Normal sleep and circadian rhythms: neurobiologic mechanisms underlying sleep and wakefulness.

Sleep is a vital, highly organized process regulated by complex systems of neuronal networks and neurotransmitters. Sleep plays an important role in the regulation of central nervous system and body physiologic functions. Sleep architecture changes with age and is easily susceptible to external and internal disruption. Reduction or disruption of sleep can affect numerous functions varying from thermoregulation to learning and memory during the waking state.     

Dermal absorption of niclosamide in rats and minipigs

The dermal absorption of niclosamide, a drug shown to prevent Schistosomiasis by blocking the dermal penetration of cercariae, has been examined in Sinclair minipigs and rats. Radioactivity in the urine and feces collected daily for 7 days after application of 14C-niclosamide accounted for less than 2 per cent and 10 per cent of the labelled compound applied to pig and rat skin, respectively. Approximately 20 per cent of the radioactivity from the dose solution was recovered on the skin excised from the area of application in both minipigs and rats. No radioactivity was detected in organs removed from the pig 7 days after application of radiolabelled drug while less than 6 per cent of the dose could be accounted for in the rat organs/carcass. Radioactivity in swine blood, removed 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and at 24 h intervals after dosing, was at or below three times background in all of the samples. Total recovery of the applied radioactivity was 78 per cent in pigs and 57 per cent in rats. These studies indicate that niclosamide is very poorly absorbed after dermal application. The results are consistent with earlier comparative studies showing that dermal penetration of xenobiotics in rats is generally higher than in swine.     

Temporal arteritis-like presentation of carotid atherosclerosis

A 68 year-old woman presented with a two-week history of amaurosis fugax, ipsilateral fronto-temporal headache and jaw claudication suggesting carotid giant cell arteritis. However, this syndrome proved to be due to atherosclerosis causing complete occlusion of the external carotid artery at its origin and narrowing of the internal carotid artery. Combined external and internal carotid endarterectomy relieved the symptoms. The symptom complex of temporal arteritis may be rarely mimicked by carotid atherosclerotic occlusive disease.     

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.     

麦冬类中药组织切片计算机三维重建图鉴

利用计算机技术实现麦冬类中药组织连续切片三维重建与动态显示,为计算机辅助生药学鉴定和教学提供了新的三维图像技术和研究资料。     

Genotype determining low catechol-O-methyltransferase activity as a risk factor for obsessive-compulsive disorder

In the present study, we address the role of the gene for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), a key modulator of dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission, in the genetic predisposition to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We show that a common functional allele of this gene, which results in a 3- to 4-fold reduction in enzyme activity, is significantly associated in a recessive manner with susceptibility to OCD, particularly in males. This association is further supported by psychiatric evaluation of patients who carry microdeletions encompassing the comt gene. The mechanism underlying this sex-selective association remains to be defined and may include a sexual dimorphism in COMT activity, although close linkage with a nearby disease susceptibility locus cannot be excluded at this point.     

Obstructive sleep apnoea due to a dermoid cyst of the floor of the mouth.

A case of obstructive sleep apnoea is reported that was caused by a dermoid cyst of the floor of the mouth and cured by surgery.     

表小檗碱对α受体的作用

表小檗碱(epiberberine,EB)是从湖北产黄连(Coptis chinensis Franch)中提取的一种生物碱,属苯喹嗪类原小檗碱,对其药理作用的研究资料甚少,未见其对α肾上腺素体作用的报道。资料表明,许多原小檗碱类化合物有α受体阻滞作用,为从该类化合物中选择