Activated caspase expression and apoptosis increase in keloids: cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation during the apoptosis of keloid fibroblast lines

To characterize apoptosis in keloids and the mechanisms responsible for this process, the expression of activated caspase-9 and -3 in fibroblasts obtained from keloids was analyzed. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the number of fibroblasts positive for terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) or activated caspase-9 or -3 was low but was significantly higher in keloid tissues than in normal scar tissues. Significant relationships between the number of caspase-positive fibroblasts and TUNEL-positive fibroblasts suggested that the activation of caspase-9 and -3 induces apoptosis in a subpopulation of keloid fibroblasts. All keloid fibroblast cell lines established in this study showed activation of caspase-9 and -3 after serum deprivation for 3 or 4 hours, as shown using Western blotting. Furthermore, serum deprivation-induced apoptosis in a keloid fibroblast line was blocked by a caspase-9 inhibitor (acetyl-Leu-Glu-His-Asp-al), indicating that activation of caspase-9 was necessary for the process of apoptosis in keloid fibroblasts. Although serum deprivation did not significantly change the level of apoptosis protease activating factor-1 in any of the lines, cytochrome c release was detected in cytosolic fractions of the lines after serum deprivation for 3 or 4 hours. These results strongly suggest that keloid fibroblasts are predisposed to apoptosis and cytochrome c release and that caspase-9 activation may underlie regulation of apoptosis in keloid fibroblasts in vivo.     

Perceived effects of rotating shift work on nurses' sleep quality and duration

The aim of this longitudinal study was to assess the effect of rotating shift work on perceived sleep quality and sleep duration of nurses at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi. Twenty four female nurses were recruited at random from among personnel engaged in rotating shift work. The nurses worked a three-phase schedule: five day shifts (7.00 – 17.00) followed by three night shifts (17.00 – 7.00) and five days off. Controls were 22 female nurses who did not perform night duties. Sleep quality and duration was assessed using standardized and validated questionnaires on sleep duration and subjective sleep quality (SSQ). One-way analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of shift phase on total sleep duration (F = 36.8, d.f. = 8, P < 0.000) and perceived sleep quality (F = 8.81, d.f. = 3, P < 0.000). Night shift work was associated with reduction of sleep quality and duration. The after effects of night shifts persisted during days of the recovery period indicating accumulation of fatigue.     

Risk factors for wheezing in Ukrainian children: Ukraine European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood Group

The prevalence of wheezing in children varies widely around the world. The reasons for this geographic variability remain unclear but may be related in part to exposures in the home environment during pregnancy and early childhood. We investigated the prenatal and early childhood risk factors for wheezing symptoms among 2127 children aged 6–8 years who were participants in the Ukrainian component of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC). Cases included the 169 children whose parents answered yes to the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Children (ISAAC) question: 'Has your child had wheezing or whistling in the chest in the past 12 months' during the ELSPAC assessment of the children at age 7. These were compared with the 1861 children in the cohort whose parents answered 'no' to this question.
Factors significantly associated with increased risk of wheezing illness at age 7 in adjusted analyses included mother's asthma [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22, 9.85]; mother's allergy problems (OR 1.43, [1.00, 2.05]); rarely playing with other children at age 3 (OR 1.84, [1.09, 3.11]); water intrusion (OR 1.62, [1.09, 2.39]) and inadequate heating of the home (OR 1.52, [1.06, 2.16]) during pregnancy. Factors protective of wheezing at age 7 included being first-born (adjusted OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.50, 0.98); living in the city of Dniprodzerzynsk as compared with Kyiv (OR 0.36, [0.24, 0.54]) and weekly contact with furry animals (OR 0.44, [0.20, 0.97]) before age 3. The constellation of risk factors for wheezing in Ukrainian children is similar to that of children in other parts of the world. Known risk factors do not account for the significant between-city variability of wheezing in Ukrainian children.     

Effect of stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus on the correlation of neuron spike activity in the rabbit neocortex

Cross-correlation and autocorrelation histograms were constructed with the aim of studying correlated spike activity of neurons in the visual and sensorimotor regions of both hemispheres of the rabbit brain before and after stimulation of the right and left lateral hypothalamic regions, which generates food-motivated responses. Stimulation of the left hypothalamus produced larger rearrangements in correlated neuron firing than stimulation of the right hypothalamus. Stimulation of the left hypothalamus, unlike that of the right hypothalamus, was followed by significant increases in the numbers of pairs of left hemisphere neocortical neurons with linked activity, and also induced the sequential firing of neurons in a particular defined order: sensorimotor cortex cells fired first, followed by visual cortex neurons after delays of up to 120 msec. It is concluded that cortical interhemisphere asymmetry in conditions of hunger is associated with nonuniform functioning of the right and left lateral hypothalamic regions. Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Translated from Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti, Vol. 46, No. 6, pp. 1068–1075, November–December, 1996.     

The use of copper-vapor laser radiation on patients with chemical burns of the esophagus via fiber esophagoscopy

Fifty patients with chemical burns of the esophagus were examined fibroesophagoscopically. All of them underwent local endoscopic irradiation by a copper vapour laser. Laser treatment promoted more rapid healing of the esophageal wall. No cicatrization-induced strictures were noted. Adjuvant local laser therapy is believed valid in management of esophageal chemical trauma.     

Synthesis of boron-containing heterocyclic compounds.

The synthesis of boron-containing 1,3,5-triazines and 1,2,4-triazines is described. Derivatives of 1,3,5-triazine containing the o-carborane cluster have been obtained by reacting the corresponding propargyl derivatives with B(10)H(14). Derivatives of 1,2,4-triazine containing the B(12)H(12)(2-) cluster have been obtained by nucleophilic substitution of ethylsulfone derivatives with B(12)H(11)SH(2-). They have been isolated in their ring-protonated form. Reaction of RNH(2)-B(8)H(11)NH-R with stericly demanding heterocycles failed, either for steric or for solubility reasons.     

Catecholaminergic neurons in the brain-stem and sleep apnea in SIDS victims

Background: Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is a specific marker for catecholaminergic neurones. Some reports have demonstrated a decrease of TH in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) compared with controls. To further investigate this, the correlation between TH and sleep apnea was investigated here. Materials and methods: Among 27,000 infants studied prospectively to characterize their sleep–wake behavior, 38 infants died under 6 months of age. They included 26 cases of SIDS. All the infants had been recorded during one night in a pediatric sleep laboratory some 3–12 weeks before death. The frequency and the duration of sleep apnea were analyzed. The brain-stem material was collected and subjected to immunohistochemical studies for TH. The density of TH-immunoreactive neurons was measured in the nucleus hypoglossus, nervus vagus dorsalis, solitary and ambiguus and the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) in the medulla oblongata. Correlation analyses were carried out between the density of TH-immunoreactive neurons and the data from the sleep apnea studies. Results: There was no SIDS specific correlation between TH-immunoreactive neurons in the nucleus hypoglossus, nervus vagus dorsalis, solitary and ambiguus and the ventrolateral medulla in the medulla oblongata and the frequency and duration of sleep apnea. Conclusions: No significant association between the pathological data and the physiological data refers to TH-positive neurons in the medulla oblongata in SIDS victims.     

Influence of cold and hot conditions on postactivation in human skeletal muscles

The influence of cold (+5° C), room temperature (+22° C) and hot (+75° C) air exposures on postactivation effects (PAE) in brachial biceps (BBs) and triceps (TBs) muscles were investigated bilaterally in six male subjects. PAE were evoked by 1 min volitional isometric contraction (VIC) at submaximal level in BBs by holding an inertial weight by palms, with right-angled elbows. At room temperature, average EMG during PAE (PAE_av) usually was 2–4% and the integral of EMG (PAE_int) was 3–7% of that of VIC respectively. PEA duration was 1–6 min. Cold exposure evoked an approximately two-fold increase of PAE_int (P < 0.01). Hot exposure decreased PAE_int (P < 0.01) and shortened PAE duration by approximately 50% (P < 0.01). In two subjects, long- term modulation of EMG intensity during PAE was observed. Cold increased the frequency and amplitude of these waves, while heat decreased them. In two subjects, alternation of BBs and TBs in EMG activity during PAE was observed. The data obtained suggest that postactivation of muscles strongly depends on the environmental temperature. Received: 15 February 1995/Received after revision: 19 June 1995/Accepted: 13 September 1995     

Pathogenesis of the low cardiac output syndrome in postresuscitation states

Acute hypervolemia induced in experiments on dogs by infusion of dextran, did not produce decompensation of the circulation in animals whose cardiac output was sharply depressed in the postresuscitation period after circulatory arrest lasting 15 min. The increase in the venous return and change in the conditions of the peripheral circulation as a result of dextran administration temporarily increased the central venous pressure, caused a lasting increase in the arterial pressure, cardiac output, stroke volume, work of the left ventricle, and total oxygen consumption by the body, and lowered the peripheral vascular resistance. In model experiments on dogs subjected to isolated compression ischemia of the brain for 20 min, a low cardiac output syndrome also developed.Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR N. A. Fedorov.Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 82, No. 7, pp. 787–789, July, 1976.