Effect of starvation on the N-acetylglutamate system of rat liver

Rats fasted for 3 and 6 days showed an increase in the activity, per g of liver but not per total liver, of the mitochondrial urea cycle enzymes, carbamylphosphate synthetase and ornithine transcarbamylase. The activity of N-acetylglutamate synthetase, both per g and per total liver, increased by the third day and then decreased on the sixth day of fasting. The cytosolic enzyme N-acetyldeacylase showed the same general pattern as the N-acetylglutamate synthetase except that the relative proportion of synthetase over deacylase was higher at the third day of starvation. The N-acetylglutamate level/g liver increases in relation to the number of days of fasting.

Pressures in the sphincter of Oddi in patients with gallstones, common duct stones, and recurrent pancreatitis

To determine the significance of manometric pressure, measurements of the sphincter of Oddi in a control group and in patients with cholelithiasis with common duct stones with and without recurrent pancreatitis were studied. Sphincter of Oddi pressure was recorded continuously and by station pull-through by a triple lumen catheter. The basal sphincter of Oddi pressure, the mean pressure gradient between common duct and duodenum, and the sphincter of Oddi wave amplitude were measured. There was no significant difference between control subjects and patients with gallstones and common duct stones. In patients with common duct stones and recurrent pancreatitis the basal sphincter of Oddi pressure, the pressure gradient between common duct and duodenum, and the wave amplitude were significantly increased over control patients. These studies suggest that abnormalities in the sphincter of Oddi motor function are more common in patients with common duct stones with recurrent pancreatitis than in similar patients without pancreatitis.

Hepatic acetylator phenotype in diabetes mellitus

Hepatic acetylator phenotype was determined using the sulphamethazine method in 32 patients with juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus and in 87 patients with the maturity-onset diabetes mellitus (Types I and II) and among 157 controls. No statistical differences were observed, neither for the incidence of acetylator phenotype among diabetics as compared with the control group, nor for the age at diagnosis of maturity-onset diabetes in slow and rapid acetylators. The incidence of diabetic retinopathy was similar among both phenotypes.

Computer analyzed EEG in amphetamine-responsive hyperactive children

Electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency analysis and evoked potentials (EPs) of 27 hyperactive children were examined to determine which, if any, of these electrophysiological parameters might be useful for the selection of those children likely to respond to stimulant medication. The children were treated with placebo, d-amphetamine, and l-amphetamine in double-blind fashion and in random order. EEGs for frequency analysis, visual EPs, and auditory EPs were obtained before and during treatment. Off medication, hyperactive responders to amphetamine had higher predominant beta frequency and shorter latencies of some EP waves than did nonresponders. Although the findings reported here would not select all responders, they would allow the exclusion of most nonresponders.

Treatment of multiple viral warts with levamisole

Seventy-seven patients with multiple common warts were screened for a double-blind study using levamisole. Of these, only 32 patients showed cellular immune deficiency. Fourteen patients received 2.5 mg/kg, two days a week, for eight weeks, and eighteen received a placebo. Both groups showed some improvement but results were not statistically different. Placebo plays a significant role in the treatment of warts.