Auricular acupuncture and auricular medicine.

Auricular acupuncture is a treatment system based on normalizing the body's pain and dysfunction through stimulation of points on the ear. Resulting amelioration of pain and illness is believed to be through the reticular formation through the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Scalp acupuncture is one of the newest systems of microacupuncture therapy and anesthesia developed in the People's Republic of China; here the needle is inserted and stimulated in the areas directly above the corresponding nerve center. Hand acupuncture is a recently developed type of microreflex system that can be used exclusively or in addition to body acupuncture. Hand acupuncture is indicated to treat all ailments for which acupuncture is traditionally recommended.

Neural therapy.

Neural therapy is a treatment system to relieve chronic pain and illness through the injection of local anesthetics into scars, peripheral nerves, autonomic ganglia, trigger points, glands, and other tissues. Treatment is based on normalizing the dysfunctional autonomic nervous system, which initiates or propagates many chronic ailments. Neural therapy has been used widely by European physicians for over 50 years. Theories of action relating to a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system and chronic pain or illness are discussed.

Medical acupuncture enhances standard wilderness medical care: a case study from the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, Peru, April 2, 1997.

This case report shows the integration of medical acupuncture into the standard medical care of a wilderness emergency situation. Despite conventional medical attention, a trekker suffering from an extremely painful conjunctivitis continued to suffer severe eye pain. The addition of medical acupuncture to his care resolved his eye pain promptly, enabling him to continue his trekking activities without further distress. Acupuncture has many potential applications to enhance the effects of standard medical care in wilderness and third world travel settings.

Isotope effects on the cleavage of DNA by bleomycin: mechanism and modulation.

Sequence-specific isotope effects on the cleavage of DNA at thymidine residues by activated iron.bleomycin (Fe.BLM) have been observed upon incorporation of [4'-2H]thymidine into the DNA. The effects may be quantitated by end-labeling the DNA with phosphorus-32, generating a sequence ladder by gel electrophoresis, and measuring the relative damage at cleavage sites by autoradiography or phosphorimager technology. Results with DNA deuteriated at other positions of the deoxyribose ring, such as, the 5'- or 2'-carbon, afford no isotope effect suggesting high regiospecificity for the BLM-mediated carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage. The magnitude of the 4'-isotope effects for Fe.BLM ranges from 2 to 7 (+/- 0.3) and is not sensitive to changes in the partition ratio of the two proposed cleavage pathways. However, the isotope effect is sensitive to structural changes in BLM, such as with tallysomycin, and to changes in metal and cleavage mechanism, such as with Co.BLM. The variability of the effects are discussed in light of the factors responsible for the observation of V/K isotope effects. The findings suggest that the kinetics, thermodynamics, and geometry of carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage by Fe.BLM permit the observation of large isotope effects on this chemical step. Fe.BLM may be viewed, therefore, as a special case.

Relationship of personality characteristics to glucose regulation in adults with diabetes.

Personality characteristics were assessed in 139 diabetic adults (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus = 84, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus = 55) to determine whether a relationship existed between glucose regulation and the measured psychological features. Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was used to evaluate personality while glycated hemoglobin provided an estimate of recent glucose control. Mean glycated hemoglobin (gHb) for the sample was 11.4%. A significant difference (p = 0.03) in gHb levels was observed comparing subjects with extreme personality features (mean = 11.9%) with those subjects with average personality profiles (mean = 10.9%). Post hoc statistical testing identified opportunistic, alienated, and explosive temperaments as the personality features most often associated with poor glucose control. The TPQ appeared to be a particularly useful predictor of poorer glucose regulation in the subset of patients who were self-referred.

Neocarzinostatin-induced hydrogen atom abstraction from C-4' and C-5' of the T residue at a d(GT) step in oligonucleotides: shuttling between deoxyribose attack sites based on isotope selection effects.

The thiol-activated neocarzinostatin chromophore cleaves duplex oligonucleotides containing the sequence-TGTTTGA-, producing 3'-phosphoglycolate and 3'-phosphate fragments at T, indicating the involvement of 4'- as well as 5'-chemistry at this residue. Substitution of deuterium for hydrogen at the C-4' position of the affected T leads to a kinetic isotope effect (kH/kD) of 4.0 on the formation of the glycolate-ended product, whereas deuterium at C-5' of the same T reveals kH/kD of 1.6 in the formation of the phosphate-ended product. The proportion of the products representing 4'- and 5'-chemistry can be shifted on the basis of isotope selection effects. A second product resulting from 4'-chemistry, the abasic site associated with 4'-hydroxylation, has been identified as an alkali-labile site, and as a pyridazine derivative formed after cleavage by hydrazine. A comparable isotope effect on its production (kH/kD = 3.7) relative to that of 3'-phosphoglycolate production is consistent with a common intermediate, a putative 4'-peroxy radical, in their formation. The formation of both products of 4'-chemistry is oxygen-dependent, and the internal partitioning between them (3'-phosphate or 3'-phosphoglycolate) is influenced by thiols. Moreover, the nitroaromatic radiation sensitizer misonidazole can substitute for dioxygen, yielding 3'-phosphoglycolate and alkali-labile 3'-phosphate ends, indicative of 4'-chemistry. In addition to the internal partitioning of 4'-chemistry, thiols also affect the overall extent of cleavage (4' plus 5') and the relative partitioning between both sites of attack (4' or 5').

Sequence-specific isotope effects on the cleavage of DNA by bleomycin.

Bleomycin is a metal- and oxygen-dependent DNA cleaver. The chemistry of DNA damage has been proposed to involve rate-limiting abstraction of the 4'-hydrogen. A DNA fragment has been prepared that contains [4'-2H]thymidine residues of high isotopic content. Primary kinetic isotope effects have been directly observed at individual thymidine residues with DNA sequencing technology.

A characteristic vesiculobullous eruption in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

We report ten cases of a characteristic vesiculobullous eruption in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Clinically, six lesions were thought to represent insect bites. All ten patients had bone marrow examinations that confirmed the diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In six of ten patients serum protein and immunoelectrophoresis were performed. Six patients had immunoglobulin disturbances: one polyclonal IgG and IgM gammopathy, two monoclonal IgM gammopathies, two decreased levels of IgA, and one hypogammaglobulinemia. Direct and indirect immunofluorescence procedures were performed on two patients and results were negative. Immunoperoxidase procedures for IgG stained nonspecifically along torn/separated areas of the basement membrane in five patients. No immunohistochemistry was performed on the remaining three patients. The etiology and pathogenesis of these lesions are unknown. We favor the concept that they represent an unusual reaction to an arthropod bite, secondary to the underlying lymphoproliferative disorder. A second, and less likely theory, is that these lesions represent an unusual clinical presentation of bullous pemphigoid in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Antiandrogenic effects of topically applied spironolactone on the hamster flank organ.

The effects of topically applied spironolactone on the sebaceous glands of flank organs in adult male golden hamsters were investigated. Daily treatment with spironolactone (0.3 mg and 3 mg) on one side only significantly reduced the size of the treated flank organs, while the contralateral flank organs remained unchanged. Lower doses of spironolactone and the vehicle had no effect. Cyproterone acetate therapy resulted in the bilateral reduction of flank organ sizes. In vivo measurement of the palpable bulk of the flank organs correlated with flank organ volumes as determined by computer-assisted planimetry of serial histologic sections. Dry weights of seminal vesicles in animals treated with spironolactone did not differ significantly from those of the control group, while topically applied cyproterone acetate significantly reduced seminal vesicle weight. Topically administered spironolactone appears to have only local antiandrogenic effects, as indicated by the lack of changes in the untreated contralateral flank organs and in the weights of seminal vesicles.

Multiple optic fiber patterns in the catfish retina.

The retinas of certain catfish contain multiple optic discs. This report describes the patterns of optic nerve fibers and optic discs as seen in silver-stained flat mounts, in 11 different families of catfish. As many as 50 optic discs may exist in a single retina, in paired and unpaired combinations, and in slit and ring-like arrays.

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in conscious sheep: role of mast cell degranulation.

We used pharmacologic and histologic techniques to investigate the role of mast cells in the mediation of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in conscious sheep. Breathing a hypoxic gas mixture (13%, 02, 87% nitrogen) caused hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) with increases in mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance by 97 and 90%, respectively. Intravenous pretreatment with the mast cell membrane stabilizing agent cromolyn sodium (3 mg/kg/min) completely blocked HPV, whereas the H1-histamine receptor antagonist chlorpheniramine, alone or in combination with the H2-receptor antagonist metiamide and the prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor indomethacin, failed to prevent HPV. Cromolyn sodium failed to modify the pulmonary pressor response to infusions of norepinephrine (alpha-agonist), tyramine (catecholamine-releasing agent), and histamine, indicating the specificity of cromolyn sodium action on the mast cells. Electromicroscopic studies of pulmonary perivascular mast cells showed that a 90-min exposure to the hypoxic gas mixture reduced the total number of granules per mast cell to 75% of control. This was blocked by cromolyn sodium pretreatment. We conclude that in conscious sheep], HP[V is initiated by the liberation of a mast cell product (other than histamine) that either directly or indirectly causes pulmonary vasoconstriction.