Femoral neck fracture is accompanied by local changes in the content of transforming growth factor-beta1, interleukin-1beta and collagenase activity.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between the time from femoral neck fracture and the content of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and collagenase activity in bone samples of the femoral neck. The material consisted of 42 cancellous bone samples from the femoral neck collected from patients after the femoral neck fracture during hip replacement procedure. The content of TGF-beta1, IL-1beta in bone samples was measured with the use of enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and collagenase activity was measured with spectrofluorimetry. The mean content of TGF-beta1/total protein was 2.29 pg/microg (range from 0.9 to 4.0). The mean content of IL-1beta was 4.93 fg/microg (range from 1.4 to 12.5). The mean activity of collagenase was 49.08 nU/microg (range from 5.6 to 113.7). The content of TGF-beta1 and IL-1beta decreased after the injury. In case of TGF-beta1 the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). The activity of collagenase was statistically significantly increasing in relation to time from the fracture (p<0.05). We found no correlation between the content of TGF- beta1, IL-1beta and the activity of collagenase and the age and the sex of the patients. Also, no significant discrepancies were found between the examined cytokines in relation to the bone loss of the femoral neck according to Singh's scale. These results confirm mutual changes of activity between examined cytokines in the area of fractured bone.

Age-related decrease in the activity of collagenase in the femoral head in patients with hip osteoarthritis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relation between the activity of collagenase in the subchondral bone of the femoral head and the age of patients with hip osteoarthritis. Thirty-two patients were enrolled into the study. The mean age was 66 (range from 37 to 80 years). Bone samples of the femoral head were harvested during total hip replacement. The activity of collagenase was measured through spectrofluorimetry. We found statistically a significant correlation between collagenase activity in the bone and age. The mean activity of collagenase in younger patients (37-68 years) was 64.17 IU/microg. In older patients (69-80 years), the mean collagenase activity was 52.26 IU/microg. In patients with hip osteoarthritis the activity of collagenase in the subchondral bone of the femoral head tended to decrease with an increase in age.

[The atherogenic lipid profile parameters and fibrinogen serum concentration in climacteric women under various routes of hormone replacement therapy administration]. / Ocena stezenia aterogennych czynników lipidowych i fibrynogenu w surowicy kobiet stosujacych rózne formy hormonalnej terapii zastepczej w okresie klimakterium.

OBJECTIVES: Influence of various routes of HTR on atherogenic lipid profile parameters and serum fibrinogen concentration was investigated. DESIGN: In 85 women in four groups receiving HRT transvaginally, transdermally, orally and intramuscularly, the total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, apoB, apoA, LpA and fibrinogen serum concentration was assessed before treatment and after six month. RESULTS: Most of tested parameters: total cholesterol, LpAI, apoB, LDL cholesterol, non HDL cholesterol, changed favorably (lowered concentration) in group using HRT orally and intramuscularly. CONCLUSION: Orally and intramuscularly route of administration HRT have better cardioprotective effects.

Prenatal development of coronary arteries in the rat: morphometric patterns.

The aim of this work was to address morphometric patterns of coronary artery (c.a.) development in the rat based on serial section analysis of hearts at different stages of prenatal development. Studies were performed on foetal hearts 15-21 days (ED) post-conception. Paraffin sections were stained with haematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and frozen sections were labelled with Griffonia simplicifolia I (GSI) lectin (endothelial cell marker). Coronary arteries' luminal diameters were measured at different distances from the aortic roots and the main c.a. branch lengths were calculated from serial sections. All measured values were compared to heart length and to foetal stages. On ED15 precursors of c.a. were distinguished as tubes running on both sides of the outflow tract. Below the aortic valves the tubes had the largest diameter. Formation and development of c.a. proceeded by elongation of vascular tubes distally, ramification and formation of the media and the adventitia. During the prenatal period the c.a. length increased approximately 14-fold, while heart length increased about 4-fold, and crown-rump length about 2.5-fold. The lumen of the proximal part of c.a. increased 4-fold during ED18-21. An increase in c.a. length is the fastest compared to the heart growth, and crown-rump growth during the foetal life.

Comparison of clinical features of cholecystolithiasis and functional dyspepsia.

148 patients with cholecystolithiasis and 77 patients with functional dyspepsia were examined to isolate symptoms or a syndrome characteristic of 'pure' (i.e. uncomplicated and without any co-existing diseases) cholecystolithiasis and functional dyspepsia; to evaluate their specificity and sensitivity as well as to estimate the power of each symptom or a group of symptoms to differentiate both these conditions. Endoscopy, ultrasound scan and biochemical tests were performed in each patient to exclude co-existence of any other gastrointestinal disorders. Also irritable bowel syndrome was excluded according to Manning's criteria. It was found that both these conditions have most often seven co-existing dyspeptic symptoms and that each symptom separately has low sensitivity and specificity for cholecystolithiasis as well as functional dyspepsia. The diagnostic power of each symptom is weak and even summing them up into groups of symptoms does not increase their diagnostic power.

[Changes in gastric mucosa and Helicobacter pylori infection in young health volunteers]. / Zmiany w blonie sluzowej zoladka i zakazenie Helicobacter pylori u mlodych, zdrowych ochotników.

They examined 114 young health volunteers to establish a frequency of inflammation of gastric mucous membrane and(or) duodenal bulbous, a frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection and interdependence between infection and inflammation, smoking and nourishment. They evaluated a frequency and intensity of inflammation in antrum, fundus and duodenal bulbus and present of Helicobacter pylori using an urease test and microscopic examination. They noted in young inhabitants of Warsaw, appearance of asymptomatic gastritis in more than 53% cases, an inflammation of duodenal bulbus in 34% and H.pylori infection in 50% cases.

[Changes in secretion of cholecystokinin after cholecystectomy and the effect of these changes on biliary reflux and the state of the gastric mucosa]. / Zmiany w wydzielaniu cholecystokininy po cholecystektomii oraz wplyw tych zmian na wystepowanie refluksu zólciowego i stan blony sluzowej zoladka.

Cholecystokinin's role in regulations of gallbladder and gastric function was well documented. After cholecystectomy a secretion of cholecystokinin may be changed and observed symptoms are able to create a new clinical picture including biliary gastric reflux. In the study was noticed that in 12 patients after cholecystectomy the cholecystokinin secretion was increased in comparison to the period before operation. Observed increased levels of the enzyme were not in connection with biliary gastric reflux.

[Effect of age and sex on the occurrence of gastritis changes in gastric mucosa]. / Wpllyw wieku i pllci na wystepowanie zmian zapalnych w bllonie sluzowej zolladka.

Natural course of gastritis is far from being clarified. Having this fact in mind we undertook this study to establish how age and sex did influence the frequency and intensity of inflammation in particular stomach portions. Possible relation between gastritis on the one hand and cholelithiasis and idiopathic non-ulcer dyspepsia on the other was also checked. The study comprised 392 persons, including 148 subjects with cholelithiasis, 130 with non-ulcer dyspepsia and 114 healthy volunteers. Endoscopy of upper digestive tract was done in all of them, the specimens of mucosa of gastric antrum and body being taken for histologic examination. Frequency of gastritis was found to rise with age, particularly up to the 40-th year of life, being analogical in both sexes. In men, gastritis showed higher intensity and activity as well as more rapid progression toward glandular atrophy. In particular age intervals no significant difference in the frequency of gastritis was found between the population of healthy persons, that suffering from cholelithiasis as well as that with non-ulcer dyspepsia.

Is Helicobacter pylori infection a real risk factor for gastric carcinoma?

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: That Helicobacter pylori has a role in the pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma is widely accepted, although not all doubts are definitively clarified. The purpose of this work was to detect the differences in presence and mean titer of anti-H. pylori antibodies between groups with gastric (n = 65), colonic (n = 70), and lung (n = 43) carcinoma. RESULTS: The highest prevalence of anti-H. pylori antibodies was found in patients with pulmonary carcinoma (88.4%), which significantly surpassed (p = 0.02) that in the group with gastric carcinoma (69.2%). The groups with colonic and gastric carcinomas failed to show any difference in this respect. Mean antibody titer was significantly higher in subjects with lung carcinoma than in those with gastric carcinoma (p = 0.005). This difference was unrelated to age. CONCLUSIONS: These results contradict the hypothesis assuming a relationship between H. pylori infection and the sequence of phenomena leading to gastric carcinoma.

Role of the endogenous nitric oxide in the vasodilatory tone and CO2 responsiveness of the rostral ventrolateral medulla microcirculation in the rat.

The study was designed to check the role of endogenous NO in maintaining the vasodilatory tone and in mediation of local cerebral blood flow (CBF) responses to CO2 in rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) in the rat. The ventral surface of the medulla was exposed and CBF in the RVLM continuously recorded with a laser-Doppler flowmeter. Local vascular resistance (CVR) was estimated as the ratio of mean arterial pressure (MAP) to CBF. During 1 min exposure to 10% CO2 in oxygen PaCO2 rose from 39.9 +/- 2 mm Hg to 89.7 +/- 4.6 mm Hg and pH fell from 7.4 +/- 0.04 to 7.1 +/- 0.03. After intravenous administration of 15 mg/kg L-NAME (Nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester) MAP increased by 43 +/- 2.9 mm Hg (p < 0.001), local CBF increased by 33 +/- 6% (p < 0.001) and CVR increased by 17 +/- 6% (p < 0.01). L-NAME significantly reduced CBF flow response to 60 s hypercapnia from 47 +/- 9% (p < 0.001) before administration of L-NAME to 14 +/- 5% (p < 0.001). This effect was due to reversal by L-NAME of a pressor response to hypercapnia to a depressor response. The attenuation of CVR response to CO2 by L-NAME was too small to account alone for the significant reduction of local CBF responsiveness to hypercapnia. We conclude that endogenous NO plays a role in maintaining a local vasodilatory tone in RVLM, but it is less significant than in the cortical microcirculation. NO is not a major mediator in the increase in local CBF in RVLM during brief hypercapnia. Endogenous NO is critical for the neurogenic pressor response to brief hypercapnia.

Dual response of cerebrocortical blood flow and arterial blood pressure to transient CO2 stimulus after inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis in rats.

Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) by Nitro-L-arginine-methyl-ester (L-NAME 15 mg and 70 mg/kg i.v.) in 16 male Wistar rats anaesthetized with urethane, paralysed and artificially ventilated, increased significantly local peripheral vascular resistance in the parietal cortex (CVR) along with augmentation of the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and no change of the local cerebrocortical blood flow (CBF) recorded with a Laser-Doppler-Flowmeter. In 11 rats L-NAME reversed a pressor effect of brief hypercapnia induced by 10% CO2/air mixture (PaCO2 84.1 +/- 5 mm Hg) into a depressor response, reduced CBF response proportionally to the reduction of MAP and did not influence CVR response to CO2. In 5 rats L-NAME did not abolish the central pressor effect of a CO2-stimulus and significantly augmented CO2-induced vasodilatatory response in the cortex (43.4 +/- 24% before L-NAME and 137.8 +/- 38.8% after L-NAME) by a larger reduction of CVR (-11 +/- 8% before L-NAME and -47.1 +/- 7.6% after L-NAME). It is concluded that NO does not mediate the vasodilatatory effect of brief hypercapnia in the cortex. NO appears critical for the central pressor effect of CO2. In those rats in which the central pressor effect of a CO2-stimulus was not abolished by an NOS blocker, an increased CBF and augmented decrease in CVR was observed during brief hypercapnia. Possible mechanisms of this dual responsiveness of cortical blood flow and arterial blood pressure to CO2, induced by inhibition of NOS, are discussed.

Does excessive tissue oxygen supply contribute to the development of spontaneous arterial hypertension in rats?

Fifteen spontaneously hypertensive rats of the Okamoto strain and 14 normotensive Wistar rats were kept on low iron diet until 3 weeks old. Nine hypertensive and 10 normotensive rats fed regular diet served as controls. Hypertensive rats exhibited higher haematocrit and haemoglobin levels. Low iron diet produced a more pronounced decrease in the haemoglobin level in hypertensive than in normotensive rats, indicating increased iron turnover in the former group. Anaemia inhibited development of arterial hypertension in Okamoto strain rats whereas it did not affect blood pressure in normotensive rats. The results point to an important role of the blood oxygen carrying capacity for the development of spontaneous hypertension in rats.

[Therapy of urinary tract infection in kidney insufficiency with cotrimoxazole]. / Therapie der Harnwegsinfektion bei Niereninsuffizenz mit Kotrimoxazol.

37 patients were 44 times treated with cotrimoxazole for an infection of the urinary tract during a renal insufficiency. The creatinine level in the plasma was in all cases more than 1.5 mg/100 ml. cotrimoxazole (Sulprim, Polfa) was administered at a creatinine level to 3 mg/100 ml in a dosage of 3 times 1 tablet a day. Patients with a creatinine level of more than 3 mg/100 ml received twice 1 tablet a day. The time of treatment was 10-14 days. An effectiveness of the medicament was established in 84% of the cases. The results of the treatment were good in the primary infection as well as in the reinfection. The drug was effective in the majority of the bacteria flora. It is well tolerated and little toxic.