Effect of deprivation on weight gain in infancy

Weights were retrieved from child health records for an annual cohort of 3418 children, aged 18–30 months, to explore the relationship between deprivation and weight gain. Their level of deprivation was classified, using census data for their area of residence, as affluent (11%), intermediate (69%) or deprived (20%). Children from deprived areas were smaller at all ages with a widening gap: by one year of age, they were three times as likely as affluent children to be below the third centile for weight. The thrive index, a measure of the degree of centile shift, showed a slight gain over the first year in affluent and intermediate children, while in deprived children it decreased ( p = 0.001). Deprived children were 2.2 times more likely than intermediate children to have failure to thrive, as manifest by subnormal thrive index values ( p = 0.00008). Unexpectedly, children from affluent areas also showed slightly increased rates. We suggest that this may be explained by higher rates of breast feeding in affluent areas.     

Effect of fumonisin B(1) on rat hepatic P450 system

The effects of the mycotoxin fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) on the hepatic cytochrome P450 system were investigated in male rats dosed daily by oral gavage with 3 mg FB(1) per kg body weight for 9 consecutive days. FB(1) treatment resulted in a reduced weight gain. At the same time, CYP2E activity was increased, which is considered to mark the metabolic changes inherent to growth retardation in young rats. Treatment with FB(1) also resulted in a selective inhibition of CYP2C11 and to a lesser extent, CYP1A2 in liver microsomes obtained from treated animals, whereas it did not affect significantly the activity of CYP2A1/2A2, CYP2B1/2B2, CYP3A1/3A2 and CYP4A. The significant inhibition of CYP2C11 is considered to reflect a suppressed activity of protein kinase activity resulting from the inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis caused by FB(1).     

Uterine leiomyomas in the infertile patient: preoperative localization with MR imaging versus US and hysterosalpingography

Eleven women with a history of infertility and uterine leiomyomas underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the pelvis prior to myomectomy. Nine also underwent preoperative pelvic ultrasonography (US), and ten underwent hysterosalpingography. All studies were interpreted prospectively by independent observers. With each imaging modality, the location (one of 11 anatomic segments), size, and appearance of detected uterine leiomyomas were determined and compared with surgical and histologic findings. Among the nine patients who underwent both MR and US, the sensitivity (85%) and accuracy (94%) of MR imaging for abnormal segments was significantly better than that of US (sensitivity = 69%, P = .015; accuracy = 87%, P = .043). For the ten patients who underwent both MR and hysterosalpingography, the sensitivity (91%) and accuracy (96%) of MR imaging was better than that of hysterosalpingography (sensitivity = 18%, P = .0005; accuracy = 72%, P = .0005). The specificities of the three modalities did not significantly differ (100%, 97%, and 98% for MR, US, and hysterosalpingography, respectively). These data suggest that MR imaging is superior to US or hysterosalpingography for preoperatively locating uterine leiomyomas.     

Cardiac MRI in Congenital Heart Disease – Our Experience

A significant recent advance that has occurred world over in the continuously evolving field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) practice is the introduction of Cardiac applications. Cardiac MRI has moved to the centre stage of clinical management strategy by non-invasively imaging the structure as well as function of the heart. It has a wide range of specific applications such as delineation of morphological anatomy, quantification of flow and pressure across cardiac valve dysfunction, evaluation of myocardial function, assessment of infarcts, mapping coronary arteries and so on. Evaluation of congenital heart disease (CHD) is an important application of Cardiac MRI since the morphological details of chambers, septum, defects and anomalous connections are depicted accurately. Besides, flow information across valves, chambers, outflow tracts and shunts are also provided. This article describes our experience in the use of cardiac MRI in congenital heart disease.Key Words: Cardiac MRI, Congenital heart disease, Cyanotic and Acyanotic heart disease     

Mitigation of Ectopic Calcification in Osteopontin-Deficient Mice by Exogenous Osteopontin

Ectopic calcification is a major cause of bioprosthetic heart valve failure. New therapeutic opportunities are offered by the growing understanding that ectopic calcification is an actively regulated process involving several key gene products. One of these products, osteopontin (OPN), is a glycosylated phosphoprotein previously shown to inhibit apatite crystal formation, induce carbonic anhydrase II, and promote mineral resorption. In this study, OPN-deficient mice (OPN−/−) were utilized as an in vivo model to stimulate the ectopic calcification of glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine pericardium (GFBP) tissue and to examine OPN delivery and structure-function relationships with respect to its anti-calcific activity. Significant calcification of GFBP tissue was obtained within 7 days of subcutaneous implantation in OPN−/− mice. Direct rescue of the calcification phenotype was achieved by the administration of exogenous recombinant rat, histidine-fused OPN (rat His-OPN) to the implant site via soluble injection (up to 72% mitigation achieved) or adsorption onto the implant materials (up to 91% mitigation achieved). Effects were specific, since neither fibronectin nor polyhistidine alone could mitigate calcification of GFBP. The maximum anti-calcific effect was achieved only when rat His-OPN was adequately phosphorylated and contained a functional arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) cell adhesive domain. Furthermore, CAII levels in host cells surrounding GFBP were greatest when phosphorylated, RGD-containing rat His-OPN was adsorbed. These data suggest that both physical inhibition, mediated by phosphorylation sites in OPN, as well as the induction of CAII and mineral regression, mediated by the RGD domain, contribute to the unique ability of OPN to mitigate ectopic calcification of bioprosthetic valve tissue.     

Vascular calcification mechanisms

Vascular calcification is highly correlated with cardiovascular disease mortality, especially in patients with ESRD or diabetes. In addition to the devastating effects of inappropriate biomineralization seen in cardiac valvulopathies, calciphylaxis, and idiopathic arterial calcification, vascular calcification is now recognized as a marker of atherosclerotic plaque burden as well as a major contributor to loss of arterial compliance and increased pulse pressure seen with age, diabetes, and renal insufficiency. In recent years, several mechanisms to explain vascular calcification have been identified including (1) loss of inhibition, (2) induction of bone formation, (3) circulating nucleational complexes, and (4) cell death. Alterations in calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) balance as seen in patients with ESRD promotes vascular calcification via multiple mechanisms and may explain the alarmingly high levels of cardiovascular disease deaths in these patients. Strategies to control Ca and P levels in patients with ESRD have met with early success in preventing progression of vascular calcification. Whether or not vascular calcification can be reversed is not yet known, but exciting new studies suggest that this may be possible in the future.     

Contents of Volume 4 2002

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 4 2002     

Developing information literacy: a key to evidence-based nursing

This report describes the evaluation of a curriculum-integrated programme designed to help students develop an awareness of the nursing literature, the skills to locate and retrieve it, and skills required in its evaluation; in other words'information literacy'. Positive changes in student performance on objective measures of information-literacy skills were revealed as well as a significant increase in the levels of confidence of the student in performing those skills. Students who had undertaken the information-literacy programme ('programme' students) performed better on a range of objective measures of information literacy, as well as reporting higher levels of confidence in these skills, than students who had not participated in the programme ('non-programme' students). Evaluation of this programme provides evidence of the potential usefulness of a curriculum-integrated approach for the development of information-literacy skills within nursing education. With these underlying skills, students will be better equipped to consolidate and extend their key information-literacy skills to include research appreciation and application. These are vital for effective lifelong learning and a prerequisite to evidence-based practice.