This article highlights the experiences of the Health Wise Church Project, a community outreach initiative between a diverse group of African American churches and a university health education program. The objective of the program was to develop early detection and illness prevention networks among older church members. Not all partnerships results in long-term collaborations, and this article makes a clear distinction between different types of "working together" arrangements. The project discussed in this article presents a four-stage model to illustrate how organizations achieve collaborative partnerships. Involving community partners in the early phase of project planning contributed to the success of the church-university collaboration. This type of shared planning helped to sustain community interest during the project's implementation.

We investigated possible mechanisms for the natriuresis seen after injection of the cholinergic drug carbamylcholine chloride (carbachol) into the lateral hypothalamus of conscious rats. In unrestrained rats injection of 1 microgram of carbachol in 1 microliter of 0.15 M NaCl solution through a permanently implanted cannula produced a significant natriuresis and kaliuresis. Injection of vehicle produced no changes. The same animals were then subjected to bilateral renal denervation (n = 13) or sham denervation (n = 13) and injected with the same solutions 1 wk later. Carbachol injection produced a natriuresis (P less than 0.0001) and a kaliuresis (P less than 0.01) in all animals studied. Both responses were of a magnitude similar to the responses seen before denervation. We studied other rats while awake but restrained, which permitted the performance of clearance studies and blood pressure measurements. Injection of carbachol produced diuresis, natriuresis, and kaliuresis in all rats, with no change in p-aminohippurate clearance and only transient change in inulin clearance. An increase in blood pressure occurred in some but not all rats. The response in rats with bilaterally denervated kidneys (n = 7) was similar to that of rats with innervated kidneys (n = 5). The natriuresis seen after cholinergic stimulation of the hypothalamus in conscious rats is not primarily mediated by inhibition of renal nerve activity and can be dissociated from changes in blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate, and renal plasma flow.

The role of the renal nerves in the natriuresis seen after cholinergic stimulation of the hypothalamus was studied in anesthetized rats treated with injection into the lateral hypothalamus (LH) of 1 microgram of carbamylcholine chloride (carbachol) in 1 microliter of 0.15 M NaCl or NaCl alone. Injection of carbachol exhibited diuresis and natriuresis both in acutely denervated kidneys (P less than 0.01) and in contralateral innervated kidneys (P less than 0.01) without changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or renal plasma flow (RPF) (n = 10). Salt and water excretion was unchanged in 10 rats after injection of NaCl. Micropuncture studies in denervated kidneys showed that, after carbachol injection, tubular fluid-to-plasma inulin concentration ratio [(F/P)In] in the late proximal tubule fell from 1.86 +/- 0.08 to 1.64 +/- 0.07 (P less than 0.01) without changes in single-nephron GFR. In nine other carbachol-treated rats in which renal perfusion pressure was maintained low and constant, diuresis and natriuresis, although attenuated, were again observed both in denervated (P less than 0.01) and in contralateral innervated kidneys (P less than 0.05). In another group of 11 animals, efferent renal nerve activity (ERNA) was recorded before and after LH injection of carbachol and isotonic saline. ERNA was significantly depressed for 30 min, only after carbachol injection. Our results suggest that the renal nerves, although involved, are not essential for the natriuretic response after cholinergic stimulation of LH. By exclusion, other factors, presumably hormones, must contribute to the response.

†"Do you think sudden confusion or trouble speaking are symptoms of stroke?" "Do you think sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side, are symptoms of stroke?" "Do you think sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes is a symptom of stroke?" "Do you think sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance are symptoms of stroke?" "Do you think a severe headache with no known cause is a symptom of stroke?"

Sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphate (Pi) and water excretion were measured in nondiuretic (ND) and extracellular fluid (ECF) volume expanded (VE) conscious restrained rats four weeks after denervation or sham-denervation of the left kidney. On the day of the study the animals were lightly anaesthetized with ether and the femoral vessels on one side were catheterized. Urine was collected from both kidneys. The animals were allowed to recover for 3 hours and studied in a restraining chamber. In ND animals isotonic saline containing inulin and para-amino-hippuric acid (PAH) were given at a rate of 0.067 +/- 0.002 (SE) ml/min/kg body weight (BW). In VE animals the infusion rate was 0.24 +/- 0.04 ml/min/kg BW. Kidney catecholamine content was measured after the experiments. Clearances of PAH and of inulin (GFR) were the same in both kidneys. Urine volume (V), sodium excretion (UNa V/GFR), inorganic phosphate excretion (UPi V/GFR) and calcium excretion (UCa V/GFR) were significantly higher in the denervated kidneys. Values in sham denervated kidneys were not greater than those of the right kidney. Denervation was proven by demonstrating absent or very low catecholamine content in the kidneys. The results demonstrate that: chronic renal denervation in rats leads to diuresis and natriuresis even in the conscious state, thus confirming previous results from our laboratory; such changes occur independently of the state of the ECF volume and of renal haemodynamic changes; the increased excretion of Ca++ and Pi after denervation demonstrates that renal nerves affect the reabsorption of these ions either independently or by way of their effect on sodium reabsorption. These data allow us to suggest that a renal tubular dysfunction, which was proved in anaesthetized denervated animals, can also be observed in the conscious state.