Association of apolipoprotein E epsilon2 and vasculopathy in cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Endogenous opioid peptides appear to be involved in acute behavioral effects induced by single doses of ethanol. However, its role in repeated ethanol exposure has not been studied. In the present study ethanol was given to rats at the doses of 2 and 4 g/kg by a stomach gauge for 15 days, and its effects on spontaneous motility, open-field activity, and active avoidance behavior recorded on the 3rd, the 6th and the 15th days. Then the effect of naloxone (0.5 and 2 mg/kg by intraperitoneal route) was tested against a challenge ethanol dose, administrated by oral route, on the 16th day. Control animals received tap water and saline instead of ethanol or naloxone, respectively. Both doses of ethanol induced a decrease in spontaneous motility that was antagonized by naloxone. Open-field ambulations were increased by the high dose of ethanol, low-dose lacking effect; naloxone did not modify these ethanol effects. The low dose of ethanol shortened latency time in shuttlebox, the high dose causing escape and freezing responses; none of these effects were modified by naloxone. Therefore, endogenous opioid peptides appear to play a limited role in the chronic effects of ethanol in rats; particularly its effects in tests inducing an increase in the level of anxiety were resistant to naloxone.     

Outbreak of adenovirus 35 pneumonia among adult residents and staff of a chronic care psychiatric facility

Outbreaks of acute respiratory disease caused by adenovirus are rarely documented in civilian populations, and adenovirus 35 is an uncommon serotype best recognized as a cause of serious disease in immunocompromised patients. An outbreak of adenovirus 35 pneumonia among residents and staff of a chronic care psychiatric facility was investigated. Fourteen (26%) of 53 residents and 4 (2%) of approximately 200 staff had radiographically confirmed pneumonia. Thirteen (93%) of 14 residents with pneumonia were hospitalized, 5 (36%) required mechanical ventilation, and 1 (7%) died. One staff member was hospitalized. Adenovirus infection was diagnosed in 17 (94%) persons with pneumonia by culture or serology and was confirmed as adenovirus 35 infection in 8 persons. Residents with pneumonia had resided at the facility longer than other residents. Chronic illness was not a risk factor for severe disease. Crowding and poor hygienic behaviors probably facilitated transmission among residents.     

Body mass index and the risk of cancers of the gastric cardia and distal stomach in Shanghai, China

The divergent incidence patterns of gastric cardia and distal stomach cancers suggest different etiologies. Although obesity has recently been linked to cardia cancer in Western populations, its association with distal stomach cancer remains unclear. This study examined the relation of anthropometric measurements to risk by subsites of stomach cancer in a Chinese population. We identified 1124 population-based cases of stomach cancer, ages 20-69 years, newly diagnosed between December 1988 and November 1989 in Shanghai, China. Controls (n = 1451) were randomly selected from permanent Shanghai residents and frequency-matched to cases by age and sex. Information on demographic characteristics, height and weight, diet, smoking, and other exposures was obtained by trained interviewers in person. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in square meters and categorized into quartiles based on the distribution among controls. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using logistic regression models, simultaneously adjusting for age, education, income, cigarette smoking (men only), alcohol drinking (men only), intake of total calories, and chronic gastric diseases. For gastric cardia cancer, the odds ratios among men were 1.4, 1.5, and 3.0 in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of usual BMI (P for trend, < 0.01). Among women, elevated risks also were associated with excess weight, but the gradient in risk was not smooth. Risk patterns for usual body weight, maximum BMI, and minimum BMI were similar to those found for usual BMI. For distal stomach cancer, no association with usual BMI was observed among men, but a slightly elevated risk was seen among women. Our observations in China support recent findings in Western populations that obesity contributes to the risk of gastric cardia cancer, especially among men.     

Potassium and magnesium responses of cassava grown in Ultisol in southern Nigeria

Results of three consecutive croppings to study the potassium and magnesium responses of two improved cassava cultivars TMS 30395 and 30211 grown on an acid, sandy loam, Ultisol (Typic paleudult) in southern Nigeria is reported. On land newly cleared from Eupatorium fallow a significant potassium response in the first cropping year was observed only with the more vigorous cultivar TMS 30395. Both cultivars responded to potassium applications at rates of 30 and 60 kg Kha^–1 in second and third croppings respectively. A significant response to application of 20 kg Mgha^–1 was observed in the third crop with cultivar TMS 30211. Cultivar TMS 30395 seems to be more effective in utilizing magnesium from the soil. Potassium and magnesium responses on this Ultisol can be expected when the IN Ammonium Acetate extractable soil K and Mg test levels are 0.15 me K 100g^–1 and 0.20 meMg 100g^–1, respectively. Critical tissue concentrations of cassava index leaves sampled at 6 MAP are 0.1% K for both cultivars and 0.33% Mg for cultivar TMS 30211.     

Surgical treatment of sclerosing peritonitis caused by practolol

A detailed and illustrated account is given of the surgical operation needed to treat practolol-induced sclerosing peritonitis, based on the personal experience of 6 patients.     

IgA class reticulin antibodies in relatives of patients with coeliac disease

IgA class reticulin antibodies were not found in patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and hiatus hernia despite a significant incidence of IgG class reticulin antibodies. None of 56 normal healthy subjects was positive. In contrast, 13 (76%) of the sera from 17 patients with coeliac disease on normal diet were positive for IgA class antibodies as were 19 (20%) of 93 first degree relatives. Seventy-three relatives underwent jejunal biopsy. Grade III (flat) histology was found in 13 and, of these patients, 10 (77%) showed IgA class reticulin antibody in their serum. It is suggested that determination of IgA class reticulin antibodies was a useful test to determine which relative must be biopsied.     

Expression and estrogen regulation of the HEM45 MRNA in human tumor lines and in the rat uterus

The combination of manual and automated extraction procedures using low sample volumes (5-50 ml) with large-volume oncolumn injection (LVI) (200 microliters) in capillary gas chromatography with flame photometric detection (GC-FPD) has allowed the determination of 16 organophosphorus pesticides in clean water samples at the low ng l-1 level with an important simplification in the sample preparation step. A simple and fast offline liquid-liquid microextraction procedure (2-5 ml water/l ml methyl tert.-butyl ether) has been applied to spiked groundwater samples (containing 0.5 ng of each pesticide) with good recoveries (over 80%) and precision (better than 10%), giving detection limits between 5 and 100 ng l-1 using 200 microliters injections in the GC-FPD system. The application of an inline automated liquid-liquid microextraction-LVI-GC procedure (2 ml water/2 ml methyl tert.-butyl ether: injection of 200 microliters in GC-FPD) using the autosampler ASPEC XL led to lower recoveries (> 50%) as a result of the low efficiency for mixing organic and aqueous phases, although with very satisfactory coefficients of variation (lower than 7%) and detection limits between 20 and 200 ng l-1. Manual and automated solid-phase extraction procedures using the well known C18 cartridges and the new Oasis HLB have been applied to groundwater samples (5-50 ml) spiked with 1 ng of each pesticide. Results obtained for both the manual and the automated procedures were satisfactory (recoveries over 80%) and the limits of detection for 50 ml sample volume ranged from 1 to 6 ng l-1.     

The relation between serum markers in the second trimester and placental pathology. A study on extremely small for gestational age fetuses

To disclose the cytoprotective mechanism of 1,6-dihydro-2[2-(2-methyoxypropoxy)anilino]-6-oxo-5-pyrimidinecarb oxylic acid (CAS 98772-05-5, MAR-99), the effect of this compound on the microvascular injury in gastric mucosa induced by 99.5% ethanol in rats was studied. In this experiment, it was found that the elevation of vascular permeability observed at the early state of ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury was closely correlated with the combined action of histamine and slow reacting substance (leukotriene C4, LTC4). MAR-99 (0.3-10 mg/kg p.o.) prevented dose-dependently the increase in vascular permeability. Furthermore, MAR-99 (10 mg/kg p.o.) improved the decrease in the number of histamine containing cells and histamine content, and prevented the production of LTC4. These results suggest that MAR-99 exerts its anti-microvascular injury effect by regulating the release of histamine and the production of LTC4 in glandular stomach against ethanol, and this effect may contribute to the anti-lesion effect of this compound.