A prospective 12-year study of subsyndromal and syndromal depressive symptoms in unipolar major depressive disorders

BACKGROUND: Investigations of unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) have focused primarily on major depressive episode remission/recovery and relapse/recurrence. This is the first prospective, naturalistic, long-term study of the weekly symptomatic course of MDD. METHODS: The weekly depressive symptoms of 431 patients with MDD seeking treatment at 5 academic centers were divided into 4 levels of severity: (1) depressive symptoms at the threshold for MDD; (2) depressive symptoms at the threshold for minor depressive or dysthymic disorder (MinD); (3) subsyndromal or subthreshold depressive symptoms (SSDs), below the thresholds for MinD and MDD; and (4) no depressive symptoms. The percentage of weeks at each level, number of changes in symptom level, and medication status were analyzed overall and for 3 subgroups defined by mood disorder history. RESULTS: Patients were symptomatically ill in 59% of weeks. Symptom levels changed frequently (1.8/y), and 9 of 10 patients spent weeks at 3 or 4 different levels during follow-up. The MinD (27%) and SSD (17%) symptom levels were more common than the MDD (15%) symptom level. Patients with double depression and recurrent depression had more chronic symptoms than patients with their first lifetime major depressive episode (72% and 65%, respectively, vs 46% of follow-up weeks). CONCLUSION: The long-term weekly course of unipolar MDD is dominated by prolonged symptomatic chronicity. Combined MinD and SSD level symptoms were about 3 times more common (43%) than MDD level symptoms (15%). The symptomatic course is dynamic and changeable, and MDD, MinD, and SSD symptom levels commonly alternate over time in the same patients as a symptomatic continuum of illness activity of a single clinical disease.     

Group cognitive-behavioral treatment of binge eating disorder: a comparison of therapist-led versus self-help formats

A new enzymatic assay for selectively measuring conjugated bilirubin concentration in serum with use of bilirubin oxidase (BOD) has been developed. At pH 5.5 BOD can oxidize only conjugated bilirubin in the presence of reagents such as sodium fluoride and N-acetylcysteine which can decrease BOD reactivity to unconjugated bilirubin and bilirubin covalently bound to albumin (delta bilirubin). The resulting decrease in absorbance at 450 nm is linearly related to the concentration of conjugated bilirubin in serum. The BOD in this new assay was confirmed to oxidize conjugated bilirubin, and neither unconjugated nor delta bilirubin, based on both its reactivity to unconjugated bilirubin and HPLC results. This assay was found to give satisfactory results, such as in terms of the range of measurement, the reproducibility of the results, the lack of interference with coexisting substances in serum and the stability of the reagent solutions, in practical applications. The serum conjugated bilirubin concentrations determined using this assay correlate well with those determined by the HPLC analysis. This assay can be used for accurate monitoring of changes in the conjugated bilirubin concentration in patient sera. These findings suggest that the conjugated bilirubin assay is useful for fractional determination of bilirubin in icteric sera.     

Streptococcus mitis cell walls and lipopolysaccharide induce lethality in D-galactosamine-sensitized mice by a tumor necrosis factor-dependent pathway

PURPOSE: To investigate the clonal origin of malignant cells in recurrent superficial bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the protein expression of p53 and retinoblastoma (Rb) by immunohistochemistry using antibody P1801 and PMG3-245, respectively, in 13 patients at the time of primary superficial bladder cancer resection (6 Ta and 7 T1) and their 15 corresponding recurrences of disease. Mutations in p53 and Rb were inferred on the basis of immunoperoxidase staining. RESULTS: At the time of initial tumor resection, a p53 mutation was observed in 5 patients (39%) and an Rb mutation was observed in 3 (23%). The p53/Rb mutation status of recurrent bladder cancers completely matched their corresponding primary bladder cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The chance that recurrent bladder cancer originated from independent clones in this study was extremely small (p < 10(-6)). This result strongly supports the monoclonal origin of recurrent superficial bladder cancer.     

Scaling of movement velocity: a measure of neuromotor retardation in individuals with psychopathology

The combination of ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide (modified ICE), was evaluated for its toxicity and activity in relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Twenty patients, 14-69 years of age, with relapsed (19 cases) or refractory (one case) aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated with modified ICE therapy, consisting of ifosfamide 6 g/m2 (1.2 g/m2 day 1-5), carboplatin 400 mg/m2 (day 1) and etoposide 500 mg/m2 (100 mg/m2 day 1-5). The regimen was repeated at approximately 28-day intervals. All patients had undergone a doxorubicin-containing regimen before modified ICE therapy. Median total dose of previously received doxorubicin was 406 mg/m2 (range: 200-825 mg/m2). The median interval from diagnosis to modified ICE therapy was 9.4 months (range: 3.6-121 months). Two patients achieved CR and five achieved PR out of 16 patients with measurable lesions (response rate 43.8%; 95% confidence interval 19.0-68.6%). Median overall survival was 227 days (range: 41-552 days) from the start of modified ICE therapy. Myelosuppression was the most serious toxicity, namely 16 patients (80%) and 11 patients (55%) showed grade 4 neutropenia and grade 4 thrombocytopenia after the first course, respectively. Modified ICE therapy might be an active regimen with acceptable toxicity as a salvage chemotherapy in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.     

Congenital epulis in the newborn

The authors report a case of congenital epulis in the lower gum of a new born female. This rare benign tumor of the newborn is histologically characterized by the granular aspect of its cells. It occurs more frequently in females than in males. Differential diagnosis mainly concerns Abrikossoff tumor whose histogenesis and evolution are different. The distinctive features of epulis are the presence of a fusiform cell component and the negativity of the granular cells for PS100.     

Par-4 is a mediator of neuronal degeneration associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease

Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) is a protein containing both a leucine zipper and a death domain that was isolated by differential screening for genes upregulated in prostate cancer cells undergoing apoptosis. Par-4 is expressed in the nervous system, where its function is unknown. In Alzheimer disease (AD), neurons may die by apoptosis, and amyloid beta-protein (A beta) may play a role in this. We report here that Par-4 expression is increased in vulnerable neurons in AD brain and is induced in cultured neurons undergoing apoptosis. Blockade of Par-4 expression or function prevented neuronal apoptosis induced by Ab and trophic factor withdrawal. Par-4 expression was enhanced, and mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis exacerbated, in cells expressing presenilin-1 mutations associated with early-onset inherited AD.