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Biomedical subjects

G Fuchs

Publications and source records attributed to G Fuchs.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Effects of nicotine and its major metabolites on blood pressure in anaesthetized rats.

Blood pressure and heart rate in anaesthetized rats has been determined after i.v. injection of increasing doses of nicotine (NI) and its major metabolites, i.e. continine (CO), nornicotine (NOR), metanicotine (MN) and dihydrometanicotine (DMN). NI and MN elicited similar dose response curves, increasing blood pressure according to the dose injected. However, the dose response curve of MN was shifted to the right. Furthermore DMN caused similar pressor effects than MN and the pressor effects of NOR was even weaker. Only after injection of CO was a dose-dependent depressor effect observed and this was reversed after very high doses. CO also reduced heart rate in a dose-dependent manner, whereas NI and its other metabolites did not significantly change heart rate.

Animals

Formation of carbon monoxide from CO2 and H2 by Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum.

Cell suspensions of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum were found to reduce CO2 with H2 to CO at a maximal rate of 100 nmol X min-1 X mg protein-1. Half-maximal rates were obtained at a H2 and a CO2 concentration in the gas phase of 10% and 30%, respectively. The CO concentration in the gas phase surpassed the equilibrium concentration by a factor of more than 15 which indicates that CO2 reduction with H2 to CO was energy-driven. This was substantiated by the observation that the cells only formed CO when they also generated methane and that CO formation was completely inhibited by uncouplers. CO formation by cell suspensions and by growing cells was inhibited by cyanide. Neither methane formation nor the electrochemical proton potential were affected by this inhibitor. Cyanide was shown to inactivate specifically the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase present in M. thermoautotrophicum. It is therefore concluded that reduction of CO2 to CO is catalyzed by this enzyme. CO production by growing cells was 5-10-times slower than by resting cells. This is explained by effective CO assimilation in growing cells; when CO assimilation was inhibited by propyl iodide the rate of CO production immediately increased more than tenfold.

Aldehyde Oxidoreductases

Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy: one-year experience with the Dornier lithotripter.

Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has now been in clinical use for more than 4 years. In October 1983, the second kidney lithotripter in the world was installed in our department and, from then until October 1984, 800 treatments were performed on 733 patients. Our results confirm the promising reports published by the Munich group. Furthermore, it was possible to extend the range of indications by combining ESWL with percutaneous procedures, such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy and ureteroscopy. As a result only 7% of all patients who were referred to our hospital with urinary stones (4% of renal stone patients and 15% of those with ureteral stones) had to undergo open surgery.

Combined Modality Therapy

Antegrade ureteroscopy for stone removal.

Antegrade ureteroscopy, using the 11-French ureteroscope via a percutaneous transrenal access, provides safe and easy endoscopic exploration of the ureter above the level of the iliac vessels. The technique has proven to be reliable and effective for the removal of obstructing proximal ureteral calculi: all of the 22 patients who underwent antegrade ureteroscopy were stone-free after treatment. Since the introduction of this new technique in our department, no more open surgery has been required to manage ureteral calculi.

Endoscopy

The clinical significance of alpha 1-antitrypsin-elastase (alpha 1AT-ELP) and alpha 2-antiplasmin-plasmin (alpha 2AP-PL) complexes for the differentiation of coagulation protein turnover: indications for plasma protein substitution in patients with septicaemia.

In inflammation, particularly in septicaemia, complex coagulation disorders may lead to a dangerous haemorrhagic diathesis. The conventional concept for this syndrome called DIC implicates the occurrence of active thrombin in the circulation, which may be followed by hyperfibrinolysis due to plasmin formation. In this study data are presented suggesting an important role for a third proteolytic system, granulocytic elastase. The complexes of plasmin and elastase with their specific inhibitors, alpha 2-antiplasmin-plasmin (alpha 2AP-PI) and alpha 1-antitrypsin-elastase (alpha 1AT-ELP) were determined immunologically. The alpha 1AT-ELP appears mainly in gram-negative septicaemia, particularly in meningococcal disease. The estimation of alpha 2AP-PI and alpha 1AT-ELP, together with a method for the detection of the antithrombin III--thrombin complex which remains to be established, is a suitable tool for for the differential diagnosis of the consumption of coagulation proteins. The assumption that at least three proteolytic systems participate in the development of the haemorrhagic diathesis during inflammation leads to the concept of a broad, comprehensive substitution therapy with e.g. concentrates of AT III, PPSB, or fresh frozen plasma. The aim of this treatment is to replace not only the consumed procoagulatory factors, but also the lacking inhibitors in order to control this "abnormal proteolysis syndrome".

Adult

[Experience with extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy based on 5 years' clinical use].

After 6 years of experimental research at the Departments of Urology and Surgical Research of the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was introduced into clinical use in 1980. Uniquely successful and increasingly requested by stone patients, the method soon became widespread. Currently more than 70 lithotriptors are in operation worldwide and over 30,000 treatments have been carried out successfully. Clinical experience in all centers has proved the safety, reliability and reproducibility of the method. Currently, approximately 70% of nonselected stone patients are eligible to receive ESWL treatment and, when combined with endourological procedures, more than 95% of patients can benefit from this method and thus avoid open surgery.

Adolescent

[Treatment of human brucellosis with rifampicin].

Rifampin, which exhibits good intracellular diffusion and in vitro bactericidal activity on brucella, is effective in experimental brucellosis in mice, without selection of resistant strains. It was therefore legitimate to use rifampin in man since conventional treatment of acute brucellosis is followed by recurrence in 15% (tetracycline alone) or 3.7% (streptomycin-tetracycline combination) of cases. Rifampin was given to 13 patients with brucellosis (acute brucellosis in 8, osteoarticular brucellosis in 3 and chronic brucellosis in 2). Rifampin was given as sole therapy in a daily dosage of 600 to 1 200 mg. A tetracycline was subsequently needed in three cases, in combination with rifampin in two, and as replacement therapy in one. Treatment lasted 20 to 60 days in acute brucellosis and 2 to 15 months in other forms. Only one failure was recorded among the 11 cases of acute or localized brucellosis. Conversely, effectiveness of rifampin proved incomplete (1 case) or null (1 case) in chronic forms. The satisfactory effectiveness of rifampin is confirmed by a review of the literature which found 17 reports addressing the subject. These include 324 cases of brucellosis treated by rifampin, as sole therapy in 255 patients, with only 24 failures ascribable to faulty dosage. Indeed, rifampin must be given for at least 30 days, in a minimal daily dosage of 600 mg or 10 mg per kg, in a single dose. Cotrimoxazole is an antagonist and should not be associated with rifampin. Conversely, tetracyclines are synergistic and their association, which is useless in acute brucellosis, is helpful in localized and chronic forms.

Acute Disease

Financial analysis, personnel planning and organizational requirements for the installation of a kidney lithotripter in a urologic department.

The first clinical experiences with extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL)--the method of choice in noninvasive treatment of renal calculi--were so encouraging that more ESWL units are now being installed and a still larger number can be predicted. A cost-efficiency analysis shows that, in spite of high investment costs, a net saving of about DM 4,599 (deutsche marks) can be figured for each 'ESWL patient' compared to the expenses of an open operation. This benefit is due to the reduction of disability time, hospital stay and dialysis cases. For the management of an ESWL unit a trained team of urologists and anesthesiologists, as well as a clinic with an 'operative background' is necessary.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

[Theory and practice in the care of diabetic pregnancy--a timely concept].

Perinatal mortality in diabetic pregnancy has decreased markedly over the past 25 years; this reduction in fetal loss can be attributed to a variety of advances. These include technologic advances in obstetrics and pediatrics, as well as greater understanding of the metabolic aberrations occurring in pregnancy complicated by diabetes. Basically it seems convenient to consider the various disorders in cases of diabetes in pregnancy from several points of view: 1. the effect of pregnancy on the maternal diabetes and 2. the effect of maternal diabetes on the pregnancy and especially on the fetus, and from the above results we can consider 3. an actual procedure in the care of diabetic pregnancy. Regarding the necessary criteria in the care of pregnant diabetics neither pregnancy nor delivery will cause any serious problems.

Blood Glucose