Health beliefs and attitudes toward the prevention of osteoporosis in older women

OBJECTIVE: A pilot study to determine health belief factors associated with osteoporosis prevention behaviors in peri-and postmenopausal women. DESIGN: We administered a survey to a convenience sample of 60 women aged 40-95 years old in an urban family practice center and an associated retirement community. The self-reported questionnaire addressed demographics, osteoporosis risk factors, current preventive behaviors for osteoporosis, and health beliefs. RESULTS: The majority of women (89%) believed that osteoporosis is a serious condition, but only 29% perceived a personal susceptibility. Women were less concerned about osteoporosis when compared with cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurologic disorders. Only 40% of women were taking active measures to prevent osteoporosis. There was no significant relationship between active osteoporosis prevention behaviors and five health belief factors (motivation, barrier, active participant in health care, frustration, and benefit) (p >or= 0.43). However, active behaviors to prevent osteoporosis were found to correlate with the single item "I am worried about developing osteoporosis" (p = 0.03). Most women surveyed would be willing to exercise and take calcium and a multivitamin to prevent osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: Few women are taking active measures to prevent osteoporosis despite their belief that it is a serious condition. Our data suggest that most women do not perceive a personal susceptibility to the disease. Only women who reported actively worrying about developing osteoporosis were more likely to be engaged in significant osteoporosis preventive behaviors.     

Assessment of bioequivalence after subcutaneous and intramuscular administration of urinary gonadotrophins

The objective was to demonstrate bioequivalence between s.c. and i.m. administration of Humegon (FSH/LH ratio 1:1) and Normegon (FSH/LH ratio 3:1). In two randomized, single-centre, cross-over studies, 18 healthy volunteers on each formulation were assigned to one of the two administration sequences. Subjects were given single doses of one of the above gonadotrophins after endogenous gonadotrophin production had first been suppressed using high-dose oral contraceptive. Subsequently, rate (Cmax, tmax) and extent (AUC) of absorption of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were determined for 14 days. For Cmax and AUC, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on log-transformed data and for tmax ANOVA was performed on ranks. Intramuscular and s.c. injections of Humegon were bioequivalent with respect to the main pharmacokinetic parameters, being AUC and Cmax of FSH absorption. Intramuscular and s.c. injections of Normegon were bioequivalent with respect to the AUC of FSH and not bioequivalent with respect to the Cmax of FSH. For tmax of FSH as well as for most LH variables of both preparations, bioequivalence could not be proven due to the high intra- and interindividual variability and/or concentrations being close to the detection limit. Thus, the main pharmacokinetic FSH variables after i.m. and s.c. administration of Humegon and Normegon were bioequivalent.      

Lupus-related advanced liver involvement as the initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a prototype of systemic autoimmune disease characterized by multiorgan involvement with diverse clinical and serological manifestations, principally affects women in their child-bearing years. Clinically significant hepatic abnormality as the initial presentation of SLE has rarely been reported. METHODS: Eleven patients with lupus with initial presentation of lupus-related hepatitis were included in this retrospective review. Clinical manifestation, immunological profiles, and risk factors for poor prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS: The most commonly associated clinical manifestations were found to be thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, advancing age, and presence of anti-SSA/Ro antibody and anti-thyroid antibodies. The diagnosis of SLE was delayed due to dominant hepatic abnormalities. Age greater than 50 years and marked hepatic decompensation in accordance with Child classification B and C might suggest poor prognosis (p=0.06). However, the p value was not statistically significant because of the small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: Lupus-related hepatitis, particularly in late-onset lupus, is common. In addition, the presence of anti-SSA, anti-thyroglobulin, and anti-microsomal antibodies is indicative of hepatic involvement in patients with SLE.     

Differential expression and regulation of p53 in human prostatic cells

Although genetic analysis has convincingly shown the association possibly existing between alterations in p53 tumor suppressor gene and a broad spectrum of human tumors including prostate cancer, surprisingly little is known about ways in which p53 at the protein level is controlled. To determine factors that may play a role in its regulation and expression, changes in p53 protein was investigated by using the androgen-insensitive JCA-1, DU-145, PC-3 and the androgen-responsive LNCaP cells. With the exception of PC-3 cells in which p53 is missing, multiple distinct forms of p53 were found in the other 3 prostate cell lines. A single p53 band was detected in the JCA-1 cell extracts, whereas two and three p53 immunoreactive bands were correspondingly observed in the DU-145 and LNCaP cells. The relative abundance and distribution of the different forms of p53 in the latter two cell types varied with proliferation of cells in culture. In the presence of charcoal-stripped fetal bovine serum (cFBS), LNCaP took on the morphology of neuroendocrine cells, a phenotypic change which was accompanied by a greater than 80% reduction in p53 expression, concurrent with elimination of the two slow migrating forms of p53. Induction of apoptosis in JCA-1 cells by treatment with the retinoid 4-HPR caused the virtual disappearance of p53, which coincided with specific processing of p53 into lower molecular weight 28 kD fragments. We propose that rapid and dynamic posttranslational changes in p53 may actively participate in determining mutually exclusive functional cellular events such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis.     

Marital role attitudes and expected role behaviors of college youth in mainland China and Taiwan

Mainland China and Taiwan have been politically and physically segregated since 1949, and it was not until the late 1980s that limited contacts and cultural exchanges between the two societies began to take place. During their period of segregation, the two societies adopted different approaches toward gender roles. While gender equality was actively promoted in mainland China, the government in Taiwan lacked the theoretical guidance on how to achieve such equality. Gender egalitarianism in Taiwan therefore remains at the abstract or philosophical level with no specification of what gender equality means in concrete terms. Testing the hypothesis that people in mainland China have become more egalitarian than have people in Taiwan with respect to the division of marital roles, the authors investigated the differences in marital role attitudes and expected behavior among selected college students in mainland China and Taiwan. Survey responses were obtained from 185 male and 154 female students from Taiwan and 150 male and 138 female students from mainland China of different years and majors on four dimensions of marital role attitudes and six areas of traditional husband and wife role behaviors. The dimensions were determined through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The data indicate that although most of the hypothesized societal differences are supported, some are not. The authors speculate that possible regressive changes in mainland China and progressive changes in Taiwan during the past decade were responsible for the discrepancy between hypotheses and results.     

Determination of flunarizine in rat brain by liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry

A rapid liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry (LC-ES-MS) assay for the determination of flunarizine (FZ) in rat brain has been developed. A C18 column and an isocratic elution were employed for the separation. Using post-column split, 64% of the eluent was introduced into the ES-MS system for detection. The [M+H]+ (m/z 406) and a fragmented ion (m/z 203) were detected using selected ion monitoring. The linear range of this assay was good, ranging from 0.05 to 5 microM (r2=0.99). The intra- and inter-day precisions showed relative standard deviations ranging from 1.4% to 2.0% and 1.3% to 2.9%, respectively. The application of this newly developed method was demonstrated by examining the pharmacokinetics of FZ in rat brain.