Inhibition of cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adducts in rat tissues by dietary oltipraz

The present study investigated the effects of dietary oltipraz on cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adduct formation. Female Sprague- Dawley rats were exposed daily to sidestream cigarette smoke in a whole- body exposure chamber 6 h/day for 4 consecutive weeks. One group of rats was maintained on control diet while another group received the same diet supplemented with either a low (167 p.p.m.) or high (500 p.p.m.) dose of oltipraz, starting 1 week prior to initiation of smoke exposure until the end of the experiment. Analysis of lipophilic DNA adducts by the nuclease P1-mediated 32P-post-labeling showed up to five smoke-related adducts. Adduct no. 5 predominated in both the lung and the heart while adduct nos 3 and 2 predominated in the trachea and bladder, respectively. Quantitative analysis revealed that the total adduct level was the highest in lungs (270+/-68 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), followed by trachea (196+/-48 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), heart (141+/-22 adducts/10(10) nucleotides) and bladder (85+/-16 adducts/10(10) nucleotides). High dose oltipraz treatment reduced the adduct levels in lungs and bladder by >60%, while the reduction in lungs in the low-dose group was approximately 35%. In trachea, the effect of low and high dietary oltipraz on smoke DNA adduction was equivocal, while smoke-related DNA adducts in the heart were minimally inhibited by high-dose oltipraz. In a repeat experiment that employed a 3-fold lower dose of cigarette smoke, oltipraz (500 p.p.m.) was found to inhibit the formation of DNA adducts in rat lungs and trachea by 80 and 65%, respectively. These data clearly demonstrate a high efficacy of oltipraz in inhibiting the formation of cigarette smoke-induced DNA adducts in the target tissues.      

Genitalverstümmelung und Strafrecht

Some of the girls who live in Germany and have Muslim parents are threatened by female genital mutilation. This report describes the kinds and medical consequences of female genital mutilation as well as the criminal judgement. Female genital mutilation is considered as dangerous bodily harm, not as grievous bodily harm. Consent does not justify the infringement of rights. The argument that Islam justifies the infringement of rights is irrelevant by law. The human right of bodily intactness has priority over the right of religious freedom. Finally the legal regulations about dealing with personal data are presented. A legal compulsory registration still does not exist.     

Assessment of the feasibility of a rehabilitation intervention program for breast cancer survivors with cognitive complaints

To assess the feasibility of a cognitive rehabilitation program in breast cancer survivors (BCS) with persistent post-treatment cognitive complaints. BCS with cognitive complaints, 18-months to 5-years post-treatment, were recruited for a once-weekly, five-week, group cognitive training intervention. Outcome measures included self-reported mood and cognitive function, and neurocognitive tests administered at pre-intervention, immediate-, two-month and four-month post-intervention. A sub-study in eight participants evaluated resting state quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) changes from pre- to immediate post-intervention in relationship to post-intervention changes in cognitive complaints. Twenty-seven BCS completed the protocol and tolerated the intervention well. We observed significant reductions in total and memory-specific cognitive complaints from pre-intervention to immediate post-intervention (p?=?0.031 and p?=?0.009, respectively) and at four-months post-intervention (p?<?0.0001 and p?<?0.001, respectively). Significant improvement in neurocognitive tests were found for Symbol Digit, Stroop, and Trails A tests (df?=?26, all p’s <0.05). Effect sizes for changes from pre-intervention to immediate and to four-month post intervention ranged from 0.429 to 0.607, and from 0.439 to 0.741, respectively. Increase in qEEG absolute alpha power over the course of the intervention was associated with reduced complaints at immediate post-intervention (r?=??0.78, p?=?0.021), two-months (r range?=??0.76 to ?0.82, p-value range 0.004 to 0.03), and four-months (r?=??0.71, p?=?0.048). A five-week group cognitive training intervention is feasible and well tolerated. Cognitive complaints and neurocognitive test performances showed positive changes. qEEG may serve as a potential biomarker for improvement in self-reported complaints. A randomized clinical trial is underway to test the efficacy of the intervention.     

Mortality and morbidity rates of patients older and younger than 75 years with acute myocardial infarction treated with intravenous streptokinase

The influence of patient age on mortality risk and on the incidence of serious hemorrhagic complications after treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with intravenous streptokinase (SK) and heparin was examined in 120 consecutive patients. No upper age limit was set for patient inclusion. The mortality rate increased abruptly in patients aged 75 years or older such that the 24 patients in that age group had a 10-fold higher in-hospital mortality rate (33% vs 3%) and 1-year mortality rate (42% vs 4%) than the 96 patients younger than 75 years. This increased mortality rate in the elderly patients was related to a 2-fold higher incidence of major hemorrhagic complications (24% vs 11%) and an increased incidence of anterior AMI, healed prior AMI, multiple-vessel coronary artery disease and extensive myocardial necrosis estimated by peak creatine kinase-MB. Hemorrhagic complications were more frequent in women than in men and in patients with diabetes mellitus or systemic hypertension; all of these conditions were more prevalent in patients aged 75 years and older than in those younger than 75 years. In contrast, the incidence of hemorrhagic complications in nondiabetic elderly men (1 of 12) was similar to the incidence of bleeding in the patients younger than 75 years. Based on our data and those from other studies reporting no reduction in mortality in elderly patients with AMI who are treated with intravenous SK, it is recommended that patients aged 75 years or older should not be routinely treated with intravenous SK.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Usefulness of residual plasma fibrinogen after intravenous streptokinase for predicting delay or failure of reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction

The relation between the level of residual plasma fibrinogen and coronary artery reperfusion after 750,000 IU of intravenous (i.v.) streptokinase (SK) was examined in 76 patients with acute myocardial infarction. Both the frequency and rapidity of reperfusion were greater in the 53 patients in whom the residual fibrinogen level was 50 mg/dl or less (low fibrinogen) than in the 23 patients in whom it was more than 50 mg/dl (high fibrinogen). Reperfusion occurred in all 53 patients in the low-fibrinogen group, compared with only 15 patients in the high-fibrinogen group (p less than 0.001). The interval from initiation of SK to clinical signs of reperfusion was 50 +/- 34 minutes in the low-fibrinogen group and 110 +/- 54 minutes in the high-fibrinogen group (p less than 0.001). A high fibrinogen level occurred in 58% of patients who weighed more than 85 kg and in 25% of patients who weighed 85 kg or less (p less than 0.05). No patient who weighed 60 kg or less had a high fibrinogen level. The high-fibrinogen group also had a greater incidence of a high anti-SK antibody titer: 8 of 13 patients (62%) tested, compared with none of the 8 patients tested in the low-fibrinogen group (p less than 0.01). Our data indicate that a high residual fibrinogen level after administration of i.v. SK identifies patients in whom SK is relatively ineffective, probably because of inadequate dosage of inactivation of the drug.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)