Anthropometric Studies of Human Subjects Susceptible to Malignant Hyperpyrexia

Height, weight, and skinfold thickness were measured on 82 patients prior to muscle biopsy which was performed to determine their susceptibility to malignant hyperpyrexia. Percentage body fat was calculated from the skinfold measurements. Using AP photographs six coronal diameters of the left thigh. equally spaced between the lower border of the patella and the perineum, were measured on another group of 90 patients referred for biopsy. The subjects were then divided into those who were susceptible to malignant hyperpyrexia (MHS) and those who were normal and acted as controls. Each group was separated into males and females. There was no significant difference in age between the MHS and the control groups. There was no difference between MHS and controls in height or weight but the percentage body fat in the MHS males was significantly lower than in the controls (P<0.02). The upper three thigh diameters in the MHS females were significantly greater than in the control group (P<0.05). There appears to be a difference in the leanness/fatness relationship and in the development of the thigh in MHS subjects compared with controls, but these differences are subtle and appear to vary with sex.     

海风藤的原植物——腺鳞蒟与山药的比较研究

本文对模式产地的山药Piper haneei Maxim, var, hancei Maxim,和腺鳞蒟P. kancei Maxim var. squamiglanduferum Fan var. nov.进行了原植物形态特征和花序轴、花序梗、茎、叶的显微特征以及化学成分的TLC及UV比较。挥发油的GC—MS研究共鉴定出38个成分,其中28个是胡椒属植物中首次报道的成分。结果证明了在福建长期以来被认为是山药的腺鳞蒟与模式产地的山药有较大差别,尤其是腺鳞蒟叶上表面有腺鳞,是迄今为止第1个发现具有腺鳞的胡椒属植物。据此把腺鳞蒟作为新变种从山药中分出。腺鳞药是福建南部海风藤主要来源之一。     

Haem in the gut. I. Fate of haemoproteins and the absorption of haem

Haem (FeII-protoporphyrin-IX) is presented to the gut lumen as haemoproteins derived from exogenous dietary) and endogenous (mucosal cell desquamation and bleeding) sources. Haemoproteins such as haemoglobin, myoglobin and catalase undergo hydrolysis by luminal proteases to release the haem. Released haem is maintained in a soluble form in the gut lumen by the products of haemoprotein digestion. Chelators of elemental iron do not bind haem-iron and so haem-iron is better absorbed than elemental iron. Haem-iron does not exchange with luminal elemental iron. Mucosal uptake of haem is limited. Less than 10% binds to the brush border of the villus cell. Although the mechanisms by which haem binds to the brush border and is transported to the intracellular environment are poorly understood, it is known that some haem is transferred to secondary lysosomes where the porphyrin ring is split to release iron and form bilirubin. Depending upon the composition of the diet, the iron released from haem within the villus cell can be the major physiological source of iron. In iron-deficiency in humans, absorption of haem-iron can increase threefold whereas absorption of elemental-iron can increase tenfold. These observations indicate that haem-iron and elemental-iron are absorbed via different mechanisms which are subject to different regulation. For haem-iron to be absorbed, the haem itself must be taken up by the mucosa.     

The liver in infectious mononucleosis

Summary 1. Twenty-two patients with infectious mononucleosis were studied by liver biopsy and paper electrophoresis of the serum proteins. The findings were compared with a similar group of 30 patients with infectious hepatitis.2. The essential histologic features of infectious mononucleosis were the presence in the hepatic sinusoids and portal tracts of chronic inflammatory cells resembling small lymphocytes, with essentially no parenchymal cell damage. Admixed with this lymphocytic infiltrate, but in relatively minimal numbers, were a few plasma cells and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. In addition, in infectious mononucleosis there were, with rare exceptions, no lipochrome-containing Kupffer cells. Thus, in the majority of cases, the histologic picture was distinct from that seen in infectious hepatitis. Only in comparing a few of the more severe infectious mononucleosis cases with subsiding infectious hepatitis cases was there any tendency for the two pictures to merge, and the distinction on histologic grounds between the two entities could be made in the great majority of cases.3. The most commonly seen abnormalities in the paper electrophoretic patterns of sera obtained from patients with infectious mononucleosis were decreased albumin, increased gamma globulin, not infrequent but variable changes in alpha₂ globulin, and the presence of abnormal proteins migrating with mobilities intermediate to alpha₂ and beta, and beta and gamma globulins. The abnormalities observed in infectious hepatitis were similar to those of infectious mononucleosis, except that in hepatitis alpha₂ globulin was decreased more consistently, gamma globulin increased less frequently, and beta globulin, which was normal in practically all the cases of infectious mononucleosis, was increased in a considerable number of cases.4. Treatment of patients with infectious mononucleosis need not include prolonged bed rest and restriction of activity in an effort to avoid the development of chronic liver disease.