Effect of mangan-desferrioxamin in the prevention of peritoneal adhesions.

An experimental study was carried out using mangan-desferrioxamin chelate, an effective iron-chelating and free oxygen radical scavenging agent, to prevent post-operative peritoneal adhesions in 40 Wistar albino rats. The density of adhesions was evaluated and group scores obtained. The means score (2.5 +/- 0.87) for the group of rats treated with mangan-desferrioxamin was significantly different (P < 0.001) (95% confidence interval 0.6 to 1.6) from that of the control group(mean score 3.9 +/- 0.3). This favourable effect of mangan-desferrioxamin in the prevention of post-operative adhesions should encourage further research to determine the mechanisms of action.

The prophylactic effects of superoxide dismutase, catalase, desferrioxamine, verapamil and disulfiram in experimental colitis.

In our study we have tried to compare the prophylactic effects of superoxide dismutase (SOD), SOD+catalase (CAT), desferrioxamine, verapamil and disulfiram, which are all free oxygen radical (FOR) scavengers, in an animal model of experimental acetic acid colitis. The control group had 58.3% colonic ulcers. The SOD group (48.6% ulcerated area) and the SOD+CAT group (47.2% ulcerated area) did not show a significant difference when compared with the control group. The values were significantly different in all other groups when compared with the control group (desferrioxamine (29.2% ulcerated area): P < 0.01; verapamil (10.4% ulcerated area) and disulfiram (7.6% ulcerated area): P < 0.001. In conclusion, desferrioxamine, verapamil and disulfiram have been found to be effective as prophylactics in experimental acetic acid colitis.

Effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor on bacterial translocation due to burn wound sepsis.

The presence of certain defects in both cellular and humoral immunity after thermal injury has been established. Likewise, the translocation of enteric bacteria to the mesenteric lymph nodes and to distant organs has also been observed following serious thermal injury. The effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on bacterial translocation, the small bowel mucosa, and cecal bacterial content were investigated in a rat model of burn wound sepsis in which albino Wistar rats were scalded over 30% of their bodies, after which the lesions were infected by 1 x 10(8) colony-forming units (cfu) Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The control group was treated with 5% dextrose solution subcutaneously starting 2 days preburn, while the treatment group received 100 microg/kg human G-CSF subcutaneously. On the 4th day post burn all animals were killed to examine the bowel and culture of the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), livers, and spleens. No significant differences were observed between the groups regarding the cecal bacterial content and small bowel; however, a difference was seen in the ratio of translocation in the MLN liver and spleen and quantitative MLN cultures. Based on these findings, G-CSF was thus found to be significantly effective in reducing bacterial translocation due to burn wound sepsis.

An alternative treatment of massive burns: skin allografts and cyclosporin immunosuppression without severe additional depression of cell-mediated immunity in an animal model.

This study investigated the effects of early excision of eschar and grafting with cyclosporin immunosuppression on immunological changes following burn injury. The immunological status of the rat was studied using two in vivo measures following a (30 per cent TBSA) full skin thickness burn injury. Cyclosporin was found to be a powerful immunosuppressive agent in skin transplantation, and its risks, efficacy and possible side-effects after thermal injury have been investigated. This study demonstrated that a large burn was profoundly immunosuppressive, and early excision and grafting was able to restore cell-mediated immunity significantly as reflected by two in vivo assays. The short course of the immunosuppressive treatment to delay skin allograft rejection did not cause a severe additional effect on cell-mediated immunity after thermal injury. Allograft survival appeared to be related to immunosuppression caused mainly by cyclosporin treatment and also by the immunosuppressive effect of the burn.

Lipid peroxidation in experimental spinal cord injury: time-level relationship.

Damage which occurs following spinal traumas is often irreversible. During recent years free oxygen radicals formed due to the pathological changes following neural tissue ischemia have been identified as being responsible for the ethio-pathogenesis of such damage. In our experimental study, model lesions are formed in spinal cords of rats by standard trauma. Malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product, was measured in the spinal tissues distal to the trauma in order to examine indirectly the time-quantity relationship of free oxygen radicals in the area. For this study 60 rats in six groups, including one control group, were used to determine the formation of MDA. Under a surgical microscope, the spines of all rats were exposed by C5-Th6 laminectomy, and pressure was applied to the spinal cords of animals, except the members of the control group, at the level of C7 by a Yasargil aneurysm clip. MDA was measured in spinal cord tissues in order to determine free oxygen radicals at the first and fifteenth minutes and at the first, second, and fourth hours. The statistical evaluation of the findings revealed a significant increase in MDA, starting from the 15th minute after the compression, reaching a maximum at 1 hour, and then decreasing. This observation may provide an important guide for studies on prevention of neural destruction.

Familial hemangioblastoma and von Hippel-Lindau's disease: case report.

Thirty-five members of a family affected with von Hippel-Lindau's disease (VHL) were examined and lesions were found in nine of them. Four of the lesions were located in the central nervous system; two cerebellar, one spinal, one cerebral. Eye lesions were present in eight of the nine patients and complications developed in seven; six unilateral and one bilateral blindness. Both mortality and morbidity were found to be higher than in other series. This is attributed to insufficient screening of the patients with familial VHL, the late diagnosis was established only after the onset of complications. The importance of screening tests in VHL risk patients is emphasized.

Entrapment neuropathy of the median nerve at the level of the ligament of Struthers.

The presence of a supracondylar process and Struthers' ligament is a rare congenital anomaly that may cause compression of either the median nerve, the brachial artery, or both. The authors present a case in which the supracondylar process and Struthers' ligament compressed both the median nerve and the brachial artery. This case is unusual, in that the symptoms of compression of the brachial artery increased--namely, the pulse intensity decreased and the pain increased with elbow flexion.