The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire in Males at High and Low Risk for Alcoholism

Cloninger has proposed a tridimensional model as the basis for the classification of personality variants and has developed the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) as an empirical test of this model. In this study, the TPQ was administered to two groups of young men. One group was comprised of nonalcoholic sons of male alcoholics; the other group consisted of nonalcoholic men with no family history of alcoholism. Since the sons of male alcoholics are considered to be at greater risk to develop alcoholism than the sons of nonalcoholics, it was hypothesized that the two groups would demonstrate differences with regard to one or more personality variants as measured by the TPQ. No statistically significant differences in the three TPQ-subscale scores of the two groups were found.     

The association of thyroid function and heart valve sclerosis. Results from a population-based study

Objectives: Thyroid dysfunction is associated with detrimental cardiovascular effects. We analyzed whether thyroid status is associated with aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) and mitral annular calcification (MAC) as markers of generalized atherosclerosis. Design: Data of 2065 subjects (923 women and 1142 men) aged > or =45 years from the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) were analyzed with respect to low, medium and high TSH levels. Logistic regression models were adjusted for major confounders of atherosclerosis. Main outcome: In women, the prevalence of AVS was the highest in those with low TSH (35.1% vs. 26.7% in medium TSH; p<0.05), while there was a higher prevalence of MAC in men with high TSH levels (9.2% vs. 5.2% in medium TSH; p<0.05). Compared with euthyroid men there was an increased adjusted odds ratio for MAC (OR 2.07; 95% CI 1.12-3.89, p<0.05), for the combination of AVS and MAC (OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.08-4.21, p<0.05) or for one of both (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.02-2.13, p<0.05) among men with high TSH. No such association was found in women. Conclusions: There was an association between thyroid function and valvular sclerosis. Men with high TSH values had increased odds for AVS or MAC, and the combination of both. These findings may reflect an increased atherosclerotic state in affected subjects.     

Role of human immunodeficiency virus replication in defective in vitro growth of hematopoietic progenitors.

A number of hematologic abnormalities, including cytopenias, have been observed in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. To elucidate their mechanisms, a group of 27 patients with HIV-1 infection was studied. In all patients, a marked reduction of in vitro colony formation by erythroid, granulomacrophagic, and megakaryocytic bone marrow progenitors was observed in comparison to normal donors. HIV-1 infection of marrow progenitors was investigated in studying individual colonies with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. No HIV-1 DNA could be detected in these colonies, suggesting either that marrow progenitors were not infected or that infected progenitors were not able to generate colonies in vitro. The addition of antisense oligonucleotides directed against HIV tat or nef sequences in the culture medium led to a significant increase in colony formation, suggesting that HIV replication in hematopoietic progenitors could be responsible for their defective growth. However, no HIV-1-infected colonies could be detected by PCR after the antisense treatment, indicating that the increase in colony number was not due to the proliferation and differentiation of infected progenitors but to an inhibition of HIV replication in an accessory cell. This last hypothesis was further confirmed by the absence of effects of antisense oligomers on the plating efficiency of hematopoietic progenitors grown from CD34+ cells. These data indicate that hematologic abnormalities of HIV-infected patients cannot be explained by a direct infection of hematopoietic progenitor cells and suggest that a defective modulation of progenitor cell growth by HIV replication outside these cells might play a role in these abnormalities.     

Reticulocytosis, hypochromia, and microcytosis: an unusual presentation of the preleukemic syndrome

Two patients exhibiting a highly unusual preleukemic syndrome with marked reticulocytosis, hypochromia, and microcytosis are reported. This red cell phenotype has been investigated by means of HbF, HbA2, and i-antigen activity dosages, immunofluorescence labeling of F cells, reticulocyte survival, globin chain synthesis, and electron microscopy study. The marked reticulocytosis is explained by a delayed disappearance of the reticulum. Serum iron is normal, and a thalassemic syndrome is excluded because of a balanced alpha/non-alpha globin chain synthesis. Electron microscopy studies are consistent with a defect in iron uptake by erythroid cells. All the hematologic data and investigations are similar to those observed for the Belgrade laboratory rat. It is hypothesized that the low expression of HbF and i- Ag associated with microcytosis are related to a prolongation of erythroid maturation as reflected by abnormal reticulocyte survival.