Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0015695 (fatty liver)
 13,941 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In order to investigate the combined effects of diabetes and hypertension on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, adult male and female SHR rats which develop hypertension spontaneously were given a single, 10 mg or 15 mg/100 g body wt. injection of alloxan s.c. to induce moderate or severe diabetes. Insulin was deliberately withheld. Animals were examined by autopsy daily for 7 days post-alloxan and after 4 and 8 weeks. Mortality was high--only 52% of the males survived as against 80% of the females. Most deaths occurred on Day 5 and were associated with adrenal haemorrhage and hyperplasia, thymus galnd involution, fatty liver and marked hypotension despite elevated aldosterone levels. During the first week, corticosterone levels increased significantly in the male; in females they showed little change. After 4 weeks, the severly diabetic animals became emaciated and moribund; corticosterone and aldosterone levels fell to very low levels despite adrenal hyperplasia. The beta cells of the moderately diabetic animals eventually lost their ability to secrete insulin and these animals too became cachetic and moribund with concomitant elevation of lipid, glucose and BUN levels, as well as myocardial infarction, fatty liver, and generalized hyalin arteriolo-, arterio-, and nephrosclerosis. It is suggested that the combined hormonal and metabolic alterations of diabetes and hypertension reinforced one another in these spontaneously hypertensive rats, leading to intense stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system, the exacerbation of those cardiovascular degenerative changes known to be associated with uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension, eventual impaired adrenocortical steroidogenesis, hypotension and death.
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PMID:Alloxan diabetes in spontaneously hypertensive rats: gravimetric, metabolic and histopathological alterations. 86 Nov 67

The relative toxicity of ephedra-containing dietary supplements is disputed. In order to ascertain the magnitude of the problem, we reviewed all autopsies in our Medical Examiner's jurisdiction, from 1994 to 2001, where ephedrine or any its isomers (E+) were detected. Toxicology testing results were tabulated and anatomic findings in E+ cases were compared to those in a control group of drug-free trauma victims. Of 127 E+ cases identified, 33 were due to trauma. Decedents were mostly male (80.3%) and mostly Caucasian (59%). Blood ephedrine concentrations were <0.49 mg/l in 50% of the cases, range 0.07-11.73 mg/l in trauma victims, and 0.02-12.35 mg/l in non-trauma cases. Norephedrine (NE) was present in the blood of 22.8% (mean of 1.81 mg/l, S.D.=3.14 mg/l) and in the urine of 36.2% (mean of 15.6 mg/l, S.D.=21.50mg/l). Pseudoephedrine (PE) was present in the blood of 6.3% (8/127). More than 88% (113/127) of the decedents also tested positive for other drugs, the most common being cocaine (or its metabolites) and morphine. The most frequent pathologic diagnoses were hepatic steatosis (27/127) and nephrosclerosis (22/127). Left ventricular hypertrophy was common, and coronary artery disease (CAD) detected in nearly one third of the cases. The most common findings in E+ deaths are those generally associated with chronic stimulant abuse, and abuse of other drugs was common in those with CAD. There were no cases of heat stroke or rhabdomyolysis. In most cases, norephedrine was not detected, suggesting it plays no role in ephedrine toxicity.
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PMID:Demographic, pathologic, and toxicological profiles of 127 decedents testing positive for ephedrine alkaloids. 1468 75