Skin test inhibition by astemizole.

For the purpose of evaluating the therapeutic effect of antihistamines, we have set up an assay method called the "Skin Test Inhibition Index" (STII). Twenty subjects with hay fever were given astemizole (10 mg/d) for 7 days. Skin titration tests were carried out before and after treatment. Significant inhibition of the skin test reaction by astemizole was demonstrated (STII = 91). Another group of 6 hay fever patients was given astemizole (10 mg/d) for 10 days, and STII was determined on days 5 and 10 and on days 7, 14 and 21 after treatment. STII were calculated as 12, 108, 90, 10 and 7, respectively. These results demonstrate that astemizole is a long-acting antihistamine.     

Cystine stones: the impact of new treatment

The hardness and frequent recurrence of cystine stones present a special challenge to the urologist. In this study, 15 cystinuric patients (11 males, 4 females; mean age 36 years, range 17-54) were treated and followed up over a period of 30 months (range 2-40). Most patients had previous history of open surgery. The diagnosis of cystinuria was confirmed by metabolic studies and infrared spectrometry of stones. Over the follow-up period recurrence was observed in 23 instances in 11 patients, leading to 38 "stone treatments" on 74 cystine stones. The percutaneous approach was used alone in 9 cases and in association with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in 9 cases. ESWL was used alone in 18 cases. Medical treatment included high fluid intake, alkalinisation and Thiola (tiopronin, N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)glycine) in 6 patients. The overall stone-free rate assessed 3 months after treatment was 44.7%, which compares poorly with the rate for non-cystine stones. The recurrence rate is very high and instrumental treatment should not therefore be used excessively; it is indicated only for stones that are symptomatic or refractory to intensive medical therapy.     

"Top of the basilar" syndrome]

Three cases of "Top of the basilar" syndrome are reported. The clinical manifestations included the consciousness disturbance, pupillary and oculomotor abnormalities. One of the 3 cases got cortical blindness. It is emphasized that the possibility of the TOB syndrome should be considered when unconsciousness arose suddenly, accompanied by lid, pupil and oculomotor disturbances without the motor and sensory disturbances. Usually, a bilateral symmetric butterfly hypodensity could be found in the thalamus on CT scan. In addition. It was valuable findings that the infarct lesions have been shown in the mesencephalon, pons, cerebellum, occipital and medial temporal lobe on CT scans.     

Awareness of illness in schizophrenia

This article reviews the literature on "poor insight" or unawareness of illness in schizophrenia. A large body of knowledge representing several different perspectives on insight has developed. This work can be divided into three broad categories, suggesting an important role for insight in the phenomenology, pathophysiology, and treatment of schizophrenia. The argument is made here that many of the self-awareness deficits observed in schizophrenia are of diagnostic significance, are neurally based, and are indispensable in guiding treatment decisions. In addition, this article proposes guidelines for assessing unawareness of illness in schizophrenia and discusses the relevance of such deficits to the diagnosis of schizophrenia.     

Electron microscopic appearance of the chronic Campylobacter jejuni enteritis of mice.

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of human enteritis which mimics the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this study, microstructural changes on the surfaces of the murine gastrointestinal tract persistently colonized by Campylobacter jejuni, strain GJ-S131, were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results revealed that the appearance of the gastrointestinal mucosa in both BALB/C and KM mice resembled that in human with inflammatory bowel disease. Under SEM, the mucosa of the jejunum and ileum, with broken or distorted villi had a "worm eaten" look; crypts were irregular in shape and size, and the mucosa showed atrophy, especially in the colon. Epithelial junctions demonstrated furrows, clefts or deep crevasses, with exudates containing a large number of leukocytes. Cytologic appearances were characterized by microvilli dysplasia and/or atrophy, patchy erosions or necrosis and pelade-like appearance due to absence of microvilli, which were similar to the findings under TEM.

     

Effect of cimetidine on wedged hepatic venous pressure in cirrhotic patients

According to our supposition that "humoral mechanism" plays an important role in the pathogenesis of portal hypertension due to cirrhosis, antagonists to some of humoral substances would lower the portal pressure in cirrhotic patients. Wedged hepatic venous pressure (WHVP) was used as an indicator for changes of portal pressure. Cimetidine was given intravenously to 8 cirrhotic patients, in whom an average lowering of 0.72 kPa (7.3 cm H2O) of WHVP was observed subsequently. This change was of clinical significance as compared with the previous results of splenorenal shunting operations.

     

家兔孤束核区微量注射羟基马桑毒素对该区神经组织的形态学影响

Four hours after unilateral microinjection of tutin (10 micrograms) into the NTS region, the nervous tissue surrounding the center of microinjection showed the following morphologic changes: 1. Under the light microscopic examination (n = 5), the neuronal body showed chromatolysis and the nuclear basophilia enhanced in about 17% of the neurons, the lacunae of neuropil distended and gave a "spongy" appearance. The neurons with lesion mingled with the normal ones in the absence of distinct demarcation. 2. Under the electron microscopic examination (n = 3), the cisterns of rough endoplasmic reticulum distended, and the nuclear electron density increased on account of the increased nuclear chromatin in the affected cells. The organelles of dendrites decreased or disappeared; the neuroglia looked edematous. There were only a few axons which looked edematous in the neuropil. Microinjection of the same volume (1 microliter) of NS into the other side of NTS region in the same rabbit didn't show any sign of damage as those described above. Thus, our preliminary results suggest that tutin might damage the soma and dendrites of some neurons, and therefore, it might be a neuroexcitotoxin.     

矿泉“851”对抗疟治疗的非特异性免疫作用

感染伯氏疟原虫(P.berghe ANKA株)小鼠,经矿泉“851”及与抗疟酮合用治疗后,腹腔巨噬细胞吞噬百分率和吞噬指数明显高于感染对照组(P<0.01)。两组药均能提高小鼠单核巨噬细胞系统(MPS)对碳微粒的廓清率,其K值与对照组相比,P<0.01,MPS活性的增强程度与其疟原虫的抑制率成正相关。