although opioids have their own clinically relevant adverse effects.'There is much current interest in the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as adjuvant agents with other analgesics after surgery.Several studies have shown that combining non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with opioids provides superior analgesia with less total opioid required and possibly a reduction in side effects mediated by opioids, such as respiratorv depression and sedation.Furthermore, there is good reason to believe that giving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs before surgery may result in a pre-emptive analgesic effect with a subsequent reduction in postoperative analgesic requirements and the associated adverse effects.'The results of controlled trials to substantiate this effect in humans are awaited.We suggest, therefore, that until there is stronger evidence for clinically significant impairment of wound healing, non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should continue to be used for surgical patients without other contraindications as they have a useful role in the management of postoperative pain.

Serum immunoreactive prolylhydroxylase (IRPH), galactosylhydroxylsyl glucosyltransferase activity (GGT) and amino-terminal propeptides of type III procollagen (Pro (III) peptide) were measured in fifty three patients with sarcoidosis (all having some degrees of pulmonary fibrosis). The levels of IRPH and Pro(III) peptide showed no relationships to the clinical assessment of the disease and while GGT activity was raised in approximately 80% of the patients there was no c correlation between the size of the increases and the clinical activity of the disease. The results of this study would suggest that measurement of the above parameters offer no specificity in either diagnosing or assessing the clinical activity of sarcoidosis. The observed increases in serum GGT activity in affected patients would however suggest that measurement of this enzyme may be useful perhaps in more severe pulmonary fibrotic reactions.

1.1. The only cartenoids present in the egges and freshly-hatched nauplii of Artemia salina are echinenone and canthaxanthin.2.2. A method for feeding pure carotenoids to carotenoid-depleted adult Artemia is described.3.3. Pure β-carotene is converted into echinonen and canthaxanthin by Artemia; the kinetics of changes in pigment composition after feeding suggest that echinenone is an intermediate in the conversion of β-carotene into canthaxanthine.4.4. Animals fed pure echinenone convert this into canthaxanthin.5.5. Canthaxanthin is the final product of these carotenoid transformations in Artemia; no intermediates in its formation, other than echinenone, were detected.6.6. Zeaxanthin is absorbed by the gut, but is not metabolized to yield ketocarotenoids.7.7. The results are discussed in the light of other studies on carotenoid distribution in the Branchiopoda, and their contribution to our understanding of the mechanism of ketocarotenoid formation is assessed.