Chronic allograft injury by subclinical borderline change: evidence from serial protocol biopsies in kidney transplantation / 대한외과학회지

PURPOSE: This study investigated the impact of subclinical borderline changes on the development of chronic allograft injury in patients using a modern immunosuppression protocol. METHODS: Seventy patients with stable renal allograft function and who underwent protocol biopsies at implantation, 10 days and 1 year after transplantation were included and classified based on biopsy findings at day 10. The no rejection (NR) group included 33 patients with no acute rejection. The treatment (Tx) group included 21 patients with borderline changes following steroid pulse therapy, and the nontreatment (NTx) group included 16 patients with borderline changes nontreated. RESULTS: The Banff Chronicity Score (BChS) and modified BChS (MBChS) were not different among the three groups at implantation (P = 0.48) or on day 10 (P = 0.96). Surprisingly, the NTx group had more prominent chronic scores at the 1-year biopsy, including BChS (3.07 +/- 1.33, P = 0.005) and MBChS (3.14 +/- 1.41, P = 0.008) than those in the Tx and NR group, and deterioration of BChS was more noticeable in the NTx group (P = 0.037), although renal function was stable (P = 0.66). No difference in chronic injury scores was observed between the Tx and NR groups at the 1-year biopsy. CONCLUSION: Subclinical borderline changes can be a risk factor for chronic allograft injury and should be considered for antirejection therapy.

Antinociceptive activity of chromophoric chain substituted hemicyaninocolourants.

Some of the chromophoric chain substituted hemicyaninocolourants (CCHCs) were synthesized and confirmed on the basis of nitrogen analysis. These were tested for their antinociceptive activity in albino rats against tail flick technique and sodium chloride induced writhing test. Test compounds were given in graded doses (10, 20 and 50 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) and compared with morphine and aspirin as standard controls. Two compounds CCHC-1 and CCHC-2 showed antinociceptive activity in a dose-dependent manner in both the experimental models. The compound CCHC-3 did not exhibit antinociceptive activity to any significant extent.

Apoptosis in the developing retina: paradoxical effects of protein synthesis inhibition

Cell death by apoptosis is usually characterized as an active process that requires protein and RNA synthesis. The requirement of protein synthesis for the degeneration of ganglion cells and other cell types was studied in neural retinae explanted from the eyes of newborn rats. Ganglion cells were detected by the presence of retrogradely transported horseradish peroxidase injected into the superior colliculus. Apoptotic cells were recognized by their condensed and deeply stained chromatin. The data show that the death of ganglion cells, whose axons are damaged when preparing the explants, is blocked or delayed by protein synthesis inhibitors. In contrast, the blockade of protein synthesis produced cell death with apoptotic morphology in the neuroblastic layer of the same retinae. The results suggest the operation in the developing retina of both a program of apoptosis dependent on the synthesis of killer proteins, and a latent mechanism of apoptosis that is normally blocked by repressor proteins.

The Effect of Ketamine on the Intestinal Motility of the Chicken / 대한마취과학회지

In the late 1950, Greifenstein and associates have studied the properties of phenylcyelohexylamine derivatives and reported that these chemicals produced amnesia, analgesia, catatonia and catalepsy. Phencyclidine was the first of these drugs used in clinical anesthesia, but convulsive movement as well as excitatory behavior discouraged the use of the agent in human beings. Continued research for a more suitable derivative of phencyclidine with similar analgesic action, but shorter duratoin and lesser psychotomimetic action led McCarthy and Chen to investigate the pharmacologic properties of a large series of compounds. One of these, 2-ochlorophenylcyclohexylamine, was shown to have some advantages. Ketamine hydrochloride, chemically related to both phencyclidine and cyclohexylamine, proved to be more satisfactory for clinical anesthesia. Clinical investigations were begun in 1965 by Dominos group who first termed it dissociative anesthesia. As noted by Pender, the clinical signs of anesthesia with ketamine are completely different from those seen with conventional intravenous agents and gaseous compounds. Ketamine acts rapidly on intravenous or intramuscular administration to produce a state chracterized by catalepsy, analgesia and amnesia. It is devoid of sedation, hypnotic or convulsive properties. Normal pharyngeal-laryngeal reflexes are maintained and skeletal tone remains normal or increased. Since the introduction of ketamine by Domino's group, numerous reports have appeared to explain various aspects of the cardiovascular response(increased cardiac output, hypertention, little or no change in peripheral resistance) and respiratory response. However there are few reports on the effect of ketamine on intestinal motility. Thus we have made a study to observe the effect of ketamine on the intestinal motility of chickens. Strips of isolated muscle, 1 cm long, from adult fowl weighing l.2-1.5 kg and isolated smooth muscle of a patient with stomach cancer, were suspended in a muscle chamber containing Tyrode's solution into which was bubbled oxygen gas. The solution was. kept constant at 38 degrees C and contraction of the preparations was recorded on a polygraph. After being washed several times with fresh solution, the muscle strips attained constant motility and tonus. Ketamine and other drugs were added in various concentrations to the chamber. The results are as follows: 1) Ketamine did not exert any effect on human intestinal motility. It relaxed fowl intestinal muscle strips and potentiated the effect of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and isoproterenol. 2) The relaxing effects of ketamine on fowl intestinal muscle strips were not abolished by adrenergic blocking agents. 3) Ketamine demonstrated anticholinergic effect on the intestinal motility of the human and fowl. From the above results, it may be concluded that ketamine exerts a anticholinergic effect and depressant effect on intestinal motility of fowl without relation to adrenergic receptors.