Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on patients with traumatic brain injury.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the medical therapeutic use of oxygen at a higher atmospheric pressure. The United States Food and Drug Administration have approved several clinical applications for HBOT, but HBOT in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients has still remained in controversial. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the benefit of HBOT on the prognosis of subacute TBI patients. We prospectively enrolled 44 patients with TBI from November 1, 2004 to October 31, 2005. The study group randomly included 22 patients who received HBOT after the patients' condition stabilization, and the other 22 corresponding condition patients were assigned into the matched control group who were not treated with HBOT. The clinical conditions of the patients were evaluated with the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) before and 3 to 6 months after HBOT. The GCS of the HBOT group was improved from 11.1 to 13.5 in average, and from 10.4 to 11.5 (p < 0.05) for control group. Among those patients with GOS = 4 before the HBOT, significant GOS improvement was observed in the HBOT group 6 months after HBOT. Based on this study, HBOT can provide some benefits for the subacute TBI patients with minimal adverse side effects.

Calcium influx inhibition: possible mechanism of the negative effect of tetrahydropalmatine on left ventricular pressure in isolated rat heart.

The active ingredient dl-tetrahydropalmatine (THP) isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Corydalis racemosa has been found to have antihypertensive effects. However, severe cardiac and neurological toxic effects were reported from using this herb for the treatment of pain. In an isolated perfused rat heart model, THP at the concentration of 100 microM was found to have a negative effect (-45%) on left ventricular pressure and this effect was produced concentration-dependently from concentrations lower than 50 microM. In isolated cardiomyocytes, radioactive calcium influx was also inhibited significantly by THP at the concentration of 100 microM and this effect was also in a concentration-dependent manner (-39%). In a patient with latent heart disease, the use of Corydalis should probably be detrimental, the toxic effect was probably due to calcium influx inhibition.

A nationwide epidemiological study of spinal cord injuries in Taiwan from July 1992 to June 1996.

This prospective epidemiological survey of spinal cord injury (SCI) in Taiwan was carried out by recruiting patients attended by physicians from various medical centers and general hospitals all over Taiwan from July 1992 to June 1996. A total of 6,410 cases of traumatic spinal fracture were registered among which were 1,586 new cases of SCI. The results represented 70% of the scope of SCI in Taiwan. The observed average annual incidence of SCI in Taiwan was 18.8 per million population. The mean age was 46.1 years-old with a plateau distribution for over 20 years and older. Geriatric victims are a major group of SCI in Taiwan. The male to female ratio was 3 to 1. The leading causes of SCI were traffic accidents and accidental falls. Motorcycle collisions accounted for 62% of the traffic accidents, and as most of the motorcycle riders were not helmet users, head injury became the major associated injury of SCI in Taiwan. The effectiveness of the comprehensive care system for SCI patients in Taiwan is relatively good, as reflected by the low rates of complications of SCI, the low mortality rate (6.6%) and the high percentage (67.4%) of SCI patients achieving self-care ultimately at home after rehabilitation. The analysis of person days healthy life loss and quality adjusted survival time revealed that SCI patients in Taiwan required 4 years to cope with the morbidity, and on average, could return to the main stream of life for another 30 years.

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist increases survival in rat heatstroke by reducing hypothalamic serotonin release.

During onset of heatstroke, rats displayed higher values of hypothalamic serotonin release and score f hypothalamic neuronal damage, and lower values of mean arterial pressure and hypothalamic blood flow compared with normothermic control rats. In another group in which interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra; 200 micrograms/kg, i.v.) was injected 30 or 60 min after the start of heat exposure, the augmented hypothalamic serotonin release, diminished hypothalamic blood flow, arterial hypotension and hypothalamic neuronal damage during heatstroke were reduced as compared to the saline control group. The survival time (interval between onset of heatstroke and death) of the heatstroke rats was prolonged by treatment with IL-1 ra. The data indicate that IL-1 ra increases survival during rat heatstroke by reducing hypothalamic serotonin release.

Decline of chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides residues in the tea-garden soils of Taiwan.

Residues of chlorinated hydrocarbon insectidies and some of their metabolites, including p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, gamma-BHC, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide, were examined in the soils collected from 21 tea-gardens distributed in 15 countries of 6 prefectures in 1977, and from 100 locations distributed in 46 counties of 10 prefectures in 1984 in Taiwan. Although the use of these chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides has been banned for many years, minor amounts of residues in the soils have still been detected. From 1977 to 1984, average residues of the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides and their metabolites in the soils of tea-gardens decreased from 5.64 to 0.06 ppb for gamma-BHC, 97 54 to 1.10 ppb for aldrin, 35.91 to 1.00 ppb for p,p'-DDE, 17.41 to 0.28 ppb for dieldrin, and 30.17 to 3.42 ppb for p,p'-DDT. But the number of positive cases increased for all chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides tested, the residual levels were not significantly different among soils with different physiochemical properties or among soil layers. No significant amount of these insecticides was found in the processed tea.