[Experimental cesarean sections in the cat]. / Ergebnisse experimenteller Kaiserschnitte bei der Katze.

Results of experimental Cesarean sections in the cat at different stages of gravidity were compared with the recommendations given in the literature.

Purification and characterization of the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase activities from Leishmania donovani.

The adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRTase) and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRTase) activities from promastigotes of Leishmania donovani have been purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose exclusion, and either AMP-agarose (APRTase) or GTP-agarose (HGPRTase) affinity chromatography. The specific activities of the affinity-purified APRTase and HGPRTase fractions were 326-fold and 1341-fold greater than those in the 40-80% ammonium sulfate precipitate, respectively. The purified APRTase migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels with a size of 29 kDa, while HGPRTase was also determined to be homogeneous by SDS gel electrophoresis with a size of 24 kDa. In addition, a mutant cell line, APPB2, partially deficient in APRTase activity, still contained quantities of purifiable APRTase protein, while a clonal secondary derivative of the APPB2 cell line that is completely deficient in APRTase activity, APPB2-640A3, failed to express purifiable APRTase protein. The homogeneous enzymes possessed apparent Km values for their nucleobase substrates between 2.0 and 5.0 microM, and both enzymes were inhibited by their immediate or ultimate reaction endproducts, APRTase by AMP and PPi and HGPRTase by GMP, GTP, and PPi. The generation of homogeneous preparations of APRTase and HGPRTase protein will serve as a prerequisite for the generation of immunological and molecular biological probes to analyze the leishmanial phosphoribosyltransferases.

[Surgical therapy of sporadic and familial pheochromocytoma]. / Operative Therapie des sporadischen und familiären Phäochromozytoms.

From 1975 through 1987, 54 patients underwent operations for pheochromocytoma (PCC): 37 patients for sporadic unilateral adrenal PCC, 9 for bilateral and familial PCC, and 4 patients for paraganglioma. In 4 additional patients, laparotomy failed to discover the reason for hypercatecholaminemia. There were no operative mortality and a low morbidity for unilateral (n = 43) as well as for bilateral adrenalectomy (n = 6). To avoid hormone replacement therapy after bilateral total adrenalectomy at least for some years, unilateral instead of bilateral adrenalectomy was preferred to be the initial surgical procedure of choice for familial and MEN-IIA-associated unilateral adrenal PCC. Autologous transplantation of the adrenal cortex were performed in 2 patients after bilateral adrenalectomy. 6 months postoperatively, the transplants were vital as proved by light-microscopy, but sufficiently functioning only in 1 patient.

[Penetration of the tympanum by active substances (author's transl)]. / Penetration von Wirkstoffen durch das Trommelfell

In a specially designed animal model the penetration of glucocorticoid and oxytetracycline through the intact tympanic membrane was studied. Dogs were anesthetised for up to 8 h, and the substances were administered to the external auditory meatus. The measured concentration of the applied glucocorticoid in the tympanum showed a level which can be expected to be therapeutically active. When treating the inflamed middle ear, an adjuvant therapy with the combination dexamethasone-21-isonicotinate/oxytetracycline/natamycine/;etracain (Incut) should be taken into consideration. Although oxytetracycline was administered as well, this substance could not be measured in the small samples due to technical reasons. To find out about penetration of o%ytetracycline will have to be the object of another series of experiments.

Nephrotoxic effect of methoxyflurane anesthesia. A case report.

A patient with normal preoperative hepatic and renal laboratory findings was exposed to relatively low concentrations of methoxyflurane during a routine anaesthetic procedure. For at least 12 postoperative days, the patient showed unusually high level of inorganic serum fluoride; his urinary excretion of fluoride and oxalic acid were also increased. However, he had no clinical signs of nephrotoxicity. This observation suggests that some patients with presumably normal renal function may have a low threshhold for the nephrotoxic effects of methoxyflurane.

Inhibition of gastric acid secretion in man by the transcranial application of lwo intensity pulsed current.

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of transcranial electrotherapy (TCE) in reducing gastric secretion in man. TCE has been proposed as a therapeutic modality which induces a relaxed psychological state by the application of low intensity diffuse electrical current and has been purported by Soviet investigators to be beneficial in the treatment of peptic ulcers. Secretion rates were monitored in adult male volunteers by a method of intragastric titration utilizing a pH-sensitive telemetry capsule. In one study 5 subjects had their basal secretion rates monitored before, during, and after the application of TCE at graduated current intensities. A threshold of inhibition was observed for currents of 0.9 ma and greater. In a second study, 12 subjects had histamine-stimulated maximum acid output determined for control and during TCE application. Gastric acid secretion was reduced by an average of 30% when 1-ma TCE was applied, with individual reductions ranging from 5.7% to 53.2%. Since the application of relatively high TCE currents may produce discomfort in some subjects, a third study was conducted to determine whether the inhibition might not merely be the result of nonspecific noxious stimuli. For this study the electrical connections to the TCE electrodes were altered so that the same uncomfortable sensation was produced on the forehead, but no current was actually applied transcranially. This "placebo" TCE produced no reduction in the maximal acid output of 6 volunteers, but when the currents were applied transcranially, the gastric acid secretion was reduced by an average of 27% below control values.