Results of biomonitoring analyses in Biomonitoring Laboratory, Helsinki, Finland in 1997.

In 1997 a total of 4848 results of 47 different analytes from blood or urine specimens, were performed in the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Biomonitoring Laboratory, Helsinki, Finland. The results of these service analyses were registered in a database with additional information concerning the worker and the work place. The biomonitoring register, containing one or more results of about 30,000 workers, enables the follow-up of chemical exposure on individual or working group levels. In general, the levels of chemicals or their metabolites in biological specimens have been slowly but continuously declined in Finland during the last decade. In 1997 the decrease in the levels of heavy metals was particularly important. The most problematic organic solvent in Finland is styrene. Styrene exposures have remained in unacceptable levels in work places and still in 1997 more than a third of the workers analysed had very high concentrations of styrene metabolites in their urine. In most major analyte groups studied, there were workers whose exposure level exceeded the Finnish biomonitoring action level (BAL), and in about half of the specimens the level exceeded the upper reference limits (URL), of the non-exposed persons.     

Mortality after death of spouse in relation to duration of bereavement in Finland.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess the extent to which death of a spouse causes excess mortality by controlling for the effects of confounding and other sources of bias. Three possible sources of bias are considered: accidents common to spouses, common socioeconomic environment, and common lifestyles. (2) To assess the duration specific effects of death of a spouse on mortality. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective study of mortality in Finland among all 35-84 year old married Finnish men and women (1,580,000 people). Baseline sociodemographic measurement from the 1985 census records. Follow up by computerised record linkage to death certificate registers for the period 1986-91 (about 116,000 deaths, of which almost 10,000 among the bereaved) using personal identification codes. RESULTS: (1) After controlling for confounding effects, excess mortality was 17% in men and 6% in women. (2) Excess mortality was higher for short durations than long durations of bereavement. (3) Excess mortality after bereavement was higher in men than women. CONCLUSIONS: Controlling for confounding does not seem to have a crucial modifying effect on the relationship between spousal bereavement and mortality. It seems that death of a spouse has a causal effect on mortality. However, although spousal bereavement is a major stressful life event, this causal effect seems to be relatively small and short lived.     

Asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) and risk of acute coronary events. Does statin treatment influence plasma ADMA levels?

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that high serum levels of ADMA, an indicator of endothelial dysfunction, are associated with an elevated risk of acute coronary events in middle-aged men. To test the hypothesis that lipid lowering medication with statins lowers circulating ADMA levels, we also investigated the effect of simvastatin and atorvastatin treatment on plasma ADMA concentration. In a prospective nested case-control study in 150 middle-aged non-smoking men from Eastern Finland, those who were in the highest quartile for serum ADMA (>0.62 micromol/l) had a 3.9-fold (95% CI: 1.25-12.3, P=0.02) increase in risk of acute coronary events compared with other quartiles. In an 8-week randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial, plasma ADMA concentrations remained unchanged in simvastatin 80 mg/day (n=16), atorvastatin 40 mg/day (n=16) and placebo (n=16) groups over the study period. Our findings indicate that high serum levels of ADMA, a potential marker for endothelial dysfunction, may increase the risk of acute coronary syndromes. However, aggressive treatment with either simvastatin or atorvastatin did not reduce plasma ADMA levels.     

Testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin predict the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in middle-aged men

OBJECTIVE: In men, hypoandrogenism is associated with features of the metabolic syndrome, but the role of sex hormones in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes is not well understood. We assessed the association of low levels of testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) with the development of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in men. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Concentrations of SHBG and total and calculated free testosterone and factors related to insulin resistance were determined at baseline in 702 middle-aged Finnish men participating in a population-based cohort study. These men had neither diabetes nor the metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: After 11 years of follow-up, 147 men had developed the metabolic syndrome (National Cholesterol Education Program criteria) and 57 men diabetes. Men with total testosterone, calculated free testosterone, and SHBG levels in the lower fourth had a severalfold increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome (odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.4; 1.7, 1.2-2.5; and 2.8, 1.9-4.1, respectively) and diabetes (2.3, 1.3-4.1; 1.7, 0.9-3.0; and 4.3, 2.4-7.7, respectively) after adjustment for age. Adjustment for potential confounders such as cardiovascular disease, smoking, alcohol intake, and socioeconomic status did not alter the associations. Factors related to insulin resistance attenuated the associations, but they remained significant, except for free testosterone. CONCLUSIONS: Low total testosterone and SHBG levels independently predict development of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in middle-aged men. Thus, hypoandrogenism is an early marker for disturbances in insulin and glucose metabolism that may progress to the metabolic syndrome or frank diabetes and may contribute to their pathogenesis.     

Mortality in a large population-based cohort of patients with drug-treated diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: This paper presents detailed cause-specific data about excess mortality among diabetic persons in Finland, by age and sex. METHODS: Five-year follow-up data on the Finnish population aged 30 through 74 years were analyzed. During these 5 years, 11,215 persons with diabetes and 102,843 persons without diabetes died. The diabetic population was defined as people who were entitled to free medication for diabetes at the beginning of the follow-up period, that is, at the end of 1980. RESULTS: The relative mortality of persons with drug-treated diabetes compared with nondiabetic persons was higher among women (3.4) than among men (2.4). Almost three quarters of the mortality excess was due to circulatory diseases. For most other causes of death, too, diabetic persons had higher than average mortality. The exceptions were lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and alcohol poisoning. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes is a general risk factor for untimely death and makes a significant contribution to overall national death rates, particularly for circulatory diseases. Lower than average mortality from smoking-related diseases and alcohol poisoning, however, warrant optimism about the effects of health education among diabetic persons.     

Serotonin‐transporter‐linked promoter region polymorphism and serotonin transporter binding in drug‐naïve patients with major depression

Aims: Both the serotonin transporter and its genetic regulation by the serotonin‐transporter‐linked polymorphic region have a role in the pathophysiology of depression. Most of the previous studies have found no influence of serotonin‐transporter‐linked polymorphic region allelic variation on serotonin transporter binding in healthy controls or patients with major depression. Due to the inconsistency of the previous findings, we compared single photon emission computed tomography imaging with the serotonin‐transporter‐linked polymorphic region genotype in patients with major depressive disorder. Methods: A total of 23 drug‐naïve patients with major depressive disorder were genotyped and brain imaged with ^[123I]nor‐β‐CIT single photon emission computed tomography. The severity of depression was evaluated with the 17‐item Hamilton depression rating scale. Results: Depressed patients homozygous for the short allele had lower ^[123I]nor‐β‐CIT binding in the medial prefrontal cortex, but not in the midbrain, compared with the other genotypes. Conclusion: The decreased medial prefrontal cortical serotonin transporter binding in the patients homozygous for the short allele may be linked to altered function of the serotonin‐transporter‐linked polymorphic region gene expressed in these patients, especially in the medial prefrontal cortex.     

P1- and VPg-transgenic plants show similar resistance to Potato virus A and may compromise long distance movement of the virus in plant sections expressing RNA silencing-based resistance

Nicotiana benthamiana was transformed with P1 or VPg cistron of Potato virus A (PVA, genus Potyvirus). For both transgenes, T1 progeny displayed (i) resistance to PVA infection, (ii) susceptibility, or (iii) systemic infection followed by recovery of new leaves from PVA infection (RC), regardless of the transgene. In RC plants, fully recovered leaves contained no detectable PVA RNA, were highly resistant to challenge inoculation with PVA, and had barely detectable steady-state levels of transgene mRNA; transgene-homologous siRNA was not detected, in contrast to leaves undergoing recovery. Tops in RC plants and PVA-susceptible transgenic plants were replaced with scions from wild-type plants; only scions on the latter became PVA-infected. These findings suggest that vascular movement of PVA from lower, infected parts of RC plants was compromised in the recovered section expressing RNA silencing-based resistance, which adds a novel dimension to the current models for potyvirus movement.     

Elimination of two viruses which interact synergistically from sweetpotato by shoot tip culture and cryotherapy

Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV; Closteroviridae) and Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV; Potyviridae) interact synergistically and cause severe diseases in co-infected sweetpotato plants (Ipomoea batatas). Sweetpotato is propagated vegetatively and virus-free planting materials are pivotal for sustainable production. Using cryotherapy, SPCSV and SPCSV were eliminated from all treated single-virus-infected and co-infected shoot tips irrespective of size (0.5-1.5mm including 2-4 leaf primordia). While shoot tip culture also eliminated SPCSV, elimination of SPFMV failed in 90-93% of the largest shoot tips (1.5mm) using this technique. Virus distribution to different leaf primordia and tissues within leaf primordia in the shoot apex and petioles was not altered by co-infection of the viruses in the fully virus-susceptible sweetpotato genotype used. SPFMV was immunolocalized to all types of tissues and up to the fourth-youngest leaf primordium. In contrast, SPCSV was detected only in the phloem and up to the fifth leaf primordium. Because only cells in the apical dome of the meristem and the two first leaf primordia survived cryotherapy, all data taken together could explain the results of virus elimination. The simple and efficient cryotherapy protocol developed for virus elimination can also be used for preparation of sweetpotato materials for long-term preservation.     

The reversed social gradient: higher breast cancer mortality in the higher educated compared to lower educated. A comparison of 11 European populations during the 1990s

Higher socioeconomic position has been reported to be associated with increased risk of breast cancer mortality. Our aim was to see if this is consistently observed within 11 European populations in the 1990s. Longitudinal data on breast cancer mortality by educational level and marital status were obtained for Finland, Norway, Denmark, England and Wales, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Turin, Barcelona and Madrid. The relationship between breast cancer mortality and education was summarised by means of the relative index of inequality. A positive association was found in all populations, except for Finland, France and Barcelona. Overall, women with a higher educational level had approximately 15% greater risk of dying from breast cancer than those with lower education. This was observed both among never- and ever-married women. The greater risk of breast cancer mortality among women with a higher level of education was a persistent and generalised phenomenon in Europe in the 1990s.     

Improved silencing suppression and enhanced heterologous protein expression are achieved using an engineered viral helper component proteinase

RNA silencing limits transient expression of heterologous proteins in plants. Co-expression of viral silencing suppressor proteins can increase and prolong protein expression, but highly efficient silencing suppressors may stress plant tissue and be detrimental to protein yields. Little is known whether silencing suppression could be improved without harm to plant tissues. This study reports development of enhanced silencing suppressors by engineering the helper component proteinase (HCpro) of Potato virus A (PVA). Mutations were introduced to a short region of HCpro (positions 330–335 in PVA HCpro), which is hypervariable among potyviruses. Three out of the four HCpro mutants suppressed RNA silencing more efficiently and sustained expression of co-expressed jellyfish green fluorescent protein for a longer time than wild-type HCpro in agroinfiltrated leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana. Leaf tissues remained healthy-looking without any visible signs of stress.