Microbiological quality of water and dialysate in a haemodialysis unit in Ponta Grossa-PR, Brazil.

AIMS: The objective of the study was to determine the microbiological quality of samples of water and dialysate in a haemodialysis unit. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seventy-two samples each of water and dialysate were collected during November 2003 to April 2004. The following microbiological analyses were performed: test for total and faecal coliforms, which produced negative results for all the samples; counts of total heterotrophic bacteria, where three samples of water and two of dialysate showed levels higher than those permitted by national standards; and endotoxin assay, which revealed high quantities only in samples of water that preceded reverse osmosis. Nonfermenting Gram-negative bacteria were identified in 54 samples of dialysate and in 26 samples of water. The test for adhesion to an inert surface showed that various bacteria were capable of forming biofilms. Twenty-seven per cent of the bacteria were resistant to sodium hypochlorite at 500 ppm for 10-min contact time. Sixty per cent of the isolates were resistant to three or more antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: Water and dialysate can be a source of infection for patients who need haemodialysis. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: An adequate system for water treatment, disinfection of the haemodialysis system and microbiological monitoring of the water and dialysate are necessary to reduce bacteraemia and pyrogenia outbreaks.

Amphetamine and N-acetylamphetamine incorporation into hair: an investigation of the potential role of drug basicity in hair color bias.

To elucidate the role of drug basicity in the preferential incorporation of certain drugs into dark hair rather than light hair, Long-Evans rats were dosed with amphetamine or its non-basic analogue N-acetylamphetamine (N-AcAp) and their hair evaluated for drug content. Rats were shaved prior to dosing. On the 14th day after dosing, hair from the same area that was shaved prior to dosing was shaved and collected. After the addition of amphetamine-d3 or N-AcAp-d3 as an internal standard, hair samples (20 mg) were digested in 1M NaOH at 37 degrees C. Digested solutions were then extracted with n-butyl chloride/chloroform (4:1, v/v). After drying and reconstituting, samples were injected onto a ThermoQuest TSQ liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry instrument for analysis. Black hair from rats dosed with amphetamine (n = 8) was found to contain 6.44 +/- 1.31 (SD) ng amphetamine/mg hair. White hair from the same rats contained 2.04 +/- 0.58 ng amphetamine/mg hair. In contrast, no difference in N-AcAp content was found between black hair (0.87 +/- 0.08 ng N-AcAp/mg hair) and white hair (0.83 +/- 0.15 ng N-AcAp/mg hair) from rats dosed with N-AcAp (n = 8).

Relationship of melanin degradation products to actual melanin content: application to human hair.

Methods not only for characterizing but also for quantitating melanin subtypes from the two types of melanin found in hair--eumelanin and pheomelanin--have been established. In relation to testing for drugs of abuse in hair, these methods will allow for correction of drug binding to specific melanin subtypes and will serve to improve drug measurement in hair. 5,6-Dihydroxyindole (DHI) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) make up the majority of the eumelanin polymer while benzothiazene units derived from 2-cysteinyl-S-Dopa (2-CysDopa) and 5-cysteinyl-S-Dopa (5-CysDopa) compose the majority of the pheomelanin polymer. Our results show that: (1) pyrrole-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (PDCA) and pyrrole-2,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (PTCA), markers for DHI and DHICA units, respectively, are produced in 0.37 and 4.8% yields, respectively, when melanins are subjected to alkaline hydrogen peroxide degradation, (2) 3-aminotyrosine (3AT) and 4-amino-3-hydroxyphenylalanine (AHP), markers for 2-CysDopa and 5-CysDopa, respectively, are produced in 16 and 23% yield, respectively, when subjected to hydriodic acid hydrolysis, and (3) that black human hair contains approximately 99% eumelanin and 1% pheomelanin, brown and blond hair contain 95% eumelanin and 5% pheomelanin; and red hair contains 67% eumelanin and 33% pheomelanin. These data will allow deeper investigation into the relationship between melanin composition and drug incorporation into hair.

Genomic organization and regulation of the vav proto-oncogene.

Vav and vav2 are members of the dbl family of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEF) for the rho/rac family of GTP binding proteins. Vav is expressed primarily in hematopoietic cells, while vav2 has a wider tissue distribution. The genomic structure of the human vav proto-oncogene was studied by identifying and sequencing all 27 exons of the gene from overlapping P1 and cosmid clones. The gene spans a 77-kb region on chromosome 19. In contrast, the coding region of vav2 is distributed over 30 exons spanning 227-kb. The overall organization of the exons which encode both proteins was found to be similar. In humans, alternative splicing of exons 6, 16 and 28 generated at least two distinct vav2 mRNA species. Several differences from the original vav cDNA sequence were noted. The most important difference was the identification of amino acid 718 as isoleucine, rather than threonine. This change warrants the reclassification of the vav SH2 domain as a type 3 SH2, instead of a type 2 SH2 as originally proposed by Songyang et al. (Mol. Cell. Biol. 14 (1994) 2777-2785). A series of vav promoter deletions were constructed using the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a reporter gene. A 23-bp segment that included a potential CBF/AML-1 binding site was found to be essential for EGFP expression in U937 cells. The same constructs were not active in HeLa cells, which do not express vav. A potential c-myb DNA binding site within the vav promoter was not required for EGFP expression.

Detection of nandrolone, testosterone, and their esters in rat and human hair samples.

Nandrolone and testosterone are anabolic androgenic steroids occasionally abused by athletes. A sensitive, specific, and reproducible gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the quantitative determination of nandrolone, testosterone, and their esters in hair has been developed. The limits of quantitation of this method, based on 20 mg of hair, were 50 pg/mg for nandrolone and testosterone, 100 pg/mg for testosterone acetate, and 200 pg/mg for nandrolone-decanoate. Nandrolone-d3 and testosterone-d3 were used as internal standards. This method has been applied to the analysis of these compounds incorporated into rat and human hair. Male Long-Evans rats were given nandrolone decanoate 60 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.) once daily for 10 days over a time period of 14 days. Two of the three rats contained nandrolone in the pigmented hair collected at day 21 at a concentration of 63 and 76 pg/mg, respectively. No drug was found in the corresponding nonpigmented hair. The rat hair samples that tested positive for nandrolone contained also nandrolone decanoate in concentrations of 0.9 and 1.2 ng/mg, respectively. In a separate experiment rats were given testosterone acetate 10 mg/kg i.p. once daily for five days. No testosterone or testosterone acetate was detected in the rat hair samples. Hair specimens were also obtained from four self-reported steroid users. The hair of two subjects were determined to be positive for testosterone in concentrations of 54 and 81 pg/mg. These data demonstrate that it is possible to detect the steroids nandrolone, testosterone, and nandrolone decanoate in hair after systemic administration.

Metoclopramida. / Metoclopramide

A metoclopramida, droga do grupo das benzamidas, tem sido amplamente utilizada nos ultimos anos como recurso de valia no pre, per e pos-operatorio e em varias situacoes na clinica medica. Os autores, neste trabalho, se propoem a uma revisao bibliografica sobre a droga, visando a melhor compreensao de seus efeitos e o seu aproveitamento mais amplo na clinica anestesiologica