Differential effects of exercise and housing condition on murine natural killer cell activity and tumor growth.

Acute exercise and exercise conditioning have been shown to affect the activity of natural killer (NK) cells as well as the growth of experimentally induced tumors in animals. Since psychosocial factors are also known to alter NK activity and tumor growth, isolation, a known psychosocial stressor of mice, was also investigated to see if housing condition could alter exercise-induced changes in NK cell activity and tumor growth. NK cell activity and concentration of asialo GM1 (ASGM1) positive splenocytes were measured in male C3H mice inoculated i.v. with CIRAS 3 tumor cells. Mice were housed individually or in groups of four and trained to run for eight weeks on a rodent treadmill; controls remained sedentary throughout the experimental period. At four weeks into the training protocol, mice were injected with the tumor cells and continued to run for four weeks after tumor exposure. There was a significant effect of physical activity (p less than 0.019) but not of housing on splenic NK cytotoxicity against tumor targets in vitro. When the data were analyzed by presence or absence of lung metastases, only those animals without visible lung tumors had significantly higher NK activity as a function of exercise relative to sedentary controls. There were no significant differences in the frequency of ASGM1+ splenocytes between trained and untrained animals, irrespective of presence or absence of lung tumor colonies. There was a significant effect of housing (p less than 0.02), but not of physical activity, in mice with successful tumor takes with greater numbers of group housed animals (29/59) with tumor relative to individually housed animals (13/60).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Cardiac tamponade after intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia

An unusual case of intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia ispresented. Cardiac tamponade occurred in the operating roomsoon after induction of anaesthesia. Surgical removal of theherniated omentum and stomach allowed haemodynamic improvement.The pathophysiology is discussed and patients with cardiac tamponadereviewed.     

Relationship between the cytolysins tenebrosin-C from Actinia tenebrosa and equinatoxin II from Actinia equina.

The chemical, physical and biological properties of the cytolysin tenebrosin-C from Actinia tenebrosa have been compared with those of equinatoxin II from Actinia equina. The two proteins are indistinguishable by reverse-phase and cation-exchange HPLC and capillary zone electrophoresis, and give similar peptide fragments upon cyanogen bromide cleavage (as judged by the chromatographic behaviour, ultraviolet absorption spectra, amino acid composition and N-terminal amino acid sequences of the peptides). Their cardiac stimulatory activities are identical, and their haemolytic activities are similar, with equinatoxin II having slightly greater activity. These data indicate that the two molecules are either identical in all 179 amino acid positions, or differ by no more than one or two residues. These findings are discussed in the context of the taxonomic relationship between the two species of sea anemone.     

Symptom profile and asthma control in school-aged children.

BACKGROUND: Children with poorly controlled asthma are at high risk of airway remodeling, sleep disruption, school absenteeism, and limited participation in activities. OBJECTIVE: To determine asthma prevalence and characterize disease severity and burden in school-aged children. METHOD: A case-finding study was conducted via a multiple-choice questionnaire and asthma algorithm. Items used for analysis include physician diagnosis of asthma, symptom severity, and health care utilization. The chi2 test was used to determine the significance of differences among cases. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of patient factors and asthma indicators. RESULTS: Of the 5,417 children surveyed, 1,341 (25%) were classified as being at risk of asthma. Of these asthma cases, 55% were positive by diagnosis and algorithm (active), 10% were positive per algorithm alone (suspected), and 35% were positive per diagnosis alone (nonactive). Only 14% of all asthma cases reported experiencing no respiratory symptoms (< 1% active, 2% suspected, and 40% nonactive) compared with 75% of noncases. Also, 75% of noncases reported never missing school compared with 19%, 33%, and 54% of active, suspected, and nonactive asthma cases. African American race, Medicaid enrollment, and male sex were independent predictors of asthma risk. Similarly, African American race, Medicaid enrollment, age, and persistent asthma were independent predictors of emergency department use among asthma cases. DISCUSSION: Prevalence of active symptoms suggestive of poor asthma control was extremely high among urban, minority children enrolled in Arkansas' largest public school district. Poor asthma control greatly affects quality of life, including school attendance and performance. Interventions should raise expectations and emphasize the importance of achieving asthma control.     

Identifying High Risk Groups and Quantifying Absolute Risk of Cancer After Kidney Transplantation: A Cohort Study of 15 183 Recipients

Transplant recipients have increased cancer risk, but data on risk variation across different patient groups are sparse. Rates and standardized rate ratios (SRR) of cancer (all sites, excluding nonmelanocytic skin and lip cancer) compared to the general population were calculated, using Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry data. Within the transplant population, risk factors were identified (hazard ratios: HR; 95% CI) and absolute risk estimated for recipient groups. A total of 1642 (10.8%) of 15 183 recipients developed cancer. Risk was inversely related to age (SRR 15-30 children, 2 if >65 years). Females aged 25-29 had rates equivalent to women aged 55-59 from the general population. Age trend for lymphoma, colorectal and breast risk was similar; melanoma showed less variability across ages, prostate showed no risk increase. Within the transplanted population, risk was affected by age differently for each sex (p = 0.007), elevated by prior malignancy (HR 1.40; 1.03-1.89), white race (HR 1.36; 1.12-1.89), but reduced by diabetic end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) (HR 0.67; 0.50-0.89). Cancer rates in kidney recipients are similar to nontransplanted people 20-30 years older, but absolute risk differs across patient groups. Men aged 45-54 surviving 10 years have cancer risks varying from 1 in 13 (non-white, no prior cancer, diabetic ESKD) to 1 in 5 (white, prior cancer, other ESKD).