Off-road bicycle racing injuries--the NORBA Pro/Elite category. Care and prevention

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to compare three classification schemes used to evaluate lymph nodes (LN) obtained from patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL): a modified Rappaport classification, the National Cancer Institute-Veterans Administration (NCI-VA) classification based on the relative numbers of cerebriform cells in the paracortical areas, and the Dutch classification based on the presence of cerebriform cells with large nuclei in mycosis fungoides (MF) and diffuse infiltration by cerebriform cells in Sézary syndrome. METHODS: A study set of 195 LN obtained from patients with CTCL (MF, Sézary syndrome, and nonepidermotropic T-cell lymphomas) and 14 LN from patients with benign dermatoses was reviewed independently by three groups of pathologists familiar with each classification system. RESULTS: Each classification system provided useful prognostic information. However, contrary to prior reports, no significant difference in survival was apparent in patients with uneffaced LN when classified according to the NCI-VA (LN0-2 versus LN3) or Dutch (Gr0-1 versus Gr2) ratings. In addition, all classification systems demonstrated a poor survival time associated with effaced LN. By combining results from the modified Rappaport and Dutch classifications, three prognostic groups could be identified based on cell morphology: a low-grade category with a small cell histologic subtype (median survival time, 40 months); a high-grade immunoblastic subtype (median survival time, 9 months) composed of cells with an oval nucleus containing a large, usually solitary central nucleolus; and an intermediate-grade category composed of all cases without the distinctive small cell and immunoblastic morphologies (median survival time, 26 months). CONCLUSIONS: The authors propose that clearly involved LN in CTCL can be categorized on the basis of cell morphology into prognostic groups analogous to what has been proposed for the Working Formulation for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas for Clinical Usage.     

Genotoxicity of estrogens

 Genotoxic effect of the endogenous mammalian estrogen 17β-estradiol and the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol have recently been demonstrated, e. g. the induction of numerical chromosome aberrations (aneuploidy, i. e., the condition in which one or more whole chromosomes of a normal set are missing or present in more than the usual set of copies) and the formation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) adducts. It is likely that the genotoxicity of the estrogens acts in concert with their hormonal activity to give rise to their carcinogenic effects. Many of the phytoestrogens that occur in plants and the numerous anthropogenic estrogens in our environment, which are ingested with food, have not yet been examined for their genotoxic potential. Recent studies have demonstrated that some but not all of these estrogens exhibit genotoxicity. The type and strength of the genotoxicity strongly depends on the chemical structure and does not correlate with estrogenicity. For example, coumestrol and genistein are clastogenic in cultured mammalian cells and lead to gene mutations, whereas biochanin-A and bisphenol-A have the potential to cause aneuploidy. Daidzein, enterolactone, enterodiol and certain bisphenols are devoid of genotoxic effects. The genotoxicity should be determined individually for each estrogen and taken into account in the assessment of its carcinogenic risk. Received: 19 December 1997     

A controlled trial of selegiline, alpha-tocopherol, or both as treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that medications or vitamins that increase the levels of brain catecholamines and protect against oxidative damage may reduce the neuronal damage and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, multicenter trial in patients with Alzheimer's disease of moderate severity. A total of 341 patients received the selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor selegiline (10 mg a day), alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E, 2000 IU a day), both selegiline and alpha-tocopherol, or placebo for two years. The primary outcome was the time to the occurrence of any of the following: death, institutionalization, loss of the ability to perform basic activities of daily living, or severe dementia (defined as a Clinical Dementia Rating of 3). RESULTS: Despite random assignment, the baseline score on the Mini-Mental State Examination was higher in the placebo group than in the other three groups, and this variable was highly predictive of the primary outcome (P<0.001). In the unadjusted analyses, there was no statistically significant difference in the outcomes among the four groups. In analyses that included the base-line score on the Mini-Mental State Examination as a covariate, there were significant delays in the time to the primary outcome for the patients treated with selegiline (median time, 655 days; P=0.012), alpha-tocopherol (670 days, P=0.001) or combination therapy (585 days, P=0.049), as compared with the placebo group (440 days). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with moderately severe impairment from Alzheimer's disease, treatment with selegiline or alpha-tocopherol slows the progression of disease.     

Restricted geographical extension of the association of a glucagon receptor gene mutation (Gly40Ser) with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

In the present work the effects of i.c.v. administration of La3+ and Gd3+ on the motor stimulant effect of cocaine in rats were studied. Both La3+ and Gd3+ failed to influence basal motor activity. However, the two metal ions differ in modulation of cocaine-induced activation of motor activity. While Gd3+ (10.0, 20.0 and 40.0 mM/1 ml) did not influence significantly the cocaine effect, La3+ (0.1, 1.0 and 10 mM/1 ml) inhibited cocaine-induced motor activation in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggest the possible involvement of La(3+)-but not Gd(3+)-sensitive calcium channels in the locomotor stimulant effect of cocaine.     

Allgemeine Technologie der Lebensmittel, Vorratspflege

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