Conchotome and needle percutaneous biopsy of skeletal muscle.

Percutaneous muscle biopsy is an important and acceptable technique in the study of conditions involving human skeletal muscle. A review of 436 conchotome and needle muscle biopsies obtained over 18 months in this centre is presented.     

Detection of abnormality of fetal urinary tract as a predictor of renal tract disease

Over three years all infants in this hospital found to have an abnormality of the urinary tract on antenatal scanning were followed up after delivery with contrast radiography. Disease of the renal tract was confirmed in 17 of 20 infants. Of the 15 survivors, 12 underwent surgery in the first year of life. Abnormality of the fetal urinary tract detected by ultrasound scanning seems to be an important indicator of disease of the renal tract. Before its use is extended, however, further assessment of the benefit of antenatal diagnosis and of the best time to scan is required.     

Direct excitatory effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY) on rat hippocampal neurones in vitro

Intracellular recordings from granule cells of the rat dentate gyrus show neuropeptide Y (NPY) applied by pressure ejection from pipettes containing 1.2-12 microM by pressures of less than 200 kPa for 1-5 s in duration to consistently evoke membrane depolarisations accompanied by a reduction in membrane resistance. The depolarisations were accompanied by an increase in excitability. Since the depolarisations evoked by NPY were not attenuated by either tetrodotoxin or kynurenic acid a direct excitatory action of NPY is postulated.     

Single-reagent polarization fluoroimmunoassay for theophylline in serum

A polarization fluoroimmunoassay for theophylline was developed employing fluorescein-labeled drug and antiserum precombined in a single reagent. Assay was performed simply by addition of sample to an aliquot of the single reagent, incubation, and determination of fluorescence polarization. Because of the relatively rapid dissociation kinetics of the labeled drug from antibody binding, added unlabeled theophylline caused displacement within a practical time period. The precision, accuracy, and specificity of the simplified single-reagent assay were similar to those obtained by a conventional immunoassay procedure using the same reagents. Results for the assay of patients' serum specimens correlated well with those by an established enzymoimmunoassay.     

Temporal variation in triazolam pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics after oral administration

The effect of time of day of drug administration on triazolam pharmacokinetics was studied in ten healthy men. In a randomized, two-way, crossover investigation, each subject received one 0.5 mg triazolam tablet either in the morning (7 AM) or evening (10 PM). Blood samples were obtained immediately before dosing and at selected times up to 12 hours after dosing. Triazolam plasma concentrations were determined by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Psychomotor performance tests, including digit symbol substitution, card sorting by suits, and card sorting by fours, were administered, and the subjects' sedation was rated before drug and at two, ten, and 12 hours after drug administration. In addition, anterograde amnesia was assessed by showing objects to subjects two hours after dosing and testing aided and unaided recall at ten hours following administration. Triazolam's apparent elimination half-life after evening administration was significantly longer than after daytime ingestion (3.77 hr vs. 2.94 hr, P less than .05). There was no difference between times of dosing in total oral clearance or apparent volume of distribution. The absorption of triazolam was slower after evening administration, with an absorption half-life of 21.9 vs 13.3 minutes after daytime dosing. Performance decrements were significantly greater two hours after dosing in evening than in the daytime, but anterograde amnesia was more pronounced after daytime dosing. There was no effect on psychomotor performance at ten or 12 hours after administration in daytime or evening. These results indicate temporal variation in triazolam absorption and elimination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Morphological and biochemical correlates of chemical induced injury in the lung

We have reviewed some of the factors which contribute to lung damage by various toxicants. These include disposition of the chemical, its metabolism, individual cell type susceptibility and the potential for the tissue to repair. We have discussed the use of biochemical parameters to measure the functional activity of individual cell types in order to predict the damage to specific cell types and concluded that careful morphological analysis of lung tissue is likely to provide a more sensitive and informative measure of specific cell type injury. However, in order to investigate the mechanism of toxicity of pulmonary toxicants it is essential to establish the primary biochemical event that leads to cell damage and morphological change. The importance of separating the relevant biochemical change(s) from the cascade of biochemical events associated with dead and dying cells and the reparative response of the lung is emphasised.This report results from a discussion sponsored and organised by the Advisory Subgroup in Toxicology (AST) of the European Science Foundation's Standing Committee for the European Medical Research Councils and held at the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit, Carshalton, U. K. Those taking part were: W. N. Aldridge (AST; as above); J. Bignon (Unit for Research in Renal and Pulmonary Pathology, University of Paris, Creteil, France); P. H. Burri (Section of Developmental Biology, Institute of Anatomy, University of Berne, Switzerland); G. M. Cohen (as above); D. Dinsdale (MRC Toxicology Unit, Carshalton U. K.); P. Hedqvist (Dept. of Physiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden); D. Henschler (AST; Dept. of Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Wurzburg, FDR); G. J. Laurent (Biochemistry Unit, Cardiothoracic Institute, University of London, London, U. K.); R. Lauwerys (AST Industrial and Medical Toxicology Unit, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium); F. Lembeck (AST; Dept. for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Graz, Austria); N. Lery (AST; Poison Control Centre, Lyon, France); P. Moldeus (Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden); B. Nemery (MRC Toxicology Unit, Carshalton, U. K.); A. Saria (Dept. for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Graz, Austria); L. L. Smith (as above);B. Terracini (AST; Dept. of Pathology and Cancer Epidemiology, University of Turin, Italy)     

Stress-Related Changes in β-Endorphin Processing: The Limitations of Slaughterhouse Material

In the sheep, unlike many other species, a significant proportion (>25%) of immunoreactive β-endorphin in the anterior pituitary is post-translationally modified to opioid-inactive, α-N-acetylated forms. In a study to determine the precise molecular nature of α-N-acetylated β-endorphin immunoreactivity, we noted a striking difference in high-performance liquid chromatography profiles of anterior pituitary extracts between sheep killed on the farm, and age-, sex- and strain-matched slaughterhouse animals. These altered patterns of a-N-acetylated β-endorphin processing were reproduced in farm animals by chronic (≤ 4 days) treatment with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone; in contrast dexamethasone had no effect on a-N-acetylated β-endorphin processing in hypothalamo-pituitary disconnected sheep. These data suggest that (1) the change in processing is a stress response, mediated by prolonged glucocorticoid exposure, (2) this effect is central, rather than a direct effect on the pituitary, and (3) the relative abundance of various peptide sequences in slaughterhouse-derived material may not reflect their abundance under more physiological conditions.     

Immature circulating lymphocytes in severely malnourished Guatemalan children

The percentage of peripheral blood lymphocytes forming rosettes with sheep erythrocytes (E-rosettes) was determined in 33 severely malnourished Guatemalan children, and in two groups of clinically well but mildly growth retarded children from the same environment. Mean E-rosettes in the acutely ill patients was lower than the value observed in the mildly malnourished children, although there was considerable overlap between groups. These data differ from previously published studies of severely malnourished children from other parts of the world in that not all patients had decreased values for E-rosettes, in contrast to the uniform depression reported by others. As all patients were clinically similar, the results suggest that there may be specific nutrient defects associated with protein-energy malnutrition that particularly affect immune function. In addition, in vitro incubation of lymphocytes from the acutely malnourished children with the thymic factor, thymosin fraction 5, increased the percentage of E-rosettes in a dose-dependent fashion. These data suggest that immature, thymosin-responsive T cells are present in circulation. It is possible that in vivo thymosin administration may be beneficial for malnourished individuals.     

Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME) inhibits rat embryo ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity

The effects of ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME) on reproductive outcome in the rat, and on ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in the rat embryo were evaluated. Dams (n = 8) were treated by gavage on gestation days 6-12 (sperm = day 0) with 0, 25, 50 or 75 mg/kg EGME in 10 ml/kg distilled water. EGME had a dose-dependent effect on reproductive outcome. Gestation length was prolonged, and the number of litters delivered and neonatal body weight were reduced. Whole embryo ODC was measured on gestation days 9, 11, 13 and 15. ODC attained maximum activity in controls on day 11, increasing by more than an order of magnitude above the activity found on day 9. On day 11, a statistically significant dose-dependent inhibition of ODC activity was observed with the maximum dose of EGME inhibiting ODC activity 60 percent. On days 13 and 15, ODC activity declined markedly from peak values, and the dose-dependent inhibition was no longer evident. The study demonstrates a correlation between the inhibition of embryonic ODC activity by EGME and the effect of EGME on reproductive outcome.