Dead Rats Research Articles

The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, and Voting Popular in the Nineteenth Century by Jon Grinspan

Reviewed by: The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, and Voting Popular in the Nineteenth Century by Jon Grinspan Mark Wahlgren Summers (bio) The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, and Voting Popular in the Nineteenth Century. By Jon Grinspan. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2016. Pp. 256. Cloth, $28.00.) Bad readers of detective stories turn to the last chapter first, to see who did it; good readers of history books turn to the endnotes first, to see how the author knows it. Those starting backward for Jon Grinspan’s The Virgin Vote not only will spend a long and rewarding time there; they will then rush eagerly to the front, wondering if the whole work can be as shrewd, as thorough, and as insightful as the citations. They will be agreeably disappointed: the body of the book is better yet. As a study of the excitement and larger significance of political engagement in the party period, this is the most thoughtful and indeed the best book written in at least a generation. It is also quite a lot of fun. Drawing on diaries, memoirs, and newspapers, weighting the argument with statistics about voter turnout, The Virgin Vote shows how young Americans in the nineteenth century engaged in politics and became not simply voters, but participants in every aspect of keeping a robust two-party system running. Politics was no mere election-day phenomenon, but a way of meeting people, of mingling with elders, of entering the world of adulthood, of newcomers finding new friends quickly, and even of finding a potential spouse or helpmeet. Schoolchildren yelled, “Democrats eat dead rats,” and boys took out their rowdiness in the one arson that communities smiled on, the election-night bonfire. For poor boys, the chance [End Page 133] to join a club and earn the praise of a rich sponsor seemed like the first step in a struggle upward. The benefits for the young were nothing compared with the advantages for party organizers. Every “virgin vote” they won, they knew, would be theirs for life: politically, Americans were not only monogamous, but divorce-resistant. Old fogies could recruit young fogies, the hustlers and canvassers among them fit to graduate to work backstairs and in the smoke-filled rooms fitter for middle age, but they never forgot to cultivate those for whom public expression and display mattered most. Youth meant enthusiasm, idealism, and the energy needed to keep an aging political system always refreshed and hearty. If politics meant anything besides winning office and getting spoils, the youngest generation played a key part in making that happen; if midcentury campaigns relied on hoopla and parade, clubs and societies like the Wide Awakes in 1860, the need to draw in the virgin voter and those meaning to vote in the future deserved much of the credit. Only as the parties shifted to campaigns of education, separating the decision to vote from a wider participation, and as American culture began to draw sharper lines between “grown-ups” and those not yet arrived, with activities specific to each category, did the flood of young people into political involvement falter. That turning away from politics, Grinspan would suggest, explains much about the tumbling in turnout as the twentieth century began (and no doubt it did, though the decline in the national figures also could be explained by the broad disfranchisement of African Americans in the South). It is a fascinating story, made more so by Grinspan’s ready use of anecdote and individual example; figures as famous as William Dean Howells or as obscure as Sunday school teacher Mattie Thomas illustrate the intensity and the pervasiveness of political involvement. We find Lester Ward using a Republican rally to hold trysts with the girl of his dreams and an eight-year-old so imbued with Whiggery that the news of President William Henry Harrison’s death threw him into a panic. This is a tale made of a thousand stories and no end of visual images, from the flapping tail of a yellow coat to a cigar-puffing future mayor, “his eyes shielded beneath a derby...

Evaluation of biochemical and reproductive biomarkers in pre and during gestational period in immunosuppressed Wistar rats with mycophelonate sodium

Materials and methods The rats were divided into three groups: rats treated with water (CONT=10) rats orally treated with MFS (20mg/ Kg) daily for 15 days until a positive diagnosis of pregnancy (MICO-1=10) and rats orally treated with MFS (20mg/Kg) daily for 15 days prior to and during 21 days of pregnancy (MICO-2=10). It was evaluated on the 17th day of pregnancy the Oral Tolerance Glucose Test (OGTT) and on day 21 the rats were anesthetized and killed by decapitation and thus measured reproductive parameters (Index fertility, childbirth, pregnancy and number of live births and resorption) and serum biomarkers (lipid parameters and liver transaminases) Statistical significance was p <0.05. Results In pregnancy period, there were no changes in glucose data during OGTT evaluation, although MICO-2 rats presented higher glycemia compared to other groups (CONT and MICO-1), with 170mg/dL. Furthermore, the MICO-2 rats presented other negative effects, including dead rats and total resorption of fetuses. The biochemical data presented decreasing of rates of serum lipid (cholesterol and lipoprotein fractions, triglycerides and alanine aminotransferase).

Exendin-4 attenuates brain death-induced liver damage in the rat.

The majority of liver grafts destined for transplantation originate from brain dead donors. However, significantly better posttransplantation outcomes are achieved when organs from living donors are used, suggesting that brain death (BD) causes irreversible damage to the liver tissue. Recently, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1) analogues were shown to possess interesting hepatic protection effects in different liver disease models. We hypothesized that donor treatment with the GLP1 analogue exendin-4 (Ex-4) could alleviate BD-induced liver damage. A rat model of BD was employed in order to estimate BD-induced liver damage and Ex-4's potential protective effects. Liver damage was assessed by biochemical determination of circulating hepatic markers. Apoptosis in the hepatic tissue was assessed by immunoblot and immunohistochemistry using an antibody that only recognizes the active form of caspase-3. Gene expression changes in inflammation and stress response genes were monitored by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Here, we show that Ex-4 administration to the brain dead liver donors significantly reduces levels of circulating aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase. This was accompanied by a remarkable reduction in hepatocyte apoptosis. In this model, BD caused up-regulation of tumor necrosis factor and stress-related genes, confirming previous findings in clinical and animal studies. In conclusion, treatment of brain dead rats with Ex-4 reduced BD-induced liver damage. Further investigation is needed to determine the molecular basis of the observed liver protection. After testing in a randomized clinical trial, the inclusion of GLP1 analogues in organ donor management might help to improve organ quality, maximize organ donation, and possibly increase liver transplantation success rates.

Crushing snakes kill by blood constriction, not suffocation

Death by suffocation seems like an awfully protracted way to go and death by suffocation in the grip of a boa constrictor’s coils is the stuff of nightmares. Yet Scott Boback from Dickinson College, USA, wasn’t so sure that suffocation was all there was to the boa constrictor’s technique. ‘It looks like the [prey] animals are gasping for air’, says Boback, but in 1994, Boback's colleague, Dave Hardy, had proposed an alternative. ‘What Hardy saw was the speed at which the animals were dying… they were dying way too quickly for it to be suffocation. He suspected that it was circulatory or cardiac arrest because of the speed at which death was occurring’, says Boback. But there were few data to support Hardy's suggestion and, although hard-core members of the herpetology community were aware of the possibility, the rest of us were left clinging to the old-wives’ tale that boa constrictors kill by suffocation: until Boback put the crushers to the test.‘We have been studying constriction for a number of years,’ says Boback, explaining that he had measured the pressure exerted by snakes crushing dead rats in earlier experiments. However, to find out what was really going on inside the snake's victims, he had to measure blood pressure in living anaesthetised rodents as they were squeezed. ‘It was not something that we took lightly and we wanted to make sure that the animals [rats] did not experience pain or suffer’, says Boback. Having anaesthetised a rat, Boback and his colleagues, Emmet Blankenship and Charles Zwemer – backed up by undergraduate researchers, Katie McCann, Kevin Wood and Patrick McNeal – inserted ECG electrodes and blood pressure catheters into the rodent's body before offering the sedated animal to a hungry boa constrictor.Fortunately for Boback, the snake struck, aiming a bite at the rat's head and coiling its body around the rodent as it began to squeeze. And, as the team watched the blood pressure and heart rate data stream onto the computer, they were amazed to see the rat's blood circulation shut down in a matter of seconds. ‘I remember being in the room and the students were looking at the data in disbelief that it happened that fast. We could see the arterial pressure go down, the venous pressure go up and we could see this right when the snake was doing it [squeezing]’, says Boback. And, as soon as the rat's circulation stopped and the oxygen supply was cut off, the team could also see the rat's heart beating more and more irregularly. Boback suspects that without blood flow to the brain, any animal caught in the snake's coils probably passes out in a matter of seconds, before other critical organs begin to fail.Boback also suggests that the boas provide a glimpse into the evolution of crushing behaviour in snakes. He explains that ancient snake species that had not evolved constriction were probably restricted to capturing small meals that they could subdue easily. However, once the earliest boas had developed their quicker constriction technique for despatching victims, they were free to scale up the size of meals, sometimes tackling animals that are even larger than themselves. ‘By understanding the mechanisms of how constriction kills, we gain a greater appreciation for the efficiency of this behaviour and the benefit it provided early snakes’, says Boback.

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Trichloroacetonitrile is used as an intermediate in insecticides, pesticides, and dyes. In Korea alone, over 10 tons are used annually. Its oral and dermal toxicity is classified as category 3 according to the globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals, and it is designated a toxic substance by the Ministry of Environment in Korea. There are no available inhalation toxicity data on trichloroacetonitrile. Thus, the present study performed inhalation tests to provide data for hazard and risk assessments. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to trichloroacetonitrile at concentrations of 4, 16, or 64 ppm for 6 hour per day 5 days per week for 13 weeks in a repeated study. As a result, salivation, shortness of breath, and wheezing were observed, and their body weights decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the 16 and 64 ppm groups. All the rats in 64 ppm group were dead or moribund within 4 weeks of the exposure. Some significant changes were observed in blood hematology and serum biochemistry (e.g., prothrombin time, ratio of albumin and globulin, blood urea nitrogen, and triglycerides), but the values were within normal physiological ranges. The major target organs of trichloroacetonitrile were the nasal cavity, trachea, and lungs. The rats exposed to 16 ppm showed moderate histopathological changes in the transitional epithelium and olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity. Nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT) and respiratory epithelium were also changed. Respiratory lesions were common in the dead rats that had been exposed to the 64 ppm concentration. The dead animals also showed loss of cilia in the trachea, pneumonitis in the lung, and epithelial hyperplasia in the bronchi and bronchioles. In conclusion, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was estimated to be 4 ppm. The main target organs of trichloroacetonitrile were the nasal cavity, trachea, and lungs.

The effect of a hydrogen sulfide releasing molecule (Na2S) on the cold storage of livers from cardiac dead donor rats. A study in an ex vivo model

Liver transplantation is currently the preferred treatment option for end-stage liver disease. Donation after cardiac death was a common practice in the early years of organ donation before brain death criteria were established. Those organs were subjected to variable periods of warm ischemia that might intensify cold ischemia/reperfusion injuries. In the present, shortage of brain dead donors has led to the reassessment of organ donation after cardiac death.Since many cytoprotective roles have been describe for H2S during ischemia/reperfusion on a variety of tissues, we hypothesized that graft exposure to this bioactive gas might improve preservation of non-heart beating donated organs.Therefore, to establish a rat model of donation post-cardiac arrest and using this approach to judge H2S delivery effects on graft hypothermic preservation, were the main objectives of this investigation.Cardiopulmonary arrest was induced in sedated rats by overload of potassium (K+). Livers were surgically removed and subsequently stored in HTK Solution (Histidine–tryptophan–ketoglutarate) at 0–4°C. After 24h of hypothermic preservation, livers were rewarmed in an ex vivo model. Three experimental groups were established as follows: I – Livers procured before cardiac death and cold stored 24h in HTK (BCD); II – Livers procured after cardiac death (45min) and cold stored 24h in HTK (ACD); III – Livers procured after cardiac death (45min) and cold stored 24h in HTK+10μM Sodium Sulfide (Na2S) (ACD-SS). Data suggest that after 45min of warm ischemia, viability parameters assessed during reperfusion in the ex vivo model were significantly impaired. Real time PCR revealed that after ex vivo reperfusion there is an increased expression of HO-1 and TNF-α and a modest drop in Bcl-2 mRNA, which could be interpreted as the cellular response to the hypoxic insult sustained during warm ischemia.On the other hand, warm ischemic livers exposed to H2S during cold storage, improved microcirculation, morphology and viability parameters during ex vivo reperfusion and showed significant modulation of HO-1 mRNA expression.In conclusion, HTK supplementation with Na2S arose as a potential treatment to recover non-heart beating harvested organs. Furthermore, an appropriate model of cardiac dead liver donors was successfully developed.

N-Octanoyl Dopamine for Donor Treatment in a Brain-death Model of Kidney and Heart Transplantation.

This study investigated the potential use of N-octanoyl dopamine (NOD) in donor management to ameliorate the damage caused by brain death and ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat model of kidney and heart transplantation. Brain-dead Fisher rats were treated for 6 hours with either saline or saline plus NOD. Orthotopic kidney and heterotopic heart transplantation were performed in different Lewis recipient rats. The right donor kidneys were stored for biochemical analysis. Blood samples were taken from the donor and on several days after transplantation from the recipient. All grafts were harvested after 7 days. There was no effect on donor heart rate and blood pressure under NOD treatment. The release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) during brain death was reduced in the NOD group. The right kidneys from NOD-preconditioned animals revealed diminished expression of the proinflammatory cell adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1). Nevertheless, there was no difference in renal infiltration with ED1 (CD68) or major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-positive cells. Recipients receiving a renal allograft from NOD-treated donors had a significantly better renal function at day 1 after transplantation. Banff-grading after 7 days showed significantly reduced scores for tubulitis and vasculitis in the grafts of these recipients. In the heart allograft recipients, lower plasma LDH levels were observed. Donor preconditioning with NOD leads to better graft function and reduced acute rejection in untreated renal allograft recipients without displaying adverse effects on heart allografts.

A randomized controlled trial of factors influencing fire occurrence during laser surgery of cadaveric rodents under simulated mask anesthesia.

To determine whether face mask fit during anesthesia affects the occurrence of fire episodes during laser surgery in nonintubated cadaveric rodents under volatile anesthesia. Adaptive single-center randomized controlled trial with an interim analysis. 100 dead rats intended for animal consumption. Rat carcasses were randomly allocated to undergo simulated anesthetic procedures with 2 face masks: open mask versus tight-fitting mask. Under volatile anesthesia, 4 cutaneous surgeries were performed (skin biopsies at 3 different sites and resection of a pinna) by means of a diode laser on each carcass. A single interim analysis of 50 rats was planned a priori to drop an arm of the study in the case of a highly significant difference in the incidence of fire events. Surgeries would have continued with the other face mask until completion of the study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Overall, 25 surgeries were performed with open face masks and 75 with tight-fitting masks. During 400 surgical procedures on 100 rat carcasses, 11 (11%; 95% confidence interval, 5.62% to 18.83%) fire events occurred. Ten fire events occurred with the open masks, and 1 fire event occurred with the tight-fitting masks (relative risk, 30.0; 95% confidence interval, 4.0 to 222.8). All of the fire events occurred on different carcasses when cheek skin biopsy was performed. Procedure time, body weight, and surgeon did not significantly concur in the prediction of fire events. Modification of open masks by the addition of a latex diaphragm significantly reduced the occurrence of fire ignition during laser surgery. Results suggested that open masks should not be used for laser surgery of nonintubated rodents during volatile anesthesia. Additionally, results indicated that surgical lasers should be avoided for facial surgery of nonintubated anesthetized rodents, even if tight-fitting masks are used.

DETERMINAN PERILAKU PADA KEJADIAN LEPTOSPIROSIS DI KABUPATEN DEMAK, JAWA TENGAH TAHUN 2008

Human behavior could be a trigger factor for leptospirosis as a re-emerging zoonoses in Demak Regency. Objective of this study was to describe patients behavioral determinants in leptospirosis outbreaks in Demak Regency, 2008. Research was a descriptive study with cross – sectional design. Data was collected with interview. Samples were leptospirosis patients from 1 January to 1 April 2008. Results showed the majority of respondents were in productive age. More than 50% of patients did not know the danger of leptospirosis. Chlorine was understood as water purifier instead of disinfectant. More than 50% of patients had activity contact with source of transmission. The majority of respondents did not wear shoes and gloves as protective of transmission of leptospirosis. Respondents dumped dead rats in the river (59.3%), while effective rat control behavior had not been widely implemented (68.5%). Precautions against leptospirosis on patients was still low due to perception of leptospirosis were harmless and knowledge of leptospirosis were still lacking. Respondents supported the use of chlorine to purify water but not as disinfectant. Behavior of clean and healthy lifestyle, rat controls and the use of personal protective equipment were lacking. Increasing health education about the dangers of leptospirosis, risky activities, use of chlorine and effective rat control techniques were reccomended. Keywords : leptospirosis, behavior, determinants, outbreak

Enhancing the quality of health education through distance education

Distance education in India is making it easier to close the educational gap between rural and urban areas. By making educational opportunities easily available to everyone, distance education is opening up career options for the less privileged segments of Indian population. An experimental study was conducted to enhance the quality of health education through distance education with the objective to assess the knowledge of rural school dropout girls and women at pre and post stage of the distance education. The sample consisted 120 respondents who were selected from four villages namely Harobelawadi, Uppinbetageri, Mansur, Garag of Dharwad taluka. Village wise knowledge of respondents after the education revealed that majority (88%) of the respondents gave correct answer about family sanitation, followed by personal hygiene (85%), community sanitation (83.34%), environmental sanitation (82.50%) and additional useful information for rural sanitation (75%). The knowledge about family sanitation shows that high majority of the respondents answered rightly for importance of proper light and aeration at home, followed by place for washing of pesticide equipments and material used in the gobar gas plant. Cent per cent of the respondents gave correct answer for colostrum feeding and proper washing of hands after toilet. Majority of the respondents answered with respect to spraying of DDT powder to drainage and stagnant water to control mosquitoes, which are the causes of malaria. More than 80 per cent of the respondents were able to answer about methods to burry dead rats and pets, place to keep the milch animals in the house and source of solar cooker. Similarly, majority of the respondents answered rightly about astra chullaha/ or smokeless chullaha and department in-charge to distribute solar cooker.

Clinico-pathology, diagnosis and management of Cysticercus fasciolaris and Hymenolepis diminuta co-infection in wistar rats.

Aim:The present study was undertaken to study the pathology and control of sudden unexplained mortality in wistar rats.Materials and Methods:This study was conducted in a colony of 25 male wistar rats where there was mortality of nine rats. The dead rats were subjected to thorough post-mortem examination and necropsy samples were processed for hematoxylin and eosin staining for histopathological studies. Faecal samples of live rats were studied for the presence of parasitic eggs. Treatment with anthelmintics was given to manage the mortality and infections.Results:The investigation revealed a natural co-infection of Cysticercus fasciolaris and Hymenolepis diminuta in wistar rats, which were pathogenic enough to cause mortality. Typical lesions associated with the parasites were found in the dead rats. The mortality and infection were managed with common anthelmintics.Conclusion:C. fasciolaris and H. diminuta infection can cause mortality in wistar rats even when individually they cause asymptomatic infection. The mortality and infection can be managed with common anthelmintics.

Postmortem interval determination using 18S-rRNA and microRNA.

The importance of determining postmortem interval (PMI) is crucial to criminal, civil and forensic cases. The precise estimation of PMI is a critical step in many death investigations. A technique exploiting the level of RNA, 18S rRNA and microRNA to estimate PMI was investigated. 18S-rRNA is a main ribosomal RNA presented as part of the ribosomal protein complex, while microRNA is a class of small non-coding single-stranded RNA, only 21-25 nucleotides, which has a strong conservation between different species. In this study, heart tissues were removed from adult rats at various postmortem intervals. An efficient extraction and detection protocol to analyze the level of 18S-rRNA and microRNA in postmortem tissue was carried out. The process consists of total RNA extraction, transcription and visualization by quantitative real time PCR. The result indicates a characteristic parabola relationship between postmortem period and Ct values for 18S-rRNA in dead rat hearts. The result indicates that the degradation pattern of tissue 18S-rRNA and microRNA is useful in the determination of the postmortem interval within seven days.

Atractylodes macrocepala KOIDZ.(백출) 추출물의 급성 경구투여 독성 연구

Atractylodes macrocepala KOIDZ. (AmK) is a herbal medicine and resources of functional food which has been used for the treatment of indigestion, anorexia, diarrhea and digestive dysfunction. Recently AmK is frequently used as resources of functional food and whitening cosmetics. In this study was carried out to evaluate the acute oral toxicity of Amk in Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. male and female rats were administered orally with Amk extract of 1,000 mg/kg (low dosage group), 2,000 mg/kg (middle dosage group) and 4,000 mg/kg (high dosage group). We daily observed number of deaths, clinical signs and gross findings for 7 days. No dead SD rats and no clinical signs were found during the experiment period. Also other specific changes were not found between control and treated groups in hematology and serum biochemistry. But we found out feeble histopathological changes in liver fat tissues. In addition no significant changes of gross bady and individual organs weight. These results suggest that water soluble extract of AmK has not acute oral toxicity and oral value was over 4,000 mg/kg in SD rats.

택사(Alismatis Rhizoma) 추출물의 반복 경구투여 독성 연구

Objectives : This study was carried out to evaluate the repeated dose oral toxicity of Alismatis Rhizoma in Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. Methods : Male and female rats were administered orally with Alismatis Rhizoma water extract of 500 mg/kg(low dosage group), 1,000 mg/kg(middle dosage group) and 2,000 mg/kg(high dosage group). We daily observed number of deaths, clinical signs and gross findings for 14 days(twice a day). After 14 days, we measured body and organs weight. Also we analyzed hematological changes. Results : No dead SD rats and no clinical signs were found during the experiment period. Also other specific changes were not found between control and treated groups in hematology and serum biochemistry. In addition no significant changes of gross body and individual organs weight. Conclusions : These results suggest that water soluble extract of Alismatis Rhizoma has not repeated dose oral toxicity and oral LD50 value was over 2,000 mg/kg in SD rats. As a result, we can determine Alismatis Rhizoma is a relatively safe substance.

백선피(Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz) 추출물의 급성 경구투여 독성 연구

Objectives : This study was carried out to evaluate the acute oral toxicity of Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz in Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. Methods : Male and female rats were administered orally with Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz water extract of 1,000 mg/kg(low dosage group), 2,000 mg/kg(middle dosage group) and 4,000 mg/kg(high dosage group). We daily observed number of deaths, clinical signs and gross findings for 7 days. After 7 days, we measured body and organs weight. Also we analyzed hematological changes. Results : No dead SD rats and no clinical signs were found during the experiment period. Also other specific changes were not found between control and treated groups in hematology. But we found out subtle changes in body weight and individual organ weight of the female group. In addition specific changes were observed in serum biochemical value of female group. Conclusions : These results suggest that water soluble extract of Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz has not acute oral toxicity and oral <TEX>$LD_{50}$</TEX> value was over 4,000 mg/kg in SD rats. Also Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz is expected to be sensitive with respect to the female.

Prednisolone has a positive effect on the kidney but not on the liver of brain dead rats: a potencial role in complement activation.

BackgroundContradictory evidence has been published on the effects of steroid treatments on the outcomes of kidney and liver transplantation from brain dead (BD) donors. Our study aimed to evaluate this disparity by investigating the effect of prednisolone administration on BD rats.MethodsBD induction was performed in ventilated rats by inflating a Fogarty catheter placed in the epidural space. Prednisolone (22.5 mg/kg) was administered 30 min prior to BD induction. After four hours of determination of BD: serum, kidney and liver tissues samples were collected and stored. RT-qPCR, routine biochemistry and immunohistochemistry were performed.ResultsPrednisolone treatment reduced circulating IL-6 and creatinine plasma levels but not serum AST, ALT or LDH. Polymorphonuclear influx assessed by histology, and inflammatory gene expression were reduced in the kidney and liver. However, complement component 3 (C3) expression was decreased in kidney but not in liver. Gene expression of HSP-70, a cytoprotective protein, was down-regulated in the liver after treatment.ConclusionsThis study shows that prednisolone decreases inflammation and improves renal function, whilst not reducing liver injury. The persistence of complement activation and the negative effect on protective cellular mechanisms in the liver may explain the disparity between the effects of prednisolone on the kidney and liver of BD rats. The difference in the molecular and cellular responses to prednisolone administration may explain the contradictory evidence of the effects of prednisolone on different organ types from brain dead organ donors.

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Objectives. In medico-legal autopsy related to decompression illness (DCI) in divers, it is important to differentiate between postmortem decompression and antemortem decompression; however, definitive criteria for autopsy diagnosis of DCI remain to be established. We aimed to clarify autopsy findings that would aid the diagnosis of DCI. Methods. A total of 27 Wistar and 33 Zucker fatty male rats were categorized into 3 groups: antemortem decompression group (group AD), postmortem decompression group (group PD), and controls. The AD and PD rats were subjected to antemortem compression (both groups) followed by antemortem and postmortem decompression, respectively, in a hyperbaric chamber. Control rats were kept at atmospheric pressure. Intravascular bubbles and histopathological findings in the 3 groups were compared, and pulmonary emphysema was quantified using ImageJ software. Results. Intravascular bubbles were observed in both AD and PD groups. In group AD, prolonged hyperbaric exposure increased mortality, intravascular bubbles, and pulmonary emphysema, with Zucker fatty rats showing more marked changes than Wistar rats. Further, intravascular bubbles and pulmonary emphysema in the dead rats were quantitatively greater than those in the rats that survived decompression. Moreover, in Zucker fatty rats, pulmonary emphysema was quantitatively significantly greater in group PD than that in the dead rats of group AD. Conclusion. Our results indicate that the quantitative evaluation of pulmonary emphysema can potentially distinguish postmortem decompression from antemortem decompression. This technique may be useful in autopsy diagnosis of diving- related deaths, including DCI. Key W ords: decompression illness, diving, autopsy, pulmonary emphysema, fat embolism, risk factor.

택사(Alismatis Rhizoma) 추출물의 급성 경구투여 독성 연구

Objectives : This study was carried out to evaluate the acute oral toxicity of Alismatis Rhizoma in Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. Methods : male and female rats were administered orally with Alismatis Rhizoma water extract of 1,000 mg/kg (low dosage group), 2,000 mg/kg(middle dosage group) and 4,000 mg/kg(high dosage group). We daily observed number of deaths, clinical signs and gross findings for 7 days. After 7 days, we measured body and organs weight. Also we analyzed hematological changes. Results : No dead SD rats and no clinical signs were found during the experiment period. Also other specific changes were not found between control and treated groups in hematology and serum biochemistry. In addition no significant changes of gross body and individual organs weight. Conclusions : These results suggest that water soluble extract of Alismatis Rhizoma has not acute oral toxicity and oral <TEX>$LD_{50}$</TEX> value was over 4,000 mg/kg in SD rats.

Vagal stimulation in brain dead donor rats decreases chronic allograft nephropathy in recipients

Although it has been shown that a vagus nerve stimulation of brain dead (BD) donors leads to an improvement of renal function in recipients in an acute allograft rejection model, its influence on chronic allograft nephropathy is still unknown. In the present study, we assessed the influence of donor vagus nerve stimulation on survival, renal function and histology in a chronic allograft model. Brain death was induced in Fisher rats, and electro-stimulation of the vagus nerve was applied in one group (BD + vagus) during the whole course of BD (6 h). Unstimulated BD Fisher donor rats served as controls. Allogeneic Lewis rats were used as recipients and no immunosuppressive medication was administered. Blood and urine samples were collected every second week. Banff classification was assessed from harvested allografts. Vagal stimulation of BD donors resulted in an improved survival of recipients. Long-term renal function was significantly better in these recipients as reflected by improved creatinine clearance. Banff classification revealed significantly reduced vasculopathy and less tubulopathy in the BD + vagus group. In conclusion, our data demonstrate a long-lasting beneficial effect of vagus nerve stimulation in BD donors on the renal transplantation outcome. Hence, activation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway in BD donors may represent a novel therapeutic modality to reduce chronic allograft nephropathy without any side effects for the recipient.

Static Cold Storage of Brain Dead Donor Hearts: Can ‘Pharmacological Conditioning’ Overcome Primary Graft Failure?

Purpose Static cold storage of hearts from brain dead donors is still the mainstay in cardiac transplantation. The risk of ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and primary graft failure (PGF) are significant disadvantages of this method. We found that three ‘conditioning’ agents–Glyceryl trinitrate (G), Erythropoietin€ and Zoniporide (Z), when added to standard preservation solutions, attenuate IRI in rat hearts. We aimed to test their efficacy in hearts from brain dead rats in prolonged cold storage. Methods and Materials Rats were subjected to brain death (BD) by inflation of a subdural embolectomy catheter. Invasive haemodynamic changes are shown in Figure 1 . Cardiac function was assessed on an isolated working heart model (IWHM), then hearts arrested and preserved in Celsior for 1, 3 or 6 hours (n=6 each sub-group). Additional hearts from BD donors were arrested and stored for 3 or 6 hours using Celsior with G+E+Z (n=6 for 3h, 6h) and function re-assessed on an IWHM. Results BD hearts had inferior recovery of cardiac output (CO) cf with shams. Supplementing Celsior with G+E+Z significantly improved CO in BD hearts (p Conclusions G, E & Z that activate ‘conditioning’ pathways significantly improve recovery of BD rat hearts after prolonged static cold storage. This data warrants assessing these strategies clinically. [ figure 2 ]