Comminuted intertrochanteric fracture of the femoral neck. If comminuted intertrochanteric fractures of the femoral neck are treated in the same way as the simple ones--by reduction, McLaughlin nailing, and early weightbearing--many complications will occur, in most cases failure of the osteosynthesis or infection. If operation is to be used at all in these fractures, it must take the form of a firmer fixation or primary osteotomy. Moreover, the time of commencement of weight-bearing must be accurately and individually determined.


Mortality in intertrochanteric fracture of the femoral neck. The mortality during the first year after operation was studied in 209 patients with intertrochanteric fracture of the femoral neck, all treated with osteosynthesis. The excess mortality due to the fracture and operation proved to be about 20 per cent. Among the great majority of patients who did not have significant cardiac symptoms or signs despite their advanced age, the excess mortality was below 10 per cent. Among patients whose operative risk had been deemed increased due to heart disease, the excess mortality during the first year was about 50 per cent.


The influence of acrylic cement on the femur of the dog. A histological study. Using dogs as experimental animals, polymerizing methylmethacrylate was inserted into the marrow cavity of the femur. The influence on bone over a period of 21 months was studied by means of histological techniques and microradiography. To distinguish the effect of the methacrylate proper from the circulatory disturbance resulting from the operation, control experiments were performed in which the marrow cavity was emptied, but no acrylic cement was inserted. Polymerization of the methacrylate in vivo resulted in a local rise in temperature to about 58 degrees C. In the femurs containing the acrylic cement a consistent picture developed, consisting of: a) necrosis and removal of the central part of the cortex and b) apposition of a thick layer of bone on the outer surface of the cortex, c) deposition of a cylindrical bone sleeve in contact with the methacrylate. In the control experiments only a minimal resorption at the inside surface of the cortex and the deposition of a thin layer of bone at the outside of the cortex were observed. It is concluded inter al. that circulatory distrubance contributes only slightly to the total reaction of bone to the insertion of methacrylate.


A biochemical analysis of subchondral bone of the medial tibial condyle in the normal state and in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. A chemical analysis has been carried out on specimens from the subchondral weightbearing area of the medial tibial condyle from 22 normal individuals, 14 individuals with osteoarthritis and 12 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. In the normal group there was a decrease in density with advancing age. Over the age of 50 there was no significant difference between the groups. The content of collagen, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in each bone specimen was calculated. When expressed in per cent of dry fat free bone there was no significant difference between the three groups. When calculations were made on the basis of content per volume tissue wet bone some differences were found. There was a tendency for a higher content of collagen in rheumatoid bone than in normal and osteoarthritic bone. The content of calcium was significantly higher in rheumatoid arthritis than in osteoarthritis; the same result was found in the analysis of phosphorus. In the normal group there was a decrease in phosphorus content with advancing age, this was also seen in the magnesium analysis.


Chondromalacia of the patella. Physical signs in relation to operative findings. Cartilaginous changes on the patella are common and were demonstrated in 50 out of 100 patients who underwent operation for intraarticular disease of the knee joint. In order to clarify further the signs of this condition, the physical signs were related to the operative findings. Retropatellar crepitation was present in most cases, but cannot be called pathognomonic. Pain on grating and tenderness on palpation of the patella in fact occurred together only in cases with cartilaginous changes on the patella. On the other hand, cartilaginous changes were found in several cases without such signs, a condition which perhaps should be interpreted as cartilaginous changes only, not as the symptom complex chondromalacia of the patella in which there ought to be a history of symptoms.


Chondromalacia and the unstable patella. Fifty-eight realignment operations for dislocation or subluxation of the extensor mechanism are described. Patellectomy was combined with realignment in 14. Thirty-five of the 44 patients (80 per cent) in whom the patella was retained also had chondromalacia patellae, which improved after realignment in 26 (74 per cent) without shaving or drilling of the articular surface. The symptoms of chondromalacia were more likely to regress if stability of the extensor mechanism was achieved.


Simultaneous and spontaneous bilateral rupture of the patellar tendon in rheumatoid arthritis. A case report. A case of rupture of the patellar tendon in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis is presented. The age of this patient (27 years) makes this case quite uncommon. The rupture was bilateral, simultaneous and spontaneous. The absence of previous cortisone administration rules out this drug as a cause of the tendon rupture.


Influence of the hypothalamic stimulation of vestibular nuclei units in the rat. Electrical stimulation of rat hypothalamus influenced the activity of the vestibular nuclei units, depending on the stimulus location. Vestibular units were excited predominantly by antero-lateral hypothalamic stimulation, whilst middle-medial hypothalamic stimulation mainly induced a decrease in the firing frequency of vestibular units. The possibility of both types of hypothalamic influence on vestibular excitability is discussed.


Cochlear innervation in the guinea pig. I. The inner spiral bundle region. The organization of nerve fibers in the vicinity of the inner hair cells of the guinea pig cochlea was studied in silver-stained whole-mount specimens by light microscopy. In all turns of the organ of Corti the inner spiral bundle (ISB) was found to contain both short and long spiral fascicles coursing toward either the base or the apex. The ISB is largest and its organization is most complex in the upper basal and lower second turns. It becomes markedly reduced in size in the apical and lower basal turns. Many ISB fibers cross the tunnel of Corti to the outer hair cells. Surgical interruption of the efferent nerve supply in the brain stem resulted in degeneration of all ISB fibers. After elimination of the efferents it could be seen that the majority of afferent fibers end on the inner hair cells.


The effect of gravity of positional alcohol nystagmus phase II in man. On request from the Swedish state authorities for health and civil air transport (Socialstyrelsen and Luftfartsstyrelsen) experiments were performed in order to establish the duration of the vestibular disturbances after alcohol intake related to rules for aviation safety. It is known that the threshold for provocation of positional alcohol nystagmus (PAN) is lowered under the influence of gavity forces above normal. It has been suggested that PAN II could be provoked by g-loads as late as 48 hours after a small alcohol intake. Our experiments were performed in a human centrifuge with g-values 2 and 3. Whisky (43 vol%, 2.5 cc/kg b.w.) was given in a single dose and blood alcohol analyses were frequently taken. The results show that vestibular disturbances appearing as g-provoked PAN II do not persist for any considerable time. Consequently the present limit of 24 hours' sobriety before flight seems sufficient. Positional nystagmus provoked by g-load even without alcohol intake in the test persons is a new observation.


Evoked responses from inferior colliculus as an index of hearing thresholds in guinea pigs. Bipolar electrodes were implanted in the inferior colliculus of 10 healthy guinea pigs, and visual detection level thresholds of auditory evoked responses were obtained at 17 frequencies between 0.5 and 20.0 kHz. One microvolt isopotential curves from the round window for the same test frequencies were obtained in these animals. A comparison between the evoked response threshold curves and previous reports of the behavioral audiogram reveals a favorable correlation. The cochlear potential curve, however, appears to be a less efficient predictor of the audibility curve than the evoked response thresholds. The utility of evoked response audiometry from the inferior colliculus for quickly assessing auditory thresholds in the guinea pig is discussed.


Normal critical bands in the cat.

Normal critical bands in the cat. Critical bands in the cat were measured by a behavioural psychophysical method. Pure tones were masked by noise by variable bandwidth but constant total power, geometrically centred on the test tone; the point at which the masked threshold began to fall as the masker bandwidth was increased estimated the critical bandwidth. At 2 kHz the critical bandwidth was also measured from the wideband masked thresholds of both tones and noise of variable bandwidth: this produced the same result as the first method. The measured critical bandwidth was greater than previously published values of the effective bandwidths of single fibres of the auditory nerve. The results do not fit in with the commonly accepted theory that the critical band represents the resolution of the cochlea.


Noise and the RNA synthesis of the cochlea. Autoradiographic studies. In cochlear basal turns of 22 guinea pigs with autoradiography, grain density was measured after injection of 3H-cytidine. Following high initial nuclear labelling, a low incorporation in cytoplasm was observed, even after 24 hours. Synthesis of ribosomal RNA in the organ of Corti seems to be slow. Low grain densities in the whole cochlea presuppose a blood-lymph barrier to cytidine. After white noise (85 dB SPL, 12 hours) were seen a more rapid incorporation into nuclei and after 24 hours an increased labelling of cytoplasm of ganglion cells, fibrocytes and inner hair cells, less of outer hair cells. This might be induced by increased blood flow, concentration of the precursor in the lymphs, cell permeability of alterations of the cellular nucleotide pool. But a real stimulation of cochlear RNA synthesis seems to be the most likely. On comparing different turns, a peak in grain density was found over nuclei of the organ of Corti after 1 hour in the 2nd turn. After 24 hours, cytoplasmic labelling showed a decrease only in outer hair cells towards apical turns.


Incorporation of radioactive calcium into otolithic membranes and middle ear ossicles of the gerbil. 45CaCl2 was injected into gerbils in single or multiple doses, and the resulting radioactivity in serum, otoconial CaCO3, bone samples, and selected labyrinthine epithelium was determined by liquid scintillation spectrometry. Incorporation into both utricular and saccular otoconia occurred at the rate of 0.06-0.07 nmole Ca++ per day, corresponding to a fractional rate of uptake of 0.1%. The retention of radioactivity had a half-life of approximately 11 days. The rate of incorporation of calcium for the middle ear ossicles was 5-7 times that for otoconia and was similar to that for otic capsule and skeletal bone. The level of 45Ca++ was higher in the pigmented regions of the utricular membranous wall than in the non-pigmented areas of the utricular and ampullary wall and in the stria vascularis.


Intermedius nerve involvement and testing in acoustic neuromas. The clinical findings in 125 patients with surgically confirmed acoustic neuromas are presented, with special regard to the involvement of the intermedius nerve in the diagnosis. In assessing the function of the intermedius nerve the examination of the nasolacrimal reflex and the sensation of taste on the anterior two-thirds of the tongue are used. The methods of investigation are described in detail. The material consisted of 20 medium-sized and 105 large tumours; no intracanalicular tumor was found. Hearing loss was the initial symptom in 85% of the patients, 10% had tinitus and 4% vertigo as the first symptom. Apart from the VIII cranial nerve symptoms, a defective nasolacrimal reflex was the most significant evidence of cerebellopontine angle pathology. The test was positive in 65% of the medium-sized tumours, in the entire material, 85%. The figures are higher than the incidence of trigeminal nerve symptoms. This in contrast to the reports of most authors. The tests described are simple and quick to perform, and it is emphasized that they should be applied to all patients with unilateral hearing loss of unknown origin.


Active otosclerotic foci in the stapes. An electron microscopic study. A total of 12 undecalcified and decalcified otosclerotic stapes containing active spongiotic lesions were examined using an electron microscope. Evidence of osteolytic osteolysis was seen in all specimens, but osteoclasts were observed in only four. The advancing  front in the spongiotic lesion was 'moth-eaten' due to the demineralization of canaliculi and lacunae. The demineralizing process appeared to be initiated by degranulation of lysosomes by the degenerating osteocytes. As bone resorption continued, poorly mineralized new bone was laid down by osteoblasts which showed mitochondrial swelling. The possible implication of this mitochondrial swelling is discussed in relation to the pathology of the otosclerosis.


Histopathological studies of the nervous system tumors in rats induced by N-nitroso-methyl-urea. Histopathological examinations were made on tumors of the nervous system induced in rats of Donryu strain by weekly intravenous injections with N-nitroso-methyl-urea (NMU) or by a single administration of NMU through the mothers. A total of 176 neural and nonneural neoplasms were produced in this study. It was suggested that the fetal nervous system of Donryu rats was also highly susceptible to the oncogenic effects of NMU. Of these tumors produced, those of the peripheral nervous system amounted to 121, comprising 68.7% of the total number of the neoplasm. Microscopically, most of the nerve tumors showed the histology corresponding to that of human neurinomas. Many tumors, however, disclosed more or less anaplastic cytological appearance. Fifteen gliomas were produced in the brain and spinal cord. Microscopically, they were classified into mixed glioma, oligondendroglioma and anaplastic astrocytoma. The commonest brain tumors produced in rats from intravenously treated group were periventricular mixed gliomas, while gliomas in rats from transplacentably treated group showed an isomorphic histology with a close resemblance to that of oligodendroglioma.


[The ERA characteristics in normal-hearing persons]. The ERA characteristics (amplitudes and latencies) were measured in normal-hearing adults (20 to 25 years of age) at frequencies of 500 Hz, 1000 Hz and 4 000 Hz. Two other age groups (30 to 50 and 55 to 70 years of age) were measured only at 1 000 Hz. Contrary to other authors, the linear scale was chosen to represent the amplitudes. In calculating the variances of the amplitudes it turned out that the intra-individual variance is significantly below the inter-individual variance. Expressed in per cent as a variational coefficient, both decrease with increasing stimulus intensity. Contrary to the behaviour of the amplitudes, no significant difference between the intra- and inter-individual variational coefficient of the latencies could be found. The same is valid for the variational coefficients of the N1 and P2 latencies. As a function of the stimulus strength, the variational coefficient passes through a minimum at medium stimulus intensity. Within the investigated range of 20 to 70 years of age, no significant differences of amplitudes and latencies between the age groups could be found.


Morphological and biochemical alteration in the rat liver induced by maprotiline. The fatty change in the liver induced in male rats by a new antidepressant, maprotiline, given at high-dose was studied morphologically and biochemically. The accumulation of triglyceride in the liver was related to accelerated synthesis of fatty acid in the liver in males, which liver triglyceride was decreased in spite of increased synthesis of fatty acid from acetate in females. Secretion of lipoprotein granules was noted in both sexes. The sexual differences of triglyceride contents in the liver and serum was influenced by sexual hormone. Proliferation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and "fingerprints" were found in treated rats and these were correlated with the induction of hepatic microsomal drug metabolizing enzymes. The "myeloid bodies" induced in hepatocytes were considered to be of lysosomal nature. Both morphological and biochemical alterations in the hepatocytes induced by maprotiline was reversible upon cessation of treatment.


Fine structural studies on the fate of "castration" cells in the rat adenohypophysis after bilateral oophorectomy. The fate of castration cells has been studied by electron microscopy after bilateral oophorectomy. The castration cells were characterized by a large-like dilatation of rough endoplasmic reticulum which occupied almost the entire cytoplasm, and first appeared at 5 weeks after operation. Castration cells showed cellular suppression after 15 weeks of the experiment but no degenerative changes were observed at any experimental period. At the later stage of the experiment numerous secretory granules reaccumulated in the cytoplasm of the gonadotrophs and concomitantly lake-like dilatation of rough endoplasmic reticulum in some gonadotrophs gradually decreased and finally disappeared from the cytoplasm. Proportion of the castration cells and mean diameter of the largest cisterane of rough endoplasmic reticulum in each cell attained maximum value at 9 weeks after the operation; thereafter both parameters returned toward normal, although they still remained at a higher level than in controls at 18 weeks after the operation.


[Melanocytes, Langerhans and Merkel cells in oral epithelium]. The fine structural morphology of melanocytes, Langerhans cells and Merkel cells in the normal dorsal epithelium of the human tongue has been studied by electron microscopy. Melanocytes were regularly found in normal papillary epithelium, even in the absence of clinical signs of pigmentation. The basal epithelial melanocyte contains individual pigment organelles at different stages of maturation and rudimentary half-desmosomes were found between the melanocyte and the basal membrane. The suprabasal Langerhans cells can be identified by their specific organelles and by the lack of tonofilaments and desmosomes. The morphological features of these cells suggest functional relations to cell structures of the keratinocytes and to the epithelial keratinization process. The Merkel cell is characterized by a horizontal orientation in the basal epithelial layer, the development of desmosomal attachments to keratinocytes, the lack of tonofilaments, the typical Merkel cell granules and an associated axon terminal. The observation of Merkel cell granules in relation to the Merkel cell plasmalemma and the morphological similarity of these granules to the monoamine-storing granules in certain types of chromaffin cell system suggest a symbiotic union between the specialized Merkel cell and the associated neurite with a neuroepithelial tactile receptor function. Because of their specific ultrastructure, the Merkel cells are thought to constitute a self-maintaining cell population, independent of keratinocytes and dendritic cells, in the oral epithelium.


Sequential morphological changes of ulceration in the glandular stomach of rats induced by iodoacetamide. Two groups of 25 male Wistar rats were given 0.1% iodoacetamide (IAM) with or without 0.4% Tween 60 in their drinking water for 12 weeks. Two or three rats from each group were sacrificed at intervals for sequential morphological observations on ulceration of gastric mucosa. The ulcers invariably developed in the fundic region adjacent to the limiting ridge, and they penetrated the muscle coats and extended to the serosal lining on continuous treatment with IAM for 9 weeks. The ulcers appeared chronic, but when IAM was discontinued the healing process began rapidly and the mucosa regenerated almost completely within six weeks. Regenerating epithelium on areas of ulcer differentiated progressively, and the renewed mucosa showed pyloric metaplasia.


[Myocardial sarcoidosis--pathological studies on 7 autopsy cases with particular reference to histological variations]. The present report consists of seven autopsy cases of myocardial sarcoidosis terminating in death 1 month to 5 years after the onset of symptoms. Histologically, they were classified into the following 4 types: a) diffuse nonspecific granulation, b) specific granuloma with giant cells, c) diffuse fibrosis with giant cells, and d) nonspecific fibrosis. Types a) and b) demonstrate active changes, while c) and d) are sequelae of active inflammation. Morphological changes of sarcoidosis were found not only in myocardium but also in both pericardium and endocardium. Although no final conclusions could be obtained as to whether the giant cells appearing in myocardium were of mesenchymal or myogenic origin, the authors favor the latter concept. Changes compatible to sarcoidosis found in other organs in acute cases were scarce and old. On the contrary, more active and variable changes were encountered in protracted cases. The authors consider giant cell myocarditis to be one type of sarcoidosis occurring in the heart.


The problem of unilateral and bilateral neck dissection. 270 unilateral and bilateral neck resections have been performed in different primary localisations of tumours in the head and the neck at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of the Medical Faculty in Zagreb in the period 1960-70. Of 209 patients with unilateral resection, only 78 survived (37%), while only 3 patients (4.9%) survived of a total of 61 patients where bilateral resection was performed. An analysis is given separately of radical resection in carcinoma of the larynx, the hypopharynx and the skin. From this analysis and from immunologic considerations, the following conclusions are derived: (i) The authors are not in favour of prophylactic block resection as this would be contrary to our knowledge of the role played by the immunobiological factors in the struggle against the malignant lesion. (ii) Evacuation of the neck must be performed in carcinoma of the larynx T3 and in hypopharyngeal carcinoma, as histologically positive lymph nodes are usually found in this site in large numbers.


Virus-like particles in the follicular epithelium of the thyroid from a patient with subacute thyroiditis (De Quervain). The author experienced a case of subacute thyroiditis (de Quervain) in a 36-year-old female. Electron microscopic examination of the thyroid tissue of the patient revealed virus-like particles (VLP) in the degenerated follicular epithelium Judging from the size, the VLP corresponded to the influenza or mumps virus.


An autopsy case of metastasizing protuberant dermatofibrosarcoma. An autopsy case of metastatic dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DP) together with the results of four sequential biopsies performed during his illness was reported. In this case, the tumor recurred repeatedly for 38 years in spite of intensive treatments. Finally, the tumor metastasized to the bilateral lungs, retroperitoneum and lumbar vertebrae. The direct cause of death was renal stones which may have been related to paraplegia of the lower limbs due to the vertebral metastasis. The metastasis appeared to have started at the time when the tumor showed marked atypism histologically. It was also recognized that there was an obvious difference in atypism between recurrent and metastatic tumors.


A morphometric study of normal human liver cell nuclei. Using the projecting method, measurements were made of the size of nuclei of liver cells in liver biopsies taken from ten patients with normal liver histology and normal liver function tests and from two patients with acromegaly. For the statistical analysis a parametric model of the distributions of the nuclear radii, the chi distributions, was used, making an estimation of the frequencies of di-, tetra- and octaploid nuclei possible. The distribution of the lengths of the nuclear radii was consistent with normal distributions corresponding to the different ploidy classes. Diploid nuclei constituted 84 to 99 per cent of the liver cell nuclei, and the frequency of polyploid nuclei increased with increasing age. Samples of nuclei within the same biopsy revealed significant differences in the mean radius of diploid nuclei and in the frequency of polyploid nuclei. This biological variation must be taken into account in the interpretation of karyometric data. One of the patients with acromegaly had a higher frequency of polyploid nuclei than seen in normal patients, and in both patients with acromegaly the size of diploid nuclei was large compared with normals. The frequency of binuclear nuclei was unrelated to age and frequency of polyploid nuclei, but males were found to have more binuclear liver cells than females.


Karyometry of liver biopsies in virus hepatitis. Liver biopsies from ten patients with clinically mild or moderate acute virus hepatitis, taken in the acute phase of the disease and in the recovery phase or later, were assessed for the size of liver cell nuclei and the number of binuclear nuclei. A parametric model of the distributions of the nuclear radii was used to estimate the mean nuclear radius of diploid nuclei and the frequencies of di-, tetra- and octaploid nuclei. During the acute phase of virus hepatitis the liver cell nuclei were often larger, with greater variation in size, than in the recovery phase. This pleomorphism was not only due to pyknotic and necrotic nuclei as these were not measured. It is assumed that the enlargment of the nuclei was due to increased metabolic activity of the nuclei. The frequencies of polyploid nuclei and binuclear liver cells were higher in the first biopsies, probably reflecting regenerative activity. No correlation was found between the severity of the disease as judged by liver histology or routine liver tests and the degree of nuclear changes with respect to size and frequency of polyploid or binuclear liver cells.


Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia. 2. Morphological and histochemical investigation of cartilage matrix, particularly in the pre-calcification stage. The cartilage of epiphysis and cuboid bones from three Beagle puppies bred from parents with a constant heredity of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, was examined macroscopically, histomorphologically and histochemically. The puppies were euthanized at the age of one week, three weeks and five weeks, respectively. The investigation showed the foci of the disease develop in a broad subarticular zone where normally strong three-dimensional growth of the cartilage takes place. The first signs of the disease appeared about the time of birth and new foci reached a climax when the puppies were about three weeks old. Histomorphological and histochemical examination of the cartilage showed that the disease developed in a sequence of confluent stages. In the initial stage, there was an accumulation of abnormal cartilage matrix in the chondrocyte and/or chondrocyte lacunae. The abnormal substance consisted apparently of concentrated or free chondroitin sulphates not bound to protein. Then followed a second stage of liquefaction and coalescence of the abnormal cartilage matrix which formed cysts of different sizes, some of them visible macroscopically. In the third stage of calcification of the cyst content and surrounding abnormal cartilage, it was found that the calcium was deposited in grains bound to chondroitin sulphates. The results of the present study of the pre-calcification stage of the disease in Beagle dogs seem to be comparable with or equivalent to the results of the study of the post-natal stage of the disease in children and may explain something of the prenatal pathogenesis in children.


Distribution of alkaline phosphatase activity in healthy and diseased human liver tissue. Histochemical demonstration of the alkaline phosphatase activity with an azo-dye method in human livers showed that the activity, which is normally localized to endothelial cells of portal and central veins as well as of sinusoids around the central veins and to a lesser extent of sinusoids around the portal connective tissue, is increased in various liver diseases. Appreciable canalicular activity is rare, and when it occurs it is more prominent in parenchyma involved by malignant tumours.


Preferential incorporation of 3H-deoxycytidine into chicken bursal cells. Comparison of radiolabelled nucleosides as lymphoid cell markers in chickens and mice. 3H-deoxycytidine, 3H-thymidine and 125I-deoxyuridine were injected intravenously into different groups of chickens and mice, and lymphoid organs and intestine of the animals sampled one hour later. Incorporation of the isotopes into proliferating cells was evaluated after nucleic acid extraction and determination of specific activity of the isotopes in counts per minute per microgram of DNA (cpm/mug DNA). Labelled deoxycytidine was incorporated much better into bursal cells than the other isotopes, indicating that this isotope may preferentially label bursal lymphocytes, or a subpopulation of them.


Parathyroid morphology in gerbils after thyroidectomy and calcium administration. Morphological studies of the parathyroid glands from adult Mongolian gerbils in which hypercalcaemia had been induced by thyroidectomy and calcium injections for 2-19 days were carried out. The potassium pyro-antimonate technique and subsequent X-ray analysis of the precipitates were used for ultrastructural localization of cations. Ultrastructurally, most (suppressed) chief cells exhibited a dense cytoplasm, medium-sized or large mitochondria, glycogen particles, inconspicuous endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex, calcium-containing precipitates mainly in mitochondria and nuclei, and sometimes also lysosomal bodies and accumulations of secretory granules which occasionally seemed to be discharged into cytoplasmic vacuoles. A few parenchymal cells showed a low cytoplasmic density, few organelles, and structurally altered mitochondria, occasionally with associated smooth-surfaced vacuoles. These cells possessed calcium-containing precipitates in mitochondria, smooth-surfaced vacuoles, and also diffusely in the cytosol. It is concluded, that, in the main part of the parenchymal cells, the hypercalcaemia had resulted in a suppression primarily of the synthetic and later also of the secretory activity, and that the calcium-containing precipitation is different in the chief cell variants.


A cytogenetic study of gonadoblastoma tissue in two cases. The hypothesis that gonadoblastoma (gonocytoma III) arises from gonadal tissue with a male chromosome complement has earlier been forwarded. In the literature there is no case with a well documented diagnosis of gonadoblastoma and absence of a Y chromosome. In the two presented cases, one a phenotypic female, the other a phenotypic male, gonadoblastoma was diagnosed. Cytogenetic studies of the removed gonadoblastomas revealed a Y chromosome in both cases. This is in accordance with the hypothesis.


Raising antibodies to human leukocyte interferon. Human leukocyte interferon proved to be a good immunogen in sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs. Sera from immunized animals neutralized the antiviral action of leukocyte interferon at high dilution. The highest anti-interferon titres obtained were 1:1,200,000 for sheep, 1:150,000 for rabbits, 1:30,000 for guinea pigs. Partial purification of human leukocyte interferon, by ethanol precipitation, improved its qualities as an immunogen. While it appeared more efficient to give initial injections without adjuvant, the inclusion in booster injections, of Freund's complete adjuvant produced a markedly superior response and, in one sheep, maintained high levels of circulating antibody for several months.


Human serum antibodies against heat-stable antigens from Yersinia enterocolitica. Human sera, 200 from blood donors and five from patients with infection caused by Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 3 (Y.e. 3), were tested by indirect haemagglutination for antibodies against antigens from Y.e. serotypes 3 and 9. Erythrocytes were sensitized using extracts prepared by heating of the bacteria at 100 degrees C for 60 min. All sera tested showed antibody activity against antigen from both Y.e. serotypes. In blood donors, the titres ranged from 4 to 512, and in patients from 512 to 2048 against the Y.e. 3 extract, from 32 to 256 against the Y.e. 9 extract. The results of inhibition and absorption experiments showed that human antibodies against the common enterobacterial antigen (CA) agglutinated the sensitized erythrocytes and that anti-CA antibody was present in all sera tested. Some blood donor sera and all the patient sera also contained antibodies that could not be inhibited by CA when tested against antigen in the Y.e. 3 extract. Only these sera had the ability to agglutinate heat-treated Y.e. 3 bacteria. Presumably these antibodies were directed against the O antigen of the Y.e. 3 strain.


The ultrastructural development of the macrogamete and formation of the oocyst wall of Toxoplasma gondii. The macrogametes of Toxoplasma gondii develop within the epithelial cells of the cat ileum. As they develop the nucleus enlarges and dense patches of chromatin which were present in the nucleoplasm, disappear. Polysaccharide granules and lipid globules appear in the cytoplasm and increase in number during development. The wall-forming bodies of Type I (WFB I) appear before the wall-forming bodies of Type II (WFB II); WFB I are smaller, more osmiophilic and more numerous than the WFB II. The WFB I appear to form from vesicles produced by the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and the WFB II form within the lacunae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Double membraned vacuoles appear to form from the nuclear membranes but the function of these is unknown. Throughout development the macrogamete retains a normal pellicle which possesses numerous micropores. The first evidence of oocyst wall formation is the appearance of participate matter in the parasitophorous vacuole which precipitates to form Layer 1 of the oocyst wall. Layers 2 and 3 are unit membranes which form between Layer 1 and the pellicle. During this development the organism has an organelle complement similar to that of the macrogamete. Layers 4 and 5 form between Layer 3 and the pellicle. Layer 4 is osmiophilic and its formation is accompanied by the disappearance of WFB I. Layer 5 is less osmiophilic than Layer 4 and its formation is accompanied by the disappearance of WFB II. The two innermost layers (Layers 4 & 5) in the oocyst wall of Toxoplasma are similar to those found in Isospora spp. and Eimeria spp. Toxoplasma seems to be unusual in that, firstly, it possesses an additional 3 layers and, secondly, all 5 layers are formed outside the pellicle of the original macrogamete.


The effect of bacitracin and Mn(II)ions upon the producer strain Bacillus licheniformis. The peptide antibiotic bacitracin is inhibitory to growth of the producer strain Bacillus licheniformis only in the presence of excess manganese(II)ions. Both the early and the late growth are inhibited in a similar manner upon addition of bacitracin and manganese(II)ions. Thus, B. licheniformis does not develop resistance to its own antibiotic during growth. Added bacitracin is stimulatory to growth of B. licheniformis in media with a very low content of manganese(II)ions. These results support the hypothesis that bacitracin participates in the manganese transport of the producer strain B. licheniformis.


Left ventricular pressure-mural force relationship during sympathetic stimulation. Influence of sympathetic stimulation on the relation of ventricular pressure--directly recorded wall tension were investigated in the left ventricle of the opened chested dogs. It was shown, that despite the substantial decrease of the end-diastolic pressure, sympathetic stimulation did not result in decrease in the wall tension per unit pressure. Investigation of the diastolic circumferential segment length-diastolic pressure relation revealed, that diastolic compliance was increased under the sympathetic stimulation. The revelance of these findings to the regulation of the ventricular performance is discussed.


The effect of hypercapnia on the vagal component of the baroreflex. An infulence of asphyxia and central hypercapnia was studied. It was shown that the vagal cardiac baroreflexes are enhanced in these conditions. Central hypercapnia exerts some influence on the investigated reflex independly on the peripheral baroreceptors. Modulation of the reflex during respiratory cycle became lower under conditions of asphyxia despite the marked increase in the respiratory drive. The last fenomen was interpreted on the basis of Zieliński -- Btocki model of the neuron.


Hormonal regulation of thermogenesis in goslings. Possible role of the thyroid gland. The experiments performed on 90 male goslings showed that 6 h cold exposure (5 +/- 1 degree C) of the specimens 3, 10 and 21-day-old increases considerably 131I uptake by their thyroid gland. After single subcutaneous injection of thyroxine (100 mug/kg) no significant alterations of the metabolic rate, during 4 h measurements, in comparison with the pre-injection value were observed. Since, in control birds about 17% decrease of the metabolic rate within the same time occurred, as the effect of fasting, it was concluded that thyroxine does have the calorigenic effect. The metabolic rate of the goslings 5 to 7-day-old treated with thyroxine for four consecutive days (100 mug/kg daily) and the control ones was very similar. In the older goslings (22--24 days) thyroxine treatment significantly elevated the metabolic rate. Direct (extrathyroid) effect of TSH on heat production, did not occur in goslings.


The effects of neuroleptics and nialamide on defensive conditoned reflex in rats. Experiments were carried out on male Wistar rats after development of defensive conditioned relex during 6 weeks of training. In one series of experiments chlorpromazine, haloperidol, pimozide or fluspirilene were used in doses of 0.05, 0.5 and 5.0 mg/kg intraperitoneally. In another series of experiments nialamide was given intraperitoneally in a dose of 140 mg/kg 16--18 hours before administration of one of these neuroleptics. A delay in the time of appearance of the defensive conditioned refex was observed after administration of neuroleptics in all animals. In some rats neuroleptics caused complete disappearance of the conditioned refex as well as the defensive unconditioned refex. Previous inhibition of monoamine oxidase activity obtained with nialamide increased evidently the inhibitory effect of the studied neuroleptics on the appearance of defensive conditioned reflex.


Morphology of the prolactin producing cells in androgen-sterilized female rats. The aim of the study was to follow morphology of the prolactin producing cells in growing female rats with evoked "early androgen syndrome". The experiment was carried out on 3, 6 and 12-week-old animals. At the age of 3 weeks no changes in morphology of the prolactin cells were observed as compared to that of control animals. In 6 and 12-week-old animals the significant differences between androgenized and control animals were found. The prolactin cells differed both from those characteristic for normal females and normal males. The main characteristic features were: significantly smaller number of cells than in normal females, their stronger fluorescence and presence of large and giant prolactin cells similar to the so called "pregnancy cells". Possible factors responsible for the described above changes are discussed.


The effect of restricted convection-diffusion on bolus concentration along an exchange vessel. If a sudden rise in solute concentration travels through a capillary system, a diffusible neutral solute passes the walls of the exchange vessels. If then the rate of passage depends on a chemical potential gradient (diffusion) and a hydrodynamical potential gradient (convection) and is sterically restricted (restricted convection-diffusion), water and low molecular weight solvents leave the filtering part of the capillary at a higher rate than the solute, causing a relative increase in its concentration. This phenomenon and the effect of an increasing pore size along the capillary is investigated in a model for an impermeable solute and two diffusible solutes, corresponding to glucose and raffinose. It is shown that in the model, the concentration fall along the capillary tends to become rectilinear.


The effect of imidazole and some of its derivatives on the guinea pig isolated auricles and frog nerve-muscle junction. Imidazole and its simple derivatives exerted an positive inotropic action on isolated guinea pig heart auricles. The order activity was 2-Etlm greater than greater than 2-MeIm greater than N-MeIm greater than Im. The action of Im on heart auricles was partially blocked by mepyramine, but not by burmamide. Im and 2-MeIm increased EPP's amplitude and produced a generation of full spike potentials in fatigued nerve-muscle preparation. Both Im acts in absence of calcium from Ringer's solution. Possibility of the Im action as free calcium ions regulator is discussed.


The effects of adrenaline, reserpine, and atropine on acetylcholine content of the brain and peripheral ganglia in stress. The effects of adrenaline, reserpine and atropine on ACh content in the cerebral cortex and brain stem and in the gastric tissues were investigated in the rats at rest and during stress induced by forced swimming. Adrenaline administered intraperitoneally twice at an interval of two hours in doses of 0.1 mg/kg and then subcutaneously in a dose 0.5 mg/kg increased acetylcholine content in the cerebral cortex of resting and in the gastric tissues of resting and swimming rats. Reserpine in doses of 3 mg/kg given 48, 24 and 7 hours before the experiment caused a significant rise in ACh content in the cerebral cortex of resting rats and in the brain stem during stress. Atropine given in a dose of 6 mg/kg at 8 h intervals during 2 days caused a significant fall in ACh level in the cerebral cortex and brain stem of resting rats, in the cortex of swimming animals, as well as a considerable rise in the gastric tissues of swimming rats.


A theoretical study of restricted convection-diffusion as applied to blood-tissue barrier exchange. This paper handles a model of the capillary function in the exchange of uncharged molecules between the blood and the tissue. The capillary system is subdivided into a filtering and a reabsorbing part. The exchange is assumed to occur through channels which are described in operational terms as pores. Through these pores there is a transport of solutes by concomitantly acting convection and diffusion influenced by a steric hinderance (restricted convection-diffusion). The outflux of glucose and raffinose is enhanced in the filtering pores, raffinose relatively more than glucose. In the reabsorbing pores the outward diffusion is hindered to some extent, raffinose relatively more than glucose. It is shown that the net effect of filtration and reabsorption is to increase the outflux of raffinose as compared to that of glucose. This mechanism may explain why glucose and raffinose and other small molecules appear to pass across capillary walls in proportion to their free diffusion coefficients and not in proportion to their restricted diffusion coefficients.


The pressure-flow relationship of different nephron populations in the rat. The mechanisms behind the autoregulation of the total renal blood flow and the glomerular filtration rate are unclear. In this investigation a modified microsphere technique was applied to measure the blood flow at different depths in the renal cortex during normotensive and hypotensive conditions. No autoregulation was found in the outer cortex while it was well pronounced in the inner one. During similar conditions, glomerular capillary pressure, welling point pressure and intratubular pressure were recorded. By combining these results with the blood flow data, the preglomerular and postglomerular resistances were calculated. It was then found that the preglomerular resistance decreased and the postglomerular resistance increased when the blood pressure was lowered. The results indicate a redistribution of blood flow from the outer parts to the inner parts of the cortex when the blood pressure is decreased. The redistribution of the blood flow might explain the well known linear relationship between the arterial pressure and the urine flow. The single nephron filtration rate of the outermost glomeruli could be calculated and the results seem to indicate a non-equilibrium at the end of the glomerular capillaries.


Incorporation of N from intravenously administered 15N labelled urea into the bacterial protein in the sheep. The experiment carried out on two wethers demonstrated that nitrogen of intravenously injected urea, labelled with 15N was incorporated into total and bacterial nitrogen fraction of the digesta flowing through the rumen and duodenum. The amount of 15N in the bacterial fraction flowing throught the rumen and duodenum was relatively low in comparison with the amount of 15N in the total nitrogen (14,8% and 8,1% in the rumen and 6,6% and 7,9% in the duodenum. The ratio of the amount of bacterial-N to total-N in the rumen content (12,7 and 7,5%) was only slightly lower than the ratio of bacterial 15N to total 15N. In the duodenum this ratio was a little higher (8,7 and 10,0%). Blood urea nitrogen was utilized only partly in biosynthesis of bacterial protein. The results showed that only a small amount of blood urea nitrogen retained in the organism was utilized for microbial protein synthesis and the majority in some different way.


Reduction of the tone of the isolated human umbilical artery by indomethacin, eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraynoic acid and polyphloretin phosphate. The effects of 2 prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors, indomethacin and eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraynoic acid (ETA) and of the prostaglandin antagonist, polyphloretin phosphate (PPP), on the tone of the isolated human umbilical artery and on the responses of this preparation to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HG) and prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) were investigated. Indomethacin (8 mug/ml), ETA (5 mug/ml) or PPP (40 mug/ml) reduced the tone of human umbilical arteries but had no influence on the responses to 5-HT. In these concentrations ETA and PPP but not indomethacin antagonized the action of PGF2alpha. When the concentration of indomethacin or PPP was increased 5-fold both 5-HT- and PGF2alpha-induced contractions were antagonized indicating a non-specific inhibition at these concentration levels. A 10-fold increase in the concentration of ETA had no antagonizing action on 5-HT-induced contractions suggesting a more selective inhibition of the PGF2alpha action than displayed by the other compounds. The effects on the tone of the human umbilical artery of the compounds studied might reflect inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis and/or antagonism of the action of formed prostaglandins. The findings are compatible with the view that intramural synthesis of prostaglandins contributes to the maintenance of the tone of the isolated human umbilical artery.


The effect of short-lasting intensive physical exercise on ATP content in the rat muscles and liver. Using the method of column chromatography the content of adenyl nucleoptides in the muscle and liver homogentates was determined in the rats subjected to short-lasting, intensive physical exercise. Following the exercise a slight increase in AMP and a decrease in ATP levels were found in the liver. In the muscles the levels of AMP and ADP increased while the level of ATP decreased markedly.


Effect of central depressants on the acoustic middle ear reflex in rabbit. A method for quantitative measurements of drug effect on the CNS. The respective effects of pentobarbital-sodium, enibumal-sodium, urethane, urethane-chloralose and lidocaine on the function of the acoustic middle ear reflex in the rabbit were studied. The response of the middle ear muscles was measured by recording changes in both ears' acoustic impedance when the reflex was elicited by applying pure tone stimuli (2,000 Hz) to the two ears one at a time. In that way both the crossed and the uncrossed reflexes were studied. All the drugs were found to depress the reflex in such a way that a higher sound intensity was required after administration to achieve the same impedance change as before. The effect of the anesthetics was roughly proportional to their known anesthetic power. Lidocaine produced only a slight depression of the reflex. The crossed reflex showed a greater susceptibility to the general anesthetics than did the uncrossed reflex which suggests a greater complexity of the crossed reflex. Because the method of recording the reflex response does not require any surgery and is equally well applicable in unrestrained rabbits and in humans, it is suggested as a way of testing the effect of drugs on the central nervous system.


Passage of the intravenously administered 15N urea into the digestive tract and its excretion in the sheep. The experiments performed on two wethers provided with simple rumen cannulas and reentrant cannulas, inserted into the proximal duodenum and ileum, showed a passage of 15N from labelled urea, injected intravenously, from the blood to the digestive tract. The amount of the 15N in the digesta was the highest in duodenum, slightly lower in the rumen and slightly lower in ileum. Approximately 50% of the injected 15N was excreted in urine. The amount of the 15N eliminated with feces was very small; 0.6 to 2.8% of the dose injected per day. About 73--84% of the 15N which passed the duodenum was absorbed in further parts of the digestive tract. It can be concluded that all parts of the digestive tract take part in utilization of the endogenous urea.


Qualitative and quantitative studies of the capillary structure in the rete mirabile of the eel, Anguilla vulgaris L. The capillaries of the counter-current capillary organ, rete mirabile, have been studied by light microscopy and electron microscopy. The vasculature of this rete was found to have a cross-sectional area of about 5.25 mm2, and it consisted of 34,000 efferent (=arterial) and 22,000 afferent (=venous) capillaries. The total surface area was the same for the two types of capillaries. The capillary endothelial cells showed numerous pinocytotic vesicles, scattered giant vacuoles and cytoplasmic extrusions (microvilli) at the luminal surface. The majority of the intercellular junctions appeared to have patent gaps with a width of 110-120 A. The arterial capillaries appeared in many ways to be morphologically similar to skeletal muscle capillaries of mammals, whereas the fenestrated venous capillaries resembled those in the intestinal mucosa of mammals. Measurements of the ionic composition of the rete tissue indicated that the endothelial cells contained much less K+ than other cells, the rete containing approximately equimolar amounts of K+ and Na+. The functional significance of the structural and chemical observations are discussed.


Hydrolysis of biological materials for histamine determination on the isolated guinea-pig ileum. Conditions of hydrolysis of biological material for determinations of histamine (Hi) using the guinea-pig ileum method were investigated. Overheated vapour has been applied at varying intervals and it was found that optimal conditions for tissue He liberation are obtained after 2 hour hydrolysis in autoclave. Results were compared with the orginal Code's method.


Integrated somatomotor, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal adjustments induced from the cerebellar fastigial nucleus. Behavioural, cardiovascular and gastric responses induced by fastigial stimulation were observed in conscious cats with gastric fistulas, indwelling fastigial electrodes and arterial catheters. Fastigial stimulation elicited oral behaviours, e.g. grooming and chewing, together with tachycardia and pressor responses, while gastric motility was unaffected in most cases as was gastric hydrochloric secretion. In subsequent experiments on the anesthetized animals it was found that the same fastigial area could suppress the intestino-gastric inhibitory reflex. Fastigial influences on small intestinal motility were investigated in anesthetized cats, well recovered from surgical isolation of intestinal loops whose motility could therefore be recorded without laparotomy. Fastigial stimulation either depressed or did not influence ileal motility before laparotomy but after this procedure excitatory responses were uniformly recorded. This reversal is explained by a fastigial suppression of inhibitory intestinal reflexes, elicited by the laparotomy.


Effects on gastric motility from the cerebellar fastigial nucleus. In acute experiments on chloralosed cats gastric motility, blood pressure and heart rate were investigated for influences exerted by the fastigial nucleus. Besides pressor responses, fastigial stimulation could produce either gastric excitation or relaxation and the background of these responses was analysed by selective nerve sectioning and administration of suitable autonomic blocking agents. Suppression of prevailing gastric motility was found to be mediated mainly by increased discharge in adrenergic nerve fibres but also by adrenal catecholamine release. -- Gastric excitation could be induced in three different ways, first via increased activity in vagal cholinergic fibres, second, by fastigial suppression of the vago-vagal non-adrenergic relaxatory reflex. In addition, when laparotomy or other noxious abdominal stimuli had induced inhibitory gastric reflexes, the consequent sympathetic discharge could be suppressed by fastigial stimulation resulting in enhanced gastric motility. -- The importance of background activity in the various nervous pathways for the fastigially induced gastric responses is discussed.


Rapid transport of noradrenaline in adrenergic axons of rat sciatic nerve distal to a crush. The transport of NA in the rat sciatic nerve distal to a crush was studied in 5 mm segments. The disappearance of a NA fraction in consecutive segments with time after crushing (0-12 h) was interpreted to indicate a proximo-distal migration of a NA fraction into further distal parts of the nerve. This transportable NA fraction was found to be about 45% of the NA in normal sciatic nerves and migrated at a rate of approximately 8 mm/h. The apparently non-mobile fraction (55%) was probably mainly located in vaso-constrictor nerve terminals of the blood vessels supplying the nerve. This non-mobile NA fraction does not contribute to the NA accumulations proximal to a crush. Thus, when calculating the rate of transport of any substance from accumulation experiments, corrections for a non-mobile fraction must always be considered.


The capillary permeability of the rete mirabile of the eel, Anguilla vulgaris L. Direct measurements of transcapillary exchange during steady-state conditions have been performed in the rete mirabile of the eel. The capillaries were found to be more than 30 times as permeable to THO (PTHO = 33.2 times 10(-5) cm sec-1), ethanol and antipyrine than to K+. The mutual relationship of the permeabilities for K+, Na+, urea and sucrose were similar to that between the corresponding free diffusion coefficients in water. The permeability characteristics did not change when the perfusate contained metabolic inhibitors. Additional of 1 mM/l of albumin lead to a significant transcapillary osmotic flow. NaCl, urea and sucrose, however, did not cause osmotic flow. Based on the quantitative values for permeability and volume flow the capillary pores should be about 1300 A and have a frequency of 1.3 times 10(6) per cm2 of the capillary surface, occupying an area of about 0.1% of the total area. The results obtained in the present investigation raise questions as to the validity of the Pappenheimer single-pore theory for transcapillary transport as well as to the fine structure of the capillary pores. As an alternative to Pappenheimer's theory a multi-pathway model is proposed in order to explain transcapillary transport.


Changes in renal hemodynamics and sodium excretion during saline infusion in lambs. The renal response to a progressive isotonic extracellular volume (ECV) expansion was studied in 13 lambs of two age groups (5-28 days and 48-57 days). Changes in renal hemodynamics induced by the ECV expansion were followed. Intrarenal blood flow was determined by the microsphere method. For determination of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) standard clearance techniques were used. Recordings were made during control conditions and when normal saline had been infused in amounts up to 4.5% of the body weight. During the infusion there was an increase in sodium excretion both in absolute values and in relationship to GFR. The increase was, however, much less pronounced in the younger lambs. The GFR did not change significantly during saline infusion. The cortical blood flow increased only in the older lambs. As a consequence the quotient between GFR and cortical blood flow decreased in the older lambs. The possibility of a causal relationship between the fall in filtration fraction so obtained and the more pronounced natriuretic response in the older lambs is discussed. The inner to outer cortical blood flow ratio increased more in the younger lambs during saline infusion. The functional significance of an age related blood flow redistribution is, however, not clear.


On the noradrenaline loading in axonal amine storage granules in rat crushed sciated nerves. The increase of NA in rat sciatic nerve above a crush was investigated. The transported amounts of NA did not increase quite linearly with time, but more NA was found above the crush at 6 and 12 h than would be expected from the 3 h value. One possible reason for this phenomenon--an increased NA loading of the accumulated axonal granules--was investigated by 2 types of double crush experiments. One type involved simultaneous double crushes 1-1.5 cm apart. The increase in NA in the isolated segment 6 h after crushing indicated that the axonal amine storage granules had increased their NA load by about 70%. In the second type ("delayed double crushes") a distal crush was made 6 h before a second crush, 1-1.5 cm proximal to the first crush. 1-12 h after the second high crush the NA content of the isolated segment was assayed. The results indicated an increased NA content in the axonal granules of 75% already 3-4 h after the isolation of the segment, remaining constant up to 9 h after the second crush. The results indicate that axonal storage granules may increase their NA content by a factor of about 2 (1.7) while being transported distally in the axons. This information together with the information from the preceding article of a mobile NA fraction of 45%, was used to calculate the rate of transport of NA granules proximal to a crush. The value obtained was 9 mm/h which is in good agreement with the value obtained for transport distal to a crush (8 mm/h) in the preceding article.


Renal handling of human beta2-microglobulin in the rat: the importance of sham-operation. The plasma disappearance rates of human beta2-microglobulin and (hydroxy-methyl-C14)-inulin was measured in unoperated, sham-operated, ureter-ligated and nephrectomised rats. Judging from the C14-activity curves in ureter-ligated and nephrectomised rats a substantial glomerular filtration continued after obstruction of the urine flow. Almost 90% of the injected protein had disappeared from plasma 120 min after injection into nephrectomised rats indicating a considerable extra-renal elimination and invalidating attempts to evaluate different renal mechanisms of elimination before and after ureter-ligation. Sham-operation induced an increase of the plasma disappearance of both beta2-microglobulin and inulin. The latter phenomenon may explain earlier findings of similarity between the disappearance curves of low molecular weight proteins in unoperated and ureter-ligated animals and stresses the importance of using sham-operated animals as controls.


The effect on total renal and tubular function and plasma renin of a moderate isotonic saline load in rats anesthetized with amytal and inactin. The renal effects of i.v. saline loading equal to 1% body weight (b.wt.) were studied in 2 groups of rats: group I was anesthetized with Amytal (15 mg/100 g b.wt. plus supplementary doses), group II with Inactin (12.5-15.0 mg/100 g b.wt.). In group I the saline load caused an increase in urine flow (+92%), solute excretion (+67%), inulin clearance (CIN) (+24%), PAH clearance (+31%) and absolute proximal reabsorption rate (+27%). Proximal fractional reabsorption and filtration fraction (FF) remained unchanged, while plasma oncotic pressure (COP) decreased by 10%. Plasma renin fell and there was an inverse relationship between renin concentration and proximal reabsorption rate. In group II urine flow and solute excretion increased after saline (+85% and 110%, respectively); CIN and absolute proximal reabsorption rate was lower than in group I and failed to increase after saline. Proximal fractional reabsorption was also lower and decreased after saline. COP as well as renin decreased as in group I, but no relationship between renin concentration and proximal reabsorption rate could be demonstrated. The data indicate that Inactin depresses both resting proximal tubular reabsorptive capacity and the tubular response to a physiological volume expansion. The results are compatible with the hypothesis that the renin-angiotensin system is significantly involved in regulation of proximal tubular function, while they are incompatible with the idea that peritubular COP plays any major role in this adjustment.


Indomethacin blockade of renal PGE-synthesis: effect on total renal and tubular function and plasma renin concentration in hydropenic rats and on their response to isotonic saline. The effects of indomethacin (I), a blocker of prostaglandin (PG)-synthetase, was studied in rats in an attempt to elucidate the physiological role of renal PGE. Plasma-I-concentrations of 13-14 mug/ml reduced renal venous plasma PGE-concentration significantly from 216 to 85 pg/ml within 45 min. Urine flow and solute excretion decreased by 42% and 20%, respectively, while urine osmolality increased 450 mOsm. Inulin clearance (CIN) and proximal reabsorption rate was unaffected, while renal plasma flow (RPF) decreased by 18%. Plasma renin concentration decreased slightly but significantly. An i.v. saline load equal to 1% b.wt. given to I-treated rats failed to elevate significantly either urine flow, solute excretion, CIN, RPF or proximal reabsorption rate, but plasma renin decreased further. The normal inverse relationship between plasma renin and proximal reabsorption rate was absent. The data are consistent with the concept that intrarenal PGE plays in adjustment of renal vascular resistance, and support the concept of a physiological role of intrarenal PGE in regulating salt and water excretion. The data do not support any major physiological role of PGE in regulating proximal tubular function.


Vasomotor nerve control of isolated arteries and veins. In order to compare neuro-effector function in different blood vessels, frequency-response relationships were determined for the following preparations: 1)Isolated rings of the proximal saphenous, distal saphenous and ear arteries, the parietal branch of the internal iliac vein and the small saphenous vein from the rabbit, 2) spiral strips of the rabbit pulmonary artery and 3) longitudinal preparations of the rat portal vein. In each rabbit tissue only one low (less than or equal to 4 Hz) and one high (larger than or equal to 8 Hz) transmural nerve stimulation frequency was applied until steady state responses were obtained and these were expressed as a percentage of a maximum response to exogenous noradrenaline (NA) applied in each experiment. The general shape of the frequency-response curves was similar, but differences in steepness and amplitude of the maximum neurogenic response relative to exogenous NA were found. The steepness of the frequency-response relationships of the veins tended to be greater than those of the arteries. It appears that factors such as close neuro-muscular contacts, presence of terminal nerve fibres within the media and the operation of mechanisms for myogenic propagation of activity contribute to the effectiveness of neurogenic vascular control as revealed by frequency-response curves. In vivo, geometrical factors can greatly augment the hemodynamic significance of the observed differences.


The biliary excretion of 3H-inulin and 3H-terbutaline in the unanesthetized rat. An animal model which permits sampling of arterial blood and bile from unanesthetized rats with uninterrupted enterohepatic circulation is described. Pharmacokinetic data concerning inulin (0.2 mumol kg-1) and terbutaline (1.8 mumol kg-1) after intraarterial injection are presented. The following values for inulin were obtained Vdbeta equals 0.25 ml g-1, plasma clearance equals 2.3 ml min-1 kg-1 and bile clearance equals 0.03-0.04 ml min-1 kg-1, which mainly are in agreement with data from the literature. For terbutaline the corresponding values were 0.58 ml g-1, 5.2 ml min-1 kg-1 and 0.12-0.98 ml min-1 kg-1, respectively.


Recovery of ADH activity in the urine of goats under normal and stimulated conditions. The hydrated goat was used for bioassays of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) activity recovered by resin column separation from the urine of other animals of the same species. A methodological innovation in the separation procedure was ethanol purification of the column before elution. In this manner substances which sometimes obscured the bioassays were eliminated without loss of ADH activity. With the bioassay method employed, it was possible to determine to the nearest 0.5 of a mU the ADH activity of unknown samples, provided they contained between 0-5 mU of ADH. When arginine vasopressin was infused intravenously into hydrated animals, slightly more than 10% of its antidiuretic activity was recovered in the urine. In the water replete goat the ADH activity found in the urine was of the order of 1 mU per hr urine secretion, indicating a neurohypophyseal ADH release of approximately 5 muU/kg min. After 48 h of dehydration in an environmental temperature of 20 degrees C the renal ADH excretion increased to about 8 mU/h, suggesting an 8-fold increase of ADH secretion over basic, water replete secretion of ADH. ADH secretion of the same high order was induced in hydrated animals by the infusion of angiotensin II together with hypertonic NaCl into the lateral cerebral ventricle.


Accumulation of calcium by retinal outer segments. Two preparations of bovine photoreceptors, including intact and lysed outer segments, are used to study accumulation of Ca++ in order to differentiate between binding and transport. The two preparations accumulate initially roughly equal amounts of Ca++ in the presence or absence of ATP. In the absence of ATP no further accumulation occurs. With ATP accumulation continues most rapidly in intact outer segments. The additioesults in kinetics of uptake similar to those in the absence of ATP. Thus the initial phase of Ca++ accumulation is predominantly due to binding, while that induced by ATP is due to transport. Accumulation of Ca++ by outer segments can be stimulated by preloading them with ATP suggesting that ATP enters the structures and acts intracellularly. Illumination decreases binding of Ca++ to outer segments but does not consistently affect transport. After illumination more Ca++ is retained by intact than lysed outer segments indicating that plasma membrane acts as a barrier to the escape of Ca++. Phospholipids and protein appear to be responsible for Ca++ binding of outer segments as suggested by a reduced binding ability after removal of these constituents. Phosphatidyl ethanolamine is the main phospholipid class of outer segments.


Reflexogenic contraction of the ileo-cecal sphincter in the cat following small or large intestinal distension. The effect of distension of a small or large intestinal loop on the ileo-cecal sphincter (ICS) in the cat was studied with a flow-recording technique. Distension of a small or large intestinal loop, isolated from the adjacent intestine, but with its mesenteric vascular and nervous supply intact, elicited a contraction of the ICS concomitant with an inhibition of the adjacent large and small intestinal motility. Vagal and pelvic nerve section did not affect the response to distension of the ICS nor exclusion of the adrenal glands from the circulation. The sphincter reflex could be entirely or almost entirely eliminated by cutting both the splanchnic and lumbar colonic nerves, but not one or the other. Spinal anesthesia bocked the reflex response indicating a spinal reflex arc. The reflex persisted after atropine and propranolol, while both guanethidine and phenoxybenzamine completely abolished the reflex contraction of the sphincter. The present results indicate that the excitatory intestino-ileo-cecal sphincteric reflex is a spinal reflex with the main afferent and/or efferent fibres located within the major splanchnic and lumbar colonic nerves. The excitatory motor response in the sphincter is adrenergic and mediated via alpha-receptors.


Intracellular distribution of amines taken up by rat mast cells. Mast cells isolated from rat peritoneal and pleural cavities were incubated in vitro with radioactively-labelled histamine (Hi), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA), tyramine (TA), phenylethylamine (PhEA), trptamine (TrpA), ephedrine (Eph) or amphetamine (Amph). All these amines were taken up by the mast cells. The dose-response curves for the compound 48/80-induced release of endogenous Hi and for the various amines taken up by the cells were compared. The release curves for Hi, 5-HT, DA, NA and TA were found to be similar to that for endogenous Hi, while those for PhEA, TrpA, Eph and Amph were different from that for endogenous Hi. The uptake of Hi, 5-HT, DA, PhEA, TrpA and Eph into granules in mast cells was studied. Membrane-bound granules were obtained by sonication of mast cells incubated with the respective amine, followed by differential contrifugation. The amine content of these granules was then measured. Hi, 5-HT and DA were found to be mainly localized to the granules, while a smaller proportion of the PhEA, TrpA and Eph was found there, the rest being located extragranularly. The present results suggest that, when taken up by rat mast cells, even amines which are not endogenous to the cells are stored in the same way as the endogenous amines Hi and 5-HT.


Effect of cold exposure of free water reabsorption in hydropenic man. With clearance technique, changes in tubular reabsorption of solute free water (TcH2O), were studied in a group of 9 healthy hydropenic volunteers during a cold stress of 1 h at +15 degrees C. Increases were found in TcH2O and in fractional excretion of sodium and osmoles during cold. Since TcH2O was used as an index of sodium reabsorption in the ascending limb of Henle's loop, the findings indicated that under the conditions used in this study, the concentrating ability of the kidney was not negatively influenced by cold, despite a significant increase in arterial pressure. It is suggested that the reabsorption by the ascending limb of the loop was increased secondary to a reduced proximal tubular reabsorption of sodium.


Effects of catecholamine-infusions and hypoxia on pulmonary blood volume and extravascular lung water content in cats. The effects of catecholamine-infusions and of hypoxia on lung blood volume and on extravascular lung water content have been studied in anesthetized cats with opened chests. To this end a biopsy technique, with isotope labelling of blood and with successive removal of the smaller lung lobes, was employed. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure increased by 30-75% upon infusing catecholamines or upon inducing general hypoxia, the latter stimulus being the more powerful one. Pulmonary blood volume did not increase during these procedures, where an active constriction of pulmonary vessels thus apparently took place. The extravascular lung water content was found to be reduced in animals infused with noradrenaline or ventilated by hypoxic air, whereas a small increase was observed in the animals receiving adrenaline. This difference might reflect domination of precapillary vasoconstriction in the former groups, whereas postcapillary vasoconstriction could be more pronounced with adrenaline.


The importance of asphyxia for the development of diving bradycardia in ducks. Upon submersion, the domestic duck normally displays a prompt but modest cardiac retardation, which, after a short delay, is reinforced into a pronounced state of bradycardia. The present study has revealed that arterial asphyxia is a prerequisite for the reinforcement of the initial slight bradycardia.


Specific and unspecific removal of circulating noradrenaline in pulmonary and systemic vascular beds in man. In order to study the extent and degree of specificity of the removal of circulating noradrenaline (NA) from the blood stream, during a single passage through the vascular beds of the lungs and of the forearm musculature of unanaesthetized, healthy young men, the following radiometric method was used: A misture of 3H-NA with 14C-inulin and 125I-labelled human serum albumin was injected proximally to the bed under study; six serial blood smaples were drawn distally to it, with about 15 s interval, and the disappearance of 3H-NA relatively to that of 14C-inulin and 125I-albumin was determined. 3H-NA was found to be removed from the blood stream in both these vascular beds. However, in the forearm the removal of 3H-NA was much greater, and apparently to a large extent due to specific trapping in the tissues, since the clearance of 3H-NA over the vascular bed of the forearm markedly exceeded that of 14C-inulin. During passage through the lungs removal of 3H-NA was less marked, and apparently largely unspecific, since it was initially essentially equal to that of 14C-inulin. This suggests that removal of circulating ergones of small molecular size, from the blood stream passing through the lungs, may occur initially by unspecific filtration/diffusion. Their subsequent fate would depend on whether the extraluminal tissues, supplied by the lung circulation, possess specific mechanisms for concentrating and/or inactivating each particular compound.


Radioactively labelled microspheres in regional cerebral blood flow determinations. A study on monkeys with 15 and 35 mum spheres. 15 mum and 35 mum radioactive microspheres, differently labelled, were used simultaneously for rCBF-determinations in monkeys. Flow values calculated from data for 35 mum spheres were 27 +/- 7 g/min per 100 g higher for grey matter and 10 +/- 3 g/min per 100 g lower for white matter than flow values calculated from 15 mum spheres, while both sphere sizes resulted in similar values for the choroid plexus. A large number of 35 mum spheres were trapped in extracerebral pial arterioles. It is concluded that entrpment in relatively large arterioles of the 35 mum spheres explains the differences in flow values, and that this invalidates the use of 35 mum spheres, and larger, in rCBF-determinations.


Cholinergic receptors at denervated mammalian motor end-plates. The number of acetylcholine receptors at normal and denervated end-plated in rat soleus muscles was studied using the binding of [125A] alpha-bungarotoxin as a quantitative assay. Normal end-plates bound several thousand times as much toxin as equal areas of extra-synaptic muscle membrane. After short-term denervation (up to 2.4 weeks) the extrajunctional binding increased, but there was no change in specific binding to the motor end-plate. Denervation for longer periods (up to 7 weeks) reduced binding sites at the end-plate by up to 60-70%. Direct electrical stimulation of these muscles for the entire period of denervation did not prevent the loss of junctional binding sites even though it was adequate to abolish the increase in extrajunctional toxin binding. In contrast, denervated end-plates on muscle fibres cross-innervated by a foreign nerve at a distant location continued to bind normal amounts of toxin for over four months.


Differential effects of temperature on activity of LDH from seal and sheep skin. The homeothermic seal possesses a heterothermic skin, while the skin of the sheep behaves as a truly homeothermic tissue. A new method for skin homogenization is described. The effect of temperature on the catalytic behaviour of seal and sheep skin LDH has been investigated by fluorimetric activity measurements, with results presented as Arrhenius plots. The seal skin enzyme had ten times higher activity at low temperatures as compared to the sheep skin. The mechanisms responsible for this different behaviour are discussed.


Effect of spinal sympathetic blockade upon local regulation of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue. The influence of spinal sympathetic blockade upon local regulation of blood flow in subcutaneous adipose tissue was investigated in six subjects. The effect of changes in orthostatic pressure on blood flow in subcutaneous tissue in the crus and distal forearm was measured before and after sympathetic blockade obtained by epidural anesthesia in 4 subjects and by a bilateral sympathectomy in 2 patients suffering from manual hyperhidrosis. Blood flow in subcutaneous tissue measured by 133Xe washout technique decreased by about 40 per cent when the limb was lowered, and remained constant during 30 cm elevation. This was found both before and after the blockade, though in one of the patients, the orthostatic decrease in blood flow was less pronounced 24 h after sympathectomy. Hence central sympathetic reflexes do not alter local orthostatic changes of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue. These changes therefore are most likely due to local mechanisms.


Affinity of Noradrenaline and dopamine for neural alpha-receptors mediating negative feedback control of noradrenaline secretion in human vasoconstrictor nerves. Isolated superfused field stimulated biopsy specimens of human peripheral arteries and veins, preincubated with 3H-( - )-NOradrenaline (NA) to label the neural stores of NA, were used to study the potency of dopamine (DA) and of NA as triggers of alpha-adrenoceptor mediated negative feedback control of sympathetic neurotransmitter secretion, evoked by stimulation with trains of 300 shocks at 1 Hz. In this preparation DA was found to be only slightly less potent than NA in depressing both the secretion of 3h-na, and the contractile response, evoked by nerve stimulation. DA depressed the contraction evoked by exogenous NA as well, but to a very much smaller extent. On the other hand, DA was a very weak agonist on the alpha receptors of the smooth muscle; nearly 1000 times higher concentrations of DA were required to mimick contractions evoked by exogenous NA. The results show that the neural alpha-receptor function involved in control of NA secretion differs considerably from the alpha-receptors of e.g. smooth muscle, with respect to sensitivity to DA. It seems possible that the observed depressing effect of DA on NA secretion may be of pharmacological and clinical interest; it may at least in part explain the vasodilating effect of DA infusions in man.


The pulmonary vasoconstrictor response to hypoxia: effects of inhibitors of prostaglandin biosynthesis. The main purpose of the present work was to determine whether prostaglandins (PGs) synthetised in the lungs mediate the vasoconstrictor response to acute alveolar hypoxia. Isolated and ventilated lungs of rats were perfused at 37 degrees C with homologous blood at constant-volume, pulsatile inflow, and pressor responses to 3 min periods of standardized ventilation hypoxia recorded. Indomethacin, sodium meclofenamate and acetylsalicylic acid (all 100 mug/ml), which are potent inhibitors of PG biosynthesis, did not reduce the hypoxic vasoconstrictor response. Sometimes they even enhanced this response. We conclude that PGs do not mediate the hypoxia-induced vasoconstriction. We suggest that vasodilatory PGs might act to reduce and modify pulmonary arterial hypertension due to hypoxia.


Suicide in Fiji: a two-year survey.

Suicide in Fiji: a two-year survey. This article reviews certified suicide in Fiji during the 2-year period from 1971-1972. The data show the much higher incidence of suicide in Fiji Indians than in other races, the incidence in Fiji Indian females being particularly high. The findings on a more detailed sample survey of 50% of the certified cases are presented. In the Fiji Indian population, a positive correlation between suicide and rural residence and a negative correlation between suicide and Moslem religion were found. These findings are discussed in relation to the cultural and social characteristics of the population of Fiji.


The longitudinal course of para-natal emotional disturbance. Ninety-five nulliparous women were interviewed during pregnancy and 4 months post partum. The possibility of predicting mental disturbance post partum from that during pregnancy was studied. When the woman was mentally disturbed during pregnancy, the prognosis was better in the case of a poor social situation at the time of the pregnancy than in the case of a good social situation. Negative attitude towards further pregnancies and repudiation of the own mother, however, implied unfavourable prognosis. In the case of a woman without mental symptoms during pregnancy, denial of the pregnancy and sensations connected with it suggested poor adaptation post partum.


A study of genetic factors, childhood bereavement, and premorbid personality traits in patients with anancastic endogenous depression. From a sample of 1,005 patients admitted to the State Hospital in Aarhus for the first time during the period 1950-1959 and who had been diagnosed as suffering from manic-depressive psychosis or endogenous depression (affective psychoses), a subsample of 104 manic-depressive aptients with anancastic symptoms in the history were selected. The 104 probands were individually matched with 104 non-anancastic probands with affective psychoses. The anancastic probands and the controls who were still living were seen personally at the follow-up. Information concerning the psychiatric history of 945 first degree relatives of the anancastic probands and 1,000 first degree relatives of the controls were obtained. During the search for factors which could be used to distinguish affective psychoses with anancastic symptoms from affective psychoses without these traits, a positive correlation was found between the presence of anancasma and the following factors: (a) premorbid obsessive personality traits; (b) traumatic environmental factors in childhood; (c) a tendency to monopolarity; (d) a preponderance of monopolar depressions in the family; (e) the presence of secondary cases of anancastic endogenous depression. The findings are compatible with a theory which attributes a pathoplastic effect to the obsessive personality giving rise to anancastic symptomatology in the form of affective psychoses which tend to a unipolar course.


Results of radiation therapy of early carcinoma of the vocal cords. A material of 91 early carcinomas of the vocal cord treated by radiation therapy were reviewed. The 5-year crude and determinate survival rates were 86 and 95 per cent, respectively. Primary irradiation only, resulted in a 5-year cure rate of 77 per cent. Of the 21 patients who developed local recurrences, 11 were cured by total, and one by partial laryngectomy. Eight patients developed other primary carcinomas.


Bone scanning with 99Tcm compounds in metastasizing mammary carcinoma. A comparison of three compounds for bone scanning has been carried out in 9 patients with metastatic mammary carcinoma for evaluating their effectiveness. The best results were obtained with 99Tcm diphosphonate. For the other two compounds tested, 99Tcm polyphosphate and 99Tcm pyrophosphate, no difference could be demonstrated.


Automated thermoluminescence reader. II. Experiments and theory. A radiothermoluminescence dosimetry system based on an automated reader has been developed. The system utilizes the high sensitivity of the dosimeter material after heating. Thermal treatment is limited to the temperature process in connection with read-out. The measurement values are punched out automatically on paper tape and calculations performed by means of a minicomputer PDP 8/E. The dosimetric system meets the needs of routine use in clinical environment. Recommendations for the practical use of the system are given.


CaSO4 (Dy) thermoluminescent dosimeters for the determination of gonadal doses. For the measurement of gonadal doses sensitive dosimeters are necessary. Since CaSO4 (Dy) thermoluminescent dosimeters are very sensitive the energy dependence has been measured as compared to LiF in the tube potential region between 50 and 150 kV. Moreover the output of the LiF dosimeters was compared with the results of ionization chamber measurements. Although the energy dependence of CaSO4 (Dy) is well-known the actual dependence on the potential appears to be within +/- 10% for moderately filtered beams in the region from 50 to 150 kV.


Heme catabolism during short-term treatment with phenobarbital, diazepam and oxazepam. Carbon monoxide production (VCO) total body heme (TBH) and serum bilirubin (SB) have been determined in healthy young men before and after 100 mg phenobarbital (10 subjects), 15 mg diazepam (7 subjects) and 75 mg oxazepam (7 subjects), respectively, daily for seven days. None of the drugs had any significant effect on VCO. SB and TBH were also unaffected. Baseline VCO (mean +/- 1 S.E.M.) was 12.6+/-0.6 mumol/mmol TBH and day. The postdrug VCO was 15.1+/-1.8, 14.1+/-1.4 and 14.7+/-1.5 after phenobarbital, diazepam and oxazepam, respectively. The corresponding values for SB were 5.4+/-0.8, 6.0+/-1.5 and 6.2+/-1.0 mug/ml, compared to a baseline value of 6.6+/-0.8 mug/ml. However, when the pooled postdrug data were compared with the pooled baseline values, mean VCO showed a probably significant increase (from 12.6+/-0.6 to 14.7+/-1.0 mumol/mmol TBH and day (p less than 0.05). It is concluded that although phenobarbital is known to increase the hepatic heme turnover, this effect is not measurable in terms of total heme turnover, no more than 20% of which comes from the liver.


Carbon monoxide production and reticulocyte count in normal women. Effect of contraceptive drugs and smoking. Endogenous production of carbon monoxide (VCO), serum bilirubin (SB) and reticulocyte (retic) count have been followed during the menstrual cycle in 12 women (4 of them smokers) without contraceptive drugs and in 10 women (5 of them smokers) on contraceptive drugs. During the progesterone phase (Pph), VCO in the non-smokers was 18.2 +/- 2.1 mumol/mmol total body heme (TBH) and day (mean +/- 1 S.E.M.), compared with 10.1 +/- 1.0 during the estrogen phase (Eph). In the smokers, VCO was 10.4 +/- 1.9 during Pph and 12.5 +/- 0.7 during Eph. SB for the non-smokers was 5.2+/- 1.0 mug/ml during Pph and 3.9 +/- 0.5 during Eph, compared with 3.2 +/- 0.8 and 3.9 +/- 1.2, respectively, for smokers. The retic count for the non-smokers was 64.1 +/- 4.7 times 10(3)/mul during Pph and 17.7 +/- 5.1 during Eph. In the smokers the corresponding counts were 93.6 +/- 15.9 and 60.8 +/- 7.6. These results confirm earlier reports that VCO is increased during Pph and indicate that the rise could be due to a change in red cell catabolism, since it is concomitant with a significant increase in retic counts, which has not been found in earlier works on VCO, but which is known from reticulocyte studies. Furthermore, the results may indicate that persistent smoking affects the metabolism of CO and/or heme, since the smokers did not react with any change in VCO during Pph. In subjects using contraceptive drugs, VCO was significantly higher (14.9 +/- 0.6 on combined estrogen-gestagen drugs and 14.5 +/- 1.1 on continuous gestagens, respectively) than during Eph in non-smokers (10.1 +/- 1.0 mumol/mmol TBH and day), which might be taken as the baseline group. This indicates that the increased VCO in subjects on contraceptive drugs may be related to the activity of gestagens, which were concluded in all contraceptive drugs tested.


The lipoprotein and lipid pattern in xanthomatosis. The relation between xanthomatosis and plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations has been studied in 336 subjects (172 males and 164 females) with xanthomatosis. With a few exceptions, these patients were either born or lived in Ostfold county, which has a population of about 220 000. Xanthomas had made their first appearance in half the subjects by the age of 48 years. The most frequent localizations of xanthomas were the extensor finger and the Achilles tendons, the former site being more common in males and the latter in females. Tuberotendinous xanthomas were found in 7% of the cases, whereas only one subject had tuberous xanthomas without tendinous involvement. Xanthelasmas were found in 1/3 of the females and 1/6 of the males. The size of xanthomas and the number of xanthoma sites increased with age and cholesterol levels. Cholesterol concentrations were (or had been) increased in 5/6 of the subjects with xanthomathosis. Normal cholesterol was combined with increased triglyceride values in 5% of the individuals. A further 6% had normal cholesterol and triglyceride values together with raised LDL cholesterol concentrations, whereas the remaining subjects had normal lipid levels. There was no evidence of homozygosity for the gene(s) for type II hyperlipoproteinaemia. The type III hyperlipoproteinaemia pattern was not seen. Type IIA and IIB electrophoretic patterns were seen in 68 and 13% of those tested, respectively. Changes in lipoprotein patterns with treatment were frequent, especially in males, and the "original" frequency of type IIA is probably higher.


Plasma aldosterone in anephric and non-nephrectomized dialysis patients in relation to changes in plasma potassium without change in total potassium balance. Plasma aldosterone concentration has been measured in 13 patients on regular hemodialysis, 7 anephric and 6 non-nephrectomized, following infusion of insulin-glucose. In all patients the plasma potassium fell about 16% within the first 60 min after the infusion, increasing again to about preinfusion levels within 180 min. All anephric patients showed a very low preinfusion value for plasma aldosterone (mean 33.3 pg/ml plasma), which increased significantly (p less than 0.01) after the infusion of insulin-glucose, to about 180% of the initial values, simultaneously with the fall in plasma potassium concentration. A significant inverse correlation (p less than 0.01) was found between changes in plasma aldosterone and potassium. The preinfusion in plasma aldosterone values were significantly higher (p less than 0.01) in the non-nephrectomized than in the anephric group--but of a wide range (26-700 pg/ml plasma). In this group the mean plasma aldosterone concentration showed a significant fall simultaneously with the fall in plasma potassium concentration, but with great variations between patients. There was a significant positive correlation (p less than 0.005) between the changes in plasma aldosterone and potassium. These studies indicate an extremely sensitive regulation of plasma aldosterone secretion in anephric patients, in all probability positively correlated to changes in intracellular adrenal potassium concentration.


Antazoline-induced immune hemolytic anemia, hemoglobinuria, and acute renal failure. A case of repeated antazoline-induced immune hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, hemoglobinuria, and acute renal failure is reported. The first episode of renal failure occurred after an i.v. pyelography causing an anaphylactic shock, and the two later episodes were preceded by allergic reaction to drugs. Antazoline was given among other remedies, but this drug was the only one used for treatment on every occasion. The clinical picture and the immunological tests, including an antazoline-dependent Coombs' test, indicate that the blood disorders might have been caused by a type 2 allergic reaction and renal lesion by a type 3 reaction, at least on the second and third occasions.


Drug-induced febrile mucocutaneous syndrome with a survey of the literature. A retrospective investigation of 89 cases of the Stevens-Johnson and/or Lyell's syndrome showed that 77 patients (87%) had been treated with drugs, 2/3 of them for symptoms of respiratory and/or urinary infections. The most frequent drugs were longterm sulfonamide preparations, penicillins, butazones and antiepileptics. Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus were the most common infective agents of those reported. More than 40% of the patients were below 20 years of age. There were more women than men. The mortality was 1-2% for the Stevens-Johnson syndrome and 4 of 11 patients for Lyell's syndrome. It must be pointed out that, in the individual patient, it can be difficult to determine the etiology, especially in cases with infections.


The first two cases of coccidioidomycosis in Finland. Endemic areas of coccidioidomycosis are described. The mycology of Coccidioides immitis is reviewed, with special reference to the risk of laboratory infection. A classification of coccidioidomycosis is listed and two cases from Finland are presented. The first patient had typical X-ray and clinical findings, including a positive coccidioidin test. The second case, occurring soon after a visit to Arizona, was confirmed by positive fungal cultures from the sputum and from a resected specimen. Because the latter patient became pregnant and the risk of dissemination was considered great, legal abortion was performed. The resection of the pulmonary cavitation with infiltration around it took place under coverage of pre- and postoperative amphotericin B medication. Complete recovery was obtained. The indications for thoracic surgery are briefly listed. Diagnostic and mycologic aspects of this rare and exotic disease are discussed. Among other things, the importance of a good medical history in finding the contact with infective environment or material is stressed.


The effect of background illumination on the responses of the neurons of the cat's superior colliculus to moving stimuli. The influence of background illumination on unitary neuronal responses of cat's superior colliculus to moving stimuli were investigated. Diverse types of neurons responding to background illumination were observed: Neurons which did not change their activity during background illumination; neurons in which the response to moving stimuli during background light was facilitated; cells in which the spatiotemporal dispersion of the peak of evoked response was narrowed with light adaptation; cells in which activity was suppressed during background illumination; and neurons in which the specific response was changed to an unspecific one (and vice versa) during background illumination. The background illumination itself did not evoke any response in the cell, and the suggestion was put forward that subthreshold influences could modulate the evoked activity of the neuron.


Interaction between two letters in visual perception. Letters were exposed by tachistoscope for 17 ms to adult subjects. In Experiment I, single letters were exposed. The proportion of errors differed strongly for particular letters. In Experiment II pairs of letters were exposed. The first letter of a pair was recognized more easily than when exposed alone in Experiment I. In Experiment III pairs of letters were exposed but the subject's task was to recognize only one letter of the pair. Both, first and second letters of the pair were then recognized better than in Experiment I. The results were interpreted in terms of facilitatory and inhibitory effects occurring on different levels of the visual system.


Interactions between two simple visual patterns. The interaction of linear and dot elements of simple visual patterns was examined. The following patterns were used: short line-dot, long line-dot, right turned angle-dot, downward angle-dot, circle-dot, and two dots. Except for circle-dot and two dots, perception of either of both elements of the composite stimulus deteriorates as compared to perception of the same elements when presented separately. Perception of either element is improved in the case of the circle-dot stimulus, while in the case of two dots the number of errors remained at approximately the same level. It is hypothesized that both susceptibility to influence from the other element in a composite stimulus and intensity of masking effect produced by the given stimulus depend on distance between the information points of masking and masked stimuli. The extent of susceptibility is also connected with perceptual difficulty in identification of a stimulus when presented separately.


The significance of afferent vagal information in the control of breathing in guinea pigs. The stimulation of the central vagus nerve in guinea pigs was applied to study the role of vagal afferent information in the control of breathing. The survival time after bilateral vagotomy was measured in unanesthetized animals, under Hexobarbital anesthesia, and in anesthetized subjects when the central stump of the vagus nerve was stimulated. There were no differences in survival time between the first and the second groups, but in animals with vagal stimulation, the survival time was prolonged. The respiratory and circulatory disturbances were abolished by stimulation.