Localization of neutral endopeptidase in the ovine uterus and conceptus during the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy

Allylamine (AA) is an electrophilic amine with a long history of experimental usage because of its extremely potent and relatively specific cardiovascular toxicity; it has been utilized in a variety of experimental models attempting to mimic human atherosclerotic lesions, myocardial infarction, and vascular injury. Even though the exact mechanisms by which AA causes vascular lesions remain unresolved, recent studies on the acute effects of AA exposure in rats strongly suggest that deamination to the aldehyde acrolein, oxidative stress, and the resultant increase in lipid peroxidation, generation of .OH radicals, and acute depletion of glutathione (GSH) may be some of the causative factors in AA-induced vascular lesions. Since glutathione S-transferase 8-8 (GST8-8) of rat belongs to a distinct subgroup of GST isozymes involved in the detoxification of products of lipid peroxidation, we designed studies to examine the effects of AA exposure on this GST isoform in rat aorta using Western blotting and immunohistochemical techniques. The results of these studies demonstrate that GST8-8 is expressed in rat aorta and is dramatically induced upon AA exposure. By immunohistochemistry, GST8-8 was localized in the smooth muscle cells of the vascular media which is believed to be the site of metabolism of AA. A significant increase in gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity and GST activity toward 4-hydroxynonenal and acrolein, which are preferred substrates of GST8-8, was seen as early as 3 days following AA treatment. Alterations in GSH and other GSH-related enzymes at 3 and 10 days support the concept that--upon AA exposure--aortic defense mechanisms respond early and induction of GSH biosynthesis and rat GST8-8 occur to alleviate the toxic effects of acrolein, a major, genotoxic product of AA metabolism. The presence of GST8-8 in the vasculature, which is constantly exposed to products of lipid peroxidation, and its induction by AA, suggest that GST8-8 plays a key role in protecting blood vessels against oxidative stress and hence, may be involved in the atherogenic process.     

Exclusion of expansion of 50 CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeats in bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify the specific expanded CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeat associated with bipolar disorder. METHOD: The study employed an efficient multistage approach for using a genomic CAG/CTG screening set. RESULTS: The authors found no evidence of expanded repeats at 43 polymorphic autosomal loci and seven X chromosomal loci. Secondary screening was pursued at the only locus that contained a large allele (37 repeats) in the primary screening. No association was found between allele size and diagnostic status. CONCLUSIONS: It is highly unlikely that expansions in repeat size at any of the 50 candidate trinucleotide repeat loci examined are responsible for the association between expanded CAG/ CTG repeats and bipolar disorder. However, although the authors prioritized the repeats that were a priori most likely to be involved, the study does not reject the more general hypothesis that expanded CAG/CTG repeats are implicated in the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder.     

The effects of postradiation treatment with tamoxifen on local control and cosmetic outcome in the conservatively treated breast

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact on disease recurrence and cosmetic outcome of tamoxifen treatment initiated after breast-conserving therapy (BCT). METHODS: Between 1982 and 1994, 498 women (509 breasts) were treated with BCT in accordance with a highly standardized institutional protocol. Adjuvant tamoxifen was administered to 130 patients (134 breasts), beginning 1-6 weeks after irradiation. The median ages and duration of follow-up for groups who received tamoxifen (TAM+) and no tamoxifen (TAM-) were 62.5 years/56 months and 53 years/60 months, respectively. The members of the TAM+ group were significantly older (P = 0.0001) and had increased incidences of positive axillary lymph nodes or undissected axilla (P = 0.001). There was a significant (P = 0.001) difference between the TAM+ and TAM- groups in the distribution of histopathologic subtypes; this reflected an increased proportion of associated ductal carcinoma in situ in the TAM- group. More extensive regional lymphatic irradiation was administered to the TAM+ group. Chemotherapy was administered to 15% of TAM+ and 28% (P = 0.003) of TAM- patients. There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to tumor size, reexcision, total excised tissue volume, final margin status, total radiation dose, or use of interstitial implant boost. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the TAM+ and TAM- groups in the overall distribution of cosmetic scores (P = 0.18). The 5-, 7-, and 10-year actuarial local failure rates for TAM+ versus TAM- patients were 0% versus 3.1%, 1.9% versus 5.4%, and 1.9% versus 8.4%, respectively. Multivariate regression analyses of potentially confounding variables revealed no significant associations between tamoxifen and either cosmetic outcome or local failure. CONCLUSIONS: Radiotherapy followed by tamoxifen has no adverse interactive effect on cosmesis, and tamoxifen is associated with a trend toward enhanced 5-year local control probability.     

Personality types of oncology nurses

Personality type influences the choice of occupation. The breadth of specialty areas within oncology nursing allows for divergent activities and relationships and, thus, the accommodation of different personality characteristics. This exploratory study examined personality types for a convenience sample of oncology nurses predominantly employed in hospitals. According to the personality typology defined by Carl Jung, a person demonstrates a preference among four dimensions, i.e., extraversion/introversion, sensory/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. The type with the strongest self-selection for these oncology nurses was ISFJ, where feeling is introverted and perception is practical, so that helping others is both a responsibility and a pleasure. The discussion relates the personality types to Jung's theory and their impact in clinical practice. Strengths and weaknesses of each personality type are described.     

Partially anomalous pulmonary venous connection: demonstration of dual drainage allowing nonsurgical correction

The 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) is a non-invasive method for detecting Helicobacter pylori. This study was performed to determine the cutoff value and evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of 13C-UBT in Taiwan. 13C-Urea (100 mg of 99% 13C-labeled urea) was dissolved in 50 ml sterile water for the test. The test meal for delaying gastric emptying was 100 ml fresh milk. Patients fasted for at least 6h. A baseline breath sample was collected 5 min after they had the test meal. Two other samples were collected at 15 and 30 min after the patients ingested the 13C-urea. The test was evaluated in 352 patients after routine upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and the urease test, culture, and histopathology were taken as the gold standards for detecting H. pylori. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, we chose values of 2.8 and 4.2 excess delta 13CO2 per mil as the cut-off values for 15 and 30 min, respectively, post 13C-urea. The sensitivity and specificity of 13C-UBT were 99% and 93% at 15 min, and 98% and 93% at 30 min post 13C-urea, respectively. The 13C-UBT breath test is an efficient non-invasive method of high sensitivity and high specificity for detecting H. pylori infection. We suggest that the use of fresh milk as the test meal and the detection of excess delta 13CO2 15 min after the ingestion of 13C-urea are suitable for the clinical use of 13C-UBT. This test is simple and rapid.