A morphometric study quantifying the mucus content of proliferating colonic epithelial cells.

We report a quantification of the maximum mucus accumulation in proliferating rat colonic epithelial cells. The proliferative potential was determined by radioautographic study of one-hour pulse exposures to tritiated thymidine, mucous content was determined by Periodic-acid Schiff (PAS) staining. We examined 55 labeled mucous cells in 0.5- to 1-micrometer serial sections. The maximum thecal and nuclear profiles of these cells were photographed and their surface areas were determined utilizing a coordinate sensor. The data were expressed as a theca-to-nucleus (T/N) ratio. The maximum (T/N) ratio for a labeled mucous cell was 3.0. We performed a similar analysis on 22 unlabeled mucous cells from upper crypt regions and surface epithelium to derive the range of (T/N) ratios for terminally differentiated mature mucous cells. The range of (T/N) ratios from these cells was from 4.8 to 16.4. Our study shows that proliferative potential of mucous cells is determined by the interrelationship between mucus accumulation and nuclear size.     

Salt-poor Human Albumin in Management of Nephrotic Syndrome

Thirteen patients with the nephrotic syndrome were treated with a high-protein diet, a 0·5 g sodium intake (equivalent to 1·3 g sodium chloride), and frusemide in increasing dosage. One became oedema-free with frusemide 240 mg daily, three became oedema-free with frusemide 500 mg daily, and two required a combination of high-dose frusemide and spironolactone. In three there was an appreciable increase in the blood urea, one patient developed hyponatraemia, and in two there was no weight loss. In these six patients infusions of human salt-poor albumin produced a prompt diuresis, loss of weight, and correction of the abnormal biochemical findings. In the seventh severely oedematous patient combined albumin and diuretic therapy led to a loss of 27 kg in 14 days.