Ketoconazole and candidiasis: a controlled study.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of ketoconazole in the treatment of candidiasis. The drug was administered orally in the dosage of 200 mg/m2 of body surface per day for two weeks to cancer patients with oral candidiasis. Randomization in a 2:1 ratio provided 36 patients treated with ketoconazole and 20 managed with a placebo. Regression of visible lesions was achieved in 26 (72%) of 36 ketoconazole-treated and four (20%) of 20 untreated patients; eradication of culturable organisms occurred in 12 (36%) of 33 ketoconazole-treated and one (7%) of 14 untreated patients; and resolution of lesions plus eradication of Candida albicans occurred in nine (25%) of 36 ketoconazole-treated and one (5%) of 20 untreated patients. Although the therapeutic efficacy of ketoconazole was demonstrated for oropharyngeal candidiasis, the magnitude of its efficacy was less than that desired.

Detection of fever with infrared thermometry: a feasibility study.

Fever is a remarkably sensitive indicator of infectious disease. The thermometer in clinical use today is basically that developed over a century ago, measuring heat conducted from skin or mucous membranes to an adjacent probe. In dealing with immunosuppressed granulocytopenic patients, the need was realized for an instrument by which temperature might be determined without a probe contact. Infrared pyrometers have been used in industry to record the temperature of mechanical objects at a distance. We tested the feasibility of using such an instrument to detect fever in humans. In a controlled and blinded fashion, infrared measurements from the eyes, axillae, and areas below the ear lobes (E spot) of 140 febrile and afebrile patients were compared with rectal temperatures recorded by a standard thermometer. The eye and E spot provided the most accurate readings. Infrared measurements of the right eye identified 57 (95%) of 60 febrile and 72 (90%) of 80 afebrile patients correctly. Overall, 92% of all patients were correctly categorized by use of the infrared thermometer at this site. We conclude that this approach is feasible and, with further technical developments, may be applicable for routine clinical use.

Strawberry resistance toTetranychus urticae Koch: Effects of flower, fruit, and foliage removal-comparisons of air- vs. nitrogen-entrained volatile compounds.

An increase in resistance to the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM),Tetranychus urticae Koch, is observed in field-grown strawberry plants during the period from flowering to postharvest. This seasonal phenomenon was investigated to determine the influence of the metabolic sink, that is, fruiting in the plant. Removal of flowers and fruit and partial removal of foliage did not alter the pattern of resistance of the strawberry plant to TSSM. Bioassays were conducted in concert with chemical analyses. Headspace chemicals emitted from foliage samples were entrained in air and trapped on Tenax, identified, and compared with those entrained in nitrogen and trapped. Terpenes were among the major compounds entrained in air, whereas alcohols were obtained with nitrogen. The air-entrained headspace compounds did not appear to correlate quantitatively with the development of mite resistance in the control plants or those subjected to metabolic sink (flower and fruit) removal. Evidence was obtained for the presence of heretofore unreported strawberry foliage headspace components, namely, (Z)-3-hexenyl 2-meth-ylbutyrate, (Z)-3-hexenyl tiglate, (E)-ß-ocimene, (Z)-ß-ocimene, α-farnesene, and germacrene D.

Effect of timing of cefuroxime dosage on its protection of rats against gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

The neophrotoxic effect on rats of once daily treatment with 40 or 45 mg gentamicin/kg/day for ten days was substantially reduced by administration of 4 g cefuroxime/kg/day, either at the same time or eight hours later. This dosage of cefuroxime was protective when given for only two consecutive days starting on the first to third days of gentamicin treatment, but enhanced gentamicin nephrotoxocity when started on the sixth or subsequent days.