Comparison between the prevalence and treatment of wheezing and coughing in Brampton and Mississauga children

An analysis of hospital discharge data showed that Brampton children 4 years and under had higher rates of hospital admissions for asthma, bronchitis and upper respiratory infections than children in the same age group living in Mississauga and other Ontario municipalities. The present study was done to compare the prevalence and treatment of wheezing and coughing between Brampton and Mississauga children 4 and 5 years of age. The study showed that increased use of pediatricians on the part of Mississauga children in comparison to Brampton children resulted in a higher proportion being placed on anti-asthmatic medications even though the underlying prevalence rate of wheezing and coughing was the same in the two samples. Further study is required to determine whether differences in primary care between the two samples can explain a two-fold increase in hospital admission rates for lower respiratory illness among Brampton preschool children in comparison to their counterparts in Mississauga.     

Serous retinal detachment following glaucoma surgery.

The authors report the occurrence and clinical course of serous retinal detachment following glaucoma surgery in three patients. Serous detachment resolved in all patients spontaneously following treatment with oral and topical steroids.     

The first two cases of living donor liver transplantation using dual grafts in Europe.

The major limitation in adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is an adequate graft size with special regard to the safety of the donor. Only 20% of the evaluated donors are suitable to donate the right liver, depending mainly on the critical remnant liver volume. We report 2 cases of adult-to-adult LDLT using dual grafts. In the first case we implanted a left lateral lobe together with a left lobe; in the second case we used a left lateral and a right lobe. Dual graft LDLT solves the problem of graft-size insufficiency and avoids critical right lobectomy in the donor. This procedure can be safely performed and opens up the possibility of LDLT to even more families in the Western world.     

INAUGURAL ARTICLE by a Recently Elected Academy Member:From oligonucleotide shapes to genomic SELEX: Novel biological regulatory loops

The SELEX method and oligonucleotide combinatorial chemistry discovery process yields high-affinity/high-specificity ligands for virtually any molecular target. Typically, the enormous starting libraries used in the SELEX process contain 10¹⁴–10¹⁵ sequences. We now ask if the smaller sequences, complexity of extant organisms, and evolutionary history provide useful interactions between oligonucleotides and at least some unexpected targets. That is, do organisms contain a robust “linkage map” between their oligonucleotides and proteins and/or small molecules that enriches life?     

Inhibition of interleukin-2-stimulated enhancement of human natural killer (NK) cell activity by carbaryl, an anticholinesterase insecticide.

The potency of the anticholinesterase (antiCHE) insecticides as serine hydrolase inhibitors, and evidence for serine hydrolase activity in interleukin-2 (IL2) signalling suggest that the natural killer (NK) cell may be a target for dysregulation by antiCHE insecticides. NK cells are large granular lymphocytes (LGL) that respond to IL2 by proliferating and increasing their cytolytic efficiency. In the present study, we assessed the effects of carbaryl (CA, an antiCHE insecticide) and alpha-naphthol (NA, the major metabolite of CA) on both target cell killing per se and IL2 enhancement of target cell killing by human NK cells. Human LGL, collected from the peripheral blood of normal donors, were cultured for 4 days with human recombinant IL2 (HRIL2), then assayed by a 51Chromium (51Cr) release assay for lytic activity against human K562 cells. When added at the beginning of the culture period, CA inhibited enhancement of cytolytic efficiency in a concentration-dependent manner; at concentrations (0.5 and 5.0 microM) compatible with no cholinergic toxicity. Reduction of the effector/target cell (E/T) ratio in the 51Cr release assay markedly enhanced the observed inhibition by CA. In one experiment, inhibition increased from 6% to 20%, 17% to 35%, and 53% to 73% at 0.5, 5.0, and 50 microM CA, respectively, when E/T was reduced from 10:1 to 2.5:1. This result is consistent with reduced cytolytic efficiency of individual NK cells exposed to CA. NA had no effect at 0.5 or 5.0 microM but caused some inhibition at 50 microM. Neither CA nor NA produced LGL death. When CA or NA was added directly to the 51Cr release assay, inhibition was not observed. The mechanism of inhibition of IL2-stimulated enhancement of target cell killing is not yet known, however, the results are consistent with impairment of IL2 signalling, by CA.     

Glucocorticoids Decrease Hippocampal and Prefrontal Activation during Declarative Memory Retrieval in Young Men

Glucocorticoids (GCs, cortisol in human) are associated with impairments in declarative memory retrieval. Brain regions hypothesized to mediate these effects are the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Our aim was to use fMRI in localizing the effects of GCs during declarative memory retrieval. Therefore, we tested memory retrieval in 21 young healthy males in a randomized placebo-controlled crossover design. Participants encoded word lists containing neutral and emotional words 1 h prior to ingestion of 20 mg hydrocortisone. Memory retrieval was tested using an old/new recognition paradigm in a rapid event-related design. It was found that hydrocortisone decreased brain activity in both the hippocampus and PFC during successful retrieval of neutral words. These observations are consistent with previous animal and human studies suggesting that glucocorticoids modulate both hippocampal and prefrontal brain regions that are crucially involved in memory processing. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.