Effects of vasoconstriction on the acute anterior pituitary hormonal response to head injury

WOS: 000178883400008PubMed: 12372703Since cerebral vasoconstriction alone may impair the hypothalamic and pituitary circulation, we planned to investigate whether the hormonal response to the vasoconstriction that may be induced by the head injury is a significant component of the general acute hormonal response to head injury. Although diffuse adrenocorticotropic hormone immunohistochemical staining of the adenohypophysis of rabbits was observed in the head trauma administered group, only mild positive staining was present in the Endothelin-1 administered group. However, decreased prolactin staining was found in both of the groups. It is postulated that trauma induced vasoconstriction may not be an important manipulating factor in the corticotrophic hormone response to injury, while it may be responsible for the decreased prolactin response. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Effects of trauma and pain on the acute anterior pituitary hormonal response

PubMed: 12147213The aim of this study was to compare the effects of trauma and pain on the pituitary gland so as to determine whether pain is a significant component in the general acute hormonal trauma response. Adenohypophysis of rabbits that have undergone either diffuse traumatic brain injury or pain were investigated using immunohistochemistry. The ACTH staining pattern of the pain-administered rabbits was not as strong as the head-trauma-administered group, whereas PRL staining pattern of the former group was not so weak as the later group. As a conclusion, since adrenocorticotrophic hormone and prolactin staining patterns were different in the trauma administered and pain induced groups; it may be postulated that pain alone may not be an important factor in the hormonal response to trauma. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

Investigation of the role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

Cisplatin (CP) is an effective chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of a variety of solid tumours. The most frequently observed side-effect of the use of CP is nephrotoxicity. Recently, evidence has been demonstrated that reactive oxygen species forming in the tubular epithelium play an important role in CP-linked nephrotoxicity. The aim of the study was to observe the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on CP nephrotoxicity, a subject which has not been studied previously. Wistar rats were treated with CP (a single intraperitoneal (IP) dose of 0.6 mg/100 g) alone and in combination with HBO (60 min every day for seven days at 2.5 x atmospheric pressure). Effects of the treatment on renal function and histology were determined. In analyses at the end of the study it was observed that serum urea, creatinine, and daily urinary protein excretion levels of the CP group were higher than at the start of the study, and that the creatinine clearance level had fallen (P 0.05). Histopathological examination showed that the necrosis score in the proximal tubule epithelial cells and average apoptitic cell numbers in the CP group were higher than those in the CP+HBO and HBO groups (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference between the CP+HBO group and the HBO group in terms of necrosis score in the proximal tubule epithelial cells and the percentage of distal tubules containing hyaline casts in the lumen. In conclusion, in this study it was observed that in experimental study of CP nephrotoxicity the synchronous application of HBO therapy with CP prevents kidney damage

A retrospective analysis for aetiology and clinical findings of 287 secondary amyloidosis cases in Turkey

Background. Secondary amyloidosis is the most frequent of the various types of systemic amyloidosis, the epidemiology of which is not yet fully known. The aim of our study was to evaluate retrospectively the collective data for the aetiological distribution, clinical findings and approaches to the management of secondary amyloidosis in Turkey

Hospital-acquired infections following the 1999 Marmara earthquake

In this study, medical records of all casualties admitted to our hospital following the Marmara earthquake, which struck northwest Turkey and resulted in the destruction of several towns in the Marmara region, were evaluated retrospectively. The time buried under the rubble, demographic data, type of medical and surgical therapies performed, type of injury and data on infection were analysed. Between 17 August and 25 September 1999, 630 trauma victims were received at our hospital and 532 (84%) of them were hospitalized. The mean age of hospitalized patients (312 males, 220 females) was 32 years (2-90 years). Two hundred and twenty patients were hospitalized for more than 48 h. Forty-one of them (18.6%) had 43 hospital-acquired infection (HAI) episodes, which were mostly wound infections (46.5%). A total of 143 culture specimens was collected and 48 yielded the following potential pathogens: 15 Acinetobacter baumanii (31.2%), nine Staphylococcus aureus (18.7%), seven Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.6%), six Escherichia coli (12.5%), six Klebsiella pneumoniae (12.5%), two Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (4.2%) and three various Pseudomonas spp. (6.3%). All S. aureus strains were found to be resistant to methicillin in vitro. Two strains of A. baumannii and one P. aeruginosa were found to be resistant to all antimicrobials including carbapenems. Fifty-three victims died (10%) and 36 of those died during the first 48 h because of severe injuries and multi-organ failure. After 48 h of hospitalization, the mortality rate was significantly higher in those patients with HAI (14/41) than those without (3/179) (34.1% vs. 1.7%, P < 0.05). In conclusion, trauma is the significant factor associated with HAI and a high incidence of Acinetobacter strains was responsible for HAI in trauma patients. (C) 2002 The Hospital Infection Society