Esophagitis has increasingly been implicated as a cause of chronic laryngitis and there is some evidence that gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is more common in patients with laryngitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether patients with esophagitis and laryngitis responded to treatment with omeprazole. Of 74 consecutive patients with endoscopically proven GERD, 21 had laryngitis. These 21 patients with associated esophagitis and chronic laryngitis were treated for 4 weeks with omeprazole 40 mg per day. After 2 weeks of treatment and at the conclusion of the study, 2 weeks later, esophagoscopy and laryngoscopy were performed and the patients responded to a questionnaire on their symptoms. The follow-up period was 1 year. Twenty-one of the 74 patients (28.4%) had esophagitis (grade I, n = 12; grade II, n = 9) and associated laryngitis (grade I, n = 14; grade II, n = 7). The severity of the esophagitis accorded with the severity of the laryngitis. After 2 weeks' treatment with omeprazole, both the esophageal and the laryngeal symptoms had improved in all 21 patients. Endoscopically, the healing rates were 62% for esophagitis and 33.3% for laryngitis. At the end of the study period, at 4 weeks, all patients were symptom-free and the esophagitis and laryngitis had healed completely. No patient suffered from drug-induced side effects. Patients with associated laryngitis and esophagitis should be given adequate anti-reflux therapy. Both the laryngeal and esophageal symptoms improved with the omeprazole treatment, suggesting that reflux was the underlying etiology.

The effects of long-term dietary application of garlic (dried powder, 0.5% in weight of standard chow; G group) or linseed oil (2.5%; L group) as well as a combination of both interventions (L + G group) on the life span of hypertensive rats (SHR SP) was investigated. A further group fed with standard chow served as control (C). The dietary interventions were started at the age of three weeks. Besides regular measurements of the systolic arterial blood pressure (oscillometrically at the tail artery) as well as of heart rate and body weight, autopsy and histological investigations were performed. Both diets, and particularly their combination, prolonged life span significantly (mean values (days) C: 434.5 +/- 23.5; G: 453.2 +/- 16.2; L: 470.0 +/- 26.2; L + G: 494.8 +/- 39.2). There was no significant interaction of the factors garlic and linseed oil. Systolic blood pressure as measured during the compensatory stage (data used until the 39th week of life) was significantly lowered by both garlic (mean -5.8 mm Hg), linseed oil (mean -6.3 mm Hg), and their combination (mean -11.3 mm Hg). The animals died as a consequence of congestive left and right ventricular failure with ventricular hypertrophy, dilatation, myocardial fibrosis and cellular infiltration, left ventricular atrial thrombosis (in most cases), and terminal pneumonia. On the other hand, arteriosclerotic plaques and signs of cerebral stroke could not be detected. Except for the degree of hypertrophy, which was lower in the treated groups, no differences were obvious regarding the morphological findings at the time of death. There was a significant positive correlation between mean blood pressure and the degree of left ventricular hypertrophy. Furthermore, a significant negative correlation between mean blood pressure and ventricular hypertrophy on the one hand and survival on the other hand was obvious provided the total number of animals was considered, however, not within the individual groups. The same applies to the relation between the reduction of left ventricular hypertrophy and life span. The relatively slight hypotensive effect of both dietary interventions as well as the results of previous investigations speaks in favor of a substantial influence of factors independent of blood pressure. In view of controversial results and interpretations in international literature, the mechanisms involved need further study.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate several long-acting insulin preparations for their ability to normalize the blood glucose profile of rats and mice with streptozocin-induced diabetes mellitus. The single injection of a long-acting zinc insulin (CAS 8049-62-5) suspension or insulin glargine (CAS 160337-95-1) in both species induced a steep to moderate fall in blood glucose concentration. Blood glucose was then normalized for 2-3 h, until 3 h after insulin injection blood glucose concentration tended towards levels before insulin application. In contrast, implants produced with a mixture of human insulin and palmitic acid micro-crystals normalized blood glucose profile over 24 h in both species at least 30 days after implantation. Therefore, these implants with a sustained release of insulin are suitable to control the blood glucose in diabetic rats and mice.

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