Physical performance and cardiovascular and metabolic adaptation of elite female wheelchair basketball players in wheelchair ergometry and in competition.

Spinal cord injury leads to a pronounced reduction of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and metabolic ability. Physical activity, up to and including high-performance sports, has obtained importance in the course of rehabilitation and the postclinical phase. Thirteen elite female wheelchair basketball players from the German National Basketball Team and 10 female sedentary spinal cord-injured persons were examined in the study. Heart volume was measured by an echocardiography. All subjects underwent a graded exercise test on a wheelchair ergometer. Additionally, heart rate, lactate, and player points were measured during a competitive basketball game in wheelchair basketball players. Cardiac dimensions were larger for spinal cord-injured wheelchair basketball players (620.3 ml; 9.6 ml x kg(-1)) in comparison with spinal cord-injured persons (477.4 ml; 8.2 ml x kg(-1)) but did not exceed the heart volume of untrained nonhandicapped persons. In contrast, athletes with amputations or those having had poliomyelitis reached training-induced cardiac hypertrophy in relation to body mass (713.7 ml; 13.2 ml x kg(-1)), as observed in nonhandicapped athletes. During graded wheelchair ergometry, wheelchair basketball players showed a higher maximal work rate (59.9 v 45.5 W), maximal oxygen consumption (33.7 v 18.3 ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)), and maximal lactate (9.1 v 5.47 mmol x l(-1)) without a difference in maximal heart rate and workload at AT4 than did spinal cord-injured persons. The average heart rate during the wheelchair basketball game was 151 x min(-1), and the lactate concentration was 1.92 mmol x l(-1). Female athletes with a less severe handicap and higher maximal oxygen consumption during the graded exercise test reached a higher game level in the evaluation. During the competitive basketball game, high cardiovascular stress was observed, indicating a fast aerobic metabolism; the anaerobic lactic acid capacity played a subordinate role. Wheelchair basketball is an effective and suitable sport to enhance physical performance and to induce positive physiological adaptations.

Pranlukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, attenuates allergen-induced early- and late-phase bronchoconstriction and airway hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic subjects.

BACKGROUND: The cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of allergen-induced airway responses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of pretreatment with the cysLT receptor antagonist pranlukast on allergen-induced early asthmatic responses (EARs) and late asthmatic responses (LARs) and on allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). METHODS: Ten atopic, nonsmoking patients with mild asthma and previously demonstrated early- and late-phase allergen-induced asthmatic responses participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, comparing treatment with either 450 mg pranlukast given twice daily or placebo for 5.5 days. A methacholine challenge was performed before administration of medication, and the result was expressed as the PC20. An allergen inhalation challenge was performed on the morning of the fifth day of treatment 2 hours after administration of medication. Methacholine challenges were also performed 2 hours after medication on days 4 and 6 (24 hours before and 24 hours after allergen administration) to examine allergen-induced AHR. RESULTS: Pranlukast attenuated allergen-induced early responses, late responses, and AHR. The mean (SEM) maximal percent fall in FEV1 from baseline during the early response was 30.0% (5.1%) during placebo treatment and 15.5% (3.5%) during pranlukast treatment (mean difference, 14.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.3 to 23.7; P = .007), with a mean protection afforded by pranlukast of 48.3%. The mean maximal percent fall in FEV1 during the late response was 34.7% (5.3%) during placebo treatment and 24.0% (4.4%) during pranlukast treatment (mean difference, 10.7%; 95% CI, 4.1 to 17.3; P = .006), with a mean protection afforded by pranlukast of 30.8%. The mean allergen-induced shift in PC20 was -1.76 (0.32) doubling doses during placebo treatment and -0.38 (0.31) doubling doses during pranlukast treatment (mean difference, -1.38 doubling doses; 95% CI, 0.44 to 2.32; P = .012), with a mean protection afforded by pranlukast of 78.4%. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that pranlukast can attenuate allergen-induced early and late airways responses and AHR and adds further support for an important role for the cysLTs in mediating allergen-induced asthmatic responses.

Synthesis of characteristic lipopeptides of the human N-Ras protein and their evaluation as possible inhibitors of protein farnesyl transferase.

Lipopeptides carrying a farnesyl thioether or a palmitic acid thioester and a farnesyl thioether were prepared from S-farnesyl cysteine methyl ester by N-terminal extension of the peptide chain employing the base labile Fmoc blocking group of the palladium(0) sensitive Aloc urethane. By means of this technique a lipohexapeptide representing the completely functionalized, i.e. palmitoylated and farnesylated C-terminus of the human N-Ras protein, was prepared. If acid labile blocking functions like the Boc group were used, upon deprotection an undesired addition of the acid to the double bonds of the farnesyl residue occurred. Therefore, acid labile blocking groups should not be employed in the synthesis of farnesylated lipopeptides. The lipopeptide methyl esters which carry only a farnesyl group do not inhibit protein farnesyl transferase, whereas palmitoylated peptides are weak inhibitors of this enzyme.

Hlatlolanang: a community project.

PIP: Sekekhuneland, which is in the northern Transvaal in South Africa, has suffered from a 2-year drought which has led to a shortage of basic food in the villages and a 50-60% incidence of kwashiorkor among the village children. The natural resources of the area have been eliminated by over population and its attendant deforestation, land erosion, and wildlife decimation. The situation has been exacerbated by a political climate rife with corruption and incompetence. The most pressing problem is a shortage of water which prevents agricultural development and limits food production. Some dangerous traditional beliefs persist, such as believing that sickness is caused by curses which modern medicine cannot affect. In response to this situation, Hlatlolanang ("we share the burden"), a community-based development program has been put into place. The director of the center, Rose Mazibuko, is a nurse who believes that primary health care in its broadest sense is a human right. This involves not only the health sector but also agriculture, industrial development, education, housing, and public works. The first problem tackled was kwashiorkor. Other groups had failed to reduce the incidence of the condition in the area. Hlatlolanang recognized that mothers of affected children were being stigmatized by hospital personnel. Thus, the mothers would often go to the hospital only as a last resort and would avoid the training necessary to help their children. The community requested that Hlatlolanang become a training center where all members of the community could learn how to combat kwashiorkor and where inappropriate attitudes could undergo the necessary changes. Thus, the Hlatlolanang Health and Education Center was born with funding from the Kaiser Family Foundation, an architect who participated in the development workshop and knew exactly what the community wanted, an elected planning committee, and 4 local builders. People were carefully screened and hired to run the center according to a deliberately slow selection process which gave those employed time to acquire the necessary training for development work. Since the main objective of Hlatlolanang is to instill self-reliance in the communities it intends to serve, its programs are only put in place at community request and with the compliance and understanding of the local chiefs. Hlatlolanang is willing both to help and to work with anyone, a willingness which allows the group to avoid regional and village politics. Development work is slow, but gardens have been planted and hope has started to grow in the people.^ieng

Subchronic inhalation of triethylamine vapor in Fischer-344 rats: organ system toxicity.

Male and female F-344 rats were exposed at 0, 25, or 247 ppm triethylamine (TEA) vapor, 6 hr per day, 5 days per week for up to 28 weeks in order to characterize the subchronic organ system toxicity. Rats were weighed biweekly and scheduled sacrifices were performed following about 30, 60, and 120 days of exposure. No statistically significant treatment-related effects on organ weights, hematology, clinical chemistry, or electrocardiographic indices were observed. Body weight gain was not affected by TEA treatment. No physiologic or pathologic evidence of cardiotoxicity was seen in rats exposed to either TEA concentration for up to 28 weeks. No gross or histopathologic lesions attributable to TEA exposure were noted in any of the organs examined, including the nasal passages. This latter finding is in marked contrast to previously reported findings from this laboratory in which squamous metaplasia, suppurative rhinitis, and lymphoid hyperplasia were found in the respiratory epithelium of F-344 rats exposed to the structurally related chemical, diethylamine, under the same conditions as this study (Lynch et al., 1986).

Subchronic inhalation of diethylamine vapor in Fischer-344 rats: organ system toxicity.

Male and female Fischer 344 (F-344) rats were exposed at 0,25 or 250 ppm diethylamine (DEA) vapor, 6.5 hr per day, 5 days per week, for 24 weeks in order to assess cardiac and other organ system toxicity. Scheduled sacrifices were performed following 30, 60, and 120 days of exposure. During the first 2 weeks of exposure, the rats exposed at 250 ppm DEA did not gain weight. After 2 weeks, however, the rate of weight gain of these rats was greater than that of controls. Nevertheless, mean body weights for both sexes of rats exposed at 250 ppm DEA remained depressed compared to controls throughout the study. Sneezing, tearing, and reddened noses were seen in rats exposed at 250 ppm DEA. Histopathologic examinations revealed lesions of the nasal mucosa of rats exposed at 250 ppm DEA (rats exposed at 25 ppm were not evaluated). These lesions of the respiratory epithelium consisted of squamous metaplasia, suppurative rhinitis, and lymphoid hyperplasia. There were no pronounced treatment-related effects on organ weights, hematology, or clinical chemistry indices except for blood urea nitrogen which was evaluated in rats of both sexes exposed at 250 ppm DEA for 24 weeks. In contrast to the high-dose animals, no treatment-related effects were observed in rats intermittently exposed at 25 ppm DEA for up to 24 weeks. No evidence of cardiotoxicity was seen in rats exposed to either DEA concentration for up to 24 weeks.

Electrocardiographic study of rat fetuses exposed to ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME).

The widely used industrial solvent ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME) is teratogenic to rats and mice, inducing a variety of heart and major vessel abnormalities. In the present study, electrocardiography was used to evaluate heart function in day 20 rat (Sprague-Dawley) fetuses from mothers treated on gestation days 7-13 (sperm = day 1) with 0, 25, or 50 mg/kg EGME by gavage in 10 ml/kg water. The increased incidence of fetuses with cardiovascular malformations (primarily right ductus arteriosus and ventricular septal defect) and abnormal electrocardiograms (EKG) was dose dependent. The most prevalent EKG abnormality was a prolonged QRS wave. Mean QRS intervals were not significantly increased by EGME exposure, but there were significantly more litters in the 50-mg/kg EGME group that had one or more fetuses with QRS complexes of 40 msec or longer. The enhanced duration and the appearance of the aberrant QRS's suggested the presence of an intraventricular conduction delay in these fetuses. Heart rate and other EKG characteristics such as the P wave or P-R and Q-T intervals were not significantly affected by exposure to EGME. There did not appear to be an association between abnormal EKG's and fetal heart dysmorphology.