A simple method for measurement of the haemoglobin binding capacity of canine haptoglobin.

The potential of a series of related compounds to induce haemolytic anaemia in dogs highlighted the need for a reliable and sensitive technique to identify changes in plasma haptoglobin concentration. An indirect method established for human samples was adapted for use with canine plasma. This method measures the haemoglobin binding capacity of plasma, which is directly proportional to the functional haptoglobin concentration. The efficacy of this technique was investigated on samples taken from Beagle dogs which had previously received small quantities of water intravenously. A substantial reduction in haemoglobin binding capacity was recorded before other haematological parameters were significantly affected. It was concluded that measurement of haemoglobin binding capacity by this method provides a valid reflection of haptoglobin status in the dog.

Bile acid assays as an index of cholestasis.

Four bile acid profiles, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase were measured in rats in which normal bile flow had been disturbed either by administration of alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate or by surgical ligation of the bile duct. The most sensitive index to the early onset of cholestasis was an increase in total cholate. This increase was measurable before morphological changes could clearly be identified.

Anomalies of cyclic AMP excretion in some abnormal offenders.

It is now well established that the metabolic sequeale of catecholamine secretion are mediated via cyclic nucleotides. Recent studies have indicated changes in the pattern of catecholamine secretion correlating with convictions for violence in maximum security hospital detainees. This study of the excretion rate of urinary cyclic AMP in this group of patients failed to show a correlation between adrenaline or noradrenaline and cyclic AMP secretion. However, subjects convicted of sexual offences showed a significantly greater cyclic AMP excretion than other patients and normal controls. These results are discussed in terms of the possible modification of receptor sensitivity and influence of alternative agonists such as testosterone.

Noradrenaline to adrenaline ratio in amniotic fluid as an index of fetal maturity.

Amniotic fluid lecithin to sphingomyelin ratio (L/S) and adrenaline concentration, noradrenaline concentration, and noradrenaline to adrenaline ratio (NA/A) were measured in 50 normal women late in pregnancy. Between gestation weeks 37 and 43 the maturity-linked increase in L/S ratio was accompanied by similar increases in NA/A ratio and noradrenaline but by decreases in adrenaline concentration. Although the amniotic fluid NA/A ratio reflects fetal sympathetic nervous system development rather than pulmonary development as mirrored by the L/S ratio, a high correlation existed between log NA/A and L/S, indicating that the NA/A ratio could provide a further index of fetal maturity.

Plasma catecholamines, stress and aggression in maximum security patients.

Investigations into the stress response of patients committed to a special hospital for criminally deviant offences have identified a group of sympathetically hypoactive patients who excrete more noradrenaline and less adrenaline in the urine than either the remaining hospital population or control subjects, during conditions of stresser anticipation. Further investigation of these patients has shown that similar differences in plasma catecholamines exist, and that the group of patients characterised by this imbalance tend to have been committed for the most physically violent crimes.

Abnormality of catecholamines balance relating to social deviance.

Approximately a quarter of maximum security hospital patients convicted of highly deviant crimes exhibited low 'anxiety-type' psychophysiological responsivity to stressors together with an abnormal catecholamine balance during stressor anticipation which resulted in noradrenalin to adrenalin ratios in excess of 5.5, an abnormally high value not exceeded by any control subjects and a result which is significant (p less than 0.005).