Coincidence of acute rheumatic fever and acute post streptococcal glomerulonephritis

We report the coexistence of acute rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis in a 15-year-old boy, which may have resulted from nonsuppurative complications of a streptococcal infection.

[Determination of the bitter taste of beers. Correlation between the spectrophotometric method and sensory evaluation]

The correlation existing between the chemical determination and the sensory evaluation of the bitter taste in beers was studied. Six different brands were analyzed in six series of repetitions during four months (March through July). For the chemical method, the determination of BU (Bitterness Units) was used. This corresponds to the absorbance of an isooctane extract at 275 nm, previously acidified with HCl. Regarding sensory evaluation, a panel of six highly trained judges (p less than 0.05) was formed for the detection of bitter taste. This test was carried out parallel to the former. The panelists used the descriptive test of bitter intensity in a range of 5. The correlation coefficients for each series of repetitions were calculated and later compared with the tabulated values, at the different levels of significance. A high degree of statistical significance was determined in three of the analyzed series, and significance at the 5% level for two of the series. The remaining one showed a low correlation and was non-significant, the dark beer (malt) being the one that presented an important deviation. It is therefore concluded that the spectrophotometric method can replace the sensory evaluation of bitter taste in pale beers, though it is not advisable for malts.

Effect of environmental temperature changes on rat liver fatty acid desaturases

Female rats warm-adapted at 30-32 C for 20-25 days and then shifted to 13-15 C for 12, 24, 48, 72 and 120 hr showed that delta 9 desaturase and fatty acid synthetase activity decay after 24 hr of cold exposure, while delta 6 and delta 5 desaturases were increased after this period of time. These results were confirmed by an increase of arachidonic acid of heart and liver microsomes phosphatidylcholine and a decrease of oleic acid. Neither NADH-cyt b5 reductase nor NADH-cyt c reductase activity of liver microsomes were significantly affected. Male rats warm-adapted under the same conditions and then shifted to 13-15 C for 120 hr did not show significant changes in fatty acid synthetase, delta 9 and delta 6 desaturases and enzymes of the microsomal electron transport chain. Therefore, the desaturase response to environmental temperature changes could be plausibly linked to female hormones.

[Haemophilus influenzae sensitivity to ampicillin and chloramphenicol in children in Mexico City]

The sensitivity to chloramphenicol and ampicillin of 127 strains of H. influenzae was tested. One hundred and one strains were obtained from the pharyngeal exudate of 828 healthy carriers under 5 years of age and 26 from the spinal fluid of children with meningoencephalitis. Sixty per cent of isolations corresponded to type b; 40 per cent were non typical and we only identified one type e. All H. influenzae obtained from spinal fluid corresponded to type b. The frequency of healthy carriers was greater in intrafamily contacts of children with H. influenza meningoencephalitis (p less than 0.01). Percentages of resistance to ampicillin varied between 6 and 23% for the different groups; we found no statistical difference among them (p less than 0.2). The prevalence of H. influenza resistant to ampicillin in the population studied was 1.2% for type b strains and 0.2% for non typical bacteria. Fourteen per cent of penicillin resistant type b strains were identified; all 127 isolations were to chloramphenicol; therefore, we recommend this drug instead of ampicillin for the treatment of H. influenza infections, with the exception of acute otitis media.