Supersensitivity to norepinephrine or dopamine antagonists after knife cuts that produce aphagia and adipsia in rats

Aphagia and adipsia of equivalent duration were produced by knife cuts along the lateral border of the hypothalamus (PH cuts), or the medial surface of the globus pallidus (MP cuts) in male albino rats. Striatal dopamine (DA) was reduced by 75% in animals with PH cuts but only 50% by MP cuts. Hypothalamic norepinephrine was reduced 25% by PH cuts and was unaffected by MP cuts. Aphagia and adipsia were positively correlated with DA depletions only in rats with PH cuts. Presurgical catecholamine depletions produced by chronic injections of alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine did not alter the duration of aphagia or adipsia resulting from these knife cuts. However, following recovery of ingestive behavior, rats with PH and MP cuts were supersensitive to the anorexic effects of the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor, diethyldithiocarbamate. Exaggerated anorexia was also observed after DA blockade by haloperidol or alpha-adrenergic blockade by phenoxybenzamine. The most pronounced effects of catecholamine blockade were observed in rats with PH cuts.

Disseminated histoplasmosis in an English patient with diabetes mellitus

Histoplasma capsulatum is not endemic in Britain. We report a case of disseminated histoplasmosis in an English man who had not ventured out of northern Europe for 30 years. The disease presented as painful mouth ulcers and hepatosplenomegaly six months after he had developed maturity-onset diabetes. The origin of the infecting fungus may have been from within the United Kingdom or alternatively it may have existed as an intraoral saprophyte for over 30 years.

Evaluation of fetal wellbeing by antepartum fetal heart monitoring

The value of antenatal fetal heart rate monitoring was assessed in 301 patients. Tracings from each patient were classified as "reactive" or "non-reactive." Perinatal mortality, fetal distress in labour, caesarean section for fetal distress, and the incidence of low Apgar scores were all significantly increased in the non-reactive group.

Regulatory deficits after surgical transections of three components of the MFB: correlation with regional amine depletions

Parasagittal knife cuts along the lateral border of the diencephalon (PS), coronal cuts across the lateral (LMFB) or medial (MMFB) components of the medial forebrain bundle reproduce most of the persisting deficits in responding to glucoprivic and hydrational challenges that characterize rats with lateral hypothalamic lesions or intracranial injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (60HDA). Each of these cuts produced a differnet pattern of regulatory deficits, suggesting that individual components of the LH syndrome may be mediated by different neural substrates. This interpretation is supported by the results of our correlational analysis of the relationships between specific behavioral and biochemical effects of our cuts. For example, feeding responses to insulin were reliably correlated with striatal DA concentrations but feeding responses to 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2DG) were not. Water intake during periods of food deprivation was reliably correlated with striatal DA but water intake after an experimental osmotic challenge was not. Only one of the common persisting deficits (impaired feeding response to peripheral injections of insulin) was positively correlated with the duration of aphagia and adipsia.

Deficits in food and water intake after knife cuts that deplete striatal DA or hypothalamic NE in rats

Knife cuts ventral or medial to the striatum were used to interrupt some of the principal connections of this structure. All of the cuts depleted striatal dopamine and produced aphagia and adipsia but there was no indication that the two classes of effects were always correlated. Cuts medial to the striatum produced the most severe DA depletions, persistent aphagia and adipsia, and the full complement of deficits in responding to glucoprivic and hydrational challenges that characterize rats that have recovered from lateral hypothalamic lesions. Cuts ventral to posterior portions of the striatum produced comparable periods of aphagia and adipsia (but few of the persisting impairments in responsiveness to regulatory challenges) even though their effect on striatal DA was relatively small (the average depletion was 51% compared to 89% for rats with cuts medial to the striatum). A second group of rats with cuts below more anterior aspects of the striatum sustained severe DA depletions (70%) but only very brief periods of aphagia and adipsia and only slight deficits in responding to osmotic challenges. The effects of the DA depleting cuts were compared with the behavioral consequences of coronal cuts in the midbrain tegmentum which selectively depleted hypothalamic norepinephrine. These cuts did not produce reliable effects on either food or water intake but abolished the normal feeding response to 2-deoxy-d-glucose without affecting the response to insulin. A correlational analysis of the biochemical and behavioral results of our cuts indicated a significant positive relationship between drinking in response to cellular thirst stimuli and hypothalamic NE as well as striatal DA. The postoperative body weights of our experimental animals were positively correlated with striatal dopamine and negatively related to hypothalamic norepinephrine.

Thiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives as amplifiers of phleomycin against Escherichia coli

The acetylation of 5-amino-6-methylpyrimidine-2,4-dithione (1; R = H) followed by cyclo-dehydration gave 2,7-dimethylthiazolo[5,4-d] pyrimidine-5-thione (2; R = Me) which underwent S-alkylation by methyl iodide, 2-chloroacetamide, etc, to afford the corresponding 5-alkylthio derivatives (4a-c). Treatment of the same substrate with carbon disulphide provided 7-methyl-thiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidine-2,5-dithione (6) and thence the corresponding 2,5-bisalkylthio derivatives (4d-g). Similar reactions with 5-amino-6-mercapto-2-methylpyrimidine-4- thione(5; R1 = Me, R2 = SH, R3 = H) gave 7-alkylthio-2,5- dimethylthiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidines (4h-p) and 2,7-bis-alkylthio-5- methylthiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidines [(4q) and (4r)]. Two 2-alkylthio-7- methoxythiazolo-[5,4-d]pyrimidines, (4s) and (4t), were made by similar methods. ��� The foregoing compounds were tested in vitro as amplifiers of phleomycin against E. coli. Some of the more soluble compounds showed activities comparable with those of the best purine amplifiers previously tested.

Behavioral and biochemical effects of knife cuts that preferentially interrupt principal afferent and efferent connections of the striatum in the rat

Knife cuts were made that preferentially interrupted (a) the nigrostriatal pathway; (b) pallidofugal projections to the lower brainstem; (c) caudate-pallidal interconnections; and (d) fibers entering or leaving the striatum ventrally. The effects of these cuts on conditioned (shuttle box) avoidance, passive avoidance, swimming escape, sucrose-rewarded alley running, locomotor activity, and various measures of sensory-motor function were examined. The norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin content of the striatum, residual forebrain and hypothalamus were determined following the completion of behavioral testing. The pattern of results suggests that striatal functions which are significantly influenced by several afferent and efferent connections are essential for the acquisition and, perhaps, execution of complex behavior in appetitive as well as aversive test paradigms. A special role for the dopaminergic afferents to the striatum was not established in these tests.

Continuous fetal monitoring in the ambulant patient in labour

Fetal heart rate was monitored continuously in 30 ambulant women in labour by radiotelemetry. The procedure was practicable and, since contractions were less uncomfortable with the patient standing or walking about, reduced the need for analgesia. It also resulted in a more natural labour. Use of the procedure may lessen the risk of thromboembolism.

Hepatitis B antigen card test III: sensitivity and specificity

A simple, rapid hepatitis B antigen card test (card test III) with third-generation sensitivity has been developed. This test is a modification of the charcoal-particle agglutination-inhibition procedure. Sera from voluntary blood donors and hospital patients were tested by the new procedure, by the original inhibition technic, by reversed passive hemagglutination, and by radioimmunoassay. This comparison showed that CT III has a specificity equal to that of radioimmunoassay and is almost as sensitive.

Successful autotransplantation of an intra-abdominal testis to the scrotum by microvascular technique

An intra-abdominal testis in a child with prune belly syndrome was successfully transplanted to the scrotum by a microvascular technique. Immediate results were good with no palpable atrophy of the testis. Long-term results (fertility) will not be known for many years. The technique of microvascular anastomosis and its application to orchiopexy are described.

The reliability of maternal recall. Mother's remembrance of their infant's health and illness

Fifty-nine mothers were asked, when their babies were nine months of age, to recall the baby's birth date, birth weight, last recorded weight, past illnesses, illness visits, well-baby visits, and immunization history. These responses were checked against the data recorded in the baby's clinical records to determine the accuracy of the mothers' recall. Maternal education did affect the accuracy of recall while maternal age, race, and the sex and birth order of the baby did not. Health and illness related historical events require ongoing documentation in some easily retrievable form if they are to be relied upon by physicians and medical investigators when providing care or conducting research.

Pain control in recurrent head and neck cancer. Retrolabyrinthine section of the fifth and ninth cranial nerves

The present-day otolaryngologist who is amply trained in the area of head and neck cancer surgery has the additional otologic surgical skills that can be applied to the control of head and neck cancer pain, utilizing the retrolabyrinthine route to the preganglionic pain fibers. Patients who can benefit from this surgical procedure have pain in the distribution of the fifth, seventh, ninth, and tenth cranial nerves that requires administration of narcotics for control. The complications of meningitis, bleeding, facial paralysis, and hearing loss are possible and must be appropriately treated, if present.

Cervico-mediastinal haematoma following sneezing

A case of spontaneous cervico-mediastinal haematoma is described. This is the ninth case recorded and is unusual in that the haematoma seems to have resulted from rupture of a para-oesophageal vein. The differential diagnosis and methods of investigation are discussed.

The amino acid sequence of plastocyanin from Chlorella fusca

The amino acid sequence of the plastocyanin from the green alga Chlorella fusca was determined. The protein consists of a single polypeptide chain of 98 residues, and was determined by characterization of chymotryptic and thermolysin peptides. The amino acid sequence shows considerable similarity to that of higher plant plastocyanins. The protein contains a single cysteine, and the sequence in the vicinity of this residue is similar to that around the cysteine residue of bacterial azurins. The plastocyanin contains some uncharacterized carbohydrate. Detailed evidence for the sequence of the protein has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50 036 (17pp., 1 microfiche) at the British Library (Lending Division) (formerly the National Lending Library for Science and Technology), Boston Spa, Yorks. LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies may be obtained on the terms given in Biochem. J. (1973) 131, 5.

The oxygen uptake and pulmonary blood flow during resuscitation from asphyxia in foetal and adult sheep

1. The foetuses of twenty-seven Welsh ewes and eight Clun Forest ewes were delivered by Caesarian section at an approximate gestational age of 140 days, maintaining the umbilical circulation. They were asphyxiated by clamping the umbilical cord, and resuscitated with IPPV. Oxygen consumption, heart rate, and blood pressures were recorded, and in one series of eight, blood flow through the left lung was recorded whilst IPPV was applied to this lung only.2. The hypothesis that oxygen consumption is abnormally low during resuscitation of the new-born from extreme asphyxia because of limited blood flow, was supported.3. Adult ewes were also asphyxiated and in a series of eight a quite different pattern of behaviour was observed, due to very rapid and complete recovery of the circulation.4. Observations on the pulmonary vascular resistance suggest that complete vasomotor paralysis occurs during extreme asphyxia, so that resistance falls to a near-minimum level for unexpanded lung. Expansion of the lung produced a large fall in resistance which appeared to be due to the introduction of gas into the alveolar spaces, lessening the resistance to flow of the capillaries.

The Hill reaction of chloroplasts isolated from glutaraldehyde-fixed spinach leaves

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