Resistance of schedule-induced behaviours to hippocampal lesions

It has been reported that electrolytic lesions of the hippocampus accelerate the onset of schedule-induced drinking (SID) and also lead to significant increases in adrenal weights [2]. In the present experiment three groups of Long Evans rats received electrolytic or 6-Hydroxydopamine or sham lesions of the hippocampus and one group received electrolytic cortical lesions. Half of each group were tested 1 hr/day for 10 days under scheduled food delivery and the other half received food in a single presentation. It was found that both electrolytic hippocampal and cortical lesions reduced the level of SID compared with sham and 6-Hydroxydopamine lesions which did not differ from each other. However, there is support for the suggestion that hippocampal catecholamine neurones are involved in corticosterone regulation as shown by a significant increase in plasma corticosterone levels in non-scheduled, 6-Hydroxydopamine lesioned rats.

Experimental study in rabbits of the antishock effect of anisodamine (654-2), and its mechanism of action

The antishock effect of anisodamine (654-2) was observed in different kinds of experimental shock in groups of rabbits--due to late hemorrhage, superior mesenteric artery occlusion, and septic shock from peritonitis. The drug 654-2 significantly alleviated the progress of shock and increased the survival rate of the animals. The therapeutic effect of 654-2 was much better than that of other vasoactive drugs commonly used, such as norepinephrine, phenoxybenzamine, dopamine, and aramine. The antishock mechanism of 654-2 is probably partly due to its protective action on intestinal shock in preventing its effects becoming irreversible. The antishock action of 654-2 both by basic research workers and clinicians merits further study.

Anal lesions complicating Crohn disease

Of 503 patients with Crohn disease seen at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, 138 (28%) developed an anorectal abscess, anal fissure, or anal fistula during the course of their disease. In 9.3% of patients the anal lesion preceded the onset of intestinal symptoms by two weeks to 12 years. Patients in our series with large bowel disease were twice as likely to develop an anal lesion as were patients with small bowel disease. Likewise, patients with large bowel disease were twice as likely to have had an anal lesion as a presenting symptom. A patient with an anal lesion, however, was more apt to develop small bowel disease simply because the small bowel was a far commoner site of Crohn disease in this series. The cause of the anal lesions is still not clear. Specific evidence of Crohn disease was not found in histological examination of material from any of the patients.