Incorporating the affective component into an AIDS workshop

Caring for persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) will be a growing challenge for nurses in the years to come. It the nursing profession is to meet this challenge, continuing education will be essential. This article presents an approach to using a range of community and academic resources in the provision of continuing education. The 1-day program described includes updated information on HIV etiopathogenesis, clinical spectrum, epidemiology, transmission, prevention, and research, and gives participants an opportunity to explore their feelings and attitudes toward providing care for persons with HIV.     

Therapieresistente Lumboischialgie durch überlangen Dornfortsatz des LWK 5

Ohne ZusammenfassungLiebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen!Wenn Sie eine interessante Falldarstellung haben, schicken Sie bitte Ihren Vorschlag mit Beschreibung und Bildmaterial an die Redaktion.Prof. Dr. W. Beyer, Bad FüssingRedaktion Bild und Fall     

The acute effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde on rates of protein synthesis in type I and type II fibre-rich skeletal muscles of the rat.

Young rats were injected with either ethanol (75 mmol/kg), acetaldehyde (2.8 mmol/kg) or isovolumetric amounts of NaCl (0.15 mol/l, i.e. controls) with or without inhibitors of alcohol dehydrogenase (4-methylpyrazole) or aldehyde dehydrogenase (cyanamide). After 2.5 hr, fractional rates of protein synthesis (i.e. ks) in the soleus (Type I fibre-rich) and plantaris (Type II fibre-rich) muscles were measured. Ethanol alone reduced ks in both soleus and plantaris muscles, by approx. 25%. Pretreatment of ethanol-dosed rats with 4-methylpyrazole raised plasma ethanol levels and reduced ks in the soleus and plantaris by approx. 35%. Pretreatment of ethanol-dosed rats with cyanamide also increased plasma ethanol and further potentiated the effects of ethanol by reducing ks in the soleus and plantaris by approx. 65%. Acetaldehyde alone reduced ks by approx. 15%, and this effect was not significantly altered by 4-methylpyrazole pretreatment. In some instances, the plantaris was slightly more sensitive to ethanol and acetaldehyde than the soleus. Similar conclusions were derived when data were expressed relative to either RNA or DNA. The data thus suggest that the ethanol-induced inhibition of skeletal muscle protein synthesis may possibly be independently mediated by both ethanol and acetaldehyde.     

Bilocular atrial malignant mesenchymoma causing mitral and localized pulmonary vein flow obstruction: diagnosis by transoesophageal echocardiography.

Cardiac malignant mesenchymoma is an extremely rare malignancy with poor prognosis. We report a patient presenting with a history and clinical findings typical of mitral stenosis. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a mass on the thickened posterior mitral leaflet. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed two tumoural masses: one on the atrial side of the posterior mitral leaflet causing mitral obstruction, the other arising in the region of the right lower pulmonary vein orifice and obstructing inflow through this vein.     

An electrophysiological investigation of the properties of a murine recombinant 5-HT3 receptor stably expressed in HEK 293 cells.

1. The pharmacological and biophysical properties of a recombinant 5-HT3 receptor have been studied by use of patch-clamp techniques applied to HEK 293 cells stably transfected with the murine 5-HT3 R-A cDNA. 2. At a holding potential of -60 mV, 77% of cells investigated responded to ionophoretically applied 5-HT with an inward current. Such currents were unaffected by methysergide (1 microM), or ketanserin (1 microM), but were antagonized in a concentration-dependent and reversible manner by the selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, ondansetron (IC50 = 440 pM) and the non-selective antagonists (+)-tubocurarine (IC50 = 1.8 nM) and metoclopramide (IC50 50 nM). 3. The 5-HT-induced current reversed in sign (E5-HT) at approximately -2mV and exhibited inward rectification. The influence of extra- and intracellular ion substitutions upon E5-HT indicates the 5-HT-evoked current to be mainly mediated by a mixed monovalent cation conductance. 4. Calcium and magnesium (0.1-10 nM) produced a concentration-dependent, voltage-independent, inhibition of the 5-HT-induced response. Zinc (0.3-300 microM) exerted a biphasic effect with low concentrations enhancing, and high concentrations depressing, the 5-HT-evoked current. 5. Fluctuation analysis of inward currents evoked by a low (1 microM) concentration of 5-HT suggests the current to be mediated by the opening of channels with a conductance of 420 fS. 6. The pharmacological and biophysical properties of the 5-HT3 R-A are similar to those previously described for 5-HT3 receptors native to murine neuroblastoma cell lines, with the exception that the function of the recombinant receptor was enhanced by low concentrations of zinc. This observation suggests that the properties of the native receptor are not completely represented by the 5-HT3 R-A subunit alone.     

Azithromycin. A review of its antimicrobial activity, pharmacokinetic properties and clinical efficacy.

Azithromycin is an acid stable orally administered macrolide antimicrobial drug, structurally related to erythromycin, with a similar spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Azithromycin is marginally less active than erythromycin in vitro against Gram-positive organisms, although this is of doubtful clinical significance as susceptibility concentrations fall within the range of achievable tissue azithromycin concentrations. In contrast, azithromycin appears to be more active than erythromycin against many Gram-negative pathogens and several other pathogens, notably Haemophilus influenzae, H. parainfluenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Urea-plasma urealyticum and Borrelia burgdorferi. Like erythromycin and other macrolides, the activity of azithromycin is unaffected by the production of beta-lactamase. However, erythromycin-resistant organisms are also resistant to azithromycin. Following oral administration, serum concentrations of azithromycin are lower than those of erythromycin, but this reflects the rapid and extensive movement of the drug from the circulation into intracellular compartments resulting in tissue concentrations exceeding those commonly seen with erythromycin. Azithromycin is subsequently slowly released, reflecting its long terminal phase elimination half-life relative to that of erythromycin. These factors allow for a single dose or single daily dose regimen in most infections, with the potential for increased compliance among outpatients where a more frequent antimicrobial regimen might traditionally be indicated. The potential disadvantage of low azithromycin serum concentrations, however, is that breakthrough bacteraemia may occur in patients who are severely ill; nevertheless, animal studies suggest that tissue concentrations of azithromycin are more important than those in serum when treating respiratory and other infections. The clinical efficacy of azithromycin has been confirmed in the treatment of infections of the lower and upper respiratory tracts (the latter including paediatric patients), skin and soft tissues (again including paediatric patients), in uncomplicated urethritis/cervicitis associated with N. gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis or U. urealyticum and in the treatment of early Lyme disease. Azithromycin was as effective as erythromycin and other commonly used drugs including clarithromycin, beta-lactams (penicillins and cephalosporins), and quinolone and tetracycline antibiotics in some of the above infections. Some patients with acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis due to H. influenzae may be refractory to therapy with azithromycin (as is the case with erythromycin) indicating the need for physician vigilance, although it should be noted that azithromycin is of equivalent efficacy to amoxicillin in the treatment of such patients. In the therapy of urethritis/cervicitis associated with C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoea or U. urealyticum, a single dose azithromycin regimen offers a distinct advantage over currently available pharmacological options, while providing effective therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Foreign-body osteitis of the metacarpal bone.

Foreign-body granulomas in the hand can appear secondary to an unrecognized foreign material. In a six-year-old boy, an extensive sterile osteitis of the second metacarpal bone appeared adjacent to a wood splinter.     

Characterization of P-glycoprotein and multidrug resistance proteins in rat kidney and intestinal cell lines.

The activity of P-glycoprotein (Pgp/MDR1/ABCB1) and multidrug resistance proteins (MRP/ABCC) influence the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of many drugs. Few suitable cell lines for the study of drug transport exist. Additional non-human cell lines may help clarify species differences and contribute to the current knowledge of drug transport. The aim of the present study was to characterize three rat epithelial cell lines for transporter expression and activity. Transporter expression was assessed in intestinal IEC-6 and renal GERP and NRK-52E cells using RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Pgp and Mrp transport activity were analyzed by measuring calcein accumulation and glutathione-S-bimane efflux, respectively. The three cell lines showed Pgp expression and Pgp-dependent transport, both decreasing with culture time after reaching confluency. Besides Pgp, cells expressed Mrp1, Mrp3, Mrp4, and Mrp5, while Mrp2 and Mrp6 were absent. In addition, they showed temperature- and Mrp-dependent efflux of glutathione-S-bimane. Exposure to a panel of different inhibitors showed that this efflux was probably mediated by Mrp4. In conclusion, the three rat epithelial cell lines investigated showed Pgp and Mrp expression and transport. Mrp dependent transport was most likely mediated by Mrp4. In future, these cell lines may be used as in vitro models to study drug transport.