Given a passage with a context and an answer, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.

Context: Histologic evidence of the comparative neurotoxicity of lidocaine, mepivacaine, and prilocaine is incomplete. We compared the intrathecal neurotoxicity in rats among these 3 drugs based on morphologic and neurofunctional findings.', 'Rats (n=169) randomly received 0.12 microL/g of 0%, 2%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, or 20% lidocaine, mepivacaine, or prilocaine or 25% glucose dissolved in distilled water via a chronically implanted intrathecal catheter. The effect of the agents on neurofunction was evaluated by movement of the hind limb (behavior test) and by sensory threshold (paw-stimulation test). The L1 spinal cord, the posterior and anterior roots, and the cauda equina were removed en bloc 5 days later and examined by light and electron microscopy.', 'A significant decrease in sensory threshold or irreversible hind-limb limitation was observed only in rats receiving 20% lidocaine. Morphologic abnormalities characterized by axonal degeneration were observed in rats receiving > or =7.5% lidocaine, 20% mepivacaine, and 20% prilocaine, at the posterior white matter and the proximal portion of the posterior root just at the entrance into the spinal cord. The incidence of lesions was significantly higher in rats receiving lidocaine than mepivacaine and prilocaine.
Answer: It is suggested that intrathecal mepivacaine and prilocaine are less neurotoxic than highly concentrated lidocaine in a rat intrathecal model.
Are intrathecal mepivacaine and prilocaine less neurotoxic than lidocaine in a rat intrathecal model?

Context: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] with the severity of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Han Chinese people.', 'Six hundred and seventy-nine patients with angiographically defined CHD were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Fasting lipids were measured, and the severity of CHD was quantitatively assessed for each patient according to the number of stenotic coronary branches and the Gensini scoring system.', 'The levels of Lp(a), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), and apolipoprotein (apo) B100 increased, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apoAI decreased significantly with the number of stenotic vessels. The levels of Lp(a) increased and HDL-C and apoAI decreased significantly with the Gensini scores. The logistic regression analyses showed that Lp(a) and HDL-C were independently associated with the number of stenotic coronary vessels after adjusting for age, weight, body mass index, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, triglycerides, TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C, apoAI, and apoB100. However, only Lp(a) was independently associated with the Gensini scores after adjustment.
Answer: Our data indicate that Lp(a) might be a useful marker in predicting the severity of coronary heart disease.
Are plasma lipoprotein ( a ) levels associated with the severity of coronaryheart disease in Han Chinese people?

Context: The aim of this study was to investigate the response of the growth hormone (GH) in rat anterior pituitary to intermittent hypoxia (IH) and its modulation by hypothalamic somatostatin (SS).', 'To observe the hypoxic response, rats were exposed to simulated altitude hypoxia (2 km or 5 km) in a hypobaric chamber for various days (4 h/d); to clarify SS-involvement, rats were pretreated with SS antagonist (cysteamine, CSH, 200 mg/kg/d, s.c.) then exposed to IH (5 km) for 2d. The GH mRNA and immunostaining GH in pituitary as well as immunostaining SS in median eminence (ME) of hypothalamus were assayed by RT-PCR and immuno-histochemistry, respectively.', 'IH of 5 km altitude (IH5) markedly suppressed the body weight gain (BWG) of rats from 1d to 10d, and it was returned to control level henceforth, while no significant influence was showed in the group of IH of 2 km altitude (IH2). IH5 for 2 and 5d significantly decreased GH mRNA expression in the pituitary. The pituitary immunostaining GH was remarkably increased in groups of IH2 for 5, 10, and 15 d, and in groups of IH5 for 2, 5, and 10d. Immunostaining SS in ME was significantly reduced in group of IH2 for 5d, and in groups of IH5 for 2d and 5d. Pretreatments (s.c.) with SS antagonist (CSH) significantly reversed IH5-caused increase of immunostaining GH and reduction of mRNA levels in pituitary.
Answer: IH may cause a short-term and recoverable suppression of GH release, and reduce GH mRNA expression in anterior pituitary, which may depend on the intensity and duration of the hypoxia. This suppression may be due to a modulation of hypoxia-activated SS.
Does intermittent hypoxia cause a suppressed pituitary growth hormone through somatostatin?