Smoking and stroke.

The purpose of this review is to evaluate literature published since 1978 on the association between smoking and stroke. Two cohort studies found a dose-response relationship between the amount of cigarettes smoked per day and the relative risk of stroke. Also, two of the cohort studies found that when smoking ceased, the risk of stroke lessened (p less than 0.001). Nine case-control studies found a significant association between smoking and stroke for men and women. The biological association between smoking and stroke is plausible and several epidemiologic studies are supportive of this thesis. Additional, well-designed epidemiologic studies with a sufficient sample size to detect reasonably small odds ratios or relative risks (thus providing adequate statistical power) are warranted.     

32nd Annual Meeting of the Scandinavian Society for Psychopharmacology Copenhagen,Denmark April 10–12, 1991 Abstracts

32nd Annual Meeting of the Scandinavian Society for Psychopharmacology Copenhagen, Denmark April 10–12, 1991 Abstracts     

Articular ossification after malignant neurolepsis. A case of schizophrenia treated with phenothiazines

Following administration of phenothiazines for schizophrenia, a 25-year-old patient developed a malignant neuroleptic syndrome followed by bilateral periarticular ossification of the knees, with severely limited motion. Two years later, the patient regained useful motion after bilateral excision of the ossified tissue and intensive physiotherapy. No recurrence of ossification was observed 3 years after operation, and the patient has maintained almost normal motion.     

Changes in the biophysical properties and ultrastructure of lungs, and intrapulmonary fibrin deposition in experimental acute pancreatitis

Using an experimental model of acute pancreatitis in the rat, we have studied changes in the biophysical properties of lungs and intrapulmonary fibrin deposition in this condition. Acute pancreatitis is associated with a significant decrease in pulmonary compliance (p less than 0.01) and a significant increase in lung weight (p less than 0.01) compared with a control sham operation group. These changes are associated with a 24% increase in intrapulmonary 125I fibrinogen deposition (p less than 0.01), and an 18% increase in 125I fibrinogen deposition per gram of lung tissue (p less than 0.05) in acute pancreatitis, compared with a control sham operation group. The increased fibrinogen deposition is abolished by treatment with low dose heparin. Using the same animal model changes in pulmonary ultrastructure are shown using scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that pulmonary abnormalities are associated with intrapulmonary fibrin deposition in experimental acute pancreatitis and these findings may be relevant to the well described respiratory complications of the condition in man.     

Neuropeptide levels in the basal ganglia of aged common marmosets following prolonged treatment with MPTP

Summary Aged common marmosets were treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP; 0.5–2.0 mg/kg/week i.p.) for 16 or 24 weeks, observed for a total of 30 weeks and then killed for measurement of biochemical pramaters in basal ganglia. The MPTP treatment induced a marked depletion in dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels in the caudate nucleus and putamen. In contrast, the concentrations of five neuropeptides: [Met⁵]-enkephalin, [Leu⁵]-enkephalin, cholecystokinin, substance P and neurotensin as measured by a combined HPLC/RIA method, remained unaltered in all basal ganglia regions examined. Enkephalin precursor levels, as reflected by cryptic [Met⁵]-enkephalin content, were increased in the putamen, but not in the caudate nucleus, as a consequence of MPTP administration. Cryptic [Leu⁵]-enkephalin content remained unchanged in the striatum of MPTP treated marmosets. Overall, these results suggest an increase in striatal [Met⁵]-enkephalin release following chronic MPTP treatment of aged marmosets. However, the chronic treatment of aged marmosets with MPTP does not reproduce the neuropeptide alterations characteristic of Parkinson's disease.     

Differential changes of retina dopamine binding sites and adenylyl cyclase responses following 6-hydroxydopamine treatment.

Both dopamine D1 and D2 receptors are present in rat retina. D1 receptors are positively coupled to adenylyl cyclase, while D2 receptors are negatively coupled. After intraocular administration of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) there is depletion of retinal dopamine by about 90%, as well as a decrease of the number of D1 and D2 receptor binding sites. Following the 6-OHDA lesion, there is an enhancement of the D1 receptor-stimulated accumulation of cyclic-AMP and a loss of D2 receptor-inhibited accumulation of cyclic-AMP. Our results suggest that some of the retinal D2 receptors are coupled to adenylyl cyclase and some are not.     

Treatment of ulcerative colitis by traditional Chinese medicine and dynamic study of immune functions

The effect of the traditional Chinese medicinal herbs enema and enteric-coated capsules in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) were compared in 260 cases. The immune complexes and the dynamic change of autoantibodies were monitored in 28 out of the 260 cases before and after treatment. The following results were observed. (1) There was no significant difference in the total effective rate between the enema group and the oral capsule group (93.3% and 87.5% respectively), but the recovery rates of purulent hemafecia, mucusfecia and erosion accompanying colitis, etc. in the former group were higher than those in the latter (P less than 0.01). (2) The circulating immune complexes were found 43 times above the normal range in 17 cases with positive rate 60.7%, and tended to decrease as the condition became better after treatment. Antinuclear antibodies were determined by the indirect fluorescent immune method and the indirect enzyme labelling method and the positive rates were 53.6% and 64.7% respectively, both being much higher than those in the controls (P less than 0.01).