A pilot study investigating the effect of pimobendan on the cardiac rhythm and selected echocardiographic parameters of healthy cats.

INTRODUCTION: The effects of pimobendan on the heart rhythm in cats are unknown. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of pimobendan on the cardiac rhythm and selected echocardiographic parameters of cats. ANIMALS, MATERIALS, AND METHODS: Six clinically healthy cats received each of four medication protocols for 15 days, with a washout period of at least one month between each protocol. The protocols were, pimobendan 0.5 mg/kg twice daily (high dosage group), pimobendan 0.25 mg/kg twice daily (standard dosage group), pimobendan 0.125 mg/kg twice daily (low dosage group), and Biofermin R, one tablet twice daily (placebo group). Twenty-four-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram recordings, blood pressure measurements, and echocardiographic examinations were performed after two weeks of each medication protocol. Electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, and blood pressure parameters were compared between the four groups. RESULTS: The total number of escape/idioventricular/idiojunctional complexes in the high dosage group was significantly higher compared with the placebo, low dosage, and standard dosage groups (p < 0.001). The blood pressure; total number of heart beats per day; and mean, minimum, and maximum heart rates were not significantly different between the groups. The longitudinal strain rate and calculated cardiac output were significantly increased in the high and standard dosage groups. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of pimobendan, especially at high doses, was associated with increased numbers of escape/idioventricular/idiojunctional complexes in some cats and echocardiographic parameters. Further studies are warranted to investigate both the mechanism underlying the observed changes and what, if any, clinical implications these changes might have in cats with heart disease.

Pulmonary vascular involvement in sarcoidosis: granulomatous angiitis and microangiopathy in transbronchial lung biopsies.

To evaluate the occurrence of granulomatous angiitis and microangiopathy in the lung with sarcoidosis, transbronchial lung biopsy specimens were examined from 174 cases with sarcoidosis. Granulomatous angiitis was seen in 72 cases, which corresponded to 53% of the cases with granulomata. Granulomatous angiitis showed venous involvement (65%), both venous and arterial involvement (24%) or arterial involvement only (11%). There was no significant difference in occurrence of granulomatous angiitis between upper and lower lobes. The cases with granulomatous angiitis in the lung had a higher frequency of ophthalmic symptoms and elevated serum angiotensin converting enzyme level. Basal lamina layering in the microvasculature was more often observed in the bronchial mucosa than in the alveolar walls and is not exclusively related to granulomata. Endothelial proliferation and basal lamina alterations in granulomatous angiitis may be closely associated with granulomas. The present study revealed coexistence of granulomatous angiitis and microangiopathy in the lung with sarcoidosis and suggests that both may participate in the development of pulmonary sarcoidosis.

A decision support model and analysis for hospital administrators when choosing future strategies of their hospitals.

How to allocate a hospital's finite resources to health care is an extremely important problem for hospital management. This paper shows what kind of business strategies a given hospital should consider, and present a model to support such decision making. From the model, a hospital can decide how much to emphasize different tasks in order to set a given direction for the future. We used nonlinear discriminant functions to derive a decision support model, based on findings from 831 hospital directors. This model provides a probabilistic basis for deciding how much a given hospital should emphasize any of a number of different strategies.

[Clinical evaluation of S 6472 granule preparation (sustained-release cefaclor) in chronic bronchitis].

S 6472 granule preparation, a sustained-release cefaclor, was orally administered to 20 acutely exacerbated cases of chronic bronchitis at a daily dosage of 750 mg (titer) in 2 divided doses for a duration of 7-15 days and its clinical usefulness was evaluated. Clinical efficacies were good in 17 cases and fair in 3 cases, with a rate of efficacy of 85.0%. Organisms isolated from 13 patients were totalling 14 strains, i.e., 5 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, 3 strains of Branhamella catarrhalis, 2 strains of Streptococcus sp., 2 strains of Klebsiella oxytoca, 1 strain of Haemophilus influenzae and 1 strain of Staphylococcus aureus. All these strains, except the strains of Streptococcus sp., disappeared upon the administration of the drug. With regard to the safety, no side effects nor abnormal laboratory test values were encountered.

[Delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity in red blood cells in different ages (2nd report). An elucidation of the factors decreasing ALAD activity by aging of rabbit's red blood cells].

ALAD activity is decreased by lead as well as by the aging of red cells. Experiments were performed to clarify the factors decreasing ALAD activity by the aging of red blood cells in rabbits. Measurements were conducted on ALAD activity and lead contents in young and old cells. Lead content in both young and old RBC groups ranged from 32 to 68 and 61 to 115 ng/10(10) RBC respectively. The old cells had a higher range of lead (21 to 50 ng) than the young cells. The result revealed that the increased lead content was not the main cause of decreased ALAD activity. Fully activated ALAD activity in both groups was measured by adding zinc ion (0.25 mM) and dithiothreitol (10 mM). The activity ratio of young to old cells was 1 to 0.6, suggesting that the decrease in enzyme depended on aging. The fully activated ALAD activity and oxidation of this enzyme were compared among erythroblasts, young and old cells. The ALAD activity decreased by 5-19.6% in young red cells and by 37-67% in old ones against that of erythroblasts. Treatment of the enzyme with dithiothreitol increased the activity by 12.6-19.4% in young red cells and by 24.2-27.3% in old ones. No increase in the enzyme activity in erythroblasts with dithiothreitol treatment was observed. These results suggest that the decreased activity of ALAD by aging is due mainly to the decrease of enzyme amount, partly to the oxidation of sulfhydryl groups of this enzyme, and only slightly to the increase in the blood lead.

[Inhibition rate of gamma-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity in erythrocytes as a reliable index for individual workers of low lead exposure].

As the delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity in erythrocytes is decreased by lead exposure, we considered that a net reduction of ALAD activity by lead in blood should be the difference between the activity fully activated with zinc (Zn2+) and dithiothreitol (DTT) and that without activation. The optimal condition of activation of ALAD was found by addition of 0.25 mM of Zn2+ and 10 mM of DTT in the reaction mixture. Judging from our previous results that the amount of inhibition of ALAD activity can be represented as the rate of inhibition and is closely correlated with the dose of lead administered to rabbits, the inhibition rate of ALAD activity and lead content in blood (Pb-B) of lead workers were measured. The scatter diagram obtained from the inhibition rate and lead content in blood has two groups being divided at 50 micrograms/ml of Pb-B. In one group less than 50 micrograms/100 ml of Pb-B, the inhibition rate has been closely related to Pb-B., the regression equation being Y = 1.82 X + 11.7, and the correlation coefficient + 0.926. In another group more than 50 micrograms/100 ml of Pb-B the inhibition rate remained constant at the 90% level. Measurement of the inhibition rate suggests to have practical validity for monitoring lead exposure in workers, and by means of a nomograph lead content in blood can be estimated from the inhibition rate.

[ALAD activity of red cells of different ages. (1st report) (author's transl)].

Rabbit erythrocytes were fractionated into populations of young cells (top layer) and old ones (bottom layer) by centrifugation, based on the fact that the specific gravity of young erythrocytes was lower than that of old ones. Then, reticurocyte count and osmotic resistance of red cells were compared between both populations. As a result, it has been obtained that many reticurocytes were found in the top layer, while none of those was found in the bottom layer. Furthermore, cells of the top layer were more resistant to hemolysis in the hypotonic media than those of the bottom layer. These findings suggested that the cell population of the top layer was young and that of the bottom layer was old. In comparison between both populations, the mean value of ALAD activity of young cells was 2.6 times higher than that of old ones. The rate of decrease of ALAD activity after intravenous administration of lead was similar in both populations while the amount of decrease of ALAD activity in the young cells was 2 to 3 times higher than that of the old ones.