Ankle-arm blood pressure monitoring does not correlate with serum lipoprotein a in renal transplant recipients

OBJECTIVE: Lipoprotein a [Lp(a)] is a strong biochemical risk factor that predicts posttransplant atherosclerosis. In this study we measured the ankle to arm blood pressure index (AAI) as a predictor of clinical atherosclerosis and assessed its relationship to serum Lp(a) values among 60 renal transplant recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After measuring the AAI in a recumbent position, biochemical factors including cholestrol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and Lp(a) were measured by commercial kits in 60 renal transplant and 30 healthy subjects. Results were analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: Lp(a) concentrations were significantly higher among transplant recipients compared with the control group (P < .05). AAI was similar between the kidney transplant recipients and controls, showing no significant correlation of Lp(a) concentration with AAI. CONCLUSION: Increased serum Lp(a) in renal transplant recipients, a potent biochemical risk factor for atherosclerosis, was not associated with abnormal AAI.     

Neonatal damage of the ventral hippocampus impairs working memory in the rat.

We investigated if a developmental lesion of the ventral hippocampus, studied previously as an animal model of schizophrenia, impairs performance in working memory tests related to the prefrontal cortex. Adult rats with a neonatal or adult excitotoxic lesion of the ventral hippocampus were tested in a continuous delayed alternation and a discrete paired-trial variable-delay alternation task. Performance of rats with the neonatal lesion was impaired as compared with control rats on both tasks, whereas performance of rats with the adult lesion was not altered in either task. The pattern of impaired performance, that worsened with increasing delays in neonatally lesioned rats, resembled that reported previously in animals with adult lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex. These results indicate that an early developmental, but not adult hippocampal, insult impairs performance in tasks sensitive to the integrity of the prefrontal cortex, and suggest that working memory may be compromised by neonatal damage of the ventral hippocampus.     

Comparative NMR studies of diffusional water permeability of erythrocytes from some animals introduced to Australia: Rat rabbit and sheep

The diffusional water permeability (P _d) of the red blood cell (RBC) membrane of rat, rabbit and sheep, representing some animal species introduced to Australia, has been monitored, by a Mn²⁺-doping ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NR) technique using a high-field spectometer operating at 400 MHz. In order to make comparisons with previous measurements on the same species (performed at 25 MHz) an analysis of the influence of instrumental parameters and of the state of blood oxygenation was performed on samples of rat and rabbit blood. It was found that by using a short interpulse delay (around 100 µs) in the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence, and by performing the measurements of the transverse relaxation time of the water in the cell interior (T _2i) on packed cells (haematocrit >95%), the values of the water exchange time (T _e) obtained with a high-field spectrometer are comparable with those obtained by using a low-field NMR spectrometer. The values of the diffusional water permeability (P _d), calculated from the T _e values, were, at 24.6°C around 10 × 10^–3 cm/s in case of rat and rabbit RBC and around 5 × 10^–3 cm/s for sheep RBC; at 37°C the P _d values were around 16 × 10^–3 cm/s for rat RBC, 14 × 10^–3 cm/s for rabbit RBC and 7 × 10^–3 cm/s for sheep RBC. These values are very close to the P _d values previously reported for the European counterparts of these species. There were no significant differences in the P _d values between laboratory rabbits and wild rabbits, or between castrated males, pregnant or nonpregnant females. These results suggest that no changes in the RBC water permeability are correlated with marked alterations in the habitat of animal species introduced to Australia or by sex hormone status. If the NMR instrument-parameters are carefully chosen then comparative studies of RBC water permeability in different laboratories, at separate locations and using different instruments are meaningful.     

Wireless,accelerometry-triggered functional electrical stimulation of the peroneal nerve in spastic paresis: A randomized,controlled pilot study

In hemiparesis, Wireless, Accelerometry-Triggered Functional Electrical Stimulation (WAFES) of the common peroneal nerve may hold intrinsic rehabilitative properties. The present pilot study analyzes WAFES against conventional therapy. Twenty adults with chronic hemiparesis (time since lesion 7(6) years; median (interquartile range)) were randomized into 2 10-week rehabilitation programs: a 45-minute (min) daily walk using WAFES (n = 10) and conventional physical therapy (CPT), 3 × 45 min per week (n = 10). The outcomes were 3D sagittal speed measurements, step length, cadence, maximal amplitude and velocity of hip, knee, and ankle during gait at free and fast speed without WAFES and clinical assessments of plantar flexor angles of shortening, spasticity, and weakness, before (D1) and after the program (W10). Kinematic and spasticity improvements occurred in the WAFES group only: (i) ankle dorsiflexion velocity (D1 versus W10, free speed, WAFES, +4(5)°/sec, p = 0.002; CPT, ?3(8)°/sec, p = 0.007; fast, WAFES, +8(6)°/sec, p = 0.03; CPT, ?1(4)°/sec, NS); (ii) maximal passive ankle dorsiflexion (WAFES,+26(85)%; CPT,+0(27)%; group-visit, p = 0.007) and knee flexion (WAFES, +13(17)%; CPT, ?1(11)%; group-visit, p = 0.006) at fast speed only; (iii) 15% plantar flexor spasticity grade reduction with WAFES. Over 10 weeks, gait training using WAFES improved ankle and knee kinematics and reduced plantar flexor spasticity compared with CPT. Studies with longer WAFES use should explore functional effects.     

Thymidine phosphorylase is angiogenic and promotes tumor growth.

Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor was previously identified as the sole angiogenic activity present in platelets; it is now known to be thymidine phosphorylase (TP). The effect of TP on [methyl-3H]thymidine uptake does not arise from de novo DNA synthesis and the molecule is not a growth factor. Despite this, TP is strongly angiogenic in a rat sponge and freeze-injured skin graft model. Neutralizing antibodies and site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that the enzyme activity of TP is a condition for its angiogenic activity. The level of TP was found to be elevated in human breast tumors compared to normal breast tissue (P < 0.001). Overexpression of TP in MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells had no effect on growth in vitro but markedly enhanced tumor growth in vivo. These data and the correlation of expression in tumors with malignancy identify TP as a target for antitumor strategies.