Transport of amino acids in the splanchnic bed by blood plasma and blood in the preruminant calf]

Three preruminant calves were fitted with catheters in portal and hepatic veins and in a mesenteric artery. Two electromagnetic flowmeter probes were clipped around the portal vein and the hepatic artery. The calves were fed either a diet with a low (L) or a high (R) abomasal emptying rate for dietary proteins. Blood flow and free amino acid levels in plasma (P) and blood (S) were determined before the morning meal and during the following 7 h. In the portal vein, for most amino acids P/S ratios were correlated to the net amino acid balance of the digestive tract measured in plasma. By contrast in the hepatic vein, these ratios were mainly correlated to hepatic balance measured in whole blood. Correlations between digestive tract and hepatic balance calculated using either plasma or whole blood pool were different for some amino acids. This suggests that amino acid exchange between plasma and blood cells is low and absorbed amino acids are mainly transported to the liver by plasma, whereas whole blood rather than plasma is concerned in amino acid exchanges in the liver.     

Randomised controlled trial of enalapril and beta blockers in non-diabetic chronic renal failure.

OBJECTIVE--To compare the ability of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and beta blockers to slow the development of end stage renal failure in non-diabetic patients with chronic renal failure. DESIGN--Open randomised multicentre trial with three year follow up. SETTING--Outpatient departments of six French hospitals. PATIENTS--100 hypertensive patients with chronic renal failure (initial serum creatinine 200-400 mumol/l. 52 randomised to enalapril and 48 to beta blockers (conventional treatment). INTERVENTIONS--Enalapril or beta blocker was combined with frusemide and, if necessary, a calcium blocker or centrally acting drug in patients whose diastolic pressure remained above 90 mm Hg. RESULTS--17 patients receiving conventional treatment and 10 receiving enalapril developed end stage renal failure. The cumulative renal survival rate was significantly better in the enalapril group than in the conventional group (P < 0.05). The slope of the reciprocal serum creatinine concentration was steeper in the conventionally treated patients (-6.89 x 10(-5)l/mumol/month) than in the enalapril group (-4.17 x 10(-5)l/mumol/month; P < 0.05). No difference in blood pressure was found between groups. CONCLUSION--In hypertensive patients with chronic renal failure enalapril slows progression towards end stage renal failure compared with beta blockers. This effect was probably not mediated through controlling blood pressure.     

NMR study of 13CO2 incorporation into short-chain fatty acids by pig large-intestinal flora

The nuclear magnetic resonance technique was used to study carbon dioxide reduction by the pig large-intestinal flora. Washed bacterial cell suspensions were incubated for 6 and 15 h under 13CO2 and H2 as the gas phase and with a buffer containing NaH13CO3 and cellobiose and amino acids (casein hydrolysate) as substrates. Methane was produced in all incubation media. Significant amounts of single- as well as multiple-labelled acetate and butyrate were formed, demonstrating synthesis of acetate from H2 + CO2. Propionate was labelled mainly on the carboxyl group, which was attributed to an enzymatic exchange of the carboxyl group of propionate with 13CO2. These results indicate that the reduction of CO2 to acetate may be an important pathway for microbial production of acetate in the pig large intestine even in the presence of methanogenesis.     

What does inductance plethysmography really measure?

Inasmuch as it has been claimed that inductance plethysmography can measure cross-sectional area changes, we tested this assumption. We present experimental and computed relationships between self-inductance (L) of coils and areas (A) included inside for a coil with a well-defined side wavy pattern (triangular or sinusoidal) and for a real belt (Respitrace) placed on elliptical or rectangular configurations. The results are applied to the physiological field using measurements obtained from a computed tomography experiment. We demonstrate that the L-A relationships vary not only with shape or ellipticity of the cross section but also with the wavy pattern shape. This last parameter is critical because it is difficult to actually control. When the coil wavy pattern remains steady, there are some physiological situations where inductance plethysmography can more accurately estimate area changes: when the configuration shape is constant, the correspondence between delta L and delta A is almost linear with a shape-dependent sensitivity; when the configuration is nearly circular (ellipticity in the range 0.8-1), the relative error in delta A estimation is less than 5%.     

Quantitative Shear-Wave Elastography of the Liver in Preterm Neonates with Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction

The feasibility and reproducibility of liver stiffness measurements using Supersonic Shear-wave Imaging (SSI) in preterm neonate have not been reported. Our aim was to determine if liver stiffness differs between intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) preterm infants with/without cholestasis. We measured liver stiffness (in kPa) in 45 AGA and 18 IUGR preterm infants, and assessed reproducibility in 26 preterms using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman tests. Liver stiffness values were compared between AGA and IUGR with and without cholestasis and correlated with birth weight. Measurements showed high reproducibility (ICC = 0.94–0.98 for intra-operator, 0.86 for inter-operator) with good agreement (95% limits: -1.24 to 1.24 kPa). During the first postnatal week, liver stiffness was higher in IUGR (7.50 ±1.53 kPa) than in AGA infants (5.11 ±0.80 kPa, p<0.001). After day 8, liver stiffness remained unchanged in AGA but increased progressively in IUGR infants (15.57 ±6.49 kPa after day 21). Liver stiffness was higher in IUGR neonates with cholestasis (19.35 ± 9.80 kPa) than without cholestasis (7.72 ± 1.27 kPa, p<0.001). In conclusion, quantitative liver SSI in preterms is feasible and reproducible. IUGR preterms who will develop cholestasis present high liver stiffness even at birth, before biological cholestasis occurs.     

Demonstration of non-histone nuclear proteins in mouse myeloma. Trial comparative study

The non-histone chromosomal proteins from mouse myeloma cell line X 63-Ag 8.653 have been studied using two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Our results were compared to previous analysis of other myeloma cell lines.