Significant association between lower pulse pressure and increasing levels of a novel type of phospholipid.

The aim of this study was to analyze the association between pulse pressure and a novel type of phospholipid with solubility similar to that of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), designated as AP, which was reported to be elevated during ischemia. In this cross-sectional study, 416 hypertensive patients and 252 controls aged between 35 and 70 years were enrolled consecutively. Fasting blood samples were extracted for assays of phospholipids and other biomarkers. Compared to controls, the hypertensive patients had higher levels of both LPA [odds ratio (OR) = 3.83] and AP (OR = 4.30). Changes in blood pressure did not affect the levels of LPA or AP. However AP, but not LPA, levels were significantly higher in patients with lower or higher pulse pressure (Pearson χ(2) = 11.239, P = 0.001). For patients whose pulse pressure was ≤60 mmHg, plasma levels of AP were significantly negatively correlated with pulse pressure. However, this was not observed for LPA and nine other biomarkers, including lipoproteins. Plasma levels of AP increased in hypertensive patients with higher or lower pulse pressure. Thus, attention should be paid to the possibility of cerebral ischemia in hypertensive patients when they have abnormal pulse pressure, especially for those with relatively low pulse pressure.

Synthesis and central nervous system depressant effects of N3-substituted 2',3'-O-isopropylideneuridines.

N3-Substituted derivatives of 2',3'-O-isopropylideneuridine (1) were synthesized and their pharmacological effects on the central nervous system (CNS) examined using mice. Methyl (2), ethyl (3), propyl (4), butyl (5), allyl (6), benzyl (7), o-, m-, p-xylyls (8, 9, 10), and alpha-phenylethyl (11) derivatives of 1 were administered to mice by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection for evaluating hypnotic activity, pentobarbital-induced sleep prolongation, and spontaneous activity as indices. Only 3 possessed hypnotic activity by i.c.v. injection at the dose of 2.0 mumol/mouse. Compounds 3, 4, and 10 significantly showed synergism with a barbiturate, indicating that the derivatives have some CNS depressant effects. Moreover, 3 and 4 caused decrease in the spontaneous activity of mice, even at low doses. The present study indicated that substitution by ethyl, propyl, and p-xylyl groups at the N3-position of 2',3'-O-isopropylideneuridine imparted the CNS depressant effects.

Activation of epileptogenic activities by etomidate in electrocorticoencephalography (ECoG) during operation for epilepsy.

Epileptic surgery is a radical and ablative treatment for medically refractory epilepsy. Electrocorticoencephalography (ECoG) obtained by subdural strip electrodes should always be used during operation for precise localization of epileptic focus and mapping the extent of its involvement. But difficulties and ambiguities exist when the patient's ECoG is suppressed, either owing to the anticonvulsant used, being at the stage of posterictal period, or the effects of anesthetics during operation. Then, intentional activation of epileptogenic activity should be performed to locate the pathological focus in order to accomplish a successful surgical treatment. Etomidate has been considered as an abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) activator and its use is not recommended in patients with epilepsy. But lesser dose of etomidate as an activator for ECoG has not been investigated. The study reported here established that etomidate as an hypnotic has not only anesthetic properties but, paradoxically, also activates epileptogenic activity. With the latter pharmacologic characteristic, etomidate can be used to deliberately activate the spikes of the potentially epileptogenic tissue, the delineation and localization of which may help the surgeon determine to what extent the pathological cortex be resected in surgical treatment of a refractory epilepsy. The current recommended dosage of etomidate at veterans General Hospital-Taipei for ECoG in epileptic surgery is 0.1-0.15 mg/kg/iv.

Invasive papillomatosis and squamous carcinoma complicating juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis.

Juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis (JLP), usually a benign, self-limited disease, occasionally has a highly aggressive course characterized by extension of neoplastic cells into the tracheobronchial tree, lung, and soft tissues. Less frequently, squamous carcinoma has arisen in JLP, most commonly following radiation therapy. Rarely, carcinoma has occurred without previous irradiation, but distant metastases do not generally occur. We describe a 14-year-old boy, with a particularly aggressive form of JLP, who developed invasion of the lungs, intrapulmonary lymph nodes, and arteries by cytologically benign neoplastic tissue. He also developed a metastasizing squamous carcinoma of the lung and humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. A discussion of the implications of the case and a review of the current literature are provided.

Pulsed laser technique application to liquid and gaseous flows and the scattering power of seed materials.

Mie scattering computations have been performed for light scattered by small particles from a pulsed sheet of laser illumination and collected and imaged by a camera lens. From these computations the smallest particles that can be photographed in various fluid measurement situations, including air and water, have been determined in terms of system parameters such as laser power, light sheet geometry, f/No., and photographic film properties. The particle scattering requirements of the individual particle image mode and the speckle mode are compared.

Estrogen induces different responses in dermal and lung fibroblasts: special reference to collagen.

Fibroblast-like cells derived from dorsal skin and lung of AKR strain mouse embryos were cultured with estrogen for 4 days. The labeled hydroxyproline content was measured as newly synthesized collagenous protein in the cell layer and media. Although collagen synthesis by both cell lines was increased in both fractions under the influence of beta-estradiol-3-benzoate, at physiological concentrations of 10(-3)-10(-1) microgram/ml, the rate of increase differed. Fibroblasts derived from skin showed increased collagen synthesis of approximately 76%, while those from lung showed an increase of approximately 25%. Total protein synthesis by both cell lines also increased. In lung fibroblast cultures the synthesis of total protein was increased more than the synthesis of collagens; on the other hand in skin fibroblast cultures the synthesis of collagen was increased more than the synthesis of total protein. DNA synthesis by both cell lines was not affected by estrogen at the concentrations used. These findings suggest that fibroblasts develop in a different manner in each organ.

Investigation of the human macrophage. II. The in vitro cytotoxicity of macrophages.

Macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity in vitro was studied by a tritiated thymidine incorporation inhibition assay as well as by microscopic examination and optical transmitance determination. It was found that macrophages from patients with malignant diseases showed cytotoxic effects on two malignant human cell lines. The cytotoxic activity was more marked in patients who were clinically tumor-free. Some patients with benign diseases and normal subjects also exhibited cytotoxic macrophages. Macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity (MMC) was thus nonspecific in nature. Cell-free exudate from cancer patients did not influence MMC appreciably. The experimental methods and the possible significance of MMC are discussed.

Investigation of the human macrophage. I. Collection and in vitro cultivation.

By means of blister formation produced by cantharidin, a certain number of human macrophages could be readily obtained from the blister exudate. In the presence of 50% cell-free exudate, these cells were found to proliferate in vitro. The proliferating cells possessed the morphology and functional characteristics of macrophages.

Studies of factors influencing alveolar lining layer formation in lung homogenate: further isolation and identification of interfering materials.

Materials which inhibit the formation of stable alveolar lining layer by lung surfactant were investigated with the pig lung homogenate. The inhibitory activity was assessed by the bubble stability test on the bubbles formed by mechanical agitation of a mixture of surface active fraction from lung homogenate and inhibitory materials. The most active inhibitory material was identified as free cholesterol. Free fatty acids had a remarkable inhibitory activity. By modified Wilhelmy balance, it was demonstrated that the addition of free cholesterol to the surface active fraction delayed the formation of the stable surface membrane and at a larger dosage it inhibited the lowering the surface tension at the minimum surface area. The significance of this phenomenon in pathological lungs was briefly discussed.

Experimental studies on the effect of aging and endocrine control on collagen formation in various organs.

Physiological changes with advancing age of collagen content, fiber and fibril sizes in some connective tissues, the morphological profiles and enzyme histochemical activities of fibroblasts in different organs. and the effect of gonadectomy, adrenalectomy, hypophysectomy and their hormone replacement on the collagen and fibroblasts were studied using DDD, C57BL/6J, A/Jax, DW/J mice and Wistar rats. It was suggested that connective tissue in these organs was under the specific control of endocrine organs such as gonads, adrenals and the pituitary and that these controls might be effected through their hormonal effects on the specifically differentiated fibroblast localized in different organs and tissue.