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Plasma free and conjugated and intraplatelet free dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrochemical detection for 20 subjects with Raynaud's phenomenon of various etiologies. Circulating free dopamine and epinephrine were significantly lower in Raynaud's patients than in controls (dopamine 26.0 +/- 13.6 vs 56.3 +/- 39.6 pg/ml, p less than 0.005; epinephrine 25.8 +/- 16.9 vs 56.9 +/- 40.9 pg/ml, p less than 0.005), while the corresponding conjugated forms in plasma and the intraplatelet contents were within normal limits. There were no abnormalities in plasma free, conjugated, or intraplatelet free norepinephrine. All of the levels were independent of the etiology, the duration, and the severity of the disease. The reduced plasma levels of free dopamine and epinephrine might be due to impaired adrenal release in response to some kinds of sympathetic stimulation or to rapid tissue uptake and peripheral metabolism. A possible role for a postischemic dopaminergic vasodilating system is discussed.

Salmonella wien was detected in various patients admitted to the D. Cotugno Hospital between May 1974 and June 1975. Strains isolated in Naples showed the same in vitro transferable resistance to antibiotics as those responsible for the recent epidemics in Algeria and France.

A sensitive and reproducible reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection for determination of serotonin in human plasma is described. The method has an average coefficient of variation of 3.5%; the recovery of serotonin and 5-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine (internal standard) accounts for 95 +/- 2%. Average serotonin concentrations in platelet-free plasma and in platelet-rich plasma from 21 normal subjects 22-63-year-old) ranged from 0.6 to 4.9 ng/ml (mean 2.8 +/- 1.3 SD) and from 38.3 to 106.5 ng/10(8) platelets (mean 66.8 +/- 18.9 SD), respectively. The release of endogenous serotonin from human aggregating platelets challenged by collagen or adenosine diphosphate has been quantitated.

The complex background of interfering substances makes plasma pretreatment necessary before performing liquid-chromatographic quantitation of circulating serotonin. We compared two isolation procedures (extraction into butanol and isolation on a weak cation-exchange resin) before chromatography for measuring free serotonin from human plasma. Sensitivity, specificity and recovery were all evaluated. The cation-exchange resin yielded chromatograms with no interfering peaks, was cheaper and took less processing time than butanol extraction. We conclude that the clean-up of human plasma by a cation-exchange resin is suitable and accurate for routine liquid-chromatographic determination of circulating serotonin.

After a critical review of the indications, techniques and results recorded in literature, there is a description of experiences in emergency surgical treatment of 24 cases of diverticulum disease of the colon. In the light of personal results and in agreement with the majority of cases reported in literature, the conviction is expressed that in this surgery the processes graduated in stages (Mickulicz, Hartman, colostomy on transverse - resection) may frequently be indicated, especially in serious and weak patients.