Evaluation of Family Skills Training Programs to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Use: A Critical Review of the Field in Latin America

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - Family skills training programs (FSTPs) are the interventions of choice for the prevention of alcohol and drug use worldwide. However, the...     

Does self‐directed and web‐based support for parents enhance the effects of viewing a reality television series based on the Triple P – Positive Parenting Programme?

Background:  This study investigated whether providing self-directed and web-based support for parents enhanced the effects of viewing a reality television series based on the Triple P – Positive Parenting Programme.
Method:  Parents with a child aged 2 to 9 ( N  =   454) were randomly assigned to either a standard or enhanced intervention condition. In the standard television alone viewing condition, parents watched the six-episode weekly television series, 'Driving Mum and Dad Mad'. Parents in the enhanced television viewing condition received a self-help workbook, extra web support involving downloadable parenting tip sheets, audio and video streaming of positive parenting messages and email support, in addition to viewing the television series.
Results:  Parents in both conditions reported significant improvements in their child's disruptive behaviour and improvements in dysfunctional parenting practices. Effects were greater for the enhanced condition as seen on the ECBI, two of the three parenting indicators and overall programme satisfaction. However, no significant differences were seen on other measures, including parent affect indicators. The level of improvement was related to number of episodes watched, with greatest changes occurring in families who watched each episode. Improvements achieved at post-intervention by parents in both groups were maintained at six-month follow-up. Online tip sheets were frequently accessed; uptake of web-based resources was highest early in the series.
Conclusions:  The value of combining self-help approaches, technology and media as part of a comprehensive public health approach to providing parenting support is discussed.     

Effects of benzodiazepines on responses of guinea-pig ileum and gall-bladder and rat pancreatic acini to cholecystokinin

Bradwejn and De Montigny have recently shown that benzodiazepines selectively inhibit excitation of hippocampal neurones by cholecystokinin (CCK). We show here that lorazepam and chlordiazepoxide selectively inhibit the nerve-mediated response of ileal longitudinal muscle to CCK, but have no effect on the direct stimulation of gall-bladder muscle or pancreatic acini by this peptide. Lorazepam (1 and 10 microM) and chlordiazepoxide (0.1 and 1 microM) inhibited responses of guinea-pig ileum, but not gall-bladder to CCK. Responses of both tissues to acetylcholine (ACh) were unaffected and lorazepam (10 microM) did not inhibit ileal responses to neurotensin, 5-hydroxytryptamine and substance P which act entirely or in part by stimulating myenteric nerves. Chlordiazepoxide (1 and 10 microM) did not inhibit CCK-stimulated amylase release from dispersed rat pancreatic acini. Higher concentration of the same drugs and diazepam (1 and 10 microM) which has high affinity for benzodiazepine receptors on gastrointestinal muscle, inhibited responses of ileum and gall-bladder to both CCK and acetylcholine.     

Evaluation of accelerator mass spectrometry in a human mass balance and pharmacokinetic study-experience with 14C-labeled (R)-6-[amino(4- chlorophenyl)(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)methyl]-4-(3-chlorophenyl)-1- methyl-2(1H)-quinolinone (R115777), a farnesyl transferase inhibitor.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has been used in a human mass balance and metabolism study to analyze samples taken from four healthy male adult subjects administered nanoCurie doses of the farnesyl transferase inhibitor 14C-labeled (R)-6-[amino(4-chlorophenyl)(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)methyl]-4-(3-chlorophenyl)-1-methyl-2(1H)-quinolinone ([14C]R115777). Plasma, urine, and feces samples were collected at fixed timepoints after oral administration of 50 mg [14C]R115777 (25.4 Bq/mg or 687 pCi/mg i.e., equivalent to 76.257 x 10(3) dpm) per subject. AMS analysis showed that drug-related (14)C was present in the plasma samples with C(max) values ranging from 1.6055 to 2.9074 dpm/ml (1.0525-1.9047 microg/ml) at t(max) = 2 to 3 h. The C(max) values for acetonitrile extracts of plasma samples ranged from 0.3724 to 0.7490 dpm/ml in the four male subjects. Drug-related 14C was eliminated from the body both in the urine and the feces, with a mean total recovery of 79.8 +/- 12.9% in the feces and 13.7 +/- 6.2% in the urine. The majority of drug-related radioactivity in urine and feces was excreted within the first 48 h. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-AMS profiles were generated from radioactive parent drug plus metabolites from pooled diluted urine, plasma, and methanolic feces extracts and matched to retention times of synthetic reference substances, postulated as metabolites. All HPLC separations used no more than 5 dpm injected on-column. The radioactive metabolite profiles obtained compared well with those obtained using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectometry. This study demonstrates the use of AMS in a human phase I study in which the administered radioactive dose was at least 1000-fold lower than that used for conventional radioactive studies.     

Delivering Opportunistic Behavior Change Interventions: a Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews

Prevention Science - Opportunities for healthcare professionals to deliver health behavior change interventions are often missed, but understanding the barriers and enablers to this activity is...     

Vicia faba agglutinin, the lectin present in broad beans, stimulates differentiation of undifferentiated colon cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Dietary lectins can alter the proliferation of colonic cells. Differentiation is regulated by adhesion molecules which, being glycosylated, are targets for lectin binding. AIMS: To examine the effects of dietary lectins on differentiation, adhesion, and proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. METHODS: Differentiation was assessed in three dimensional gels, adhesion by aggregation assay, and proliferation by 3H thymidine incorporation. The role of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (epCAM) was studied using a specific monoclonal antibody in blocking studies and Western blots. The human colon cancer cell lines LS174T, SW1222, and HT29 were studied. RESULTS: The cell line LS174T differentiated in the presence of Vicia faba agglutinin (VFA) into gland like structures. This was inhibited by anti-epCAM monoclonal antibody. Expression of epCAM itself was unaffected. VFA as well as wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and the edible mushroom lectin (Agaricus bisporus lectin, ABL) significantly aggregated LS174T cells but peanut agglutinin (PNA) and soybean agglutinin (SBA) did not. All lectins aggregated SW1222 and HT29 cells. Aggregation was blocked by the corresponding sugars. Aggregation of cells by VFA was also inhibited by anti-epCAM. VFA, ABL, and WGL inhibited proliferation of all the cell lines; PNA stimulated proliferation of HT29 and SW1222 cells. In competition studies all sugars blocked aggregation and proliferation of all cell lines, except that the addition of mannose alone inhibited proliferation. CONCLUSION: VFA stimulated an undifferentiated colon cancer cell line to differentiate into gland like structures. The adhesion molecule epCAM is involved in this. Dietary or therapeutic VFA may slow progression of colon cancer.     

Behavior problems antecede the development of wheeze in childhood: a birth cohort study

RATIONALE: It is not clear to what extent behavior problems observed in children with asthma antecede asthma development, or are a consequence of the disease. OBJECTIVES: We investigated psychologic factors at age 3 years and subsequent development of wheeze by age 5 in an unselected birth cohort study. Children were recruited prenatally, followed prospectively, and reviewed at age 3 and 5 years. The rate of significant behavior problems at age 3 (above the clinically relevant cut-off on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory) was compared between children who had never wheezed (n = 397) and those developing late-onset wheezing (after age 3 years; n = 39). Late-onset wheezers were more likely to be above cut-offs for behavior problems at 3 years (before wheeze onset), compared with children who never wheezed, on Intensity (23.1% vs. 6.0%, p < 0.001) and Problem scores (10.8% vs. 1.3%, p < 0.001). Families of late-onset wheezers had poorer scores on family functioning variables, but we found no evidence of increased anxiety or depression scores in parents. In the multivariate analysis, significant and independent associates of late-onset wheeze were as follows: maternal asthma (odds ratio [OR] 5.4, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 2.1-13.8, p < 0.001), maternal smoking when child was 3 years (OR 3.3, CI 1.2-8.7, p = 0.02), expressiveness (OR 0.71, CI 0.55-0.9, p = 0.005), and significant behavior problems at age 3 years (OR 3.5, CI 1.2-9.9, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Behavior problems in early life are associated with increased risk of subsequent development of wheeze.