Serial cross-sectional echocardiographic detection of multiform floating right-heart thromboemboli. A case report

This report describes a case in which serial cross-sectional echocardiographic examinations allowed us to make the diagnosis and to follow anatomical evolution of pulmonary thromboemboli. Frequent (three times a day for seven days) echocardiographic surveillance of thromboemboli allowed us to assess the effectiveness of the therapeutic approach.     

Sedative effect of acupuncture during cataract surgery: prospective randomized double-blind study

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of acupuncture in reducing anxiety in patients having cataract surgery under topical anesthesia. SETTING: Vita-Salute University of Milan and IRCCS H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. METHODS: In a prospective randomized double-blind controlled trial, anxiety levels before and after cataract surgery in 3 groups (A = no acupuncture, B = true acupuncture starting 20 minutes before surgery, C = sham acupuncture starting 20 minutes before surgery) were compared using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Twenty-five patients scheduled for inpatient phacoemulsification were enrolled in each group. All surgeries were performed using topical anesthesia. Exclusion criteria were refusal to provide informed consent, use of drugs with sedative properties, psychiatric disease, pregnancy, knowledge of the principles of acupuncture, anatomic alterations, or cutaneous infections precluding acupuncture at the selected acupoints. RESULTS: Preoperative anxiety levels were significantly lower only in Group B (P = .001). Anxiety in Group B was significantly lower than in Group A (P = .001) and Group C (P = .037). Regarding postoperative anxiety, the mean VAS score was 39 +/- 5 in Group A, 19 +/- 3 in Group B, and 31 +/- 4 in Group C. The difference was significant only between Group A and Group B (P = .003). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture was effective in reducing anxiety related to cataract surgery under topical anesthesia.     

Assessment of micronuclei induction in peripheral erythrocytes of fish exposed to xenobiotics under controlled conditions

The aim of the present study was to standardize and to assess the predictive value of the cytogenetic analysis by MN test in fish erythrocytes as a biomarker for marine environmental contamination. MN frequency baseline in erythrocytes was evaluated in a number of fish species from a reference area (S. Teresa, La Spezia Gulf) and genotoxic potential of a number of common chemical contaminants and mixtures was determined in fish experimentally exposed in aquarium under controlled conditions. Fish (Scophthalmus maximus) were exposed for 3 weeks to 50 ppb of single chemicals (dialkyl phthalate, bisphenol A, tetrabromodiphenyl ether), 30 ppb nonylphenol and mixtures (North Sea oil and North Sea oil with alkylated phenols). Chromosomal damage was determined as micronuclei (MN) frequency in fish erythrocytes. Nuclear anomalies such as blebbed, notched and lobed nuclei were also recorded. Significant increase in MN frequency was observed in erythrocytes of fish exposed to bisphenol A and tetrabromodiphenylether. Chemical mixture North Sea oil+alkylated phenols induced the highest MN frequency (2.95 micronucleated cells/1000 cells compared to 1 MNcell/1000 cells in control animals). The study results revealed that micronucleus test, as an index of cumulative exposure, appears to be a sensitive model to evaluate genotoxic compounds in fish under controlled conditions.     

DNA damage and repair induced by diazoacetyl derivatives of amino acids with different mechanism of cytotoxicity. Correlations with mutagenicity and carcinogenicity

Summary Eight synthetic N-diazoacetyl amino acids, prepared by inserting a diazoacetyl group onto the -nitrogen of a natural amino acid, and two natural diazoazetyl amino acids, azaserine (O-diazoacetyl-L-serine) and DON (6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine), have been studied by autoradiography for their capacity to induce DNA repair synthesis in mouse cells cultivated in vitro. Dose-dependent unscheduled DNA synthesis was present in cells treated with the eight N-diazoacetyl derivatives, and was absent in cells exposed to approximately equitoxic concentrations of azaserine and DON. Azaserine and DON, unlike N-diazoacetyl derivatives, did not alkylate -(4-nitrobenzyl) pyridine at an appreciable extent. When DNA damage (single stranded breaks or weak points in alkali) was measured by the sensitive technique of alkaline elution, DGA was found about 4 times as potent as azaserine and about 12 times as DON on a molar basis, but about 800 and 17,000 times as potent as azaserine and DON respectively by extrapolating to equitoxic concentrations. Carcinogenicity and mutagenicity seem to follow mainly the capability of inducing DNA damage.This investigation was supported in part by a grant of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche     

Ribosomal RNA in avian leukosis virus particles

The RNAs of avian viruses originating from the plasma of leukemic chickens (AMV) or from tissue culture (MAV-B) consisted of five distinct components with sedimentation constants of 62 s, 27 s, 17 s, 9 s, and 4–5 s. Whereas the 27 s and 17 s minor RNA components could be consistently recovered from large quantities of AMV, fractionation procedures as well as labelling conditions were found to be critical for their detection when the virus originated from tissue culture fluids. Sedimentation studies, base ratio analysis, and hybridization experiments all indicated that the 27 s and 17 s components probably represent ribosomal RNA, and the significance of the presence of cellular RNA in the virus particles is discussed.     

Use of a nonselective beta-blocker, nadolol, in the treatment of portal hypertension in cirrhotics

Recently a medical treatment with propranolol has been proposed in order to decrease portal pressure and lessen the risk of recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding in cirrhotic patients. No data are available about another beta-blocker, nadolol, which, unlike propranolol, has a low hepatic metabolism, a low lipid solubility, a long serum half-life and does not reduce renal blood flow in patients with arterial hypertension. In 18 cirrhotics with portal hypertension, the effects of nadolol were studied on systemic and hepatic haemodynamics and liver function, at a dosage which reduced the heart rate by 25%. After one month of treatment, a significant decrease in cardiac output, portohepatic gradient and estimated hepatic blood flow were found. The degree of oesophageal varices was reduced in 11 patients, unchanged in the other seven. Hepatic function, evaluated by galactose eliminating capacity, did not change significantly. Although the small number of treated patients does not allow definitive conclusions, nadolol seems to have the features needed to be used in the medical treatment of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis.     

Hereditary systemic amyloidosis due to Asp76Asn variant β2-microglobulin

We describe a kindred with slowly progressive gastrointestinal symptoms and autonomic neuropathy caused by autosomal dominant, hereditary systemic amyloidosis. The amyloid consists of Asp76Asn variant β(2)-microglobulin. Unlike patients with dialysis-related amyloidosis caused by sustained high plasma concentrations of wild-type β(2)-microglobulin, the affected members of this kindred had normal renal function and normal circulating β(2)-microglobulin values. The Asp76Asn β(2)-microglobulin variant was thermodynamically unstable and remarkably fibrillogenic in vitro under physiological conditions. Previous studies of β(2)-microglobulin aggregation have not shown such amyloidogenicity for single-residue substitutions. Comprehensive biophysical characterization of the β(2)-microglobulin variant, including its 1.40-?, three-dimensional structure, should allow further elucidation of fibrillogenesis and protein misfolding.