In order to clarify the cause of intracellular ATP dependency on Zn2+ blockade of KATP channels in pancreatic beta cells, we investigated the KATP channel activity during external Zn2+ application using voltage clamp technique. Cultured beta cells were used for patch-clamp experiment. When 3 mM glucose was applied in bath, KATP channel activity was increased transiently by externally applied Zn2+ in the cell-attached mode and was recoverable. The KATP channel activity was, however, consistently increased by Zn2+ application during the 0 mM glucose in bath. Inside-out mode, internally applied Zn2+ elicited no response on the KATP channels. Another divalent cation, Mn2+, didn't have any effect on the KATP channels. Therefore, This effect, so-called external glucose-dependency on Zn2+ blockade of the KATP channels, might be due to intracellular Zn2+ metabolism which induces ATP consumption. This appears to be a mechanism that the Zn2+ blockade of the KATP channels in the pancreatic beta cells depends on the intracellular ATP concentration.
Adenosine Triphosphate* ; Baths ; Glucose ; Insulin-Secreting Cells* ; KATP Channels* ; Metabolism

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary tuberculosis with a remaining cavitary lesion is considered to be a problem with the course of treatment. In particular, re-treatment cases tend to respond poorly to current anti-tuberculosis agents. Therefore the factors that are related with the poor closure of a cavitary lesion in pulmonary tuberculosis during treatment were evaluated. METHODS: A retrospective review of the medical records and chest X-ray films of 68 patients who had chemotherapy for the pulmonary tuberculosis with cavitary lesions was made. All the patients had been followed up for more than 12 months at National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital as of Aug. 2000. RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 3.9:1. 72.4% of the patients were between 20 to 50 years of age. 66.2% of the cavitary lesions on the chest X-ray films were confined to the upper lung fields : 36.8% in the right upper lung field and 29.4% in the left upper lung field. 82.4% of the cavities were less than 40mm in their size, and 83.8% were less than 6mm thick. The cavitary lesions were closed in 48 cases and remained in 20 cases during a follow-up period of more than 12 months. The factors that are though to affect ot the outcomes of the cavities were age, past medication history, the number of unused drugs, and the number of sensitive drugs. CONCLUSION: In the treatment courses of pulmonary tuberculosis with cavitary lesions, the following factors are associated with less desirable outcome:an age over 45, a past medication history of more than 2 courses of treatment, The number of unused drugs not exceeding average 6 and the number of sensitive drugs not exceeding average 7.
Drug Therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospitals, Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary* ; X-Ray Film

No Abstract Available.
Animals ; Hantavirus* ; Indonesia* ; Murinae* ; Thailand*

Vulva syringomas are rare in reviewing literature. In our case, a 29-year-old had multiple papular lesions involving both sides of the vulva. Microscopically the lesion showed dilated cystic sweat ducts some of which have small comma like tails resembling tadpoles. It is the purpose of this report to present a rare case of syringoma which was limited to the vulva without involvement of other sites.
Adult ; Humans ; Larva ; Sweat ; Syringoma* ; Vulva*

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is well-known characteristic of pulmonary artery during the exposure of low O2 conditions. It has been demonstrated that hypoxia inhibits an outward K current, thus causing membrane depolarization and calcium influx through the voltage-dependent Ca channels in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Hypoxia induces a reducing condition within the cell. The change of the redox (reduction and oxidation) state in the cells can also modulate the kinetics of ion channels which is influential to membrane potential. Under the assumption that the reducing milieu during hypoxia inhibits the outward K current and vasodilation, we have studied the effects of redox state on the K currents in the pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells of the rabbit using patch-clamp technique. The outward K current was induced by depolarization from holding potential -80 mV. A reducing agent dithiothreitol inhibited the outward K current, whereas an oxidizing agent dithio-bis (5-nitropyridine) potentiated it. The tetraethyl ammonium, a K channel blocker, mainly suppressed the inactivating component of the K current. Another blocker of voltage dependent K channel E4031 had no effect. This results suggest that the reducing state within the cell during hypoxia modulates the outward K current, which leads vasoconstriction through depolarization and Ca influx. This may be one of mechanisms of HPV in contrast to the other arteries of the body to dilate during low O2 tension.
Ammonium Compounds ; Anoxia ; Arteries ; Calcium ; Dithiothreitol ; Ion Channels ; Kinetics ; Membrane Potentials ; Membranes ; Muscle, Smooth* ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle* ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Pulmonary Artery ; Vasoconstriction* ; Vasodilation

BACKGROUND: Acutely induced hypoxia causes an increase in the mean arterial pressure, cardiac output and oxygen consumption. However, comparisons of hemodynamic changes and oxygen consumption between subjects with and without anesthesia are rare. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the hemodynamic changes and oxygen availability after acute apnea between the dogs with and without anesthesia. METHODS: Apnea was induced to 19 healthy mongrel dogs. Group 1 (N=10) constituted dogs with anesthesia and group 2 (N=9) constituted dogs without anesthesia. Hemodynamic data and oxygen levels were rapidly measured with 1 minute intervals. RESULTS: The survival time of group 1 was longer than that of group 2. The mean arterial pressure increased in group 1. Although the cardiac outputs in both groups increased at the same time course in early phase of apnea, the preload values increased more rapidly in group 1. Systemic vascular resistance decreased at 2 and 3 minutes of apnea in group 1 but not in group 2. The oxygen extraction ratio increased significantly at 4 and 5 minutes of apnea in group 2. CONCLUSION: In this study the dogs with anesthesia had a prolonged survival time compared to the dogs without anesthesia. Most hemodynamic values did not differ significantly between the two groups, except for an increased mean arterial pressure and decreased systemic vascular resistance in the dogs with anesthesia. It was suggested that the cause of early death in the dogs without anesthesia was decreased oxygen delivery.
Anesthesia* ; Animals ; Anoxia ; Apnea* ; Arterial Pressure ; Cardiac Output ; Dogs ; Hemodynamics* ; Oxygen Consumption ; Oxygen* ; Vascular Resistance

An endodermal sinus tumor is a malignant germ cell tumor that usually arises in the gonads, but on rare occasion occurs in extragonadal locations. Our case was that of a 3 year old girl who complained of a rapid growing orbital mass. On histologic examination it revealed the typical picture of an endodermal sinus tumor and it also disclosed a positive reaction for alphafetoprotein using an immunoperoxidase technique. An orbital exenteration was performed followed by chemotheraphy, but the patient died 5 months after the onset of the disease.

BACKGROUND: This study was aimed to observe the changes in body weight, water intake and hematological data during and after long-term head-down suspension (HDS) in rats. HDS rats induced by tail suspension has evolved as a useful model for the simulation of a microgravity or zero-gravity environment. METHODS: Unanesthetized, unrestrained, male Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 230-270 g, were subjected to either a hori-zontal position (control horizontal, CH rats) or a 45 degreeshead-down suspension (HDS rats) for 4 weeks. We deter-mined the body weight and daily water intake in both CH and HDS rats. Hematological data including white and red blood cell counts, hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit were measured. The characteristics of red blood cell were also calculated from above hematological data in the both rats after 4 weeks of observa-tion. RESULT: In CH rats, body weight was significantly increased (P<0.05) after 4 weeks of experiment, where-as the body weight of HDS rats was only showed a small increase but was significantly decreased (P<0.05) after 4 weeks of HDS compared with that of CH rats. Daily water intake was increased (P<0.05) after 2 week in HDS rats but the overall changes of the rest period were no difference between both CH and HDS rats. White blood cell counts did not show any changes in both rat groups while red blood cell counts showed a decreas-ing trend after 4 weeks HDS. After HDS, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit and mean corpuscular hemoglobin were significantly decreased (P<0.05) compared with CH rats. CONCLUSION: These results represent that the long-term HDS could attenuate the increase in body weight of young rats and induce the decrease in hemato-logical data, especially in the characteristics of red blood cell.
Animals ; Body Weight* ; Drinking* ; Erythrocyte Count ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Erythrocytes ; Hematocrit ; Hindlimb Suspension ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Water* ; Weightlessness

BACKGROUND: Varying results of hemodynamic and oxygen parameters in response to hypoxia and/or hypercarbia have been reported. In this study, the effects of apnea on the hemodynamic parameters and oxygen availability were evaluated using ten healthy mongrel dogs. METHODS: After full oxygenation, apnea was induced by disconnecting animals from mechanical ventilation. Hemodynamic parameters, oxygen delivery, consumption and extraction ratio were measured at one minute intervals until the cardiac output was undetectable via the thermodilution method. RESULTS: Blood pressure (BP) increased continually following apnea. Cardiac output (CO) increased during the early of apnea (2 and 3 minute) but decreased thereafter. Systemic vascular resistance (SVR) decreased in the early phase of apnea but subsequently declined. The indices of preload increased steadily following apnea. Changes in heart rate (HR) were compared with changes in CO and oxygen delivery, and was found to increase during the early phase of apnea (2~3 minutes) and decrease thereafter. The oxygen extraction ratio did not change significantly and remained steady 6 minutes after apnea but increased and became irregular thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that early reflex responses such as increased BP were primarily due to increased CO, whereas the late increase in BP was due to the increase of SVR. We conclude that BP is not meaningful variables in evaluating critical hypoxic condition such as apnea, and bradycardia might be caused by decreased CO and severe hypoxemia.
Anesthesia* ; Animals ; Anoxia ; Apnea* ; Blood Pressure ; Bradycardia ; Cardiac Output ; Dogs ; Halothane* ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Oxygen* ; Reflex ; Respiration, Artificial ; Thermodilution ; Vascular Resistance

It has been suggested that the fish oil can reduce atherogenesis in humans and animals, and that peroxidation of lipoproteins may be a major factor causing atherosclerotic lesions. We tested these posibilities in rabbits fed an atherogenic diet by comparing the effect of a eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA: a major component of fish oil)supplement and a butyrated hydroxyanisole(BHA: antioxidant)diet supplement. Tweenty-eight young male New Zealand White rabbits were used in this study. The animals were divided by control, cholesterol fed only, cholesterol + EPA, and cholesterol + BHA groups. The experimental course lasted 12 weeks and animals were sacrificed periodically(2, 5, 8, 12weeks)for quantitative studies of aortic atherosclerosis using light and electron microscopy. Plasma cholesterol levels were determined and lipopreteins were separated periodically. The cholesterol fed only group showed an increased serum cholseterol level and atherosclerotic lesions from 5 weeks of experiments. The EPA supplement resulted in similiar serum cholesterol levels with cholesterol fed only group, but greater lesion than cholesterol fed only group. The BHA supplement resulted in higher serum cholesterol levels except VLDL-cholesterol than EPA supplement group. However, the atherosclerotic lesion was not increased. Our studies support the theory that oxidative modification of lipoproteins is important for the atherogenesis and antioxidant may have a protective effect. However, it failed to show antiatherogenesis effect of fish oil.
Male ; Humans ; Rabbits ; Animals