Follow-up at II years of children who had marked speech defects at 7 years

The results of a follow-up study at 11 years of 215 children in the National Child Development Study who were reported to show marked speech defects at 7 years are presented. Information regarding social welfare, health and scholastic attainments was available for 190 children (88%). Over a third of these had been formally 'ascertained' for special educational treatment. Of the 124 children remaining in ordinary schools, 56% still had residual speech problems while 44% were reported to have acquired satisfactory speech. The health and scholastic attainments of these two groups are described and discussed in relation to each other and to controls. A note regarding significant items in the original reports of 25 'missing' children at 7 years is provided, indicating that the large proportion had serious additional handicaps at 7 years. The importance of effective identification, full paediatric and educational assessment and the provision of appropriate help at or preferably before school entry is stressed.     

MULTIPLE BOWEN'S DISEASE OF THE FINGERS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS TYPE 16

Background. The occurrence of multiple Bowen's disease (bd ) in skin away from the anogenital area is rare. In contrast, multiple lesions of bd involving the anogenital skin (bowenoid papulosis) are not so rare and have been found to associated with human papilloma virus (hpv ) usually type 16. We encountered a patient with multiple BD of the fingers and endeavored to detect hpv in his lesions. Methods. Separate bd lesions from 3 fingers of the patient were investigated for the presence of hpv by means of the polymerase chain reaction, followed by dot blot hybridization. Other cases of bd with coexistent HPV infection excluding the anogenital area were collected from the literature for comparative study. Results hpv type 16 was detected in each of the three finger lesions of bd . Twenty cases of hpv related bd involving sites other than the anogenital area were found in the literature. Three of these cases had multiple lesions. Conclusions. Review of the 4 cases with multiple hpv related nonanogenital bd and the 17 others with solitary lesions reveals predilection for the hands and feet (90%) and affinity for type 16 infection (81%). The lesions usually present as verrucous plaques.     

Acute, 9-Day, and 13-Week Vapor Inhalation Studies on Ethylene Glycol Monohexyl Ether

Acute, 9-Day, and 13-Week Vapor Inhalation Studies on EthyleneGlycol Monohexyl Ether. KLONNE, D. R., DODD, D. E., PRITTS,I. M., TROUP, C. M., NACHREINER, D. J., and BALLANTYNE, B. (1987).Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 8, 198–206. At ambient conditions,the low vapor pressure of ethylene glycol monohexyl ether (EGHE)allows for a maximum vapor concentration of approximately 85ppm. In an acute inhalation study on Wistar albino rats, a 4-hrexposure to 83 ppm EGHE produced no clinical signs, body weighteffects, mortality, or macroscopic lesions in thoracic or abdominalorgans. Fischer 344 rats exposed for 9 days (6 hr/day) overan 11-day period, to 0 (control), 19, 41, or 84 ppm EGHE haddecreased body weight gains and increased liver to body weightvalues at 84 ppm EGHE. No alterations of the hematology parametersor the morphology of the testes or liver were observed. In asubsequent study, rats were exposed to mean EGHE concentrationsof 0 (control), 20, 41, or 71 ppm for 6 hr/day, 5 days/week,for 13 weeks. Urogenital wetness was observed in all EGHE-exposedgroups of females and in males of the 71-ppm group. Decreasedbody weight gains were observed in both sexes of the 71-ppmgroup, and a slight decrease was also observed in females ofthe 41-ppm group. Increased absolute and/or relative liver weightswere observed in both sexes of the 71-ppm group and to a lesserextent in the 41-ppm group. Possibly related to these findingsin the liver were decreases in serum transaminases (aspartateand alanine aminotransferase) and sorbitol dehydrogenase, withan increase in alkaline phosphatase observed in the 71-ppm groupof female rats. However, there were no gross or histopathologiclesions found to indicate impairment of the liver. Increasesin absolute and/or relative kidney weights were primarily observedin the 41-and 71-ppm groups of males but no gross or histopathologiclesions were found to explain these findings. The principalEGHE-related effect observed in animals maintained for a 1-monthrecovery period after cessation of exposures was a continuedincrease in the absolute and/or relative liver weights of the71-ppm group. Hematologic abnormalities and testicular atrophyobserved with some shorter chain alkyl glycol ethers were notobserved with EGHE. Based on the data from the 13-week inhalationstudy, subchronic inhalation exposure to 71 ppm EGHE producedminimal but biologically significant toxicity, while exposureto 41 ppm EGHE is considered to be a concentration at whichno biologically significant toxic effects were observed.     

Diet Design for a Multicenter Controlled Feeding Trial: The DELTA Program

Objective To describe the process and results of diet standardization, diet validation, and monitoring of diet composition, which were key components of protocol 1 of Dietary Effects on Lipoproteins and Thrombogenic Activity (DELTA-1), the initial protocol in a program of multicenter human feeding studies designed to evaluate the effects of amount and type of fat on lipoproteins and hemostasis parameters in various demographic groups.Design DELTA-1 was based on a randomized, blinded, crossover experimental design. Three diets were fed for 8 weeks to 103 healthy men and women aged 22 to 67 years at 4 field centers. Diet A, an average American diet, was designed to provide 37% of energy from fat, 16% of energy from saturated fatty acids (SFAs); diet B (step 1 diet) was designed to provide 30% of energy from fat, 9% of energy from SFA; and diet C (low SFA diet) was designed to provide 26% of energy from fat, 5% of energy from SFA. Key features of diet standardization included central procurement of fat-containing foods, inclusion of standard ingredients, precision weighing of foods—especially sources of fat and cholesterol—and use of standardized written procedures.Setting For menu validation, a set of 12 menus for each diet was prepared in duplicate and chemically assayed. For monitoring of diet composition during the study, an 8-day diet cycle (6 weekday and 2 weekend menus) was sampled by every field center twice during each of 3 feeding periods.Statistical analyses Means (±standard error) were calculated and compared with target nutrient specifications.Results DELTA-1 was able to provide a standardized diet that met nutrient specifications across 4 field centers over 24 weeks of participant feeding spanning a total of 8 months.Applications Prestudy chemical validation of menus and continuous sampling and assay of diets throughout the study are essential to standardize experimental diets and to ensure that nutrient target goals are met and maintained throughout a controlled multicenter feeding study. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998;98:766–776.     

The effects of two temporary crown materials on the dental pulp of monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

Summary. A method for testing the pulpal response to temporary crown and bridge materials is described. The histological evaluation shows that neither test nor control material produced pulpal irritation over periods up to 4 weeks.     

THE ABSENCE OF ANY EFFECT OF METHIMAZOLE ON IN VITRO CELL-MEDIATED CYTOTOXICITY

Two recent studies have reported that antithyroid drugs inhibit killer (K) and natural killer (NK) cell function in vitro, which could be relevant to the changes in these cell populations during treatment of Graves' disease. In contrast to these reports we have found no in vitro effect of pharmacologically relevant concentrations of methimazole (MMI) (100 mumol/l) on (i) NK cell function using K562 cells or MOLT-4 cells as targets, (ii) K cell function using antibody-dependent cytotoxicity assays with L929 cells or thyroid-antigen-coated chick red cells, or (iii) monocyte-dependent cytotoxin-mediated killing of L929 cells. Enhanced cytotoxicity was found with 1 mmol/l MMI in some of these assays but this was not consistent since it occurred only in certain individual cultures. Since we have shown previously that 100 mumol/l MMI inhibits oxygen radical generation, the present results add to the evidence that these radicals are not directly involved in cell-mediated cytotoxicity and do not support the concept that antithyroid drugs have a significant effect on antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in Graves' disease.     

Metabolism and Testicular Toxicity of 1,3-Dinitrobenzene in Rats of Different Ages

Susceptibility to 1,3-dinitrobenzene (l,3-DNB)-induced testiculardamage is known to increase with age. The present study investigatedthe possibility that age-dependent differences in metabolismand disposition could account for differences in toxicity. [¹⁴C]1,3-DNB(25 mg/kg, ip) was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats whichwere 31, 75, or 120 days of age. Levels of 1,3-DNB and 1,3-DNBmetabolites were determined in blood and urine. As animal ageincreased, peak blood concentrations of 1,3-DNB were lower anddeclined more slowly indicating an age-dependent decrease inrate of metabolism and a possible increase in volume of distribution.In younger animals, faster elimination rates were associatedwith higher blood levels of metabolites. Urinary metaboliteswere generally similar for all age groups with the exceptionof the diacetamidobenzene metabolite which was significantlylower in the urine of 31 day old rats. There were clear differencesin the toxicokinetic profile for 1,3-DNB between the 31 dayold rats and the other two age groups. However, differencesbetween the 75 and 120 day old animals were less marked. Testiculardamage induced by 1,3-DNB (25 mg/kg, ip) was hardly detectablein the youngest animals, while the intermediate age group showeda moderate lesion particularly in later stages of spermatogenesis.For the oldest animals, testicular damage was more severe, particularlyin the earlier stages of spermatogenesis. Overall, the rapidelimination rate could account for the lack of 1,3-DNB toxicityin very young animals. However, simple metabolic differenceswere less likely to adequately explain the increase in testiculardamage found as animal age increased from 75 to 120 days.