Showing papers by "University of Texas System published in 1985"
TL;DR: It was found that, whereas divorce had more adverse effects for boys, remarriage was more disruptive for girls, and the stability of the long-term adjustment of boys and girls differed, with externalizing being more stable in boys and internalizing morestable in girls.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a 6-year follow-up of a longitudinal study of the effects of divorce on parents and children. It was found that, whereas divorce had more adverse effects for boys, remarriage was more disruptive for girls. The stability of the long-term adjustment of boys and girls differed, with externalizing being more stable in boys and internalizing more stable in girls. Children in divorced families encountered more negative life changes than children in nondivorced families, and these negative life changes were associated with behavior problems 6 years following divorce. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry , 24, 5:518–530, 1985.
466 citations
TL;DR: Patients with shock, pneumonia, or persistent neutropenia had a substantially poorer prognosis and patients who received an antipseudomonal β-lactam antibiotic with or without an aminoglycoside had a significantly higher cure rate.
Abstract: • We reviewed 410 episodes of Pseudomonas bacteremia occurring in patients with cancer during a ten-year period. Pseudomonas bacteremia was most common among patients with acute leukemia. The majority of patients acquired their infections in the hospital, and 51% had received antibiotic therapy for other presumed or proved infection during the preceding week. Shock occurred in 33%, and 32% had concomitant pneumonia. The overall cure rate was 62%; it was 67% for patients receiving appropriate antibiotics but only 14% for those receiving inappropriate antibiotics. A one- to two-day delay in the administration of appropriate antibiotic therapy reduced the cure rate from 74% to 46%. Patients who received an antipseudomonal β-lactam antibiotic with or without an aminoglycoside had a significantly higher cure rate than patients who received only an aminoglycoside (72% and 71% vs 29%). Patients with shock, pneumonia, or persistent neutropenia had a substantially poorer prognosis. ( Arch Intern Med 1985;145:1621-1629)
357 citations
TL;DR: It is reported here that MDA-468, a human breast cancer cell line with a very high number of EGF receptors, is growth-inhibited at EGF concentrations that stimulate most other cells.
350 citations
TL;DR: It is reported that DAMP also accumulates in cisternae and vesicles associated with the trans face of the Golgi apparatus, which indicates that accumulation is due to the acidic pH in this compartment.
347 citations
TL;DR: It now appears that α cells can respond directly to hyperglycaemia in the absence of insulin and β cells, but that antecedent hyperglyCAemia masks or attenuates this response.
Abstract: Recent advances in the understanding of glucagoninsulin relationships at the level of the islets of Langerhans and of hepatic fuel metabolism are reviewed and their impact on our understanding of glucagon physiology and pathophysiology is considered. It now appears that α cells can respond directly to hyperglycaemia in the absence of insulin and β cells, but that antecedent hyperglycaemia masks or attenuates this response. Insulin appears to exert ongoing release inhibition upon glucagon secretion, probably via the intra-islet microvascular system that connects β cells to α cells. Diabetic hyperglucagonemia in insulin deficient states appears to be secondary to lack of the restraining influence of insulin. The α cell response to glucopenia, by contrast, may be in large part mediated by release of noradrenaline from nerve endings in contact with α cells. Glucagon's action on glucose and ketone production by hepatocytes is mediated by increase in cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. The opposing action of insulin upon glucagon-mediated events probably occurs largely at this level. Consequently, when glucagon secretion or action is blocked, cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase activity is low even in the absence of insulin, explaining why marked glucose and ketone production is absent in bihormonal deficiency states.
331 citations
TL;DR: Immune complex kinase assays showed that in vitro phosphorylation of P190 and P240 occurs primarily at tyrosine residues, a rare observation which may be in part attributed to the c-abl gene translocation from chromosomes 9 to 22 occurring in the vast majority of chronic myelogenous leukemia patients.
172 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of differences in 10‐year survival rates from breast cancer among white, black, and Hispanic women controlling for the effects of age, socioeconomic status, stage of disease, and delay suggests ethnic differences in breast cancer survival are not mediated by differences in delay in seeking treatment for breast cancer symptoms.
Abstract: This study examined differences in 10-year survival rates from breast cancer among white, black, and Hispanic women controlling for the effects of age, socioeconomic status (SES), stage of disease, and delay in seeking treatment for symptoms. Breast cancer patients (n = 1983) treated at M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas between 1949 and 1968, were followed for 10 years. Ethnicity, SES, stage of disease, and delay were all found to affect survival when considered separately. Black patients were less likely to survive than either white or Hispanic patients whose survival experience appeared to be similar. Multivariate analysis that used a Cox regression technique showed that ethnic differences remained when age, SES, stage, and delay were included in the model. In contrast, the authors could not detect an effect of delay on survival when ethnicity and all other variables were included. These data suggest that ethnic differences in breast cancer survival are not mediated by differences in delay in seeking treatment for breast cancer symptoms.
169 citations
TL;DR: Both reflex neural and central command mechanisms have been postulated to explain the cardiovascular responses that occur during exercise.
Abstract: Both reflex neural and central command mechanisms have been postulated to explain the cardiovascular responses that occur during exercise. The 2 mechanisms appear to affect the same neural circuits and to be capable of working either in conjunction with one another or independently.
154 citations
TL;DR: The results show that this transformation is affected by proteins secreted by the outer epithelium into the extracellular matrix between these two tissues, and the relationship of ECM to endothelial differentiation in cardiac morphogenesis is discussed as a model for other developmental systems.
133 citations
TL;DR: Concurrent administration of triacetyloleandomycin with drugs whose metabolism is known to be affected or that could potentially be affected should be avoided unless appropriate adjustments in dosage are made, and Coadministration of erythromycin with Drugs believed to interact should be undertaken with caution and with appropriate patient monitoring.
Abstract: The macrolide antibiotics erythromycin and triacetyloleandomycin (troleandomycin) are prescribed for many types of infections. As such they are often added to other preexisting drug therapy. Thus, there are frequent opportunities for the interaction of these antibiotics with other drugs. Both erythromycin and triacetyloleandomycin appear to have the potential to inhibit drug metabolism in the liver and also drug metabolism by micro-organisms in the gut, either through their antibiotic effect or through complex formation and inactivation of microsomal drug oxidising enzymes. Of the two agents, triacetyloleandomycin appears to be the more potent inhibitor of microsomal drug metabolism. Published studies indicate that triacetyloleandomycin can significantly decrease the metabolism of methylprednisolone, theophylline and carbamazepine. Its ability to cause ergotism in patients receiving ergot alkaloids and cholestatic jaundice in patients on oral contraceptives may also be related to its inhibitory effect on drug metabolism. Erythromycin appears to be a much weaker inhibitor of drug metabolism. There are numerous reports describing apparent interactions of erythromycin with theophylline and a lesser number of reports dealing with carbamazepine, warfarin methylprednisolone and digoxin. There are sufficient data to suggest that erythromycin can, in some individuals, inhibit the elimination of methylprednisolone, theophylline, carbamazepine and warfarin. The mean change in drug clearance is about 20 to 25% in most cases, with some patients having a much larger change than others. Like tetracycline, erythromycin also appears to have the potential for increasing the bioavailability of digoxin in patients who excrete high amounts of reduced digoxin metabolites, apparently through destruction of the gut flora that form these compounds. Concurrent administration of triacetyloleandomycin with drugs whose metabolism is known to be affected or that could potentially be affected should be avoided unless appropriate adjustments in dosage are made. Coadministration of erythromycin with drugs believed to interact should be undertaken with caution and with appropriate patient monitoring. Among the other macrolide antibiotics, josamycin has seldom been involved in causing drug interactions, while midecamycin and the older derivative spiramycin have not so far been incriminated.
130 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that in a majority of patients, doxorubicin‐induced congestive heart failure is easily treatable and frequently controlled with digitalis and diuretics.
Abstract: The prognosis of doxorubicin-induced congestive heart failure (CHF) is reported to be poor. To define the clinical course of doxorubicin-induced CHF, the authors reviewed their experience with 43 patients with this diagnosis. The median age of the total group was 55 years (range, 23-69); the median cumulative dose of doxorubicin was 450 mg/m2 (range, 200 mg/m2-1150 mg/m2). A majority of the patients had a diagnosis of breast cancer. The median survival of the whole group estimated by means of a Kaplan-Meier plot was 112 weeks. Twelve of 43 patients (28%) died of CHF, 7 of them (16%) because of fulminant failure in less than 8 weeks and the remaining 5 because of a more protracted course with recurrent episodes of cardiac decompensation. Twenty-five of the 43 patients (58%) achieved complete control of CHF. In the remaining 6 patients (14%), CHF had improved but was not completely controlled at the time of death, which was secondary to progressive tumor. Treatment consisted of standard therapy with digitalis and diuretics. Survival was significantly shorter in patients who presented with class IV dyspnea and in those who developed CHF less than 4 weeks after administration of the last dose of doxorubicin. The authors conclude that in a majority of patients, doxorubicin-induced CHF is easily treatable and frequently controlled with digitalis and diuretics.
TL;DR: Improvement in mediastinal imaging is counteracted by the fact that enlarged nodes need not contain metastases and normal-appearing small nodes may harbor microscopic disease, and Computed tomography and TOMO had little clinical impact on the assessment of mediastsinal nodes in potential surgical candidates with lung cancer.
TL;DR: It is suggested that fecal skatole excretion equal to or greater than 100 μg/g feces might be useful to discriminate colorectal cancer patients from control subjects.
Abstract: The object of this study was to explore the use of fecal skatole and indole and breath methane and hydrogen as metabolic markers of the anaerobic colonic flora in patients with unresected large bowel cancer or polyps. Patients with descending or sigmoid colon cancer were more likely to be breath methane excretors than control subjects, patients with proximal colon cancer, and patients with rectal cancer. Control subjects excreting breath methane excreted less fecal skatole than breath methane excretors in the following groups: patients with adenomatous polyps, all patients with colorectal cancer, patients with proximal colon cancer, patients with descending and sigmoid colon cancer, and patients with rectal cancer. These data suggest that fecal skatole excretion equal to or greater than 100 μg/g feces might be useful to discriminate colorectal cancer patients from control subjects. Twenty-nine percent (8 of 28) of the cancer patients had both “high” skatole levels and breath methane excretion compared with only 2% (1 of 41) of the control subjects (P<0.01).
TL;DR: Strategies for overcoming resistance to loop diuretics in patients receiving NSAIDs or those with renal disease, hepatic cirrhosis or congestive heart failure include one or more of: increasing the dose size; administering frequent ‘small’ (but effective) doses; continuous intravenous infusion of the diuretic; tor concomitant administration of another diUREtic such as metolazone or hydrochlorolhiazide.
Abstract: Resistance to loop diuretics is often encountered clinically. Studies in healthy subjects have shown that overall response to loop diuretics depends upon the interplay between the total amount of drug reaching the urine, the time course of its entry into urine and the pharmacodynamics of response to diuretic in the urine. The mechanism by which diuretic resistance occurs has been elucidated in several clinical conditions. Treatment with inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis has no effect on diuretic appearance in urine but blunts response by blocking the increase in renal blood flow produced by loop diuretics. In the elderly and in patients with moderate renal insufficiency, the mechanism of resistance appears to be purely pharmacokinetic, involving altered access of diuretic into the urine. In contrast, patients with nephrotic syndrome and hepatic cirrhosis manifest a purely pharmacodynamic form of resistance: in nephrosis, diuretic may bind to protein in the urine; in cirrhosis the mechanism of resistance is unclear. Lastly, in patients with congestive heart failure, with intravenous administration, resistance represents a pharmacodynamic phenomenon. With oral administration, however, the time course but not the extent of absorption is altered; consequently, in this setting, both pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes may contribute to the subnormal response.
TL;DR: Data suggest that, as with other tumours recently reported, increased levels of epidermal growth factor receptor may be related to transformation.
Abstract: The results of an immunocytochemical study of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in 35 human soft-tissue sarcomas, using a murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) EGF-R1, are reported. In many of the tumours staining was stronger than in the adjacent stroma, suggesting increased levels of receptor. Particularly strong staining was seen in one epithelioid sarcoma and in the spindle-cell component of a synovial sarcoma. Binding studies carried out on an epithelioid sarcoma cell line established from one of the specimens, using radiolabelled EGF, showed that approximately 8% of the receptors were of high affinity with a dissociation constant (KD) of approximately 10(-10)M, while the remainder were of lower affinity with a KD of 10(-9)M. The cells expressed a total of 1.7 X 10(6) receptors/cell which is equivalent to that found in some epidermoid tumours where gene amplification has been demonstrated. These data suggest that, as with other tumours recently reported, increased levels of epidermal growth factor receptor may be related to transformation.
TL;DR: Flow cytometric studies of bone marrow DNA and RNA content were conducted in 71 previously untreated patients with multiple myeloma, finding a progressive increase in response rate with rising plasma cell RNA content and survival was longer in patients with low tumor burden and favorable DNA features.
TL;DR: The effects of these NSAIDs depended on the conditions of the study, and in the basal state there were no renal effects but all decreased the renal response to furosemide.
TL;DR: A predictive model that, when combined with appropriate pharmacological response data, may be useful in the design and adjustment of warfarin regimens is yielded.
Abstract: The population pharmacokinetics of racemic warfarin was evaluated using 613 measured warfarin plasma concentrations from 32 adult hospitalized patients and 131 adult outpatients. Warfarin concentrations were measured in duplicate using a high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure. The pharmacokinetic model used was a one-compartment open model with first-order absorption (absorption rate constant set equal to 47 day−1) and first-order elimination. The extent of availability was assumed to be one. A linear regression model was used to evaluate the influence of various demographic factors on warfarin oral clearance. Age appeared to be an important determinant of warfarin clearance in this adult population. There was about a 1%/year decrease in oral clearance over the age range of 20–70 years. Smoking appeared to result in a 10% increase in warfarin clearance, while coadministration of the inducers phenytoin or phenobarbital yielded about a 30% increase in clearance. This study has yielded a predictive model that, when combined with appropriate pharmacological response data, may be useful in the design and adjustment of warfarin regimens.
TL;DR: Immunocytochemical and electron-optic studies strongly support an active myoepithelial cell participation in the histogenesis of these carcinomas.
TL;DR: This study extends the earlier observations of the antitumor effect of interferon in nodular lymphoma and discusses the cumulative experience in human lymphoma using alpha interferons induced in human leukocytes and those produced in bacteria by recombinant DNA techniques.
Abstract: Forty-nine patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease were entered into a multi-institutional phase II trial to evaluate the antitumor activity of human interferon alpha, prepared from buffy coats. Interferon alpha was administered intramuscularly in doses of 1 X 10(6) u, 3 X 10(6) u or 9 X 10(6) u daily for 30 days. Objective partial responses were seen in 3 of 18 patients with nodular lymphoma, all at the 9 X 10(6) u dose. Interferon alpha was not observed to be of therapeutic benefit in the other subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease. The major toxicities consisted of fatigue, fever, myalgias and weight loss. Serum interferon levels obtained 3 to 4 hours after injection varied widely, even among patients treated at the same dose level. Despite the relatively low doses of interferon used and the brief period of administration, this study extends the earlier observations of the antitumor effect of interferon in nodular lymphoma. These results are discussed in relation to the cumulative experience in human lymphoma using alpha interferons induced in human leukocytes and those produced in bacteria by recombinant DNA techniques.
TL;DR: A test series to assess the oral cavity function and the general health of patients treated for oral cavity cancer finds that Radiotherapy patients as a group have the best speech and swallowing function while the patients treated with combined therapy have the worst function.
Abstract: There are few studies that have addressed themselves to measuring speech, swallowing function and the "quality of life" of patients that have been treated for oral cavity cancer. The goal of this study was to develop a test series to assess the oral cavity function and the general health of patients treated for oral cavity cancer. The results of 51 patients treated for oral cavity cancer will be compared by the site and stage of the lesion, as well as by treatment mode. In addition, the functional results achieved by different reconstructive techniques in the oral cavity will be presented. Radiotherapy patients as a group have the best speech and swallowing function while the patients treated with combined therapy have the worst function. In the surgical group, those patients treated with intraoral skin grafts had the best speech results and those with primary closures had the best swallowing performance.
TL;DR: It is the opinion that this combined medical and surgical approach is an effective treatment for patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.
TL;DR: A spectrum of basic studies establishes the existence of a pathway in which the parafloccular lobule of the rat cerebellum is revealed as an integrating target for cortical auditory information.
Abstract: This study investigated afferent projections to the cerebellum, in particular those from the auditory cerebral cortex. The parafloccular lobule of the rat cerebellum is shown to be a primary target for the auditory cortical information with the midvermal region being a receiving area from the inferior colliculus. The method of anterograde transport of tritiated amino acids was employed to determine projections of the auditory cortex to the pons. Autoradiography showed that the site of termination of efferents from the auditory cortex corresponds to the location of neurons that project to the paraflocculus. Histogram analysis of neuronal activity in halothane anesthetized rats was employed to determine the response characteristics of neurons in paraflocculus and midvermis following cortical and tectal electrical stimulation. In addition, unit recordings of parafloccular neurons in immobilized, locally anesthetized animals demonstrated general characteristics of the responses of these neurons to auditory field stimulation. Electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex evoked mixed, excitatory-inhibitory and pure inhibitory mossy fiber responses in 33% of neurons in the paraflocculus, with no responses evident in the midvermis. Following inferior collicular stimulation, 12.6% of the neurons in the midvermis elicited a response. Recordings from parafloccular neurons in unanesthetized, immobilized rats showed evidence for excitatory and inhibitory mossy fiber responses, following auditory field stimulation. This spectrum of basic studies establishes the existence of a pathway in which the paraflocculus is revealed as an integrating target for cortical auditory information.
TL;DR: Ketoconazole inhibits at least one subset of the hepatic mixed‐function oxidase system, but is not as general an inhibitor of hepatic oxidative drug metabolism as cimetidine appears to be.
Abstract: Several clinical reports have suggested (but not demonstrated) that ketoconazole, a broad-spectrum antifungal drug, may inhibit hepatic oxidative drug metabolism in man. We recently demonstrated that ketoconazole inhibits caffeine and aminopyrine oxidation in the rat; we now study the influence of ketoconazole on theophylline and chlordiazepoxide kinetics in man. These studies were performed before and after varying doses of ketoconazole within the currently accepted therapeutic range. Ketoconazole had no effect on theophylline clearance, whereas the drug impaired chlordiazepoxide clearance from plasma. After a single dose of ketoconazole, there was a 20% decrease in clearance and a 26% decrease in volume of distribution without evidence of inhibition of drug metabolism. These changes apparently were not related to ketoconazole dose. After repetitive dosing with ketoconazole, chlordiazepoxide clearance decreased by 38% and was associated with reduced concentrations of its first oxidative metabolite, N-desmethylchlordiazepoxide. We conclude that ketoconazole inhibits at least one subset of the hepatic mixed-function oxidase system, but is not as general an inhibitor of hepatic oxidative drug metabolism as cimetidine appears to be. For some coadministered drugs, ketoconazole may also have an effect on other kinetic parameters such as volume of distribution. Therefore, we caution that clinically important drug interactions may occur with the concurrent use of ketoconazole.
TL;DR: Grip strength was the most sensitive single parameter, but forearm muscle circumference and percentage ideal body weight were the most specific indices.
Abstract: This study evaluates hand grip strength as an indicator of nutritional status and a predictor of postoperative complications. Hand grip strength and other parameters of nutritional status, namely, midarm muscle circumference, forearm muscle circumference, triceps skinfold, percentage ideal body weight, serum albumin, and percent usual weight were determined preoperatively in 205 patients. Complications occurred in 28 patients (14%). Patients with at least one abnormal nutritional parameter had a higher incidence of postoperative complications. Their length of total and postoperative hospitalization was greater by 6.2 and 4.6 days, respectively (p less than 0.01). Grip strength was the most sensitive single parameter, but forearm muscle circumference and percentage ideal body weight were the most specific indices. Hand grip strength is a simple measure of nutritional status and an accurate prognostic indicator that requires further clinical evaluation.
TL;DR: Although VAC produces excellent results with very acceptable toxicity in patients with Stage I disease and advanced immature teratoma, survival of patients with other advanced histologic types has been disappointing and this latter group is treated with alternative therapy such as vinblastine, bleomycin, and cisplatin with the goal of achieving improved efficacy.
Abstract: Eighty patients with malignant nondysgerminomatous germ cell tumors of the ovary were treated with the combination of vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. All patients underwent initial surgery: biopsy alone in 3 patients, unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy in 48 patients, and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with or without hysterectomy in 29 patients. Sixty-six patients received VAC as primary postoperative therapy; 46 patients (70%) achieved a sustained remission. VAC produced sustained remission in 86% of patients with Stage I, 57% of patients with Stage II, 50% of patients with Stage III, and no patients with Stage IV disease. For patients with Stage I disease, survival rates did not differ among histologic groups, but in advanced disease, patients with immature teratoma did significantly better than the others. Four of the 20 patients who failed primary VAC therapy were salvaged with other therapies, and 8 of 14 treated with VAC after relapse or failure of other treatments were salvaged. Although VAC produces excellent results with very acceptable toxicity in patients with Stage I disease and advanced immature teratoma, survival of patients with other advanced histologic types has been disappointing. The authors are therefore treating this latter group with alternative therapy such as vinblastine, bleomycin, and cisplatin with the goal of achieving improved efficacy.
TL;DR: It is concluded that the 1223 antibody recognizes a cell-surface protein that plays an essential role in spicule formation in the sea urchin embryo.
TL;DR: In patients, whose disease had progressed to brain metastases, freedom from such metastases had decreased logarithmically with time from initial presentation, which suggests a random distribution of progression rates with a mean time of 2.5 years between diagnosis and development of intracranial metastases.
Abstract: One hundred ninety-four patients with intracranial metastatic melanoma were treated at the M. D. Anderson Hospital between January 1972 and September 1977, using seven different accelerated irradiation regimens. The total tumor dose varied from 3000 to 4800 rad, and the overall treatment time from 1 to 2 weeks. In these patients, whose disease had progressed to brain metastases, freedom from such metastases had decreased logarithmically with time from initial presentation. This suggests a random distribution of progression rates with a mean time of 2.5 years between diagnosis and development of intracranial metastases. Overall, there was no significant improvement in the results from accelerated fractionation in the treatment of intracranial metastases. The result of treatment did not depend on the site of the primary, the number of intracranial metastases, the total dose, or the dose per fraction. There were, however, two subgroups not mutually exclusive, that benefited significantly from the accelerated fractionation: patients having had a complete resection of brain metastases, and those having no detectable extracranial metastases at the time of their treatment for intracranial metastases.
TL;DR: Analysis of peak aminoglycoside concentrations indicated that the Bayesian method was more accurate and less biased than the predictive algorithm portion of the program or routine physician dosing, and the ability to achieve a target serum drug concentration was analyzed.
Abstract: We assessed the accuracy of a Bayesian method in providing dosing regimens to achieve desired serum aminoglycoside concentrations. This method calculates individual kinetics based on serum drug concentration data. Performance was analyzed by determining accuracy, bias, correlations of observed to desired serum drug concentrations, and the ability to achieve a target serum drug concentration. We also compared results from the Bayesian method with those resulting from the use of the predictive algorithm portion of the computer program and with routine physician dosing. The Bayesian method resulted in a high correlation coefficient (r = 0.913) between observed and predicted serum concentrations. Analysis of peak aminoglycoside concentrations indicated that the Bayesian method was more accurate and less biased than the predictive algorithm portion of the program or routine physician dosing. A similar trend occurred for trough concentrations. Finally, there were no statistically significant differences between the predicted and observed peak (6.4 +/- 1.5 and 5.9 +/- micrograms/ml) and trough (1.2 +/- 0.9 and 1.4 +/- 0.8 micrograms/ml) serum aminoglycoside concentrations with the Bayesian dosing method. There were significant differences for peak concentrations with the predictive algorithm portion of the program and for peak and trough concentrations with physician dosing. These data demonstrate the accuracy of the Bayesian dosing method in attaining desired peak and trough serum aminoglycoside concentrations.
30 May 1985
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provided lipoidal biopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin compounds of the general structure (STR1) wherein --R is absent when ring B has two double bonds, --R' and R" are selected from saturated or unsaturated, cyclic or non-cyclic hydrocarbons of 1 to 31 carbon units.
Abstract: The present invention provides lipoidal biopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin compounds of the general structure: ##STR1## wherein --R is absent when ring B has two double bonds, --R is hydrogen when the two double bonds in ring B are absent, and --R' and R" are selected from saturated or unsaturated, cyclic or non-cyclic hydrocarbons of 1 to 31 carbon units. The compounds provided by this invention are oil soluble and can readily be formulated as an oil based pharmaceutical useful for the treatment of phenylketonuria, Parkinsonism, depression, senile dementia, Alzheimer's disease and related biopterin deficiency diseases.