Causalgia pathogenesis and treatment

Gross and microscopic anatomical evidence indicates that pain fibers involved in causalgia are those distributed to blood vessels-possibly to the arterioles-and that, for the greater part, these fibers constitute part of the general visceral afferent system. Several investigators have reported evidence that injury to a peripheral nerve of such a type as to cause damage to the vasomotor control of any area produces the initial pain in an extremity, and it is predicated that the arteriolar constriction causing the pain is then prolonged by the sensitization of arteriolar smooth muscle to the amount of epinephrine normally in the blood. If the condition is not treated, tissue anoxia occurs to such an extent that irreversible changes take place in the affected area.Treatment of causalgia in the lower extremities is directed toward interruption of either the vasomotor or afferent supply of blood vessels by blocking or excision of the second to fourth lumbar ganglia inclusive with the intervening chains. For the upper extremities, the blocking or disconnection of the second and third thoracic ganglia with interruption of the sympathetic chain between the third and fourth ganglia is considered a feasible method of treatment which does not produce the concomitant disability of Horner's syndrome.     

CHANGE OF ACID AGGLUTINATION OPTIMUM AS INDEX OF BACTERIAL MUTATION

A distinct difference in acid agglutination optimum for Type D (bacillus of rabbit septicemia) and its mutant form, Type G, has been observed. The optimum for Type D lies between pH 3.5 and pH 3.0. This changes during mutation, the resulting Type G mutants having in general an optimum lying between pH 4.7 and pH 3.8. The constancy of the optimum for Type D is very strict, while that for Type G is slightly less so. The variation is never so great as to cause an overlapping of optima and consequent failure of differentiation. These acid agglutination optima are in the nature of physical constants for the two types and would imply a fundamental difference in the chemical constitution of the organisms. Animal passage, far from causing a reversion of the mutant Type G to the primordial Type D form, brings about a still greater instability in the presence of H ions.     

Microbial transformation of steroids

A systematic study of transformation reactions of Actinomycetes with respect to the progesterone molecule was undertaken. The results obtained, i.e. the types of transformation reactions in different actinomycete species, were evaluated from the point of view of taxonomy. The actinomycetes tested were divided according to the transformation types into three groups: (1) a group of species transforming progesterone in the 16α-position; (2) a group of species transforming progesterone in the β-position; (3) a group of species in which no capacity to transform progesterone into another steroid derivative was established. From the point of view of Actinomycete classification the transformation reactions on the steroid molecule fulfil all the requirements of taxonomic features of Actinomycetes. They appear to be specific properties, independent of strictly cultivation conditions and common to all the strains of individual actinomycete species tested.