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Biomedical subjects
T A Witkowski
Publications and source records attributed to T A Witkowski.
Glutamine and smooth muscle morphology of the gut in rats on total parenteral nutrition.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of addition of L-glutamine to an IV nutritional solution on the urinary excretion of 3-methylhistidine (3-MeH) and the morphology of the musculature of the gut in rats. Two experiments were run. In experiment 1 glutamine was added to a mildly hypocaloric IV solution which contained no other amino acids. For experiment 2 glutamine was added to an isocaloric balanced amino acid mixture. In both experiments L-alanine was added in equimolar amounts in place of the L-glutamine for the control groups. Providing glutamine in an IV diet without other amino acids significantly decreased urinary 3-MeH excretion (p less than 0.05). Electron microscopy and morphometric analysis of the jejunum showed an approximate 50% loss of musculature from the gut wall in alanine-treated animals. Glutamine supplementation of a balanced amino acid regime had no effect on urinary 3-MeH excretion or the musculature of the jejunum. We concluded that (1) glutamine is a preferred fuel for jejunal smooth muscle as well as for mucosal cells of the jejunum and (2) only when amino acids are limiting does exogenous glutamine prevent atrophy of the gut musculature.
Animals↗
Right ventricular myocardial protection through intracavitary cooling in cardiac operations.
In an attempt to protect the right ventricle, we designed and tested a closed cooling system that circulates cold saline through a double-lumen, balloon-tipped catheter positioned in the right ventricular cavity. Fourteen sheep were randomly assigned to two groups. In group A (n = 7), the right ventricular cooling catheter system was used in addition to coronary cardioplegic perfusion and systemic hypothermia for myocardial protection. Group B (n = 7) served as a control group. In group A, the right ventricular temperatures were significantly lower than those of the control group (16.1 degrees +/- 0.3 degrees C versus 23.9 degrees +/- 0.4 degrees C; p less than 0.0001, Student's t test). The most common temperature range was 12 degrees to 18 degrees C (67.1%, frequency distribution analysis), and 63.2% of temperatures were below 16 degrees C. The catheter system also maintained the temperatures of the interventricular septum at a lower level than those recorded in the control group and prevented septal rewarming, which was significant in group B (from 16.5 degrees +/- 1.5 degrees C to 25.0 degrees +/- 0.9 degrees C; p less than 0.04, Mann-Whitney U test). Left ventricular temperatures were not changed by the catheter system. By better cooling the right ventricle and the septum, the right ventricular cooling catheter system should decrease the prevalence of right ventricular failure and allow more time to safely complete multiple coronary anastomoses in coronary artery bypass graft operations.
Animals↗