Personality and sexual anomalies

Test properties of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) were examined in a sample of 419 sex offenders and controls in three different settings. The offender group included sexual aggressives, pedophiles, incest perpetrators and miscellaneous cases. Nineteen of the 20 scales of the MCMI had alpha reliability over 0.60 and for 13 scales it was over 0.80. The scales showed satisfactory discriminant validity from age but 9 scales showed a moderate influence of intelligence scores and education. Criminal history did not influence scale results. The scales unfortunately did show significant correlations with MMPI validity scales. Although the scales were not susceptible to naive lying, they were influenced by social desirability especially. Four factors were extracted in principal axes factor analysis that accounted for 91.2% of the total variance. The first factor explained 58.2% of the variance and was labeled general psychopathology. The other three factors suggested psychotic tendencies, extraversion and the bipolar dependency-antisocial tendencies. When the groups were compared, almost all scales significantly differentiated them. When the MMPI F-K Scale was forced to enter a stepwise discriminant analysis first, five scales still were significant; Narcissistic, Schizoid-Asocial, Alcohol Abuse, Paranoid, & Dependent-Submissive scales. The MCMI taps important dimensions in sex offenders but suffers from validity problems.     

Low sodium haemodialysis reduces interdialytic fluid consumption but paradoxically increases post-dialysis thirst.

BACKGROUND: Interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) can be reduced by lowering the dialysate sodium concentration ([Na]) in haemodialysis patients. It has been assumed that this is because thirst is reduced, although this has been difficult to prove. We compared thirst patterns in stable haemodialysis patients with high and low IDWG using a novel technique and compared the effect of low sodium dialysis (LSD) with normal sodium dialysis (NSD). METHODS: Eight patients with initial high IDWG and seven with low IDWG completed hourly visual analogue ratings of thirst using a modified palmtop computer during the dialysis day and the interdialytic day. The dialysate [Na] was progressively reduced by up to 5 mmol/l over five treatments. Dialysis continued at the lowest attained [Na] for 2 weeks and the measurements were repeated. The dialysate [Na] then returned to baseline and the process was repeated. RESULTS: Baseline interdialytic day mean thirst was higher than the dialysis day mean for the high IDWG group (49.9+/-14.0 vs 36.2+/-16.6) and higher than the low weight gain group (49.9+/-14.0 vs 34.1+/-14.6). This trend persisted on LSD, but there was a pronounced increase in post-dialysis thirst scores for both groups (high IDWG: 46+/-13 vs 30+/-21; low IDWG: 48+/-24 vs 33+/-18). The high IDWG group demonstrated lower IDWG during LSD than NSD (2.23+/-0.98 vs 2.86+/-0.38 kg; P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that patients with high IDWG experience more intense feelings of thirst on the interdialytic day. LSD reduces their IDWG, but paradoxically increases thirst in the immediate post-dialysis period.     

Healthy choices: motivational enhancement therapy for health risk behaviors in HIV-positive youth.

This study piloted a brief individual motivational intervention targeting multiple health risk behaviors in HIV-positive youth aged 16-25. Interviews about sexual behavior and substance use and viral load testing were obtained from 51 HIV-positive youth at baseline and post intervention. Youth were randomized to receive a four-session motivational enhancement intervention (N = 25) or to a wait-list control (N = 26). Of the eligible youth approached, 88% agreed to participate, and 80% percent of participants completed at least three of four sessions. The treatment group showed significantly greater reductions in unprotected sex acts and in viral load compared with controls. Although change scores for substance use were not significantly different between the two groups, paired t tests demonstrated that reductions in alcohol use and marijuana use were significant for the treatment group at the trend level. There were no significant differences in substance use from baseline to posttest for the control group. Findings demonstrate the potential of a brief motivational enhancement intervention to improve health risk behaviors in HIV-positive youth. Larger randomized clinical trials are warranted. Resources required for retention should not be underestimated.     

MRI relaxation fluctuations in acute reperfused hemorrhagic infarction.

MRI evaluations of intramyocardial hemorrhage in acute infarction have relied on T(2) and T(2)(*) shortening only. We propose a more comprehensive evaluation of hemorrhagic infarction based on the concept that fluctuations in T(2) and T(1) relaxation in acute reperfused infarction will reflect transient edema and hemoglobin oxidative denaturation to uncompartmentalized methemoglobin. Anteroapical infarction was created via percutaneous balloon in young swine (22-25 kg, N = 12). T(2), T(1), diastolic wall thickness (DWT), and the Gd-DTPA partition coefficient (lambda) were measured on days 0, 2, and 7. DWT was elevated at 1 hr postreperfusion (128% +/- 53%, P = 0.0001), and alleviated on days 2 and 7 (48% +/- 10%, P = 0.008; 53% +/- 24%, P = 0.003). T(2) and T(1) elevations were coincident with early edema (DeltaT(2) = 55% +/- 24%, P < 0.0001; DeltaT(1) = 27% +/- 18%, P < 0.04). T(2) and T(1) were nearly normal on day 2 (DeltaT(2) = 8% +/- 8%, P = 0.27; DeltaT(1) = 0% +/- 1%, P = 0.65). On day 7, T(2) increased while T(1) decreased (DeltaT(2) = 27% +/- 16%, P = 0.005; DeltaT(1) = -14% +/- 10%, P = 0.02). Lambda was elevated by >150% at all time points (P < or = 0.002). Histology verified hemorrhagic injury. T(1) and T(2) fluctuations are consistent with transient edema, as well as hemoglobin oxidative denaturation to decompartmentalized methemoglobin. This methodological development may broaden our understanding of hemorrhagic microvascular injury and improve its detection in clinical populations.     

Differential inhibition of human neutrophil functions. Role of cyclic AMP-specific, cyclic GMP-insensitive phosphodiesterase.

Multiple molecular forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase have been characterized in various tissues and cells according to their substrate specificity, intracellular location, and calmodulin dependence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible involvement of different molecular forms of phosphodiesterase in regulating the respiratory burst and lysosomal enzyme release responses of human neutrophils. Treatment with the selective cyclic AMP-specific, cyclic GMP-insensitive phosphodiesterase inhibitors Ro 20-1724 or rolipram, or the nonselective phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), resulted in inhibition of respiratory burst stimulated by the chemoattractants formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (FMLP) (IC50 values: 0.71-17 microM) and complement fragment C5a (IC50 values: 61-93 microM), but did not inhibit phagocytosis-stimulated respiratory burst (less than 10% inhibition at 100 microM). Selective inhibitors of calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase (ICI 74,917), calmodulin-insensitive, cyclic GMP-specific phosphodiesterase (M & B 22,948), cyclic GMP-stimulated phosphodiesterase (AR-L 57), or cyclic AMP-specific, cyclic GMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase (amrinone and cilostamide) exhibited little or no inhibitory effect on FMLP- or phagocytosis-stimulated respiratory burst (0-42% inhibition at 100 microM). Regulation of neutrophil activation by phosphodiesterase was also response specific, as Ro 20-1724, rolipram and IBMX were less potent inhibitors of FMLP-induced lysosomal enzyme release (0-14% inhibition at 100 microM). Analysis of human neutrophil preparations confirmed the existence of a cyclic AMP-specific, cyclic GMP-insensitive phosphodiesterase, which was associated with the particulate fraction of the cell. These results demonstrate a role for the cyclic AMP-specific, cyclic GMP-insensitive phosphodiesterase in the regulation of human neutrophil functions, which appears to be both stimulus specific and response specific.     

Unusual presentation of culture positive brucellosis

We have reviewed the clinical presentation of 100 consecutive culture positive cases of brucellosis which came under our care during the last two years. Of these, six had atypical presentations and but for the routine practice of sending blood for brucella culture, the diagnosis would have been missed. The unusual presentations included a 19 year old boy presenting as an acute abdomen ending in laparotomy, a 52 year old man presenting with a psoas abscess, a 29 year old woman presenting with a transient perinephric mass, a 75 year old man with an acute flare up of his osteoarthritis, a 65 year old diabetic man presenting in an insulin-resistant diabetic state and a 35 year old man presenting with a cauda equina syndrome.     

Synthesis, chemical, and biological properties of vinylogous hydroxamic acids: dual inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase and IL-1 biosynthesis.

Vinylogous hydroxamic acids (3-(N-hydroxy-N-alkylamino)-2-propen-1-ones, VHA) were prepared as antiinflammatory agents. The synthesis, chemical properties, and in vitro biological activities of these relatively unexplored compounds are described. The VHAs were prepared by condensation of the appropriate N-substituted hydroxylamine with any of the three reagents: a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound (method A); a vinylogous amide (method B); or an alkynone (method C). The VHAs exist as one or more tautomers in solution with the relative proportions of each being dependent upon the structure of the VHA, solvent, and pH. VHAs undergo some of the typical reactions of hydroxamic acids as well as those of vinylogous amides. VHAs are active as inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase and of IL-1 biosynthesis in vitro, which do not inhibit other enzymes of the arachidonic acid cascade. They have been shown by ESR studies to bring about inhibition of soybean type 1 15-lipoxygenase by reduction of the active site iron.