Changes in Blood Lipid Levels following Silastic Ring Vertical Gastroplasty

Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the Silastic Ring Vertical Gastroplasty (SRVG) operation on blood lipid levels in obese men and women during the first year following surgery. Methods 25 patients (11 men and 14 women) age 17–50 (mean 33 years) who suffered from morbid obesity (BMI > 40, range 45.9 ± 4.7 kg/m²) underwent SRVG. Blood samples were collected before operation and 3, 6 and 12 months following surgery and tested for: triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, VLDLC, and Lp(a). Results Both men and women lost weight significantly. Mean BMI decreased from 48.0 to 32.5 kg/m² in men and from 44.3 to 29.0 kg/m² in women (P < 0.01). Blood lipid levels 1 year following surgery demonstrated the following changes: In women, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL cholesterol and Lp(a) decreased from 160.7 mg/dL to 67.7 mg/dL (P < 0.01), from 220 mg/dL to 189 mg/dL, from 138.3 mg/dL to 111 mg/dL, from 17 mg/dL to 12 mg/dL, and from 77.5 mg/dL to 18.5 mg/dL (P < 0.01), respectively, and HDL increased from 45 mg/dL to 50.5 mg/dL. In men, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL cholesterol and Lp(a) decreased from 246 mg/dL to 140 mg/dL (P < 0.01), from 206 mg/dL to 170 mg/dL (P < 0.01), from 134 mg/dL to 112 mg/dL (P < 0.05), from 25 mg/dL to 15 mg/dL (P < 0.01), and from 30.3 mg/dL to 11.6 mg/dL (P < 0.01), respectively, and HDL increased from 31.3 mg/dL to 37.4 mg/dL (P < 0.05). Conclusion SRVG improved blood lipid profile in obese patients during the first year following surgery. Reduction in cholesterol and its fractions reaches statistical significance only in men.     

Delayed results of transplantation of fetal neurogenic tissue in patients with consequences of spinal cord trauma

We analyzed delayed effects of transplantation of nervous and hemopoietic fetal cells to patients with consequences of spinal trauma. A decrease in neurological deficit associated with pronounced improvement of functional independence was observed in 48.9% cases. The best results were observed in patients receiving cell transplantation within the first 2 years after trauma and in younger individuals. The pattern of morphological changes in the spinal cord at site of injury, severity of damage, and the method of transplantation had no appreciable effects on its delayed results.     

Impact of protein-glycan interactions in the regulation of autoimmunity and chronic inflammation

Protein-glycan interactions control essential immunological processes, including T-cell activation, differentiation and survival. Galectins, carbohydrate-binding proteins, defined by shared consensus amino acid sequences and affinity for beta-galactose-containing oligosaccharides, participate in a wide spectrum of immunological processes. These carbohydrate-binding proteins regulate the development of pathogenic T-cell responses by influencing T-cell survival, activation and cytokine secretion. Administration of recombinant galectins or their genetic delivery modulate the development and severity of chronic inflammatory responses in experimental models of autoimmunity by triggering different and potentially overlapping immunoregulatory mechanisms. Given the potential use of galectins as novel anti-inflammatory agents or targets for immunosuppressive drugs, we will summarize here recent findings on the influence of these carbohydrate-binding proteins in autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disorders.     

稳定脊柱前柱的一种新型复合装置

广泛应用的脊柱前柱固定方法均有不足之处，特别是对神经弓有缺陷的病人。实验研究（１８只犬）和临床实验（２４个病人）表明，ＢＯＰ－Ｂ是一种很好的塑性材料，用以固定脊柱前柱可缩短手术时间，减少手术创伤。该材料有良好的生物结合性能，类似于骨组织。该材料不足之处是，在骨形成的头一个月，矫正畸形可有部分丢失。１９８８年以来，以多孔镍钛植入物治疗２９位病人，并取得改善。该材料的生物力学特性类似于骨组织，即使在没有固定的情况下，畸形矫正再丢失也极少。１９９３年，６位病人手术时用了一种新型复合植入物。该植入物由多孔镍钛和ＢＯＰ－Ｂ组成兼具两者的特性。在骨形成阶段，多孔镍钛对ＢＯＰ－Ｂ有支持作用。ＢＯＰ－Ｂ既能引导骨长入，又能起复合固定作用。以这种新型复合植入物固定不仅可允许病人术后立即活动锻炼，而且允许进行对照检查，包括作ＭＲＩ检查也不会出现伪影。该植入物已成功地用于颈段和胸腰段脊柱的固定。     

Growth hormone response to desmethylimipramine in depressed and suicidal adolescents

Desipramine 75 mg i.m. was given in the morning to 20 adolescents with major depressive disorder and 23 normal controls. Depressed adolescents secreted significantly less growth hormone (GH) over the next 2 h than did normal adolescents, although a substantial proportion of the differences were accounted for by the depressed adolescents who had a specific suicidal plan or attempt during the episode. Severity of depression or the presence of other depressive symptoms did not predict GH secretion within the depressed group. Age, sex and maturational factors in the control of GH are discussed. It is concluded that these differences in GH secretion probably reflect differences in CNS beta-adrenergic and/or serotonergic function. Suicidality and depression may have different psychobiological correlates in adolescents.     

Emotional stimuli and context moderate effects of nicotine on specific but not global affects

The authors tested the hypothesis that the effects of nicotine on affect are moderated by the presence or absence of emotionally positive and negative stimuli and by attentional choice to avoid attending to emotionally negative stimuli. Thirty-two habitual smokers were assigned to tasks allowing attentional freedom to look back and forth at 2 simultaneously presented pictures, whereas another 32 habitual smokers viewed single pictures without attentional choice. Picture contents in both tasks were 1 of 4 combinations: emotionally negative + neutral, negative + positive, positive + neutral, or neutral + neutral. Participants wore a nicotine patch on 1 day and placebo patch on another day. Nicotine reduced anxiety most when negative pictures were presented in combination with neutral pictures, but it had no effect on anxiety when negative pictures were presented in combination with positive pictures and when negative pictures were not presented. In contrast, nicotine only reduced depressive affect when the participant had attentional choice between positive and negative pictures. Nicotine also enhanced positive affect and reduced negative affect as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, but these effects were not moderated by task manipulations. Overall, the findings support the view that nicotine's ability to reduce specific negative affects is moderated by emotional context and attentional freedom. Nicotine tended to enhance eye-gaze orientation to emotional pictures versus neutral pictures in women, but it had no significant effect on eye-gaze in men.     

Dynamic control of irregular bursting in an identified neuron of an oscillatory circuit.

In the oscillatory circuits known as central pattern generators (CPGs), most synaptic connections are inhibitory. We have assessed the effects of inhibitory synaptic input on the dynamic behavior of a component neuron of the pyloric CPG in the lobster stomatogastric ganglion. Experimental perturbations were applied to the single, lateral pyloric neuron (LP), and the resulting voltage time series were analyzed using an entropy measure obtained from power spectra. When isolated from phasic inhibitory input, LP generates irregular spiking-bursting activity. Each burst begins in a relatively stereotyped manner but then evolves with exponentially increasing variability. Periodic, depolarizing current pulses are poor regulators of this activity, whereas hyperpolarizing pulses exert a strong, frequency-dependent regularizing action. Rhythmic inhibitory inputs from presynaptic pacemaker neurons also regularize the bursting. These inputs 1) reset LP to a similar state at each cycle, 2) extend and further stabilize the initial, quasi-stable phase of its bursts, and 3) at sufficiently high frequencies terminate ongoing bursts before they become unstable. The dynamic time frame for stabilization overlaps the normal frequency range of oscillations of the pyloric CPG. Thus, in this oscillatory circuit, the interaction of rhythmic inhibitory input with intrinsic burst properties affects not only the phasing, but also the dynamic stability of neural activity.