OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of intravenous vitamin C administration on the vasomotor responses to intracoronary L-arginine infusion in epicardial coronary arteries. METHODS 28 patients with coronary artery disease and stable angina were enrolled in the study. Eight patients received intracoronary infusions of 150 micromol/min L-arginine before and after intravenous infusion of vitamin C, ...

Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) plays a major role in pain processing and hypersensitivity. This study investigated whether PGE(2) levels are increased in the esophageal mucosa after acid infusion and whether increases in PGE(2) are associated with heartburn. Furthermore, expression of the PGE(2) receptor EP1 was investigated in human esophageal mucosa. Fourteen healthy male volunteers were randomi...

Studies were performed in rat small intestine in vivo to determine the effect of saline infusion on intestinal transport of Na(+) and H(2)O. Saline infusion decreased net Na(+) flux (J(n) (Na)) from 12.7 +/-0.8 to 6.4 +/-1.5 muEq/hr per cm in the jejunum when the intestinal perfusate contained both Na(+) and glucose. A similar fall in J(n) (Na) occurred in ileum. When mannitol was substituted f...

Ingestion of amniotic fluid or placenta by rats has been shown to enhance several types of opioid-mediated analgesia: that induced by morphine, footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, and late pregnancy. This enhancement has also been blocked by administration of opioid antagonists. The present study was designed to examine further the specificity of the enhancement effect for opioid-mediated ...

Along with the sexual revolution there was a drasting increase in the number of cases presenting with infertility and a shift in the major causes from ovarian and uterine anomalies, to tubal infertility. Thus, it was necessary to develop better means of evaluation of tubal permeability and morphology. The technological development in the ultrasound field made it possible to introduce into clini...

Abstract Swallowing of amniotic fluid by late gestation fetuses increases when amniotic fluid volume (AFV) is elevated. Our objectives were to quantitatively characterize fetal swallowing when AFV is elevated above normal to polyhydramniotic levels and to explore the mechanisms that mediate these changes. Late gestation fetal sheep were studied under basal conditions and during intra-amniotic i...

Chorioamnionitis is associated with preterm delivery and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), characterized by impaired alveolar and pulmonary vascular development and vascular dysfunction. To study the vascular effects in a model of chorioamnionitis, preterm lambs were exposed to 20 mg of intra-amniotic endotoxin or saline for 1, 2, 4, or 7 days and delivered at 122 days gestational age (term = 1...

Background: Histologic chorioamnionitis is only diagnosed postnatally which prevents interventions. We hypothesized that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the amniotic fluid might be useful biomarkers for and VOC profiles differ between amnionitis of different origins. Methods: Time-mated ewes received intra-amniotic injections media or saline (controls), live Ureaplasma parvum serovar 3 (Up...

Ritodrine hydrochloride concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay in maternal and fetal sera and amniotic fluid from eight, pregnant, volunteers. Each patient agreed to have 420 micrograms . kg-1 of ritodrine infused intra-venously over two hours prior to elective cesarian section. During infusion a blood sample was taken every 30 minutes from a maternal peripheral vein. Once anesthesia ...