Studies of Genetic Variation of Essential Oil and Alkaloid Content in Boldo (Peumus boldus)

Boldo is a tree or shrub with medicinal properties native to Chile. The leaves contain alkaloids and essential oils. Variation of total alkaloid concentration, of the alkaloid boldine, and essential oil components were studied in different populations from northern, central, and southern parts of its geographic range and in their progenies (half-sib families). Total alkaloid concentration showed genetic variation between progenies of the central population but not between populations. Boldine content found in concentrations of 0.007 to 0.009% did not differ significantly between populations. Principal components of the essential oil were determined genetically, with highest values for ascaridole in the population of the north and for P-cymene in the south. Between half-sib families genetic variation was found in the central and northern populations for these components. The high heritability coefficients found indicate considerable potential for successful selection of individuals for these characters.     

Synthesis and dopaminergic properties of benzo-fused analogues of quinpirole and quinelorane

In an analogy to the potent catechol dopamine D1 agonists dihydrexidine (1) and dinapsoline (2), benzo rings were fused onto the structures of the dopamine D2-selective agonists quinelorane (3) and quinpirole (4). Each of the phenyl ring-substituted derivatives had significant affinity for D2 receptors, albeit somewhat lower than the two parent compounds, 3 and 4. Compounds with N-propyl and N-allyl substituents (5b, 5c, 6c, and 6d) had higher affinity for the D2 dopamine receptor than did their corresponding secondary amines (5a and 6a). Slightly different effects on affinity of an n-propyl and an n-allyl group in the new analogues of 3 and 4 suggest that different binding orientations may be invoked at the receptor.     

Functional assessment of cutaneous microvasculature after radiation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To determine if laser Doppler flowmetry could be used to non-invasively evaluate microvasculature function after radiation therapy (RT), we assessed blood flow response to heating in women following RT after breast conservation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty women with unilateral stage I/II breast cancer treated with conservative surgery and RT were evaluated at varying intervals post RT. Ten patients were retested after an interval of 55 to 57 months to assess reproducibility of the control data. A laser Doppler probe fitted into a heat source was used to non-invasively measure blood flow in a small area of skin on the treated breast and a matched area on the untreated side. The heating element increased skin surface temperature to 40 degrees C, permitting assessment of heat stress induced changes in blood flow. RESULTS: Blood flow increased in response to heating in the untreated and treated breast skin, however the magnitude of the increase was significantly greater in the non-irradiated skin. The difference in relative blood flow to the heat stress was found to be greatest in patients < or =6 months post RT. In the patients who were >36 months post RT, there was no significant difference seen in relative blood flow between the irradiated and non-irradiated sides. Cutaneous blood flow response to the heat stress was very reproducible when women were reassessed 55 to 57 months after initial testing. CONCLUSIONS: Laser Doppler flowmetry can quantify the reduced response of irradiated microvasculature to a heat stress. The difference in relative blood flow to a heat stress is greatest in patients < or =6 months post RT, and normalized in patients >36 months post RT.     

Neoplasia and dysplasia of the cervix uteri and contraception: a possible protective effect of the diaphragm.

Among the 17,032 women included in the Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study, 65 developed biopsy proven cervical neoplasia (including dysplasia) prior to 1 September 1977. The incidence rate in diaphragm users (0.17 per 1000 woman-years of observation) was much lower than the rates in oral contraceptive users or intrauterine device users (0.95 and 0.87 respectively). This difference could not be explained in terms of confounding variables, nor was it attributable to a lower frequency of cervical smearing among diaphragm users within the clinics. Detailed information about age at first intercourse, numbers of sexual partners and the frequency of cervical smearing outside the clinics was obtained from 52 of the women with cervical neoplasia and 139 matched controls. Diaphragm users were less likely to have had coitus at an early age and had had materially fewer sexual partners than users of the other two methods of contraception. After adjusting for the effects of these variables, however, the risk of cervical neoplasia in diaphragm users was still only about one quarter that in the users of the other methods. Patterns of smearing varied little between users of the various contraceptive methods. Smoking emerged as a major "risk factor" for cervical neoplasia in this study. This probably implies that the smoking habit reflects some important aspect of sexual behaviour relevant to the production of the disease that we have been unable to measure.     

COMMENTARY: Nature and nurture: possibilities for cancer control

Nature and nurture interact and in most cases it is impossibleto specify quantitatively the contribution of either to thecausation of a disease. Only rarely is either neutral in thesense that the other accounts for all the variation in risk.It seems unlikely that more than a few per cent of all cancerswill be accounted for by inherited susceptibility with a highpenetrance and a neutral environment. Small variations in susceptibilitymay, however, be associated with differentgenetic alleles thatwill facilitate focused measures of prevention and perhaps providea lead to causation. For the practical control of most cancerswe must intervene by treatment or prevention. Knowledge of thevariation in the incidence of cancers suggests that age-specificincidence rates could be reduced by 80-90%, half by the applicationof existing knowledge. The possibilities of control by preventionare discussed under the headings of tobacco smoke, alcohol,infection, diet, physical activity, reproduction, medicinesand medical procedures, and occupation and pollution. In conclusion,attention is drawn to eight types of cancer that have becomemore common in the UK in the last 25 years, some of which wedo not know how to prevent and which require urgent research.     

Obesity and physical and emotional well-being: associations between body mass index, chronic illness, and the physical and mental components of the SF-36 questionnaire

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the associations between obesity and health-related quality of life by exploring the associations between physical and emotional well-being in relation to obesity and the presence of other chronic illness. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The study data were collected as part of a postal-survey within the old Oxford Regional Health Authority of England in 1997. Completed questionnaires were returned by 8889 of 13,800 randomly selected adults aged 18 to 64 years. The main outcome measures were body mass index in five categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, moderately obese, morbidly obese); chronic illness status (any vs. none and number of such illnesses 0, 1 to 2, 3+); and mean SF-36 questionnaire score in two summary component measures reflecting physical and emotional well-being. RESULTS: Of the subjects, 31% were overweight and an additional 11% were obese. Body mass index was significantly associated with health status, but the pattern varied according to whether the measure reflected physical or emotional well-being. Physical, but not emotional, well-being deteriorated markedly with increasing degree of overweight and was limited in subjects who were obese but had no other chronic condition; subjects with chronic illnesses other than obesity were compromised in both dimensions. In terms of the number of chronic illnesses reported, the additional presence of obesity was associated with a significant deterioration in physical but not emotional well-being. DISCUSSION: Overweight and obesity are associated with poor levels of subjective health status, particularly in terms of physical well-being. The limitations in emotional well-being that are reported here and in other studies may be a result of confounding by the presence of accompanying chronic illness.     

Cigarette smoking and bronchial carcinoma: dose and time relationships among regular smokers and lifelong non-smokers.

In a 20-year prospective study on British doctors, smoking habits were ascertained by questionnaire and lung cancer incidence was monitored. Among cigarette smokers who started smoking at ages 16-25 and who smoked 40 or less per day, the annual lung cancer incidence in the age range 40-79 was:0.273X10(-12). (cigarettes/day+6)2. (age--22.5)4.5. The form of the dependence on dose in this relationship is subject not only to random error but also to serious systematic biases, which are discussed. However, there was certainly some statistically significant (P less than 0.01) upward curvature of the dose-response relationship in the range 0-40 cigarettes/day, which is what might be expected if more that one of the "stages" (in the multistage genesis of bronchial carcinoma) was strongly affected by smoking. If a higher than linear dose-response relationship exists between dose per bronchial cell and age-specific risk per bronchial cell, this may help explain why bronchial carcinomas chiefly arise in the upper bronchi, for dilution effects might then protect the larger areas lower in the bronchial tree.