Protective effects of O-(beta-hydroxyethyl)-rutosides (HR) against adriamycin-induced toxicity in rats.

Adriamycin (Adriablastine), administered weekly at the dose of 5 mg/kg i.p. for 3 weeks in rats, produced a general decrease of vitality associated with a decrease of body weight, hypothermia, decreases of stroke volume and cardiac output. Hematocrit was decreased. Renal blood flow decreased whereas pulmonary blood flow increased. Mean blood pressure and heart rate remained unaffected. Biochemical evaluations revealed a decrease of blood urea and serum creatinine, which might be related to decreased food intake and protein metabolism. Morphological changes in the heart tissue could not be appreciated. Venoruton (HR), administered at the dose of 300 mg/kg p.o. daily for 28 days (5 days before and 23 days after the first injection of adriamycin), improved adriamycin-induced clinical signs and symptoms (loss of body weight, hypothermia and decreased general vitality). It tended to increase cardiac output and stroke volume.

[Automatic design of a linear or logarithmic scale. Application to plotting of conversion scales]. / Dessin automatique d'une échelle linéaire ou logarithmique. Application au tracé d'échelles de conversion.

This flexible program permits automatic linear or logarithmic scaling between two limiting values set by the user. The software is in BASIC adapted for the Hewlett-Packard calculators HP-9845B and HP-85A.

A simple, automatic means of designing a conversion table for expressing laboratory results in the International System of Units (SI).

A simple, automatic means of designing a conversion table for expressing laboratory results in the international system of units (SI) is described. The increasing use of the international system of units for expressing the results of clinical chemistry and haematology sets doctors, biologists and paramedical workers the problem of converting the results from the previous confused system of units into the SI system. We propose a simple method for establishing a conversion scale from one system to the other, irrespective of the parameter. This is based on a Hewlett-Packard 9830A calculator equipped with a 9862A plotter. The BASIC language is used. Accordingly we have prepared conversion tables for the most commonly used parameters into the international system of units, on behalf of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.

The energy metabolism of the leukocyte. IX. Changes in the concentration of the coenzymes NAD, NADH, NADP, and NADPH in polymorphonuclear leukocytes during phagocytosis of Staphylococcus albus and due to the action of phospholipase C.

The determination of the coenzymes NAD+, NADH, NADP+ and NADPH, by the use of a method of enzymatic cycling, demonstrates that the enzymes responsible for the stimulations found during the phagocytosis of Staphylococcus albus are NADH and NADPH oxidase of human leukocytes and NADPH oxidase in the case of guinea pig leukocytes. The effects of serum, of the bacterial strain used and of phospholipase C are also discussed.

[Urinary mercury excretion in professional users of an antiseptic soap containing 0,04% phenylmercury borate]. / L'excrétion urinaire de mercure chez des utilisateurs professionnels d'un savon antiseptique contenant 0,04% de borate de phénylmercure

Concentrations of mercury and of creatinine were measured under blind conditions in 84 samples of urine from 48 regularly using a liquid soap containing 0.04% phenylmercuric borate plus 3% hexachlorophene for hand disinfection ("users"), and in 138 urine samples of 80 subjects disinfecting their hands with a soap containing only hexachlorophene ("controls"). The concentration of mercury in the urine of users was 27+/-3 mug/1 (mean +/- SE), and in controls 8+/-1 mug/1; calculated total 24 h urinary mercury excretions were 27+/-2 mug/24 h users and 9+/-1 mug/24 h in controls. Women excreted slightly more mercury than men both in the user group and the control group. In both controls and users from whom a second urine sample was obtained after a 2-week interval the concentration of mercury was consistently lower in the second sample. No correlation was found between urinary excretion of mercury and frequency of handwashings or reported intake of mercury-containing food. No difference was found in the numbers of different types of urinary cells or urine pH as between users and controls. It is concluded 1) that regular hand disinfection with a liquid soap containing 0.04% phenylmercuric borate enhanced urinary excretion of mercury indicating an increase in total daily absorption of 30-100 mug Hg/24 h, 2) that the absorption of mercury from the phenylmercuric borate-containing soap occurred partly by transfer from the hands to the oral cavity, 3) that, though nontoxic in themselves, the additional amounts of mercury absorbed through the use of mercury contained in skin disinfectants are potentially dangerous due to as yet unknown interactions with other toxic or pathogenic factors.

[Enzyme system and coenzymes involved in the energy metabolism of leukocytes. Function and metabolism of polymorphonuclear neutrophils]. / Systèmes enzymatiques dans le métabolisme énergétique du leucocyte. Fonction et métabolisme du polynucléaire neutrophile

Mitochondria may be isolated from various types of leukocyte (neutrophil polymorphs and lymphocytes from human blood, neutrophil polymorphs and macrophages from peritoneal exudates of the guinea pig) after destruction by heparin of the cell membrane. This procedure is very simple and less traumatic for these subcellular structures than the usual mechanical procedures. The enzyme activities of the respiratory chain and oxygen consumption may be measured in these mitochondrial preparations. The oxygen consumption is determined using oxyhemoglobin which serves both as oxygen donor, as in the respiratory system in vivo, and as indicator of the reaction at 435.8 nm. The integrity of the mitochondria may be demonstrated by determination of the "acceptor control index", the existence of ADP phosphorylation coupled with oxygen consumption (phosphorylating oxidation) was proved in all the cells studied even if the ADP/O ratio can only be calculated for certain of them (lymphocytes, macrophages). In these cases, the ratios obtained are close to theoretical values whatever the oxidation substrate used. The mitochondria of leukemic cells have a higher oxidation activity than the corresponding reference cells. Determination of leukocyte coenzymes by enzyme cycling (NAD, NADH, NADP, NADPH) showed the following facts: -- Generally, the NAD concentrations remain constant, those of NADH increase whilst those of NADP and NADPH fall during incubation of neutrophil polymorphs in Dulbecco's medium. -- The metabolic changes observed during S. albi heat-induced endocytosis are in favour of simultaneous stimulation of NADH oxidase and NADPH oxidase in human polymorphs, and of NADPH oxidase in the corresponding cells of peritoneal exudates in guinea pigs.