Mg Po (mg + po)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Inguinal panniculitis in a young Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) caused by Mycobacterium mageritense

AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 5 2010
G Reppas
A 1-year-old, entire male Tasmanian devil living in captivity was presented because of a nodular inguinal lesion that subsequently developed a draining sinus tract. A second, similar lesion developed later in the ipsilateral axillary region. A deep representative biopsy specimen of abnormal subcutaneous tissue showed chronic active pyogranulomatous inflammation and beaded Gram-positive and acid-fast bacilli situated in lipid vacuoles within the lesion. A rapidly growing Mycobacterium species, shown subsequently to be M. mageritense, was grown from a swab of the primary lesion. It was susceptible to tetracyclines (including doxycycline) and moxifloxacin in vitro. The lesions resolved following treatment with doxycycline monohydrate (50 mg PO once daily) and then moxifloxacin (10 mg/kg PO for 20 days). The infection probably resulted from inoculation of subcutaneous tissues by material containing this Mycobacterium following fight or bite injuries. The presentation is reminiscent of similar lesions attributable to rapidly growing mycobacterial infections of the subcutis observed in domestic cats and quolls. [source]


Reduction in the Sodium Currents in Isolated Ventricular Myocytes of Guinea Pigs Treated by Chronic L-Thyroxin Medication

JOURNAL OF CARDIAC SURGERY, Issue 6 2002
Yu-Ping Ma
Objective: Cardiac remodeling induced by chronic medication of L-thyroxin is manifested by a much more severe cardiac arrhythmias on the occlusion/reperfusion of the coronary artery in rats. A pattern of changes in ion currents in a diseased heart (L-thyroxin induced cardiac remodeling) is possibly provided as a basis of promoting malignant cardiac arrhythmias. An enhanced delayed outward rectifier potassium currents the rapid (IKr) and slow (IKS) component was found in the remodeled heart by L-thyroxin chronic medication. It is interested to investigate the changes in the sodium currents in the L-thyroxin remodeled guinea pig ventricle. Method: The remodeling model in guinea pig was developed by L-thyroxin 4 mg po for 10 days. On d 11, the heart was removed and perfused to isolate ventricular myocytes with medium of Ca2+ free medium containing collagen. The whole cell holding technique was applied. Results: The INa density in the L-thyroxin caused hypertrophied myocytes was reduced significantly at holding potential ,30 mV, ,53.20 +/,10.78pA/pF against ,73.78+/,14.66pA/pF in the normal. (n = 45, p < 0.001). No difference in the steady-state inactivation and recovery kinetics between the remodeled and the normal was found. The recovery constant 37.54+/,3.63 ms in the remodeled vs 36.57+/,2.81 ms in the normal (n = 18, p > 0.05). The accelerated deactivation time constant 3.67+/,0.14 of the remodeled (n = 39) against the normal 4.14+/,0.15 ms (n = 43) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: There is a reduced INa in the L-thyroxin remodeled ventricular myocytes and the deactivation of the current is accelerated. A changed depolarization of the affected myocardium is likely involved in the mechanism of arrhythmogenesis of the remodeled ventricle. [source]


Transatrial Access to the Normal Pericardial Space For Local Cardiac Therapy: Preclinical Safety Testing with Aspirin and Pulmonary Artery Hypertension

JOURNAL OF INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
TODD C. PULERWITZ M.D.
The reliability, rapidity, and safety of nonsurgical, transatrial pericardial access for local cardiac therapy have been demonstrated in healthy animals. Since many patients take aspirin or have increased right-sided pressures, we evaluated the procedure's safety under these conditions. Transatrial pericardial access was performed in anesthetized pigs following aspirin administration (162 mg po, n = 6) or during experimental pulmonary artery hypertension (n = 4 different animals) and required only 3 minutes following guide catheter positioning. Platelet aggregability testing with arachidonic acid confirmed aspirin effectiveness. Mean pericardial fluid hematocrit was 0.1 ± 0.1% after 2 days of aspirin therapy and 1.9 ± 1.1% at sacrifice 24 hours later (NS). Mean pericardial fluid hematocrit was 1.0 ± 0.5% after 45 minutes of pulmonary artery hypertension and 4.3 ± 0.8% at sacrifice 30 minutes later (NS). Histologic analysis in both groups revealed a small thrombus and localized inflammation at the site of puncture. Neither aspirin use nor pulmonary artery hypertension causes significant bleeding into the pericardial space following transatrial access and thus does not preclude this route for local cardiac drug delivery. [source]


Stress Hormone Dysregulation at Rest and After Serotonergic Stimulation Among Alcohol-Dependent Men With Extended Abstinence and Controls

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 5 2001
Robert M. Anthenelli
Background: Alcohol dependence has been associated with long-lasting alterations in limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) function. Other conditions that are associated with alcoholism (cigarette smoking and antisocial personality disorder [ASPD]) have been linked with disturbances in these interrelated systems. We evaluated the stress hormone response to 5-HTergic stimulation in alcohol-dependent men with extended abstinence (average abstinence duration, 4.3 months) and controls to determine the relative contributions of alcoholism, cigarette smoking, and ASPD on baseline and provoked plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) concentrations. Methods: One hundred nine alcohol-abstinent men with alcohol dependence (62%), habitual smoking (70%), and ASPD (43%) received d,l-fenfluramine (100 mg po) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. The group of recovering alcohol-dependent individuals included abstinent primary alcohol-dependent men and alcohol-dependent men with ASPD, whereas the group of non-alcohol-dependent men comprised healthy controls and non-alcohol-dependent men with ASPD. Plasma cortisol and ACTH levels were obtained at AM baseline and at half-hour intervals after drug administration. Subjective ratings of drug response and physiological measures were also obtained at baseline and every 30 min. Results: Abstinent alcohol-dependent men had significantly lower (approximately 20%) AM baseline plasma cortisol concentrations than non-alcohol-dependent men on both challenge days; however, no differences between the groups were observed with regard to resting AM plasma ACTH levels. After adjusting for these baseline differences, recovering alcohol-dependent men (area under curve = 35.6 ± 37.4 [,g/dl] × min) had a twofold greater cortisol response to fenfluramine than non-alcohol-dependent men (area under curve = 17.5 ± 32.5 [,g/dl] × min) (F= 5.1;df= 1,105;p < 0.03). The elevated cortisol response, which occurred primarily along the descending limb of the response curve, was paralleled by a nonsignificant statistical trend for alcohol-dependent men to also exhibit a greater ACTH response to fenfluramine at the 210-min (p < 0.07) and 240-min (p < 0.09) time points as compared with non-alcohol-dependent men. Cigarette smoking and ASPD did not affect hormonal responses, nor could the groups' subjective ratings and physiological measures be distinguished. Conclusions: Alcohol-dependent men with extended abstinence differed from age- and race-matched non-alcohol-dependent men in resting AM and fenfluramine-induced plasma cortisol levels. This dysfunction in glucocorticoid homeostatic mechanisms was associated with alcoholism and not with smoking or ASPD. We also observed a nonsignificant statistical trend for plasma ACTH levels to be elevated among alcohol-dependent men along the descending limb of the response curve. Alcohol-dependent men seemed to have inherited or acquired damage to 5-HT-regulated LHPA axis function, the precise mechanisms and sites of which remain to be determined. [source]


Efficacy of oral rofecoxib versus intravenous ketoprofen as an adjuvant to PCA morphine after urologic surgery

ACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 9 2004
M. C. Cabrera
Background:, Adjunctive use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has become increasingly popular in the perioperative period because of their opioid-sparing effects. This randomized, controlled, double-dummy study was designed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using oral rofecoxib as an alternative to intravenous ketoprofen for pain management in patients undergoing urologic surgery. Methods:, Seventy patients were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo (Control) or rofecoxib 50 mg po (Rofecoxib) 1 h prior to surgery. After a standardized spinal anesthetic, patients in the Control group received ketoprofen 100 mg IV q 8 h for 24 h, while the Rofecoxib group received an equivolume of saline at 8-h intervals for 24 h. Both groups were allowed to self-administer morphine (1 mg IV boluses) using a PCA delivery system. The need for ,rescue' analgesic medication, as well as pain scores [using an 11-point verbal rating scale (VRS) (0 = none to 10-severe)], were recorded at 1, 2, 6, 12, and 24-h intervals after surgery. In addition, the incidences of side-effects were recorded at the end of the study period. Results:, Total amount of morphine required in the initial 24-h postoperative period was nonsignificantly reduced in the Rofecoxib group (29 ± 2 vs. 37 ± 4 mg). More importantly, the percentage of patients reporting moderate-to-severe pain (VRS score ,4) during the study period was lower in the Rofecoxib group (12 vs. 22%, P < 0.05). The daily cost of rofecoxib (USD 1.14 for 50-mg dose) was also significantly less than ketoprofen (USD 3.06 for three 100-mg doses). Conclusion:, Premedication with oral rofecoxib (50 mg) is a cost-effective alternative to the parenteral nonselective NSAID, ketoprofen (100 mg q 8 h), when used as an adjuvant to PCA morphine for pain management after urologic surgery. [source]


Effects of Corticosteroid Therapy on the Long-Term Outcome of Radiofrequency Lesions in the Swine Caval Veins

PACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 8 2008
GUILHERME FENELON M.D.
Background: We explored the angiographic and pathological effects of corticosteroids on the long-term outcome of radiofrequency (RF) ablation lesions in the swine caval veins. Methods: Under fluoroscopy guidance, a single linear RF lesion (4-mm tip, 60°C, 180 seconds) was created in each vena cava (from ±2 cm into the vein to the venoatrial junction) of 20 anesthetized minipigs (35± 2 kg). Three groups were studied: acute (n = 4), killed 1 hour after RF; control (n = 8), sacrificed 83± 1 days after RF; and pigs (n = 8) receiving hydrocortisone (400 mg i.v. after RF) and prednisone (25 mg po for 30 days), killed 83± 1 days post-RF. Angiography was performed before, immediately after ablation, and at follow-up. Then, animals were sacrificed for histological analysis. Results: Mild (<40%) or moderate (41,70%) acute luminal narrowing occurred in 19/20 (95%) inferior veins and in 13/20 (65%) superior veins. Severe (>70%) stenosis and occlusions were not noted. At follow-up, in both chronic groups, mean vessel diameters returned to baseline and progression of luminal narrowing did not occur in any vein. Of note, superior and inferior vena cava angiographic diameter for control and treated pigs did not differ. The same was observed for the cross-sectional luminal area. Acute lesions displayed transmural coagulative necrosis whereas chronic lesions revealed marked fibrosis. Histological findings were similar in controls and treated pigs. Conclusion: In this model, mild and moderate stenosis, occurring immediately after ablation, seems to resolve over time. Corticosteroids do not affect the long-term outcome of such RF lesions in the caval veins. [source]