Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Pfister.
An outbreak of wasting disease-like syndrome in a marmoset colony was found to have been caused by a nematode. After passing through several larval stages in an intermediate host, the cockroach, the parasite inhabited the pancreas of the marmoset. The cardinal symptoms were emaciation, anaemia, and elevated hepatic enzyme activities; the pancreas reacted with a fibrosing inflammation.
A 4-year-old dog of the Appenzeller strain with experimentally induced renal hypertension presented with apparently longstanding retinal changes, including hemorrhage, detachment, tears/holes, and anemia, in one eye and intravitreal hemorrhage in the other. The retinal tears/holes probably occurred following constant vitreous traction due to retinal hemorrhage and subsequent exsanguination of most of the retinal vasculature. This animal was reexamined six months later and most of these changes had persisted. Photodocumentation is presented.
A 55-year-old man who has had ankylosing spondylitis for over 20 years developed gradually increasing pain and sensory disorders in the legs, as well as mild foot and toe elevator weakness. There was no evidence of inflammatory activity. Clinical, neurophysiological and neuroradiological examination revealed a cauda equina syndrome as a late complication of ankylosing spondylitis. There is no known causal treatment.
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The synthesis of tenoxicam, 4-hydroxy-2-methyl-N-2-pyridyl-2H-thieno[2,3-e]-1,2-thiazine-3-carboxami de 1,1-dioxide (1e), and of the analogues with various residues on the ring nitrogen and the amide nitrogen is described. This new class of "oxicams" has pronounced antiinflammatory and analgesic properties. The very specific structure-activity relationship of isomeric and isosteric groups at the amide nitrogen has been evaluated. The substituent in position 2 also has a great influence on the pharmacological properties. Tenoxicam is presently undergoing clinical trials.
The high prevalence of hypertension and orthostatic hypotension is a challenge for both preventive and curative medicine. Physical exercise can be of great therapeutic value in these disturbances of blood pressure regulation. Endurance training has been shown to normalize resting and exercise blood pressure in young borderline hypertensives. Other beneficial effects include a decrease in myocardial oxygen consumption (tension-time index) and plasma adrenaline levels at rest and during exercise and an improvement in left ventricular compliance. This can bei achieved without the risks and expense of long-term drug therapy. When medication is needed for the therapy of hypertension, drug-induced changes in blood pressure reaction and circulatory responses to physical training have to be considered. We found that orthostatic hypotension in otherwise healthy people is often associated with poor general physical condition. In such cases endurance training combined with isometric exercise aimed at increasing leg muscle tone is advisable. However, exercise training as a therapeutic measure has to be prescribed in terms of dose (frequency and duration), intensity and type of exercise. This requires an understanding of exercise physiology, as well as the ability to make a rational selection and evaluation of patients using a graded exercise test.
The influence of fixation methods, buffers and ions on the ultrastructure of parathyroid cells was studied in dogs, cats, rats and mice. Parathyroids fixed by immersion showed 3 chief cell variants referred to as cells in active, intermediate and resting stages, multinucleated syncytial cells, atrophic cells and, only in 1 feline parathyroid, a few oxyphil cells. Parathyroid glands fixed by perfusion, however, consisted only of 1 cell type. Satisfactory preservation was achieved by perfusion with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M Na cacodylate containing 0.25 mM CaCl2 and 0.5 mM MgCl2, and postfixation with 1% OsO4 in 0.1 M s-collidine containing 0.5 mM CaCl2 and 1.0 mM MgCl2. Good preservation was also obtained using Na phosphate during prefixation and postfixation. Other combinations of buffers led to shrinkage, dilation of rough endoplasmic reticulum cisternae, disruption of membranes or loss of matrix and secretory granules. The results demonstrate that the variants of parathyroid chief cells, multinucleated syncytial cells and atrophic cells arise during fixation.
This study aimed to investigate high molecular weight surface glycoprotein (S-GP) patterns on various types of human leukocytes. S-GP were externally labelled by the Galactose-oxidase-NaB3H4 technique. Results based on the analysis of 120 samples derived from different types of normal and malignant leukocytes indicate that the relative expression of high molecular weight S-GPs changes during haemopoietic cell differentiation and to some extent these changes enable the classification of human leukocytes.
Spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation was studied in 22 patients receiving cadaveric renal transplants before and at various times after grafting. Prophylactic immunosuppression consisted of CyA and prednisone. Spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation was evaluated in a total of 500 single cell autoradiographs after short term in vitro incubation with [3H]TdR. In 13 patients without clinical problems a transitory increase of lymphocyte labeling indices to approximately five times the pretransplant levels was observed. The failure to detect such increments in two patients receiving optimally matched grafts suggested that this early proliferative lymphocyte peak might be caused by in vivo recognition of major histocompatibility antigens. Much higher labeling indices were detected in close temporary association with acute cellular rejection (4 cases), severe infections and withdrawal of CyA (3 cases) and venous thrombosis (1 case). Only moderately elevated numbers of spontaneously proliferating lymphocytes were seen in one patient with a reversible vascular rejection episode. It appears that assessment of spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation is capable of discriminating on a quantitative level between patients with and without clinical problems such as acute cellular rejection and infection.
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Reversible contractures can be induced in slow mammalian muscles by manipulations that probably generate a long-lasting alkalinization of the muscle cell interior. Such contractures reach about 1/4 of the tetanic force, P0, and last 10 times longer than potassium contractures. While in contracture, the muscle fibers have high resting potentials so that they can be electrically stimulated. Tetanic force is then increased and added to that of the contracture so that total force may reach 2 P0. This level of potentiation has not been reached by any previously-known method.
Histone deacetylases of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells are active at low temperatures (0-4 degrees C). The so-called hyperacetylated state of histones is the physiological state of histones in intact Ehrlich ascites tumor cells which is conserved by the continuous presence of 10 mM sodium butyrate during the preparation of nuclei and histones. Isolation of histones in the absence of butyrate causes an artificial decrease in histone acetylation. This artificial loss of histone acetylation produces a decrease of the elongation reaction in the RNA synthesis. The initiation of RNA synthesis is not affected.
In this study clinical findings are presented of 31 patients with clonidinee intoxication and the therapeutic measures taken in these cases are discussed. In toddlers poisoning is seen after ingestion of a single tablet of 150 micrograms clonidine, whilst in adults poisoning may occur already at a dosage just exceeding the therapeutic limit, which is subject to wide individual variation (1 to 3 tablets). Primary elimination procedures must be instituted at these dosages, but, because of the rapid absorption of clonidine, gastric lavage and induced emesis provide no benefit to patients with complete symptomatology or those who took the overdose several hours before. Chlorpromazine-like effects, hypotension and bradycardia proved to be the outstanding features. Respiratory depression, disturbances of myocardial conduction or hypertension were less frequent. Symptoms lasted for a mean of 15.5 +/- 8.6 hours, with a range of 4 to 36 hours. Fluid therapy and, as necessary, dopamine for hypotension, phentolamine for hypertension and atropine for bradycardia caused prompt improvement in addition to essential measures such as meticulous control of respiratory function, body temperature and of ECG changes. There was no need to implement the central clonidine antagonist, tolazoline in any of these cases.
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