Brain imaging in neonatal hypoglycaemia

Magnetic resonance imaging studies in two cases of neonatal hypoglycaemia showed cortical and white matter cerebral damage that was most obvious in the occipital lobes. Both cases showed oedema in the parieto-occipital cortex and underlying white matter in the acute phase, with profound atrophy of these regions in the chronic phase.
These findings support those of pathological studies which suggest that hypoglycaemia induces cerebral damage by a mechanism separate from the effects of cerebral hypoxia-ischaemia caused by secondary seizures.

     

硝普钠的光解分析法及其在透皮吸收研究中的应用

依据已报告的光解分析法原理,建立了定量分析硝普钠的方法。在光源照射下,硝普钠溶液在394nm处吸收度增加属非线性动力学,但对一定浓度溶液,吸收度增量对浓度呈直线关系;无论光照30min或60min,依据△A₃₉₄都能准确地定量。本文方法线性范围50～1000mg/L,日内变异系数<1.9%;日间变异系数<2.6%,回收率99.0～100.1%。共存的少量血清蛋白、十八醇、维生素B₁₂、丙二醇、氮酮以及间硝苯啶、尼群地平、维拉帕米等均不干扰测定。方法已成功地用于透皮吸收剂的研究。     

Detection of abnormal left ventricular wall movement during isovolumic contraction and early relaxation. Comparison of echo- and angiocardiography.

Abnormal left ventricular wall movement during isovolumic contraction and early relaxation was assessed from simultaneous apex and echocardiograms in 50 patients with ischaemic heart disease, and compared with estimates from the corresponding digitised left ventriculograms. During isovolumic contraction, a normal angiogram was accompanied by normal apex-dimension relations in 13 out of 14 cases. In 19 cases, there was angiographic evidence of discrete outward wall movement during isovolumic contraction which was associated with abnormal apex-dimension relations in 15. During isovolumic relaxation, of 14 cases who were normal angiographically, apex-dimension relations were normal also in 11, which in 36 patients with abnormal wall movement on angiogram, apex-dimension relations were abnormal in 30. Correlation was less good between echocardiographic and angiographic estimates of left ventricular minor dimension (r = 0.75), and was absent between those of peak rates of dimension change during systole and diastole. Asynchronous onset of inward wall movement and the distribution of regional abnormalities of overall wall movement amplitude were unrelated to apex-dimension relations. The apex-dimension relation is thus a sensitive and specific means of detecting abnormalities of left ventricular wall movement during isovolumic contraction and early relaxation, unaffected by other manifestation     

Reticulocytes in healthy pregnancy.

High reticulocyte counts are commonly found during pregnancy in non-anaemic Greek and Italian women, whereas in Anglo-Saxon women counts rarely rise above 2-0%. In this study, the Greek and Italian groups had peak mean values of 2-9%, although it occurred some weeks earlier in the Italian group. The Anglo-Saxon group's peak mean value was only 1-5%. The differences between the Anglo-Saxon and other groups are statistically highly significant and should be recognized when assessing haematological profiles in apparently normal women.     

Echocardiography of atrioventricular valves in patients with univentricular heart.

M-Mode echocardiography in patients with univentricular heart allows the number and relations of the AV valves to be established. The absence of a posterior septum can be documented with some certainty and in many cases a stradding AV valve suspected. In addition, reduced amplitude of diastolic closure velocity is very suggestive of valve atresia or dysplasia. This information is of practical significance if corrective surgery is planned.     

Lymphocyte membrane lipid composition and mitogen responsiveness in chickens: role of membrane "fluidity"

After establishing optimal conditions for measuring the membrane lipid packing density ("fluidity") of chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes, the fluidity was modulated in vitro by incubation in cholesterol or phospholipid ("active lipid", AL)-enriched serum-free tissue culture medium. The effect of these lipids on mitogen responsiveness was then investigated, the aim being to determine whether the observed enhancement/suppression was membrane mediated, i.e. explainable by fluidity changes. Chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes exhibited no requirement for exogenous cholesterol; low concentrations did not affect the mitogen response while the higher concentrations, which induced a measurable decrease in membrane fluidity, were usually mildly suppressive. Pre-incubation did not increase this suppressive effect and we believe it not to be membrane mediated. AL, at low concentrations which induced no changes in membrane fluidity, prolonged the phytohemagglutinin response, enhancement being evident only after the peak; we interpret this as a nutrient effect. At the higher concentrations, which induced large increases in fluidity, a transient enhancement was followed by suppression; suppression was delayed in onset when AL was added 4 h after phytohemagglutinin stimulation. It is therefore an early event which may be mediated through changes in membrane fluidity.