were treated with increasing concentrations of (+)-amphetamine sulphate in drinking water for 90 days. The ingested dose of amphetamine was found to increase from 16 mg kg^?1 on the first day up to 90 mg kg^?1 on the 32nd day of treatment. The rats were maintained on the highest dose regime for a further 58 days without any deaths, which showed that tolerance to the overall toxicity of the drug developed. The concentrations of [³H]amphetamine in liver and brain of chronically treated rats were significantly higher than those of controls. Chronic treatment with amphetamine significantly reduced body and liver weight of rats, but did not influence the relative liver to body weight. A marked inhibition of [¹⁴C]leucine incorporation into liver microsomal and cytoplasmic proteins was observed after 90 days of treatment with amphetamine. The relation between inhibition of microsomal protein synthesis and the increase of amphetamine concentrations in liver and brain is discussed.     

The role of gluten, milk, and other dietary proteins in chronic or intermittent dyspepsia

In twenty-seven patients with chronic or intermittent dyspepsia raised levels of the gamma-M-globulin and of the α₁- and of the α₂-globulin were encountered. Malabsorption, present in about three-quarters of the cases, was usually mild. Various degrees of villous abnormalities were seen but no flat mucosa. Eight patients also had dermatitis. During dietary treatment with the elimination of gluten, milk, or other food elements the dyspepsia and the malabsorption subsided in all but two, and the dermatitis in all but one. In nearly all the investigated cases the raised levels of the gamma-M-globulin and of the α₁- and of the α₂-globulin decreased. During challenge feeding with the offending food the dyspepsia and the dermatitis reappeared. Also the faecal fat excretion increased again, and a rise was noticed in the α₁- and in the α₂-globulins and in the gamma-M-globulins. The findings suggest that gluten, milk and other dietary proteins may play a role in some chronic dyspepsias by exerting an antigenic stimulus on the small intestinal mucosa, and thus inducing a state of hypersensitivity towards these foods. The clinical and laboratory findings favour the view that the condition is different from coeliac disease