A Possible Role of the Pineal Gland in Acute Immobilization-Related Suppression of Naloxone-Induced LH Release in Ovariectomized Estrogen-Primed Rats

It has been recently reported that acute immobilization stress almost completely suppresses the luteinizing hormone (LH) release induced by naloxone, a μ-opioid antagonist, in ovariectomized estrogen-primed rats. The present study examined the possible involvement of the pineal gland in the acute immobilization-related suppression of the naloxone-induced LH release. An intraventricular (ICV) injection of 15 μg naloxone produced an abrupt increase in circulating LH concentrations in non-stressed rats. The naloxone-induced LH release was completely eliminated when tested 60 min after the end of a 30 min session of acute immobilization. The same stress conditions did not affect LH-releasing hormone (LHRH)-induced LH release, suggesting that the stress-related suppression of the naloxone-induced LH release was a suprapituitary event. In chronically-pinealectomized rats, but not in sham-pinealectomized rats, naloxone injected 60 min after the end of the stress session evoked a significant increase in serum LH concentrations. However, naloxone injected ICV during the acute immobilization did not elicit LH release in either pinealectomized or sham-operated rats. Under non-stressed conditions, the LH secretory response to naloxone was similar in pinealectomized and sham-operated animals. The same stress (30 min immobilization) significantly increased pineal melatonin content as well as plasma melatonin concentrations in rats bearing intact pineal glands, indicating that stress actually affected the pineal function. These results provide evidence for a role of the pineal in the suppression of the LH response to naloxone after stress, but not during stress.     

Effects of Long-Term Glucocorticoid Therapy on Bronchoalveolar Cells in Adult Patients with Bronchial Asthma

The effects of long-term glucocorticoid therapy on airway inflammation were examined in 84 asthma patients. The proportion of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was significantly decreased in patients with steroid-dependent intractable asthma (SDIA) compared to results in non-SDIA patients, while BAL neutrophils were significantly increased in SDIA patients compared to results in non-SDIA patients. Regarding age, in patients under the age of 69 (except those between 30 and 39), BAL lymphocyte number was significantly decreased in SDIA compared with non-SDIA subjects, and in patients between 50 and 69, BAL neutrophils were significantly increased in SDIA compared with non-SDIA subjects. The number of BAL lymphocytes was significantly lower in patients with serum cortisol levels of less than 5.0 μg/dl than in those with levels of more than 5.1 μg/dl. BAL lymphocyte number was also significantly lower in patients who had received glucocorticoid therapy for more than 6 years than in those who had received such therapy for 2 years. These results show that long-term glucocorticoid therapy decreases the number of lymphocytes and increases neutrophil numbers in the airways.     

Cholinergic neurons contain Calbindin-D28k in the monkey medial septal nucleus and nucleus of the diagonal band: an immunocytochemical study

The distribution patterns of choline acetyltransferase (CAT), as a marker for cholinergic neurons, and Calbindin-D_28k (CaBP) immunoreactivities in the forebrain basal ganglia of the Japanese monkeyMacaca fuscata were compared. Similar distribution patterns of CAT and CaBP immunoreactivities were found in the medial septal nucleus (MS) and the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca (DBB). Double-labeling fluorescence immunocytochemistry revealed that most, but not all, cholinergic neurons were CaBP-immunoreactive in the MS and DBB. The results suggest that CaBP may play a role in the septohippocampal cholinergic neuron system of the monkey.     

Tracheal dilatation by halothane and enflurane in man

The effect of halothane and enflurane on tracheal tone were studied in 21 patients during the induction of anesthesia. Endotracheal tube cuff pressure was used to measure tracheal tone. Anesthesia, maintained by nitrous oxide 70% in oxygen, was supplimented with succinylcholine drip infusion to immobilize the patient. Ventilation was controlled by a Volume-preset ventilator. In the halothane group, the initial cuff pressure was 14.8 ± 1.3 (mean ± SE) cmH₂O but 10min after 0.15mg/kg of pancuronium injection, it increased to 21.7 ± 2.3cmH₂O (control). Ten min after inhalation of 0.75% of halothane, cuff pressure decreased to 14.7 ± 2.3cmH₂O (34 ± 11% decrease from the control value). In the enflurane group, the initial cuff pressure was 17.6 ± 1.8cmH₂O and it increased to 21.0 ± 1.7cmH₂O (control) 10min after pancuronium injection. Ten min after 1.7% of enflurane inhalation, cuff pressure decreased to 17.1 ± 2.3cmH₂O (23.9 ± 6% decrease from the control value). Halothane and enflurane produced similar tracheal dilatation in healthy individuals.(Yasuda I, Irimada M, Hirano T et al.: Tracheal dilatation by halothane and enflurane in man. J Anesth 2: 46–49, 1988)     

Silent lacunes in the elderly Parkinson's disease correlated with ambulatory blood pressure]

Lacunes on brain MRI, causal blood pressure, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and common carotid blood flow measured by the doppler method were studied in 31 elderly patients with Parkinson's disease (mean age 67.5 +/- 7.3 years). Nineteen patients with Parkinson's disease (61%) had at least one lacune. Patients with lacunes (P(+)) were significantly higher in age than patients without lacune (P(-)). The difference of casual blood pressure between patients in the two groups was not significant. On the other hand, the average of ambulatory blood pressure measurements during a 24-hour period was significantly higher in the P(+) group than in the P(-) group. The average of carotid blood flow was also significantly lower in the P(+) group than in the P(-) group, however, after adjustment for age, the difference between them became insignificant. In conclusion, the incidence of silent lacunes on brain MRI was fairly common in elderly patients with Parkinson's disease. A high average 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure was suggested to be one of the risk factors of lacunar stroke in elderly cases of Parkinson's disease. The concept of "combine type" in Parkinsonism was supposed to be suitable as well as in senile dementia of Alzheimer type.     

Right-hand superiority for throwing but not for intercepting

In humans, the organization of movements performed by both upper limbs, relies significantly on a left hemisphere "praxis" system that also subsumes speech function. Right hand preference may also be an expression of this left hemisphere dependence, arising from the preferential connections of the right hand to the left hemisphere. Consequently, a manual task that maximizes the spatial complexity of a target (presumably engaging right hemisphere mechanisms), while concurrently minimizing motor-programming demands, was expected to yield a diminished disparity in preference and performance between the hands. Left and right hand accuracy were measured independently for two motor tasks in 48 normal right-handed university students. In the first task, darts were thrown overhand at a stationary target. For the second task, subjects were asked to use the open hand to block (but not catch) projectiles launched at varying trajectories and velocities. ANOVA yielded a significant Hand x Task interaction, in which the left hand did not differ from the right hand in intercepting ability, but was significantly less accurate than the right hand for throwing. A sex difference favouring males was found for both tasks; this difference was not reducible to differences in physique or athleticism.     

Neurolysis of celiac plexus and splanchnic nerve under ultrasonographic guidance

Key words  intractable pain - celiac plexus neurolysis - ultrasonography     

Nasotracheal intubation using fiberoptic bronchoscopy in infants and children

Journal of Anesthesia -     

Effect of halothane and enflurane on hepatic blood flow and oxygen consumption in dogs

We investigated the relative effects of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 MAC halothane and enflurane, and concurrent noxious stimulus on hepatic blood flow and oxygen consumption in 14 mongrel dogs randomly divided into groups of seven each. Hepatic arterial and portal venous blood flow (HABF and PVBF, respectively) were measured continuously using ultrasonic transit time flow meter. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), cardiac index (CI), hepatic oxygen supply, and hepatic oxygen consumption (H _{O 2}) were measured. Halothane significantly deceased HABF, but not PVBF in a dose dependent manner. Enflurane did not affect HABF and PVBF significantly. MAP and CI decreased in both groups, with halothane producing more marked decreases than enflurane. H _{O 2} did not change with enflurane, but did with halothane, producing significant differences, with halothane being greater at 1.5, 2.0 MAC. A noxious stimulus only caused minor change in blood flow. The results suggest that liver blood flow and oxygen consumption are affected differently by halothane and enflurane and that halothane has a stronger tendency to cause an imbalance between liver oxygen supply and consumption than dose enflurane.(Masaki E, Yasuda N, Tanifuji Y et al.: Effect of halothane and enflurane on hepatic blood flow and oxygen consumption in dogs. J Anesth 3: 118–122, 1989)     

Effect of aging on NADPH-diaphorase neurons in laterodorsal tegmental nucleus and striatum of mice

Age-related changes of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d)-containing neurons were examined quantitatively in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (TLD) and the caudate-putamen of mice. Six 2-month-old and six 25- to 30-month-old DDD mice were studied using computer-assisted image analysis. Although no age-related changes in neuronal counts were found in the TLD, the cell size in this nucleus showed a statistically significant reduction with aging. In addition, the degree of the age-related neuronal shrinkage differed within the TLD; the most significant occurring in the rostral, less in the caudal third and no significant alteration being found in the middle third portion of TLD. In contrast, NADPH-d-positive neurons in the striatum did not show distinct age-related changes. NADPH-d-containing neurons in the TLD correspond to cholinergic cells, which project to the forebrain. Thus, the age-related shrinkage of NADPH-d neurons in the TLD may be related to the cholinergic dysfunctions seen in the forebrain of senescent mice.