Endothelial and smooth muscle properties of coronary and mesenteric resistance arteries in spontaneously hypertensive rats compared to WKY rats

Summary— To investigate if the functional alterations observed in resistance arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were also present at the coronary level, in vitro experiments were performed in mesenteric resistance arteries (MRA) and in right (RIC) and left interventricular coronary (LIC) arteries taken from 15–25-week-old SHR and age-matched Wistar Kyoto rats WKYs. Using a passive extension protocol, internal diameters corresponding to 100 mmHg intraluminal pressure (D₁₀₀) were determined and vessels were set up to a normalized internal diameter (0.9 D₁₀₀). SHR mesenteric resistance arteries had a significantly smaller diameter compared to WKY arteries, whereas both types of SHR coronary arteries had a greater diameter compared to those of WKY rats. In arteries in the absence of contracting agonist, nitro-L-arginine (NOLA, 100 μM) induced a progressive rise in basal tone, which could be reversed by subsequent addition of L-arginine (100 μM) but not D-arginine (100 μM). When expressed as percent of maximal contractions induced by agonists (noradrenaline, NA [10 μM] in MRA; serotonin, 5-HT [10 μM], in RIC and LIC), these contractions were significantly stronger in WKY compared to SHR coronary and mesenteric resistance arteries. In NA-precontracted MRA and 5HT-precontracted coronary arteries in the presence of indomethacin (10 μM), the magnitude of acetylcholine-induced maximal relaxations (expressed as percent of maximal contractions induced by agonists) was greater in WKY compared to SHR arteries. After a 30-min incubation period, NOLA (100 μM) completely inhibited relaxations induced by acetylcholine (0.01–10 μM) in all types of precontracted arteries. Subsequent additions of sodium nitroprusside, (SNP, 10 μM) induced complete relaxations in all preparations. These results show that a basal release of NO or NO-like compound by endothelial cells is present in isolated mesenteric resistance and coronary arteries of WKY rats and SHRs. The contribution of endothelium-derived relaxing factor-nitric oxide (EDRF-NO) to arterial tone was lower in MRA compared to coronary arteries in both strains and in SHR compared to WKY arteries. In the SHR preparations, the impaired relaxation induced by acetylcholine appeared to be due to a functional alteration of the endothelium in the presence of normal reactivity of the smooth muscle cells.     

Fluctuating PEEP (F–PEEP) versus conventional PEEP in dogs with asymmetrical lung injury

Fluctuating PEEP (F-PEEP) is a newly developed PEEP in which end-expiratory pressure (EEP) is periodically changed within a certain range. In a dog model with unilateral lung injury induced by the introduction of hydrochloric acid, F-PEEP in which the EEP was periodically changed from 0.5 to 1.5 kPa at periods of 6 min, and conventional PEEP (C-PEEP) with an optimized EEP of 1.0 kPa, were each applied for 30 min. F-PEEP produced a significantly greater improvement of PaO2 and intrapulmonary shunt (QS/QT) than C-PEEP, and at the low EEP phase, the greatest improvement accompanied by an increased dynamic compliance and a large cardiac output was obtained. These results suggest that F-PEEP provides a useful mode of artificial ventilation for the treatment of unilateral lung injury.     

钙拮抗剂TMB-8抑制BHQ,NE和KCl引起的培养乳牛基底动脉单个平滑肌细胞内游离钙的升高

用AR CM MIC阳离子测定系统,测量单个细胞内游离钙浓度([Ca²⁺]i),研究8-(N,N-二乙胺)-n-辛基 3,4,5-三甲氧基苯甲酸酯(TMB-8)对培养乳牛基底动脉平滑肌[Ca²⁺]i的作用。在细胞外钙浓度为1.3mmol·L^-1时,TMB-8(30μmol·L^-1)可明显抑制BHQ,NE及KCl引起[Ca²⁺]i的升高。在细胞外钙为零+EGTA 0.1mmol·L^-1时,TMB-8(10,30及100μmol·L^-1)可浓度依赖性地降低静息[Ca²⁺]i,TMB-8(30μmol·L^-1)可几乎完全阻断BHQ及NE引起[Ca²⁺]i的增加。研究表明TMB-8降低培养乳牛基底动脉平滑肌[Ca²⁺]i的机制,主要是抑制肌浆网Ca²⁺的释放,或增加肌浆网对Ca²⁺的摄入,并由此间接地抑制细胞外钙的内流。     

Sources of P300 attenuation after head injury: Single-trial amplitude, latency jitter, and EEG power

Single trial amplitude, latency jitter, and electroencephalographic (EEG) power were examined as sources of the group difference in averaged P300 amplitude among 15 traumatically brain injured and 20 control individuals in an auditory oddball paradigm. Mean amplitude of the individual trials was highly correlated with the amplitude of the averaged P300, with little additional unique variance attributable to latency jitter or EEG power. The group difference in P300 amplitude was also explained by the mean amplitude of the single trials. These results support the robustness of the event-related potential averaging technique within the paradigm used.     

Effect of metoprolol on death and cardiac events during a 2-year period after coronary artery bypass grafting

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of long-term treatment with metoprololafter coronary bypass grafting on death and cardiac events. METHODS: Patients in western Sweden on whom coronary artery bypass graftingwas performed between June 1988 and June 1991 were evaluatedfor inclusion during the first 3 weeks after surgery. Majorexclusion criteria were age >75 years, concomitant valvesurgery, traditional contraindications to beta-blockers andunwillingness to participate. Patients were randomized in adouble-blind fashion to 100 mg of metoprolollplacebo daily for2 weeks and thereafter 200 mg daily for 2 years. RESULTS: Of 2365 patients who were operated on, 967 were randomized toeither metoprolol (n=480) or placebo (n=487). Primary end points(death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris,need for coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous transluminalangioplasty), were reached by 42 patients in the metoprololgroup (8·8%) as compared with 39 in the placebo group(8·0%) (P=0·73). Of all the patients randomizedto metoprolol, 34% withdrew from blind treatment prematurelycompared with 44% for placebo (P<0·01) CONCLUSION: Prophylactic treatment with metoprolol over a 2-year periodafter coronary artery bypass grafting did not reduce death orthe development of cardiac events. However, the 95% confidencelimits ranged from the possibility of a 30% reduction in eventsto a 68% increase in events if patients were treated with metoprololas compared with placebo.     

Rare diseases mimicking acute vertebrobasilar artery thrombosis

Acute ischaemia of the vertebrobasilar circulation leads to a variety of clinical manifestation and is mostly due to cardiogenic or artery-to-artery embolism. We describe four neurological emergency situations involving vertebrobasilar artery aclusion of other origins: basilar migraine, extrinsic compression by rheumatoid inflammatory tissue, generalized vasculitis in subacute rheumatic fever and basilar artery dissection. The differential diagnosis of acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion may have an important impact on patient management.     

左心室舒张(充盈)功能的影响因素

本文用X线电影摄影方法评价了49例左室舒张(充盈)功能的影响因素。冠心病(CAD)组23例,高血压病组12例,正常对照组14例。左室充盈功能或顺应性主要受冠脉病变严重程度的影响。冠脉狭窄程度越重,并有陈旧性心肌梗塞、室壁运动异常、EF下降,则充盈功能受损愈明显。血压、年龄因素对舒张充盈功能的影响较小。在CAD组中,心率与1/3充盈分数呈负相关,与正常化高峰充盈率(NPFR)不相关,而EF则与NPFR相关良好。