Mutagenic effect of different types of irradiation on the sex cells of male mice. IX. Duration of preservation of radiation-induced reciprocal translocations during the course of the reproductive period]

The rate of induction of reciprocal translocations by gamma-irradiation of mouse spermatogonia was studied by cytological examination of descendent spermatocytes. The CBA mice were given a total single acute dose of 300 r or 3 times per 300 r with 7 and 28 days intervals. The irradiated mice were killed within 3,7 and 12 month after the irradiation. The frequency of translocations in 3 and 7 month after the treatment was the same. A 25% decrease in the yield of reciprocal translocations was observed in 12 months after the irradiation. It suggests that the genetic risk from ionizing radiation remains high a year after the irradiation.     

Contraceptive use and efficacy in a genetically counseled population

Abstract

This paper reports contraceptive use and efficacy rates among 648 married women aged 15 to 44 who had received genetic counseling six months previously. Over half (53.5 per cent) of the counseled population were using non‐surgical contraception; 20 per cent were pregnant or postpartum; 10 per cent were seeking to become pregnant; 11 per cent were sterilized. Only 4.5 per cent were neither using contraceptives nor seeking to become pregnant. Women who were certain about their reproductive intentions after counseling utilized contraceptives effectively, with only two pregnancies at six months among those seeking to delay wanted pregnancies and only one pregnancy among those seeking to prevent pregnancy. This represents six‐month contraceptive failure rates of 4.3 and 2.1 per cent respectively for the two groups, rates similar to those with comparable intentions in the U. S. population at large. A distinguishing characteristic of the genetically counseled group was that 32 per cent of contraceptive users reported that their reproductive intentions were uncertain after counseling. The six‐month pregnancy rate in this uncertain group was 10 per cent.     

Vasectomy in Guatemala: A follow‐up study of five hundred acceptors

Abstract

Over a thousand vasectomies are performed yearly by the private family planning association (APROFAM) of Guatemala. This study surveyed the experience of five hundred men interviewed 12 to 36 months after vasectomy. Overall, the experience was reported to be positive. Most wives approved of the operation; the attention received at the clinic was satisfactory; and most men considered their general health, sex drive, and marital relations to be unchanged or improved. Negative aspects included post‐operative discomfort one month later (9 per cent) and failure of the operation (2 per cent). Reported satisfaction with the operation was high: 97 per cent expressed no regret. Further analysis indicates that satisfaction was not a function of sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes toward the clinic experience, post‐operative discomfort, or wife's attitude. Rather, dissatisfaction stemmed from failure of the operation or a perceived negative effect of the operation on one's health and sex life.     

Evaluation of the expression of damage of the DNA-structural complex of rat thymocytes based on kinetics of alkaline lysis following irradiation

Rotary viscosimeters were used to study the postirradiation destruction of the DNA-structural complex (DSC) of rat thymocyte nuclei exhibited by a change in alkaline denaturation of DSC upon lysis. The S area, limited by the characteristic viscosity values obtained during alkaline lysis of thymocyte nuclei, was used as a characteristic of DSC. Immediately after irradiation the S area changed up to 81-84 per cent at 0.5-1.5 Gy and up to 56-44 per cent at 2-10 Gy. 6 to 24 h following irradiation a change in the profile of alkaline denaturation of DSC was a function of dose and dropped from 100 down to 11 per cent at doses of 0 to 10 Gy. After 2-3 days, the changes in S were also observed but they were not a strict function of dose and were the same with the values obtained immediately after irradiation.     

Differences in survival of mouse colon crypts after whole- or partial-body irradiation.

The survival of mouse colon crypts after X-irradiation has been studied by the microcolony technique. The Do for crypt survival was 266 rad after whole-body irradiation in air, but when the colon alone was irradiated, the Do was 340 rad. In mice which were breathing 95 per cent oxygen, the Do values were 238 rad for whole-body and 302 rad for colon irradiation. The survival curves were all extrapolated to the same number, and the DQ was also increased with colon irradiation. There was, therefore an enhancement of colon crypt survival of about 27 per cent by local as opposed to whole-body irradiation. These results might be explained by a circulating repair promoter or by the production of a toxin after whole-body irradiation.     

TIME RELATIONS OF GROWTH : III. GROWTH CONSTANTS DURING THE SELF-ACCELERATING PHASE OF GROWTH.

Growth curves consist, in all cases, of two major segments. The first major segment is, in the case of higher animals and plants, made up in turn of several (probably five) shorter segments during each of which growth takes place at a constant percentage rate. The transitions between the successive stages are abrupt, the abruptness being of the order of metamorphosis in cold blooded animals. It has been made clear in the first paper of this series that the time rate of growth following the major inflection declines at a constant percentage rate. The junction between the two major segments occurs at puberty in animals and flowering in plants. The two major segments are not symmetrical about the major inflection. The slope of the segment following the inflection is always less than the slope of the segment preceding the inflection. The major inflection does not occur in the center of the growth curve. The instantaneous rate of growth at the beginning of growth is of the order of 100–200 per cent per day (i.e. the body weight is doubled in from 7 to 17 hours). It may be mentioned that 2 months after conception the rate of growth in man is only 8 per cent per day. This is contrary to all the published statements. Thus, Minot concluded that growth begins at 1000 per cent per day; Jackson concluded that in man, growth during the 1st month takes place at 57.5 million per cent per month; during the 2nd month 990 per cent per month; during the 3rd month 390 per cent per month (8 per cent per day is only 240 per cent per month). The reason for the discrepancy between the values derived, by the method adopted by the writer, and the values given in the literature is explained by Fig. 1.     

Change in the catecholamine balance of rat hypothalamus at late periods following local irradiation and its correction with etimizol

A local exposure (15 Gy) of chest caused a disturbance in the metabolism of adrenergic mediators of hypothalamus at later times (1-12 months) after irradiation: this was manifested by a decrease in the noradrenaline level 1 month following irradiation, and by phase changes in the dopamine content and considerable deficiency of deoxyphenylatanine throughout the entire period of observation. The treatment with etymisol normalized the catecholamine balance.     

A trial of the use of mupirocin in the nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in medical personnel]

Many hospital-acquired purulent diseases and wound infections are due to multiresistant hospital strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The role of S. aureus nasal carriage in development of wound infections due to autoinfection is confirmed. Not only inpatients but also hospital staff can be highly colonized with coagulase positive staphylococci. The S. aureus persistence in hospital personnel results in distribution of the microorganisms in the environment. Therefore, detection of S. aureus carriers without signs of the infection among the hospital personnel and eradication of the pathogen make it possible to control outbreaks of S. aureus infection in hospitals. Clinical efficacy of nasal ointment of mupirocin in the treatment of S. aureus carriers among the intensive care personnel of the N. N.Blokhin Cancer Research Center was evaluated. S. aureus nasal carriage was diagnosed in 17 (26 per cent) out of 65 persons. All the isolates were susceptible to oxacillin. 5-7 days after discontinuation of the mupirocin nasal ointment use eradication of S. aureus was stated in 100 per cent of the cases. The effect was still observed in 94 per cent of the cases in 1 month, in 76 per cent of the cases in 5-6 months and in 60 per cent of the cases in 8-9 months. It is believed that mupirocin nasal ointment (Bactroban) is convenient to use, low toxic and highly active in the treatment of persons with S. aureus nasal carriage.     

Skin response to X-irradiation in the guinea-pig.

Skin reaction to X-irradiation has been studied in the albino guinea-pig; early response in limited-field irradiations of the flank is comparable to that commonly seen in rodents, swine and man, and is dose-dependent with a dynamic range from mild erythema to moist desquamation. The peak early skin reaction is seen between 14 and 21 days after irradiation, and declines before 30 days except at the highest doses used. Fractionation of the X-ray dose at 24 hours results in a 'sparing' of about 340 rad. Permanent partial epilation is detectable at doses in excess of 1400 rad, and complete epilation at 1 year occurs in 50 per cent of irradiated fields at 1740 rad. Twenty-four hour two-dose fractionation results in a 'sparing' of about 500 rad for epilation. Palpable dermal 'fibrosis' is detectable at 3 months after irradiation in fields given more than 2070 rad, and at 1 year after irradiation in fields given more than 1800 rad; 50 per cent of fields showed palpable 'fibrosis' at 1 year at 1930 rad. Unlike domestic swine and man, skin fields in the guinea-pig showed no dimensional contraction after X-ray doses which produced gross early skin damage.     

Sodium sulfapyridazine in new delayed-action bases for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis

Possible preparation of 10 per cent sodium sulfapyridazine ophthalmic drops containing aubazidan, a microbial polysaccharide, providing prolongation of the drops action and stability on the storage was studied. The pharmacokinetic studies showed that aubazidan which is a natural polymer provided high prolongation of the sulfapyridazine effect in the tissues of the anterior part of the eye in rabbits. The prolonged effect was similar to the previously observed effect of the solutions containing synthetic polymers such as 1 per cent polyacrylamide and polyvinyl . Satisfactory tolerance by the rabbit eye tissues of 6-fold daily instillations of the 10 per cent sodium sulfapyridazine solution with aubazidan for the observation period of 1 month was stated. When stored in vials the 10 per cent sodium sulfapyridazine ophthalmic drops with 0.5 per cent of aubazidan preserved the stability for 24 months with respect to the colour, transparency, viscosity, pH and drug content. It was demonstrated with using the agar diffusion method and Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as the test cultures that sodium sulfapyridazine completely preserved its antimicrobial activity in the presence of aubazidan. The data suggested that clinical trials of the 10 per cent sodium sulfapyridazine solution with 0.2-0.5 per cent of aubazidan were promising in prevention and therapy of bacterial conjunctivitis.     

Radioprotection of mice with interleukin-1: relationship to the number of spleen colony-forming units

Compared to saline-injected mice 9 days after 6.5 Gy irradiation, there were twofold more Day 8 spleen colony-forming units (CFU-S) per femur and per spleen from B6D2F1 mice administered a radioprotective dose of human recombinant interleukin-1-alpha (rIL-1) 20 h prior to their irradiation. Studies in the present report compared the numbers of CFU-S in nonirradiated mice 20 h after saline or rIL-1 injection. Prior to irradiation, the number of Day 8 CFU-S was not significantly different in the bone marrow or spleens from saline-injected mice and rIL-1-injected mice. Also, in the bone marrow, the number of Day 12 CFU-S was similar for both groups of mice. Similar seeding efficiencies for CFU-S and percentage of CFU-S in S phase of the cell cycle provided further evidence that rIL-1 injection did not increase the number of CFU-S prior to irradiation. In a marrow repopulation assay, cellularity as well as the number of erythroid colony-forming units, erythroid burst-forming units, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells per femur of lethally irradiated mice were not increased in recipient mice of donor cells from rIL-1-injected mice. These results demonstrated that a twofold increase in the number of CFU-S at the time of irradiation was not necessary for the earlier recovery of CFU-S observed in mice irradiated with sublethal doses of radiation 20 h after rIL-1 injection.     

The clinical and economic efficacies of short courses of azithromycin in acute sinusitis]

A randomized study of a 3-day course of azithromycin therapy (500 mg once daily) vs. a 10-day course of co-amoxiclav therapy (625 mg thrice daily) in patients with acute sinusitis was performed with an account of the GCP criteria. One hundred patients in 2 groups each of 50 persons were enrolled. The estimates of the patient body temperature, headache, pain on palpation in the area of the accessory nasal sinuses, nasal cavity stuffing, nasal discharge nature and the nose mucous membrane appearance were recorded prior to the treatment, in 72 hours and on the 10th-12th and 26th-30th days of the treatment. The microbiological analysis of the punctate from the accessory nasal sinuses was undertaken before the antibiotic therapy and 72 hours after its start. The economic analysis included the cost of the antibiotic therapy course, hospitalization term, medical manipulations and laboratory tests as well as the cost/efficacy index. The frequency of the relapses within 6 months after the cure was estimated in the two groups compared. In 72 hours and on the 10th-12th days after the treatment start the efficacy of azithromycin was significantly higher than that of co-amoxiclav. The cure was stated in 41 (82 per cent) and 26 (52 per cent) patients on the 10th-12th days, in 6 (12 per cent) and 21 (42 per cent) patients the improvement was stated and the fail was stated in 3 (6 per cent) and 2 (4 per cent) patients respectively. The efficacy of the drugs on the 26th-30th days after the treatment start did not differ. The isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes were the main pathogens. The bacteriologic eradication was recorded in 29 (90.6 per cent) patients treated with azithromycin and only in 18 (69.2 per cent) patients treated with co-amoxiclav. Adverse reactions and relapses of the disease within 6 months after the cure were more frequent in the patients treated with co-amoxiclav. The cost of the azithromycin therapy was significantly lower. It was shown that the shortened course of the azithromycin therapy provided earlier cure of the patients with acute sinusitis, better tolerance of the drug, less frequent adverse reactions, lower cost as compared to the use of co-amoxiclav and no relapses.     

Results of irradiation in cancer of the lip,tongue and ear

CANCER OF THE LIP: The primary lesion can be controlled by irradiation in approximately 80 per cent of cases. For lesions with metastases there is only about a 25 per cent chance of five-year arrest (irradiation of the primary lesion followed by excision of involved nodes). CANCER OF THE TONGUE: Lesions in the anterior two-thirds are controllable by irradiation in about 50 per cent of cases if the nodes are not involved; the salvage is only about 15 per cent if the nodes are involved (nodes treated surgically). Lesions in the posterior third of the tongue are seldom controlled in the author's experience. CANCER OF THE EAR (AURICLE): Five-year arrest of basal-cell lesions should be attained by irradiation in about 80 per cent of cases; of squamous-cell lesions in about 60 per cent. If the lesion is extensive, radiation does not offer a superior cosmetic result to operation and entails danger of late chondronecrosis. Therefore extensive lesions are probably best treated surgically. In either event, it appears probable that results of irradiation can be improved by the use of more adequate fields and greater fractionation.     

Short- and long-term effects of whole-body irradiation with fission neutrons or X rays on the thymus in CBA mice

Young adult (6 weeks old) female CBA mice were exposed to whole-body irradiation with either 2.5-Gy fast fission neutrons of 1 MeV mean energy or 6.0-Gy 300 kVp X rays at centerline dose rates of 0.1 and 0.3 Gy/min, respectively. The weight of spleen and animal and the weight, cellularity, and histological structure of the thymus were studied at different times after irradiation. Thymic recovery after whole-body irradiation showed a biphasic pattern with minima at 5 and 21 days after irradiation and peaks of regeneration at Days 14 and 42 after X irradiation or at Days 14 and 70 after neutron irradiation. After the second phase of recovery, a marked decrease in relative thymus weight and cellularity was observed, which lasted up to at least 250 days after irradiation. Splenic recovery showed a monophasic pattern with an overshoot on Day 21 after irradiation. After neutron irradiation a late decrease in relative spleen and animal weight was observed. The observed late effects on thymus and spleen weight and thymus cellularity are discussed in terms of a persistent defect in the bone marrow.     

The effect of low exposure-rate gamma irradiation on T and B lymphocyte function in the mouse

The effect of chronic irradiation on T and B cell numbers and function was studied in mice. Cobalt 60 gamma radiation at 6 R/hour reduced the numbers of anti-SRBC PFC in the spleen, with minimal levels recorded after total exposures of 1000-2000 R. Recovery was incomplete after 1000 R, reaching only 40-50 per cent of normal in four months and remaining at that level for the animal's lifetime. The long-term deficiency in PFC formation was not due to a quantitative lack of T or B cells since normal cell numbers were observed in the spleen 60-144 days after 1000 R. Adoptive transfer studies with combinations of bone marrow and thymus cells, or of splenic T and B cells, from normal and irradiated mice, revealed functional defects in both cell compartments during the first two months. Normal and near normal function of T and B cells occurred 100 days postirradiation, a time when the splenic in vivo response was still only 50 per cent of the controls. The latter observation suggests that the microenvironment of the chronically irradiated spleen alters factors regulating T and B cell interactions in response to a T-dependent antigen.     

Effect of autologous marrow transplantation on bone marrow recovery following large-field fractionated irradiation of dogs

After large-field fractionated irradiation of dogs at a cumulative dose of 54 Gy, a stable bone marrow depletion occurs persisting for a year following irradiation. The automyelotransplantation after the end of the exposure elicits a transient recovery of the exposed bone marrow, 1.5-2 months after the beginning of irradiation, followed by a secondary depletion of the exposed haemopoietic sites. The control and the automyelotransplanted animals exhibited bone marrow recovery one year and six months after irradiation, respectively, the cellularity being maintained at a high level for 3 years of observation.     

Changes in the activity of the oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes of the animal cerebral cortex in the early periods after gamma irradiation and the use of meksamine and the synthetic analog of prostaglandin F2 alpha-estrofan

In experiments with (CBA x C57B1/6)F1 mice it was shown that LDH activity moderately increased 5 min after exposure of the head to 200 Gy gamma radiation. After 60 min, there was a 24.4 per cent decrease in alkaline phosphatase activity and a 24.3 per cent increase in SDG activity. Injected prior to irradiation meksamine precluded the postirradiation increase in SDH and alleviated the postirradiation decrease in alkaline phosphatase.     

Late functional and biochemical changes in mouse lung after irradiation: differential effects of WR-2721

The radioprotective effect of WR-2721 on late damage after whole thorax irradiation has been studied after split doses of radiation using the standard death and breathing rate assays at monthly intervals between 3 and 15 months after irradiation, as well as two biochemical measurements of injury at 15 months, hydroxyproline (HP), an indicator of tissue fibrosis, and DNA content, an indicator of tissue cellularity. A comparison of HP/lung and breaths per minute (BPM) in each dose group in the WR-2721 and non-WR-2721-treated mice 15 months after irradiation showed that the relationship between these two assays of late lung injury was not the same. There were large dose-related increases in breathing rate corresponding to relatively small changes in HP in the lungs of mice given radiation alone. In contrast, the mice given WR-2721 before irradiation showed large dose-related increases in HP/lung, but BPM remained relatively constant independent of dose. These data suggest then that changes in breathing rate and deaths later than 9 months after whole lung irradiation may not be due to collagen accumulation in the lung. WR-2721 did protect better against late lung functional changes (protection factors (PF) = 1.6) and late deaths (PF = 1.51) than against earlier changes in these same assays (PF = 1.4 and 1.28, respectively). Although the earlier-appearing injury after whole thoracic irradiation is most likely related to lung damage with deaths and increases in breathing rate resulting from pneumonitis, the cause of the late-appearing functional injury in the lung after radiation is not clear. Thus protection of late lung damage measured from either lethality or breathing rate is not related to the prevention of lung fibrosis.     

Poikilocytosis in Cancer Patients

The incidence of poikilocytosis in 100 patients with cancer of various organ systems was found to be 12 per cent. Poikilocytosis was more frequently seen in patients with adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract and with inoperable metastatic carcinoma than in patients with other malignant lesions. Anemia was associated in three cases, but in nine instances the patient was not significantly anemic at admission. Two of these patients may have been dehydrated. Uremia was not a factor in any of the cases.Fifty per cent of the patients exhibiting poikilocytosis died or were in a terminal condition within one month after the observation was made, as compared with 21 per cent of the patients who did not have evidence of poikilocytosis. These findings show that poikilocytosis may occur in cancer patients without anemia or uremia; and they indicate that its presence is an unfavorable prognosis sign.     

Acute post-irradiation canine intestinal blood flow

Radiation-induced early transient incapacitation (ETI) is accompanied by severe systemic hypotension, during which arterial blood pressure often decreases to less than 50 per cent of normal. One haemodynamic compensatory mechanism is increased peripheral resistance due to vasoconstriction. This vasoconstriction in the small intestine of dogs is disproportionately increased during haemorrhagic or endotoxic shock, and intestinal ischaemia is frequent. In an attempt to elucidate mechanisms underlying radiation-induced ETI and the gastrointestinal radiation syndrome, canine intestinal submucosal blood flow was measured by the hydrogen polarographic technique, both before and after exposure to gamma radiation. Systemic blood pressures, blood gases and haematocrits were determined simultaneously. Data obtained from 12 sham-irradiated dogs and 12 irradiated dogs indicated that 90 Gy, whole-body, gamma radiation produced a 31 per cent decrease in systemic mean blood pressure beginning within 20 min post-irradiation and lasting for at least 90 min. However, the intestinal submucosal blood flow did not decrease as anticipated, but it exhibited an actual post-irradiation increase. This increase in post-irradiation intestinal submucosal blood flow began within 5 min after irradiation and lasted for at least 90 min. Post-irradiation haematocrits were 10.5 per cent higher than those obtained before irradiation and those obtained from sham-irradiated subjects. Histopathological examination of ileal mucosa revealed significant pathologic lesions in some irradiated animals within two hours after exposure.