Lack of association between endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) gene polymorphisms and suicide attempts

Objective  

The aim of this study is to investigate the association between two polymorphisms of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) and suicide attempts.     

Focal asymmetric densities seen at mammography: US and pathologic correlation.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) defines four different types of asymmetric breast findings: asymmetric breast tissue, densities seen in one projection, architectural distortion, and focal asymmetric densities. These lesions are frequently encountered at screening and diagnostic mammography and are significant because they may indicate a neoplasm, especially if an associated palpable mass is present. Once these lesions are detected at standard mammography, supplementary breast imaging with additional mammographic views and ultrasonography (US) can be a key aspect of work-up. The role of US in this setting has not been clearly defined. However, a positive US finding such as a solid mass or an area of focal shadowing increases the level of suspicion for malignancy. A thorough knowledge of the patient's clinical history, along with a fundamental understanding of the ACR BI-RADS lexicon and the role and limitations of supplementary breast imaging, will allow more accurate interpretation of these potentially perplexing soft-tissue findings.     

Mortality in a cohort of sugar refinery workers in Arezzo Province, Italy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate mortality of a cohort of 1,767 male workers employed in a sugar refinery plant located in the Province of Arezzo, Italy, where asbestos had been used from the 1960's for the insulation of thermohydraulic systems and for furnaces. In 1987-88 workers removed the asbestos-cement insulation from the plant. METHODS: The cohort was composed by male workers who were employed in the plant between 1 March 1962 and 1 February 1996, and had worked for at least 2 months. Follow-up started on 1 March 1962, and ended on 31 May, 2003. The population mortality for Tuscany Region was used as the reference. The relative risk was estimated by Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) and the confidence intervals were calculated at a 95% level (95% CI). RESULTS: The majority of workers were employed during the summer only. Significant decreases in mortality were observed for overall mortality (SMR = 78; 95% CI = 69-88), all cancers (SMR = 80; 95% CI = 65-97), cardiovascular diseases (SMR = 64; 95% CI = 50-81), lung cancer (SMR = 66; 95% CI = 43-98), and gastrointestinal diseases (SMR = 53; 95% CI = 26-98). Non-significant increases were observed for kidney cancer (SMR = 229; 95% CI = 92-472), and diseases of the nervous system (SMR = 155; 95% CI = 71-294). Kidney cancer mortality for workers employed for > = 5 years was significantly higher (SMR = 508; 95% CI = 105-1485). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality for asbestos-related diseases did not show any increase. The higher kidney cancer mortality for workers employed for > = 5 years could be due to exposures to various carcinogens, that occurred not only in the sugar refinery plant, given that the workers were seasonal and did other jobs during the rest of the year. Asbestos-related deaths could occur in the future among some workers who in 1987-88 were employed on the removal of asbestos-cement insulation from the plant.     

Tuberculous liver abscess in an immigrant patient with pulmonary tuberculosis

Liver abscess due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis associated with pulmonary tuberculosis is a rare diagnosis, particularly in patients without AIDS. We report the case of a male immigrant with no HIV infection who developed a tuberculous liver abscess and pulmonary tuberculosis simultaneously. Ziehl-Neelsen stain, PCR and L?wenstein-Jensen culture of material sampled from the abscess established the microbiological diagnosis. The patient's course was good, with disappearance of symptoms and the abscess after tuberculostatic treatment and drainage of the abscess with monitoring by computed tomography.     

A conditional tetracycline-regulated increase in Gamma amino butyric acid production near luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone nerve terminals disrupts estrous cyclicity in the rat

Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter controlling LH-releasing hormone (LHRH) secretion in the mammalian hypothalamus. Whether alterations in GABA homeostasis within discrete regions of the neuroendocrine brain known to be targets of GABA action, such as the median eminence, can disrupt the ability of the LHRH releasing system to maintain reproductive cyclicity is not known but amenable to experimental scrutiny. The present experiments were undertaken to examine this issue. Immortalized BAS-8.1 astroglial cells were genetically modified by infection with a regulatable retroviral vector to express the gene encoding the GABA synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase-67 (GAD-67) under the control of a tetracycline (tet) controlled gene expression system. In this system, expression of the gene of interest is repressed by tet and activated in the absence of the antibiotic. BAS-8.1 cells carrying this regulatory cassette, and cultured in the absence of tet ("GAD on"), expressed abundant levels of GAD-67 messenger RNA and GAD enzymatic activity, and released GABA when challenged with glutamate. All of these responses were inhibited within 24 h of exposure to tet ("GAD off"). Grafting "GAD on" cells into the median eminence of late juvenile female rats, near LHRH nerve terminals, did not affect the age at vaginal opening, but greatly disrupted subsequent estrous cyclicity. These animals exhibiting long periods of persistent estrus, interrupted by occasional days in proestrus and diestrus, suggesting the occurrence of irregular ovulatory episodes. Administration of the tetracycline analog doxycycline (DOXY) in the drinking water inhibited GAD-67synthesis and restored estrous cyclicity to a pattern indistinguishable from that of control rats grafted with native BAS-8.1 cells. Animals carrying "GAD on" cells showed a small increase in serum LH and estradiol levels, and a marked elevation in serum androstenedione, all of which were obliterated by turning GAD-67 synthesis off in the grafted cells. Morphometric analysis of the ovaries revealed that both groups grafted with GABA-producing cells had an increased incidence of large antral follicles (>500 micrometer) compared with animals grafted with native BAS-8.1 cells, but that within this category the incidence of steroidogenically more active follicles (i.e. larger than 600 micrometer) was greater in "GAD on" than in "GAD off" rats. These results indicate that a regionally discrete, temporally controlled increase in GABA availability to LHRH nerve terminals in the median eminence of the hypothalamus suffices to disrupt estrous cyclicity in the rat, and raise the possibility that similar local alterations in GABA homeostasis may contribute to the pathology of hypothalamic amenorrhea/oligomenorrhea in humans.