Role of pulmonary diseases and physical condition in the regulation of vasoactive hormones

Lungs have many non-respiratory metabolic functions, of which some take place in the capillary endothelium, while others are in parenchymal lung tissue. We have studied the role of the lungs in the metabolism of vasoactive and some other hormones by comparing patients who have undergone lung resection to those having various obstructive or fibrotic lung diseases. We have also compared these groups with persons in good physical health. The data suggested that lung resection patients had low angiotensin II levels in plasma but the response of angiotensin II to exercise was normal. Also adrenalin concentration was low in the lung resection group while dopamine did not show any significant difference between the groups. When hormone levels were correlated to the exercise data, renin levels were especially related to physical condition. Serum post-exercise renin values were inversely related to the uneven distribution of lung perfusion, possibly thus reflecting the diminished pulmonary vascularization. A negative association was found between angiotensin II and diffusion capacity. Thus, the angiotensin II levels may preferably be controlled by the non-circulatory functions of the lungs.     

Significance of sampling height of airborne particles for aerobiological information

Pollen and spore counts from Burkard traps for routine pollen and spore sampling placed at 15 m above ground and at ground level were compared. Daily counts of most pollen types were higher on the ground than at roof level, but the counts were significantly correlated. The ratios of pollen frequencies at high and low levels varied between 1.0 and 11.5. The most prominent differences were recorded for herbaceous pollen (e.g. Artemisia counts 11.5 and Poaccae counts 4.4 times higher at ground level) and in Botrytis and Ustilaginales spores. Tree pollen grains and basidiomycetous spores were more equally distributed. Wind speed did not affect the variation of pollen frequencies at either height. Large spores are not so unevenly distributed as previously supposed. Artemisia and grass pollen was detected 1 to 2 weeks earlier at ground level than on the roof. It is therefore concluded that especially the beginning of flowering should be monitored at a low level.     

Bright-light exposure combined with physical exercise elevates mood

BACKGROUND: Physical exercise alleviates depressive symptoms, as does exposure to bright light, especially in those with seasonal variation. Our objective was to compare the effect of exercise alone or combined with morning bright light on mood and the health-related quality of life in healthy subjects. METHODS: Study subjects were working-age adults, randomized in two groups (n=80): exercise in bright light (group A), or exercise in normal indoor illumination (group B). Intervention lasted for 8 weeks and questionnaire data on mood and the health-related quality of life were collected at study entry, and at weeks 4 and 8. RESULTS: Physical exercise both in normal indoor illumination and in bright light was effective at alleviating depressive symptoms. The exercise was significantly more effective at alleviating so-called atypical depressive symptoms when combined with bright-light exposure. LIMITATIONS: There was no active placebo condition, but a comparative, randomized trial was executed. CONCLUSIONS: Physical exercise in bright light had a positive effect on mood and health-related quality of life in a sample of healthy, working-age people. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms of the apparent additive effect of exercise and light.     

Immunological parameters in girls with Turner syndrome

Disturbances in the immune system has been described in Turner syndrome, with an association to low levels of IgG and IgM and decreased levels of T- and B-lymphocytes. Also different autoimmune diseases have been connected to Turner syndrome (45, X), thyroiditis being the most common.     

Application of the new MultiTrans SP3 radiation transport code in BNCT dose planning

Dose planning in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a complex problem and requires sophisticated numerical methods. In the framework of the Finnish BNCT project, new deterministic three-dimensional radiation transport code MultiTrans SP3 has been developed at VTT Chemical Technology, based on a novel application of the tree multigrid technique. To test the applicability of this new code in a realistic BNCT dose planning problem, cylindrical PMMA (polymethyl-methacrylate) phantom was chosen as a benchmark case. It is a convenient benchmark, as it has been modeled by several different codes, including well-known DORT and MCNP. Extensive measured data also exist. In this paper, a comparison of the new MultiTrans SP3 code with other methods is presented for the PMMA phantom case. Results show that the total neutron dose rate to ICRU adult brain calculated by the MultiTrans SP3 code differs less than 4% in 2 cm depth in phantom (in thermal maximum) from the DORT calculation. Results also show that the calculated 197Au(n,gamma) and 55Mn(n,gamma) reaction rates in 2 cm depth in phantom differ less than 4% and 1% from the measured values, respectively. However, the photon dose calculated by the MultiTrans SP3 code seems to be incorrect in this PMMA phantom case, which requires further studying. As expected, the deterministic MultiTrans SP3 code is over an order of magnitude faster than stochastic Monte Carlo codes (with similar resolution), thus providing a very efficient tool for BNCT dose planning.     

1H MRS of a boron neutron capture therapy 10B-carrier,L-p-boronophenylalanine-fructose complex,BPA-F: phantom studies at 1.5 and 3.0 T

The quantification of a BNCT 10B-carrier, L-p-boronophenylalanine-fructose complex (BPA-F), was evaluated using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) with phantoms at 1.5 and 3.0 T. For proper quantification, relaxation times T1 and T2 are needed. While T1 is relatively easy to determine, the determination of T2 of a coupled spin system of aromatic protons of BPA is not straightforward with standard MRS sequences. In addition, an uncoupled concentration reference for aromatic protons of BPA must be used with caution. In order to determine T2, the response of an aromatic proton spin system to the MRS sequence PRESS with various echo times was calculated and the product of the response curve with exponential decay was fitted to the measured intensities. Furthermore, the response curve can be used to correct the intensities, when an uncoupled resonance is used as a concentration reference. BPA was quantified using both phantom replacement and internal water referencing methods with accuracies of +/- 5% and +/- 15%. Our phantom results suggest that in vivo studies on BPA concentration determination will be feasible.     

Estrogen receptor genotype modulates myocardial perfusion in young men

Most of the effects of estrogens are mediated by estrogen receptors. Vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells express estrogen receptor (ESR1) in both genders. A long genotype group of a common thymine-adenine (TA) dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in the regulatory region of this gene has previously been related to coronary artery disease. The present study examined whether coronary blood flow is affected by this genotype. A total of 49 healthy men were genotyped by PCR and divided into three groups according to median number of the ESR1 promoter TA repeat (=19), i.e., in the short allele genotype group both alleles were of fewer than 19 repeats whereas in the long allele group both alleles were 19 repeats or more. The intermediate group comprised men who had one short and one long allele. Myocardial blood flow was measured by positron emission tomography using [¹⁵O]water, performed at rest and during adenosine stimulation. Men with long alleles had lower adenosine-stimulated coronary flow than those with short alleles and those with one short and one long allelle. Our results suggest that adenosine-stimulated myocardial perfusion is lower in subjects with ESR1 long alleles than the other TA repeat genotypes.