Kinetic model of fluoride metabolism in the rabbit

Sodium fluoride, in small doses, was given to rabbits intravenously or by stomach tube, and the appearance of fluoride in the blood and urine was then monitored frequently over the next 10 hours. Compartmental analysis of the data yielded a kinetic model of fluoride metabolism comprising gut, extracellular fluid (including plasma), urine, short term nonexchangeable bone, exchangeable bone, and intracellular fluid. Fractional transfer rates and the content curve were obtained for each compartment. The results indicated that under steady state conditions approximately 15% of fluoride ingested in food and water was absorbed by the rabbit. The absorbed fluoride entered the extracellular fluid pool, where portions exchanged with fluoride in the tissues and bone. An equivalent amount, i.e., 15% of the intake, was then excreted in the urine. It is interesting to note that in this species a store of fluoride was required in the gut to sustain the steady state. Fecal excretion of fluoride was equivalent to 85% of that ingested. Rate constants calculated for the various transfers indicated that removal of fluoride from the extracellular pool into the nonexchangeable bone compartment was approximately three times more rapid than was removal by excretion into urine. Results of a study with a tracer dose of fluoride, 3 pg of F, gave results in good agreement with those predicted by the model, which was derived from experiments utilizing doses of about 1.5 mg. This suggested that the response is linear over a large dose range.     

Differences in acute psychiatric admissions between asylum seekers and refugees

The objective of the study was to examine differences between asylum seekers, living in asylum seekers' centres, and refugees, who officially have been granted asylum, when they were acutely admitted to a psychiatric hospital. All 53 asylum seekers and 45 refugees, acutely admitted to a Norwegian psychiatric hospital from 1995 to 2001 were included. The number of admissions by coercion, diagnosis, length of hospital stay and years residing in Norway at the time of the admissions were compared between the two groups. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was more frequent among asylum seekers (43.4%) than among refugees (11%), while schizophrenia was more frequent among refugees (62.2%) than among asylum seekers (15%). The refugees (24.4%) were more often admitted by coercion than asylum seekers (11%). The high proportion of PTSD among asylum seekers compared to refugees may be explained by experiences in Norway after arrival into the country. The stresses of life in reception centres and the risk of being expelled from the country may contribute more to these admittances than experiences in the asylum seekers countries of origin.     

Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization studies of influenza A virus infection in human lungs

Influenza viruses are responsible for acute febrile respiratory disease. When deaths occur, definitive diagnosis requires viral isolation because no characteristic viral inclusions are seen. We examined the distribution of influenza A virus in tissues from 8 patients with fatal infection using 2 immunohistochemical assays (monoclonal antibodies to nucleoprotein [NP] and hemagglutinin [HA]) and 2 in situ hybridization (ISH) assays (digoxigenin-labeled probes that hybridized to HA and NP genes). Five patients had prominent bronchitis; by immunohistochemical assay, influenza A staining was present focally in the epithelium of larger bronchi (intact and detached necrotic cells) and in rare interstitial cells. The anti-NP antibody stained primarily cell nuclei, and the anti-HA antibody stained mainly the cytoplasm. In 4 of these cases, nucleic acids (ISH) were identified in the same areas. Three patients had lymphohistiocytic alveolitis and showed no immunohistochemical or ISH staining. Both techniques were useful for detection of influenza virus antigens and nucleic acids in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and can enable further understanding of fatal influenza A virus infections in humans.     

A comprehensive cardiovascular disease risk profile in patients with schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia are physically inactive and have high prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Peak oxygen uptake (V?O_2peak) is one of the strongest predictors for CVD, yet is rarely investigated in this patient population, and how V?O_2peak relates to other conventional CVD risk measures in this population is unclear. We measured treadmill V?O_2peak along with daily physical activity assessed by triaxial accelerometry, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and glucose in 48 outpatients (28 men, 35 ± 10 (SD) years; 20 women, 35 ± 12 years), diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizotypal, or delusional disorders (ICD‐10; F20‐29). The patients were compared with 48 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy references (±2 years) and normative data from the population. V?O_2peak was 34.5 ± 8.7 mL/kg/min (men) and 26.4 ± 7.0 mL/kg/min (women), which was 27% and 30% lower than healthy references, respectively (both P < 0.01). V?O_2peak was not associated with daily physical activity in men while a weak association was seen in women (steps per day: r² = 0.26; counts per minute: r² = 0.25; P < 0.05). BMI (26.0 ± 6.1 kg/m²) revealed that patients were moderately overweight with a waist circumference of 103 ± 17 cm. Lipid‐ and glucose levels, and blood pressure were all within normative range. Our data advocate the utilization of V?O_2peak assessment for CVD risk profile determination in patients with schizophrenia. Daily physical activity was poorly and inconsistently related to V?O_2peak, suggesting increased daily physical activity might not translate into improved V?O_2peak and CVD risk reduction.     

Insulin producing primary ovarian carcinoid tumor

Carcinoid tumors are slow growing and originate most frequently from gastrointestinal tissue 1. They may also appear in genital tissue like the ovaries. Primary ovarian carcinoid tumors are rare and contribute to less than 0.1% of all ovarian carcinomas 2. We report the first case of insulin producing primary carcinoid tumor of the ovary, initially presented with amnesia and hypoglycemia and subsequently successfully treated with surgery.