Birth complications and self-reported sleep behavior

The self-reported sleep behaviors of a group of 190 students who reported that they had experienced birth complications were compared with the responses of a group of 1,347 students who had reported no birth complications. We observed that the former group reported shorter durations of habitual sleep, i.e., 7.1 vs 7.3 hr., tended to fall more frequently into the extreme intervals on a continuum of sleep duration and were more likely to express dissatisfaction with the quality of their sleep than were the latter group.

Hypouricemia due to renal urate wasting. Two types of tubular transport defect

We present 2 patients associated with hypouricemia. Serum uric acid levels were 1.6 and 1.3 mg/100 ml, and the ratios of urate clearance to creatinine clearance were 34.1 and 39.4%, respectively, while glomerular filtration rates (GFR) were normal. In the pyrazinamide (PZA) suppression test these 2 patients showed a different response of urate excretion. In the first patient urate excretion showed only a slight decrease following PZA. The load of benzbromarone did not increase urate excretion significantly. This patient is considered to have a defect of urate reabsorption in the proximal tubule, resulting in renal uricosuria. The second patient, on the contrary, showed nearly complete suppression of urate excretion after PZA. Uricosuric response to benzbromarone was far less than in the normal subjects. The suppression rate of urate excretion following PZA in benzbromarone-induced uricosuria was similar to the value of the normals. These results suggest that the latter had a defect of postsecretory reabsorption of urate in the tubule.

Successful treatment of fulminating complications associated with extensive rhabdomyolysis by plasma exchange

The first successful treatment by plasma exchange of acute renal failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation, as well as liver and central nervous system damage, was achieved in two patients with severe multiorgan damage associated with extensive muscle tissue damage caused by heatstroke and/or electrical injury. Substances derived from damaged muscle tissue, such as myoglobin and enzymes, were efficiently removed by a cellulose acetate membrane filter. Improvement of consciousness, disturbance, coagulation disorder, and renal failure were observed. The disorders associated with extensive rhabdomyolysis seem to be a promising indication for this therapy. Plasma exchange with a membrane filter is useful for treatment of patients with renal failure, being readily connected on-line with conventional dialysis.

Bilateral congenital multicystic dysplasia of the kidney

The clinical and pathological features of congenital multicystic dysplasia of the kidney are reviewed and we report of a patient with bilateral dysplasia who lived longer than do most such patients. When multicystic disease of the kidney is bilateral, it is commonly confused with polycystic disease. Despite the fatal prognosis, differentiation is essential for appropriate genetic counselling since multicystic disease is not a familial occurrence.

Hypolipidemic effects of CS-500 (ML-236B) in WHHL-rabbit, a heritable animal model for hyperlipidemia

Oral administration of CS-500, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase, lowered the serum cholesterol level of both normal and WHHL-rabbits (the first example of heritable hyperlipidemic animals) at doses higher than 5 mg/kg/day. Phospholipids decreased concomitantly, whereas triglycerides did not in either normal or WHHL-rabbits.

Total retropubic prostatectomy for carcinoma of the prostate

Total prostatectomy is an effective mode of therapy for early carcinoma of the prostate. This report deals with 74 patients who underwent total retropubic prostatectomy at our hospitals during a 23-year period. The 5-year survival rates of patients with stages A and B, C, and D carcinomas were 84.1, 40.1, and 12.7% respectively. The total 5-year survival rate was 56.1%. The 10-year survival rates compare favorably with those of any other mode of therapy. The histological grade was highly significant with respect to prognosis. Combined orchiectomy with total prostatectomy was effective. Operative mortality was 4.05% (3 patients), and the main complication was incontinence. We strongly believe that total prostatectomy is the only curative treatment for early carcinoma of the prostate. This procedure should be utilized more frequently.

Eu-actinin, a new structural protein of the Z-line of striated muscles

A new protein component of the Z-line of striated muscles was isolated from chicken breast muscle. This protein has been designated as eu-actinin because of its close similarity in polypeptide molecular weight to actin. Eu-actinin was extracted from myosin-removed myofibrils at low ionic strength at pH 6.5 and purified by column chromatography on Sepharose 4B and DEAE-cellulose. Although the polypeptide molecular weight of eu-actinin measured by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is similar to that of actin, other physico-chemical properties of eu-actinin definitely differ from those of actin. The isoelectric point of eu-actinin was more acidic than that of actin. The amino acid composition of eu-actinin was found to be different from that of actin or those of other muscle structural proteins. The results of analytical gel filtration on Sepharose 4B indicated that eu-actinin forms dimers through non-covalent bonding under aqueous conditions. Eu-actinin has a low axial asymmetry under low-salt conditions, as judged from its intrinsic viscosity ([eta] = 6.4 ml/g for the dimer state) and exhibits a tendency to undergo self-association with increasing ionic strength. Interactions of eu-actinin with other muscle proteins were examined by the affinity column technique. It was shown that eu-actinin binds to actin and alpha-actinin. Eu-actinin exhibited strong seeding ability for the polymerization of actin. Antibody to eu-actinin was raised in a goat and purified by affinity chromatography. The specific antibody against eu-actinin did not form precipitine lines with actin or alpha-actinin. Immunofluorescence studies revealed that eu-actinin is localized at the Z-line of myofibrils. The FITC-conjugated antibody to eu-actinin also stained the Z-lines of rabbit skeletal muscle and chicken cardiac muscle. Therefore, it was concluded that eu-actinin is a new, ubiquitous constituent of Z-lines of striated muscles.

Extractability of actin and actin-like protein from myosin-removed myofibrils of skeletal muscle

Extractability of 42,000 dalton components (42 K component) from myosin-removed myofibrils (called I-Z-I segments in this paper) under low-salt conditions was compared at pH 6.5 and pH 8.0. Kinetic and isoelectric focusing analysis of the 42 K components revealed that the 42 K component extracted at pH 8.0 was actin, which depolymerized from the end of the I-filaments of the I-Z-I segments. On the other hand, isoelectric focusing of the 42 K component extracted at pH 6.5 indicated two protein bands. The relative mobility of the minor band was virtually identical to that of actin. While the isoelectric point of the major band was more acidic than that of skeletal muscle actin. Therefore, it is concluded that there are at least two kinds of 42,000 dalton components in the myosin-removed myofibrils.