Is bipolar I disorder heterogeneous?

Abstract.Objectives: The question whether bipolar I disorder should be subdivided into a preponderantly manic group (M) with no depression or only mild depression (Md) and a nuclear manic-depressive group (MD) has been rarely studied although the problem was raised more than 50 years ago. This paper seeks to elucidate this question by contributing further data.Methods: 406 patients with mood disorders hospitalised at some time during the period 1959–1963 were followed-up every five years until 1985; mortality data were collected up to 1997. Data on episodes, outcome, suicides and attempted suicides, alcohol and substance abuse/dependence and long-term medication, as well as on personality (melancholic and manic type) were collected. Major mood disorders were subclassified according to their hospitalisation for depression (D) and/or mania (M).Results: 30 manic patients (M/Md), 130 bipolar I (MD), 60 bipolar II patients (Dm) and 186 major depressive patients (D) were compared. The manic group differed from the bipolar I group in several variables: better school achievement, milder course of the illness (fewer recurrences), significantly less suicidality and a trend to less chronicity and more recovery. Manic patients required less long-term medication than bipolars and they differed in personality types from bipolars, the personality of manic patients being more often of the manic rather than the melancholic type, they were also more aggressive than bipolars. The family history data showed that the overall morbidity risk of first degree relatives of manic patients was significantly lower than that of bipolar patients.Conclusions: In accord with several other studies our data point to the existence of a more manic (M/Md) group of bipolar subjects. The diagnosis predicts a better course, lower suicidality and fewer and different treatment needs than does nuclear bipolar I (MD) disorder. The M/Md groups, as clinically interesting subgroups of the mood spectrum, should become a target of further research.     

Ethological analyses of crayfish behavior: a new invertebrate system for measuring the rewarding properties of psychostimulants

Recent investigations in invertebrate neurobiology have opened up a new line of research into the basic behavioral, neurochemical and genomic alterations that accompany psychostimulant drug exposure. However, the extent to which such findings relate to changes in motivational and learning processes, such as those that typify drug addictions, remains unclear. The present study addressed this issue in the crayfish, Orconectes rusticus. The first set of experiments demonstrated that intramuscular injections of cocaine and amphetamine have robust and distinguishable effects on crayfish behavior. In the second part of the study, the reinforcing properties of psychostimulants were tested in a series of conditioned place preference experiments. Amphetamine and, to a lesser extent, cocaine were both found to serve as rewards when their intra-circulatory infusion was coupled to a distinct visual environment. The monoaminergic regulation of behavior has been extensively studied in decapod crustaceans and the present experiments demonstrated that (mammalian) drugs of abuse, capable of interfering with monoamine chemistry, are similarly rewarding to crayfish. Behavioral studies in crayfish can provide a complementary approach to using other invertebrate species in addiction research.     

Anatomical information is needed in ultrasound imaging of muscle to avoid potentially substantial errors in measurement of muscle geometry

This study validates two‐dimensional (2D) ultrasound measurements of muscle geometry of the human medial gastrocnemius (GM) and investigates effects of probe orientation on errors in these measurements. Ultrasound scans of GM muscle belly were made both on human cadavers (n = 4) and on subjects in vivo (n = 5). For half of the cadavers, ultrasound scans obtained according to commonly applied criteria of probe orientation deviated 15° from the true fascicle plane. This resulted in errors of fascicle length and fascicle angle up to 14% and 23%, respectively. Fascicle‐like structures were detectable over a wide range of probe tilt and rotation angles, but they did not always represent true fascicles. Errors of measurement were either linear or quadratic functions of tilt angle. Similar results were found in vivo. Therefore, we conclude that similar errors are likely to occur for in vivo measurements. For all cadavers, at the distal end of GM, the true fascicle plane was shown to be perpendicular to the distal aponeurosis. Using transverse images of GM to detect the curvature of the deep aponeurosis at the distal end of the muscle belly is a simple strategy to help identify the fascicle plane. For subsequent longitudinal imaging, probe alignment within this plane will help minimize measurement errors of fascicle length, fascicle angle, and muscle thickness. Muscle Nerve, 2009     

Bioactive compounds in berries relevant to human health

Berries contain powerful antioxidants, potential allergens, and other bioactive compounds. Genetic and environmental factors affect production and storage of such compounds. For this reason breeding and biotechnological approaches are currently used to control or to increase the content of specific health-related compounds in fruits. This work reviews the main bioactive compounds determining the nutritional quality of berries, the major factors affecting their content and activity, and the genetic options currently available to achieve new genotypes able to provide, under controlled cultivation conditions, berries with the proper balance of bioactive compounds for improving consumer health.     

Simulation of the exposure to deoxynivalenol of French consumers of organic and conventional foodstuffs

The aim of this study was to estimate the exposure to deoxynivalenol in wheat of consumers of organic and conventional products using a probabilistic method, and to compare these levels with a toxicological reference so as to provide risk managers with scientific data to be used in the regulatory decision-making process. First, a product consumption frequency questionnaire was completed by consumers of organic products, thus providing data on the consumption of organic products. Data on the consumption of conventional products were obtained from the French "INCA" survey. Data on deoxynivalenol levels in wheat came from a previous study. The results of exposure simulations using the Monte-Carlo sampling method showed that 10% of those consuming organic wheat containing deoxynivalenol may be exposed to this natural toxin at levels above the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake.     

Hereditary renal amyloidosis caused by a new variant lysozyme W64R in a French family

BACKGROUND: The number of proteins with mutations resulting in amyloidosis has continued to increase. Five proteins--transthyretin, fibrinogen alpha-A chain, apolipoprotein AI, lysozyme, apolipoprotein AII, cystatin C and gelsolin--can be associated with hereditary amyloidosis involving the kidney. METHODS: A French family with a history of autosomal dominant hereditary amyloidosis with early sicca syndrome and nephropathy leading to renal failure after the fifth to the seventh decade was studied. Several tissue specimens obtained from the proband and his relatives were examined. Immunohistochemistry was performed on paraffin embedded sections using the indirect immunoperoxidase technique. We searched for mutations in the five exons and flanking introns of the lysozyme gene. RESULTS: Amyloid deposits from the bowel, labial salivary gland and kidney were intensively stained by anti-lysozyme antibody. Sequence analysis of lysozyme exon 2 from the affected individuals revealed a nucleotide substitution predicting a substitution of the amino acid at position 64 in the mature protein from tryptophane, an aromatic residue to the cationic residue arginine (W64R). CONCLUSION: We report a novel mutation (W64R) of the lysozyme that is associated with hereditary amyloidosis and prominent nephropathy. Since the treatment of hereditary amyloidosis greatly varies with the nature of the amyloid protein, thorough characterization of the latter is crucial for the management of the disease.