Naproxen, aspirin, and codeine in postpartum uterine pain

The analgesic efficacy of oral naproxen and its sodium salt was compared with that of aspirin and codeine in two separate trials involving 140 and 90 patients, respectively, with postpartum uterine pain in a single-dose, parallel, stratified, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind design. With 300 or 600 mg naproxen and with 275 mg naproxen sodium, significant analgesia, measured subjectively by pain intensity differences (PID), was prolonged at least 7 or 8 hr; onset tended to be delayed 2 hr or more. With 650 mg aspirin analgesia began within 1 hr and continued until the fifth hour, while with 60 mg codeine responses were indistinguishable from placebo responses throughout the 8-hr time course. Although time-effect patterns with naproxen sodium and aspirin were different, summed analgesic effects (SPID) showed equal efficacy and superiority over placebo (p less than 0.005). With each of the 2 doses of naproxen, SPID separation from placebo was comparable to that above (p less than 0.02 and 0.005, respectively), but analgesic dose response, though measurable, was not significant. Side effects were not significant with any of the treatments. It appears that naproxen and naproxen sodium are analgesics with efficacy equal to aspirin and may prove to be rational substitutes for currently available analgesics in some painful states in which longer pain relief would be desireable.

Asprin and codeine in two postpartum pain models

Aspirin and codeine, standard reference analgesics, are frequently used as positive controls in clinical trials of new oral analgesics. In randomized parallel double-blind studies, single doses of aspirin and codeine were compared with placebo in episiotomy pain (99 patients) and in postpartum uterine pain (130 patients), common models in analgesic trials. With aspirin, 600 and 1,200 mg, in episiotomy pain, analgesia as measured by pain intensity difference (PID) scores began within 1 hr, peaked at the second hour (p less than 0.01), and continued to the fifth hour (p less than 0.01). In uterine pain, responses with aspirin, 650 mg, were observed to be equally good. With codeine, 60 mg, in episiotomy pain measurable analgesia was present by the second hour and was significant at the fourth hour (p less than 0.05); in uterine pain, responses were indistinguishable from placebo throughout an 8-hr time-course. Codeine seemed ineffective and therefore umacceptable as a positive control in uterine pain. These data imply that the two postpartum pain models are qualitatively different: episiotomy pain seems sensitive to both aspirin and codeine, while uterine pain appears sensitive to aspirin but not to codeine.

A copulatory system in the hypothalamus and tegmentum of the domestic chick

A tract in the chick is described that runs from the posterior nucleus paraventricularis magnocellularis (PVM) through the lateral hypothalamus to a small area of the anterior tegmentum, which is adjacent to the ventral tegmental area. Bilateral lesions of the posterior PVM or of the PVM tract or of its tegmental destination abolish the facilitation of copulation in male chicks by testosterone. The effect is specific in that the facilitation of attack is either unaffected or only slightly depressed by such lesions, while being itself specifically depressed by other hypothalamic lesions. No other hypothalamic tracts were found that were necessary for the facilitation of copulation. An equivalent copulatory system probably exists in the mammal, with a more diffuse distribution in the preoptic area but with similar connections back to the tegmentum.

A direct estimate of the number of human gamma-globin genes

The number of genes specifying human gamma-globin has been determined directly by hybridization of complementary DNA to total human DNA. The complementary DNA was enriched in sequences specific for gamma-globin genes by transcribing globin mRNA isolated from fetal reticulocytes with viral reverse transcriptase, and collecting the material which does not back-hybridize to adult globin mRNA. When hybridized in cDNA excess to DNA, very similar values are found for gamma-gene number as for beta-gene number, suggesting two or at most three gamma-globin genes per haploid human genome. This indicates that the non-Mendelian ratios of gamma-chain mutants found in heterozygotes are due to transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulation rather than to gene dosage. The number of each major human globin gene has now been determined directly by molecular methods.

Presence of gene for beta globin in homozygous beta0 thalassaemia

In one southern Italian and one Pakistani patient with homozygous beta0 thalassaemia in which no detectable beta-globin synthesis occurs and no beta-globin messenger RNA is found, the gene for beta globin has been shown to be present using complementary DNA. This demonstrates that for these patients the imbalance in chain synthesis is not attributable to a gene deletion.

Measurement of dengue virus-specific double-stranded ribonucleic acid in infected primate cell extracts by microquantitative complement-fixation methods

Microquantitative complement-fixation methods have been applied to the detection and quantitation of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in cytoplasmic extracts of uninfected and dengue virus-infected primate cell lines. LLC-MK2 and PGLC-33H cells exhibited increased levels of dsRNA following dengue virus infection. Cytoplasmic extracts of infected and uninfected LLC-MK2 cells subjected to density gradient analysis showed that increased levels of dsRNA were associated with structures believed to be virus-specific. Primate cell dsRNA and dengue dsRNA preferentially reacted with rabbit anti-rIn-rCn, while reovirus dsRNA and rAn-containing synthetic duplexes preferentially reacted with anti-rAn-rUn.

Enzyme changes in human small bowel mucosa during culture in vitro

Human jejunal biopsy slices were maintained in culture for up to 48 hours. At 24 hours there was good morphological preservation but by 48 hours there was ultrastructural evidence of damage to the enterocytes. During culture the tissue had lost a certain amount of protein. At the same time the levels of three brush border enzymes (alkaline phosphatase, alpha-glucosidase, and leucyl-beta-naphthylamidase) and one lysosomal enzyme (N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase) showed a progressive decrease. Alkaline phosphatase, alpha-glucosidase, and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase accumulated in the medium throughout the experimental period to give a medium:tissue distribution ratio of between 2 and 9. Leucyl-beta-naphthylamidase had a medium:tissue ratio of 140 after 48 hours of culture suggesting a selective secretion of this enzyme by the tissue.

Lymphocyte circulation in the spleen. Marginal zone bridging channels and their possible role in cell traffic

Histological evidence is presented for distinct, anatomically determined pathways in the spleen for cells in transit between the white pulp and the red pulp prior to entering the draining veins. In rats and mice these appear as narrow channels of lymphocytes which run between both the periarteriolar lymphatic sheath and the red pulp sinuses, and the peripheral white pulp and the red pulp sinuses, crossing the marginal zone in association with fine argentophilic fibres. These marginal zone bridging channels were found to contain labelled T or B cells 4 and 8 hours after injection which suggested that transit was occurring in the direction from white pulp to red pulp rather than the reverse.

Additional histological evidence is given to suggest that, after antigenic stimulation, germinal centre dissociation occurs by release of the germinal centre cells towards the periarteriolar lymphatic sheath before they are shed into the red pulp through marginal zone bridges occurring in the periarteriolar region.

The data are incorporated into a scheme of unidirectional lymphoid cell flow through the spleen. This proposes that the spleen is composed of many functionally discrete units in which the anatomical matrix, reflected by the reticulin fibre pattern, plays a major role. It further implies that the periarteriolar region of the spleen is not totally thymus dependent.

Antigens in immunity. XVII. The migration of antigen-binding, bone-marrow-derived and thymus-derived spleen cells in mice

The purpose of this investigation was to compare and contrast the migratory behaviour of three sub-classes of spleen lymphocytes in the mouse: cells capable of adsorbing a specific labelled antigen on to their surfaces (`antigen-binding' cells); bone-marrow-derived (`B') cells; and thymus-derived (`T') cells.

Antigen-binding spleen cells were labelled in vitro with ¹²⁵I-polymerized flagellin from Salmonella adelaide and injected intravenously into syngeneic recipients. Their distribution within the spleen was studied by radioautography for 24 hours after injection. Nearly all the antigen-binding cells localized and accumulated in and around the germinal centres of the white pulp.

Bone-marrow-derived B-spleen cells which were labelled in vitro with ³H-uridine were found to localize in and around germinal centres. The proportion of B cells found in these regions was lower than the proportion of antigen-binding cells and there was not a progressive aggregation of B cells over 48 hours.

Thymus-derived T-spleen cells also labelled in vitro with ³H-uridine were located predominantly in the established thymus-dependent periarteriolar regions of the white pulp.

The significance of the localization of antigen-binding cells in the germinal centre regions of spleen is discussed in relation to the B and T components of the spleen lymphocyte population. The conclusion was reached that B lymphocytes activated by contact with antigen lodged preferentially in germinal centre areas.