Morphine exposure prevents up-regulation of MR and GR binding sites in the brain of adult male and female rats due to prenatal stress

Our previous work demonstrated that the hormone response to stress and the negative feedback inhibition to these hormones are sex-dependently altered by prenatal morphine exposure in adult rats. An alteration in the glucocorticoid negative feedback inhibition is mediated by glucocorticoid receptors (GR) that are distributed throughout the brain, and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) localized mainly in the hippocampus and involved in a tonic influence of brain functions. Therefore, the present study examined the binding characteristics of MR and GR in young adult male and female rats exposed prenatally (E11-E18) to morphine (10 mg/kg/2 x /day), saline or no treatment at all (controls). At 60-90 days of age, animals were adrenalectomized (ADX) 24 h prior to decapitation. The hippocampus and hypothalamus were dissected for saturation binding assays. The data demonstrate that prenatal stress due to maternal saline injections up-regulates MR and GR binding in the hippocampus of adult male rats and this effect is prevented by prenatal morphine exposure. There is no effect of prenatal morphine exposure on GR binding in the hypothalamus of males. In female rats, prenatal morphine exposure does not affect the binding of MR and GR in the hippocampus or GR in the hypothalamus relative to controls; however, they are affected by ovarian hormone fluctuation. Moreover, prenatal stress decreases MR binding in the hippocampus of diestrous females and GR binding in the hypothalamus of estrous females. Both decreases are prevented by prenatal morphine exposure. Thus, the present study demonstrates that: (1) prenatal stress due to maternal saline injections alters MR and GR binding of adult male and female rats and is prevented by prenatal morphine exposure; (2) the MR and GR binding in adult female rats are affected by ovarian hormone fluctuations.     

Elements of psychological support in nursing care

The paper presents the results of a pilot study which involved 50 nurses from several departments of internal medicine of The State Clinical Hospital of the Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University in Cracow. The results are based on the Statement Response Questionnaire. They show that the most common responses of the nurses in the face of anxiety expressed by patients are cheering up the patient, collecting information about the symptom, and offering explanation of the symptom. The least common responses included expressing one's own positive emotions and showing empathy towards the patient.     

Incidence of ventricular fibrillation during coronary arteriography in the rabbit. A comparative study of isotonic ioxaglate and iohexol

The incidence of major ECG changes, particularly ventricular fibrillation, was evaluated in rabbits during prolonged, selective right coronary injection of sodium/meglumine ioxaglate (Hexabrix 160) and iohexol (Omnipaque 140), two isotonic contrast media. The anesthetized animals (n = 12) per test solution) each received 1.5 ml of contrast material, delivered at a rate of 3 ml/minute. Both contrast media caused major ECG changes, which were reversible within seconds after administration. No fibrillation occurred with ioxaglate, but ventricular fibrillation was seen in seven animals given iohexol. There was a significant difference in the incidence of ventricular fibrillation between the contrast media (P less than .01). Both test solutions induced transient, more or less marked bradycardia, but without significant differences. The intracoronary injections produced similar decreases in blood pressure for both contrast agents. Reactive hypertension was observed only in those animals in which an episode of fibrillation occurred with iohexol. The causes underlying these effects are analyzed for both contrast agents.     

Severe tubulopathy and kidney graft rupture after coadministration of mannitol and ciclosporin.

Spontaneous allograft rupture after kidney transplantation is a rare complication usually due to an acute rejection of the interstitial type. In a 32-year-old man kidney transplantation was performed under immunosuppression with prednisolone and ciclosporin (CS). The dose of CS was 5 mg/kg body weight intravenously for the first 24 h, on the 2nd day 10 mg/kg/day orally, with gradually decreasing doses thereafter. The patient remained oliguric in the postoperative period and received additionally 600 ml mannitol solution intravenously for osmodiuresis within a period of 6 days. On the 8th postoperative day, 48 h after the last intravenous infusion of mannitol, spontaneous renal rupture occurred. The CS concentrations in the blood during the days before the rupture were within the upper normal range for effective immunosuppression (300-600 ng/ml). Intraoperatively the kidney appeared enlarged due to edematous swelling of the graft, but it showed no signs of rejection. The histological finding was a toxic tubulopathy with extensive isometric vacuolization and peritubular congestion, a known side effect of both of CS and of mannitol. The rupture was successfully repaired. Thirty-four days after the transplantation diuresis increased and hemodialysis therapy could be discontinued. In a second biopsy of the kidney the signs of toxic tubulopathy with isometric vacuolization were reduced. On the following days the serum creatinine dropped below 160 mumol/l. It can be assumed that the combination of CS therapy and administration of massive and continued doses of mannitol in an oliguric patient with allograft kidney may potentiate severe tubulopathy with concomitant edematous swelling of the graft. This can result in an increasing danger of spontaneous renal rupture.     

De novo inverted duplication 9p21pter involving telomeric repeated sequences

We report on clinical and cytogenetic findings in a boy with partial 9p duplication, dup(9)(p21pter). Clinical manifestations included facial and hand anomalies and mental retardation. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) were used to characterize further and confirm the conventional banding data. Investigation by FISH using whole chromosome 9 paint probe showed that the additional material was derived from chromosome 9. Using CGH, a region of gain was found in the chromosome segment 9p21pter. YACs and telomeric probes confirmed the duplicated region. Using the all-human telomeric sequences probe, intrachromosomal telomeric signal was noted on the short arm of the abnormal chromosome 9. Mechanism of formation of the duplication, including intrachromosomal telomeric sequences, is discussed.     

Automated fluorescent genotyping detects 10% of cryptic subtelomeric rearrangements in idiopathic syndromic mental retardation

Recent studies have shown that cryptic unbalanced subtelomeric rearrangements contribute to a significant proportion of idiopathic syndromic mental retardation cases. Using a fluorescent genotyping based strategy, we found a 10% rate of cryptic subtelomeric rearrangements in a large series of 150 probands with severe idiopathic syndromic mental retardation and normal RHG-GTG banded karyotype. Fourteen children were found to carry deletions or duplications of one or more chromosome telomeres and two children had uniparental disomy. This study clearly shows that fluorescent genotyping is a sensitive and cost effective method that not only detects cryptic subtelomeric rearrangements but also provides a unique opportunity to detect uniparental disomies. We suggest giving consideration to systematic examination of subtelomeric regions in the diagnostic work up of patients with unexplained syndromic mental retardation.     

Menarcheal age and socio-economic factors in Poland

BACKGROUND: Menarcheal age is the most important measure of sexual maturation in girls and a sensitive indicator of environmental conditions during childhood. OBJECTIVE: The study analysed the association between age at menarche and socio-economic characteristics (urbanization, population size, education of parents and number of children in the family). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Questionnaire data were collected from 3271 female schoolchildren born between 1981 and 1984, living in three provinces of southern Poland. Menarcheal age was estimated by the recall method and based on the date of menarche given by the study participants. ANCOVA and multiple regression analyses were applied to test statistical significance of differences between groups. RESULTS: Girls from families with high socio-economic status experience menarche at an earlier age than girls from families with lower socio-economic status. However, depending on the geographical region and the population size, other factors influence menarcheal age. In the Krakow province, factors that significantly differentiate age at menarche are urbanization, father's education and number of children in the family; in the Opole province, these factors include urbanization and number of children in the family, while in the Nowy Sacz province, number of children in the family is significant. CONCLUSIONS: Socio-economic differences are greater in a large urban city (Krakow), and affect variation in age at menarche. However, within smaller populations (Opole, Nowy Sacz) living in towns and villages, the difference in age at menarche is less visible. In addition, variation between areas reveals a lower age at menarche in urban as compared with non-urban areas.