Foetal alcohol syndrome in Saskatchewan: unchanged incidence in a 20-year period

Ethers and thioethers of monosaccharides have been synthesised which show potent toxicity to mouse (LD50 > or = 4 g.kg-1 O.W. and 0.2 to 1.5 g.kg-1 I.P.W.). A study of calcium antagonist activity for the full series of compounds indicated that the activity was similar for both O- and S- ethers and maximum activities were observed for monoacetoneglucose ethers possessing carbon chain close to 8 carbons.     

Experimental methods in hepatology. Guidelines of the German Association for the Study of the Liver (GASL). Liver perfusion--technique and applications

Purified cell-envelope polyphosphatase as well as polyphoshatase activities of cytosol and isolated vacuoles, of nuclei and mitochondria of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were compared. The polyphosphatases of cell envelope and cytosol are similar, the polyphosphatases of nuclei, vacuoles and mitochondria differ in their kinetic properties, substrate specificity, requirements in divalent cations and in some effector actions both from these and from each other.     

Effects of clozapine and haloperidol on baseline levels of vacuous jaw movements in aged rats

BACKGROUND: IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to latex proteins has become a significant clinical problem over the last decade. Nursing and medical staff are at risk because of their occupational exposure to latex. AIMS: To determine the prevalence of type I hypersensitivity to latex allergens in the nursing staff of an Australian hospital. METHODS: A questionnaire which asked about symptoms associated with the use of latex gloves was completed by 140 nurses working in the Alfred Hospital (72 in general medical wards, 68 in intensive care units). Skin prick tests with eluates of five different types of latex glove as well as common aeroallergens (rye pollen and house dust mite) and banana extract were performed. RESULTS: Thirty-one nurses (22%) were skin prick test positive to at least one of the five latex glove eluates. All of these nurses were atopic, having positive skin prick tests to rye pollen or house dust mite. Symptoms of local dryness, itch and erythema associated with glove use were reported by more than half the study group, but not more frequently by those who were skin prick test positive to latex. Urticaria associated with glove use was reported more frequently by those with positive latex skin prick tests (13% vs 4%, p = 0.05). Eighty-seven per cent of the nurses who were latex skin test positive were also positive to banana extract. CONCLUSIONS: IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to latex is common in nurses working in an Australian hospital. Glove associated symptoms were frequently reported, but in most cases the symptoms were more typical of irritant or contact dermatitis rather than type I hypersensitivity reactions. However, the extent of subclinical sensitisation to latex found in this study suggests that symptomatic latex allergy is likely to emerge as an increasing problem for nursing staff in this country.     

Korsakoff's syndrome, cognition and clonidine

Eighteen patients suffering from Alcoholic Korsakoff's Syndrome participated in a placebo-controlled double-blind cross-over trial of clonidine 0.3 mg b.d. for two weeks versus matched placebo for two weeks. A detailed neuropsychological assessment was carried out at the end of each treatment phase and staff ratings of behaviour were also obtained. Clonidine treatment resulted in no significant improvement over placebo on any of the cognitive measures employed. The results contradict previous smaller studies which had suggested that chronic treatment with clonidine had a memory-enhancing effect in Korsakoff's syndrome.     

Increased concentrations of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in cases with breast cancer--results from a case-control study

Organochlorines are persistent and highly lipophilic environmental contaminants which bioaccumulate in the food chain. Some of these chemicals, 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been suggested to be of significance in the aetiology of breast cancer. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is an anti-oestrogen in animal studies and should be thus lower the risk of breast cancer. The other isomers of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) or the chemically related polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have not been tested regarding carcinogenesis of the breast. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether PCDDs or PCDFs influence the risk for breast cancer. Consecutive patients who underwent surgery for a breast disease between 1993 and 1995 were recruited for the study. Cases were 22 patients with infiltrative breast cancer and controls were 19 patients operated for a benign breast disease during the same time period. Approximately 10 g of breast tissue free from tumour was taken from the specimen and frozen until analysis. Fat was extracted, cleaned and analysed with a high-resolution gas chromatograph coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Median concentrations of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) were 598 (170-14,880) and 396 (103-1,847) pg/g lipid in the cases and in the controls, respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for other risk factors for breast cancer increased odds ratio (OR) was obtained for OCDD: 401-1000 pg/g lipid yielded OR 3.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4-39, > 1000 pg/g lipid gave OR 5.2, CI 0.4-72. When the lipid OCDD variable was examined as a continuous risk factor there was a 1.09 (9%), CI 0.95-1.25, increase in the adjusted OR for breast cancer per 100 unit (pg/g lipid) increase in OCDD. No differences were found between cases and controls for the other six tested PCDDs. Mean concentration of TCDD was in the cases 3.6 (1.0-7.9) and in the controls 3.3 (1.1-6.3) pg/g lipid. For PCDFs no significant differences were found between cases and controls. The results were not changed if oestrogen or progesterone receptor status, S-phase fraction and DNA ploidy were considered. Breast tissue concentration of OCDD was increased in cancer patients, whereas the concentrations of other PCDDs and PCDFs were equal in cases and controls.     

The effect of the length of a malarial epitope on its antigenicity and immunogenicity in an epitope presentation system using the Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane protein OprF as the carrier

The phenotypic characteristics of three Serpulina pilosicoli strains isolated from humans with diarrhoea (WesB, Kar, Hrm7) and two porcine S. pilosicoli strains isolated from pigs with intestinal spirochaetosis (1648, 3295), were compared with the type strain of the species P43/6/78T (T = type strain) and other intestinal spirochaetes within the genus Serpulina. All S. pilosicoli strains had a characteristic ultrastructural appearance, displayed similar growth rates, hydrolysed hippurate, lacked beta-glucosidase activity, utilised D-ribose as a growth substrate, and had similar sensitivities to rifampicin and spiramycin. The only consistent phenotypic characteristic that differentiated human strains from porcine strains of S. pilosicoli was that the human strains all utilised the pentose sugar D-xylose. These distinguishing phenotypic traits appear useful for identifying S. pilosicoli.     

Selective employment of chemokine receptors as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 coreceptors determined by individual amino acids within the envelope V3 loop

The chemokine receptor CCR5 acts as an essential cofactor for cell entry by macrophage-tropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains, whereas CXCR4 acts as an essential cofactor for T-cell-line-adapted strains. We demonstrated that the specific amino acids in the V3 loop of the HIV-1 envelope protein that determine cellular tropism also regulate chemokine coreceptor preference for cell entry by the virus. Further, a strong correlation was found between HIV-1 strains classified as syncytium inducing in standard assays and those using CXCR4 as a coreceptor. These data support the hypothesis that progressive adaptation to additional coreceptors is a key molecular basis for HIV-1 phenotypic evolution in vivo.