Beneficial Effect In Group Research Articles

Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors for pulmonary hypertension.

Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors for pulmonary hypertension.

Ameliorative effect of statin therapy on oxidative damage in heart tissue of hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a high-cholesterol diet in the presence and absence of statin on Cu-Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PCO), and nitric oxide (NO) of blood and heart tissue, the antioxidant activity of serum paraoxonase-1 (PON-1), and on the blood lipid profile of rabbits. The animals were divided into four groups each of which included 10 rabbits. Rabbits in group 1 received a regular rabbit chow diet (normal diet) for 8 weeks; those in group 2 received atorvastatin (0.3 mg atorvastatin per day/kg body weight) for 8 weeks; those in group 3 received high-cholesterol diet for 8 weeks; and those in group 4 received high-cholesterol diet for 4 weeks, a high-cholesterol diet + atorvastatin (0.3 mg atorvastatin per day/kg body weight) for 8 weeks. The parameters were measured by spectrophotometric methods. As expected, the atherogenic diet caused a pronounced increase in lipid profile (not HDL) parameters. Rabbits in group 3 showed higher PCO, MDA, and NO levels in circulating and heart tissue compared to the rabbits in group 1. Atorvastatin has prevented or limited LDL oxidation and has showed constitutively beneficial effects in group 4. Increased LDL-C, PCO, MDA, and NO levels leading to decreasing PON-1 activity thus create a predisposition to atherogenesis in this model. But atorvastatin administration partly ameliorated oxidative damage in heart injury of hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Atorvastatin which functions as a potent antioxidant agent may inhibit this LDL-C oxidation by increasing PON-1 activity in atherogenesis.

Applicability of steroid therapy in 275 adult patients with IgA nephropathy determined using a histological scoring system and degree of proteinuria.

The purpose of this study was to propose clinical and pathologic criteria for the indication for steroid therapy (ST) in adult IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We analyzed 275 adult IgAN patients retrospectively, using a histological scoring system. The histological score was expressed by evaluating, semiquantitatively, the extent of glomerular and tubulointerstitial lesions in terms of the activity index (AI) and chronicity index (CI). To determine the applicability of ST, three groups were categorized by evaluating the statistical significance of the correlation between the AI and CI, together with the daily amount of urinary protein (UP) and the outcome. In group A, which had a CI > or = 5 alone, 33 out of 43 patients showed a decline in renal function. There was no statistically significant difference between the subgroup with ST and that without ST. In group B, which had CI < 5, AI < 5, and UP < 1.0 g/day, 169 out of 174 patients had normal renal function irrespective of whether or not they received ST. Thus, ST had no beneficial effects in group A and B patients. In group C, which had CI < 5 and AI > or = 5 or UP > or = 1.0 g/day, patients with ST had a significantly higher incidence of an outcome with normal renal function (22 out of 24 patients) than that in patients without ST (19 out of 34 patients) (P < 0.01). Thus, ST had beneficial effects in group C patients. . We propose that a histological criterion be used in combination with the degree of proteinuria as an indication for ST in adult IgAN patients.

Regeneration through nerve allografts in the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis).

With the use of ulnar nerves of cynomolgus monkeys, the present study examined whether basal laminae of Schwann cells can serve as conduits for regenerating axons in nerve allografts from non-human primates. A segment of ulnar nerve was transected distal to the elbow joint one week before grafting. In Group A, a distal segment of the transected nerve was transplanted, after freezing and thawing, into the ulnar nerve of another monkey, at a level that corresponded to that from which the graft was taken. In Group B (the control group), the segment of nerve was grafted in the same manner but without cryotreatment. Two weeks, five weeks, eight weeks, and five months after grafting, the graft and the host nerve were examined with light and electron microscopy. Within two weeks after grafting in Group A, after degradation of the cellular components of the Schwann cells, the basal laminae of the Schwann cells were intact in the form of tubes. Within five weeks, many regenerating axons grew out into these basal lamina tubes in the three-centimeter-long grafts and extended into the host nerve. As seen at the wrist (seven centimeters from the distal suture) five months after grafting, the axons exhibited fully mature myelination both in the graft and in the host nerve. In contrast, in Group B, in which the Schwann cells had not been disrupted by cryotreatment, cellular components and connective-tissue matrices, including basal laminae, had been degraded and had been replaced by invading cells, which filled the endoneurial spaces of the graft. Five months after grafting, axonal growth had been arrested in the graft one centimeter distal to the proximal suture. The beneficial effect in Group A appears to have been the result of the retention and preservation of intact basal laminae of Schwann cells after rapid removal of killed Schwann cells and myelin debris. Killing of Schwann cells by freezing before grafting may abolish the immune response to the Schwann cells in allografts and lead to fragmentation and disruption of myelin, which facilitates the rapid removal of myelin by macrophages.

Reduced In-Hospital Mortality Following Intracoronary Streptokinase Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Reduced short-term mortality following thrombolytic treatment of acute myocardial infarction has been reported by earlier studies. This study was per formed to compare data from our institution with such results. From January, 1984, through January, 1986, a total of 628 consecutive pa tients were admitted with acute myocardial infarction. Ninety-one patients (Group A) underwent intracoronary streptokinase (IC-SK) infusion to the in farct-related vessel with a total dose of 440,000 units. The average timing for this intervention from the onset of chest pain was 4.1 ±2.7 hours. Successful recanalization was achieved in 71 of 91 patients (78%). Patients seventy-five years of age or older were not offered IC-SK infusion. In this group, most candidates suitable for coronary angioplasty or bypass surgery had the proce dure within the same hospital admission. The remaining 537 patients (Group B) underwent conventional medical therapy during their hospitalization. In-hospital mortality for Group A was reported in 4 of 91 patients (4.4%) versus 100 of 537 patients (18.6%) from Group B. These results seem to con form with earlier data that indicate a reduced short-term in-hospital mortality from acute myocardial infarction following IC-SK treatment. Besides recanali zation, this beneficial effect in Group A could also be attributed to earlier inter ventions by revascularization procedures in the majority of patients after recognition of the extent of their coronary artery disease.