Results with the "sulfo-phospho-vanillin" reaction, much used for determining total serum lipids, have been favorably compared with those for the gravimetric method. We investigated the basic chemistry of the reaction and determined the reactivity of this single reagent with various lipids. Our results suggest that: (a) The reaction requires a carbon-carbon double bond. (b) Concentrated sulfuric acid reacts with unsaturated lipids in the initial step to form a carbonium ion. (c) Phosphoric acid reacts with vanillin to produce a phosphate ester, with a resulting increase in the reactivity of the carbonyl group. (d) The carbonium ion reacts with the carbonyl group of phosphovanillin to form a colored compound, which is stabilized by resonance. (e) Unsaturated compounds with more than one double bond react, but reaction may vary with steric hindrance. (f) The method is reasonably precise, but its accuracy depends primarily on the reference standard used.

To evaluate the antisecretory activity of berberine sulfate (BS), we studied 165 adult patients with acute diarrhea due to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Vibrio cholerae in randomized controlled trials. In patients with ETEC diarrhea who received 400 mg of BS in a single oral dose, the mean stool volumes were significantly less than those of the controls during three consecutive 8-hr periods after treatment (P less than .05). At 24 hr after treatment, significantly more patients who were treated with BS and had ETEC diarrhea stopped having diarrhea as compared with the controls (42% vs 20%, P less than .05). In patients with cholera who received 400 mg of BS, the mean 8-hr stool volume during the second 8-hr period after treatment declined to 2.22 liters, which was significantly less than the 2.79 liters found in the controls (P less than .05). However, patients with cholera who received 1200 mg of BS plus tetracycline did not have significant reduction in stool output compared with patients who received tetracycline alone. No side effects of BS were noted. These results indicated that BS is an effective and safe antisecretory drug for ETEC diarrhea, whereas the activity against cholera is slight and not additive with tetracycline.

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The thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reaction, quantified by colorimetry or fluorimetry, is the method most widely used for studying lipid peroxidation in both laboratory animals and in humans with disorders. However, concerns regarding its analytical specificity have often been expressed, because TBA reacts with a wide variety of chemical species to produce a pink to red color. In this study, we reacted TBA with various saturated and unsaturated aldehydes (both directly and in the presence of sucrose, fructose, and glucose), substituted pyrimidines, 2-deoxyribose, and N-acetylneuraminic acid. We also studied the TBA reaction with bilirubin, biliverdin, icteric serum, and serum containing hemolyzed erythrocytes, comparing the absorption spectra of these reaction products with that for malondialdehyde (MDA). The reaction products were also analyzed for MDA by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Although the TBA reaction with some of these compounds may not be important in biological studies, others could lead to misinterpretations of increased lipid peroxidation. Use of HPLC to quantify MDA is recommended because of its high analytical sensitivity and specificity, especially in the study of lipid peroxidation in human subjects.

OSI and RRT are the optimal parameters when the number of false positives is to be minimized. AWSS accurately identifies the largest number of plaques, but produces more false positives than OSI and RRT.

Remodelling of the aortic root in severe tricuspid aortic stenosis: implications for transcatheter aortic valve implantation Abstract Detailed knowledge of aortic root geometry is a prerequisite to anticipate complications of transcatheter aortic valve (TAV) implantation. We determined coronary ostial locations and aortic root dimensions in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and compared these values with normal subjects using computed tomography (CT). One hundred consecutive patients with severe tricuspid AS and 100 consecutive patients without valvular pathology (referred to as the controls) undergoing cardiac dualsource CT were included. Distances from the aortic annulus (AA) to the left coronary ostium (LCO), right coronary ostium (RCO), the height of the left coronary sinus (HLS), right coronary sinus (HRS), and aortic root dimensions [diameters of AA, sinus of Valsalva (SV), and sino-tubular junction(STJ)] were measured. LCO and RCO were 14.9±3.2 mm (8.2-25.9) and 16.8±3.6 mm (12.0-25.7) in the controls, 15.5±2.9 mm (8.8-24.3) and 17.3±3.6 mm (7.3-26.0) in patients with AS. Controls and patients with AS had similar values for LCO (P= 0.18), RCO (P=0.33) and HLS (P= 0.88), whereas HRS (P<0.05) was significantly larger in patients with AS. AA (r=0.55,P<0.001), SV (r= 0.54,P<0.001), and STJ (r=0.52,P< 0.001) significantly correlated with the body surface area in the controls; whereas no correlation was found in patients with AS. Patients with AS had significantly larger AA (P<0.01) and STJ (P<0.01) diameters when compared with the controls. In patients with severe tricuspid AS, coronary ostial locations were similar to the controls, but a transverse remodelling of the aortic root was recognized. Owing to the large distribution of ostial locations and the dilatation of the aortic root, CT is recommended before TAV implantation in each patient.