Diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia modify the mode of acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats and mice.

Certain disease conditions can modify drug-induced toxicities, which, in turn, may cause a medication-related health crisis. Therefore, preclinical investigations into the alterations in drug-induced toxicities using appropriate disease animal models are very important. This paper reviews the reported data related to the effects of diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia, common lifestyle-related diseases in a modern society, on acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats and mice. It has generally been reported that diabetes protects rats and mice from APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and there are several reports that help to speculate on the effects of diabetes on APAP-induced nephrotoxicity. In fructose-induced hypertriglyceridemic rats, hepatotoxicity of APAP becomes apparently less severe, whereas nephrotoxicity of APAP becomes significantly more severe. The mechanisms of alteration of APAP-induced hepatorenal toxicity under diabetic and hypertriglyceridemic conditions are also discussed in this paper.

Free dorsal middle phalangeal finger flap.

Three patients underwent finger reconstruction using free dorsal middle phalangeal finger flaps (DMF flaps). All flaps survived. The free DMF flap relies on blood flow from the dorsal branches of the digital artery and is harvested from the skin on the dorsum of the middle phalanx. The digital artery gives rise to four dorsal branches; two in the middle and two in the proximal phalangeal regions. The flap is based on the dorsal branch of the digital artery that passes near the center of the phalanx. The characteristic feature of the free DMF flap is that the dorsal cutaneous veins are used as drainage vessels. Unlike island flaps, blood congestion does not occur after free DMF flap surgery. Sensibility of the free flap may be obtained by inclusion of the dorsal branches of the digital nerves in the flap pedicle. Loss of the digital artery at the donor site can be circumvented with venous grafting. Surgery under brachial plexus block is an advantage of this flap. The free DMF flap is a useful technique for skin and soft-tissue defects.

New insights in muon-catalyzed dd fusion by using ortho-para controlled solid deuterium.

For the first time, we observed the dependence of the ddmu formation rate and the dmu hyperfine-transition rate on the ortho-para state in muon-catalyzed fusion in the solid D2 state, and found that the effect is even opposite to a recent theoretical prediction. We also determined the back-decay rate and the hyperfine-transition rate via scattering in solid state by using the ortho-para dependence. A theory to describe properly our experimental result is called for to understand the nature of muon-catalyzed fusion in the solid state.

Nitrofurazone induces non-regenerative hepatocyte proliferation in rats.

The antibiotic nitrofurazone (NF) has been known for its testicular toxicity; in contrast, much less is known about its effect on the liver. NF was given to male rats for up to 7 consecutive days to evaluate NF-induced effects on the liver. NF increased hepatocyte DNA synthesis and liver weight in a dose-dependent manner, with no apparent histological or biochemical evidence of cell damage or loss. The hepatocyte proliferation ceased after a few days despite the continuation of treatment. The absence of cell damage indicates that NF-induced hepatocyte proliferation is different from regenerative proliferation that is seen after partial hepatectomy or cell necrosis.