EFFECTS OF LIFESTYLE, COPING AND WORK-RELATED STRESS ON BLOOD PRESSURE IN OFFICE WORKERS

1. The relative importance of perceived stress compared with coping behaviours and ‘lifestyle’ characteristics known to influence blood pressure were studied in 337 male and 317 female office workers. 2. Males had significantly higher mean systolic (P<0.01; t-test, 652 d.f.) and diastolic (P<0.01; t-test, 652 d.f.) blood pressure and unhealthier lifestyles than females, particularly in the areas of alcohol intake (P<0.01; t-test, 653 d.f.) and diet (P= 0.01; t-test, 663 d.f.). 3. In males drinking alcohol was correlated to job and home/work stress (P<0.05), and eating more atherogenic foods was correlated to home/work stress (P<0.05). 4. Coping by food and drug consumption was correlated with job and home/work stress (P <0.05) in males; avoidance/ denial coping was correlated with job stress in both males and females (P<0.001) and to home/work stress (P<0.001) in males only. Blood pressure was not correlated with stress in males or females. 5. In age-adjusted regression analyses body mass index (BMI) and lifestyle (physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and diet) made significant contributions to systolic (P= 0.02) and diastolic (P<0.01) blood pressure and, in separate analyses, coping contributed significantly to diastolic blood pressure (P<0.01) in males. Stress made no additional contribution to blood pressure in either analysis. 6. After including age, BMI, lifestyle and coping in males ‘lifestyle’ still contributed to systolic and diastolic blood pressure and coping made a significant additional contribution to diastolic blood pressure. Neither lifestyle or coping contributed significantly to blood pressure in females. 7. Thus obesity, alcohol, physical activity and diet had dominant effects on blood pressure; while any effects of job stress were indirect and related to maladaptive coping, particularly in males.     

Postradiation volume changes in gamma unit-treated cerebral arteriovenous malformations

Postradiation changes in angiographically determined nidus volume were quantitatively studied in 22 arteriovenous malformation (AVM) cases treated by gamma unit radiosurgery. The postradiosurgical decrease was statistically significant by post-treatment year 2 (p < .05). In children, AVMs tended to be obliterated more quickly than in adults. Volume reduction was more rapid in nidi receiving 25 Gy or more than in those receiving less than 25 Gy (p < .01). However, there were no significant differences in nidus volume decrease between these two dose groups at the second or third postradiosurgical year. Dose response curves were obtained 1, 2, and 3 years following treatment.     

The BDNF-Val66Met polymorphism: implications for susceptibility to multiple sclerosis and severity of disease

Neurodegeneration following inflammatory injury is considered to be a pathological correlate of irreversible disability in patients with multiple sclerosis. The availability of neurotrophins could influence the probability or rate of disease progression and the time of onset. The BDNF-Val66Met-polymorphism leads to altered intracellular transport and secretion of BDNF, and is thus a logical candidate for a gene that influences susceptibility and, more specifically, the clinical course of multiple sclerosis. In order to test this hypothesis we genotyped the polymorphism in 951 UK multiple sclerosis trio families, but found no evidence for association before (p=0.63) or after stratification for clinical course (p=0.73).     

Temporal encoding in fear conditioning revealed through associative reflex facilitation

Temporal encoding in Pavlovian fear conditioning was examined through conditional facilitation of the short-latency (Rl) component of the rat eyeblink reflex. Rats were fear-conditioned to a tone conditional stimulus (CS) with either a 3- or 9-s interstimulus interval (ISI) between CS onset and the onset of the grid-shock unconditional stimulus (US). Rl facilitation was tested over 2 days, in counterbalanced order, at a latency of 3 s and 9 s from CS onset. CS-produced Rl facilitation, the conditional response (CR), was 3-4 times larger when the test latency equaled the conditioning ISI. These results, coupled with the known neurophysiology of Rl facilitation, suggest that this CR could disclose differences in the time course of CS-generated output from the amygdala when driven by cortical versus subcortical CS-CR pathways.     

Clinical profile and course of cognitively normal patients evaluated in memory disorders clinics

The authors investigated 499 patients that were found to be cognitively normal at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers of California between 1988 and 1999. Patients reported high rates of depression (39%) and family history of dementia (51%). Thirty-six percent returned for follow-up, and of those, 65% received a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Patients evaluated at memory clinics who are considered cognitively normal may merit periodic re-evaluation.     

Recruitment of mammalian cell fibronectin to the surface of Chlamydia trachomatis

Pathogenic bacteria exploit the presence of various host cell molecules in order to colonize new tissues. Fibronectin is involved in a wide range of cell functions in vivo, and staphylococci, streptococci, and gonococci have evolved mechanisms to utilize this glycoprotein to mediate host cell binding. We show that elementary bodies (EB) from two biovars of Chlamydia trachomatis recruit fibronectin to their surfaces upon lysis of the host cell. We also demonstrate that a heparan sulfate lyase-sensitive molecule on chlamydial EB is responsible for binding at least a portion of this fibronectin.