Physical symptoms/side effects during breast cancer treatment predict posttreatment distress

Background: Studies suggest that the period following completion of treatment can be distressing for cancer patients. One potentially important predictor of distress is physical symptoms/side effects during treatment.Purpose: A longitudinal, observational design was used to examine whether the number of physical symptoms/side effects experienced during treatment was a correlate of cancer-related distress and general distress 4 months after treatment completion, as measured by the Impact of Events Scale and the Mental Health subscale of the Short Form-36, respectively.Methods: Participants were 151 women who had completed chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for ductal carcinoma in situ or stage 1 or 2 breast cancer. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with relevant sociodemographic, clinical, and psychiatric variables entered as controls.Results: Greater physical symptoms/side effects predicted greater total cancer-related distress, intrusive thoughts, and general distress. Physical symptoms/side effects did not significantly predict avoidance. Follow-up analyses indicated that the relationship between physical symptoms/side effects and general distress was mediated by both total cancer-related distress and intrusive thoughts.Conclusions: These results suggest that patients who experience greater physical symptoms/side effects during treatment are at greater risk for later cancer-related distress and, in turn, general distress. Future research should evaluate whether early intervention with these patients is effective in preventing or reducing distress in the posttreatment period. This work was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (5R01 CA082822).     

Metabolism of antidepressants: urinary metabolites of trimipramine in the rat

1. Studies on the metabolism of the tricyclic antidepressant trimipramine (TMP) in the rat are described. 2. Twenty metabolites of TMP were isolated from rat urine after enzymatic hydrolysis and their structures were determined by a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method. 3. Twelve TMP metabolites were the result of alicyclic (C10 or C11) oxidation in addition to the other metabolic pathways.     

Effect of sucrose ingestion on plasma glutamate concentrations in humans administered monosodium L-glutamate

Plasma glutamate concentrations in human subjects are markedly lower when monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) is ingested in consomme with starch than when ingested in consomme alone. This study investigated whether sucrose had a similar effect. Six normal adult subjects (three male, three female) ingested two servings of beef consomme each providing 50 mg MSG/kg body weight in a randomized crossover design. One serving of consomme contained no added carbohydrate; the other provided 0.5 g sucrose/kg body weight. Ingestion of the consomme without sucrose significantly (p less than 0.05) increased the mean plasma glutamate concentration from baseline (4.44 +/- 0.97 mumol/dl) to a peak value of 18.1 +/- 6.99 mumol/dl 30 min after dosing. The area under the plasma glutamate concentration-time curve was 553 +/- 238 mumol/dl X min. When the consomme contained 0.5 g sucrose/kg body weight, both the mean peak plasma glutamate concentration (5.48 +/- 2.19 mumol/dl) and the area under the curve (105 +/- 46 mumol/dl X min) were significantly lower. These data confirm that metabolizable carbohydrate has a significant effect on plasma glutamate concentration response after MSG loading.     

Mouse chromosome 9 quantitative trait loci for soft tissue regeneration: Congenic analysis and fine mapping

Development of gene therapies for wound healing will depend on the identification of the genes involved in wound healing and tissue regeneration. Previous quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies in mice using the ear punch model have shown that major QTL exist on chromosome (Chr) 9 for soft tissue regeneration. In this study, we have developed a congenic line that contains the Chr 9 QTL chromosomal region from super healer MRL/MpJ in the genomic background of poor-healing SJL/J. The phenotypic effect of this QTL was confirmed in male mice, where the congenic line has shown significant healing improvement over SJL. Fine mapping of the Chr 9 QTL region with 23 markers at an average distance of 4.2 Mb using a total of 1,564 MRL/MpJ x SJL/J F(2) mice revealed the presence of at least three QTL peaks, implying that three separate loci may contribute to the phenotypic effect of this QTL. Based on the 2-LOD intervals, the total QTL region was confined to a combined length of no more than 28.2 Mb. Application of a Bayesian shrinkage estimation indicated that a major locus was located in a region of just 1.3 Mb.     

Public health capacity building in southeastern Europe: a partnership between the Open Society Institute and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The political disintegration of former Yugoslavia inaugurated in 1991 resulted in the decentralization of health systems in the federation's successor nation-states. Efforts by the Open Society Institute improved public health planning and management needs consequent to health sector changes. Beginning in Croatia in 2001, the Institute developed ongoing collaborations between Andrija Stampar School of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2003 and 2004, it expanded its project to include the republics of Macedonia and of Serbia and Montenegro.