RHD maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility and schizophrenia: extending the MFG test to include multiple siblings and birth order

Rh incompatibility disease (ie Rh hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn) has been implicated as a risk factor for schizophrenia. Here, we extend the maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility (MFG) test used in an earlier case-parent trio study that found significant evidence for an increased risk of schizophrenia in RHD MFG-incompatible children. We modify the MFG test for case-parent trios to include any number of siblings. This modified test enables us to use more of the available data from the earlier study. The increased sample size not only gives us greater power to test for MFG incompatibility but it also enables us to model the impact of previous RHD MFG-incompatible pregnancies on the relative risk of RHD MFG incompatibility in later-born siblings. This modeling is important, because RHD MFG incompatibility is a proxy for Rh incompatibility disease, and the risk of Rh incompatibility disease increases with the number of previous RHD MFG-incompatible pregnancies. The best-fitting models are consistent with the hypothesized effect that previous incompatible pregnancies increase the risk of schizophrenia due to RHD MFG incompatibility. There was significant evidence that the relative risk of schizophrenia in the second- and later-born RHD MFG-incompatible children is 1.7, consistent with earlier estimates. Our extension of the MFG test has general application to family-based studies of maternal-genotype and MFG interaction effects.     

Depression in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: clinical and biochemical correlates

BACKGROUND: We assessed the prevalence of mood disturbance among women with prospectively documented polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS: Thirty-two women with PCOS completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Rating Scale (CES-D). Clinical and biochemical characteristics were assessed. RESULTS: Sixteen women had CES-D scores indicative of depression. Depression was associated with greater insulin resistance (P=0.02) and higher body mass index (P=0.05). Women receiving oral contraceptives for the treatment of PCOS were less depressed than patients not receiving treatment (P=0.03). LIMITATIONS: Possible selection bias, use of a screening tool alone without further diagnostic evaluation of depression, small samples size and lack of direct comparison with an age matched control group, should be considered in interpretation of these results. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest a high prevalence of depression among women with PCOS, and an association between depression and PCOS markers.     

Evaluation of a direct fluorometric method for determination of serum retinol

We evaluated the usefulness of a fluorometric method for determining serum retinol (Futterman et al., Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1975;14:125-30) in which fluorescence (excitation 335 nm; emission 460 nm) of retinol is directly measured in unextracted, diluted serum. Using serum from 466 individual donors, we compared values so obtained with those by a "high-performance" liquid-chromatographic method. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.74. When we compared fluorometric retinol values with retinol-binding protein values for the 466 samples, r was 0.71. About 1% of the 466 samples had markedly higher values by fluorometry than by chromatography, the result of positive interferences. For two serum pools, we obtained CVs of 1.58% (n = 57) and 1.79% (n = 57) in long-term precision studies lasting 60 days. Although the fluorometric method of Futterman et al. has not been widely adopted, we find that it is simple to perform and that results compare favorably with the chromatographic method in precision and accuracy. It is unique among commonly used serum retinol methods in that the serum need not be extracted with organic solvents.     

A report of vitamin and mineral supplement use among university athletes in a division I institution

The influences of gender, ethnicity, and sport of varsity athletes on their vitamin/mineral supplementation habits were examined. Subjects included 145 females and 266 males from 22 varsity teams; 80% were Caucasian; 12% African American; and 8% Combined-Other. Over half of the subjects took supplements. Males were more likely than females to give "too expensive" as a reason for not taking supplements, and "improve athletic performance" and "build muscle" as reasons for taking supplements. The most common supplement was multivitamins plus minerals. Females were more likely to take calcium and iron, and males vitamins B12 and A. African Americans were the most likely to take vitamin A. Males were more likely to get supplement information from nutritionists/dietitians and self, and females from family members or friends and physicians or pharmacists. Football players were more likely to get supplement information from nutritionists/dietitians, and males in other sports from coaches/trainers. There were some differences in vitamin/mineral supplement habits of the athletes by gender, ethnicity, and sport.     

Strategies for biological monitoring of exposure for contemporary-use pesticides

Pesticides are used on a massive scale in the United States. The widespread use of these pesticides has made it virtually impossible for the average person to avoid exposure at some level. Generally, it is believed that low-level exposure to these pesticides does not produce acute toxic effects; however, various cancers and other noncancer health endpoints have been associated with chronic exposure to several groups of pesticides. Therefore, it is imperative that well-designed studies investigate the potential relationship between contemporary pesticide exposure and health effects. For these studies to be accurate, reliable methods for determining individual exposure must be used. Biological monitoring is a useful tool for assessing exposure to some contemporary pesticides. As with any analytical method, biological monitoring entails many difficulties, but, in many instances, they can be overcome by the logical use of available information and information acquired in carefully designed studies. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we have acquired extensive experience in the development and application of specific techniques for biological monitoring of a variety of toxicants, including many of the contemporary-use pesticides. We have used these methods to measure the internal dose of pesticides received by people in acute and chronic incidents resulting from both environmental and industrial exposure. Additionally, we have established normative values, or reference ranges, of several pesticides based on measurements of their metabolites in the urine of randomly selected adults in the US population. These data have been successfully used to distinguish overt exposures from 'background' exposure. In this paper, we present several examples of the usefulness of biological monitoring in urine and blood and describe the difficulties involved with developing methods in these matrices. We also present a general strategy, considerations, and recommendations for developing biological monitoring techniques for measuring the internal dose of contemporary-use pesticides.     

Combined-type oral contraceptives and plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels of young women

Plasma triglycerides and cholesterol concentrations were determined for 18 young women using the same brand of oral contraceptives (OCs) at 2 different estrogen levels and for 10 women never having used the pill. Dietary intakes of lipids and calories were similar for all subects. OC brands used Ortho-Novum and Norinyl 1/50) contained either .05 or .08 mg of mestranol plus 1 mg of norethindrone. Test subjects had taken the OCs for at least 1 year. A 12-hour fasting blood sample was taken on Days 20-25 of a menstrual cycle. Plasma samples were frozen for later analysis. Samples were analyzed for simultaneous determinations of triglycerides and cholesterol with a Technicon Auto Analyzer 2 system by the Rush et al. procedure. OC users, particularly those taking the higher estrogen dose, had elevated plasma triglycerides which were significantly higher than controls. Plasma cholesterol levels of OC users were similar to controls.     

Spiral ligament and stria vascularis changes in cochlear otosclerosis: effect on hearing level.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of changes within the spiral ligament and stria vascularis on hearing in cochlear otosclerosis, we examined spiral ligament hyalinization, stria vascularis atrophy, and sensory hearing loss in cochlear otosclerosis and described changes in ion transport molecule expression. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Thirty-two cochleae from 24 temporal bone donors with histologic evidence of cochlear otosclerosis, including spiral ligament hyalinization. INTERVENTION: Audiography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measurements of spiral ligament width, stria vascularis, and bone-conduction thresholds were compared by the amount of hyalinization. Expression of the ion transport molecules Na,K-ATPase, connexin 26, and carbonic anhydrase II were assessed by immunohistochemical techniques. RESULTS: Hyalinization most often involved the posterior basal turn (88%) and the posterior middle turn (27%). Spiral ligament hyalinization correlated significantly with stria vascularis atrophy in the posterior middle turn of the cochlea (rho = -0.63, p < 0.01). There was a trend toward a significant association in the posterior basal turn (rho = -0.31, p < 0.08). Bone-conduction thresholds at 2,000 and 4,000 Hz were significantly associated with the amount of stria vascularis atrophy (rho = -0.44, -0.40, p < 0.05). In addition, we observed decreased immunostaining for both carbonic anhydrase II with Type I fibrocytes and Na,K-ATPase with stria vascularis and Type II and Type IV fibrocytes of the spiral ligament in cochlear otosclerosis sections compared with normal cochlea. Na,K-ATPase staining within the stria vascularis was further decreased in the presence of spiral ligament hyalinization. No significant differences were seen with connexin 26 immunostaining. However, immunostaining results were somewhat inconsistent. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that spiral ligament structure and function are essential for stria vascularis survival. In addition, dampened expression of ion transport molecules within the spiral ligament and stria vascularis may disrupt potassium ion recycling, resulting in loss of endocochlear potential and sensory hearing loss.