Guidelines for the transfusion of red cells.

The following recommendations, which aim at standardising and rationalising clinical indications for the transfusion of red cells in Belgium, were drawn up by a working group of the Superior Health Council. To this end, the Superior Health Council organised an expert meeting devoted to "Guidelines for the transfusion of red cells" in collaboration with the Belgian Hematological Society. The experts discussed the indications for red cell transfusions, the ideal red cell concentrate, the practical issues of administering red cells, and red cell transfusions in patients in a critical condition. The recommendations formulated by the experts were validated by the working group with the purpose of harmonising red cell transfusion in Belgian hospitals.

In situ hybridization studies of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase UGT1A6 expression in rat testis and brain.

UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), in addition to their role in overall pharmacokinetics, play important roles in local protection of cells against toxins and in the control of endogenous receptor ligands. UGT1A6, which conjugates planar phenols, appears to be expressed in many organs, but information on cell-specific expression in these organs is controversial or absent. Therefore, a non-isotopic in situ hybridization method was developed and applied to localize UGT1A6 expression in rat testis and brain. It was found that UGT1A6 is expressed in Sertoli cells and spermatogonia of rat testis and in brain neurons, in particular in hippocampal pyramidal cells and Purkinje cells of the cerebellum.

Angiomyolipoma of the kidney and lymph nodes.

Angiomyolipoma (AML) is a benign mesenchymal tumor predominantly occurring in the kidney. Despite its low incidence of 0.07-0.03% in an unselected population, this tumor is well known, because the typical AML can be diagnosed without histological confirmation by a combination of ultrasound (US) and computerized tomography (CT) imaging in up to 95% of cases. In contrast, simultaneous involvement of the kidney and the regional lymph nodes is less known and might be confused with metastasizing malignant tumor. We report a case of the very uncommon simultaneous involvement of the kidney and the lymph nodes in AML.

Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of clonidine and some analogues in rat brain tissue. Brain concentrations and hypotensive activity.

A simple and sensitive gas-liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the quantitative determination of clonidine and some structurally related imidazolidines in rat brain tissue. The aqueous brain homogenates are first purified and then extracted into benzene. Samples are injected directly into the gas chromatograph. The extraction procedure is selective, and the use of a phosphorus-nitrogen detector enables accurate determinations corresponding to brain concentrations down to at least 10ng/g. The rat brain concentrations of clonidine and its derivatives achieved at the moment of maximal decrease in arterial pressure are proportional to the doses administered intravenously, and are not influenced by the effect of the compounds on the blood pressure or by the method of anaesthesia employed. It is concluded that, for the linear part of the dose-response curves for these compounds, the brain concentration is a measure of the hypotensive effect.