In previous studies, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using contrast agents was found to be useful in distinguishing reperfused infarcts from nonreperfused infarcts. However, there have been only a ...few detailed studies using consecutive MR images for the assessment of myocardial reperfusion during an acute myocardial infarction and also no studies have been performed using a percutaneous transluminal coronary occlusion model (closed chest model). We induced acute myocardial infarction in dogs by occluding and then reperfusing the coronary artery with a balloon catheter. ECG-gated MR images were taken using the spin-echo technique before and after Gd-DTPA injection during both coronary artery occlusion and after reperfusion. We defined the intensity ratio (IR) as the signal intensity at the ischemic area divided by that at the nonischemic area on MR images and compared each image by the IR. Without Gd-DTPA, there was no difference between infarcted and normally perfused myocardium. Infarcted myocardium had a low signal intensity (IR = 0.68 +/- 0.14) soon after Gd-DTPA injection. This difference diminished with time. After reperfusion the infarcted myocardium had a high signal intensity (IR:1.76 +/- 0.34). We conclude that Gd-DTPA- enhanced MRI can distinguish reperfused from nonreperfused infarcts soon after Gd-DTPA administration.
A 53-year-old woman had a abnormal shadow in the left lower lung field on a chest radiagraph, and occasional bloody sputum. CT scans and an MRI showed an abnormal vessel shadow between the aorta and ...the heart. An aortogram showed an abnormal artery originating from the descending aorta and entering the left lower lobe, and a pulmonary angiogram revealed no blood supply to the left basal segments. Pryce type I pulmonary sequestration was diagnosed. The patient underwent surgery, and the abnormal artery, 13mm in diameter, was found to be connected from the descending aorta to the left lower lobe. The abnormal artery was dissected, and the left lower lobe was removed. The postoperative course was uneventful. We collected data on 24 cases of Pryce type I pulmonary sequestration reporteed in Japan. Such cases are comparatively rare and males are affected more often than females. The patient in the present case was the oldest woman to have undergone surgery for this condition in Japan. In patients who underwent surgery the greatest diameter of the abnormal artery was 18mm.
In an attempt to elucidate the effects of estrogen on polyamine metabolism in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice, we assayed polyamine content and the activity of spermidine/spermine ...N1-acetyltransferase (SAT) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in some organs. LPS elevated N1-acetylspermidine levels in the liver and lung and putrescine levels in the liver, lung and spleen. LPS increased the activity of ODC at 6 h and that of SAT at 12 h in the liver. When estradiol-17 beta was simultaneously administered with LPS, the maximum increase in hepatic N1-acetylspermidine levels was found 6 h earlier than in the LPS control. Likewise, the peak of the hepatic SAT activity after LPS-treatment was observed 6 h earlier in the estradiol-17 beta-treated mice than in the LPS control. No such effect of estradiol-17 beta was found in the lung and spleen. The LPS-induced ODC activity was not affected by estradiol-17 beta in the liver, lung or spleen. Estrone and 16 beta-ethylestradiol (an anti-estrogen) were also effective in enhancing the LPS-induced elevation of N1-acetyl-spermidine and putrescine in the liver, while both diethylstilbestrol, which has a potent estrogenic activity without steroid structure and estradiol-17 alpha (a non-estrogenic isomer of estradiol-17 beta) were without effect. Tamoxifen (an estrogen receptor antagonist) did not suppress the estrogen-induced increase in hepatic N1-acetylspermidine levels.
A 65-year-old man with idiopathic myocarditis is described. He was admitted with symptoms of acute heart failure. Examination revealed left ventricular hypokinesis. Results of an endomyocardial ...biopsy showed "resolving myocarditis". Immunological studies of the peripheral blood showed a low helper-suppressor (CD4/CD8) ratio on admission and depressed natural killer (NK) cell activity coincident with the onset of myocarditis. We considered that this immunological imbalance may have occurred during the progression of myocarditis to dilated cardiomyopathy.
A pair of 37-year-old identical twins with diabetes mellitus are described. One of the brothers was admitted for heart failure without pain, and autonomic neuropathy was found. The clinical diagnosis ...was inferior myocardial infarction with anteroseptal healed myocardial infarction. Cardiac catheterization revealed triple coronary vessel involvement. The diagnosis was confirmed at autopsy after sudden death. The other brother was also examined by cardiac catheterization, which revealed total right coronary occlusion and hypokinesis of the wall. There had been no previous pain nor upper body discomfort until that time in either twin. Thus, genetic factors should possibly be considered in the genesis of asymptomatic or silent myocardial infarction.
The relationship between the structures and the choleretic actions of iridoid compounds was examined. Only patrinoside and villoside accelerated bile secretion among the iridoid glucosides but all of ...the iridoid aglycones increased it after intravenous administration rats. The choleretic effects of villoside, patrinoside aglycone, and 11-deoxy patrinoside aglycone were far weaker in comparison with those of other active iridoid compounds. When an equimolar amount of patrinoside, its aglycone, or 11-deoxy patrinoside aglycone was administered intravenously, their periodical patterns of choleretic activities nearly paralleled with those of isovaleric acid excreted in the bile. Patrinoside was partly hydrolyzed into its aglycone by the artificial gastric juice or the intestinal content. After intraduodenal administration of patrinoside (1 g/kg), the amount of patrinoside enough to exert a choleretic action was detected in the portal blood. These findings indicate that the hemiacetal moiety of iridoid compounds plays an important role in exerting a strong choleretic action and that patrinoside shows the same action following saponification of isovalerate of C-1 position in the liver.
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