Attenuation of stereotyped behaviour by sex steroids.

Effects of sex steroids, testosterone, progesterone, and estradiol on PEA-induced stereotyped behaviour (SB) has been studied in normal, castrated, and ovariectomised mice. Effects of sex steroids on amphetamine-induced sterotypy and hyperactivity are also described. In castrated and ovariectomised mice B-phenylethylamine (PEA) increased SB. Pretreatment with sex steroids attenuated PEA-induced stereotypy in normal, castrated, and ovarietomised mice. Sex steroid pretreatment significantly inhibited PEA- and amphetamine-induced SB, but failed to alter increased motor activity due to amphetamine or PEA. The possible effect of sec steroids on SB through changes in central neurotransmitters are discussed.

Effect of muscimol, a central GABA receptor agonist, on the catalepsy, striatal homovanillic acid increase, and analgesia induced by pilocarpine in rats.

Muscimol, a structural analog of GABA, significantly potentiated pilocarpine-induced analgesia in rats, but failed to alter pilocarpine-induced catalepsy. It also failed to affect pilocarpine-elicited increase in homovanillic acid levels in the striatum. These findings suggest that the potentiation of pilocarpine-induced analgesia by muscimol is unrelated to an interaction of the GABAergic system with the striatal cholinergic or dopaminergic systems.

Pharmacokinetic profile of a new 3-azinomethyl rifamycin (SPA-S-565) in volunteers as compared with conventional rifampicin.

The pharmacokinetics and tolerance of a single oral dose (150 mg) of a new 3-azinomethyl rifamycin (SPA-S-565, USAN rifametane) was compared with 150 mg of conventional rifampicin in six healthy volunteers. The mean maximum concentration (Cmax) of SPA-S-565 was 3.94 +/- 0.26 micrograms/ml, and resulted significantly higher as compared with the Cmax after rifampicin, which was 2.89 +/- 0.20 micrograms/ml. The mean maximum time (tmax) for SPA-S-565 was 2.1 +/- 0.3 h as compared with that of rifampicin, which was 1.6 +/- 0.3 h, the difference between these values not being statistically significant. The elimination half-life (t1/2) of SPA-S-565 was 17.5 +/- 2.6 h in contrast to the half-life of 2.8 +/- 0.26 h seen with rifampicin; the difference was found to be highly significant. The mean area under the serum concentration curve from 0 to the last detectable concentration (AUC0-t) and the mean area under the serum concentration-versus-time curve from 0 to infinity (AUC0-infinity) of SPA-S-565 were almost six times than those obtained with conventional rifampicin. The differences between the two compounds were highly significant. In all cases except one volunteer all the biochemical parameters remained within normal range following single oral dose administration of SPA-S-565. In one volunteer, although there was a slight rise in serum alkaline phosphatase above the normal range, the original value itself was at the very upper limit of the normal range (i.e., 80 IU/L). Although there was a significant increase in the levels of serum alkaline phosphatase, serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) and serum amylase levels, 24 h following the administration of SPA-S-565 these levels remained within the normal range.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease: a case report.

A case of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease in a 17-year-old Indian man appears to be the first case reported from Asia. Primary pulmonary hypertension was diagnosed on the basis of clinical and catheter data. The patient died shortly after catheterization. Histology reveald pulmonary veno-occlusive disease as a cause of pulmonary hypertension.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent-assay for antigen detection in tuberculous meningitis.

Two systems of Competitive Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were developed to detect Mycobacterial antigen in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM)--one by using indigenously prepared Anti-M.tuberculosis H37Rv-Penicillinase conjugate (Method I) and another by using commercially available Anti M. bovis BCG-Horse Radish Peroxidase (HRP) conjugate--(Method II). The tests were used to analyse CSF of 148 patients clinically confirmed as having TBM and 278 control subjects. By using > or = 10 ng/ml as the cut-off value for Method I and > or = 1 ng/ml as that for Method II, the specificity for both were 100% and positivity was 79.73% and 67.57% respectively. A follow up study in 26 TBM cases after 2 weeks (16 cases), 4 weeks (13 cases) and 4-12 months (10 cases) of antituberculous treatment revealed that mycobacterial antigen persisted in the majority of cases even after 4 weeks of the treatment.