James E. Mayle

On the loss of uricolytic activity during primate evolution—I. Silencing of urate oxidase in a hominoid ancestor

Urate oxidase activity is not detectable in liver homogenates from the gibbon, orangutan, chimpanzee, gorilla and human. Liver homogenates from five genera of Old World and two genera of New World monkeys have easily detectable levels of urate oxidase activity. There is no evidence for extant detectable intermediate steps in the loss of urate oxidase activity in the hominoids. Urate oxidase activity from Old World and New World monkeys is stable, a simple observation which debunks a long-standing myth. Urate oxidase activity was silenced in an ancestor to the five living genera of hominoids after divergence from the Old World monkeys.

Metronidazole-Associated Pancreatitis

Excerpt Metronidazole is a widely used antiprotozoal drug prescribed for infections withTrichomonas vaginalis, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, andGardnerella vaginalisas well as for general...

Acute Sulfasalazine Overdose

Sulfasalazine (salicylazosulfapyridine, Azulfidine) has been widely used over the last half century for inflammatory bowel diseases, but overdose has not been reported. A 23 year-old male ingested 25 g of sulfasalazine in a suicide attempt. He underwent prompt treatment and survived with no ill-effects.

False positive liver scan due to a thin left hepatic lobe.

A young man with pectus excavatum and Gilberts synIrome was found to have an abnormal hepatic photoscan, epeatedly interpreted as showing a mass lesion in the left obe. Although his habitus suggested that it was a normal anatomic variant, numerous diagnostic procedures did not convincingly exclude disease of the liver. Peritoneoscopy confirmed that the left lobe was thin but otherwise normal. We review the causes of false positive liver scans.