Effects of physiological and pathological levels of glucocorticoids on skeletal muscle glutamine metabolism in the rat

The effects of physiological and pathological concentrations of glucocorticoids were investigated using the glucocorticoid antagonist RU486 and the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone, respectively. The effects of these treatments on the concentrations of glutamine and other amino acids in skeletal muscle and plasma and on the rates of release of glutamine and alanine from incubated preparations of skeletal muscle of the rat were investigated. Dexamethasone treatment increased the concentration of glutamine and the rate of release of this amino acid from incubated soleus muscle preparations. This treatment decreased the concentration of glutamine in both gastrocnemius and EDL muscles, but was without effect on the rate of glutamine release from EDL muscles. In contrast, administration of the glucocorticoid antagonist RU486 decreased the rate of glutamine release from muscle. It is concluded that glucocorticoids have marked effects on the metabolism of glutamine by skeletal muscle per se and that these hormones may be important in the control of the rate of glutamine release from muscle in both physiological and pathological conditions.     

MR in cisternal hydatid cysts.

We describe a case of multiple hydatid cysts in the cerebral subarachnoid space. The diagnosis was based on clinical findings, latex test results, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and MR imaging findings.     

Solitary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma: CT criteria

The computed tomographic (CT) scans of 30 patients with solitary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma were reviewed. Common features at CT included the peripheral or subpleural location of a pulmonary mass (25 cases), pseudocavitation (18 cases), heterogeneous attenuation (17 cases), irregular margins forming a star pattern (22 cases), and pleural tags (21 cases). Using these CT criteria, four independent observers attempted to identify cases of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma from a larger sample of lung cancers and benign lesions by categorizing a series of test cases into four probability categories. Although the bronchioloalveolar carcinomas were correctly ranked in the two highest probability categories 75% of the time (in 45 of 60 cases), there was considerable overlap with other lung lesions, particularly with adenocarcinoma and large cell undifferentiated carcinoma. However, even though the typical features of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma are not invariable or highly specific, they are characteristic enough to suggest the diagnosis.     

Treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma with dacarbazine, vindesine and cisplatin

Twenty-seven patients with disseminated malignant melanoma were treated monthly with cisplatin (CDDP) 120 mg m-2 on day 1, vindesine (VDS) 3 mg m-2 on day 2 and dacarbazine (DTIC) 250 mg m-2 on days 2-6. None of them had received prior chemotherapy. All patients are evaluable for response and toxicity. There were five (19%) complete (CR) and seven (26%) partial (PR) responses for a total response rate of 45%. We conclude that the combination of DTIC, VDS and CDDP is capable of producing a relatively high rate of response in patients with advanced metastatic malignant melanoma, but responses are short.