Growth of children from 0-5 years: with special reference to mother's smoking in pregnancy

A cohort of 1163 pregnant women in two small towns in South Wales, UK, was identified and followed until the children born to them were five years of age. Growth in these children is described and a number of determinants identified. Social-class differences were very small at birth but differences in height became clear by the age of two years and in head circumference before this. In height the differences were largely accounted for by greater growth in social class I, but there was a gradient in head circumference throughout all the social classes. The social class effects gradually increased as the children became older. Parity of the mothers had a small effect on size at birth but age of the mother had no effect once parity was allowed for. Data on illnesses in the children were collected but no effect on growth could be detected. By far the most important determinant of growth which could be controlled is maternal smoking. About 40% of the women smoked, about 17% heavily (15 or more cigarettes per day) and the prevalence of smoking altered little during pregnancy. There was a graded effect of smoking on growth up to a 9% deficit in birth-weight, a 2% deficit in length at birth and a 1.5% deficit in head circumference in the babies born to the mothers who smoked most heavily (25 or more cigarettes per day) compared with non-smokers. There effects decreased with age but there were still residual effects at age five years.     

Preferential liver gene expression with polypropylenimine dendrimers.

Previously, the lower generation (DAB 8-generation 2 and DAB 16-generation 3) polypropylenimine dendrimers have been shown to be effective gene delivery systems in vitro. In the current work, we sought to: (a) test the effect of the strength of the carrier, DNA electrostatic interaction on gene transfer and (b) to study the in vivo gene transfer activity of these low molecular weight (<1687 Da) non-amphiphilic plain and quaternary ammonium gene carriers. Towards this aim, methyl quaternary ammonium derivatives of DAB 4 (generation 1), DAB 8, DAB 16 and DAB 32 (generation 4) were synthesised to give Q4, Q8, Q16 and Q32, respectively. Quaternisation of DAB 8 proved to be critical in improving DNA binding, as evidenced by data from the ethidium bromide exclusion assay and dendrimer-DNA colloidal stability data. This improved colloidal stability had a major effect on vector tolerability, as Q8-DNA formulations were well tolerated on intravenous injection while a similar DAB 8-DNA dose was lethally toxic by the same route. Quaternisation also improved the in vitro cell biocompatibility of DAB 16-DNA and DAB 32-DNA dendrimer complexes by about 4-fold but not that of the lower generation DAB 4-DNA and DAB 8-DNA formulations. In contrast to previous reports with non-viral gene delivery systems, the intravenous administration of DAB 16-DNA and Q8-DNA formulations resulted in liver targeted gene expression as opposed to the lung targeted gene expression obtained with the control polymer-Exgen 500 [linear poly(ethylenimine)] and a lung avoidance hypothesis is postulated. We conclude that the polypropylenimine dendrimers are promising gene delivery systems which may be used to target the liver and avoid the lung and also that molecular modifications conferring colloidal stability on gene delivery formulations have a profound effect on their tolerability on intravenous administration.     

Intrathecal morphine for post-thoracotomy pain

We wished to investigate possible differences in the duration of postoperative analgesia and the incidence of respiratory depression after the intrathecal injection in the lumbar area of 10 micrograms/kg morphine in hypobaric and hyperbaric solution for relief of post-thoracotomy pain. Twenty-nine patients received morphine plus dextrose (hyperbaric) and 21 received morphine in preservative-free normal saline. The duration of analgesia was longer with the morphine in the normal saline group than in the hyperbaric group (P less than 0.04). One patient developed delayed respiratory depression. Our data support the use of morphine in normal saline mixtures for greater duration of analgesia after thoracic operations.     

Effects of an exercise intervention for older heart failure patients on caregiver burden and emotional distress.

BACKGROUND: The impact of exercise programmes for heart failure on those close to the patient is largely unknown. We examined the effect of a hospital and home-based exercise intervention on burden, anxiety and depression of informal caregivers. DESIGN: The study was a randomized, controlled trial. Heart failure patients were randomized to a seated 12-week hospital-based exercise programme. Caregiver measures were gathered at baseline, 3 months later and 6 months following baseline. METHODS: Sixty caregivers (mean age 63.4 years, 65% female) of heart failure patients (n = 82, mean age 80.5 years, 44% female) participating in a trial of an exercise intervention were recruited. Caregiver burden, anxiety and depression were assessed. RESULTS: There were no differences in caregiver burden, depression or anxiety between the two groups of caregivers at baseline (caregiver burden, patient control 33.1 versus patient exercise 34.1; anxiety 4.1 versus 5.5; depression 2.8 versus 3.8). At 3 months there were no differences between caregivers in the two groups on outcomes. At 6-month follow-up caregivers of heart failure patients in the exercise group had burden scores that were significantly worse than the control group. There were no differences between the carers of exercise and control groups in anxiety and depression. Levels of anxiety and depression in the entire carer sample were marginally higher than reference values in a healthy non-clinical sample. CONCLUSION: The present exercise interventions for frail older patients did not benefit caregivers and was associated with an increase in caregiver burden. We suggest that future exercise interventions for heart failure patients should actively incorporate informal caregivers into research designs.     

The current role of photodynamic therapy in oesophageal dysplasia and cancer

Over the last 15 years photodynamic therapy (PDT) has become a viable treatment for pre-malignant and malignant disease of the oesophagus. Its initial use was in the palliation of oesophageal malignant obstruction bringing improved swallowing hence increasing nutritional intake and improving general quality of life. As the therapeutic boundaries of PDT have stretched, current studies look at the role of PDT in the treatment of pre-malignant dysplastic Barrett's epithelium and early malignancy as a curative mucosal ablative technique. As a curative treatment in early oesophageal cancer, PDT provides an alternative treatment to oesophagectomy for those more elderly or less medically fit patients.This paper reviews the uses of photodynamic therapy in oesophageal cancer with reference to the available publications on its use in the palliation of oesophageal cancer and treatment of early cancer and high grade dysplasia in Barrett's mucosa.     

Anything in modulation?

This issue of Annals of Oncology sees a report of a trial bythe Italian INTACC intergroup comparing folinic acid-modulatedfluorouracil, combined with levamisole, with fluorouracil andlevamisole alone [1]. This large trial (n = 1703) adds importantlyto our knowledge of the value of folinic acid in the fluorouracil/folinicacid (FUFA) chemotherapy combination, which is now widely acceptedas the standard regimen in colorectal cancer [2]. No statisticallysignificant differences in terms of disease-free survival oroverall survival were found from modulating the action of fluorouracilwith folinic acid. However, the absence of a statistically significantdifference does not of course establish lack of benefit. Therewere fewer deaths (32%