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Background: Abnormalities in phosphocalcic and vitamin D metabolism may develop in patients with active tuberculosis (TB). Their incidence and relationship with the disease is not well known, particularly in our area. We have prospectively evaluated 40 patients with TB [(30 with localized TB (LTB) and 10 with disseminated TB (DTB)]., Methods: After stabilizing the diet during 4 days, the calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and creatinine balances, blood ionic calcium, plasma intact PTH, 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] and serum 1.25 dihydroxyvitamin D [1.25(OH)2D] were measured., Results: Hypercalcemia was not found in any patient, but 25% had hypercalciuria (HC). The 24-hour urinary excretion of calcium was higher in patients than in controls (3.2 +/- 1.7 mg/kg or 0.10 +/- 0.06 mg/100 ml of GFR vs 2.3 +/- 0.7 mg/kg or 0.08 +/- 0.03 mg/100 ml of GFR, p less than 0.05), basically at the expense of patients with DTB (4.4 +/- 1.8 mg/kg or 0.14 +/- 0.06 mg/10 ml of GFR, p less than 0.005). These had a lower PTH than patients with LTB and controls (12.8 +/- 7.7 vs 18.5 +/- 6.9 vs 19.5 +/- 6.0 pg/ml, p less than 0.05). Independently from the extent of the disease, the patients with HC had a lower PTH (12.6 +/- 6.8 vs 18.5 +/- 6.9 pg/ml, p less than 0.01) and higher serum 1.25(OH)2D (34.5 +/- 10.1 vs 25.0 +/- 7.2 pg/ml, p less than 0.01) than patients without HC. The levels of 25(OH)D were lower in patients with TB than in controls (11.2 +/- 6.0 vs 20.0 +/- 7.0 ng/ml, p less than 0.05), independently from the extent of the disease and the presence or absence of HC., Conclusions: Patients with tuberculosis may have hypercalcinuria with inadequately high levels of 1.25(OH)2D and low intact PTH. This abnormality appears to be correlated with the extent of the disease.

The behavior of freely moving cats was assessed in an observation chamber during prolonged periods of time. Four patterns of behavior were consistently scored during the mid-day period: a) exploration, b) attention, c) grooming and d) drowsiness. Intracerebroventricular injections of crustacean neurodepressing hormone (NDH) greatly extended the time spent in drowsiness. The threshold dose of NDH for this effect was 300 units. The effect was established a few minutes after the injections and lasted for several hours. During this time the animals sat quietly and showed complete or semicomplete closure of the eyelids. Conspicuous changes in brain electrical activity were also observed under NDH. At low doses, the predominant electrophysiological pattern matches the activity recorded under spontaneous lapses of drowsiness, i.e., spindle bursts in trains of 8-16 Hz in cortical areas and mesencephalic reticular formation. At higher doses, the brain electrical activity changes into a nonconvulsive spiking activity in limbic areas. The time course of the effects differs in the various structures recorded. These results suggest a multiple substrate of NDH activity.

The renal plasma flow (RPF), glomerular filtrate (GF), renal concentration strength and urinary acidification capacity in eight patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and five control subjects was studied. The maximum urinary acidification capacity was tested by means or arginine monochloride. In two patients, renal tubular acidosis (RTA) was observed. One patient manifested a slight decrease in RPF, GF, hyposthenuria, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis and bicarbonaturia. The test for maintained acidification and the overload of bicarbonate indicated a mixed RTA. The other patient manifested incomplete distal RTA, which was briefly corrected with the administration of furosemide. These tubular defects were not associated with the loss of proteins, phosphates, glucose, aminoacids or renal lithiasis. Neither were they related to the serum levels of copper, globulins, or predisposition to hepatic encephalopathy. The association between hepatic cirrhosis and distal tubular acidosis is known, but until the present work, the fact that this hepatopathy can simultaneously affect the proximal and distal tubules had not been described.