A detailed study was undertaken to quantify the range of various movements at the carpometacarpal and metacarpophalangeal joints of the hand in cadavers and compare the values so obtained with those in the living, measured with the help of skiagrams. Longitudinal sections of hand were also prepared to bring out the nature of articulations at the carpometacarpal joints. Based on the data available, metacarpal mobility formulae of 1 greater than 5 greater than 4 greater than 2 greater than 3 for the carpometacarpal, and 5 greater than 4 greater than 3 greater than 2 greater than 1 and 5 greater than 2 greater than 4 greater than 3 greater than 1 for metacarpophalangeal joints are being proposed with the hope that these formulae will find their application in the clinical practice to assess the extent of functional damage to these joints as well as to evaluate the rate of progress or deterioration, in course of time. As an extension of our earlier study (Batmanabane, 1982), osteometric analysis of the metacarpus was also carried out and it is confirmed that it is the mobility which determines the osteometric features of the articular ends of these miniature long bones.

Objective:To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of the third-generation CCB, lercanidipine.Materials and Methods:The ability of lercanidipine to reduce inflammation in carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats was evaluated, using different doses and its anti-inflammatory effect was compared with that of diclofenac sodium. Mast cell degranulation effect of lercanidipine was also carried out.Results:Lercanidipine produced a significant reduction in the inflammatory paw edema at all doses and at all intervals (P < 0.001). The percentage of reduction in edema was found to be proportionate to the doses of lercanidipine. Lercanidipine also significantly reduced the percentage of propranolol-induced mast cell degranulation.Conclusions:It was found that lercanidipine exerts a positive anti-inflammatory effect in a dose-dependent manner and was superior to diclofenac sodium.

Background The influence of melatonin (MT) on the onset of puberty has attracted many researchers leading to many contradictory claims. Although some researchers believe that exogenous MT delays the onset of puberty in female juvenile rats, others dispute this finding. We explored the effects of exogenous MT, administered for different periods of time, on very young pups. Methods Groups of 5‐ and 10‐day‐old rat pups were given daily 100 μg of MT subcutaneously for 10, 15, and 20 days at 1500 hours. On the vaginal opening day (VOD), rats were sacrificed for collection of ovary and thymus. Besides measuring ovarian and thymus weights, Graafian follicular ratio and thymic corticomedullary ratio were computed. Results MT caused an advancement of VOD in 5‐day‐old pups but delayed it in 10‐day‐old ones. Other parameters studied revealed an exciting correlation with this reversed trend in VOD. In the 5‐day‐old groups, the ovaries and thymuses showed an increase in weights, but the 10‐day‐old groups recorded a fall. Follicular and thymic corticomedullary ratios also displayed corresponding increases and decreases. Conclusions MT administered to younger pups (5 day old) causes an earlier VOD probably due to an ovarian stromal inhibition. In slightly older pups (10 days old), where most secretory mechanisms are progressing from an immature to an adult type, perhaps exogenous MT depresses the developing and sensitive thymus‐hypothalamus‐pituitary‐gonadal axis (THPGA) and causes a delay in VOD. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

MT administered to younger pups (5 day old) causes an earlier VOD probably due to an ovarian stromal inhibition. In slightly older pups (10 days old), where most secretory mechanisms are progressing from an immature to an adult type, perhaps exogenous MT depresses the developing and sensitive thymus-hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis (THPGA) and causes a delay in VOD.

Right or left hindlimbs of kittens were immobilized in a plaster cast, in the resting position. Three groups of animals belonged to the same age group, one to older, and another to younger. Kittens in the same age group were subjected to progressively increasing periods of immobilization, the older group to a shorter and the younger to the longest period. By virtue of this arrangement, it was found that the demonstrated changes in the peripheral nerve, which included a decrease in the myelinated nerve fibre population and a reduction in the mean nerve fibre diameter, have been proportionate among the animals in the same age group, more pronounced in younger, and less so in older ones, indicating that in younger animals longer periods of immobilization lead to a greater degree of harmful effects, although it was also evident that younger animals attempt to adapt to such adverse conditions.