OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to evaluate, subjectively and objectively, the diagnostic and therapeutic effects of botulinum toxin (Botox) in patients with dysphagia caused by cricopharyngeus (CP) muscle spasm and/or hypertonicity. METHODS A retrospective chart review was done of 5 patients with normally functioning larynges treated with CP Botox injection for dysphagia caused by perceiv...

We studied the responses to hypertonicity of cultured endothelial cells from swine pulmonary arteries. In 0.5 osmol/kgH(2)O medium, initial cell shrinkage was followed by a regulatory volume increase (RVI), complete after 1 h, concomitant with an increase in cellular K(+) content. Then the activity of amino acid transport System A increased, accompanied by an accumulation of ninhydrin-positive ...

Most organisms are able to maintain systemic water homeostasis over a wide range of external or dietary osmolarities. The excretory system, composed of the kidneys in mammals and the Malpighian tubules and hindgut in insects, can increase water conservation and absorption to maintain systemic water homeostasis, which enables organisms to tolerate external hypertonicity or desiccation. However, ...

Various tissues, most notably the kidney medulla, are normally exposed to a hypertonic environment. The transcription factor NFAT5 is essential for these tissues to survive and function properly by activating expression of the osmoprotective genes and genes that are unique for the functions of these tissues. Moreover, hypertonicity causes or is associated with certain diseases and disorders suc...

BACKGROUND Bariatric operations may alter esophageal motility; however, there is a paucity of studies of the esophageal motility with high resolution manometry. AIM To study patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity with high resolution motility. METHODS Were included 18 asymptomatic patients (17 women, mean age 53 years) after undergoing to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for mor...

Osmotic cell volume perturbations of rabbit proximal tubule (PT) in primary culture were measured using three independent techniques. Automatic cell thickness monitoring of PT monolayers revealed that cell volume rapidly increased by 39 +/- 2% in hypotonic medium (150 mosM), which was followed by partial regulatory volume decrease (RVD). Subsequent incubation in hypertonic medium (500 mosM) rap...

Episodic falling syndrome (EFS) is a canine paroxysmal hypertonicity disorder found in Cavalier King Charles spaniels. Episodes are triggered by exercise, stress or excitement and characterized by progressive hypertonicity throughout the thoracic and pelvic limbs, resulting in a characteristic 'deer-stalking' position and/or collapse. We used a genome-wide association strategy to map the EFS lo...

AIMS To determine whether the bladder base elevation as revealed by cystogram under fluoroscopy is associated with pelvic floor hypertonicity or bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in women. METHODS Sixty-two women who were referred to our videourodynamic laboratory for assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were included in this retrospective analysis. Thirty-one of these women with ...

We report the discovery of an osmosensitive transcriptional control of human CYP3A4, CYP3A7, and CYP3A5. Ambient hypertonicity (350-450 mOsmol/kg) increased mRNA expressions of the CYP3A by approximately 10- to 20-fold in human-intestinal C(2)bbe1 cells, followed by an increase of CYP3A protein. Hypotonicity, on the other hand, suppressed CYP3A mRNA levels, indicating that physiological isotoni...