Going on-line.

AIDS: More AIDS-related information is becoming available on the Internet. The HIV/AIDS web site, produced and maintained by the Journal of the American Medical Association, offers clinical updates, news, and information on social and policy issues. Other groups are also making more information available that way. Tips on getting started searching the Internet are included, as well as a glossary of terms and a directory of valuable sites.^ieng

Deja vu. A moving experience.

AIDS: The Federal government is suing a moving van company in Philadelphia for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The company, Bekins Van Lines, refused to move Dr. Robert Rosenbaum after its employees saw Dr. Rosenbaum's neighbor and friend, David Churchill, in Dr. Rosenbaum's house. The movers believed that Churchill had AIDS. The ADA requires public accommodations for people with disabilities, and it covers discrimination against associates of disabled people. The Justice Department filed the suit only after the plaintiffs refused to settle out of court. Unspecified civil fines and damages are being sought.^ieng

Effects of pregnancy on glomerular dynamics: micropuncture study in the rat.

Glomerular dynamics were investigated by micropuncture in 15-day pregnant Munich-Wistar rats. Female non-pregnant rats were used as control. In hydropenia, single nephron glomerular filtration rate (SNGFR) averaged 37.2 nl/min/g kidney weight in pregnant rats, and 26.2 nl/min/g kidney weight in controls (P less than 0.0005). During pregnancy, mean glomerular plasma flow (GPF) rose from 63.0 to 104.5 nl/min (P less than 0.0005), and glomerular capillary hydrostatic pressure (PG) from 44.8 to 50.6 mm Hg (P less than 0.0005). This rise in PG accounted for an increase in effective filtration pressure (EFP). Mean EFP at the efferent end of the glomerulus rose from near zero to 9.7 mm Hg, indicating filtration pressure disequilibrium. After extracellular fluid volume expansion with saline, GPF and EFP were still greater during pregnancy. A filtration pressure disequilibrium occurred also in non-pregnant rats, allowing calculation of definite values of the ultrafiltration coefficient (Kf). During pregnancy, mean Kf was reduced from 0.0332 to 0.0285 nl/(sec X mm Hg) (P less than 0.005). SNGFR was moderately, but not significantly, increased. These results show that during pregnancy glomerular dynamics is characterized by a rise in GPF and EFP, and by a reduction in Kf. Following these changes, a plasma-flow dependent rise in SNGFR occurs in hydropenia. After expansion, instead, SNGFR is unmodified because the dependence of ultrafiltration on plasma-flow declines while the influence of Kf increases at high values of GPF.

Exaggerated natriuresis in the hypertensive man: clinical evidence for intrarenal hemodynamic heterogeneity.

7 hypertensive patients (H) and 8 normotensive volunteers (N) were loaded with NaCl (4.5 mEq Na +/kg body weight i.v.) during water diuresis (A) and antidiuresis (B). In 6 antidiuretic subjects (3H and 3N) urine volume (V) was progressively raised up to over 30 ml/min, by intravenous infusion (12 ml/min) of hypertonic (3%) saline (C). It is assumed that in (A) CH2O is an index of Na+ reabsorption in short Henle's loops. In (B) and (C) TcH2O is proportional to Na+ reabsorption in long Henle's loops. In (A) CcH2O was significantly lower in H. In (B) TcH2O was similar in H and N. In (C), TcH2O reached an earlier plateau in H than in N. These results demonstrate that exaggerated natriuresis depends on defective Na+ reabsorption in Henle's loops, suggesting that the defect depends upon the transmission of hypertension to medullary circulation. The increase in hemodynamic pressure in vasa recta opposes Na+ reabsorption both in short and in long Henle's loops. However, the effects on TcH2O of the decrease in Na+ reabsorption in long loops is blunted by the greater Na+ delivery, secondary to the increase in GFR, that follows the rise in filtration pressure.