Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Identification Of Experimentally Induced Colitis By In Vitro Nuclear Magnetic Resonance., R H Rolandelli, S H Saul, R G Settle, D O Jacobs, Raymond Singer, G L Wolf, J L Rombeau

Raymond L Singer MD

The present study determined whether in vitro nuclear magnetic resonance could be used to assess experimentally induced colitis in rats. Acute colitis was induced in 6 Sprague-Dawley rats by acetic acid enema, while 6 control animals received saline enemas. All animals were sacrificed 24 hours post-enema, and NMR relaxation times, T1 and T2, of colonic samples were determined on a 10 MHz spin analyzer (RADX, Houston, TX). Colonic water content was determined on the same samples by desiccation. Colitis animals showed significantly higher T1 and T2 relaxation times and tissue water content than controls. T1 and T2 times correlated significantly …

Characterisation Of Dendritic Cells Arising From Progenitors Endogenous To Murine Spleen, Sawang Petvises, Helen O'Neill

Helen O'Neill

Heterogeneity amongst dendritic cell (DC) subsets leads to a spectrum of immune response capacity against pathogens. Several DC subsets in spleen have been described which differ in terms of phenotype and function. We have previously reported a distinct population of CD11cloCD11b hiMHC-II-CD8- dendritic-like "L-DC" in murine spleen, which can also be generated in splenic stromal longterm cultures. Here, the ontogeny of L-DC development in perinatal mice has been compared with other known splenic DC subsets. Flow cytometric analysis has revealed the presence of L-DC at embryonic age (E)18.5 spleen, while plasmacytoid (p)DC and conventional (c)DC appear at 2 and 4 …

Community Health And Socioeconomic Issues Surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations., Kelley Donham, Steven Wing, David Osterberg, Jan Flora, Carol Hodne, Kendall Thu, Peter Thorne

David Osterberg

A consensus of the Workgroup on Community and Socioeconomic Issues was that improving and sustaining healthy rural communities depends on integrating socioeconomic development and environmental protection. The workgroup agreed that the World Health Organization's definition of health, "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity," applies to rural communities. These principles are embodied in the following main points agreed upon by this workgroup. Healthy rural communities ensure a) the physical and mental health of individuals, b) financial security for individuals and the greater community, c) social well-being, d ) social …

Chymase Inhibition Prevents Fibronectin And Myofibrillar Loss And Improves Cardiomyocyte Function And Lv Torsion Angle In Dogs With Isolated Mitral Regurgitation., Betty Pat, Yuanwen Chen, Cheryl Killingsworth, James D Gladden, Ke Shi, Junying Zheng, Pamela C Powell, Greg Walcott, Mustafa I Ahmed, Himanshu Gupta, Ravi Desai, Chih-Chang Wei, Naoki Hase, Tsunefumi Kobayashi, Abdelkarim Sabri, Henk Granzier, Thomas Denney, Michael Tillson, A Ray Dillon, Ahsan Husain, Louis J Dell'italia

Ravi V Desai MD

BACKGROUND: The left ventricular (LV) dilatation of isolated mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with an increase in chymase and a decrease in interstitial collagen and extracellular matrix. In addition to profibrotic effects, chymase has significant antifibrotic actions because it activates matrix metalloproteinases and kallikrein and degrades fibronectin. Thus, we hypothesize that chymase inhibitor (CI) will attenuate extracellular matrix loss and LV remodeling in MR.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied dogs with 4 months of untreated MR (MR; n=9) or MR treated with CI (MR+CI; n=8). Cine MRI demonstrated a >40% increase in LV end-diastolic volume in both groups, consistent with …