Role of monoamine oxidase inhibition and monoamine depletion in fenfluramine-induced neurotoxicity and serotonin release.

The role of both monoamine synthesis and monoamine oxidase inhibition in mediating the fenfluramine-induced damage to serotonin neurones was examined; as pretreatment agents, both alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT) and parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA) were used to deplete dopamine and serotonin, respectively, while clorgyline and deprenyl were used to inhibit monoamine oxidase types A and B. While both AMPT and deprenyl did not alter fenfluramine induced serotonin or 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) depletion in any area, PCPA did partially reduce the serotonin depletion in the hippocampus and hypothalamus. Although pretreatment with clorgyline did not significantly alter fenfluramine-induced serotonin depletion, it did produce a 65% mortality rate in animals treated with both drugs. Both PCPA and clorgyline significantly increased the depletion of striatal 5-HIAA concentration consequent to fenfluramine; however, these drugs also produced a long-term depletion of striatal 5-HIAA when administered alone, therefore, the changes seen after the coadministration with fenfluramine may be viewed as additive. Finally, acute PCPA pretreatment attenuated the rapid rise in 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (homovanillic acid) induced by fenfluramine, and acute clorgyline reversed the drop in serotonin and rise in 5-HIAA induced by fenfluramine. These results indicate that the rapid increase in dopamine activity induced by fenfluramine is partially dependent on serotonin concentration and release and that the mechanism of fenfluramine-induced toxicity is unlike that of the other substituted amphetamines.

Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy presenting with profound hypotension. Role of two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography in diagnosis and management.

Five patients, all women, age ranges 59 to 84 years, with underlying hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) presented with profound hypotension. Initial clinical and hemodynamic evaluation suggested cardiogenic shock in two cases, acute myocardial ischemia in two cases, and hypovolemia in one case. The two patients thought to be in cardiogenic shock were given inotropes without improvement. One patient in whom myocardial ischemia was suspected received nitroglycerin, followed by a marked fall in blood pressure. All five patients remained hypotensive until two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography were performed, identifying HOCM as the cause of the hypotension, thereby allowing for corrective therapeutic measures.

A three-year evaluation of the know your body program in inner-city schoolchildren.

The impact of the Know Your Body (KYB) comprehensive school health education program was evaluated in a sample of first through sixth-grade students from New York City, using two analytic strategies: a longitudinal cohort and a "posttest only" cohort. In both cohorts, program impact was examined between condition (i.e., KYB vs. no-treatment comparison group) as well as within condition (i.e., low, moderate, and high student exposure). Students in the longitudinal cohort (n = 1,209) who were exposed to high implementation teachers had significantly (p < .05) lower total plasma cholesterol and systolic blood pressure at 3-year posttest than comparison students. Students in the posttest only cohort (n = 3,066) who had high implementation teachers showed significantly (p < .05) lower total plasma cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, self-reported intake of meat and desserts, as well as higher health knowledge and self-reported intake of "heart healthy" foods and vegetables than comparison students. In both cohorts, program effects for several outcome variables were linearly related to level of student exposure to the curriculum, suggesting a dose-response effect. While several methodologic limitations may have influenced study outcomes, these data nonetheless appear to confirm that the KYB program can have a significant positive impact on the knowledge, behavior, and selected risk factors of students in primary grades and that efforts to disseminate and evaluate school health education programs should include strategies to monitor and enhance teacher implementation.

Temporal and spectral self-shifts of dark optical solitons.

We report the discovery of temporal and spectral self-shifts of dark optical solitons propagating in single-mode fibers. These shifts become increasingly pronounced as the intensity and the fiber length are increased. We show that our data are in quantitative agreement with numerical solutions to a modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation that includes the Raman contribution to the nonlinear refractive index.

Métodos experimentais de produçäo de isquemia miocárdica / Experimental methods to induce myocardial ischemia

The principal techiniques for experimental obstruction of the coronary flow are described, emphasyzing the use of the metalic mercury embolization as proved by the experience of the Experimental Division of the Heart Institute of the Säo Paulo Medical School, as well as the anterior descending coronary artery ligation through left sided thoracotomy in rats during chronic investigations

Circulação extracorpórea com hemofiltração durante cirurgia cardíaca / Extracorporeal circulation with hemofiltration during cardiac surgery

A hemofiltracao foi estudada em 7 caes, durante circulacao extracorporea. O hemodialisador tipo bobina (Travenol CD-1000) foi empregado, em substituicao ao hemofiltro padrao, variando-se a pressao transmembrana e o fluxo de perfusao no dialisador. O maior volume/minuto de ultrafiltrado (36,6 ml min) foi obtido com o uso de pressao negativa, aplicada em circuito especial no hemodialisador (com 650 ml/min de fluxo de perfusao). Menos importantes para a eficiencia da ultrafiltracao foram as variacoes da pressao positiva no hemodialisador