Mechanism of action of tubocurarine on nicotinic cholinoreceptors of neurons of the sympathetic ganglia of rats

Tubocurarine (Tc) effect on membrane currents elicited by acetylcholine (ACh) was studied in isolated superior cervical ganglion neurons of rat using patch-clamp method in the whole-cell recording mode. The "use-dependent" block of ACh current by Tc was revealed in the experiments with ACh applications, indicating that Tc blocked the channels opened by ACh. Mean lifetime of Tc-open channel complex, tau, was found to be 9.8 +/- 0.5 s (n = 7) at -50 mV and 20-24 degrees C. tau exponentially increased with membrane hyperpolarization (e-fold change in tau corresponded to the membrane potential shift by 61 mV). Inhibition of the ACh-induced current by Tc (3-30 microM/1) was completely abolished by membrane depolarization to the level of 80-100 mV. Inhibition of ACh-induced current was augmented at increased ACh doses. It is concluded that the open channel block produced by Tc is likely to be the only mechanism for Tc action on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in superior cervical ganglion neurons of rat.     

The effect of age of onset of PD on risk of dementia

Background Dementia occurs in the majority of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Late onset of PD has been reported to be associated with a higher risk for dementia. However, age at onset (AAO) and age at baseline assessment are often correlated. The aim of this study was to explore whether AAO of PD symptoms is a risk factor for dementia independent of the general effect of age. Methods Two community-based studies of PD in New York (n = 281) and Rogaland county, Norway (n = 227) and two population-based groups of healthy elderly from New York (n = 180) and Odense, Denmark (n = 2414) were followed prospectively for 3–4 years and assessed for dementia according to DSM-IIIR. All PD and control cases underwent neurological examination and were followed with neurological and neuropsychological assessments. We used Cox proportional hazards regression based on three different time scales to explore the effect of AAO of PD on risk of dementia, adjusting for age at baseline and other demographic and clinical variables. Findings In both PD groups and in the pooled analyses, there was a significant effect of age at baseline assessment on the time to develop dementia, but there was no effect of AAO independent of age itself. Consistent with these results, there was no increased relative effect of age on the time to develop dementia in PD cases compared with controls. Interpretation This study shows that it is the general effect of age, rather than AAO that is associated with incident dementia in subjects with PD. Received in revised form: 22 December 2005     

Limits of deinstitutionalization--perspectives of relatives of psychiatric patients

After a hopeful beginning, the social process of the reintegration of those with severe mental illness has come to a standstill. I am led to wonder whether "the community" really wants to live together with people suffering from severe mental illness, and if so, how closely? As long as the medical treatment of mental illness provided by the general practitioners is fundamentally deficient, as they are not able to prescribe the necessary interventions--such as out-patient psychiatric nursing, and service providers in the out-patient sector are content with offering increasingly intensive forms of care for the less seriously ill at the cost of the Social Welfare System--the reintegration of those with serious mental illness remains an illusion--which is mainly to the benefit of providers of residential care in homes and hostels.     

Sense of coherence as a predictor of subjective state of health: results of 4 years of follow-up of adults

A number of cross-sectional population studies have shown that a strong sense of coherence (SOC) is associated with various aspects of good perceived health. The association does not seem to be entirely attributable to underlying associations of SOC with other variables, such as age or level of education. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study reported here was to determine whether SOC predicted subjective state of health. METHODS: The study was carried out as a two-way panel mail survey of 1976 individuals with 4 years interval for two collections of data. The statistical method used was multivariate cumulative logistic modeling. Age, initial subjective state of health, initial occupational training level, and initial degree of social integration were included as potential explanatory variables. RESULTS: A strong SOC predicted good health in women and men. CONCLUSIONS: SOC can be interpreted as an autonomous internal resource contributing to a favorable development of subjective state of health. SOC data should, however, be regarded as complementary to and not a substitute for information already known to be associated with increased risk of future ill health.