A study on quality components and sleep-promoting effects of GABA black tea.

The aims of this study were to analyze the changes in quality components of gamma (γ)-aminobutyric acid (GABA) black tea during processing, and to investigate the effect of three dosages of GABA black tea on sleep improvement. The results showed that the GABA content was increased significantly up to 2.70 mg g(-1) after vacuum anaerobic and aerobic treatment. In addition, the content of GABA after drying reached 2.34 mg g(-1), which achieved the standard of GABA tea. During the entire processing of GABA black tea, the contents of tea polyphenols, caffeine and total catechins displayed a gradually descending trend, while the contents of free amino acids and GABA were firstly increased, and then reduced. The GABA black tea had significant effects on prolonging the sleeping time with sodium pentobarbital (P < 0.05) and significantly enhancing the sleeping rate induced by sodium pentobarbital at a sub-threshold dose (P < 0.05). But its effect on shortening the sleeping latency period induced by sodium barbital was not significant (P > 0.05). It had no effect on directly inducing sleep and the mouse body weight. The extract of GABA black tea improved the sleeping quality of mice to extend with an optimal effect being found in the high dose-treated mice.

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of extracellular heat shock protein 72: A potential biomarker for bacterial meningitis in children.

Extracellular heat shock protein 72 (Hsp72) is an endogenous danger signal and potential biomarker for critical illness in children. We hypothesized that elevated levels of extracellular Hsp72 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with suspected meningitis could predict bacterial meningitis. We measured extracellular Hsp72 levels in the CSF of 31 critically ill children with suspected meningitis via a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Fourteen had bacterial meningitis based on CSF pleocytosis and bacterial growth in either blood or CSF culture. Seventeen children with negative cultures comprised the control group. CSF Hsp72 was significantly elevated in children with bacterial meningitis compared to controls. Importantly, CSF Hsp72 levels did not correlate with the CSF white blood cell count. On receiver operator characteristic analysis, using a cut-off of 8.1 ng/mL, CSF Hsp72 has a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 94% for predicting bacterial meningitis. We therefore conclude that CSF extracellular Hsp72 levels are elevated in critically ill children with bacterial meningitis versus controls. Hsp72 potentially offers clinicians improved diagnostic information in distinguishing bacterial meningitis from other processes.

Guidelines for the management of head injuries in remote and rural Alaska.

Numerous recommendations on the initial evaluation and treatment of the head injured patient have been proposed over the last several years. Most assume there is readily available access to computed tomography and neurosurgical specialists. Many clinicians in Alaska must evaluate and begin treatment of head injured patients in circumstances quite different from this. Vast distances, severe weather and limited medical evacuation capability are factors that come into play while caring for these patients. The current medicolegal climate also contributes to clinician anxiety over missing rare but potentially serious injuries. These guidelines developed by Alaska clinicians from multiple specialties are meant to assist clinicians dealing with this very common problem and represent a reasonable approach to these patients in remote and rural Alaska.

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of glutamate in children with bacterial meningitis as a predictor of the development of seizures or other adverse outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of glutamate in children with bacterial meningitis as a predictor of seizures or other adverse outcomes. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with controls. SETTING: A 36-bed pediatric intensive care unit and primary pediatric referral center. PATIENTS: From 1999 to 2001, a total of 55 patients, between the ages of 0 and 18 yrs, with lumbar punctures performed for suspected meningitis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 23 patients had bacterial meningitis confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid/blood culture and elevated cerebrospinal fluid white blood cell counts, and 32 patients, who tested negative, were included as controls. The median age for the patients with meningitis was 1.0 yr (range, 0.0-15.2 yrs), and in the culture-negative group (control group), the median age was 0.3 yrs (range, 0.0-17.0 yrs). The average cerebrospinal fluid white blood cell count was 2707 +/- 3897 in the group with bacterial infection, whereas in the control group, the average was 148 +/- 259 (p < .01). Patients with bacterial meningitis had a mean cerebrospinal fluid glutamate level of 60.5 +/- 88.4 mol/L, whereas the mean cerebrospinal fluid glutamate level in the control group was 4.9 +/- 11.0 mol/L (p < .01). However, only 10 of 23 children with bacterial meningitis had a second lumbar puncture performed during the study. There was no correlation between the cerebrospinal fluid white blood cell count and cerebrospinal fluid glutamate levels in either the study or control patients. None of the control patients developed seizures or neurologic deficits, despite some patients having elevated glutamate levels. However, four patients with bacterial meningitis developed seizures after admission to the hospital, and ten were discharged with at least some neurologic sequelae attributable to their infection. Two out of the three who developed seizures and had a repeat lumbar puncture demonstrated persistent elevation of cerebrospinal fluid glutamate levels. In addition, 70% of patients (7 of 10) with Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis developed neurologic complications (p = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Bacterial meningitis in children causes an increase in cerebrospinal fluid glutamate that in many cases persists over time. However, in this limited study, neither higher nor persistent elevation of cerebrospinal fluid glutamate levels is predictive of which patients might develop seizures or other apparent immediate adverse outcomes after invasive infection. The responsible organism seems to have far more significance in predicting the development of adverse sequelae.