Prevalence and abuse of psychoactive substances in children and adolescents

The present study has been carried out in the slum areas of Gorakhpur city, covering a population of 10,187 in the four colleges of Gorakhpur. Five hundred and eighty children and adolescents in urban slums, and 750 college students between 10–18 years were studied by means of a questionnaire card for detection of prevalence rate and various others co-relates of abuse of psychoactive substances. Overall, prevalence of abuse of psychoactive substances was 25% in slum areas, and 18% in college students. Abuse of tobacco was most frequent (50.3% & 72.5%) followed by that of alcohol (11.7% & 16.2%) in both the groups respectively. Cannabis was also used by some children (0.6%). More abusers were from Hindu families with low educational status and low family income. Surprisingly no one was found to be abusing tablets and street drugs.     

Primary leiomyosarcoma of the vagina: A study of five cases

The clinical and light and electron microscopic features of five cases of primary vaginal leiomyosarcoma, representing 2.9% of all vaginal malignancies registered at the Swedish Cancer Registry, are presented. The ages of the patients ranged from 31 to 69 years. The most common clinical presentation was an increasing mass and/or local tenderness. The tumor was located in the anterior wall in three cases and in the lateral wall in two. The size of the tumors ranged from 2 to over 10 cm. Four patients had tumors of high histologic malignancy grade and were all dead within 36 months. One patient had a tumor of low grade and is still alive 10 years after the initial excision. The ultrastructural observations of abundant myofilaments with focal elongated densities in primary paraffin-embedded material conform with the light microscopic diagnoses in all cases and indicate the usefulness and value of such material for electron microscopy in order to arrive at the diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma. The therapeutic and diagnostic aspects are discussed.     

Antitumor AHMA linked to DNA minor groove binding agents: synthesis and biological evaluation

DNA minor groove binder hybrid molecules, netropsin derivatives such as N-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-1-methyl-4-aminopyrrolo-2-carboxamide (MePy) or its derivatives containing two units of N-methylpyrrolecarboxamide (diMePy) and bisbenzimidazole (Ho33258), were linked to the NH(2) function of AHMA or to the CH(2)OH group of AHMA-ethylcarbamate to form AHMA-N-netropsins (13-16) and AHMA-ethylcarbamate-O-netropsins (19-22), and AHMA-bisbenzimidazole (AHMA-Ho33258, 25), respectively. These conjugates' in vitro antitumor activity, inhibition of a variety of human tumor cell growth, revealed that AHMA-ethylcarbamate-O-netropsin derivatives were more cytotoxic than AHMA-N-netropsin compounds. In the same studies, all compounds bearing MePy were more potent than those compounds linked with diMePy. Moreover, AHMA-netropsin derivatives bearing a succinyl chain as the linking spacer were more potent than those compounds having a glutaryl bridge. Among these hybrid molecules, AHMA-ethylcarbamate-O-succinyl-MePy (19) was 2- to 6-fold more cytotoxic than the parent compound AHMA (5) in various cell lines, whereas compound 25 had very poor solubility and was inactive. Studies on the inhibitory effect against topoisomerase II (Topo II) and DNA interaction of these conjugates showed no correlation between the potency of DNA binding and inhibitory activity against Topo II.     

Identification of enzyme inhibitors using combinatorial libraries

Potent enzyme inhibitors have long been recognized as powerful tools for assessing the physiological roles of enzymes and have led to the therapeutic drugs able to modulate their activities in vivo. However, to be valuable tools such inhibitors should be selective so that they do not interfere with other members of the particular enzyme family. Combinatorial chemistry has proven to be a novel approach for the identification of molecules with a desired selectivity profile from the libraries of several million compounds. In recent years it has been extensively used in conjunction with computational methods for the development of potent inhibitors of therapeutically interesting targets. This review describes the various structurally diverse enzyme inhibitors identified by screening combinatorial libraries of peptides and small organic molecules.     

Localization of FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity in the brain of the viviparous skink (Chalcides chalcides)

Neuroanatomical distribution of FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity was investigated in the brain and olfactory system of the viviparous skink, Chalcides chalcides. In the adult brain FMRFamide immunoreactive (ir) perikarya were observed in the diagonal band of Broca, medial septal nucleus, accumbens nucleus, bed nucleus of the anterior commissure, periventricular hypothalamic nucleus, lateral forebrain bundle, and lateral preoptic, subcommissural, suprachiasmatic and lateral hypothalamic areas. This pattern was seen in both male and female brains. Though all major brain areas showed FMRFamide-ir innervation, the densest ir fiber network was observed in the hypothalamus. During development, ir elements were observed for the first time in embryos at mid-pregnancy. FMRFamide perikarya were located along the ventral surface of the vomeronasal nerve, in the olfactory peduncle mediobasally, as well as in the anterior olfactory nucleus and olfactory tubercle. Furthermore, some ir neurons were observed in the rhombencephalic reticular substance; however, the ir fiber network was poorly developed. Later in development FMRFamide-ir neurons appeared also in the bed nucleus of the anterior commissure as well as the rhombencephalic nucleus of solitary tract and the dorsal motor nucleus of vagus nerve. In juveniles, the distribution profile of FMRFamide immunoreactivity was substantially similar to that of the adults, with a less widespread neuronal distribution and a more developed fiber network. Ontogenetic presence of FMRFamide immunoreactivity in the nasal area has been linked to the presence of a nervus terminalis in this reptile.     

Endocarditis in neonatal intensive care unit

Summary The clinical spectrum of infective endocarditis (IE) in infants is examined in four infants between 3 and 9 months of age. None of the patients had signs of IE; all four had an anatomically normal heart. Echocardiograms showed echodense vegetations in the left side of heart in three cases and in the right side in one. Three of the four patients recovered after the episode of endocarditis. Three of the four patients had necrotizing enterocolitis in the neonatal period. The important predisposing factor was the presence of indwelling central catheter for intravenous nutrition. Unlike previously reported cases, coagulase-negativeStaphylococci andEnterococci were important causative organisms in this high-risk nursery population.Presented in part at the APS/SPR Meeting in Anaheim, California, May 8, 1990.     

Magnesium metabolism in essential hypertension

Hypertension is a complex, heterogeneous disorder of which the exact etiology is unknown. The difficulty in ascribing an independent role to a single dietary constituent in blood pressure regulation may be due to interactions among nutrients which influence blood pressure. The effect of any one nutrient, particularly magnesium, on hypertension should be considered within the context of overall nutrition in each patient. Clinical, experimental and epidemiologic studies support the role of magnesium in hypertension, whereas a few studies negate this role. Magnesium ions are important in arterial smooth muscle contraction. Since magnesium is found mainly at the inner surface of the cell membranes, it could play a role in cell membrane permeability for sodium and calcium which is important in the etiopathogenesis of hypertension. Magnesium deficiency can predispose to increased contractility of the arteries and its excess can modulate smooth muscle contractility caused by bradykinin, angiotensin II, serotonin, prostaglandins and catecholamines. Magnesium therapy can prevent the development of resistant hypertension and arrhythmias in hypertensives with diuretic-induced hypomagnesemia. It might also reduce blood pressure at least up to 10/5 mm Hg provided adequate magnesium salts are given for an adequate period of time. In view of the still ill defined role of magnesium in hypertension, magnesium supplementation is advised only to those hypertensives who are receiving diuretics and develop resistant hypertension or who have frank magnesium deficiency. A diet rich in magnesium may be used for prevention of hypertension in predisposed communities because of the other advantages of such a diet in prevention.