[Psychotropic effects of captopril? Effect of a short-term treatment on reaction and concentration capabilities and space perception ability]

In a randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trial 22 healthy normotensive young men (mean age 25 +/- 1.7 years) were given a single oral dose of 50 mg captopril or a placebo (11 subjects each). To test their concentration and proficiency, as well as spatial perception and reaction capacity four tests were administered: attention, concentration, hose-pattern perception and "Bonn Determination Device". Captopril had no negative effects on any test performances either one or five hours after its administration, or after a single daily dose for seven days. There was only a small, statistically not significant, difference in the effect on blood pressure between captopril and the placebo.

[Tryptic enzymes in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory diseases of the colon (author's transl)]

Inflammatory diseases of the colon can be differentiated by means of their chymotrypsin A excretion in the stool. In proctosigmoiditis and a group of comparable gastroenterological cases, the mean excretion level is between 170 and 200 mug per gram of stool. The chymotrypsin A level in proctocolitis, on the other hand, is significantly higher in all stages and increases with increasing activity of the disease. This brings a further diagnostic criterion to the clinical and endoscopic differences between proctosigmoiditis and proctocolitis (colitis ulcerosa). The fundamentally different behavior in the excretion of chymotrypsin A in the stool supports the hypothesis of two diseases differing from each other.

Preiminary investigation of the pharmacology of the human internal anal sphincter

The smooth muscle from the human internal anal sphincter has been investigated pharmacologically in vitro. The upper and lower parts of the sphincter responded to catecholamines in a similar manner. Noradrenaline caused contraction which could be antagonized by phenoxybenzamine. After phenoxybenzamine, noradrenaline caused relaxation which could be blocked by pronethalol. Isoprenaline caused relaxation which could be specifically prevented by pronethalol. Adrenaline was variable in its effect: low concentrations caused relaxation and high concentrations caused contraction. It is suggested that the anal smooth muscle contains alpha-adrenergic receptors subserving contraction and beta-receptors subserving relaxation. The lower part of the sphincter was generally insensitive to acetylcholine and nicotine whereas the upper part of the sphincter contracted with acetylcholine and regularly relaxed with nicotine. The nicotine response was antagonized by hexamethonium, procaine, and pronethalol. It is suggested that nicotine stimulated some part of the nervous mechanism in the upper part of the sphincter and that a catecholamine was the mediator of the inhibitory response.