A patient who bled seriously while taking isoniazid was found to have an inhibitor of fibrin stabilization. The bleeding appeared to cease soon after the isoniazid was discontinued, although the plasma still contained potent inhibitor activity. This activity gradually disappeared over several weeks. The inhibitor was precipitated at 50% saturation with ammonium sulfate, migrated in the beta area on zone electrophoresis, and was found in the second peak on Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. Inhibitor activity persisted after heating to 90°C. Fibrinogen isolated from the patient’s plasma lacked factor XIII activity but did not contain measurable inhibitor activity. When the rate of incorporation of 14C-putrescine into casein was utilized to study the kinetics of the inhibitor, it was shown that the inhibitor acted reversibly and that it competed with the amine donor, 14C-putrescine. The mechanism whereby isoniazid led to the development of the inhibitor is unknown.

31 pleural effusions from 27 patients with varied diseases were studied for specific coagulation factors and fibrinogen. In all fluids, exudates had a higher content of factors and fibrinogen than transudates. When pleural fluid to plasma total protein ratios were compared to specific coagulation factors a positive correlation existed for all. This was not true for fibrinogen. There was a poor correlation between the molecular weights of the specific factors and fibrinogen and their appearance in the pleural fluid. The concentration of factor XII in 35% and factor XI in 11% of pleural fluid exceeded their respective plasma concentration.

No abstract

Concern regarding the occurrence of chemicals that disrupt endocrine system functions in aquatic species has heightened over the last 15 years. However, little attention has been given to monitoring for estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EEDCs) in California's freshwater ecosystems. The objective was to screen surface water samples for estrogenic activity using vitellogenin (Vtg) mRNA quantification in livers of juvenile rainbow trout by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT PCR). Vtg mRNA analysis of livers from fish exposed to 113 ambient water samples collected from surface waters in California's Central Valley and northern area indicated that six samples (5% of total) may have contained EEDCs. The six samples induced marginal, but statistically significant, increases of Vtg mRNA. No ambient water sample evoked Vtg mRNA responses equivalent to those in positive controls (all responses were less than 2% of the positive control response). Thus, EEDC concentrations in these samples were low (at or near the threshold for the procedure) or results may have included false positives. To establish a more definitive assessment of EEDC occurrence, follow-up screening at sites where statistically significant, but weak, estrogenic activity was observed is recommended. Overall, results reveal that a majority of the California surface waters tested were below EEDC detection threshold concentration for the screening procedure utilized.

No abstract