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Biomedical subjects

R H Ylikahri

Publications and source records attributed to R H Ylikahri.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of clofibrate and gemfibrozil on the activities of mitochondrial carnitine acyltransferases in rat liver. Dose--response relations.

The effects of different doses of clofibrate and gemfibrozil on liver size, serum triglyceride concentration and the activities of hepatic mitochondrial alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (alpha-GPD) and carnitine acyltransferases were studied in male rats. Both clofibrate and gemfibrozil treatment effectively decreased the fructose-induced hypertriglyceridaemia and increased the liver to body weight ratio. Clofibrate treatment also induced an increase of many times in the activities of mitochondrial alpha-GPD and carnitine acyltransferases, the effect increasing with the dose used. The effect of gemfibrozil on the activities of the enzymes was significantly smaller. There was no correlation between the decrease in serum triglyceride concentration and the changes in the activities of the enzymes. Only clofibrate increased the rate of fatty acylcarnitine oxidation in isolated mitochondria. It is concluded that both drugs increased the size of the rat liver, but that only clofibrate influenced the mitochondrial enzyme activities of mitochondrial carnitine acyltransferases and the accelerated mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids are not the mechanisms by which these drugs lower serum lipid levels.

Acyltransferases

Metabolic interactions of xylitol and ethanol in healthy males.

The effects of oral administration of xylitol on the rate of ethanol elimination and on the ethanol-induced changes in blood concentrations of lactate and pyruvate were studied in seven healthy male subjects. Xylitol (1.0 g/kg body weight) was administered orally and ethanol (0.8 g/kg body weight) intravenously. In the control experiments glucose was given instead of xylitol. Xylitol had no significant effect on the rate of ethanol elimination or on the ethanol-induced increase in the blood lactate concentration. The ethanol-induced changes in the lactate/pyruvate ratio were not affected by xylitol. It is suggested that the ineffectiveness of xylitol is due to its low concentration in the liver after oral administration. Ethanol induced a 5--10 fold increase in the blood concentration of xylitol. This is most probably due to inhibition of xylitol oxidation in the liver by the ethanol-induced reduction in the hepatic redox state. The clinical significance of this finding is unknown.

Adolescent

Acute effects of alcohol on anterior pituitary secretion of the tropic hormones.

The plasma or serum concentrations of GH, TSH, LH, PRL, testosterone, cortisol, T4, and T3, and the values of the T3 uptake test were monitored in 12 healthy male volunteers for a period of 20 h after administration of one large dose of ethanol (1.5 g/kg BW). The effects of TRH and LRH on the secretion of TSH, PRL, and LH were studied in these subjects once during the period of acute alcohol intoxication (4 h after the start of drinking) and once during the hangover period (14 h after the start of drinking). Each subject served as his own control by drinking water only during another experimental session. Alcohol had no significant effect on basal concentrations of GH, TSH, LH, T4, T3, or testosterone. The concentration of cortisol in plasma was elevated during the whole 20-h period after ingestion of alcohol, as compared with the control values. Alcohol also did not significantly alter the effects of TRH and LRH on plasma TSH and LH levels at 4 and 14 h. During the hangover period, the PRL response to TRH was totally blocked, but during alcohol intoxication, there was a slight increase in the PRL response to TRH. The lack of response of PRL to TRH during the hangover suggests that withdrawal symptoms are associated with increased dopaminergic activity in the hypothalamus.

Adolescent

Selection of multiresistant coliforms by long-term treatment of hypercholesterolaemia with neomycin.

Patients with hypercholesterolaemia are often treated with the antimicrobial agent neomycin. Such treatment is potentially dangerous, however, as it may favour the emergence of multiresistant, R-factor-carrying, enteric bacteria among the intestinal flora. In 11 out of 14 patients who had received neomycin for three months to eight years most of the faecal coliforms were resistant to at least four antimicrobial drugs and capable of transferring this resistance to others. In contrast, only one out of nine patients who were treated with other lipid-lowering drugs had resistant bacteria in their faeces. Neomycin may cause multiresistant strains to emerge because, like tetracycline, it forms high concentrations in the gut. Long-term treatment of non-infectious conditions like hypercholesterolaemia with neomycin is potentially dangerous not only to the patient but also to the community because of the creation of a reservoir of multiresistant organisms.

Drug Resistance, Microbial

Electroencephalographic changes during experimental hangover.

The EEG was recorded in 27 subjects during hangover. Male healthy volunteers drank 1.75 g/kg body weight of ethanol in 3 h and the EEG was recorded 14-16 h later when the degree of hangover was highest. For control purposes a second EEG was recorded after a similar session when subjects drank water instead of ethanol. A third record was taken in normal laboratory conditions. T5-A1 and O1-A1 derivations were subjected to computer analysis from which spectral and frequency parameters were calculated. Visual analysis of the EEG during hangover showed a decrease and slowing of alpha activity and an increase in theta activity. Spectral analysis of the EEG gave a statistically significant increase in 7-8 c/sec activity during hangover. The EEG change could not be explained in terms of blood alcohol level, hypoglycaemia or acidosis. Also fatigue could be excluded as a cause of EEG change by means of "water controls". The conclusion is that the slowing of the EEG during hangover is caused by the depressant action of ethanol, or its metabolites, on cortical function.

Adolescent