Effect of Cisapride on ATP-sensitive K Channel of Ventricular Cell

BACKGROUND: It has been generally accepted that Cisapride (Prepulsid?or propulsid?), a widely used gastrointestinal prokinetic agent, is associated with Torsades de Points, a life-threatening arrhythmia. Recently, cisapride-induced APD (action potential duration)-prolongation was inhibited by glibenclamide, a KATP channel blocker. But the direct effect of cisapride on K(ATP) channels has not been studied until now. Therefore, we investigated cisapride's effects on KATP channels of isolated rat ventricular myocytes. METHODS: After the isolation of rat ventricular myocytes, we analysed the single channel current with patch pipettes. The method of analysis was the student t-test. RESULTS: 1) Cisapride (10(-6) M- 10(-4) M) inhibited KATP channel opening without changing channel conductance Ki was about 20micronM, and Hill coefficient was 0.75. 2) Cisapride inhibited pinacidil-induced KATP channel opening in the cell attached mode. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that cisapride-induced APD prolongation and arrythmic effects may be partly related to KATP channel inhibition.

Changes of Souble ICAM-1 Levels in Patients with Tsutsugamushi Disease / 대한내과학회지

OBJECTIVES: ICAM-1 has been shown to be required for leukocyte migration into inflammed area and plays a significant role in inflammatory disease including bronchial asthma, and various infectious disease such as tuberculosis and malaria. Although, the significance of soluble ICAM-1(sICAM-1) in rickettial disease has not been recognized. The present investigation was designed to evaluate the sICAM-1 levels in patients with tsutsugamushi disease, and the correlation factors between sICAM-1 level and subject characteristics including clinical and laboratory indices. METHODS: Eight normal controls and thirteen patients with tsutsugamushi disease underwent serum sampling for sICAM-1 level, which was measured by using ELISA kit. RESULTS: 1) sICAM-1 level is significantly elevated in patients group. 2) sICAM-1 level is a significantly correlation with AST level, titer of anti-tsutsugamushi antiboby, and leukocyte counts, but other factors such as age, sex, differential fraction of leukocyte, ALT, duration of fever, and total hospital day etc, are not. CONCLUSION: These results show that sICAM-1 may be a role in the pathogenesis of tsutsugamushi disease.

Exercise Pulmonary Function Test in Preresection and Postresection of the Lung due to Malignancy - follow up after 4 weeks and 6 months / 대한내과학회지

OBJECTIVES: At present, the overall incidence of lung cancer is increasing, causing the age-adjusted lung cancer death rate to double every 15 years. Surgical resection of the tumor offers the best prospect of long-term survival in patients with lung cancer. Accurate prediction of postoperative ventilatory function should be helpful in determining in which patients the risk of surgery are acceptable. Exercise pulmonary function test has been widely applied to objective measure of work capacity, and can be extremely helpful for investigating exertional dyspnea. But no attempt is made to assess the contribution of the lung to be resected to performance, and it has been advocated as an additional predictor of postoperative complications. The present investigation was designed to evaluate the factors such as FEV1, FVC, VEmax, Vo2max, anaerobic threshold, heart rate reserve, breathing reserve and the corelation between FEV1 and VO2max at 4 weeks and 6months after resection in patients with lung cancer. METHODS: The eighteen of patients with lung cancer who considered surgically resectable underwent progre ssively incremental exercise test to symptom-limited stage before opera-tion, and also have done at surgical resection after 4 weeks, and 6 momths. Measurements were made of metabolic, cardiorespiratory, blood gases and symptoms during exercise test. RESULTS: 1) There were significant decreases in FEV1, FVC, VO2max, VE max in 4 weeks after operation and were more decreased in FEV1, FVC, VE max with significance, but fall in VO2max without significance in 6 month after operation. 2) There was a significant corre lation between the decrease of FEV1 and that of VO2max in 6 month after operation . Conclusions This result suggests that change of FEV1 is a relatively useful predictor of change in exercise performance after lung resection in 6 month after operation.

Effect of Short Term Treatment with Different Dosage of Inhaled Flucatisone Propionate on Basal Cortisol Concentration / 결핵

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of oral corticosteroids in the treatment of chronic asthma is undisputed, but their long-term use is associated with adverse side-effects, including supression of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis function, osteoporosis, weight gain, hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance. The introduction of inhaled corticosteroids in the early 1970's represented a significant therapeutic advance in the management of asthma, since these compounds combined high topical potency with low systemic activity. Fluticasone propionate is a new topically active synthetic glucocorticosteroid that combinds a high degree of efficacy with negligible systemic bioavailability. This study was perfomed to determine the effect of inhaled fluticasone propionate on the adreocortical supression in patients with bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS: The adrenocortical function was assessed by measurement of plasma cortisol concentration at 8 o'clock in morning and free cortisol in 24 hour urine collection at intervaL Absolutely, no steroid was taken during pretreatment period of l0days. There after each subject inhaled fluticasone aerosol, in daily doses of 500 or l000 mierograms for l2days. The dose was delivered by metered dose inhaler(MDI). RESULTS: The serum cortisol and 24hour urinary free cortisol were not decreased during the treatment period in patients with inhaled fluticasone propionate in daily doses of 500 micrograms. In contrast, serum cortisol was significantly decreased on 9th and 12th day(p less than 0.05). And, 24hour urinary free cortisol was also significantly decreased on 3rd and 12th day of treatement period(p less than 0.05) in patients with inhaled fluticasone in daily doses of 1000 micrograms. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that endogenous cortisol secretion was not supressed after short-term inhalation of fluticasone in daily dose of 500 micrograms, but in daily dose of 1000 micrograms, the endogenous cortisol secretion was supressed.