Barnidipine monotherapy and combination therapy in older patients with essential hypertension: a long-term study.

The long-term (2 year) safety and efficacy of barnidipine was assessed in an open-label, dose-titration, multicentre study of 236 patients aged > or = 75 years with a sitting diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > or = 95 mmHg. All eligible patients started treatment with barnidipine 10 mg once daily. After at least 4 weeks treatment, the dose of barnidipine was titrated upwards to 20 mg daily in patients who did not achieve normalisation of blood pressure (sitting DBP < 90 mmHg). After at least another 4 weeks of treatment an ACE inhibitor or diuretic was added if necessary. Barnidipine monotherapy was the final treatment in 74% of patients in the ITT population (50% barnidipine 10 mg, 24% barnidipine 20 mg). The overall response rate was 84.1% at endpoint. Overall mean sitting DBP decreased by 18.4 mmHg from 102.1 mmHg at baseline to 83.7 mmHg at endpoint. Although a total of 82.2% of patients reported at least one adverse event, only 37.4% of patients experienced an adverse event that was possibly or probably related to the study medication. Many patients experienced adverse events associated with co-existing diseases common in older people. It can be concluded that barnidipine as monotherapy or in combination with ACE inhibitors or diuretics is safe and effective in older patients with essential hypertension.

Infectivity of Trypanosoma (Trypanozoon) brucei gambiense for baboons (Papio hamadryas, Papio papio).

In order to study sensitivity or resistance of T.b. gambiense to baboon serum, two species of baboons, P. hamadryas and P. papio were inoculated with T.b. gambiense clone LiTat 1.1. Both species were receptive to infection but, parasitological and immunological parameters showed that P. papio was more trypanotolerant than P. hamadryas. The VAT-specific trypanolysis test and the ELISA, using MoAb for circulating antigen detection may be appropriate for the diagnosis of human trypanosomiasis due to T.b. gambiense.

Characterization of a Trichinella isolate from polar bear.

An isolate of Trichinella of polar bear origin was studied by isoenzymatic typing. It was found referable to Trichinella nativa. While the Wistar rats proved nearly refractory to this isolate, the Swiss albino mice were highly susceptible. Ninety-one per cent of the cystic lesions in the diaphragm of the polar bear contained viable larvae after over 20 years of acquisition of the infection by the host which is a case of extreme adaptability of the parasite to its host. The anatomo-pathological aspects of these lesions are studied and the zoonotic significance of this isolate examined.

Non-A, non-B hepatitis-like nuclear particles in nonparenchymal cells of the liver.

Nuclear particles, morphologically similar to those seen in hepatocytes during non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis, were detected in several types of nonparenchymal cells in 10 human liver-biopsy specimens, including cases of hepatitis A and B and nonviral hepatic disease. They were also found in nonparenchymal cells of the liver in two of four normal chimpanzees and in two of four chimpanzees during experimental NANB viral hepatitis. In nonparenchymal cells the particles formed loose-to-intermediate aggregates, similar to those first described in hepatocytes during NANB hepatitis. Tightly packed aggregates, the predominant pattern in hepatocytes, were generally missing. The high prevalence of morphologically identical particles in various liver diseases and their presence in healthy livers, both in hepatocytes and in nonparenchymal cells not presumed to support the growth of hepatitis viruses, speak against their specificity for NANB hepatitis viruses. It is proposed that the particles represent a newly recognized and widespread cellular feature, of as yet unknown function.

Socio-economic problems related to animal trypanosomiasis in Africa.

Animal trypanosomiasis is one of the major constraints of rural development in Africa. If trypanosomiasis did not exist in these areas, it is estimated that some regions could carry 3-5 times more livestock. Chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis are old methods used to tackle the problem and are still valuable, provided the number of interventions is limited. Tse-tse fly control is a very useful tool to combat trypanosomiasis but expensive. The sterile male release technique is not economically feasible on a wide scale. Immunization or vaccination is not yet available. Trypanotolerance is a biological phenomenon; it seems to be a valid method, which allow African countries to keep and increase livestock within economically feasible conditions; but inevitably it will be a long exercise.

Are nuclear particles specific for non-A, non-B hepatitis?

This study reports the findings of an electron microscopic search for so-called non-A, non-B nuclear particles in liver biopsies from patients with mainly chronic or prolonged liver disease and from chimpanzees. In patients without hepatitis B virus or acute hepatitis A virus serological markers, non-A, non-B-like nuclear particles were seen in hepatocytes in 28 of 31 cases of presumed non-A, non-B hepatitis, but also in 11 of 12 cases of liver disease not usually attributed to hepatitis viruses. They were also seen in 22 of 24 patients with HBsAg, in 3 of 3 patients with anti-HBc and no HBsAg, in 1 of 2 patients with hepatitis A, in a case of cytomegalovirus hepatitis, and in 16 of 19 patients whose serology was not available or inconclusive. The particles were present in 1 of 8 untreated HBsAg-negative chimpanzees and in 2 of 2 HBsAg-positive chimpanzees. They appeared in 4 of 4 chimpanzees developing non-A, non-B hepatitis following exposure to various inocula. Three patterns of particle aggregates were distinguished, all of which had been shown by others in non-A, non-B hepatitis. Dense aggregates were predominant, while others have shown intermediate aggregates more often; reasons for this difference could be technical. No pattern was specific for any condition. Either non-A, non-B-like nuclear particles, although associated with non-A, non-B hepatitis, are not specific for this condition, or non-A, non-B hepatitis viruses are extremely more common than is currently appreciated.

New ultrastructural marker in hepatocytes in non-A, non-B viral hepatitis.

A new ultrastructural cytoplasmic marker designated as type 2, and distinct from type 1 previously associated with NA-NB hepatitis in chimpanzees, was found in hepatocytes of two patients and of one experimentally infected chimpanzee. These cases represent a minority of all cases we studied as presumed NA-NB viral hepatitis. Type 2 marker consists of tubular structures composed of an assembly of ring-like units coated with smaller uniform fragments, accumulated in different patterns in dilated cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum. Preliminary data using immunofluorescence with NA-NB hepatitis convalescent serum and antiserum against fibrinogen are reported. Type 2 marker may represent a different agent or a different reaction pattern to one agent of NA-NB viral hepatitis. Its features are compared with those of hepatitis B.

Serodiagnosis of Taenia saginata cysticercosis in experimentally and naturally infected cattle by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

The sensitivity and specificity of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the diagnosis of Taenia saginata cysticercosis was studied among laboratory reared experimentally infected calves and conventionally raised naturally infected cattle by using a T crassiceps metacestode antigen. The intensity of the metacestode burden in experimentally infected animals had a direct effect on the first appreciable rise in the spectrophotometric extinction values and also on the progressive elevation of these values during the later stages of infection. The animals harbouring less than 100 metacestodes were the most difficult to detect by ELISA. Serum from sheep infected with Cysticercus tenuicollis showed cross-reaction. Among the naturally infected cattle the sensitivity of ELISA was poor; only 37.5 per cent of the 24 proven cases could be diagnosed. One of the nine cattle harbouring natural infection of Fasciola hepatica showed cross-reaction. Of the 69 animals 4.3 per cent showed false positive reactions.

Sheep as an experimental model of Taenia saginata cysticercosis.

Taenia saginata cysticercosis was experimentally produced in 4 Soay sheep, 1 four-horned sheep and 1 Texel sheep by oral administration of eggs of the parasite. Some of these sheep were given dexamethasone therapy. The evolution of T. saginata cysticercosis in this host is characterised by a rapid immune reaction so that by 6 weeks after infection almost all the cysts were dead. There were indications that the dexamethasone therapy may have assisted establishment of the infection and to some extent, postponed the process of degeneration.

The chemical restraint of apes and monkeys by means of phencyclidine or ketamine.

The anesthetic effects of two drugs, namely, Phencyclidine and Ketamine, used alone or in combination with atropine, were compared during clinical and experimental procedures on different primate species ranging from gorillas, orangutans, white-faced and dwarf chimpanzees, baboons, cercopithecus monkeys to new--world monkeys. It is concluded that both these anesthetics are very good and safe drugs for restraint and anesthesia. Ketamine appeared to be superior to Phencyclidine for use among apes and monkeys in so far as it is shorter acting, has wider safety margin and shorter recovery time, provides better muscle relaxation and is practically without side effects. But Phencyclidine has definite advantage in so far as it is needed is smaller quantity to produce comparable effect of anesthesia.

Localization of larvae of Metastrongylus apri (Gmelin, 1790) Vostokov, 1905, the lungworm of pigs, in the annelid Eisenia foetida Savigny, 1826.

The first stage larvae of Metastrongylus apri could be recovered from the crop of Eisenia foetida after 24 hours of their infection. These were found invading the calciferous glands of the annelid as early as 48 hours post-infection. The larvae were subsequently found localized in the calciferous glands. hearts, dorsal vessel, anterior part of crop and part of the oesophagus anterior to the calciferous glands of the annelid. In general, the larvae had a preference for the circulatory vessels of the annelid so that great majority of them inhabit in the vascular system and the blood sinuses of the above mentioned organs.

The chromosomal radiosensitivity of lymphocytes from the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes).

The yield of chromosomal aberrations induced by exposure to X-irradiation in vitro was studied in the lymphocytes of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), a hominoid ape phylogenically and chromosomally closely related to man. In agreement with the similarity of the chromosome characteristics, no significant difference was observed between man and chimpanzee with respect to the incidence of dicentrics and fragments. It is obvious that the nuclear area, which apparently constitutes the most evident difference between the nuclei of man and chimpanzee lymphocytes, did not play an important role in the yields of aberrations.