Acute leriche syndrome due to paradoxical embolism.

Paradoxical embolism, describing the passage of venous or right-sided cardiac thrombus into the arterial or systemic circulation through patent foramen ovale, is an uncommon cause of acute arterial occlusion. Here, we report acute Leriche syndrome in a young woman attributable to paradoxical embolism. Ischaemia, patent foramen ovale, and venous thrombosis were the triad of evidence for paradoxical embolism.     

Phosphorus Oxychloride in Organic Synthesis. Part 3: Synthesis of α-Benzoylaminocinnamic Acids

A new approach to the activation of reactants during the condensation of aromatic aldehydes with N-aroylglycines (acting as CH-acids) is described. The condensation reaction carried out on heating in phosphorus oxychloride leads to a high yield of 4-benzylideneoxazol-5-one derivatives. The hydrolysis of these intermediate products yields the target α-benzoylaminocinnamic acids. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 39, No. 7, pp. 41 – 42, July, 2005.     

Transplantation of microencapsulated bovine chromaffin cells reduces lesion-induced rotational asymmetry in rats

Surrounding bovine chromaffin cells by a semipermeable membrane may protect the transplanted cells from a host immune response and shield them from the inflammatory process resulting from the surgical trauma. Encapsulation of the chromaffin cells was achieved by inter-facial adsorption of a polycation on a polyanionic colloid matrix in which the chromaffin cells were entrapped. Basal and potassium-evoked release of catecholamines from encapsulated bovine chromaffin cells was analyzed over a 4-week period in vitro. Norepinephrine and dopamine release remained constant over time whereas epinephrine release significantly decreased. The chromaffin cells also retained the capacity for depolarization-elicited catecholamine release 4 weeks following the encapsulation procedure. Morphological analysis revealed the presence of intact chromaffin cells with well-preserved secretory granules. Striatial implantation of chromaffin cell-loaded capsules significantly reduced apomorphine-induced rotation compared to empty polymer capsules in animals lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamne frr at least 4 weeks. Intact chromaffin cells expressing tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-β-hydroxylase were observed in all capsules implanted in the striatum for 4 weeks. The assessment of the clinical potential of transplanting encapsulated adrenal chromaffin cells of either allo- or xenogeneic origin for Parkinson's disease will require long-term behavioral studies. The present study suggests, however, that the polymer encapsulation procedure may offer an alternative to adrenal autografts as a source of dopaminergic tissue.     

Steroids in Duchenne muscular dystrophy--deflazacort trial

We conducted a double blind controlled trial in 28 Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients with Deflazacort (DF), an oxazoline derivative of prednisolone which reduces its side-effects. Myometric muscle strength measurements, Scott Score and timed tests showed statistically significant improvement for the treated group (P less than 0.05). Side-effects after 9 months of treatment included mild cushingoid appearance in four patients (28%) and moderate in only one (7%), increased appetite in seven (50%), increased body hair in four (28%), irritability and hyperactivity in three (21%). Increased body weight was not prominent and was controlled with dietary measures. No patient had to be withdrawn from medication. More research and long-term follow-up are needed in order to establish the mechanism of improvement and the consequences of long-term steroid administration in DMD. In this regard DF appears as an alternative to prednisone preserving its benefits but with fewer side-effects.     

Altered excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptor binding in hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

We examined binding to excitatory amino acid and inhibitory amino acid receptors in frozen hippocampal sections prepared from surgical specimens resected from 8 individuals with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. The excitatory receptors studied included N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), strychnine-insensitive glycine, phencyclidine, and quisqualate. The inhibitory receptors studied were gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) and benzodiazepine. Excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptor binding were differentially altered in the patients with temporal lobe epilepsy in comparison to 8 age-comparable autopsy control subjects, and changes in receptor binding were regionally selective in four areas. Binding to phencyclidine receptors associated with the NMDA channel was reduced by 35 to 70% in all regions in the hippocampi of the patients. In contrast, binding to the NMDA recognition site and its associated glycine modulatory site was elevated by 20 to 110% in the cornu ammonis (CA) 1 area and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of the patients. Binding to these sites was unaffected in area CA4. Binding to the quisqualate-type excitatory amino acid receptor was unchanged in all regions except the stratum lacunosum moleculare CA1, where it was increased by 63%. GABAA and benzodiazepine receptor binding was reduced by 20 to 60% in CA1 and CA4, but unchanged in dentate gyrus. The data indicate that excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptors are altered in the hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.