Estimation of base blood pressure by using a new device in the outpatient clinic.

Direct measurement of intra-arterial blood pressure (BP) for 24-h provides approximately 100,000 values that vary enormously, but each (BPi) can be expressed by the equation BPi = BP0 + DeltaBPi (BP0, base BP; DeltaBPi, BP increment, i=1, 2, ..., 100 x 10(3)). About 20% of outpatients with hypertension exhibit white-coat hypertension (WCH). In such patients, DeltaBPc (i = c; c, time at the clinic) is surmised to be large. A method for explaining the physiological factors in DeltaBPc and the estimation of base BP in the outpatient clinic is important. This study addresses this issue. A total of 293 subjects were divided into four groups: 1) WCH group, 45 individuals (office BP > or = 140/90 mmHg and 24-h indirect BP < 125/80 mmHg); 2) normotensive (NT) group, 84 controls matched for age and sex; 3) WHO-I group, 95 hypertensive patients with WHO stage I (office BP > or = 140/90 mmHg and 24-h BP > or = 125/80 mmHg); and 4) WHO-II group, 69 hypertensive patients with WHO stage II. Their BPc and heart rate (HR; HRc, clinic HR) values were measured by a BP-ECG monitoring device in the outpatient clinic. Power-spectral analysis was used to obtain the ratio between the low-frequency component (LF) and high-frequency component (HF) of ECG-RR variability (LF/HF = LH). Twenty-four-hour indirect BP (and BP0) and base HR (HR0) were measured by a portable device (TM2425) at 30-min intervals. Then, DeltaBPc (= BPc - BP0) was estimated by performing linear multivariate analysis applying the model equation DeltaBPc = (BPc -alphaLH)(1-betaHR0/HRc) + epsilon to the above variables (alpha and beta, constant values; epsilon, error). This model equation made it possible to estimate BP0 (and DeltaBPc) with a high coefficient of correlation (r > or = 0.85, mean of error less than 0.82 +/- 5.9 mmHg). The predictive accuracy for discrimination between WCH and sustained hypertension (WHO-I and WHO-II groups) by this equation was 88%. The new DeltaBP-estimation device (BP-ECG monitor) enabled us to infer BP0 and is therefore useful in estimating WCH in the outpatient clinic.     

A novel quinolinone diuretic, M12285, and its activation mechanism through sulfate conjugation.

The diuretic activity of a quinolinone oxime diuretic, M12285, was examined after renal arterial, i.v. and portal injection in rats. M12285 injected into the renal artery at a dose of 1 mg/kg caused no diuretic effect, whereas i.v. and portal injections induced marked diuresis dose dependently. The minimum effective dose with portal injection was lower (1 mg/kg) than that with i.v. injection (3 mg/kg) and the start of the effect was faster with portal injection. These results indicated that some metabolic modification in the liver is necessary for the diuretic activity to appear. Accordingly, we performed in situ rat liver perfusion with M12285 and obtained several metabolites. Renal arterial injection of each fractionated metabolite of M12285 revealed that all the diuretic activity derived from one of these metabolites. From IR and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) measurements, the chemical structure of this active metabolite was assumed to be a sulfate-conjugated form of M12285 at the oxime moiety. Based on this tentative chemical structure, we synthesized the oxime sulfate of M12285 (potassium salt, M17000) and confirmed the identity of IR and 1HNMR spectra. Administration of M17000 into the renal artery induced apparent diuresis in a dose-dependent manner in both rats and dogs. These results indicate that the oxime sulfate of M12285 is responsible for the diuretic activity of M12285. Therefore, we synthesized several derivatives of M17000 and confirmed their possible therapeutic value as a novel family of diuretics, namely quinolinone oxime sulfonic acids.     

An Evaluation of the Residual Activity of Antiseptic Handrub Lotions: An ‘In Use’ Setting Study

An evaluation of the residual activity of quick-drying agents (alcoholic solutions) used for hygienic hand disinfection is described. We looked for residual efficacy following hand disinfection with soap and water alone or followed by one of two alcoholic handrub lotions supplied from an automatic hand washing machine. The bacterial counts on the hands obtained before and within 2 successive hours after disinfection showed that alcoholic chlorhexidine was the most effective for 10 minutes after contamination of the hands. WELPAS® (alcoholic chlorbenzarconium) followed this in its immediate effect and was better than soap and water alone. There were no significant differences after 30‘ or 120‘ between the three disinfecting methods.     

An epidemiological study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from medical staff, inpatients, and hospital environment in one ward at our hospital.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most important causative microorganisms for nosocomial infections. Recently, the incidence of isolation of MRSA has been increasing every year in Japan and is, notably, much more frequently found in inpatients than in outpatients. Therefore, we have done epidemiological studies of MRSA isolated from medical staff, inpatients, and the hospital environment in one ward of our hospital. Thereafter, we examined the antibiotic susceptibility (ABPC, DMPPC, CET, CMZ, IPM, GM, MINO, OFLX, EM, CLDM, VCM), phage typing, and coagulase typing of these MRSA. MRSA were isolated more frequently from anterior nares of inpatients than from doctors and nurses. MRSA were isolated more frequently from the environment near carriers of MRSA. Coagulase type II and phage type N.T. (not typable) were the dominant types of MRSA in our hospital (69% and 61%). MRSA strains were resistant to most antibiotics with a few exceptions (VCM, IPM, CMZ, CET). The high isolation frequency of MRSA in our hospital seems to suggest that inpatients who are carrying MRSA spread MRSA throughout the hospital environment and that the anterior nares of inpatients are the major MRSA harbor.     

Leukocyte chemoattraction by 1,2-diacylglycerol.

Previous reports have demonstrated the hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in response to chemoattractants and in lymphocytes in response to the mitogen phytohemagglutinin. We investigated the role of 1,2-diacylglycerol, one of the products of receptor-linked phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis, in mediating the migratory response of leukocytes. In an under-agarose migration system, we found 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol to be a strong chemoattractant for human PMN, 6C3HED (a mouse thymic lymphoma), and Jurkat (a human T-cell leukemia). By using a modified Boyden chamber assay, the migratory response of PMN to 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol was determined to be primarily chemotactic. Analysis of structural analogs indicated that both the position and number of acyl chains are important in determining chemoattractant activity. These studies demonstrate that exogenous 1,2-diacylglycerol can stimulate the directed migration of leukocytes. They further suggest that the formation of 1,2-diacylglycerol following receptor-mediated stimulation may represent a common step in the migratory responses of myeloid and lymphoid cells.     

Central nervous control of micturition and urine storage.

The micturition reflex is one of the autonomic reflexes, but the release of urine is regulated by voluntary neural mechanisms that involve centers in the brain and spinal cord. The micturition reflex is a bladder-to-bladder contraction reflex for which the reflex center is located in the rostral pontine tegmentum (pontine micturition center: PMC). There are two afferent pathways from the bladder to the brain. One is the dorsal system and the other is the spinothalamic tract. Afferents to the PMC ascend in the spinotegmental tract, which run through the lateral funiculus of the spinal cord. The efferent pathway from the PMC also runs through the lateral funiculus of the spinal cord to inhibit the thoracolumbar sympathetic nucleus and the sacral pudendal nerve nucleus, while promoting the activity of the sacral parasymapathetic nucleus. Inhibition of the sympathetic nucleus and pudendal nerve nucleus induces relaxation of the bladder neck and the external urethral sphincter, respectively. There are two centers that inhibit micturition in the pons, which are the pontine urine storage center and the rostral pontine reticular formation. In the lumbosacral cord, excitatory glutamatergic and inhibitory glycinergic/GABAergic neurons influence both the afferent and efferent limbs of the micturition reflex. The activity of these neurons is affected by the pontine activity. There are various excitatory and inhibitory areas co-existing in the brain, but the brain has an overall inhibitory effect on micturition, and thus maintains continence. For micturition to occur, the cerebrum must abate its inhibitory influence on the PMC.