Ethnicity as a variable in mental health research: a systematic review of articles published 1990-2004

The objective of the study was to investigate how the ethnic variable has been used in mental health research, in theory, in measurement and classification criteria. Journal articles published 1990-2004 that address original research on psychopathology, treatment and mental health services and with "ethnic" or "ethnicity" in their title or abstract were selected. The papers were examined for their theoretical definition of ethnicity, how the ethnic data were collected and the criteria used to identify ethnic groups. The use of comparison groups and country of the studies were recorded. A total of 421 papers were identified. An explicit theoretical definition was found in 33 (7.8%) papers. Data collection procedure was mentioned in 248 (58.9%) and 104 (24.7%) papers described how data was converted into ethnic groups. The operationalizations of ethnicity have remained almost unchanged during the 15-year review period. Generally, the ethnic variable was incompletely reported. Confusion regarding which individual or social characteristics ethnicity refers to makes the research findings of limited value in clinical settings, and may continue to create misunderstanding about the effect of ethnicity in clinical contexts.     

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome are often depressed or anxious--a case control study

OBJECTIVE: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common hyperandrogenic endocrine disorder affecting women of fertile age. The aim of this study was to survey whether the rate of clinical psychiatric disorders in PCOS differs from the normal population. METHOD: Women with PCOS (n=49) meeting the Rotterdam criteria for PCOS, and 49 age-matched controls identified from the population registry, were recruited. Trained clinicians used the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview to establish lifetime occurrence of Axis I DSM diagnoses. Serum-testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin were analyzed. RESULTS: Women with PCOS had higher lifetime incidence of depressive episodes, social phobia, and eating disorders than controls. Suicide attempts were seven times more common in the PCOS group than in the controls. Current as well as lifetime use of antidepressants and anxiolytic drugs were more common in the PCOS group. CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies have found that PCOS is associated with decreased quality of life and self-rated mental symptoms. This study demonstrates that PCOS is also linked to psychiatric syndromes as verified by structured clinical assessments. The clinical implication of this study is that clinicians treating women with PCOS should be aware that these women are a high risk group for common affective and anxiety disorders as well as suicide attempts.     

Differences in secretome in culture media when comparing blastocysts and arrested embryos using multiplex proximity assay

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess different patterns of the human embryo secretome analysed as protein levels in culture media. Furthermore, analyses to correlate protein levels with quality and timing to development of human embryos were performed.

Material and methods: Human day-2 cryopreserved embryos were cultured for four days in an EmbryoScope^® with a time-lapse camera, and embryo quality was evaluated retrospectively. After culture, the media were collected and relative levels of secreted proteins were analysed using Proseek Multiplex Assays. Protein levels were evaluated in relation to timing to development and the ability to form a blastocyst.

Results: Specific patterns of timing of development of blastocysts were found, where a difference in time to start of cavitation was found between high- and low-quality blastocysts. There appeared to be a correlation between specific protein patterns and successful formation of morulae and blastocysts. Embryos developing into blastocysts had higher levels of EMMPRIN than arrested embryos, and levels of caspase-3 were lower in high- versus low-quality blastocysts. Also, higher levels of VEGF-A, IL-6, and EMMPRIN correlated with shorter times to morula formation.

Conclusions: The secretome and timing to development differ in embryos forming blastocysts and those that become arrested, and in high- versus low-quality blastocysts. The levels of certain proteins also correlate to specific times to development.     

Confirmatory and disconfirmatory feedback in families of schizophrenics, pathological controls and normals

Two studies are reported measuring feedback mechanism in 10,771 communication acts in families of schizophrenics, nonschizophrenics within the range of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and healthy offspring, using the Confirmation-Disconfirmation Coding System (CONDIS). Couples were observed in interaction with their offspring in situations provoking disagreement using the Colour Conflict Method (CCM) (n = 21), and alone during collaboration (n = 21) using the Consensus Spouse-Rorschach Method, respectively. The main categories of confirmatory and disconfirmatory feedback showed cross-situational stability, whereas subcategories such as egocentric utterances and active disqualification of others varied across situations and gave predicted differential deficits in S-parents. In 8 of 14 analyses, parents of pathological controls came out similar to normals or between normals and schizophrenics. The results supported the construct validity of CONDIS. Feedback mechanisms in parental communication were associated with schizophrenic traits in the offspring, incomprehensible egocentric utterances and active disqualification of others with schizophrenia.     

损伤性癫痫模型大鼠海马和额叶突触蛋白的动态表达

Objective To observe the time course of changes in synaptophysin (P38) expression in the cortex and hippocampus of rats with posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE), and explore the role of synaptic plasticity in the epileptogenesis of PTE. Methods Thirty-seven male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into normal control group (n=5), sham-operated group (n=12) with intracortical saline injection, and PTE model group (n=20) with stereotactic FeCl<,2> injection (0.1 mol/L, 10 μ1) into the motor cortex. The expression of P38 in the brain cortex and hippocampus of the rats was detected immunohistochemically at 1 h and 7, 14 and 30 days after the injections. Results Most of the rats with FeCl<,2> injection developed isolated epileptiform discharges soon alter the injection. Compared with the sham-operated groups, the rats in PTE group showed significantly decreased P38 expression in the right frontal cortex at all the time points of measurement (P<0.05). At 1 h after FeCl<,2> injection, P38 expression in the polymorphic layer, stratum lacunosum and stratum radiatum of the right hippocampai CA3 area and DG molecular layer underwent no significant changes (P>05), but at 7 days, the expression increased significantly in all the stratum regions of the right hippocampal CA3 area, and this high expression level was maintained till 30 days after the injection. Conclusion Synaptic plasticity alterations in relation to P38 expression changes in the cortex and hippocampus may play an important role in the epileptogenesis of PTE in this rat model.     

Squamous cell carcinoma of the penis and of the cervix,vulva and vagina in spouses: is there any relationship? An epidemiological study from Norway, 1960-92.

Four hundred and twenty-three wives of 671 men with cancer of the penis were compared with 444 wives of 569 men who did not have this disease. The risk among the wives of patients with cancer of the penis of preinvasive and invasive cancer of the neck of the uterus was 1.75 (95% CI 0.42-7.37).     

Systemic pneumococcal disease after staging splenectomy for Hodgkin's disease 1969–1980 without pneumococcal vaccine protection: a follow-up study 1994

We surveyed, during 1994, all 325 patients who underwent staging laparotomy with splenectomy for Hodgkin's disease in Norway 1969–80, before pneumococcal vaccine was available in this country. The patients were thus not immunized preoperatively. Of 162 patients (49.8%) who died before 1994, 8 (2.4% of the total study) died from pneumococcal septicaemia and 16 (6.2%) from infections totally. Of 163 patients (50.2%) who were alive in 1994, 158 cooperated and filled in a questionnaire: 22 had been hospitalized for serious infections; 2 with pneumococcal septicaemia, and 6 with pneumonia, although lacking a specified microbiological diagnosis. We observed 325 patients representing 4420 patient-years, 3066 patient-years among survivors and 1354 patient-years among the dead. This resulted in an incidence rate of systemic pneumococcal disease of 226 per 100,000 patient-years, which is a relative risk of 20.5 compared to the general Norwegian population during 1994. Septicaemia for these patients most often had an abrupt clinical start even for relapse-free individuals and occurred from 2 to 17 yr after splenectomy (mean 10 yr). The risk of developing an overwhelming pneumococcal septicaemia with high case-fatality in asplenic patients seems to persist for these patients at about the same level even 15–20 yr after splenectomy. Only 12.7% of the survivors had been given pneumococcal vaccine in the autumn of 1993. Despite the fact that medical journals and media in Norway focused upon the problem of pneumococcal disease in asplenic individuals in the autumn of 1993 and spring of 1994, a substantial proportion of these patients (55.3%) still remained unimmunized when interviewed in the autumn of 1994. None of our systemic pneumococcal disease patients was vaccinated. Our data underline the need for prophylactic immunization with effective vaccines against pneumococcal infection in splenectomized Hodgkin's disease patients.     

Twelve-year follow up of a randomized prospective trial comparing bacillus Calmette-Guerin and epirubicin as adjuvant therapy in superficial bladder cancer

AIM: To compare bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) with epirubicin in adjuvant therapy of superficial bladder transitional cell carcinoma, with respect to recurrence, progression and survival. Prognostic factors are also evaluated. METHODS: Between October 1991 and September 1999, all patients harboring superficial bladder cancers (Ta or T1) with any of the relevant criteria (stage>a, grade>1, size>1 cm, multiple or recurrent tumors), after complete transurethral resection were randomized to receive either 81 mg Connaught strain BCG or 50 mg epirubicin. Patients with recurrences were eligible to crossover, even repeatedly, until progression. Recurrence, progression and survival were analyzed in relation to initial treatment, patient characteristics and tumor characteristics. RESULTS: There were 209 patients included in the study, 149 men and 60 women. The mean age was 69.9 years (range, 24-92). The BCG group consisted of 102 patients and the epirubicin group contained 107 patients. Final analysis was made at a median follow up of 23, 47 and 61 months for recurrence, progression and survival, respectively. The 10-year Kaplan-Meier estimates for recurrence-free, progression-free and disease-specific survival were 61%, 78% and 80%, respectively, for the BCG group. The corresponding figures were 32%, 74% and 92%, respectively, for the epirubicin group. Time to recurrence differed significantly between two treatment groups (P=0.0004). Multiplicity increased the risk of recurrence, while grading influenced recurrence, progression and disease specific survival. CONCLUSIONS: Bacillus Calmette-Guerin prolonged time to recurrence when compared with epirubicin. Grading was shown to be a universal prognostic factor for recurrence, progression and disease specific survival.