A 5-year-old girl with isolated congenital left pulmonary artery agenesis suffered from recurrent attacks of dyspnea and right-sided pneumonia due to the stenosis of the right main bronchus. The division of ligamentum of the ductus arteriosus and suspension of the right pulmonary artery resulted in the disappearance of symptoms. It is notable that the compression of contralateral bronchus by the remaining pulmonary artery can cause respiratory symptoms in patients with isolated unilateral pulmonary artery agenesis.

Asthma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The histology of the lung in neonates with tricuspid valve disease and gross cardiomegaly due to severe regurgitation.

Lung autopsies from four neonates with Ebstein's anomaly or tricuspid valve dysplasia and gross cardiomegaly were examined. The mean cardiothoracic ratio was 92 +/- 0.5%. The degrees of pulmonary hypoplasia and pulmonary artery muscularization were assessed and were compared with those in lungs from four controls and four patients with diaphragmatic hernias. Lung and body weight ratios and radial alveolar counts, which reflect pulmonary hypoplasia and immaturity, were significantly decreased only in patients with diaphragmatic hernia. The thickness of the medical muscle layer in small pulmonary arteries was greater in patients with diaphragmatic hernia; however, in patients with tricuspid valve disease, it was relatively small. Abnormal vascular muscle extension was seen only in patients with diaphragmatic hernia. In the cases of tricuspid valve disease, although cardiomegaly and lung compression were severe, lung hypoplasia and immaturity were not, and neither abnormal medial thickening nor extension were found. Our results suggest that, at least in full-term infants with tricuspid valve disease, surgical relief of lung compression may improve respiratory function, even if the cardiomegaly is severe.

Birth Weight↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Biopharmaceutical studies on crude drug preparations. I: Permeation of paeonol in a decoction and dry extract of Paeonia suffruticosa root cortex using an absorption simulator.

The permeation behavior of paeonol, one active constituent of a crude Chinese drug called Moutan Cortex, through an artificial gastric lipid barrier was examined in vitro using an absorption simulator in order to clarify how the administered form influenced the bioavailability of paeonol from a crude preparation. Paeonol concentrations were determined by a high-performance liquid chromatographic method developed during this study. Paeonol showed greater permeation from artificial gastric juice into artificial plasma when it was applied as a decoction or freeze-dried extract of Moutan Cortex than when applied as purified paeonol alone.

Absorption↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of acetazolamide and carbon dioxide on cerebral hemodynamic changes on near-infrared spectroscopy in young rabbits.

The changes of cerebral blood oxyhemoglobin (HbO2), deoxyhemoglobin (HbR), and total hemoglobin (tHb) induced by acetazolamide and CO2 loading on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were recorded. In anesthetized 2-week-old rabbits, acetazolamide (10 mg/kg i.v.) increased HbO2 and tHb, concomitant with an increase in tissue PCO2, and decreased HbR only at 5 and 10 min. CO2 loading significantly increased HbR and decreased HbO2, and after the termination of CO2 loading, tHb and HbO2 significantly increased and HbR decreased to nearly the baseline value. Thus, NIRS demonstrated cerebral hemodynamic responses as a function of vasomotor reactivity to acetazolamide as well as CO2 loading.

Acetazolamide↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neuropathologic study of newborns with prenatal-onset leukomalacia.

The distribution of leukomalacia and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive glial cells in prenatal- and postnatal-onset leukomalacia were compared and diagnosed histologically in 128 autopsied infants and the different pathogeneses were examined. Prenatal-onset leukomalacia was diagnosed in 12 of 71 still-births and neonates surviving less than 3 days (16.9%). All 4 preterm infants of less than 32 gestational weeks had widespread white matter necrosis and 4 of 5 term infants had focal necrosis. GFAP-positive glial cells were more increased in the deep and intermediate white matter in both forms of leukomalacia than in the controls, although in the subcortical white matter they were less increased in prenatal- than postnatal-onset leukomalacia. These differences may indicate different pathogeneses, including vascular maturity and causal factors, in prenatal- and postnatal-onset leukomalacia.

Brain Chemistry↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical implications of serum levels of basement membrane components in diabetic patients with and without albuminuria.

Serum levels of type IV collagen (7S-IV) and laminin P1 in 185 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients were significantly higher than those in normal subjects. Furthermore, they were significantly elevated in relation to the excretion of urinary albumin, showing their increases even at the stage of microalbuminuria, although they were not correlated with HbA1c or age in diabetic patients. Thus, the determination of serum levels of basement membrane components, 7S-IV and laminin, could be beneficial as the early indices of diabetic microangiopathy, including diabetic nephropathy.

Albuminuria↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The relationship between early diabetic nephropathy and control of plasma glucose in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The effect of glycemic control on the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy in an 8-year follow-up study.

To clarify the relationship between early diabetic nephropathy and the glycemic control in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) without hypertension, excretion of urinary albumin was studied retrospectively for 8 years. The patients with early diabetic nephropathy were divided into two groups according to the initial urinary albumin index (UAI: mg/g.creatinine), namely, a normoalbuminuric (less than 15 mg/g.creatinine) and a microalbuminuric group (15 < or = UAI < 200 mg/g.creatinine). Comparisons of changes in UAI were made between good (HbA1 < 9.0% and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) < 140 mg/100 mL throughout the observation period) and poor glycemic control groups after 4 and 8 years. In the patients with normoalbuminuria at the initial determination, five of 11 patients (45.5%) with good glycemic control and 14 of 22 patients (63.6%) with poor glycemic control became microalbuminuric after 8 years, respectively (p < 0.05). In the microalbuminuric patients, five of ten patients (50%) with poor glycemic control became macroalbuminuric (UAI > or = 200 mg/g.creatinine), although only one case worsened of five patients with good glycemic control (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the development or progression of early diabetic nephropathy in NIDDM was significantly inhibited by good glycemic control (FPG < 140 mg/100 mL and HbA1 < 9.0%), independent of hypertension, and probably irrespective of the mode of therapeutic intervention.

Albuminuria↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Antitumor activity of interleukin-18 on mouse glioma cells.

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) exhibits antitumor activity in various laboratory models. In the current study, brain tumors in naive mice regressed after an intratumoral injection of a single dose of recombinant IL-18 (rIL-18). Intraperitoneal rIL-18 substantially delayed the growth of subcutaneously inoculated gliomas but not gliomas located in the brain. Efficacy was reduced when studies were performed in mice depleted of natural killer cells. Although intracerebral administration of rIL-18 increased the serum interferon-gamma concentration, the antitumor effect of IL-18 was not mediated by interferon-gamma. These data suggest the therapeutic potential for control of tumor growth by intratumoral administration of rIL-18 in patients with glioma.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development of an electrohydraulic total artificial heart at the National Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan.

The authors have been developing an electrohydraulic total artificial heart with a basic concept placing the blood pumps and an electrohydraulic energy converter separately, in the thorax and the abdominal region, respectively, to minimize anatomic constraints. Major problems of the system were a high energy consumption of 56 W at 6 L/min output and an insufficient maximum output of 6.7 L/min. The energy converter was redesigned to overcome these problems. A three phase, 4 pole brushless DC motor, which has maximum efficiency of 79% at a motor rotation of 2500 rpm with a load of 0.1 Nm, was developed for the new energy converter. Flow-channel design of the regenerative oil pump was optimized, which resulted in increasing the maximum flow rate at one directional motor rotation from 18 to 29 L/min. In vitro performance of the electrohydraulic total artificial heart was evaluated in a mock circulation with physiologic pressure conditions. Maximum output was increased to 10.7 L/min at a pump rate of 120 bpm and energy consumption of the motor at 6 L/min output was reduced to 18 W. Based upon these favorable results, the system is now being assembled for chronic animal implantation.

Animals↗