Clinical evaluation of seven anticalculus dentifrice formulations.

One hundred ninety-two subjects completed a clinical trial to determine the effects of seven dentifrice formulations on calculus inhibition. The double-blind study involved a ten-day control phase and a ten-day experimental phase. For the control phase, subjects were evaluated for calculus present, received a prophylaxis and had pre-weighed mylar strips attached to the lingual surfaces of the mandibular incisors to harvest mineral deposits. Subjects were then assigned the placebo dentifrice for unsupervised twice-daily use and were required to report once a day for a supervised mouthrinse using a 1:3 dilution of the dentrifice. The experimental phase was identical except that subjects were allocated the experimental dentifices using a stratified random assignment based on age, gender and the initial presence of calculus. Simple linear regression analyses of the dry and ash log weights obtained from the strips were performed. The results showed no statistically significant differences among the test products; however, two formulations containing zinc citrate showed some calculus inhibition-potential suggesting that further research and development of such products may be warranted.

PCP abuse in New Orleans: a six-year study.

Methods for determination of PCP in body fluids are presented and a rapid screening method is suggested. The demographics, psychiatric profiles, forensic aspects, and diagnostic problems of PCP abuse are discussed.

Extended EMIT-DAU phencyclidine screen.

In a public hospital emergency room, 580 urines were screened for phencyclidine (PCP) with the routine EMIT-DAU PCP screen, the extended EMIT-DAU PCP screen, and a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer/computer (GC/MS/COMP) in selected ion mode, which was chosen as the reference method. The extended method produced a 38.5% increase in positives detected over the routine EMIT-DAU PCP screen and allowed 66.4% of the specimens to be signed out as negative without confirmation by GC/MS/COMP. This ability to provide a rapid, relatively inexpensive screen for PCP in urine and, in particular, to eliminate those patients whose specimens are negative, is important in a psychiatric population that contains many acutely psychotic individuals with grossly abnormal behavior.

4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine: identification of a new street drug.

The identification of 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine as a street drug is described. NMR, UV, and mass spectral data used in the identification of the compound are presented.

Medical and sociological aspects of T's and Blues abuse in New Orleans.

The medical and sociological aspects of T's and Blues abuse in New Orleans were studied to determine the effect of abuse on the medical and psychological status of the individuals involved and the sociological effects on the community in general. Sociologically, the most pertinent findings were an increase in the number of (1) deaths related to the use of T's and Blues, (2) arrests and revocation of parole for possession and/or sale of Talwin, and (3) a decrease in the number of arrests for the possession and sale of heroin. In the medical and psychiatric context of this study, three distinct groups of addicts were found of which the T's and Blues users were the largest. Psychiatrically, the most pertinent observation was the high (30-35%) incidence of paranoid, violence prone life-styles seen among T's and Blues users. This finding certainly is in accord with the increased homicide rate and T's and Blues related deaths noted in other aspects of this study.

Phencyclidine abuse in New Orleans: medical, forensic, and laboratory aspects.

A one year study of phencyclidine abuse in New Orleans showed that 90% of the cases cannot be detected by routine laboratory methods. Fifty percent of all cases showed evidence of police intervention. Initial impressions covered a wide range of psychiatric and clinical diagnoses. Recurring psychiatric problems due to the presence of the drug would indicate observation for a period of at least 72 hours. Patterns of PCP abuse cross racial and ethnic boundaries and are found uniformly in all population groups.

Ethanol ingestion in children. A five-year review.

A five-year review at ethanol ingestions in children at Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans, revealed nine cases with blood ethanol levels in excess of 21.7 mmole/L (100 mg/dL); none resulted in death. We describe four patients in whom the blood ethanol levels were potentially life-threatening. In one case, we were able to follow the affected child's blood ethanol level serially; the rate of decrease was about twice that reported for an adult.

A noninvasive technique for monitoring response to chemotherapy in human acute leukemia.

To see whether urine enzyme activities could be used as an index in evaluating the disease status of leukemia patients, we examined the activities of four enzymes: arylsulfatases A(AS-A) and B(AS-B), alkaline phosphatase (AP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). AP and LDH showed no consistent patterns. The activities of AS-A and AS-B correlated well with the patient's clinical status, increasing during progression of disease and decreasing toward normal activities during responses to therapy, as judged from bone marrow cellularity and differential. Among 23 untreated patients with a histologic diagnosis of acute leukemia we found increased activities of the urine enzymes in these proportions: AS-A in 23 patients (100%), AS-B in 22 (95.7%), AP in 7 (30.4%), and LDH in 10 (43.5%). Five patients in remission from acute leukemia had normal activities for all four enzymes. In one patient in remission for more than one year, a rise in urinary arylsulfatase activity preceded observable bone marrow relapse by 4 months. Unlike that of serum of urine lysozyme and serum copper, the determination of urine arylsulfatase activities appears to be a consistent, useful indicator of response to antileukemic therapy. In contrast to the determination of polyamines, the quantitation of arylsulfatase activity is achieved with greater ease and with instrumentation available in most clinical laboratories.

Arylsulfatse B in colorectal cancer.

Arylsulfatase B activity has been determined in 24-hour urine samples from 243 patients with colorectal cancer. Elevated activity of the enzyme was obsereved in 172 out of 243 (71%) patients. Employing Dukes' modified classification of colorectal cancer, urine arylsulfatase B activity was elevated in Dukes' A lesions-1/8 (12%), Dukes' B lesions-24/43 (55%). Dukes' C lesions-89/111 (80%), and Dukes' D lesions-66/81 (82%). Arylsulfatase B activity in urine, when elevated, may be used to follow response to therapy since in those patients with elevated urine arylsulfatase B values who subsequently responded to therapy, the enzyme values became or approached normal. Urine arylsulfatase B activity also correlated with plasma carcinoembryonal antigen (CEA) as a diagnostic indicator of colorectal cancer in 33/46 (71%) patients. In contrast to the urinary findings, arylsulfatase B activity in tumor tissue was elevated in only 24% (27/110) of the specimens of colorectal cancer. It was also found that in a group of 55 patients treated with 5-fluorouracil, all of the 13 patients that showed objective response to therapy had activities of arylsulfatase B in the tumor tissue within the normal range for large bowel mucosa. Nevertheless, 22 to 26 of the 43 patients that did not respond also presented values in the normal range. The roles of lysosomal enzymes in colorectal cancer are discussed.