A model of wound healing in chronically radiation-damaged rat skin.

The aim of this investigation was to develop a model for studying the chronic effects of radiation on wound healing in the rat. Six months after rats received a single radiation exposure of 20 Gy, a random-pattern dorsal skin flap was elevated. Two weeks after the flap was elevated, irradiated animals showed diminished scar formation and wound breaking strength, as compared with controls (P < 0.05). The effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment was investigated in some rats who received 20 sessions at 2.4 atmospheres absolute for 90 min daily, 5 days per week, prior to flap elevation and 10 sessions after creation of the flap. Treated animals showed a trend toward improvements in wound breaking strength and scar formation (P = 0.06). A reproducible model of chronic radiation damage in the rat was established. Further studies involving investigations at times more that 2 weeks post-wounding are needed.

Aluminum-induced neurofibrillary degeneration disrupts acquisition of the rabbit's classically conditioned nictitating membrane response.

Rabbits received intraventricular injections of aluminum chloride, hydrochloric acid, or served as unoperated controls. On the 6th day postsurgery, they underwent 4 days (100 trials per day) of classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane response (NMR) to a tone conditioned stimulus and an air-puff unconditioned stimulus. Unoperated and hydrochloric acid control animals readily acquired the conditioned response. Aluminum intoxicated rabbits, in contrast, did not acquire the conditioned response over the 4 days of testing. This disruption of conditioning in aluminum-treated rabbits could not be attributed to deficits in sensory or motor processes or to illness. Neuropathological analysis revealed widespread neurofibrillary tangle formation in aluminum-treated animals. Furthermore, the degree of neurofibrillary degeneration was significantly negatively correlated with the degree of conditioning. The results are considered in the context of using the rabbit NMR preparation as a model system for studying age-related conditioning disorders.

Successful revascularization of a toe-avulsion injury in a three-year-old child, using a digital artery transfer.

The partially avulsed second toe of a 3-year-old girl was successfully revascularized using a digital artery transfer from the adjacent third toe. The technique is explained and discussed.

Bicarbonate conservation during incomplete cerebral ischemia with superimposed hypercapnia.

We superimposed extreme hypercapnia (arterial Pco2 400-450 mmHg) immediately before and during incomplete cerebral ischemia to distinguish the role of intracellular pH (pHi) and bicarbonate [( HCO3-]i) in postischemic metabolic and electrophysiological recovery. Incomplete global ischemia was produced in seven anesthetized dogs by 30 min of intracranial hypertension followed by 4 h of reperfusion. ATP, phosphocreatine (PCr), and pHi were measured with 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and [HCO3-]i was calculated from the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation using the measured pHi and sagittal sinus Pco2. Cerebral blood flow was reduced to 7 +/- 1 ml.min-1.100 g-1 (+/- SE) during ischemia with extreme hypercapnia, and pHi decreased to 5.72 +/- 0.09. During normocapnic reperfusion, pHi rapidly returned to near baseline values by 14 min. [HCO3-]i fell from 12.1 +/- 0.9 to 6.0 +/- 1.2 mM by the midpoint of ischemia and recovered by 30 min of reperfusion. ATP, PCr, and O2 consumption also recovered rapidly and completely. Somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEP) recovered to 43 +/- 10% of control amplitude. These results are in marked contrast to the poor metabolic and SEP recovery previously observed in hyperglycemic dogs in which pHi decreased to the same range as with hypercapnic ischemia, but in which [HCO3-]i was much lower (1.1 +/- 0.5 mM). Therefore, [HCO3-]i depletion during hyperglycemic ischemia may be a more important factor in recovery than end-ischemic pHi per se. We speculate that higher [HCO3-]i may improve glial cell buffering capacity or decrease iron availability for hydroxyl radical production.