Long-Term Drug Treatment of Obesity in a Private Practice Setting

ATKINSON, RICHARD L, ROY C BLANK, DONALD SCHUMACHER, NIKHIL V DHURANDHAR, DOUGLAS L RITCH. Long-term drug treatment of obesity in a private practice setting. This study evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of the combination of phentermine and fenfluramine for the treatment of obesity in a private practice setting. A total of 1388 consecutive, qualified patients presenting to a private general internal medicine practice in Charlotte, NC, were enrolled with eligibility criteria including: age 18 years to 60 years, 20% over “desirable” bodyweight or body mass index <27, no serious medical or psychiatric disease, and no contraindications to drug therapy. Patients were instructed in diet, exercise, and behavior modification techniques and received phentermine (15 mg/day to 30 mg/day) and fenfluramine (20 mg/day to 60 mg/day) continuously for over 3 years. Average duration of treatment was 15. 9 months, and average weight loss at the last visit was 11. 6 kg, or 11. 7% of initial bodyweight. For patients completing 1 year of drug treatment, mean weight loss was 16. 5 kg, or 16% of initial weight. Weight loss persisted for 2 years, but partial regain was seen at 3 years. The dropout rates were 18% at 6 months, 39% at 1 year, 68% at 2 years, and 78% at 3 years. At 1 year, blood pressure of hypertensive patients fell from 151/95 mm Hg to 127/78 mm Hg, and serum cholesterol and triglycerides of hyperlipidemic patients fell by 0. 750 mmol/L (29 mg/dL) and 0. 937 mmol/L (83 mg/dL), respectively. Adverse events were modest. We conclude that, in a private practice setting, long-term treatment of obesity with the combination of phentermine, fenfluramine, and a weight maintenance program is generally safe and effective. More research is needed to determine efficacy and safety for longer than 3 years.     

Morphology,physiology and infectivity of twoFrankia isolates An 1 and An 2 from root nodules ofAlnus nitida

Summary Two different strains, An 1 and An 2, were obtained from root nodules ofAlnus nitida Endl., collected from one locality in the area of its natural habitat near Bahrin, District Swat, Pakistan. The light and electron microscopy of the isolates revealed the occurrence of septate and branched hyphae bearing sporangia and vesicles. The strains differed in their growth requirements, nitrogen-fixing ability and production of extracellular pigments, thus indicating the existence of more than oneFrankia strain in the same locality. In the absence of combined nitrogen in the medium strain An 1 formed vesicles and fixed N₂ (up to 200 nmol C₂H₄. mg protein^–1.h^–1), while strain An 2 under the experimental conditions formed only few vesicles and fixed N₂ at a very low rate (ca 10 nmol C₂H₄. mg protein^–1 .h^–1). The nitrogenase activity of strain An 1 was strongly affected by the O₂ concentration.Frankia An 1 and An 2 were infective and effective onA. nitida andA. glutinosa but not onDatisca cannabina andElaeagnus umbellata. Both An 1 and An 2 strains were more infective and effective onA. glutinosa thanFrankia strains AvcIl and CpI1.     

Effect of different steroidogenic stimuli on protein phosphorylation and steroidogenesis in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells.

Numerous studies have indicated that treatment of Leydig cells with gonadotropin results in increased levels of intracellular cAMP, binding of cAMP to and activation of protein kinase A, phosphorylation of proteins, synthesis of new proteins and eventually, stimulation of steroidogenesis. In addition, recent studies have indicated that protein phosphorylation is an indispensable event in the production of steroids in response to hormone stimulation in adrenal cells. Because of the important role of phosphorylation in steroidogenic regulation, we investigated the effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP), forskolin and the phorbol ester, phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) on protein phosphorylation in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells. Cells were stimulated with different steroidogenic compounds in the presence of [32P]orthophosphoric acid for 2 h and phosphoproteins analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis (PAGE). Results demonstrated an increase in the phosphorylation of four proteins (22 kDa, pI 5.9; 24 kDa, pI 6.7 and 30 kDa, pI 6.3 and 6.5) in response to 34 ng/ml hCG, 1 mM dbcAMP and 100 microM forskolin. Conversely, treatment of cells with PMA increased the phosphorylation of only one of these proteins (30 kDa, pI 6.3). At least two of these proteins (30 kDa, pI 6.5 and 6.3) appear to be identical to proteins which we and others have shown to be synthesized in response to trophic hormone stimulation in adrenal, luteal and Leydig cells. In addition, they also appear to be identical to adrenal cell mitochondrial proteins demonstrated to be phosphorylated in response to ACTH. These data indicate that proteins similar to those phosphorylated in adrenal cells in response to ACTH are phosphorylated in hormone stimulated testicular Leydig cells and that these proteins may be involved in steroidogenic regulation.     

The effect of retinol and retinoic acid on the testicular phospholipase a activity in retinol-deficient rats.

Both phospholipases A1 and A2 activities (EC 3.1.1.4) at pH 7.4 were found to be significantly decreased in retinol-deficient rat testes supplemented with retinoic acid as compared to retinol-fed controls using 1-acyl-2-[1-(14)C]-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine as substrate. However, little or no difference was observed in phospholipase A1 activity at pH 3.0 in both groups of rats.     

On a new cytological race of schizomeris leibleinii Kütz

Schizomeris leibleinii Kütz was collected from Dehra Dun as well as from Varanasi and the observations on its morphology, asexual reproduction and cytology were made by using material from nature and in culture. Cultural studies have revealed some interesting features such as occasional branching of uniseriate as well as multiseriate filaments and extensive development of the holdfast lobes into uniseriate or multiseriate filaments which may sometimes be branched. The chromosome number for the present alga has been determined to be 14, which differs from three earlier chromosome numbers reported for the same species by previous workers. Besides differing in chromosome number, it also differs significantly in its karyotype as compared with others. Thus this alga is considered to be a new chromosomal race of S. leibleinii. The present observations which have been discussed in the light of the recent work of Campbell & Sarafis (1972) who proposed a merger of Schizomeris with Stigeoclonium tenue, do not seem to favour such a merger.     

Influence of physical factors on the growth of insect cells in vitro. II. Sodium and potassium as osmotic pressure regulators of moth cell growth.

The tolerance of a cell line (IMC-HZ-1) from a moth, Heliothis zea, for the monovalent cations Na+ and K+ were defined. Cells shifted to media containing more than 70 mM of K+ showed decreased growth rates. No evidence was obtained for Na+ toxicity. The osmotic pressure tolerances were influenced by the K+ concentration of the medium. The richer the medium was in K+, the narrower was the spectrum of osmotic pressure tolerance. Once the limit of K+ tolerance was exceeded, the rate of decline of growth was linear with respect to further increases in K+. This rate of decline was independent of osmotic pressure. The initial responses of cells during one subculture (2 to 4 population doublings) in media differing from the standard medium (used to maintain the cell line) were not reliable indicators of the growth potential of the cells. Continued subculture in such media resulted in an upward trend in population growth rates in most cases.     

Influence of physical factors on the growth of insect cells in vitro

Summary The tolerances of a cell line (IMC-HZ-1) from a moth,Heliothis zea, for the monovalent cations Na⁺ and K⁺ were defined. Cells shifted to media containing more than 70mm of K⁺ showed decreased growth rates. No evidence was obtained for Na⁺ toxicity. The osmotic pressure tolerances were influenced by the K⁺ concentration of the medium. The richer the medium was in K⁺, the narrower was the spectrum of osmotic pressure tolerance. Once the limit of K⁺ tolerance was exceeded, the rate of decline of growth was linear with respect to further increases in K⁺. This rate of decline was independent of osmotic pressure. The initial responses of cells during one subculture (2 to 4 population doublings) in media differing from the standard medium (used to maintain the cell line) were not reliable indicators of the growth potential of the cells. Continued subculture in such media resulted in an upward trend in population growth rates in most cases. This investigation was supported by U. S. Public Health Service Research Grant no. AI 09914 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This is Paper no. 8637, Scientific Journal Series, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. The material is part of the dissertation of T. J. K. presented for the Ph.D. degree at the University of Minnesota.     

Do soil inoculants accelerate dryland restoration? A simultaneous assessment of biocrusts and mycorrhizal fungi

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are communities of soil organisms often targeted to assist in the achievement of multiple ecological restoration goals. In drylands, benefits conferred from biocrust and AM fungal inoculation, such as improved native plant establishment and soil stabilization, have primarily been studied separately. However, comparisons between these two types of soil inoculants and investigations into potential synergies between them, particularly at the plant community scale, are needed to inform on‐the‐ground management practices in drylands. We conducted two full‐factorial experiments—one in greenhouse mesocosms and one in field plots—to test the effects of AM fungal inoculation, biocrust inoculation, and their interaction on multiple measures of dryland restoration success. Biocrust inoculation promoted soil stabilization and plant drought tolerance, but had mixed effects on native plant diversity (positive in greenhouse, neutral in field) and productivity (negative in greenhouse, neutral in field). In greenhouse mesocosms, biocrust inoculation reduced plant biomass, which was antagonistic to % root length colonized by AM fungi. Inoculation with native or commercial AM fungi did not influence plant establishment, drought tolerance, or soil stabilization in either study, and few synergistic effects of simultaneous inoculation of AM fungi and biocrusts were observed. These results suggest that, depending on the condition of existing soil communities, inoculation with AM fungi may not be necessary to promote dryland restoration goals, while inoculation with salvaged biocrust inoculation may be beneficial in some contexts.     

Chiral Imidazolidin-4-one with catalytic amount of Dicationic ionic liquid act as a recoverable and reusable Organocatalyst for asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction

Imidazolidin-4-one is used as a recoverable organocatalyst for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction in the presence of catalytic amount of dicationic ionic liquid and trifluoroacetic acid as a co-catalyst. The Diels-Alder reaction between model substrate cyclopentadiene and crotonaldehyde gave the product in 95% conversion and 87% ee of the endo-product. The catalyst was shown better reusability when the 20 mol% of dicationic ionic liquid was used and catalyst was reused upto 5 cycles, conversion remains upto 3 recycles but ee of endo- 9 was slightly droped.