J A Boyle

Serum uric acid levels in normal pregnancy with observations on the renal excretion of urate in pregnancy

Serum uric acid estimations were performed in 106 healthy pregnant women during early, middle, and late pregnancy, using an automated colorimetric method. The mean serum uric acid level was significantly lower during early and middle pregnancy than that of 64 age-matched female controls. The serum uric acid level was not significantly different in late pregnancy from the control group. Studies of the daily urinary urate excretion in 31 pregnant women showed normal urinary urate excretion in early pregnancy and enhanced renal loss of urate in middle and late pregnancy. It appears that the renal clearance of urate in pregnancy is high, especially in the middle period when the serum level is low in spite of the increased production of uric acid by the foetus.

Salivary flow rates and iodide trapping capacity in patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

Sjogrens syndrome (Sjogren, 1933) in its severer forms presents a relatively simple clinical diagnosis. In many patients, however, the condition may be mild and it may be difficult for the clinician to find laboratory evidence of, for instance, dryness of the mouth. Biopsy of the salivary glands is not without operative complication and probably has no place in the routine investigation of the patient suspected of having Sj6grens syndrome. Salivary flow studies and sialography frequently confirm salivary gland involvement in severe cases but are often normal in milder cases with complaints of xerostomia (unpublished observations). In the search for a more specific test of salivary gland involvement, we decided to explore the capacity of the salivary glands to trap iodide in Sjogrens syndrome, because the normal salivary glands share this capacity with the thyroid gland. In this paper we report the clinical findings, sialographic results, salivary flow rate determinations, and saliva plasma radioiodine ratios in fourteen patients with Sjogrens syndrome. In addition, an attempt has been made to correlate sialographic findings with salivary flow rates. In this study we have used the short-lived isotope 132I with its half life of 2-26 hours. The radiation dose which the patient receives from 50 ,zc. of this isotope is negligible.

Do oral corticosteroids cause osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis

The technique of culturing limb bone rudiments has for the first time been extended to human tissue. Digits obtained from abortions were maintained in BGJ 5 medium supplemented with fetal calf serum for 12 days. Photomicrographs indicate that articular and epiphyseal cartilage survived for the maximum culture period. Preliminary observations on the development of joints have been made. The system offers potentialities for future studies of human disease.

The Influence of Flow Rate on the Concentration of Uric Acid in Human Parotid and Submandibular Saliva

SYNOPSIS IN INTERLINGUA LE INFLUENTIA DEL VELOCITATE DEL FLUXO SUPER LE CONCENTRATION DE ACIDO URIC IN HUMAN SALIVA PAROTIDIC E SUBMANDIBULAR.-Esseva constatate un correlation inverse inter le concentration de acido uric e le velocitate del fluxo in saliva submandibular e parotidic. In saliva parotidic, le concentration de acido uric declinava ab 4,1 ± 0,43 mg per 100 ml a lente velocitates de fluxo ad 1,7 ± 0,28 mg per 100 ml a rapide velocitates de fluxo. Le concentrationes esseva plus basse in saliva submandibular, i.e., 3,3 ± 0,46 mg per 100 ml e 1,3 ± 0,12 mg per 100 ml, respectivemente. In studios de acido uric, saliva deberea esser colligite quando le velocitate del fluxo es superior a 1 ml per minuta, viste que sub ille conditiones pauc variation occurre in le augmentos del concentration e precise mesurationes del rapiditate del fluxo non es necessari.