Secondary Outcomes of the Ole e 1 Proteins Involved in Pollen Tube Development: Impact on Allergies.

Ole e 1 protein is involved in olive fertilization mechanisms controlling pollen tube development. Similarly to the process by which pollen grains hydrated and form a pollen tube upon arrival at the female gametophyte, when pollen grains fall on the nasal mucosa the expression of Ole e 1 protein induce allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. The research was conducted in Ourense (North-western Spain), during the 2009-2018 period. Ole e 1 protein was collected using a Cyclone Sampler and processed with the ELISA methodology. Airborne Olea pollen were monitored using a Hirst type volumetric sampler. Allergy risk episodes identified by pollen concentrations were detected in five of the 10 studied years, all with moderate risk. Actual risk episodes of allergy increased when the combination of pollen and Ole e 1 concentrations were considered. Moderate risk episodes were detected during 9 years and high-risk episodes during 3 years. In addition, some years of low annual pollen concentrations recorded high total amounts of Ole e 1. During the years with lower pollen production, the tree increases the synthesis of Ole e 1 to ensure proper pollen tube elongation in order to complete a successful fertilization. This fact could justify higher sensitization rates in years in which a lower pollen production is expected. The present method contributes to the determination of the real exposure to Ole e 1 allergen evaluating the role of this protein as an aeroallergen for sensitized population. The allergen content in the atmosphere should be considered to enhance the prevention of pollinosis clinical symptomatology and the reduction of medicine consumption.

[Hypophysio-adrenal axis in patients with chronic alcoholism]. / Eje hipófiso-suprarrenal en el alcoholismo crónico.

OBJECTIVES: To study the situation of the hypophyso-adrenal axis in patients with chronic alcoholism. METHOD: 24 patients with chronic alcoholism admitted in our Institution with acute delirium were studied. Cortisol am and pm und (ACTH levels, along with hemogram with Wintrobe indexes, patelets number, triglicerides, total and HDL cholesterol, transaminases, alkaline phosphatase and gammaglutamyltranspeptidase were measured in serum. RESULTS: The mean values of ACTH am were 41.2 pcg/ml (normal values 10-80 pcg/ml), of plasma cortisol am 22 mcg/ml (normal values 10-24 mcg/ml) and plasmo cortisol pm 12.3 mcg/ml (normal values 5-12 mcg/ml). CONCLUSIONS: The amount of alcohol consumed by alcoholic patients ist not comparable to that used in animal models, which induced adrenal hyperfunction. Blood ACTH and cortisol levels are not useful as indirect markers of alcoholism. The Wintrobe indexes and serum gammaglutamyltranspeptidase levels are more useful for that purpose.

[Eye injuries in childhood]. / Traumatismos oculares en edad pediátrica.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the epidemiological, damage and preventative aspects of the pediatric ocular injuries treated during the last five years in our hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have revised all clinical histories of ocular injuries in the Emergency Services of the Asturias Central Hospital from January 1992 to December 1996. Two hundred fifty-seven cases were reviewed and the following parameters were studied: age, sex, kind of injury, causes and places where they originated, hospitalization or no, and functional sequeale. RESULTS: Eighty percent of the cases were male (206 patients). Most, 85.6% (220 cases) did not require hospital attention, while hospitalization was necessary in 14.4% (37 cases). Concerning the latter, 73% (27 cases) were in the hospital less than 7 days, while the other 27% (10 cases) were hospitalized from 8 to 14 days. As for the cause of and the location where the injuries took place, our results were as follows: school-home 33%, playtime-leisure 32%, sports accidents 12%, assaults 10%, traffic accidents 3% and unknown causes 10%. Minor injuries tend to imply the full restitution of sight (a large percentage were revised by their own ophthalmologist). Serious injuries caused the following functional losses: loss of eyeball in 2 cases (traffic accident), monolateral blindness in 2 cases serious amblyopia in 10 cases, and moderate amblyopia in 6 cases. CONCLUSIONS: Males suffer injuries 4 times more frequently than females and these are very infrequent before the age of 3 years. Traffic accident injuries are rare in comparison to in adulthood. Important immediate visual sequale were seen in 7.8% of the cases, although these may also appear later in cases that at first present good function during the acute phase.

A collaborative European study of personal inhalable aerosol sampler performance.

Following the adoption of new international sampling conventions for inhalable, thoracic and respirable aerosol fractions, a working group of Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) drafted a standard for the performance of workplace aerosol sampling instruments. The present study was set up to verify the experimental, statistical and mathematical procedures recommended in the draft performance standard and to check that they could be applied to inhalable aerosol samplers. This was achieved by applying the tests to eight types of personal inhalable aerosol sampler commonly used for workplace monitoring throughout Europe. The study led to recommendations for revising the CEN draft standard, in order to simplify the tests and reduce their cost. However, some further work will be needed to develop simpler test facilities and methods. Several of the samplers tested were found to perform adequately with respect to the inhalable sampling convention, at least over a limited range of typical workplace conditions. In general the samplers were found to perform best in low external wind speeds, which are the test conditions thought to be closest to those normally found in indoor workplaces. The practical implementation of the CEN aerosol sampling conventions requires decisions on which sampling instruments to use, estimation of the likely impact that changing sampling methods could have on apparent exposures, and adjustment where necessary of exposure limit values. The sampler performance data obtained in this project were affected by large experimental errors, but are nevertheless a useful input to decisions on how to incorporate the CEN inhalable sampling convention into regulation, guidance and occupational hygiene practice.

[The effects of cholestyramine on pancreatic secretion]. / Efectos de la colestiramina sobre la secreción pancreática.

The objective was to evaluate the effect of biliary salt depletion on morphology and function of the exocrine pancreas. Cholestyramine (15 g/day) was given during fifteen days to male Wistar rats in order to evaluate changes in pancreas weight as well as in enzymatic content of pancreatic tissue and duodenal juice (amylase, lipase and trypsinogen); in duodenal juice, bile salt concentration was also measured; Moreover ultrastructure of the exocrine pancreas was studied. Our results show an increase in pancreas weight in rats treated with cholestyramine, with a significant increase of amylase (p < 0.05) and trypsinogen in pancreatic tissue (p < 0.01), and of lipase in duodenal juice (p < 0.05). Ultrastructural changes were absent. It is concluded that cholestyramine, probably through a bile salt depletion, stimulates pancreatic function and growth, as well as lipase secretion.

[Modifications of the enzymatic content and morphology of the exocrine pancreas of rats with experimental hepatic cirrhosis induced by thioacetamide]. / Modificaciones del contenido enzimático y de la morfología del páncreas exocrino de rata con cirrosis hepática experimental inducida por tioacetamida.

In order to assess the experimental level of enzymatic content in exocrine pancreas of cirrhotic rats, cirrhosis was induced with administration of thioacetamide (50 mg/kg) during ten weeks to male Wistar rats with an initial average weight of 350 g. Contents of amylase, lipase and trypsinogen were determined in pancreatic tissues and amylase, lipase and biliary salts in duodenal juice obtained by cannulation and perfusion with physiologic serum. A higher presence of trypsinogen and amylase was detected in pancreatic tissues, and of lipase in the duodenal juice, with a trend, although insignificant, towards a decrease in biliary salts among the cirrhotic group. No changes were observed in the morphologic study. The hypothesis that a deficit of biliary salts in experimental cirrhosis could be responsible of the enzymatic increase in the pancreatic tissue and, in particular, of the selective excretion of lipase, is discussed.

The pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, and biotransformation of a new class of antitumor agents: mitonafide and pinafide.

The pharmacokinetics, biotransformation, protein binding and tissue distribution of mitonafide and pinafide were studied after single i.v. and oral administration of each drug (20 mg/Kg) in female rats. In pregnant rats a study of cross placental-barrier after i.v. administration of the two drugs was also performed. The drugs were absorbed fairly rapidly with a mean peak plasma level of 7.63 +/- 0.70 micrograms eq/ml for the 3H-mitonafide and with 6.16 +/- 0.77 micrograms eq/ml for the 3H-pinafide between 30 minutes and 1 hour after oral dosing. For both drugs, the pharmacokinetics can be described by a two-compartment open model. The mean elimination half-lives were 17.8 h and 47.5 h for 3H-mitonafide and 3H-pinafide, respectively. Two metabolites for each compound as well as unchanged drugs were identified in urine by TLC and GC/MS by comparison of their chromatographic properties with a number of reference compounds. Approximately 30% of the radioactive drug was excreted over a 48 h period for 3H-mitonafide and 24% for 3H-pinafide in urine, after i.v. administration. The cross placental-barrier studies showed that both 3H-mitonafide and 3H-pinafide were present in the 14-day fetuses.

Metabolism and kinetics of renal elimination of N-picolyl-3,5-dimethylbenzamides.

The metabolism and kinetics of renal elimination of N-(2-picolyl)-, N-(3-picolyl)- and N-(4-picolyl)-3,5-dimethylbenzamides were studied. These products have a depressive activity on the central nervous system, as well as an anti-inflammatory and spasmolytic activity. The elimination of the products N-(3-picolyl)- and N-(4-picolyl)-3,5-dimethylbenzamides includes a process of metabolic oxidization of the atom of pyridinic nitrogen with formation of the corresponding N-oxides as main products of its bio-transformation. The process of N-oxidization was not observed with the product N-(2-picolyl)-3,5-dimethyl-benzamide. The results showed that the renal elimination rate of the products studied is greater as the pyridinic nitrogen moves away from the amide group. In the biotransformation process of these products, there is an opposite effect, i.e., the formation of corresponding N-oxides is lower as the pyridinic nitrogen approaches the amide group.