Atrial natriuretic factor and renin synthesized in cultured aortic smooth muscle cells of rats

This study was designed to determine whether or not atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) is present in the vascular walls and to observe the differences in ANF between control (WKY) and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRsp). It was found that ANF is indeed present in the vascular wall of the distal aorta. HPLC analysis of the extracts from cultured aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC) and medium revealed that intracellular ANF was mainly in the form of ANF(1-126), at levels of 0.82 +/- 0.03 (SHRsp) and 1.04 +/- 0.10 ng/10(6) cells (WKY), while the major form in the medium was ANF(99-126), at levels of 0.40 +/- 0.06 and 0.60 +/- 0.06 ng/10(6) cells, respectively. Both forms were present in smaller amounts in SHRsp than in WKY rats. On the contrary, both renin activity and angiotensin I concentrations in SHRsp cells were significantly higher than those in the WKY controls. In addition, immunocytochemistry showed positive ANF staining in cultured ASMC of both strains. The results suggest that ANF can be synthesized and secreted by cultured ASMC from rats.

Survival of heart failure patients with preserved versus impaired systolic function: the prognostic implication of blood pressure

The impact of impaired versus preserved systolic function on survival of patients with heart failure was investigated in 78 patients with decompensated heart failure. Patients were classified on the basis of their left ventricular systolic performance, as defined by fractional shortening (FS); group I (n = 56) had impaired systolic function (FS less than 24%) and group II (n = 22) had preserved systolic function (FS greater than or equal to 24%). Mean ejection fraction was 15 +/- 5% and 40 +/- 13% for these groups, respectively. By the end of 48 months, 36 patients in group I had died compared with only 22 patients in group II (p less than 0.05). Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly lower in the deceased patients compared with the survivors in group I (p less than 0.05). There was a trend for an opposite direction in the relationship of blood pressure to mortality in group II. We conclude that the prognosis of patients with heart failure and preserved systolic function is more favorable than that of those with impaired function, and that blood pressure may have a differential prognostic meaning in the two groups.

[An observation of the anticancer activity of mitoxantrone hydrochloride injection]

Experimental results of anticancer activity of DHAQ.HCl are reported in this paper. It was discovered that DHAQ.HCl, mitoxantrone hydrochloride, had an obvious anticancer effect on the experimental tumor strains:Ehrlich ascites cancer, Sarcoma-180, Leukemia P388, etc., and that it was more effective to Leukemia P388 than to other strains. The anticancer activity of DHAQ.HCl was better than DHAQ (P less than 0.05). No side effect was observed on the local sites (s.c.) of tumor planted or drug injected. And also a good anticancer effect was observed on the sites of tumor planted by local injection. It is suggested that this observation can provide some information on the choice of routes of administration of this drug clinically.

Reoperation in the treatment of recurrent intracranial malignant gliomas

Fifty-five consecutive patients with recurrent intracranial malignant gliomas were reoperated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1972 to 1983. The patients were 10 to 70 years old (median, 48 years). Thirty-five patients (64%) had glioblastoma multiforme, and 20 (36%) had anaplastic astrocytoma. The median interval between the first operation and reoperation was 43 weeks. The Karnofsky rating before reoperation ranged from 40 to 90 (median, 70). Eleven patients (20%) had more than one reoperation. The mortality rate was 1.4% per procedure, and the morbidity rate was 16% per procedure. After reoperation, 41 patients (75%) had chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The median survival for all patients was 92 weeks. The median survival after reoperation was 36 weeks. Patients with Karnofsky ratings of greater than or equal to 70, with anaplastic astrocytomas, or in whom gross total removal of the tumor was undertaken lived longer than their respective counterparts (P less than 0.05). Prereoperation Karnofsky rating and extent of surgical resection were the most important independent factors related to survival after reoperation according to multivariate analysis (P less than 0.01 and P less than 0.05, respectively). Twenty-five patients (45%) had improved Karnofsky ratings after reoperation, and the 32 patients (58%) who were independent after reoperation were able to stay so for more than 6 months of their survival time (median value). Reoperation is feasible and can be accomplished with acceptable mortality and morbidity. When intracranial malignant gliomas recur, the combined use of reoperation and adjuvant therapy prolongs good quality life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cardiovascular responses to exercise of participants in a trial on the primary prevention of hypertension

The Chicago study on the Primary Prevention of Hypertension (PPH) is a long-term, randomized controlled trial to test the ability of nutritional-hygienic non-pharmacological methods to prevent high blood pressure in hypertension-prone persons aged 30-44 years at entry. In order to assess the effects of this programme on cardiovascular responses to exercise, graded submaximal treadmill exercise tests were done serially at baseline and during the trial. Eighty-five participants (48 intervention, 37 control) successfully finished baseline and 2- or 3-year follow-up tests. The exercise maximal double product (DP) [systolic blood pressure (SBP) X heart rate/100] was significantly lower for both groups at 2-3 years compared with baseline, and this reduction was greater for the intervention than for the control group (-27.1 versus -15.5; P = 0.055). Similarly, improvement in maximal increase in DP (maximal DP minus standing DP) was greater for the intervention than the control group (-22.1 versus -9.9, respectively; P = 0.068). The lowest DP during the 6-min recovery period and the debt DP (lowest recovery DP minus standing DP) fell significantly at 2-3 years compared with baseline in the intervention but not in the control group (-12.7 versus -4.8; P = 0.017 for the first index, and -7.7 versus +0.9; P = 0.029 for the second). These interim data from this trial indicate that its intervention procedures favourably influenced cardiovascular responses to graded submaximal exercise.

Sex differential in the relationship of electrocardiographic ST-T abnormalities to risk of coronary death: 11.5 year follow-up findings of the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry

The independent contributions of ST segment depression and/or T wave abnormality (ST-T abnormalities) on the baseline resting electrocardiogram to risk of 11.5 year coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality were explored among 9203 white men and 7818 white women who were 40 to 64 years old and without definite CHD at entry in the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry. At baseline, prevalence rates of ST-T abnormalities were age related for both sexes, and at every age the rate was higher in women than men (age-adjusted prevalence rates 12.3% and 8.1%, respectively). Univariate analysis showed that ST-T abnormalities were associated with significantly increased risk of death from CHD for both men and women. However, men with ST-T abnormalities had much greater age-adjusted and multiple risk factor-adjusted absolute excess risk and relative risk than women with such electrocardiographic abnormalities. When baseline age, diastolic pressure, serum cholesterol, cigarettes/day, history of diabetes, and baseline use of antihypertensive medication were included in the multivariate analysis, ST-T abnormalities remained significantly related to death from CHD in men but not women. The interaction term between sex and ST-T abnormalities was at a borderline level of statistical significance by Cox regression analysis. In conclusion, ST-T abnormalities indicate an increased risk of subsequent death from CHD independent of major coronary risk factors for middle-aged U.S. men, but this is not clearly so for women.