Blood flow acceleration in the carotid and brachial arteries of healthy volunteers: respective contributions of cardiac performance and local resistance

Summary— The influence of local resistance and cardiac performance on peripheral blood acceleration was investigated in 14 healthy male volunteers. Steady and pulsatile flow was studied in the brachial and in the common carotid arteries, ie, two territories that exhibit marked differences in resistive characteristics. Instantaneous blood velocity (V), mean blood velocity (V_m) and artery diameter (D) were evaluated at rest by an ultrasonic range-gated pulsed Doppler flowmeter using a double transducer probe, thus allowing the calculation of mean blood flow (Q). Mean local resistance (R) was obtained by dividing the mean arterial pressure by Q. The peak value of the local acceleration of the blood was obtained by computer-assisted calculation of the first derivative of instantaneous blood velocity (G_max = +dV/dt_max). Peak aortic blood acceleration (GAo) was simultaneously measured from the suprasternal notch using a pulsed Doppler velocity meter. In the brachial and the common carotid arteries, G_max was of a similar magnitude (551 ±30 and 555 ± 44 cm/s², respectively) despite major differences in the respective D, V_m, Q and R values. In neither artery was there a relationship between G_max and either resting Q or R. At the brachial artery level, G_max was positively related to GAo ( r = 0.79, P = 0.0008). At the common carotid artery level, there was a weak, although non significant relationship between G_max and GAo ( P = 0.08). Our results indicate that the local acceleration of peripheral blood flow in the brachial artery is related rather to upstream central impulse than to downstream hemodynamics, and suggest some regional differences in the hemodynamic determinants of the local acceleration of peripheral blood flow.     

The effect of coffee on blood lipids and blood pressure. Results from a Norwegian cross-sectional study, men and women, 40-42 years

The association between boiled and filter coffee consumption and levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure was studied, including 14168 men and 14859 women. A total of 94% drank coffee, 55% of the men and 48% of the women drank more than 4 cups per day. The type of coffee consumed varied between the counties, from 11 to 49% boiled and 49 to 87% filter coffee. Serum cholesterol increased linearly with increasing coffee consumption, and most strongly for boiled coffee. Controlling for other variables gave, for boiled coffee, an 8% increase for men and 10% for women. For filter coffee drinkers the coffee dose-cholesterol association remained significant only for women. Triglycerides showed a negative association with coffee, significant after adjustment for other variables. This effect was stronger for filter than for boiled coffee in both sexes. For men and women drinking 1 cup of coffee or more, a significant negative association between both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and number of cups of filter coffee was found. The influence of high consumption of different coffee-types on death rate from coronary heart disease is discussed.     

Iotrol versus metrizamide in lumbar myelography: a double-blind study

In a prospective, randomized, double-blind study, 49 patients underwent lumbar myelography using iotrol (24 patients) or metrizamide (25 patients). The diagnostic imaging adequacy of iotrol was comparable with that of metrizamide. After iotrol myelography, adverse reactions were fewer, less severe, and of shorter duration than were those following metrizamide myelography. Thirteen of 24 patients (54%) receiving iotrol reported some adverse reactions compared with 24 of 25 patients (96%) receiving metrizamide. Five moderate and one severe adverse reaction occurred in the group receiving iotrol. Fourteen moderate and eight severe adverse reactions occurred in the group receiving metrizamide. Thirty-eight patients underwent electroencephalography both before and after myelography (19 iotrol and 19 metrizamide). None of the EEGs obtained after iotrol myelography changed from baseline, while seven of the EEGs obtained after metrizamide myelography showed changes from baseline. Iotrol was judged superior to metrizamide as a contrast medium in this patient population.     

Seat belt use among drinking drivers in Minnesota.

OBJECTIVES. Among the reasons cited for recent declines in alcohol-related traffic fatalities is the enactment of seat belt use laws by most states. It is suspected that drinking drivers are less likely to comply with such laws, although evidence on the relationship between belt use and drinking by drivers is sparse and conflicting. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of drinking to driver seat belt use. METHODS. Observational, self-report, and chemical breath test data were collected on nighttime drivers in 16 Minnesota communities during September, 1990. RESULTS. Drivers with an illegal blood alcohol concentration (> or = 100 mg/dL) were substantially less likely to be wearing a seat belt (odds ratio [OR] = 2.17). Belt use was also more common among females (OR = 2.02) and before midnight (OR = 1.47). Males who had been drinking were less likely to be belted. Belt use was related to drinking before, but not after, midnight. Belt use was not related to drinking status among college graduates, but it was strongly related to drinking status among those with less education. CONCLUSIONS. The present findings provide further argument for rapid implementation of passive countermeasures (airbags) and for development of creative, carefully focused interventions to target high-risk populations.     

High-dose epirubicin in chemotherapy refractory non-seminomatous germ cell cancer: a phase II study. EORTC Genito-Urinary Tract Cancer Co-operative Group. EORTC Early Clinical Trials Group.

Eighteen patients with progressive disseminated, platinum-resistant germ cell tumors were treated with epirubicin 135 mg/m2, every 3 weeks. One patient had stable disease, 17 developed progression. Myelosuppression was dose-limiting. One patient died of neutropenic septicemia. High-dose epirubicin is not active against platinum-resistant germ cell cancer.     

Role for interleukin-1 (IL-1) in benzene-induced hematotoxicity: inhibition of conversion of pre-IL-1 alpha to mature cytokine in murine macrophages by hydroquinone and prevention of benzene-induced hematotoxicity in mice by IL-1 alpha

Chronic exposure of humans to benzene (BZ), a myelotoxin, causes aplastic anemia and acute leukemia. The stromal macrophage that produces interleukin-1 (IL-1), a cytokine essential for hematopoiesis, is a target of BZ's toxicity. Monocyte dysfunction and decreased IL-1 production have been shown to be involved in aplastic anemia in humans. Hydroquinone (HQ), a toxic bone marrow (BM) metabolite of BZ, causes time- and concentration-dependent inhibition of processing of the 34-Kd pre-interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) to the 17-Kd mature cytokine in murine P388D1 macrophages and BM stromal macrophages, as measured by Western immunoblots of cell lysate proteins using a polyclonal rabbit antimurine IL-1 alpha antibody. HQ over a 10-fold concentration range had no effect on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of pre- IL-1 alpha precursor or on cell viability or DNA and protein synthesis. Stromal macrophages obtained from the femoral BM of C57Bl/6 mice exposed to BZ (600 or 800 mg/kg body weight) for 2 days were incapable of processing the 34-Kd pre-IL-1 alpha to the mature 17-Kd cytokine when stimulated in culture with LPS. Stromal macrophages from mice coadministered BZ and indomethacin, a prostaglandin H synthase (PHS) inhibitor that has been shown to prevent BZ-induced myelotoxic and genotoxic effects in mice when coadministered with benzene were able to convert the pre-IL-1 alpha to mature cytokine. Administration of recombinant murine IL-1 alpha (rMuIL-1 alpha) to mice before a dose of BZ that causes severe depression of BM cellularity completely prevents BM depression, most probably by bypassing the inability of the stromal macrophage in BZ-treated animals to process pre-IL-1 alpha to the mature cytokine.