The practical assessment and management of bladder outflow obstruction

The initial management of bladder outflow obstruction typically related to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) falls to a large extent within the remit of general practice. Referral onwards to secondary care typically arises following the failure to respond to conservative measures or when complications have supervened; the most significant of which is urinary retention. In the hospital setting, anaesthesia, constipation and immobility are the common precipitants. What follows is a practical guide to the management of these situations and provides an overview of the conservative, medical, minimally invasive and surgical treatments available.     

Marked differences in olfactory sensitivity and apparent speed of forebrain neuroblast migration in three inbred strains of mice

In the adult forebrain, new neuroblasts constantly migrate from the subventricular zone along the rostral migratory stream to the olfactory bulb, where many become neurons. It is unclear whether this process is different in commonly used mouse strains and whether it is related to olfactory function. Adult male BALB/c, C57BL/6, and 129/S1 (formerly 129SV) mice were tested for olfactory sensitivity plus discrimination, using male mouse urine from the two other strains. BALB/c mice had the greatest olfactory sensitivity, followed by 129/S1, and C57BL/6 mice, by an order of magnitude each. Newly formed cells were pulse-labeled for 3 h with i.p. 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) injections and the animals analyzed 24 h later. In 129/S1 mice, a greater proportion of neuroblasts were present closer to the olfactory bulb than in BALB/c mice, followed by C57BL/6 mice. The total number of BrdU-labeled cells did not differ, suggesting differences in migration and not proliferation. The impaired olfactory function in C57BL/6 mice might be caused by the reduced number of neuroblasts that reach the olfactory bulbs. However, olfactory function in BALB/c and 129/S1 mice did not correlate with their putative migration speed, suggesting a more complex nature of cellular processes that contribute to olfactory function. These results caution against comparing studies of olfactory function or neural precursors that use different strains of mice, and question the use of C57BL/6 mice as a "normal" strain or as transgenic background. Perhaps more importantly, the results point to an opportunity to identify genes that regulate olfactory function and neuroblast behavior.     

Measuring maternal mortality: An overview of opportunities and options for developing countries

Background  

There is currently an unprecedented expressed need and demand for estimates of maternal mortality in developing countries. This has been stimulated in part by the creation of a Millennium Development Goal that will be judged partly on the basis of reductions in maternal mortality by 2015.     

The CTLA-4 gene region of chromosome 2q33 is linked to, and associated with, type 1 diabetes. Belgian Diabetes Registry

Susceptibility to autoimmune insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus is determined by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, which include variation in MHC genes on chromosome 6p21 (IDDM1) and the insulin gene on chromosome 11p15 (IDDM2). However, linkage to IDDM1 and IDDM2 cannot explain the clustering of type 1 diabetes in families, and a role for other genes is inferred. In the present report we describe linkage and association of type 1 diabetes to the CTLA-4 gene (cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated-4) on chromosome 2q33 (designated IDDM12). CTLA-4 is a strong candidate gene for T cell- mediated autoimmune disease because it encodes a T cell receptor that mediates T cell apoptosis and is a vital negative regulator of T cell activation. In addition, we provide supporting evidence that CTLA-4 is associated with susceptibility to Graves' disease, another organ- specific autoimmune disease.