[Use of guthimine for treatment of intestinal paresis in peritonitis under experimental and clinical conditions]

A new stimulator of intestinal peristalsis-guthymine (guanylthiourea) was used experimentally and clinically for treatment of the bowel paresis in peritonitis. Preliminary, in experiments on 53 rabbits with colibacillar peritonitis an efficacy of guthymine was compared with other stimulators of the gastrointestinal tract: proserine, a hypertonic solution of sodium chloride and sorbitol. Guthymine was found to be the most effective drug. Clinically, in 23 of 33 patients with intestinal paresis a drip administration of 15-50 mg/Kg of guthymine would provide for aborting the signs of paresis. In 8 patients a moderately pronounced effect was noted. In 2 cases the use of guthimine failed to produce any positive effects.

[Use of gutimin for the treatment of experimental traumatic shock]

The guthymine medication of a severe shock in rats started 10-20 minutes after injury is shown to eliminate energy metabolism disorders in the brain, liver and kidneys. In the brain of the guthamyine treated rats even a somewhat reduced adenosinetriphosphate content was demonstrable. Administration of guthymine together with polyglucin to cats in a torpid phase of the shock did not effect treir survival, but shortened the life-span of the test animals as compared to controls (receiving polyglucin alone). With guthymine addid to polyglucin the lactate and pyruvate concentration in the blood remained unchanged.

[Use of gutimine for treatment of chronic coronary insufficiency]

The therapeutic effect of an antihypoxic drug--Gutimine--was studied in 30 patients with chronic coronary insufficiency. The effect of gutimine on the adaptation for physical exercises connected with motor hypoxy in 5 normal individuals was used as control. The treatment with Gutimine resulted in a clear subjective improvement (less frequent and less intense anginal attacks) in 2/3 of the patients with chronic coronary insufficiency. Objective signs of improvement (positive ECG shifts, phases of the left ventricular systole and hemodynamics; increased tolerance of physical exercises) after Gutimine therapy were noted only in 4 patients who had a comparatively mild course of their disease and less distinct sclerotic changes in the myocardium. When Gutimine was used in normals, significant improvement of their capacity for work was noted, as well as an improvement of their cardiovascular functions and gas exchange parameters during "extreme" exercises. The positive effect of Gutimine was more distinct after 1-2 weeks of its administration. Side effects were absent.

Inhibition of multiplication of Mycobacterium leprae by several antithyroid drugs

Multiplication of Mycobacterium leprae in the mouse footpad was inhibited when mice were fed, mixed in their diet, 0.05 per cent methimazole, 0.066 per cent USP thyroid powder, methimazole plus thyroid powder, 0.15 per cent 5-n-heptyl-2-thioxo-4-thiazolidinone, 0.1 per cent propylthiouracil, and 0.1 per cent thambutosine for 154 days, beginning on the day of inoculation. All of the treatment regimens, except for the 2 containing thyroid powder, decreased the plasma concentrations of thyroxine and protein-bound iodine. It is suggested that the 2 antithyroid drugs, methiomazole and propylthiouracil, and the 2 antimicrobial agents, heptylthioxothiazolidinone and thiambutosine, all of which possess structural features in common, may exert the antithyroid and antimicrobial effects through a common mechanisms.

Effect of metiamide on the response to secretin and cholecystokinin in man

The effects of intravenous metiamide on the pancreatic exocrine response to intravenous infusion of secretin plus cholecystokinin has been studied in eight patients with duodenal ulceration. The secretion of bicarbonate and water was not altered by metiamide. The secretion of enzymes was significantly less than control during infusion of metiamide. The differences between the pancreatic and gastric responses to metiamide are discussed.

Effect of histamine H2-receptor blockade on vagally induced gastric secretion in man

Metiamide, an antagonist of histamine H(2) receptors, was administered intravenously to normal subjects and to patients with a peptic ulcer during vagal stimulation with a constant infusion of insulin. In normal and peptic-ulcer subjects there were reductions of 70% and 71% respectively in gastric-acid output compared with control tests on the same subjects. The decreased acid output resulted from a reduction in both volume of secretion and acid concentration. Metiamide is therefore a potent inhibitor of vagally-induced gastric acid secretion.

The effect of postoperative peritoneal lavage on survival, peritoneal wound healing and adhesion formation following fecal peritonitis: an experimental study in the rat

The effect of postoperative peritoneal lavage on survival, peritoneal wound healing and adhesion formation has been studied in rats both with and without fecal peritonitis. Peritoneal lavage with both Hartmann's solution and noxytiolin through an indwelling peritoneal cannula resulted in a delay in peritoneal wound healing in the absence of fecal peritonitis. There was also an increase in the incidence of adhesions. Induction of a fecal peritonitis followed by operation 2½–3 hours later resulted in 100 per cent mortality within 24 hours. This mortality was reduced by 66 per cent following peritoneal lavage with Hartmann's solution alone, although this resulted in a delay in peritoneal wound healing. Peritoneal lavage with noxytiolin did not reduce the mortality rate.

Gastric response to metiamide

Metiamide greatly reduced pentagastrin-stimulated and overnight secretion of acid and pepsin in 11 patients with duodenal ulcer and virtually abolished gastric secretion in three patients with gastric ulcer. The drug was equally effective when infused intravenously or intraduodenally. A therapeutic trial of Metiamide is warranted in diseases caused or aggravated by excess gastric secretion of acid and pepsin.

Inhibition of translation in liver polyribosomes by a new substituted thiopseudourea with antitumour action

A new thiopseudourea, S-(10-undecen-1-yl)isothiouronium iodide (compound AHR-1911), was tested for antitumour action and shown to inhibit considerably the growth of the Walker carcinoma in rats. The mechanism of its effect on protein and nucleic acid synthesis was then studied with systems in vitro from rat liver. In incubations of liver slices, 1.4mm-compound AHR-1911 decreased by 96% the incorporation of [(14)C]leucine into microsomal proteins, and mitochondrial protein synthesis measured in the presence of cycloheximide was decreased by 44%. At lower doses, translation, as well as the incorporation of [(3)H]uridine into RNA, was also considerably impaired, compound AHR-1911 being the most active of all the thiopseudoureas tested whereas undecylenic acid and thiourea by themselves showed practically no inhibition. Protein synthesis by cytoplasmic ribosomes (microsomes and C-polyribosomes) was inhibited by compound AHR-1911 at different concentrations (72% at 0.42mm), and again the other related compounds were much less effective, with the exception of one antileukaemic thiopseudourea. The same occurred with the poly(U)-stimulated incorporation of phenylalanine. The puromycin reaction with pulse-labelled C-ribosomes was strongly inhibited, particularly when preincubation with compound AHR-1911 preceded the addition of puromycin, with no release of nascent chains by the thiopseudourea alone. In the presence of GTP and pH5 fraction, to induce translocation and transform all the ribosomes to the donor state, the percentage inhibition remained the same. The ribosomes incubated with the drug are aggregated, as shown by the polyribosome profile, but, when excess of inhibitor was removed, the activity in protein synthesis and the puromycin reaction was restored, indicating that the inhibition is not due to the polyribosomal aggregation. These results suggest that the effect on translation with both 55S and 80S ribosomes is derived from inhibition of chain elongation at the level of transpeptidation and not translocation, probably together with the interference with transcription playing a role in the antitumour activity.