Natural killer cell activity and CSF monoamine metabolites in suicide attempters

The aim of this study was to investigate markers of serotonin and immune function in suicidal patients. Cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells (NK) and CD16 lymphocytes were studied in 28 suicide attempters and 26 healthy controls, and related in patients to 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Patients with CSF 5-HIAA below the median had significantly lower NK cell activity than other patients. CD16 cell frequency was significantly lower in patients than in controls, and patients also tended to have lower NK cell cytotoxicity than healthy controls. There were no statistically significant correlations between 4-hydroxy-3methoxyphenyl glycol (HMPG), homovanillic acid (HVA), CSF cortisol and NK cell activity. The results support the hypothesis of compromised immune function in suicidal patients with evidence of disordered serotonin function.     

Sequential scintigraphy and orthoradiographic measurement of femoral shortening after femoral neck fracture

The objective of the study was to assess scintigraphic patterns and femoral shortening after femoral neck fracture in order to select predictive parameters for late complications. Eighty-eight patients with osteosynthesized femoral neck fractures were followed for 2 years with regular scintigraphic evaluations and orthoradiographic measurements of femoral length shortening. Four different patient categories were identified with regard to the late outcome: two different groups with uneventful healing and two different groups with late complications. Accordingly, a high scintigraphic uptake at 1 month may eiher point to an uneventful healing if combined with minor femoral shortening or indicate failure if combined with a high degree of femoral shortening. In contrast, low scintigraphic uptake may either reflect primary fracture healing if accompanied by minor femoral shortening or predict failure if a high degree of femoral shortening is present. Compared with using scintigraphy alone, combined scintigraphic evaluation and assessment of femoral shortening increased the accuracy for prediction of late failures from 80% to 93%. Early scintigraphic patterns after osteosynthesis of femoral neck fractures have to be validated with care. Radiographic assessment of femoral shortening, which is less invasive, gives better prognostic accuracy and should therefore be preferred for this purpose.     

Continued surveillance of cancer incidence among Swedish smelter workers.

A cohort study of workers at a smeltery in northern Sweden showed an excess mortality, mostly due to deaths in cancer (especially in the respiratory organs) and circulatory diseases. Further follow-up of the cohort showed a decreasing trend in lung cancer incidence and mortality. The cohort studied has now been expanded and comprises 6,334 blue-collar workers first employed 1928-1979. They were followed in the cancer register up to 1987-01-01 and in the cause-of-death register up to 1988-01-01. The decreasing trend in lung cancer incidence and mortality continued but there was still an elevated lung cancer incidence among the workers when compared with Swedish males. The cumulative occurrence of lung cancer since time of first employment was analyzed by different employment cohorts and a higher occurrence of lung cancer was found among those earlier employed.     

Mammographic growth rate, DNA ploidy, and S-phase fraction analysis in breast carcinoma. A prognostic evaluation in a screened population.

BACKGROUND. The authors examined prognostic factors in 158 cases of breast carcinoma with known mammographic tumor volume doubling times (DT). METHODS. The tumors were retrospectively reexamined histologically and flow cytometric analysis of DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction (SPF) was performed on archival paraffin-embedded material in each case. Life tables and Cox multivariate analyses were used for statistical evaluation of prognostic factors. RESULTS. In univariate analysis of survival data, clinical and pathologic stage, histologic grade, the presence of axillary lymph node metastases, and SPF were significant prognostic predictors, but mammographic DT and DNA ploidy were not. SPF also contributed prognostic information in the subgroup of carcinoma cases detected by screening. In a Cox multivariate analysis, SPF, the presence of axillary lymph node metastases, and Stage II-III disease (as opposed to Stage I disease) were independent significant predictors of survival. In univariate analyses of distant disease-free survival, clinical and pathologic stage, tumor size, histologic grade, the presence of involved axillary nodes, DT, and SPF all were significant prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS. SPF, stage, and lymph node status were important prognostic factors in this patient material with predominantly small and node-negative breast carcinomas, whereas DNA ploidy and mammographic DT provided less prognostic information. The prognosis of carcinoma detected during screening did not differ significantly from that of breast carcinoma discovered otherwise in this selected patient group.     

Expression of the homeobox engrailed gene during the embryonic development of the nervous system of the trout (Salmo fario L.).

The expression of the engrailed homeobox gene during trout embryogenesis has been examined using immunohistochemistry and the monoclonal antibody 'Mab 4D9'. Engrailed has been suggested to play an important role during development by controlling position-specific characteristics in the CNS of the early embryo. In the present study we have analyzed the expression of engrailed at 5 stages of embryonic development of the trout (Salmo fario L.). The earliest stage analyzed was when the optic vesicles appear. Engrailed was then expressed in the posterior mesencephalon and anterior metencephalon, in a caudorostrally decreasing gradient. As the embryo develops, the pattern of the engrailed expression increases in spatial complexity. Thus, in the later stages of development, just before hatching, engrailed was found in hypothalamic areas, the germinative matrix layer of the cerebellum, the mesencephalic tegmentum, the caudal optic tectum and in the area of the trigeminal motor nucleus. This is similar to the distribution of engrailed in embryos of amphibians, birds and mammals.     

Screening of an elderly population in primary care for primary hyperparathyroidism.

In order to assess the diagnostic outcome of a screening for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) in an elderly population, we determined ionized calcium in serum from 368 individuals participating in a health control at M?lnlycke Primary Care Centre (200 women, 168 men; age range 75-95 years); four-fifths of the individuals living in their homes, the remainder in homes for aged or nursing homes. Intact parathyroid hormone was determined in the samples with oinized calcium concentration greater than mean + 3SD of the truncated population sample, and these individuals were also recalled for another blood sample. Moderate hypercalcaemia, probably due to PHPT, was found in eight individuals (2% of the complete sample, 3% of the women), five having neuropsychiatric or neuromuscular symptoms consistent with PHPT. Surgical intervention is probably indicated in only a small proportion of elderly patients. We conclude that optimal benefits in relation to costs of screening for PHPT in old people will depend on the availability of a safe and simple pharmacological treatment that could determine any causal relationship between hypercalcaemia and symptoms.     

Relation between tobacco use and urinary excretion of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin metabolites in young men

BACKGROUND. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The present study addressed the effect of tobacco use on the formation of two eicosanoids, thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin, which have been implicated in both acute and chronic cardiovascular disorders. METHODS AND RESULTS. In 577 randomly sampled 18-19-year-old men, the urinary excretion of the 2,3-dinor metabolites of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin (Tx-M and PGI-M, respectively) was analyzed and related to the subjects' self-reported use of tobacco. Sixty-five percent of the subjects used no tobacco, 7.5% were cigarette smokers, 22% used wet (oral) snuff, and the rest reported a mixed use of tobacco. The urinary excretion of Tx-M was higher (p less than 0.001) in cigarette smokers than in those not using tobacco (180 versus 128 pg/mg creatinine) and was correlated (r = 0.35, p less than 0.05) with the daily cigarette consumption. Snuff users had no increase in their urinary excretion of Tx-M, despite urinary cotinine levels comparable to those in the cigarette smokers (1,210 and 1,560 ng/ml, respectively). The excretion of PGI-M did not differ between non-tobacco users, cigarette smokers, and snuff users. CONCLUSIONS. We conclude that cigarette smoking, but not the use of snuff, facilitates the formation of thromboxane A2. We propose that such an increased formation reflects platelet activation in the absence of vascular injury and that it may be of significance for the subsequent development of cardiovascular disease.     

Glycogen and glycogen-hydrolysing lysosomal enzyme activity in mouse liver: effects of fasting, adrenoceptor antagonism and insulin-induced hypoglycaemia

Whereas the phosphorolytic breakdown of liver glycogen is known to be of great physiological importance, the functional role of the hydrolytic glycogenolysis in the lysosomal system is less well understood. In the present study the effects of fasting, alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor antagonism and insulin-induced hypoglycaemia on liver lysosomal glycogen-hydrolysing enzyme activity were investigated in mice. In freely fed mice the glycogen-hydrolysing activity (acid amyloglucosidase) was only 50% of the maltose-hydrolysing activity (acid maltase). Starvation for 24 h reduced the acid amyloglucosidase activity by approximately 30% (P less than 0.001), whereas the activities of acid maltase, acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase appeared unaffected. N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity was moderately (20%; P less than 0.01) enhanced by fasting. Thus, liver lysosomal enzyme activities may change independently of each other during fasting. Further, during short-term hypoglycaemic conditions (45 min) induced by endogenous or exogenous insulin, the activity of liver acid amyloglucosidase was found to be moderately reduced (15-20%). Blockade of alpha- and beta-adrenoceptors by phentolamine and propranolol did not result in any apparent influence on acid amyloglucosidase activity except for the indirect effect exerted by the phentolamine-induced hypoglycaemia. A moderate negative correlation (r = -0.51; P less than 0.001) between total liver glycogen concentration and acid amyloglucosidase activity was observed in a series of 43 freely fed NMRI mice. Our data show that in mouse liver the acid maltase activity predominates over the acid amyloglucosidase activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)