α-Flupenthixyl chloride: Binding profile to dopaminergic,serotonergic, adrenergic,and cholinergic neuro-receptors

The binding of the putative affinity ligand α-flupenthixyl chloride (FPT-Cl), a derivative of the neuroleptic α-flupenthixol (FPT), to rat striatal dopamine, α₁-adrenergic, and muscarinic cholinergic recognition sites, as well as to serotonin (5-HT) receptors and to the presynaptic 5-HT transport complex, was examined in vitro. FPT and FPT-Cl were relatively potent at inhibiting the binding of [³H]-flupenthixol and [³H]-spiroperidol in striatal tissue preparations as well as [³H]/spiroperidol and [³H]-WB-4101 in cortex with K_i values in the 10–20 nM range. With the exception of the muscarinic cholinergic sites (³H-quinuclidinyl-benzilate [³H-QNB]), where FPT-Cl was more potent than FPT, the K_i values for FPT-Cl were, in general, slightly greater than those for FPT for other neuro-receptors tested. FPT-Cl was found to be essentially inactive at 5-HT binding sites labeled with [³H]-LSD and at the 5-HT transport complex labeled with [³H]-imipramine, with lC₅₀ values for both exceeding 5μM. It is concluded that the transformation of FPT to FPT-Cl is not severely detrimental to its dopamine receptor binding characteristics, suggesting that in the presence of appropriate antagonists for masking other receptors, FPT-Cl may represent a useful affinity ligand to label dopamine receptors.     

The impact of protease inhibitors on maternal serum screening analyte levels in pregnant women who are HIV positive

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, and unconjugated estriol levels in women who take protease inhibitors and those women who do not. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective review from August 2000 to May 2003 was performed for maternal serum screen results, medication use, pregnancy, and perinatal outcomes. RESULTS: Thirty-nine women met study criteria. Sixteen women were treated with protease inhibitors, and 23 women were not treated with protease inhibitors. There was no difference in initial viral load or initial CD4 count between the groups. No difference was found for human chorionic gonadotropin and estriol levels; significantly lower alpha-fetoprotein multiples of the median were found for the women who were treated with protease inhibitors compared with the women who were not (0.97 +/- 0.32 [SD] MoM vs 1.2 +/- 0.4 MoM, respectively; P = .04). Six of 39 women (15%) had positive maternal serum screens. All the babies were normal at birth, and there were no cases of perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. CONCLUSION: Protease inhibitors are associated with lower alpha-fetoprotein levels in women who are infected with human immunodeficiency virus.     

Role of magical thinking in obsessive-compulsive symptoms in an undergraduate sample

Thought action fusion (TAF) is an important presenting feature of many individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). "Magical thinking" is a similar construct (developed within the literature on schizotypy) that may provide a more accurate depiction of difficulties encountered by individuals with OCD. This study seeks to examine relationships between components of magical thinking, TAF, and superstitiousness; establish the extent to which these constructs are independently related to OCD proneness; and establish the extent to which these biased reasoning styles are related to each of the major OCD symptom clusters (e.g., washing, checking). The Padua Inventory (PI), the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), the Magical Ideation Scale (MI), the Lucky Behaviours (Lbeh) and Lucky Beliefs (Lbel) Scales, and the Thought Action Fusion-Revised scale (TAF-R) were given to a cohort of 86 undergraduate students. Of all the measures, the MI scale was found to be the most strongly related to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Large and significant relationships between MI scores and the two measures of OCD (i.e., MOCI and PI) were obtained even when alternative mediators (i.e., Lbeh, Lbel, TAF-R) were held constant. No other variable remained significantly related to the MOCI or PI when magical ideation scores were held constant. The findings suggest that a general magical thinking tendency may underpin previous observed links between superstitiousness, thought action fusion, and OCD severity.