Drinking water with uranium below the U.S. EPA water standard causes estrogen receptor-dependent responses in female mice

BACKGROUND: The deleterious impact of uranium on human health has been linked to its radioactive and heavy metal-chemical properties. Decades of research has defined the causal relationship between uranium mining/milling and onset of kidney and respiratory diseases 25 years later. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the hypothesis that uranium, similar to other heavy metals such as cadmium, acts like estrogen. METHODS: In several experiments, we exposed intact, ovariectomized, or pregnant mice to depleted uranium in drinking water [ranging from 0.5 microg/L (0.001 microM) to 28 mg/L (120 microM). RESULTS: Mice that drank uranium-containing water exhibited estrogenic responses including selective reduction of primary follicles, increased uterine weight, greater uterine luminal epithelial cell height, accelerated vaginal opening, and persistent presence of cornified vaginal cells. Coincident treatment with the antiestrogen ICI 182,780 blocked these responses to uranium or the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol. In addition, mouse dams that drank uranium-containing water delivered grossly normal pups, but they had significantly fewer primordial follicles than pups whose dams drank control tap water. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the decades of uranium mining/milling in the Colorado plateau in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest, the uranium concentration and the route of exposure used in these studies are environmentally relevant. Our data support the conclusion that uranium is an endocrine-disrupting chemical and populations exposed to environmental uranium should be followed for increased risk of fertility problems and reproductive cancers.     

The effect of food label cues on perceptions of quality and purchase intentions among high-involvement consumers with varying levels of nutrition knowledge

ObjectiveTo determine whether differences in nutrition knowledge affected how women (a high-involvement group) interpreted intrinsic cues (ingredient list) and extrinsic cues (“all natural” label) on food labels.MethodsA 2 (intrinsic cue) × 2 (extrinsic cue) × 2 (nutrition knowledge expert vs novice) within-subject factorial design was used. Participants were 106 female college students (61 experts, 45 novices). Dependent variables were perception of product quality and purchase intention.ResultsAs predicted by the elaboration likelihood model, experts used central route processing to scrutinize intrinsic cues and make judgments about food products. Novices used peripheral route processing to make simple inferences about the extrinsic cues in labels.Conclusions and ImplicationsConsumers' levels of nutrition knowledge influenced their ability to process food labels. The United States Food and Drug Administration should regulate the “all natural” food label, because this claim is likely to mislead most consumers.     

The effects of early postnatal stimulation on Morris water-maze acquisition in adult mice: genetic and maternal factors

 Following stressor exposure BALB/cByJ mice exhibit hypersecretion of corticosterone and marked brain catecholamine alterations. In addition, mice of this strain exhibit impairments of performance in a Morris water-maze, which may be exacerbated by footshock application. In the present investigation it was demonstrated that early-life handling of mouse pups (coupled with brief separation periods from the dam over the course of 21 days postpartum) reduced the learning impairments seen when mice were tested in the Morris water-maze at 120 days of age and also prevented stress-induced disturbances in this task. Likewise, cross-fostering BALB/cByJ mice with a C57BL/6ByJ dam prevented the performance deficits. In contrast, C57BL/6ByJ mice cross-fostered to a BALB/cByJ dam exhibited proficient performance. Thus, maternal factors may be important in determining the Morris water-maze disturbances, provided that this was applied on the BALB/cByJ genetic background. Stressor exposure exacerbated the performance disturbances in BALB/cByJ mice, while diazepam treatment disrupted Morris water-maze performance in both BALB/cByJ and C57BL/6ByJ mice. Paralleling the behavioral changes associated with handling, the stress-induced hypercorticosterone secretion characteristic of the BALB/cByJ mouse was attenuated by the early handling procedure. Stressor exposure also produced strain-dependent variations of NE and 5-HT, but these effects were not appreciably influenced by the handling procedure. These data are consistent with the proposition that performance disturbances of BALB/cByJ mice tested in the Morris water-maze task are associated with excessive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity. Moreover, it appears that the influence of early-life stimulation may interact with genetic factors in determining endocrine and behavioral stress responses. Received: 11 October 1995 / Final version: 22 June 1996     

Intraspinal Analgesia for Nonmalignant Pain: A Retrospective Analysis for Efficacy,Safety and Feasability in 50 Patients

Objectives. To test the efficacy and safety of intraspinal opioids for patients with nonmalignant pain. Design. A retrospective analysis on 50 patients, 37 females and 13 males, who prior to intraspinal analgesia failed all conventional therapies including strong oral opioid trials. Patients were divided into three groups according to pain type: neuropathic, nociceptive, mixed neuropathic/nociceptive. Morphine equivalent doses were noted at intervals of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 months. Global evaluation of pain relief (poor, fair, good, excellent) was obtained at each return visit. Dose requirements, escalations, and decreases were noted and analyzed. Side effects and complications of drug infusion or mechanical devises were noted and tabulated. Results. 7 of 7 patients with nociceptive pain had good (29%) to excellent (71%) pain relief. Sixty percent of the 16 patients with neuropathic pain had good (47%) to excellent (13%) pain relief. Seventy-two percent of the total of patients with mixed pain had good (40%) to excellent (32%) pain relief. When further subdivided, only 59% of the failed back/arachnoiditis sufferers had good (41%) to excellent (18%) pain relief while 100% of the mixed group with non-FBSS diagnoses had good (37%) to excellent (63%) pain relief. Conclusions. Long-term intrathecal opioids are efficacious, practical, and safe for the treatment of nonmalignant pain syndromes. FBSS patients respond similarly to intraspinal analgesia as the patients with neuropathic pain, while the group with mixed pain from other non-FBSS causes respond similarly to the nociceptive pain patients.     

Management options in blunt aortic injury: a case series and literature review

Blunt aortic injury (BAI) is a devastating consequence of high-energy trauma. The majority of its victims do not survive; those who do generally have significant associated injury. The standard treatment of BAI has been emergent replacement or repair of the damaged aorta via a posterolateral thoracotomy, with or without perfusion adjuncts. In addition to the substantial morbidity and mortality secondary to multisystem traumatic injuries, patients surviving to reach the operating room have been exposed to the risks related to their surgical treatment, namely death, paraplegia, hemorrhage, transfusion, organ dysfunction, prolonged intensive care unit stays, and extensive rehabilitation requirements. Contributions to the literature over the past several years have provided support for changing practice patterns in the management of BAI. Aggressive control of blood pressure has made it safe to delay high-risk interventions in patients with complex injuries. Advanced perfusion strategies using little or no anticoagulation appear to have positively affected bleeding complications and neurologic risk. Finally, endovascular stent grafting, though not yet rigorously evaluated in BAI, has been shown to be feasible and effective in the short term. This case presentation and literature review will examine treatment options and propose a management algorithm.     

Increased upper airway collapsibility in children with obstructive sleep apnea during wakefulness

Upper airway collapsibility (UAC) is increased in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), but during wakefulness, active neural processes preserve upper airway patency, such that measurement of upper airway dynamics using acoustic pharyngometry may contribute to diagnostic accuracy in snoring children. Upper airway cross-sectional area obtained from acoustic pharyngometry measurements was assessed in 247 children referred for evaluation of suspected SDB and control subjects, before and after application of cetacaine 1% spray to the pharyngeal introitus under visual inspection. UAC was determined from the precentage change in cross-sectional area after topical anesthesia. UAC measurements were reproducible 1 week apart in both control subjects and patients with SDB (p < 0.005). A UAC less than or equal to -30% exhibited high sensitivity and specificity in identification of all children with obstructive apnea-hypopnea index greater than 5/hour total sleep time in a prospective initial sample of 54 children and in a subsequent post hoc sample of 94 snoring children. Thus, upper airway dynamic testing during wakefulness in response to a topical airway anesthetic may provide a useful clinical adjunct to the evaluation of snoring children, with more accurate identification of those children with SDB.