Intestinal permeability was significantly enhanced in patients with familial Mediterranean fever treated with colchicine.

No abstract

[3H]-serotonin uptake in platelets was studied in 26 patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT), 29 age-matched normal elderly persons, and 21 young subjects. The results showed a significantly lower uptake of serotonin into platelets of SDAT patients than in those of elderly controls (p < .02). Uptake of serotonin into platelets of elderly normal subjects was significantly lower than in the young (p < .01). These differences were due to reduced Vmax, whereas Km was unchanged. Isolated plasma from SDAT patients did not affect the uptake of serotonin into platelets of elderly controls, and vice versa, i.e., plasma obtained from elderly controls did not affect serotonin uptake in SDAT patients. The results indicate that serotonin uptake into platelets is reduced in normal aging, and more so in SDAT. Moreover, the reduced uptake in SDAT is not caused by a plasma factor in SDAT patients. No correlation was found between serotonin uptake and degree of cognitive impairment in SDAT patients.

No abstract

The distribution of bile acids in the stool of seven cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with severe or mild steatorrhea was examined and compared with that of three controls. Results indicated significantly lower endogenous bile acid concentrations in the stool water phase, obtained by centrifugation, in the CF patients (12.0 +/- 3.5%), compared with the controls (25.5 +/- 8.1%). In vitro incorporation of labeled cholic acid (CA) and deoxycholic acid (DCA) demonstrated a stronger binding of both to the particulate matter of stools in the CF group. Using equilibrium dialysis, the calculated concentrations of unbound CA and DCA in the CF group measured 0.78 and 0.3 mumol/g homogenate, respectively, and in the control patients 1.76 and 1.39 mumol/g homogenate, respectively. Partial release of bile acids from CF stool pellets was achieved by the addition of trypsin and elastase, as well as by alkalinization. It is suggested that in patients with CF, stool bile acids are bound to the undigested protein fraction, which makes them unavailable for colonic resorption.