Abstracts 513

(1988) Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs correct the bactericidal defect of polymorphonuclear leucocytes in a guinea pig model of thermal injury. J. Infect. Dis. 157, (5), 959-967,

Compromised host defences

Immunological studies in rabbits with deep burns Cover- ing over 20 pei cent of the body surface showed that their peripheral blood neutrophils had a decreased migratory activity and lysozyme content compared with preburn levels but no change in fl glucuronidase content. The spec- ific binding of formyl methionyl leucyl phenylalanine to peripheral blood heterophils was increased five-fold over control cells. Thus burning injury induced a selective decrease in specific granule content, an increase in chemoattractant binding to the cell and an abnormal chemoattractant receptor processing.

Davis J. M . a n d Gallin J. I. (1988) Abnormal rabbit heterophil chemotaxis following thermal injury. An in vivo model of:an abnormality of the chemoattractant receptor for f-met-leu-phe. Arch. Surg, 123, (6), 752-755.

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Burns, age and cardiac function

The effect of age on cardiac performance was assessed in 20 young and 10 aged guinea-pigs suffering from deep burns coverings43 + 2 per cent of the body surface. The aged burn hearts showed significantly lower left ventricu- lar performance and + dP/dt max at a left ventricular end diastolic pressure of 10 mmHg. In addition, left ventricu- lar function curves for the aged burn hearts were shifted downward and-to the right of curves obtained from the young burn hearts. The contractile defects in the aged group were neither related to altered beating frequency

nor to maximally effective increases in diastolic stretch. Increasing extracellular calcium concentrations from 1 to 8 mmol increased left ventricular performance, + dP/dt max and - d P / d t max in a dose-dependent manner in both young and aged burn hearts. Concomitantly, absolute values of measured contractile performance were consistently less in aged hearts compared with the young hearts at identical calcium concentrations.

Horton J. W., Baxter C. R. and White J. (1988) The effects of aging on the cardiac contractile response to unresuscitated thermal injury. J. Burn Care Rehabil. 9, (1), 41-51.

Benefit of oxygen free-radical scavengers

The lungs of sheep were insufflated with smoke from burning cotton to determine whether treatment with oxygen free-radical scavengers had any beneficial effect on the smoke-induced lung injury. Four groups of animals were studied: controls, those given dimethyl- sulphoxide (DSMO), those given heparin and those given DMSO plus heparin. All animals were given ventilatory support to maintain Po 2 above 60mmHg and Pco 2 below 45 mmHg. There was a significant difference in sur- vival rates between the groups. By 72 h all seven controls had died; all animals in the DMSO plus heparin group survived; four of the DMSO alone died and two of the heparin alone group died. Lung lymph flow was not as high in the DMSO plus heparin group as in the heparin alone group.

Brown, M., Desai M., Traber L. D. et al. (1988) Dimethylsulfoxide with heparin in the treatment of smoke inhalation injury. J. Burn Care Rehabil. 9, (1), 22-25.