Biotransformation of a 1,5-benzodiazepine, triflubazam, by man

The biotransformation of triblubazam (ORF 8063; 1-methyl-5-phenyl-7-trifluoromethyl-1H-1,5-benzodiazepin-2,4-[3H,5H]-dione) was studied in man. Seven male subjects received a chronic regimen of orally administered triblubazam for 19 consecutive days and their urine was collected for 29 days. Seven urinary metabolites were isolated by application of Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and preparative thin-layer chromatography. Six of the purified compounds were subsequently characterized by utilizing thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography and infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry. The structure of a seventh metabolite was established by the use of an enzymatic assay involving catechol O-methyl-transferase. These compounds included unchanged triflubazam, the N-desmethyl catechol derivative, the 4'-hydroxyphenyl derivative, N-desmethyltriflubazam, the N-desmethyl dihydrodiol derivative, the N-desmethyl-4'-hydroxy compound, and the N-desmethyl-3'-methoxy-4'-hydroxy derivative. Unlike the situation in the metabolism of 1,4-benzodiazepines by man, no C3-hydroxylated derivatives of triflubazam were isolated. The metabolism of triblubazam by man is characterized by extensive N-demethylation, aromatic hydroxylation, aromatic O-methylation, and dihydrodiol formation.

Nonviral intranuclear filamentous inclusions

Intranuclear filamentous structures have been found in cells of both central and peripheral nervous tissues in eight patients with a variety of neurologic diseases. The structures were curly, fibrillary strands, resembling paramyxoviral filaments morphologically, but larger in diameter (25 to 40nm). Their appearance was granular with indistinct, hazy outlines, and on cross section they were solid rather than tubular. These structures are probably not viral but chromatin fibers. The illustration of sequential development of the fibrillary structures from usual chromatin clumps supports this view. Thus, the finding of intranuclear fibrillary material in the cells of a number of patients with neurologic diseases must be interpreted with caution.

Unit responses to moving visual stimuli in the motor cortex of the cat

Neurons in the pericruciate cortex of the cat were tested with moving visual stimuli for responses to specific properties of the visual receptive field. Specific response patterns were shown by cells of origin of the pyramidal tract as well as by other cells.