APOE2 allele increased in tardive dyskinesia.

Ninety-seven inpatients with tardive dyskinesia (average AIMS score = 13), the majority of whom were schizophrenic, were studied. Forty patients were Caucasian, and 57 were African-American. The APOE genotypes of these patients were compared to previously published genotypes of controls and with previously published studies of APOE genotypes in patients with schizophrenia. There were no significant differences in APOE allele frequencies comparing the African-American tardive dyskinesia population and the African-American control groups. In contrast, significant (< 0.05) P values were obtained comparing the Caucasian tardive dyskinesia population to the Caucasian controls, when comparing allele frequencies and genotypic frequencies. This study suggests that Caucasians bearing an APOE2 allele are at increased risk of developing tardive dyskinesia, whereas African-Americans are not. APOE genotype-specific risks of both tardive dyskinesia and Alzheimer's disease that vary across populations could be due to recruitment of patients or controls or could be due to modifying effects of differing genetic or environmental backgrounds. The mechanism by which the APOE2 allele increases risk of tardive dyskinesia is not known. Further information about the mechanisms of increased risk of tardive dyskinesia could result in stratification of prescribing practices weighing the costs of medications against the relative risk of side effects.     

Laboratory routines cause animal stress.

Eighty published studies were appraised to document the potential stress associated with three routine laboratory procedures commonly performed on animals: handling, blood collection, and orogastric gavage. We defined handling as any non-invasive manipulation occurring as part of routine husbandry, including lifting an animal and cleaning or moving an animal's cage. Significant changes in physiologic parameters correlated with stress (e.g., serum or plasma concentrations of corticosterone, glucose, growth hormone or prolactin, heart rate, blood pressure, and behavior) were associated with all three procedures in multiple species in the studies we examined. The results of these studies demonstrated that animals responded with rapid, pronounced, and statistically significant elevations in stress-related responses for each of the procedures, although handling elicited variable alterations in immune system responses. Changes from baseline or control measures typically ranged from 20% to 100% or more and lasted at least 30 min or longer. We interpret these findings to indicate that laboratory routines are associated with stress, and that animals do not readily habituate to them. The data suggest that significant fear, stress, and possibly distress are predictable consequences of routine laboratory procedures, and that these phenomena have substantial scientific and humane implications for the use of animals in laboratory research.     

Knowledge of phosphorus compared with other nutrients in maintenance dialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study's objective was to assess knowledge of phosphorus compared with other nutrients in patients undergoing maintenance dialysis (MD). DESIGN: We compared knowledge of phosphorus vs. other nutrients important to the MD diet (potassium, sodium, and protein) in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). We further measured gender, age, education level, and functional health literacy to assess correlations in patient nutrient knowledge. Nutrient knowledge was measured using a 25-item Chronic Kidney Disease Knowledge Assessment Tool for Nutrition (CKDKAT-N), and functional health literacy was measured using the short form of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA). SETTING AND PATIENTS: Patients received maintenance outpatient PD or HD at Wisconsin Dialysis, Inc. (Madison, WI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcome measure was knowledge of phosphorus vs. knowledge of potassium, sodium, and protein. RESULTS: Forty-seven MD patients participated in the study (29 undergoing HD, 18 undergoing PD, 30 males, 17 females, average age of 58.6 (SD, 13.8) years, and average grade level of 1.4 (SD, 2.6) years of post-secondary education). Thirty-five participants had adequate health literacy, 4 had marginal health literacy, and 8 had inadequate health literacy. The CKDKAT-N scores ranged from 6-21 for 25 items, with a mean score of 13 (SD, 2.91). Knowledge of phosphorus compared with knowledge of other nutrients was poor (0.38 vs. 0.72, P = .003). In a comparison of HD vs. PD patient knowledge, both phosphorus (0.37 vs. 0.42, P = .231) and other nutrients (0.69 vs. 0.80, P = .115) were the same. CONCLUSION: Despite regular dietary instruction, patients undergoing MD have a poor knowledge of dietary phosphorus content, compared with knowledge of other nutrients important in chronic kidney disease. Interestingly, there was no difference in nutrition knowledge when comparing PD and HD patients, despite differences in education level and health literacy between groups.     

Assessment of quality of life in children with peanut allergy

Children with a peanut allergy (PA) are faced with food and social restrictions due to the potentially life-threatening nature of their disease, for which there is no cure or treatment. This inevitably impacts upon their quality of life (QoL). QoL of 20 children with PA and 20 children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) was measured using two disease-specific QoL questionnaires (higher scores correspond to a poorer QoL). One questionnaire was designed by us and the other was adapted from the Vespid Allergy QoL questionnaire. We gave subjects cameras to record how their QoL is affected over a 24-h period. Response rates for both questionnaires were 100%. Mean ages were 9.0 and 10.4 years for PA and IDDM subjects, respectively. Children with a PA reported a poorer quality of life than children with IDDM: mean scores were 54.85 for PA subjects and 46.40 for diabetics (p = 0.004) in questionnaire 1 and 54.30 and 34.50 (p≤0.001) in questionnaire 2. PA children reported more fear of an adverse event and more anxiety about eating, especially when eating away from home. Photographs fell into seven common categories: food, management, environment, away from home, physical activities, restaurant and people. Most photographs related to food and management issues and revealed difficulties for both groups regarding food restrictions. PA subjects felt more threatened by potential hazards within their environment, felt more restricted by their PA regarding physical activities, and worried more about being away from home. However, they felt safe when carrying epinephrine kits and were positive about eating at familiar restaurants. The QoL in children with PA is more impaired than in children with IDDM. Their anxiety may be considered useful in some situations, promoting better adherence to allergen avoidance advice and rescue plans.     

Development of neurochemical separation of ON and OFF channels at retinal ganglion cells

Anatomical and physiological segregation of neurons into ON (brightening detector) and OFF (darkening detector) channels in the retina and subsequent visual system ensure the high sensitivity required for contrast detection and spatial discrimination. This segregation is finest at the visual axis. Neurochemically, ON and OFF ganglion cells at the visual axis seem to be distinguished by different inhibitory transmitters but not excitatory transmitters. Microiontophoretic studies of inhibitory transmitters on the retinal ganglion cells in kittens and adult cats suggest that this neurochemical distinction is poor in immature ganglion cells at the visual axis. Initially both ON and OFF cells seem to be supplied by GABAergic, glycinergic, and catecholaminergic amacrine cells, but in adults, ON cells remain supplied only by GABAergic amacrines, while OFF cells are supplied by glycinergic amacrines. Postnatal elimination of multiple inputs and strengthening of the appropriate inputs, as seen in the central nervous system, also seem to occur at the retinal neurotransmitter synapses during development.     

Different effects of unilateral versus bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation on walking and reaching in Parkinson's disease.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of unilateral versus bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation on quantitative measures of walking and reaching in Parkinson's disease (PD). We used kinematic measures and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor subscale (subscale III) to evaluate the movement of 6 people with PD who had bilateral STN stimulators implanted for at least 6 months and withheld their anti-parkinson medication for at least 8 hours. Subjects were studied with both stimulators off, one on, and both on. Kinematic data were collected as subjects walked, reached to a target, and were rated using the UPDRS motor subscale. STN stimulation improved walking speed and stride length, with the greatest benefit from bilateral stimulation. Reaching speed was improved by unilateral STN stimulation alone, with no additive effect of bilateral stimulation. UPDRS motor subscale ratings paralleled the kinematic findings. STN stimulation did not restore PD subjects' movements to the level of age-matched controls. Overall, these results provide further evidence that the basal ganglia pathways involved in control of walking and reaching may be distinct. We speculate that basal ganglia may influence walking through bilateral pedunculopontine projections and reaching through ipsilateral thalamocortical projections. Our findings also suggest that maximal improvement of walking requires bilateral rather than unilateral STN stimulation.