Hodgkin' s disease with fulminant non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

We report a woman with daily febrile episodes who developed fulminant hepatic failure. A percutaneous liver biopsy demonstrated non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, with no evidence of neoplastic infiltration. Post-mortem examination revealed stage IV Hodgkin's disease with trivial liver involvement. Rapidly progressive steatohepatitis causing acute liver failure may be a paraneoplastic presentation of Hodgkin's disease, possibly mediated by cytokines.

Reactive oxygen species stimulate VEGF production from C(2)C(12) skeletal myotubes through a PI3K/Akt pathway.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic stimulus, the expression of which increases in skeletal muscle after exercise. Because exercise is also accompanied by increased intramuscular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, we tested the hypothesis that ROS stimulate VEGF production from skeletal myotubes. Differentiated C(2)C(12) skeletal myotubes exposed to ROS-producing agents exhibited a concentration-dependent increase in VEGF production, whereas undifferentiated myoblasts did not respond to oxidants. Moreover, conditioned medium from ROS-treated myotubes increased the bovine lung microvascular cell proliferation rate. To study the mechanism(s) involved in the stimulation of VEGF production by ROS, myotubes were pretreated with a selective phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, LY-294002, before being exposed to hydrogen peroxide or pyrogallol. LY-294002 attenuated both Akt phosphorylation and VEGF production. In addition, oxidants increased nuclear factor-kappaB-dependent promoter activity in transiently transfected myotubes; however, pretreatment with the pharmacological inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappaB, diethyldithiocarbamate, did not affect the oxidant-stimulated VEGF release. We conclude that ROS induce VEGF release from myotubes via a PI3K/Akt-dependent pathway.

Comparative efficacy of salbutamol and salmeterol in exercise-induced asthma.

This study compared the protection provided by salbutamol and salmeterol against exercise-induced asthma. Asthmatic patients (n = 12) with exercise-induced asthma were exercised submaximally for 6 min on a treadmill 1, 6 and 12 h after inhalation of 200 micrograms salbutamol or 50 micrograms salmeterol. Each patient also took baseline exercise 1 h after two puffs of placebo. Two days later the drugs were administered in a double-blind trial of crossover design with an interval of 48 h between the two treatments. The main parameters measured were: air flow with a Wright flowmeter and mediator concentrations (histamine, leucotriene and prostaglandin D2 measured by radioimmunoassay) in venous blood, which was withdrawn before and 4 min after each exercise period. The maximum percentage bronchoconstriction recorded following placebo was 29 +/- 4% and following salbutamol inhalation it was 4 +/- 4%, 20 +/- 13%, 27 +/- 10%, respectively, for the exercise periods performed 1, 6 and 12 h after inhalation of the drug. Following salmeterol, the corresponding figures were 3 +/- 4%, 3 +/- 3% and 11 +/- 9%. The concentrations of mediator in plasma were significantly increased after exercise. Salbutamol and salmeterol intake reduced these concentrations both when the patients were at rest and following the exercise period. This effect of both drugs on the mediators corresponded with the protection they provided against exercise-induced asthma and was maintained for 12 h after salmeterol inhalation and for 6 h after salbutamol inhalation.

The effect of preventive administration of verapamil on acute ischaemic renal failure in dogs.

In 15 healthy mongrel dogs the kidneys were exposed bilaterally, the renal pedicle was clamped on one side (control kidneys) and verapamil, 0.5 mg/kg body weight, was given intravenously. Ten minutes later the renal pedicle on the other side was clamped (verapamil group). At the end of a 60-minute ischaemic period, blood flow was re-established. The mean time to initiation of diuresis was shorter in the verapamil group and creatinine clearance was significantly higher. At the end of the two-hour experiment the mean fractional excretion of sodium and the mean urinary excretion of LDH were higher in the control group. CNa, CK, Cosm and Curea were significantly higher in the verapamil group during the two-hour period of study after revascularisation. On a statistical basis 60 minute acute ischaemic renal failure is significantly modified by the administration of verapamil.