Effects of aging and type 2 diabetes on resting and post occlusive hyperemia of the forearm; the impact of rosiglitazone

BACKGROUND: Both Diabetes and ageing are associated with reduced vascular endothelial function. The exact relationship between the 2 and any improvements from the insulin sensitizer rosiglitazone have not been explored. METHODS: Thirty controls and sixteen subjects with type 2 diabetes participated in a series of experiments to examine the interrelationships between age, diabetes and endothelial cell function. In subjects with diabetes, the insulin sensitizer rosiglitazone (RSG), a drug also known to improve vascular function, was administered for 3 months to see how it altered these relationships. Resting forearm flows (RF) and blood flows after 4 min of vascular occlusion (PF) were measured as an index of endothelial cell function. RESULTS: RF, measured by venous occlusion plethysmography, was negatively correlated to both age and diabetes. Administration of RSG for 3 months was associated with an increase in the blood flow response to venous occlusion so that it was not significantly different than that of age matched controls. Total PF in control subjects, compared to subjects with diabetes, averaged 56.58 +/- 12.57 and 13.6 +/- 8.01 cc/100 cc tissue per min respectively, and were significantly different (p < 0.01). After 3 months on RSG, differences between PF in the two groups were no longer evident. CONCLUSION: These studies suggest a different mechanism causing a reduction in vascular reactivity with aging and diabetes

Resistenza ai disinfettanti: esperienze su specie opportunistiche ospedaliere

As regards the extensive problem of hospital infections and their control, the Authors point out that a very meaningful factor is at present the spreading of opportunistic agcnts. This phenomenon gives the reasons for the importance of disinfection as a critical stage of preventive policy in hospital environment. From this point of view the Authors had carried out a research using the Kelsey and Maurer test (1974) for the evaluation of the effectiveness of some disinfectants towards opportunistic agents isolated from clinical and cnvironmental specimens from hospital wards. In detail: ethyl alcohol 70%; glutaraldehyde 2%; chlorhexidine gluconate 0.05%; povidone-iodine 10%; benzoxonium chloride 1%; benzalkonium chloride 0.25% + ethyl alcohol 70% were tested toward strains of the following microorganisms: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Serratia marcescens; Acinctobacter calcoaceticus; Stapbylococcus aureus; Candida albicans. The results confirmed a good activity of glutaraldehyde, povidone-iodine, ethyl alcohol and QACs + alcohol, but some resistances to chlorhexidine and to aqueous Qacs were showed especially in « dirty conditions ». Among the differcnt microrganisms, the highest resistance levels (30%) were showed by gram negative rods, as more sensitive were Acinctobacter calcoaceticus, Stapbylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. The Authors come to the conclusion that the values pointed out are not very high but they confimi the need of monitoring the resistance trends in hospital and of making a careful choice of disinfectans