Effects of alcohol on psychomotor performance of men and women

The effects of alcohol on performance were investigated in 10 men and 10 women. On 4 psychomotor tasks minor gender-related effects of alcohol were found.     

Inpatient admissions for interventional radiology: philosophy of patient management

As an alternative to performing interventional radiology on inpatients under the care of internists and surgeons, the authors have established a cardiovascular radiology admitting service for well-screened, elective patients. The patients are admitted under the care of a cardiovascular radiology fellow and a staff physician. From April 1982 to December 1983, 133 patients were admitted to the service. Patients are cared for in a surgical ward or in an intermediate unit, as determined by the clinical situation. Advantages of this approach include a broader patient referral base, improved rapport with clinical colleagues and patients, improved follow-up data, and rapid evaluation and treatment, resulting in short hospital stays. The major disadvantages involve the commitment of time and staff necessary to provide quality care. The concept of the interventional radiologist in the role of admitting physician has important implications in terms of negotiations for additional financial compensation, commensurate with the skill and time required for performing these procedures and caring for the patient.     

Prevalence of drugs among drivers arrested for drinking and driving in Finland

Summary A combined thin layer and gas chromatography system was developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of drugs in biological samples after extraction with heptane-isoamyl alcohol. Both acidic and basic extraction procedures were used. Special methods were used for the extraction and detection of salicylates, isoniazid, and morphine. Particular attention was given to the detection of psychostimulants; though these drugs have seldom been found in drinking drivers in Finland they are commonly found in Sweden. Two percent of all suspected drinking drivers were also suspected of concommitant drug use, which led to primary sampling of urine. Of 100 such drivers, 24 had blood alcohol levels (BALs) which were negative and 18 of that 24 had drugs in their sample. Seventysix of the 100 had positive BALs and 25 of the 76 had drugs in their samples. Of the randomly chosen 100 suspected drinking drivers, 5 had drugs in their samples, and 4 of these 5 had positive BALs. The benzodiazepines were the most commonly detected drugs. No stimulants were found in our subjects.The authors wish to thank Ms. Donna Billings for her skillful typing and checking the language. This study was supported by the Wihuri Foundation     

Deletion of XPC leads to lung tumors in mice and is associated with early events in human lung carcinogenesis

Chromosome 3p and 1p deletions are among the most frequent genetic changes in human lung cancer and although candidate tumor suppressor genes have been identified in these regions, no causative correlations have been drawn between deletion or mutation of these and lung carcinogenesis. We identify XPC and Gadd45a as genes within each of these regions involved in lung tumor initiation and progression, respectively. One hundred percent of XPC-/- mice develop multiple spontaneous lung tumors with a minority progressing to non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma, occasionally with metastasis to adjacent lymph nodes. Deletion of Gadd45a alone does not lead to increased lung tumors in mice, but coupled with an XPC deletion, it results in lung tumor progression. Analysis of published data indicated allelic loss of XPC in most human lung tumors and allelic loss of Gadd45a in some human lung and other cancer types. Because DNA repair capacity is compromised in XPC+/- cells, it is possible that the loss of a single XPC allele in the human lung might confer a mutator phenotype. Coupled with cigarette carcinogens, decreased DNA repair would lead to additional mutations in genes such as p53 that are frequent targets in lung cancer.     

Genetic changes in contralateral bronchioloalveolar carcinomas of the lung

OBJECTIVE: The pattern of metastases and recurrence of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) differs from adenocarcinoma of the lung, occurring more frequently within the lung without extrapulmonary involvement. Analyses of genetic differences of contralateral BACs may help to explain these clinical differences. METHODS: We compared paired tumors from 5 patients with contralateral metachronous BACs for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on 6 chromosomal arms (2q, 3p, 5q, 9p, 13q and 17p) and mutational analysis of p53 and K-ras. RESULTS: Two patients, patients 1 and 2, had discordant patterns of LOH on 2 and 3 of the chromosome arms, respectively. In addition, patient 2 had a detectable K-ras mutation in his initial tumor but not in his second. These results suggest that in patients 1 and 2, the contralateral tumors were clonally unrelated. Patient 3 had no mutations in the K-ras or p53 gene and no LOH on any of the 5 informative chromosome arms. Patient 4 had LOH of 9p and mutated K-ras in both the first and the second tumor, with a mutation in the p53 gene in the first but not in the second tumor. Patient 5 had LOH of 17p and the same p53 mutations in both the first and the second tumor, with a mutation of K-ras in the first tumor but not in the second. CONCLUSIONS: The preponderance of evidence suggests that in patients 3, 4 and 5, the paired tumors were clonally related. The different patterns of LOH and mutations in clinically similar contralateral metachronous BACs provide evidence of genetic heterogeneity in the tumors of this patient group.     

Ocular MR imaging and spectroscopy: an ex vivo study

Six eyes, freshly enucleated because of choroidal melanoma, were imaged on a 1.4-T superconducting magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system, and relaxation times were calculated for various parts of the eye. Unfixed fresh tissue samples were obtained for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS) on a variable-field (0.19-1.4 T) resistive unit. Detailed ocular anatomy was demonstrated. The NMRS relaxation times correlated with the MR imaging intensity patterns. The sensitivity of MR imaging to states of hydration provides an excellent window for appreciation of ocular anatomy.     

Cerebrospinal fluid thyrotropin-releasing hormone concentrations in alcoholics and normal controls.

Alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis function have been reported in alcoholism. Blunting of the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) occurs in approximately 25% of alcoholic patients. Using a sensitive radioimmunoassay that allows TRH itself to be measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), CSF concentrations of TRH were measured in alcoholics and normal controls. There was no significant difference in TRH concentrations between the groups. However, among the controls there was a significant correlation between CSF concentrations of the major serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and CSF concentrations of TRH. This correlation was lacking in the alcoholics. These findings are of interest because basic neurobiological studies have reported that TRH and serotonin are co-localized in certain neurons in the rat central nervous system.     

CSF and endocrine studies of premenstrual syndrome

Eight women with prospectively documented premenstrual syndrome (PMS) underwent multiple samplings for estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, cortisol, and plasma 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) during an asymptomatic midcycle (late follicular) and a symptomatic premenstrual (late luteal) phase of the menstrual cycle. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected for analysis of MHPG, norepinephrine (NE), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), homovanillic acid (HVA), tyrosine, tryptophan, beta-endorphin, prostaglandins, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and arginine vasopressin (AVP). In subsequent months, a dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and a thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test were performed during midcycle and premenstrual phases. Significant results included increased CSF concentrations of MHPG in the premenstrual, as compared with the midcycle, phase of the cycle, and increased plasma cortisol concentrations during the midcycle phase. The DST showed a 62% overall rate of nonsuppression, irrespective of menstrual cycle phase. Though there were no abnormalities of thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH) after TRH stimulation, the mean delta maximum prolactin values after TRH stimulation were higher than reported normal values both at midcycle and premenstrually. These pilot data suggest hormonal axes that might be worthy of further systematic investigation in future studies of PMS.     

Depression among alcoholics. Relationship to clinical and cerebrospinal fluid variables

Although depression is common among alcoholics, its determinants are poorly understood. Among 339 alcoholics, 111 (33%) had a history of major depression. Depressed, compared with never-depressed alcoholics, had a higher daily alcohol intake, more lifetime diagnoses of other anxiety and affective disorders and drug abuse, more had attempted suicide, and more reported alcoholism in both parents. Depressed alcoholics also had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid levels of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid and of gamma-aminobutyric acid. Among subgroups of depressed alcoholics, secondary compared with primary depressives were more often divorced, of lower social status, with an earlier onset of alcoholism, and higher Michigan Alcohol Screening Test scores. Secondary depressives also had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of homovanillic acid than never depressed alcoholics. These results suggest that certain psychosocial variables, alcohol consumption, and neurochemical variables may be specifically associated with depression in alcoholics.