Intra-osseous lipoma of the talus: a case report.

Intra-osseous lipomas are rare benign tumours. We report one such case in the talus of a 60-year-old man. The patient underwent curettage and bone grafting. At the 22-month follow-up, radiographs of the talus showed dense sclerosis with multiple cortical breaks in the anterior process and no evidence of local recurrence or avascular necrosis. The patient had a painless ankle joint with normal range of movement.

Delayed immunization against vaccine preventable diseases--factors responsible among children under 5 years of age.

In the present case-control study, out of the the eleven risk factors of delayed immunization, only seven, namely family size, sex, number of children < 5 years, material education, paternal education, distance from health centre and low socio-economic status were found to be significantly associated. The common causes for delayed immunization were negligence on part of parents, unawareness about the use of vaccine and sickness of child. Thus, health education of the parents is recommended.

Effects of different combinations of H2 receptor antagonist with gastrokinetic drugs on gastric fluid pH and volume in children--a comparative study.

In a prospective double-blind randomized study, 100 American Society of Anesthesiologists classification I (ASAI) children (aged 2-8 years) were allocated randomly to receive 1 of the 5 different oral premedicant combination, 2 hours before surgery. Group I (control) received placebo premedication, group II (RM) received ranitidine 2 mg/kg-1 with metoclopramide 0.2 mg/kg-1, group III (RD) received ranitidine 2 mg/kg-1 with domperidone 0.3 mg/kg-1, group IV (FM) received famotidine 0.5 mg/kg-1 with metoclopramide 0.2 mg/kg-1, and group V (FD) received famotidine 0.5 mg/kg-1 with domperidone 0.3 mg/kg-1. After tracheal intubation, gastric fluid was aspirated and analyzed for pH and total fluid volume. In 9 patients there was no aspirate, hence they were excluded from the study. Eighteen children from the control group and none of the children from other groups had gastric pH < 2.5 and volume > 0.4 ml/kg-1 (p < 0.01). Mean gastric pH (> 5.16) in RM, RD, FM, and FD groups was significantly higher as compared to control group (1.83) (p < 0.01). Mean gastric volume was significantly lower in RM, RD, FM, and FD groups (< 0.24 ml/kg-1) as compared to control group (0.5 ml/kg-1) (p < 0.01). Famotidine was found to be more effective in increasing gastric pH (p < 0.01) and decreasing volume (p < 0.05) as compared to ranitidine. No difference was found between metoclopramide and domperidone in increasing gastric pH and reducing gastric volume.

Conjugation of methotrexate to IgG antibodies and their F(ab)2 fragments and the effect of conjugated methotrexate on tumor growth in vivo.

Methotrexate (MTX) was first conjugated to antibovine serum albumin IgG (antiBSA) or its F(ab)2 fragment to define conditions for retention of drug and antibody activity. With identical drug: protein molar ratios, incorporation in the F(ab)2 fragment was lower than in intact antiBSA, an observation consistent with analysis of the number of lysine residues (22 in F(ab)2 compared to 40 in antiBSA). In either case, up to approximately 10 mol MTX could be incorporated per mol protein, with recovery of 70% of the protein. At an incorporation ratio of 6 mol MTX per mol protein, MTX-antiBSA retained 100% of antibody activity and MTX-F(ab)2-antiBSA retained 75%. MTX-antiBSA and MTX-F(ab)2antiBSA were equally potent in vitro inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase. Conjugates prepared from antiEL4 IgG (AELG) and from F(ab)2AELG significantly increased survival in EL4 lymphoma-bearing mice compared with mice receiving equal amounts (5 mg MTX/kg) of free MTX, MTX linked to the F(ab)2 fragment of normal rabbit IgG, or a simple mixture of MTX and F(ab)2AELG. MTX-AELG at this dose level produced longer survival than MTX-F(ab)2AELG (0.005 less than P less than 0.01).

Modulation of pituitary responsiveness to LHRH by androgens in ovariectomized female rats.

The effect of androgens on pituitary response to luteinizing-hormore-releasing hormone (LHRH) and their ability to modify effects of 17beta-estradiol (E2) on pituitary responsiveness to LHRH were tested in ovariectomized rats maintained on a daily dose of 0.25 microgram estradiol benzoate per rat for 6 d before androgen administration. Testosterone propionate (TP) (4, 40, 400, or 4000 microgram per rat), administered 24 h before LHRH (500 ng per rat), had no significant effect on luteinizing hormone (LH) or follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) response. Similar doses of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) did not significantly alter the LH response but significantly suppressed the FSH response. Even the lowest dose completely blocked the FSH response to LHRH. TP in combination with 4 or 400 microgram of E2 suppressed the stimulatory effect of E2 on both LH and FSH response to LHRH in a dose-related manner. DHT and E2 in combination affected LH response inconsistently, whereas their ratio determined FSH response; there was pronounced inhibition of FSH response in rats given high doses of DHT combined with low doses of E2; DHT inhibition of FSH response in animals receiving 4 microgram of DHT with 400 microgram E2 was partially overcome by the stimulatory effect of E2. Our results indicate that TP and DHT affect LH and FSH response to LHRH differently. The ratio of androgen to estrogen is important in determining the response to LHRH.