A sexually dimorphic ratio of orbitofrontal to amygdala volume is altered in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Neuroanatomic sexual dimorphisms have been correlated with behavioral differences between healthy men and women. We have reported higher orbitofrontal cortex to amygdala ratio (OAR) in women than men. Although gender differences in schizophrenia are evident clinically and correlate with neuroanatomic measures, their relationship to OAR has not been examined. METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 31 neuroleptic-na?ve schizophrenic patients (16 men) and 80 healthy volunteers (34 men), aged less than 50 years. An automated tissue segmentation procedure was combined with expert-guided parcellation of orbitofrontal and amygdala volumes. RESULTS: Men with schizophrenia had increased OAR relative to healthy men, whereas women had decreased OAR. Increased OAR in men with schizophrenia reflected abnormally low amygdala volumes, whereas decreased OAR in women reflected abnormally low orbitofrontal volumes. Less severe negative symptoms were associated with increased OAR in men but with decreased OAR in women. In men, increased amygdala volume was associated with greater symptom severity, whereas in women higher volumes of both amygdala and orbitofrontal regions were associated with lesser severity of negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These opposite OAR abnormalities, whereby men show feminization and women masculinization, suggest gender-mediated effects of the underlying neuropathologic processes. The correlations with symptom severity suggest that neuroanatomic abnormalities in OAR reflect compensatory brain changes.     

Effect of valproic acid on withdrawal therapy in patients with overuse of chronic daily headache medications.

Discontinuation of medication is the treatment of choice for patients with chronic daily headache (CDH) who overuse their medications. This treatment may be difficult due to increased headache severity observed in patients immediately after withdrawal. We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of valproic acid therapy in 66 patients with overuse of CDH medication during withdrawal therapy. Patients were all withdrawn from medications and valproic acid started at 250 mg or 500 mg daily. Forty-two (63.6%) patients had decreased headache severity, including 27.3% objective responses in the first week. At the last visit in the 12th week, 50 patients were headache-free and only one patient had persistent headache. Fifteen patients withdrew from therapy due to side effects and lost to follow-up within this timeframe. Thus, low dose valproic acid appears to be safe and effective in the management of withdrawal therapy.     

Does work with visual display units impair visual activities after work?

It is well established that visual display unit (VDU) operators complain of visual fatigue and visual stress during after-work hours. The present study was divided into two parts. In the first part, standard eye examinations were performed on a group of VDU workers (n = 32) and a control group (n = 15); those subjects who were found to have correct vision (n = 16 and 13, respectively) participated in the second part. The eye examinations revealed that on the average, the VDU workers suffered more than twice as many visual impairments as the controls. In those with correct vision, the near point of accommodation was measured at the beginning of the workday at the start of the week, and at the end of the workday, four days later. In the VDU group, the decrease in accommodation was uniformally distributed between zero and 1.0 diopter, whereas among the non-VDU workers, 77% of the decrease was between zero and 0.25 diopter. The dynamic range of accommodation in the VDU workers on the second examination was smaller than on the first. We conclude that some of the visual stress and visual fatigue that developed at work hindered visual activities after work.     

Time-dependent changes in distribution of basic fibroblast growth factor immunoreactive cells in hippocampus after kainic acid injection in rat pups

Five-day-old Wistar albino rats were injected with kainic acid (KA) or saline i.p. to investigate time-dependent alterations in morphology and number of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) immunoreactive (-ir) astrocytes and neurons in hippocampus at 15, 30, and 90 days after the injections. Sections were stained with cresyl violet for morphological evaluation and bFGF immunohistochemistry was used for quantitative evaluation of bFGF-ir cell density. Fifteen days after KA injection, there was gliosis but no neuronal loss although disorganization in CA1, CA3, CA4 pyramidal layers and neuronal loss were evident 30 and 90 days after the injection. KA injected rats demonstrated significantly increased number of bFGF-ir astrocytes throughout the hippocampus and pyramidal neurons in CA2 after 15 days and decreased number of bFGF-ir cells after 30 and 90 days. The decrease in the number of bFGF-ir astroglia and neurons in long term after KA injection may indicate a decrease in the production of bFGF and/or number of bFGF-ir cells suggesting that protective effects of bFGF may be altered during epileptogenesis in hippocampus.     

Helicobacter pylori infection in haemodialysis patients and renal transplant recipients

Background. It is known that Helicobacter pylori (Hp) plays an important role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease in the general population. Although dyspeptic complaints are frequent in haemodialysis (HD) patients and renal transplant recipients, there are few reports regarding the prevalence of Hp and its possible effects on this group of patients. This study was performed to examine the prevalence of Hp infection in patients on regular HD treatment and to detect its role in the pathogenesis of dyspepsia in this group of patients. Methods. Two hundred and one patients with dyspeptic complaints were included in the study. The groups consisted of 47 HD, 54 renal transplant recipients, and 100 non-renal disease patients. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed and gastric antral biopsies were obtained for urease test in all patients. Results. Twenty-eight (60%) of the 47 HD and 28 (70%) of the 54 RTR were positive for Hp. Sixty-four (64%) of the 100 patients with various gastrointestinal complaints and known to have no renal dysfunction were positive for Hp. The Hp prevalences among the three groups were not significantly different (P <0.05). The prevalence of Hp infection did not correlate with the haemodialysis duration nor the post-transplantation duration (P <0.05). There was no correlation between the prevalence of Hp infection and duration of haemodialysis therapy or time post-transplantation. Conclusion. These findings suggest that HD patients are not protected against Hp infection as the Hp prevalences are as high as that for the non-renal disease group. The increased dyspeptic complaints may be partly related to Hp infection.     

Lipoxygenase-3 (ALOXE3) and 12(R)-lipoxygenase (ALOX12B) are mutated in non-bullous congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma (NCIE) linked to chromosome 17p13.1.

We report the identification of mutations in lipoxygenase-3 (ALOXE3) and 12(R)-lipoxygenase (ALOX12B) genes in non-bullous congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma (NCIE) linked to chromosome 17. Linkage disequilibrium analysis of six families affected by NCIE permitted us to reduce a recently reported interval of 8.4 cM on chromosome 17p13.1 to a 600 kb region around the marker D17S1796, which contains LOX genes. LOX products have long been implicated in skin disorders. Two point mutations and one deletion were found in ALOXE3 and three point mutations were found in ALOX12B in these consanguineous families from the Mediterranean basin. ALOXE3 and ALOX12B are two genes which are physically linked and functionally related. They are separated by 38 kb, have one more exon than the other LOX genes and are mainly expressed in epithelial cells including keratinocytes. Although the main substrate(s) of the two enzymes is (are) still unknown, the products of ALOX12B obtained in experimental systems have been demonstrated to be of R-chirality. It seems likely that the product of one of these enzymes may be the substrate of the other, and that they belong to the same metabolic pathway.     

Carbamazepine-induced sperm disorders can be associated with the altered expressions of testicular KCNJ11/miR-let-7a and spermatozoal CFTR/miR-27a

Male infertility is a global health problem, and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not clearly known. Ion channels and microRNAs (miRNAs), known to function in many vital functions in cells, have been shown to play a significant role in male infertility through changes in their expressions. The study aimed to evaluate the alterations of testicular and/or spermatozoal potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily J member 11 (KCNJ11), Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), miR-let-7a and miR-27a expressions in carbamazepine-related male infertility. Here, we showed that carbamazepine reduced sperm motility, increased abnormal sperm morphology, and impaired hormonal balance as well as increased relative testis weight and decreased relative seminal vesicle weight. On the other hand, downregulated KCNJ11 and upregulated miR-let-7a expressions were determined in testis (p < .05). Also, downregulated KCNJ11 and upregulated CFTR and miR-27a expressions were found in spermatozoa (p < .05). Interestingly, altered testicular KCNJ11 and miR-let-7a expressions were correlated with decreased sperm motility and elevated sperm tail defect. Besides, spermatozoal CFTR and miR-27a expressions positively correlated with sperm tail defects. The results indicated a significant relationship between ion channel and/or miRNA expression alterations and impaired sperm parameters due to carbamazepine usage.     

Volunteers for biomedical research. Recruitment and screening of normal controls.

We examined the process of accruing healthy control subjects for biomedical research on brain function. Of 1670 responders to newspaper advertising, 23.1% were uninterested when learning more about the studies, and 50.9% of those remaining were found by structured telephone screening to meet exclusionary criteria for having a history of psychiatric, neurologic, or medical disease that might affect brain function. Of 312 volunteers passing the telephone screening who came to an in-person evaluation by a physician and agreed to participate, 49.7% were found to meet exclusionary criteria, and only 157 were admitted to the study. This underscores the importance of attending to the issue of screening and assessment of "normal volunteers." Alternative strategies should be considered for enriching the pool.     

Body mass index percentiles among adolescent girls living in Edirne, Turkey

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is the simplest way to measure obesity; therefore, it is chosen by many authorities as a screening method for adolescent obesity. Body mass index is positively correlated with the complications of childhood and adolescent obesity, such as hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance, hyper-tension and long-term development of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to produce percentile curves for bodyweight, height and BMI in a representative sample of adolescent girls living in urban and rural areas of Edirne, Turkey, and to compare these percentile curves with curves from other countries. METHODS: The present study was a cross-sectional study, including a representative sample of 1687 adolescent girls from rural and urban areas of Edirne, who were evaluated between May and July 2001. Bodyweight and height were measured using standard procedures. Body mass index (kg/m2) was calculated as the ratio of bodyweight to body height squared. Smoothed percentiles for these variables were calculated using polynominal regression models. Crude weight, height and BMI percentile values, as well as smoothed percentile curves are presented. RESULTS: Body mass index, weight and height reference curves for adolescent girls were produced. When we compared the BMI values of subjects in the present study with those of other countries, 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI in the present study were found to be generally lower than those for other ethnicities. CONCLUSION: Our findings show ethnic differences in BMI among adolescent girls. It will be usefull for each country to produce its own BMI percentiles.