Ultrasonographic study on kidneys in patients with acute renal failure]

Ultrasonotomograms of 22 kidneys were obtained in 11 patients with renal-acute renal failure (renal-ARF). The underlying diseases of renal-ARF were acute tubular necrosis in 8 patients and acute on-set chronic glomerulonephritis in 3 patients. They were treated by hemodialysis in 10 patients and intermittent peritoneal dialysis in 1 patient. Ultrasonic measurement of the size of kidneys revealed that the thickness (anterior-posterior diameter) and the ratio of thickness to length (T/L) were greater in patients with ARF than in those with chronic renal failure and normal renal function. The patients with a low value of T/L (under 0.60) had a significantly greater urine volume than those with high a value of T/L (0.60 or more). The sonographic features of renal-ARF kidneys were marked increase in parenchymal echogenicity and appearance of hypoechoic swollen renal pyramids with sharpness of the corticomedullary border. In the course of ARF, these sonographic changes gradually disappeared when the patients had recovered from ARF. However, the prognosis was poor in patients with severer sonographic findings. We believe that repeated ultrasonic examination of the kidneys in patients with renal-ARF is useful for not only differential diagnosis of post-renal urinary obstruction but evaluating the course of ARF.     

Chronic acid ingestion promotes renal stone formation in rats treated with vitamin D3

OBJECTIVE: Although hypercalciuria, a well-established adverse effect of vitamin D3, can be a risk factor of renal stone formation, the risk of nephrolithiasis has not been well defined. The consumption of a diet high in acid precursors is often cited as a risk factor for the development of calcium-based kidney stones. In the present study, we investigated the effect of chronic acid ingestion on kidney stone formation in rats treated with calcitriol (1-25[OH]2 D3). METHODS: Control rats (C-C), calcitriol-treated rats (C-V; three treatments of 0.5 microg of calcitriol per week) and acid-ingested (water containing 0.21 mol/L NH4Cl), calcitriol-treated (three treatments of 0.5 microg of calcitriol per week) rats (A-V) were fed in metabolic cages. After 1 month, urine, blood, kidney and bone samples were analyzed. RESULTS: The A-V rats exhibited elevated serum calcium concentrations, urinary calcium and phosphate excretion, urinary type I collagen cross-linked N-peptide (NTx)/creatinine values, mRNA expression of osteopontin in the kidney, and renal calcium contents as well as decreased bone mineral densities, compared with the C-C and C-V rats. Urinary citrate excretion was lower and NaDC-1 mRNA expression in the kidney was higher in the A-V rats than in the C-C and C-V rats. Calcium phosphate kidney stones were found in the A-V rats. CONCLUSIONS: The ingestion of NH4Cl, an acid precursor, promotes calcium phosphate kidney stone formation in calcitriol-treated rats. The chronic intake of a diet rich in acid precursors may be a risk factor for the development of kidney stones in subjects who are being treated with calcitriol.     

Attenuated sympathetic tone augments nitrous oxide-induced myocardial depression during high-dose fentanyl anaesthesia in dogs

The purpose of this study was to determine whether centrally mediated sympathetic tone exerts compensatory effects on nitrous oxide-induced myocardial depression during high-dose fentanyl anaesthesia. The cardiovascular responses to 60 minutes of nitrous oxide administration after fentanyl, 100 micrograms.kg-1, were examined in 18 dogs with or without autonomic blockade induced by hexamethonium. Decreases of cardiac output and left ventricular stroke work were significantly greater in dogs with autonomic blockade (n = 9) by about 20 per cent of baseline values than in dogs without autonomic blockade (n = 9) at 30, 45, and 60 min. Similarly, left ventricular dP/dt was reduced more in dogs with autonomic blockade than in dogs without autonomic blockade, but this difference was only significant at the 60-min period. It is concluded that the sympathetic nervous system provides partial compensation for myocardial depression induced by nitrous oxide in the presence of high-dose fentanyl, suggesting that large doses of fentanyl do not ablate the centrally mediated sympathomimetic effects of nitrous oxide.     

Electrocatalytic dehalogenation of organohalides on a nickel(II) tetraazamacrocyclic complex-modified graphite felt electrode

Electrocatalytic dehalogenation of organohalides was studied using a nickel(II) tetraazamacrocyclic complex-modified graphite felt electrode. The nickel(II) tetraazamacrocyclic complex-modified graphite felt electrode was prepared by attaching nickel(II) (6-(2′-hydroxyethyl)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane)perchlorate chemically to the carboxyl groups of a thin poly(acrylic acid) layer coated on the graphite felt. The modified electrode gave a reversible electron transfer for the nickel(II)/nickel(I) redox couple in cyclic voltammetry at ?0.95 V versus Ag/AgCl. A preparative electrocatalytic dehalogenation of organohalides was successfully achieved on the modified electrode with an adequate current efficiency (55.6–94.8%), conversion (34.2–100%) and turnover number of the Ni catalyst (667–3333).     

Dispersion of Pressure to the Head in Brain/NeuroSurgery

Skin and soft tissue defects are sometimes problematic especially when the defects large, contaminated, irradiated, or poor blood supplied. The human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are proliferated upon basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimuli in vitro and in vivo. In this experiment, the skin and soft tissue defects are investigated if the wounds are able to be reepithelialized or accelerated by hMSCs, bFGF and porcine‐derived bilayered skin template.
1.5 × 1.5 cm² nude rat skin and soft tissue defects including panniculus carnosus are excised and 1 × 10⁶ hMSCs and various doses of bFGF (1–100 μg) applied. Before and after normal reepithelialization, the tissues are tested for protein expressions by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting.
The wound sizes are significantly decreased at day 7 with hMSCs with 1, 10, or 100 μg bFGF compared to hMSCs‐alone or medium‐only. All the wounds healed by day 42. 42 Kda and 38 Kda human‐derived pancytokeratin expressions, which do not cross‐react with murine antigens, by Western blotting significantly augmented by 10 μg bFGF compared to hMSCs‐alone. The epidermal immunolocalizations such as integrin α3 and SKALP (Skin‐derived Anti Leukoproteinase) are greatly elevated in time and dose‐dependent manner. Human pan‐cytokeratin expressions are immunoreactive even at day 42.
These data suggest the skin and soft tissue wound healing is accelerated by hMSCs together with bFGF, partly by means of differentiation of hMSCs toward epidermal components.