Plants from Puerto Rico with anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis properties.

OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the antitubercular potential of natural products obtained from plants reputed to have medicinal properties and collected from the tropical flora of Puerto Rico. BACKGROUND: The increase in persons infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) the world over and the development of resistance to antibiotics by this microbe and other infectious bacteria has created the need for new drugs to replace those which have lost effectiveness. METHOD: In Phase I of this study, ethanolic leaf extracts of fifty local plants were submitted to preliminary screening to assess their in vitro Mycobacterium smegmatis inhibitory activity using the Bauer-Kirby disk diffusion method. In Phase II, the definitive screening of the six most promising extracts which inhibited M. smegmatis were assayed for their MTB inhibitory activity using the BACTEC 460 susceptibility test method. The brine shrimp bioassay was used as a toxicity bioassay and the mice inoculation test was used to determine mice tolerance to the effect of the daily intraperitoneal inoculations of the plant extracts. RESULTS: MTB showed varying degrees of susceptibility to each plant extract. This effect was dependent upon the plant species, dose and time of exposure. Evidence is provided suggesting that: (1) Six crude plant extracts (12%) tested possessed inhibitory capacity at the amount of 500 micrograms per disc; (2) Mammea americana extract yielded the strongest inhibitory effect at 50 micrograms per disc, followed by Marchantia polymorpha, Mangifera indica, Callistemon citrinus, Syzygium jambos and Momordica charantia; (3) the bactericidal inhibitory pattern of MTB growth, exposed to Mammea americana extract, was comparable to streptomycin; and (4) the transitory reduction pattern of MTB growth, produced by Callistemon citrinus, Marchantia polymorpha extracts at 100 micrograms and 250 micrograms, was similar to that of bacteriostatic agents. CONCLUSION: Of 50 plants screened six extracts tested for their anti-MTB activity yielded positive results with varying degrees of inhibition. Mammea americana showed the greatest inhibitory activity suggesting that certain plant species yield valuable anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis substances. The procedures employed in this study, including the BACTEC 460 modified method, are useful for in vitro screening of plant extracts with potential antitubercular activity.

The impact of IRCA on the job opportunities and earnings of Mexican-American and Hispanic-American workers.

PIP: The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) introduced substantial civil and/or criminal penalties to employers who hire illegal workers, with the main goal of reducing the demand for undocumented labor. However, in the interest of addressing certain concerns about the law, the Immigration Act of 1990 was passed to require various branches of the federal government to intensify efforts to disseminate the antidiscrimination provisions of IRCA. The authors studied the earnings gap between Mexican, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white male workers which resulted from changes in both the wage structure and immigration laws of the 1980s. It appears that Mexican and Hispanic workers were adversely affected by the changes. The analysis of data from the 1980 and 1990 1% Public Use Microdata Samples determined that Mexican and Hispanic labor were adversely affected by the increase in the returns to skills during the 1980s given their relatively lower levels of educational attainment and labor market experience. At-risk workers increased their work effort and level of productivity to reduce the effects of legislation-induced employment losses. Data were also used from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for the period 1983-92.^ieng

Fundic gland polyps: prevalence and clinicopathologic features.

We evaluated prospectively all gastroscopic examinations performed at two institutions for a period of 24 months with the aim of studying fundic gland polyps in our patient population. Forty-four patients with fundic gland polyps of the stomach were identified among 5554 patients who underwent endoscopy, for a prevalence of 0.8% in our patient population. Twelve additional patients with fundic gland polyps were identified through our surgical pathology referral practice. The patients' ages ranged from 27 to 82 yr, with an average age of 53 +/- 13 yr. The vast majority of the patients were female, with a female-to-male ratio of approximately 5:1. The polyps averaged 2.3 +/- 1.2 mm in size. An average of four polyps per patient were seen, with a range of one to 11.

Cardiac surgery on Jehova's Witnesses at Instituto Cardiovascular-Hospital Pavia.

Jehovah's Witnesses (J.W.) can undergo successful cardiac operations. We have operated five J.W. patients. Of these patients, two had coronary artery bypass surgery and three had correction of congenital anomalies. These included an atrial septal defect with infundibular pulmonic stenosis, a tetralogy of Fallot and a patient with a ventricular septal defect. Our treatment protocol includes a meticulous surgery, the use of early heparinization to collect all shed blood into the pump oxygenator, observation in the operating room for early exploration if the patient bleeds and administration of iron preparations. Recombinant human erythropoietin, although available and in our treatment protocol, has not been used yet. All patients survived the operation and left the hospital with an excellent hemoglobin and hematocrit. The length of stay varied from 7 to 15 days.

[Cancer of the prostate. Methods of initial diagnosis]. / Cáncer de la prostata. Métodos de diagnóstico inicial.

We herein describe teh diagnostic methods available for the screening of Carcinoma of the Prostate. As recommended by the NCI. Rectal Digital Exam (RDE) and Prostatic Specific Antigens (PSA) are the usual screening methods to be use. Depending on their results, we proceed with Transrectal Prostatic Ultrasound with or without biopsy.