Peak bone mass of Iranian population: the Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study.

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem in the Western countries and is projected to have a similar impact in the Middle East. It has been suggested that peak bone mineral density (BMD), a major determinant of osteoporotic fractures later in life, may be lower in this part of the world compared with the Western world. The purpose of the Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study was to determine peak bone mass in a randomly chosen sample of healthy Iranian subjects. A total of 5201 participants (2340 males, mean age 42.7+/-13.8) were recruited based on randomized clustered sampling from all regions of five major cities across the country. In women, peak lumbar BMD (1.182+/-0.127 g/cm2) occurred in the 29- to 33-yr age group, whereas peak total femur BMD (1.006+/-0.126 g/cm2) occurred in the 32- to 36-yr age group. In men, peak lumbar BMD (1.181+/-0.153 g/cm2) and femoral BMD (1.096+/-0.159 g/cm2) both occurred in the 20- to 24-yr age group. When standardized to mg/cm2 units using established formulas, Iranian peak bone mass values are comparable with that of Western countries and are generally higher than that of Eastern Asian and Middle Eastern countries.     

Decreased hyperthermic effect of MK-801 in selectively bred hypercholinergic rats

The Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) of rats has been selectively bred to have increased sensitivity to cholinergic agonists. However, these rats exhibit altered responsiveness to a number of noncholinergic agents, such as apomorphine, buspirone and ethanol. This study compared the FSL and control Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats in terms of their hyperthermic response to the phencyclidine (PCP) receptor agonist, MK-801 (0.2 mg/kg SC) and their MK-801 binding characteristics. We have found that FSL rats react with a delayed hyperthermia, having a significantly lower hyperthermia for the first 120 min of observation. Thereafter the response does not differ in FSL and FRL rats. Both groups had similar affinities and numbers of [3H]MK-801 binding sites in the hippocampus/cerebral cortex. Pretreatment with scopolamine (1 mg/kg SC) failed to affect MK-801-induced hyperthermia in either line of rats. These findings suggest that selective breeding of FSL rats attenuated the secondary mechanisms involved in the PCP receptor-mediated hyperthermic response. However, by itself cholinergic supersensitivity does not appear to be a major factor in the blunted responsiveness of FSL rats to MK-801.     

Effects of a community-based healthy heart program on increasing healthy women's physical activity: a randomized controlled trial guided by Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR)

Background  

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer of women in most developed areas of the world. Rates of physical inactivity and poor nutrition, which are two of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women, are substantial. This study sought to examine the effectiveness of a community-based lifestyle-modification program on increasing women's physical activity in a randomized trial guided by community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods.     

Review of imaging techniques for the diagnosis of breast cancer: a new role of prone scintimammography using technetium-99m sestamibi

Imaging techniques currently used for the diagnosis of breast cancer are reviewed and compared. Besides mammography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and thallium-201 scintimammography, a new role of technetium-99m sestamibi scintimammography is discussed. It is concluded that while mammography remains the procedure of choice in screening asymptomatic women for breast cancer, other imaging methods play an important role in detecting malignancies in symptomatic patients.^99mTc-sestamibi scintimammography has high sensitivity and improves the specificity of conventional mammography for the detection of breast cancer; with this technique, prone imaging is preferable to supine imaging.^99mTc-sestamibi scintimammography thus deserves further study as a screening technique.     

Suppression of alcohol and saccharin preference in rats by a novel Ca2+ channel inhibitor,Goe 5438

The effect of the novel 1,4-dihydronaphthyridine Ca²⁺ channel inhibitor Goe 5438 (CI-951) on voluntary ethanol consumption was examined in selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) rats in a free choice two bottle preference test versus water. Intraperitoneally injected Goe 5438 dose-dependently (5, 10 or 20 µmol/kg, twice daily) inhibited ethanol and increased water intake over the 24 h period (injection day). The drug decreased ethanol preference, originally above 90%, by 6%, 19% and 45% at respective doses, on the injection day. That inhibitory effect of the highest dose of Goe 5438 on ethanol preference remained significant also on days 2 and 3 after injections (–51% and –18%, respectively). Goe 5438, in the highest dose, also tended to decrease granulated chow consumption during the injection day only. To further test whether the inhibition of ethanol preference is secondary to decrease in reinforcing properties of ethanol and not due to interference with satiety mechanisms, we compared the effect of two higher doses (10 and 20 µmol/kg, intraperitoneally, twice daily) of Goe 5438 on spontaneous preference for a non-caloric 0.04% saccharin solution in Sprague-Dawley rats. We observed a dose-dependent suppression of preference (by 44% and 58%, respectively) during the injection day, but not the subsequent 24 h period. However, Goe 5438 also significantly alleviated food pellet intake on the injection day. In conclusion, Goe 5438 produces potent and long-lasting inhibition of voluntary ethanol consumption, which may be secondary to attenuation of reinforcing properties of ethanol. Additionally, this particular Ca²⁺ channel inhibitor appears to have mild anorectic properties which may be conducive to acute suppression of alcohol intake.     

The Effect of Intravenous Magnesium Sulphate as an Adjuvant in the Treatment of Acute Exacerbations of COPD in the Emergency Department: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

BackgroundAcute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are serious complications that often require immediate intervention in an emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intravenous magnesium sulphate as an adjuvant in the treatment of AECOPD in the ED.MethodsIn a double-blind, randomized clinical trial, a total of 60 patients with AECOPD presenting to the ED of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari, Iran, were included. The study was conducted between September 2016 and February 2018. Eligible patients were randomly allocated into two groups of intervention and control. Patients in the intervention and control groups received intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate (2 gr) or normal saline over 30 minutes, respectively. For all patients, Borgdyspnea score, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) result and clinical variables of interest were evaluated before the beginning of the intervention, and also 45 minutes and 6 hours after the commencement of intervention.ResultsRegardless of time of evaluation, pulse rate (PR), respiratory rate (RR) and Borg score in intervention group was lower than control group. Also, FEV1 and SPO2 were greater in intervention group compared to control group. However, these differences were not statistically significant (between-subject differences or group effect) (p<0.001). The trends of FEV1, SPO2, PR, RR and Borg score were similar between two groups of study (no interaction effect; P>0.05).ConclusionAccording to the results of this study, it seems that using intravenous magnesium sulfate has no significant effect on SPO2, FEV1, RR, and PR of patients with AECOPD who presented to ED.     

Administration of antidepressants,diazepam and psychomotor stimulants further confirms the utility of Flinders Sensitive Line rats as an animal model of depression

Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats have been proposed as an animal model of depression because they resemble depressed humans in that they have elevated REM sleep, reduced activity, and increased immobility and anhedonia after exposure to stressors. The present paper reviews experiments on the drug treatment of FSL and control Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats related to their utility as an animal model of depression, and presents new information. FSL rats exhibited exaggerated immobility in the forced swim test which is counteracted by the tricyclic antidepressants imipramine and desipramine and the serotonin reuptake blocker sertraline; the low immobility exhibited by the FRL rats is generally unaffected by these compounds. In contrast to these therapeutic effects of well recognized antidepressants, lithium and bright light treatment did not alter the exaggerated immobility of FSL rats. Novel data indicated that neither FSL nor FRL rats exhibited alterations in swim test immobility following chronic administration of the psychomotor stimulant amphetamine (2 mg/kg) and the anticholinergic scopolamine (2 mg/kg), which typically reduce immobility after acute administration. However, it was found that the calcium channel blockers verapamil (5 and 15 mg/kg) and nicardipine (10 mg/kg) did reduce the exaggerated immobility in FSL rats following chronic administration, suggesting that these compounds need to be evaluated further in humans. Previous studies have indicated no differences between FSL and FRL rats evaluated in the elevated plus maze, either at baseline or after the administration of diazepam, suggesting that the FSL rat may not differ from controls in anxiety-related behavior. Another recently published study showed that the FSL rat also did not differ from normal Sprague-Dawley rats in startle tests, indicating that the FSL rats do not exhibit behaviors shown in animal models of schizophrenia. These findings confirm the utility of FSL rats as an animal model of depression because the FSL rats do not appear to exhibit behaviors analogous to anxiety or schizophrenia and because they respond therapeutically to antidepressants and not psychomotor stimulants.     

Antidepressant effects of nicotine in an animal model of depression

Epidemiological studies indicate a high incidence of cigarette smoking among depressed individuals. Moreover, individuals with a history of depression have a much harder time giving up smoking. It has been postulated that smoking may reflect an attempt at self-medication with nicotine by these individuals. Although some animal and human studies suggest that nicotine may act as an antidepressant, further verification of this hypothesis and involvement of nicotinic cholinergic system in depressive symptoms is required. Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats have been proposed as an animal model of depression. These rats, selectively bred for their hyperresponsiveness to cholinergic stimulation, show an exaggerated immobility in the forced swim test compared to their control Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats. Acute or chronic (14 days) administration of nicotine (0.4 mg/kg SC) significantly improved the performance of the FSL but not the FRL rats in the swim test. The effects of nicotine on swim test were dissociable from its effects on locomotor activity. Moreover, the FSL rats had significantly higher [³H]cytisine binding (selective for the α₄β₂ nicotinic receptor subtype) but not [¹²⁵I]alpha-bungarotoxin binding (selective for the α₇ subtype) in the frontal cortex, striatum, midbrain and colliculi compared to FRL rats. These data strongly implicate the involvement of central nicotinic receptors in the depressive characteristics of the FSL rats, and suggest that nicotinic agonists may have therapeutic benefits in depressive disorders. Received: 9 June 1998/Final version: 6 August 1998     

Autoreactive, cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for peptides derived from normal B-cell differentiation antigens in healthy individuals and patients with B-cell malignancies.

PURPOSE: To investigate potential immunotherapeutic strategies in B lymphocytic malignancies we looked for CTLs recognizing CD19 and CD20 epitopes. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Three CD19 and CD20 peptides binding to HLA-A*0201 were identified and used to detect peptide specific CTLs by a quantitative real-time PCR to measure IFN-gamma mRNA expression in 23 healthy individuals and 28 patients (18 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 7 follicular lymphoma, 2 acute lymphocytic leukemia, and 1 large cell lymphoma). Peptide-specific CTLs were expanded in culture with CD40-activated B cells to test lytic activity in three patients. RESULTS: In healthy individuals, CD8+ T-cell responses were detected in one to CD19(74-82), in three to CD20(127-135), and three to CD20(188-196). Seven of 27 patients (6 with CLL) had CD8+ T cells recognizing CD19(74-82). Seven patients responded to CD20(127-135) and three to CD20(188-196). All were CLL patients. CD19(74-82)-specific CTLs from three patients were expanded over 4 weeks. These cells were HLA-A*0201 specific and lytic for peptide-loaded antigen-presenting cells but not to malignant or unpulsed B cells. CONCLUSIONS: CTLs that recognize CD19 and CD20 epitopes exist in healthy individuals and may be increased in CLL patients. They are of low avidity and require high doses of peptide for activation. Strategies to increase T-cell avidity would be necessary for T-cell immunotherapeutic approaches using the peptides studied.