Elemental diets in treatment of acute Crohn's disease.

Twenty-seven patients with 32 acute exacerbations of Crohn''s disease were treated for four weeks with an elemental diet. At the end of treatment 29 of the exacerbations had remitted both clinically and biochemically. After six months six patients had relapsed. These findings suggest that the elemental diet is effective in treating acute Crohn''s disease, but the reasons are not clear. The diet may be effective because it provides nutritional support, is hypoallergenic, acts as a medical bypass from the affected area, or alters bowel flora. The patient''s general wellbeing is improved by the supply of adequate energy and essential foodstuffs in a form easily available without further digestion and given in a safe, simple, non-toxic way.     

Reduction and subsequent oxidation of a cytochrome b of human neutrophils after stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate.

The level of nerve growth factor-like immunoreactivity in the lower limb muscles, the site where the dystrophic mice are effected, of both normal and dystrophic mice was studied by solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Nerve growth factor-like immunoreactivity levels of the homozygous dystrophic mice were about two times lower than those of the heterozygous dystrophic mice at 10–11 weeks and 7–8 weeks of age. The levels in 4–5 week old homozygous mice were too low for detection and remarkable differences between the homozygous and the heterozygous mice were observed at this age. These differences in the level of nerve growth factor-like immunoreactivity suggest that the factor may have some relation to the disease.     

A facile method for detection of the genuine sapogenin from a saponin extract

We present a simple, efficient system for preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) in sodium dodecyl sulfate. The instrument features a novel sample collection assembly which is fitted directly onto the bottom of the gel cylinder. Buffer pumped uniformly upward through a porous plastic disk from the lower tray sweeps the emerging sample into a collection system with high efficiency. Measures which prevent the destruction of tryptophan residues and the blockage of α-amino groups observed in electrophoresed polypeptides are described.     

Uptake of yeast invertase by rat liver cells in vivo and in vitro.

Yeast invertase injected intravenously in rats is rapidly taken up by the liver, reaching levels in that organ of 20% or more of the injected dose in about 12 h. At early time points, the bulk of the liver invertase appears in the sedimentable homogenates but, with time, there is a progressive increase in the fraction in the soluble phase, which remains at a constant proportion as the total hepatic invertase declines. The uptake of polyvinylpyrrolidone by the liver is much slower, as is its redistribution to the soluble fraction of homogenates. Separation of cell types from livers containing the markers revealed that the invertase was almost exclusively in the nonparenchymal cell population, while polyvinylpyrrolidone was distributed relatively indiscriminately between parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells. Measurements of uptake of invertase by liver cell preparations in vitro confirmed that nonparenchymal cells were much more active than parenchymal cells in this regard. Furthermore, the process was saturable with the former cell types and inhibitable by α-methylmannoside. Thus, it may be concluded that the uptake of invertase is via fluid pinocytosis in parenchymal cells and adsorptive pinocytosis in the nonparenchymal cells.     

Regulatory characteristics of amino acid transport in newborn rat renal cortex cells

The uptake of α-aminoisobutyric acid by slices of kidney cortex from newborn rats is enhanced by a preliminary incubation of the tissue in buffer at 37 °C. This effect is abolished by anaerobiosis, the presence of dinitrophenol or the removal of Na⁺ during the preliminary incubation. Cycloheximide (50 μM) and purimycin (1 mM) as well as α-aminoisobutyric acid, glycine and proline (5 mM) in the pre- incubation buffer also abolish the effect, while actinomycin D (0.8 μM) partially inhibits the enhancement due to preliminary incubation. A kinetic examination of the phenomenon indicates that the enhanced uptake is due to an increased entry rate into the cells without a change in efflux. There is no alteration in the apparent transport $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ but an increase in the $\text{V}$ for entry. The effect is dependent on tissue age being observed between birth and 22 days, after which there is a decrease in response to preliminary incubation with no effect seen in adult tissues.     

Failure of acetylmethadol in treatment of narcotic addicts due to nonpharmacologic factors.

Acetylmethadol, a new narcotic substitute, has a longer duration of action than methadone. Seventeen subjects, former heroin users currently under methadone treatment, entered a study of the toxicity and efficacy of this drug. Only nine subjects completed the assessment phase of the study and began the acetylmethadol phase, and only one completed the 8-week study phase. Hence, no conclusions can be drawn about acetylmethadol''s efficacy. The high attrition rate was unrelated to pharmacologic factors; the subjects were concerned that if this drug was effective there would be no methadone to take home and hence no opportunity to trade, sell or "play with" (that is, combine with other drugs) the latter. This study emphasizes the difficulty in determining the efficacy of specific drug treatments for opiate-dependent patients.     

Assessment of effectivity of oral killed typhoid and paratyphoid B vaccines and aerosol chemical typhoid vaccine in controlled field trials.

A total of 3 controlled field trials were carried out. One of them (1963) showed that aerosol chemical typhoid vaccine did not protect vaccinated subjects from the disease. Two other tests (1964 and 1965) assessing the effectivity of killed orally administered typhoid vaccine revealed a short term (up to 3 months) protective effect expressed by an effectivity coefficient of 45%, fiducial limits being 8-70%. In the assessment of oral paratyphoid B vaccine, the difference in morbidity in the experimental and control groups was statistically insignificant due to a small number of cases of disease.     

Antigenic relationships between Candida albicans and various yeasts as reflected by immunoglobulin-class specificity.

A group of guinea pigs was inoculated into the foot pads with a single dose of Candida albicans in complete Freund's adjuvant, while another group was similarly inoculated once in the foot pads but also several times intramuscularly, with Candida alone. All guinea pigs were bled at different intervals after immunization and sera were separated chromatographically into IgG and IgM fractions. In order to study the antigenic relationships as reflected by immunoglobulin-class specificity, IgG and IgM fractions and whole sera obtained from guinea pigs differently immunized, were tested for the presence of agglutinins against C. albicans, six other species of Candida, and species of the ascosporogenous genera Saccharomyces, Kluyveromyces and Schizosaccharomyces. The results show that (1) only IgG fractions of the different sera prepared contained the specific anti-C. albicans antibodies; (2) IgG and IgM fractions of the sera obtained from a single inoculation did not reveal a specific pattern expressing antigenic relationships of the yeast studied, and (3) the IgM fractions of the sera obtained from several inoculations had a more homogenous pattern of reactivity, since mainly these contained the agglutinins against the ascosporogenous yeast species.     

Some notes on the ecology of ranunculus hederaceus L

The ecology of the Ivy-leaved Water CrowfootRanunculus hederaceus was studied in the Netherlands, especially in the area of Schoorl. The species appears to be characteristic of contact zones between more elevated oligotrophic sandy soils and eutrophic (or polluted) small streams or small artificial running waters, or of stagnant waters strongly influenced by seepage phenomena, in which the periodic fluctuations in the water table do not exceed 2 dm. In the area studied, the species prefers a substratum consisting of a layer of sediment, one to several inches thick and rich in nitrogen, deposited on a sandy subsoil, in water that is usually only a few centimetres deep, remains rather cool in summer (its temperature not exceeding about 16° C) and only rarely freezes up in winter. This is in agreement with its eu-atlantic distribution.The opinion held by several workers that the Ranunculetum hederacei must be classified under the Montio-Cardaminetalia is, in my opinion, unfounded. The Ranunculetum hederacei is probably a vegetation type belonging to the Callitricho-Batrachion and fits very well into an ecological series of vegetation types that can be arranged according to a syndrome of ecological characteristics of which the fluctuation in the water table is the most important. The constant association withCallitriche platycarpa is presumably characteristic.