Glucocorticoid-dependent stimulation of adiposity and appetite by a ghrelin mimetic in the rat.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic administration of GH secretagogues (GHSs) induces a state of positive energy balance in rodents by a GH-independent mechanism. Here we sought to determine to what extent the GHS effects to increase food intake and increase fat accumulation are glucocorticoid-dependent. DESIGN: The effects of twice-daily s.c. injections of GH-releasing peptide-6 (GHRP-6) (250 microg/kg) for 2 weeks on body weight, food intake and fat pad weight were determined in both adrenalectomised (ADX) rats (with or without basal corticosterone replacement) and adrenal-intact rats. RESULTS: All GHS-injected rats had a significantly increased body weight at the end of 2 weeks of treatment compared with saline controls. However, increased fat accumulation was only seen in adrenal-intact rats, with a 15% increase in s.c. inguinal (P<0.05 vs saline controls) and 20% increase in visceral mesenteric (P<0.05) fat pad weights following GHS treatment. The increased body weight observed in ADX rats following GHS treatment was not due to increased fat mass or increased weight of other organs measured. Food intake was increased for up to 7 h following a single injection of GHRP-6 in both the adrenal-intact (P<0.01) and corticosterone-replacement groups (P<0.05). This stimulating effect on food intake was not observed at any time point in the ADX rats without corticosterone replacement. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that GHS-induced body weight gain is glucocorticoid-independent. However, basal levels of glucocorticoids are permissive for the GHS-induced increase in food intake whilst activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis appears to contribute to the GHS-induced accumulation of fat mass.

Technical quality of root canal treatment in Taiwan.

AIM: To evaluate the current technical quality of root canal treatment (RCT) in Taiwan. METHODOLOGY: A total of 1085 RCT cases, randomly selected from a large sample and representative of the Taiwanese population from April to September 2000, were evaluated by eight endodontic specialists. The qualitative evaluation of RCT cases was based on two variables: length of the root filling and density of the obturation. A root canal with both adequate filling length (the apical termination of the root filling within 2 mm of the radiographic apex) and complete obturation (no lateral or apical canal lumen visible in the apical one-third of the root canal) was defined as having good-quality endodontic work (GQEW). A tooth was defined as having a GQEW when all its canals were categorized as GQEW. RESULTS: From a total of 1867 root canals, overfilling occurred in 235 (12.6%), adequate filling length in 1152 (61.7%), underfilling in 466 (25.0%) and no filling in 12 (0.6%). Of the 1867 root canals, 710 (38.0%) demonstrated complete obturation and 1157 (62%) demonstrated incomplete obturation. GQEW was found in 650 (34.8%) root canals and 329 (30.3%) teeth. The percentage of teeth with GQEW in hospital cases (38.1%) was significantly greater (P < 0.001) than that in private clinic cases (24.3%). In addition, the frequency of teeth with GQEW in the anterior teeth (40.4%) or in the premolars (33%) was significantly greater (P < 0.001) than that in the molars (18.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 70% of the teeth receiving RCT in Taiwan were either of inadequate filling length or sealing density.

Neutrophil chemiluminescence in burned patients.

Phagocytic and bactericidal assays showed that a close correlation was present between bactericidal activity and neutrophil chemiluminescence (PMN-CL) (r = 0.81; p less than 0.01). This suggested that the microbicidal action of the neutrophil depends metabolically on the generation of oxygenating agents. PMN-CL and opsonic index (OI) were measured in 36 burned patients. The levels of serum transferrin (Tf) were examined simultaneously by nephelometric method in order to determine the correlation between humoral-phagocyte axis of immune system and nutritional status. It was found that PMN-CL and OI were generally lower in the greater than 35% TBSA burn group (PMN-CL, 1.85 +/- 0.21 cpm X 10(3), OI, 0.69 +/- 0.06) compared with control subjects (PMN-CL, 3.55 +/- 0.15 cpm X 10(3), OI, 1.05 +/- 0.04). It suggested that both neutrophil oxygenation activity and opsonic activity were impaired following severe burns. PMN-CL was higher in the smaller than 30% TBSA burn group during infection phase as compared with control subjects (5.61 +/- 0.26 cpm X 10(3) vs. 3.55 +/- 01.5 cpm X 10(3); p less than 0.01). It remained high in patients with persistent infection, but fell to normal if appropriate therapy was instituted. This result indicated that the neutrophils of the majority of patients with minor burns during acute infection were in an activated state both metabolically and functionally. The occurrence of sepsis was associated with a marked lowering of PMN-CL and OI values, but no difference was noted before and after the development of sepsis. The incidence of sepsis was 85.7% when PMN-CL was lower than 2 cpm X 10(3).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)