Microscale Synthesis of Fe(PF(3))(5) for Gas Source Mass Spectrometry.

Down-scaling of a cocondensation method to produce volatile pentakis(trifluorophosphine)iron(0) for measuring isotope ratios by gas source mass spectrometry is described. Starting from 10 mg of iron, this method allows synthesis of a sufficient amount of Fe(PF(3))(5) that can be used to measure iron content and/or isotope ratios in real-life samples. The advantage over thermal ionisation mass spectrometry is that more precise determinations of ratios/amounts are possible. Reproducibilities for n((54)Fe)/n((56)Fe) and n((57)Fe)/n((56)Fe) are (1-3) × 10(-4), while those obtained by thermal ionization mass spectrometry are at the 10(-3) level.

[Exocrine pancreatic function in chronic alcoholics in Austria (author's transl)]. / Untersuchungen der exokrinen Pankreasfunktion bei chronischen Alkoholikern in Osterreich.

97 chronic alcoholic patients were investigated with regard to exocrine pancreatic function. Chronic calcifying pancreatitis was radiologically established in 7.2% of the cases. Secretin-pancreozymin tests were performed in 30 patients. Pancreatic insufficiency was found in 8 patients, while 8 patients showed marked hypersection. The daily faecal fat excretion in 10 other patients with partial gastrectomy and Billroth II operation was 5.3 g. Pancreatic disorders were, thus, detected in 53.2% cases of chronic alcoholism. This is higher than expected for Austria.

[Inhibition of postprandial increase in serum triglycerides by somatostatin in man (author's transl)]. / Hemmung des postprandialen Triglyzeridanstiegs im Serum durch Somatostatin beim Menschen

A test meal containing 100 g neutral fat was administered to 10 healthy subjects. Serum concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol, free fatty acids and gastrin were determined during an infusion of 1000 microng somatostatin/h over 3 hours. In comparison with a control group (infusion of normal saline solution), somatostatin caused almost complete suppression of the triglyceride increase. The free fatty acids showed a slight increase under somatostatin while there was no change in the cholesterol levels. Gastrin release was also completely blocked by somatostatin. The suppression of the serum triglycerides may be explained by the inhibition of digestion and absorption of fat in the small intestine under the influence of somatostatin which suppresses exocrine pancreatic secretion.

[Long-term results after therapeutic starvation (author's transl)]. / Langzeitergebnisse nach Nullkalorien-Diät

19 Persons with gross refractory obesity (7 men and 12 women) were treated by therapeutic starvation. The patients were controlled after 32 months, on average (range: 7 to 58 months), following completion of treatment. The study shows that 8 of the females gained weight, one of these attaining her pretreatment weight and another even exceeding the pretreatment figure. None of the males had regained his pretreatment weight but 4 showed an increase in comparison with the weight at the time of hospital discharge. During starvation the serum lipids showed a marked decrease, which was statistically significant in the case of cholesterol, but not triglycerides. At the time of follow-up examination the serum lipid values were about the same as before treatment. It is concluded that the long-term results of therapeutic starvation are beter in men than in women and yet this method of treatment should be attempted, when indicated according to strict criteria, in refractory cases of extreme obesity.

[The influence of somatostatin on serum gastrin concentrations in patients after total duodenopancreatectomy (author's transl)]. / Die Wirkung von Somatostatin auf die Serumgastrinkonzentration bei Patienten nach totaler Duodenopankreatektomie

Serum gastrin concentrations were measured in insulin-dependent diabetics and in patients who had undergone total duodenopancreatectomy and gastrectomy. Administration of somatostatin markedly inhibited gastrin release in the diabetic patients with an intact gastrointestinal tract. This inhibitory effect of somatostatin, however, is not detectable in the group of operated patients, who display basically low plasma gastrin levels. A marked increase in the plasma gastrin level after withdrawal of somatostatin was observed in patients with a normal gastrointestinal tract. This rebound effect was only slight in the operated patients.

[ Somatostatin in insulin-dependent diabetics and in pancreatectomized patients (author's transl)]. / Zur Wirkung von Somatostatin bei insulinpflichtigen Diabetikern und bei pankreatektomierten Patienten

The inhibitory effect of somatostatin on the secretion of glucagon permits the examination of the effect of glucagon on some metabolic parameters in the insulin-dependent diabetic patient. The results obtained in 5 insulin-dependent diabetics and in 4 pancreatectomized patients revealed an inhibitory effect of somatostatin on blood glucose in the juvenile-type diabetics, but failed to show this influence of somatostatin in the pancreatectomized patients. These observations indicate a participation of glucagon in the generation of hyperglycaemia in diabetes mellitus. However, the failure of somatostatin to influence the blood glucose level in pancreatectomized patients contrasts with the results obtained in dogs and emphasizes the difficulty and pit falls in the application of animal experiments with somatostatin to humans.

Extraction of gastrin from normal porcine pancreas.

Gastrin was extracted from normal porcine pancreas by the method used by Gregory and Tracy for the extraction of gastrin from the antrum. Radioimmuno-assay was used for identification at all stages of the extraction procedure. Gastrin of pancreatic origin was eluted from a sephadex G 50 and a DEAE-collulose column at the soma position as porcine antral gastrin. In disc electrophoresis (7.5% polyacrylamide in tris-glycin buffer) we found a single band which migrated the same distance from the origin as reference gastrin (synthetic human gastrin I). Densitometircally there was also a single band. The eluate of this electrophoretic band produced an increase in gastric acid secretion after intravenous injection in the rat. A dilution series was made from the extracted fraction and radioimmunologically tested with gastrin antibodies. The individual points of the dilution curve corresponded well with the standard calibration curve of gastrin. A certain discrepancy between the small amount of gastrin found by radioimmunoassay (500 pg/g fresh pancreas) and biochemical and biological findings could probably be explained by a different sensitivity of the gastrin antibody of the radioimmunological system to pancreatic gastrin. Our results prove that there is gastrin in the normal porcine pancreas.

[Is there a feed-back mechanism between serum gastrin concentration and gastrin release (author's transl)]. / Besteht ein "Feed-back" zwischen Serumgastrinkonzentration und Gastrinbildung

The dialysability of gastrin heptadecapeptide was investigated in a model arrangement. The amounts of gastrin passing through the dialysis membrane during a 6-hour dialysis procedure are very small. Furthermore, the serum gastrin concentrations were measured during a 6-hour haemodialysis session with and without simultaneous pentagastrin infusion (0.003 mug/kg/h) in 8 patients on intermittent haemodialysis. There is a continuous decrease in the serum gastrin concentration during the 6-hour dialysis period with simultaneous pentagastrin infusion, while in the investigation without pentagastrin infusion phases of increase in serum gastrin levels are observed. In view of this different response of the serum gastrin curve it is suggested that a direct feed-back mechanism exists between the serum gastrin concentration and gastrin release, a mechanism which was interrupted by the pentagastrin infusion in the present investigation.

[Treatment of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency with fungal lipase (author's transl)]. / Die Behandlung der exokrinin Pankreasinsuffizienz mit einer säurestabllen Pilzlipase

7 patients suffering from severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency have been treated with a lipolytic enzyme extracted from Rhizopus arrhizus. Comparing the fungal lipase with a placebo the drug lowered the daily stool weight from 809 g to 443 g on an average, i.e. by 45.2%. The steatorrhea was reduced from 75.6 g/24 h to 32.9 g, i.e. by 56.5%. When incubating the enzyme in vitro in saline solutions of different pH for 1 h the loss of lipolytic activity is 13% at pH 5, 15% at pH 4, and 19% at pH 3. So the enzyme, like fungal proteases, is almost not altered by hydrochloric acid at concentrations found physiologically in the stomach.

Hormone-induced diarrhea in man.

In a healthy subject infusions of either secretion or glucagon caused no diarrhea. A combinations of gastrin and glucagon induced severe watery diarrhea immediately after the end of the 3 hour infusion. No diarrhea occurred from the combination of secretin and gastrin.

[The use of the cell separator in the treatment of leukemia]. / Der Einsatz des Zellseparators in der Leukämiebehandlung

In order to provide leukemic patients during the critical granulocytopenic stage with a sufficient amount of granulocytes a blood cell separator with a continuous extracorporeal circulation was developed. This permits to obtain up to 3.0-10(10) leukocytes during a 4---5 hours period from a single donor. According to our own experiences with 20 leukophereses performed in 13 healthy donors by the use of the AMINCO cell separator an average of 1.17-10(10) leukocytes with a granulocytic portion of 61% was collected per run. In two cases of agranulocytosis and septic fever (one case of pseudomonas septicaemia) the repeated administration of leukocyte concentrates, while specific antibiotic therapy was continued, led to a marked improvement over a longer period of time. Furthermore thrombocyte concentrates up to 7.0-10(10) platelets can be obtained by the cell separator. Applied as depletory method in the treatment of CML and CLL leukopheresis may rapidly diminish the peripheral leucocyte count while spleen and lymphomas decrease in size at the same time. A 20% reduction in cell count may be achieved by a serie of 3---4 leukophereses. Also the use of the cell separator in the treatment of makroglobulinemia by plasmapheresis is discussed.

75Se-selenomethionine excretion in bile and pancreatic juice.

The radioactivity in the bile and pancreatic juice of two patients was measured after intravenous injection of 75Se-l-selenomethionine. The concentration of radioactivity in both fluids is almost equal. Thin-layer chromatography shows that the main part of radioactivity in pancreatic juice is due to unbound 75Se-selenomethionine, while free 75Se-selenomethionine is only a minor part of the total radioactivity appearing in the bile.