Central nervous system changes complicating the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of a nasopharyngeal neoplasm in a diabetic patient

A case is reported of a diabetic patient with a nasopharyngeal neoplasm who developed radiation induced brainstem damage even though irradiated at a conventional time-dose-volume relationship. The clinical course was correlated with autopsy findings which revealed radiation changes in the brainstem consisting primarily of vascular hyalinization with foci of infarction, edema, and demyelination. Atherosclerotic changes were conspicuously absent and therefore not the case of the alterations. The changes occurred three months after completion of therapy, which was more rapid than expected for radiation injury. It is hypothesized that diabetes may have predisposed the patient to this severe complication of standard therapy. More needs to be learned concerning the relationship between diabetes mellitus and radiation complications. Perhaps a modified time-dose relationship should be considered.

A gated, high voltage iontophoresis system with accurate current monitoring

A circuit description for a multichannel constant current source for microiontophoresis is presented. The circuitry allows a high voltage compliance, accurate monitoring of ionotophoretic current without use of batteries, and automatic current neutralization. Drugs may be applied either manually or with an external digital gate signal. A monitor to detect current unbalance greater than a preselected level is also included.

Characteristics of chick cerebral beta-adrenoceptors assessed by cyclic adenosine 3',5' monophosphate formation and [3H]-propranolol binding

Chick cerebral beta-adrenoceptors have been characterised by measurement of cyclic AMP accumulation in brain slices and assessment of the specific binding of [3H]-propranolol to cerebral membranes. The binding of [3H]-propranolol was inhibited by beta-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists with affinities that correlated well with their ability to stimulate cyclic AMP formation or to antagonise the cyclic nucleotide accumulation induced by isoprenaline. The relative potencies of a number of drugs in several cerebral regions suggests that the receptors may be of the beta2 subtype. Regional distribution studies revealed the highest density of binding sites in the cerebellum and lowest in the optic lobes. However, the concentration of [3H]-propranolol that produced half-maximal specific binding was similar in all regions. Subcellular fractionation of cerebral hemisphere tissue demonstrated an enrichment of [3H]-propranolol binding sites in the synaptosomal and microsomal fractions. There are discrepancies between the topographical distribution of beta-adrenoceptor binding sites and the endogenous noradrenaline level in chick brain and between the number of binding sites and the intrinsic activity of beta-adrenoceptor mediated cyclic AMP formation.

Erythrocyte-UFA (Eufa) mobility test for multiple sclerosis: implications for pathogenesis and handling of the disease

Erythrocytes from patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) show a highly significant reduction in their absolute electrophoretic mobility in the presence of linoleic and arachidonic acids (LA; AA). Patients with other (destructive) neurological disease (OND) and normal subjects show an increased absolute mobility of their erythrocytes in the presence of LA and AA. About 40 per cent of blood relatives of MS patients show an intermediate type of reaction - being slowed by LA and speeded up by AA. Administration of LA (or gamma linolenate) to an MS patient for some months leads to change in the mobilities from the MS to normal type, the AA result altering first. The effect of LA and AA on the absolute mobility of RBC may thus be used as a simple laboratory test involving a long established technique and eliminating the animal and other needs of the macrophage electrophoretic mobility (MEM) test. The implications of these findings for our understanding and handling of MS are briefly discussed.

Stimulated formation of cyclic AMP in different areas of chick brain

Marked accumulation of cerebral cyclic AMP was induced in the chick by the i.v. administration of isoprenaline or histamine of by decapitation. These responses were examined in various cerebral regions and compared to the responses produced in vitro when maximal concentrations of isoprenaline, histamine or adenosine were added to appropriate brain slices. Histamine only markedly stimulated cyclic AMP formation in the cerebral hemispheres. Isoprenaline was equally potent in the cerebellum and the cerebral hemispheres though the medulla-diencephalon and optic lobes were less responsive. There was a lack of correlation between the effects of decapitation in vivo and the responses to adenosine in vitro. Similar accumulations of cyclic AMP were produced by decapitation in the cerebral hemispheres and cerebellum though adenosine was much more effective on cerebellar slices in vitro. The topographical distribution of catecholamine and histamine sensitive cyclic AMP forming sites do not correlate with endogenous levels of noradrenaline or histamine in chick brain and possible interpretations are discussed.

Personality correlates of helping behavior

571 male members of volunteer groups and 699 nonvolunteers scored significantly differently on Cattell's 16 PF scale, volunteers being extroverted (out-going, happy-go-lucky, venturesome, and tenderminded), and scoring lower on shrewd, liberal, and self-sufficient.

A sublingual-submandibular calcific mass associated with tumoral calcinosis in a patient with suspected milk-alkali syndrome

The milk-alkali syndrome is a disorder with diverse clinical and biochemical manifestations. It includes three known clinical syndromes. A case of milk-alkali syndrome with associated tumoral calcinosis is presented. The patient developed an unusual oral mass as part of the disease complex. Treatment consisted of excision of the intraoral mass, diet management, and surgical correction of the associated ulcer disease.

A new synthetic absorbable suture

The experimental synthetic absorbable suture XLG is a co-polymer derived from lactic and glycolic acid through lactide and glycolide intermediates. Determinations of the rate of loss of strength in various sites in experiments on dogs show that XLG loses strength slightly more rapidly than does chromic catgut. An exception is sutures suspended in the stomach, where catgut quickly loses strength, whereas XLG maintained strength similar to that at other implantation sites.

Characterisation of the adrenoceptor mediating changes in cyclic adenosine 3'-5' monophosphate in chick cerebral hemispheres

Noradrenaline, adrenaline, isoprenaline and salbutamol induced marked accumulations of cyclic AMP in incubated slices of chick cerebral hemispheres. Isoprenaline was both more potent and more powerful than adrenaline or noradrenaline and the increase in cyclic AMP elicited by the catecholamines was powerfully antagonized by the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol but not by the alphapadrenoceptor blocker phentolamine. The order of potency of the catecholamines isoprenaline greater than adrenaline greater than noradrenaline and the ability of the non-catechol salbutamol to stimulate cyclic AMP accumulation in chick cerebral slices suggests that the beta-adrenoceptro may resemble that found in the lung (beta2) rather than that in the heart (beta1). Propranolol proved to be a very potent antagonist of the cyclic AMP response induced by isoprenaline in vivo. Beta-adrenoceptor blockade was still evident 12 hrs after a single injection of the durg although only negligible amounts of 3H-propranolol could be detected in cerebral tissue after 2 hrs.

Progestational steroids during pseudopregnancy in the rabbit

The secretion of progestational steroids by the rabbit ovary was examined during pseudopregnancy. Progesterone secretion rose up to the mid-period but exceeded secretion of 20α-dihydroprogesterone only on days 7 and 9. The development of the corpus luteum and interstitial tissue and their content of progestational steroids were also examined during this period. The progesterone content of corpus luteum tissue fell towards the end of pseudopregnancy, while the corpora lutea remained large. Levels of 20α-dihydroprogesterone were generally higher in the interstitial tissue after the first few days. A significant alteration in the pattern of steroid synthesis and secretion occurred at a time corresponding to the period of implantation in the pregnant rabbit.