Nagoya Journal of Medical Science

An attempt has been made to detect antibodies to aminopyrine or its derivatives (pyrazolone derivatives) with a passive hemagglutination assay system. Formalinized red blood cells were sensitized by coupling diazotized 4-aminoantipyrine to the surface membrane. With this method, circulating antibodies were detected in a patient with aminopyrine-induced agranulocytosis. Serial determinations revealed that the concentration of antibody increased rapidly after the onset of clinical manifestations, reaching a maximum in about a week, and thereafter began to fall off gradually. The presence of antibody was found in 32 sera of 75 patients with a history of skin reaction due to aminopyrine or its analogues and in 15 sera of 62 control subjects having no such history. The highest hemagglutination titer was 1 : 16.

The nature and cause of ureteral contraction has been studied by many authors, using various methods¹⁾²⁾. An electromanometer with a sensitive strain gauge has been extensively used for the past about fifteen years to permit a more precise interpretation of ureteral contraction³⁾⁴⁾⁵⁾. This paper describes the peristaltic activity and dynamic gradients of both human and dog ureters in vivo. Previous works are discussed on the excised ureter in vitro⁶⁾⁷⁾⁸⁾.

Authors fed rats with a high fat, high calory diet for 400 days. Noticeable increase of body weights and disarrangement of carbohydrate metabolism of rats were induced. The pathogenesis of the impaired carbohydrate metabolism was partially due to the decrease of glycolytic system as well as the increase of the gluconeogenic system in livers of rats with the abundant oxidation of fatty acid. It is considered to be one form of the metabolic adaptation.
The alteration of metabolism was also present at some of the peripheral tissues of rats. The disturbance of glycolytic system was observed in retinas of rats fed with a high fat, high calory diet.
In the retinas of rats fed with a high fat, high calory diet, bleeding of the retinal vessels as well as alteration of visual and ganglion cells were apparent. In the trypsin-digested flat preparation of retinas of these rats, the impairment of the blood vessel wall was indicated.
In the pancreas of rats fed with high fat, high calory diet, the hypertrophy of Langerhans island and the fibrosis of exocrine glands were observed. Fibrosis of muscles was noticed in the heart of rats fed with a high fat, high calory diet.
Authors discussed these experimental results in connection with the diabetic retinopathy and the metabolic adaptation of rats to the high fat feeding.

Since the experiences of severe side effects of peridurographic examination have been reported, this procedure has been used less frequently in spite of its easy to get. The most remarkable symptoms of accidents were clonic convnlsion, disturbances of speech and consciousness, headache, hyperperspiration and myalgia. Physical examinations revealed always increase of tendon reflex and sometimes pathologic reflex.
The accidents could be caused by intraspinal administration of water-soluble contrast medium (Diatrizoate), and also there is a report that there was an accident only when contrast medium was injected in the cranial portion of the subarachnoid space. Contrast medium permeates through the dura mater. Its permeability rate was about 0.4'76 in the patient with normal meninges.
Since some agents which affect carbohydrate metabolism was found to cause acute convulsion, and decrease of ATP production or ATP utilization was considered to have close relation to consciousness, the effects of the contrast medium on hexokinase activity and mitochondrial respiration of rat brain were examined, and noticeable inhibitory effects were found. The inhibitory effect on D-amino acid oxidase was also observed.
The medium had no effects on the succinic dehydrogenase activity, but it had remarkable effects on the state 3 respiration, and decrease of P:0 ratio indicated decrease of ATP production. These results suggest that the water- soluble contrast medium, which is injected in the subarachnoid space, stimulates the cerebral cortex and produces the metabolic disturbances of the brain which might have some relation to development of the accidents.

Effects of palmitic acid, inhibitors, uncouplers, and reduced and oxidized glutathione on the binding of insulin-¹³¹I and ¹³¹I to the isolated fresh or aged mitochondria were studied.
The binding of insulin-1311 to the fresh mitochondria was unexpectedly in- creased to a greater degree with the exogenous addition of palmitic acid, gluta- thione, acetaldehyde and 2,4-dinitrophenol to the medium. The fact indicated that the intactness of mitochondria was not prerequisite for the binding of in- sulin^-131I to the isolated mitochondria.
The binding of insulin^-131I was compared to the fresh mitochondria and the aged mitochondria. Insulin-131[ bouud to the aged mitochondria in a lesser degree. It is suggested that the binding of insulin^-131I to the mitochondria might be related to the mitochondrial functional and conformational state.
The binding of ¹³¹I to the mitochondria was apparently differrnt from that of insulin^-131I. And the binding of ¹³¹I was not altered by these uncouplers except in the case of acetaldehyde and ethyl alcohol. This implies that the process of binding of insulin^-131I is different from that of ¹³¹I. In the case of ¹³¹I, it may have some connections with its ion transport mechanism.

Acute toxicity and pharmacological actions of rosolic acid were studied. Results: (1) LD 50 s of rosolic acid on mice were 82 (78-87) mg/kg s.c. and 49 (41-58) mg/kg i.p. The animals survived after the oral administration. (2) Significant irritation on the mucosa was not observed. (3) Rosolic acid produced a rise in the blood pressure and a transient depression of respiration in the rabbit. (4) Rosolic acid increased the contractile force and heart rate in the isolated atria of the guinea pig. (5) Rosolic acid caused a contraction followed by a relaxation in the isolated rabbit and guinea pig ileum.