Prevalence and socio-economic distribution of hazardous patterns of alcohol drinking: study of alcohol consumption in men aged 25-54 years in Izhevsk, Russia

AIM: To estimate the prevalence of hazardous drinking and its socio-economic distribution among Russian men. DESIGN: Participants were an age-stratified, population-based random sample of men aged 25-54 years living in Izhevsk, a city in the Urals, Russia. Interviewers administered questionnaires to cohabiting proxy respondents about behavioural indicators of hazardous drinking derived from frequency of hangover, frequency of drinking beverage spirits, episodes in the last year of extended periods of drunkenness during which the participant withdraws from normal life (zapoi), consumption of alcoholic substances not intended to be drunk (surrogates) and socio-economic position. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between socio-economic position and indicators of hazardous drinking in the past year. FINDINGS: Of 1750 men, 79% drank spirits and 8% drank surrogates at least sometimes in the past year; 25% drank spirits and 4% drank surrogates at least weekly and 10% had had an episode of zapoi in the past year. After adjustment for other socio-economic factors, education was strongly associated with indicators of hazardous drinking. Men with the lowest level of education compared to the highest level of education had an odds ratio of surrogate drinking of 7.7 (95% CI 3.2-18.5), of zapoi of 5.2 (2.3-11.8) and of frequent hangover of 3.7 (1.8-7.4). These indicators of hazardous drinking were also independently strongly associated with being unemployed (versus employed) and with levels of household wealth/amenities. Associations of all these variables with daily consumption of beverage spirits were weaker. CONCLUSION: Using a novel range of indicator variables of hazardous drinking, this paper shows that the prevalence of these behaviours is high among working-age men in this Russian city. Moreover, these hazardous behaviours show very clear socio-economic patterns, with particularly high prevalence among those who have had the least education and are not in employment. In contrast, more conventional measures of heavy drinking, based on frequency of consumption of beverage spirits, are less prevalent and show much weaker associations with socio-economic position.     

Phosphorylation alters the pharmacology of Ca2+-activated Cl? channels in rabbit pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells

Background and purpose:

Ca²⁺-activated Cl⁻ currents (I_Cl(Ca)) in arterial smooth muscle cells are inhibited by phosphorylation. The Ca²⁺-activated Cl⁻ channel (Cl_Ca) blocker niflumic acid (NFA) produces a paradoxical dual effect on I_Cl(Ca), causing stimulation or inhibition at potentials below or above 0 mV respectively. We tested whether the effects of NFA on I_Cl(Ca) were modulated by phosphorylation.

Experimental approach:

I_Cl(Ca) was elicited with 500 nM free internal Ca²⁺ in rabbit pulmonary artery myocytes. The state of global phosphorylation was altered by cell dialysis with either 5 mM ATP or 0 mM ATP with or without an inhibitor of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II, KN-93 (10 µM).

Key results:

Dephosphorylation enhanced the ability of 100 µM NFA to inhibit I_Cl(Ca). This effect was attributed to a large negative shift in the voltage-dependence of block, which was converted to stimulation at potentials <−50 mV, ∼70 mV more negative than cells dialysed with 5 mM ATP. NFA dose-dependently blocked I_Cl(Ca) in the range of 0.1–250 µM in cells dialysed with 0 mM ATP and KN-93, which contrasted with the stimulation induced by 0.1 µM, which converted to block at concentrations >1 µM when cells were dialysed with 5 mM ATP.

Conclusions and implications:

Our data indicate that the presumed state of phosphorylation of the pore-forming or regulatory subunit of Cl_Ca channels influenced the interaction of NFA in a manner that obstructs interaction of the drug with an inhibitory binding site.     

Biological mechanisms of disease and death in Moscow: rationale and design of the survey on Stress Aging and Health in Russia (SAHR)

Background  

Prior research has revealed large differences in health and mortality across countries, socioeconomic groups, and individuals. Russia experiences one of the world's highest levels of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, great mortality differences within the population, and a heavy burden of ill health. Psychological stress has been suggested as a likely explanation of health loss and premature death in Russia and Eastern Europe. However, physiological mechanisms connecting stress with health in Russia remain unclear since existing epidemiological data are scarce and limited to conventional risk factors.     

Changes in parameters of laser-induced potentials after transcutaneous electroneurostimulation

Changes in nerve conduction after 10-min electroneurostimulation of the posterior surface of the neck were studied. Changes in the parameters of laser-induced potentials obtained during stimulation of C7 dermatome on hands and posterior surface of the neck were found. Decrease in the amplitude and shortening of the component latency were shown. Method of laser-induced potentials was concluded to provide unbiased estimation of the level and peculiarities of analgesic effects of physical factors.     

Cl<Superscript>−</Superscript> conduction of GABA<Subscript>A</Subscript> receptor complex of synaptic membranes in the cortex of rats at the middle stage of chronic cerebral epileptization (pharmacological kindling)

Experiments on Wistar rats showed a decrease in basal and muscimol-stimulated ³⁶Cl⁻ entry into synaptoneurosomes isolated from the cerebral cortex during the middle stage of kindling (30 mg/kg pentylenetetrazole intraperitoneally for 14 days) characterized by the development of convulsions of higher (2 points) severity in comparison with the previous stage. __________ Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 144, No. 11, pp. 507–509, November, 2007     

Analysis of Gleason grade and scores in 90 Nigerian Africans with prostate cancer during the period 1994 to 2004

Objectives

To determine the relative frequency of prostate cancer among surgical specimens, and among prostate specimens received at the pathology department ,University Hospital Calabar.

Methods

Histology records were reviewed for the following: total number of histology specimens received; total number of prostate specimens; total number of prostate cancer; and the total number of cancers in males during the study period. Histology sections 4–5microns thick were cut from paraffin blocks and stained by Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E). Histopathologic specimens were classified using the grading system of tumour differentiation described by Gleason and associates.

Results

One hundred and twenty three cancers of the prostate were received, constituting 2% of the total surgical specimens and 31% of prostate specimens. Thirty three cases (27%) could not be analyzed; therefore the study is based on 90 prostate cancer specimens. Eighty nine (99%) cases were epithelial tumours (adenocarcinoma.) There was a single mesenchymal tumour (rhabdomyosarcoma) (1%). The commonest grade in this study was the high grade (Gleason grade IV).

Conclusions

We observed that prostate cancer is a common among males (all sites) diagnosed at the University Hospital Calabar, with a peak incidence between the ages of 61 – 70 years (seventh decade).     

Mimecan基因、核因子-κB和白介素-24与子痫前期相关性研究

目的探讨Mimecan基因、核因子-κB（NF-κB）和白介素-24（IL-24）在子痫前期（preeclampsia,PE）中的表达及其相关性。方法根据子痫前期临床表现将98例子痫前期分为轻度子痫前期组（轻度PE组,53例）、重度子痫前期组（重度PE组,45例）;选择正常健康孕妇48例作为对照组。采用酶联免疫法（ELISA）检测孕妇血清中Mimecan基因、NF-κB和IL-24的表达。结果子痫前期组患者Mimecan基因、NF-κB和IL-24的表达水平分别为（10.98±0.82）mg/L、（21.97±3.87）mg/L和（0.79±0.26）mg/L,对照组分别为（4.78±0.63）mg/L、（16.73±4.31）mg/L和（0.38±0.13）mg/L,两组比较,差异有统计学意义（P均〈0.05）;Mimecan基因、NF-κB和IL-24与子痫前期严重程度呈正相关（r分别为0.687、0.733和0.821,P均〈0.05）。结论子痫前期的发生发展可能与Mimecan基因、NF-κB和IL-24有关。     

Some molecular mechanisms of the antioxidative action of dalargin on the liver in experimental cholestasis

Clinical Biochemical Laboratory and Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, A. V. Vishnevskii Institute of Surgery, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. D. Fedorov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 113, No. 1, pp. 38–40, January, 1992.