Oral nociceptive activity in the rat superior colliculus

Single units were recorded using extracellular glass microelectrodes in all laminae of the superior colliculus of the rat under halothane nitrous oxide anaesthesia. Fifty-one units were encountered which responded to a low intensity mechanical stimulus applied to a contralateral or bilateral field located in the oral sphere (intraoral 11, perioral 16), on the face (29) or on the rest of the body (21). Sixteen units responded to a jaw movement. Sixty-one cells were recorded which were preferentially (10) or only (51) activated (30) or inhibited (21) by noxious stimuli. Contralateral or bilateral mechanoreceptive fields located in intraoral (34) and perioral (35) areas were frequent. There is therefore a high incidence of the nociceptive representation of the mouth in the superior colliculus. The other functional properties of the nociceptive units were similar to those reported in other studies. From the subsequent histological localization of the recorded units, it appeared that the nociceptive projections from the intraoral and perioral regions to the superior colliculus reach the lateral part of the intermediate and deep layers of the superior colliculus.     

Respiratory symptoms and bronchial reactivity: identification of a syndrome and its relation to asthma

Two postal questionnaire surveys were carried out among the adult population of Southampton aimed at clarifying the diagnostic criteria for asthma (study 1) and at testing the validity of symptoms so identified as diagnostic of bronchial hyper-reactivity (study 2). The questionnaires asked about respiratory symptoms and included three questions thought likely to disclose increased bronchial reactivity. Laboratory measurements on subsamples of respondents included spirometry and bronchial challenge with increasing doses of histamine till a concentration was reached provoking a fall of more than 20% (PC greater than 20) in forced expiratory volume in one second. In the first study no normal subject (that is, one who did not report shortness of breath or wheezing on the questionnaire) had a PC greater than 20 below 0.5 g/l. Of 51 subjects who reported shortness of breath or wheezing, or both, nine had a cluster of abnormalities consisting of one or more symptoms of bronchial irritability, nocturnal dyspnoea, and prolonged morning tightness together with PC greater than 20 values of 0.5 g/l or less. These symptoms in conjunction with a low PC greater than 20 were termed the bronchial irritability syndrome. In the second study bronchial challenge confirmed the close association of these symptoms with bronchial hyper-reactivity, all other subjects being less reactive to histamine. Only 27% of subjects with symptoms of the bronchial irritability syndrome had been diagnosed as asthmatic by their general practitioners. The bronchial irritability syndrome is a definable entity for epidemiological study and patient care.     

A conceptual view of the complement system

The activities of the complement system encompass cell destruction either directly through the membrane attack complex or indirectly via the effects of inflammation. The effects of complement fragments on immune functioning are just now being elucidated. Recent advances in methodology have allowed recognition of complement deficiencies of both quantitative and structural varieties. Complement activation studies may detect subclinical activation and be useful guideposts for therapeutic intervention. Coupling our new understanding of the mechanisms of complement activation with new technologies to measure this activation may result in the better understanding of the pathology of inflammation and its concurrent immunologic reactions.     

Trends in cervical cancer in New Zealand

Analysis of mortality and incidence rates over a 30-year period discloses differing trends in the risk of cervical cancer in older and younger women. Age-specific rates have been declining in older women, but there has been a marked rise in incidence among women under 40. Birth-cohort analyses show declining risks in successive cohorts of women born from late in the last century until the 1930's, except that risks were slightly elevated in the generation who were young adults during the Second World War. The risk of cervical cancer has increased very rapidly in cohorts born since the 1930s. A mathematical model suggests that women born around 1957 may have over three times the risk experienced by women born around 1932. The numbers of New Zealand women developing, and dying from, cervical cancer will increase strikingly over the next few decades unless effective control measures are introduced.     

Development of analytical methods for hydrochloride salts of cardiocyclide,a new Russian class III antiarrhythmic

Cardiocyclide, a new Russian class III antiarrhythmic agent, was developed at the State V. V. Zakusov Science Research Institute Pharmacology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. The aims of the present work were to study the physicochemical properties of the hydrochloride salt of this agent (N¹-(3-diethylaminopropyl)-N¹-(p-nitrobenzoyl)aminoacetic acid N,N-dicyclohexylamide HCl) and to develop an analytical method for this compound. IR, ¹H NMR, and UV spectra were obtained for cardiocyclide; its solubility was studied; its melting temperature, weight loss on drying and the transparency, color, and pH of its solutions were determined. The purity of material containing compound I was determined by thin-layer chromatography; quantitative cardiocyclide contents were estimated by non-aqueous titration. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 8, pp. 42–45, August, 2007.     

Overview: Beyond guidelines and guidance—psychosocial perspectives on treatment interventions for young people with substance problems in the United Kingdom

Over the last two decades there has been accumulating evidence that both psychosocial and pharmacological treatment interventions can effect change in substance-misusing adults. Thus, treatment interventions implemented for young people with substance problems largely draw on the adult addiction experience and that of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology. As young people with problematic drug use have different treatment needs, and require different interventions and services to those of adults, results of adult studies cannot necessarily be directly extrapolated to young people.

Over the last five years evidence has been rapidly mounting that treatment may potentially work in young people, but as yet it is not as extensive as that for adults. The interventions that appear most fruitful are those based on learning theory, e.g. cognitive behavioural therapy and family therapy. Outcome studies in young people demonstrate substantial variability in substance use and misuse following treatment. From the UK perspective, the evidence is almost entirely USA based, and these evaluations of non-UK treatment programmes for young people cannot be simply transferred or transported to UK healthcare settings. This has significant implications for practice and policy.

At this stage, 'guidelines' or 'guidance' that is available is either not directed at young people and/or is largely gleaned from the USA literature. In addition, it does not adequately capture the complexity of cases at front-line specialist settings. The management of young substance misusers in the UK is, in the main, 'beyond guidelines and guidance'.

The restricted treatment service network for young people in the UK makes the potential for undertaking studies on treatment effectiveness extremely limited, but because there is evidence of a growing number of young people requiring treatment, such specialist drug services require evaluation. Serious consideration of the establishment and funding of evaluation of treatment interventions to be delivered to young substance misusers in the UK is urgently needed.