Granulins: the structure and function of an emerging family of growth factors.

The granulin/epithelin motif defines a family of structurally unique proteins, of great evolutionary antiquity, which have been implicated as regulators of cell growth. Recurrent in granulin research are the surprising parallels between the granulin and EGF systems. Both are cysteinerich peptides of approximately 6 kDa that can modify cell growth.

Health habits and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in old age: a prospective study on the effects of exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Previous research has yielded inconsistent results on the effects of exercise, smoking and alcohol use on cognitive impairment and dementia in old age. We analysed data from the Sydney Older Persons Study to see if these health habits were associated with cognitive functioning, dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Health habits were assessed in Wave 1 of the study, when the subjects were aged 75 years or over.

Screening for dementia using an informant interview.

The effectiveness of an informant interview as a screening and assessment instrument for dementia was evaluated in a community survey of 398 people aged 78 or over. Participants received a battery of neuropsychological tests and were diagnosed for dementia by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria.

Isolation of a member of the neurotoxin/cytotoxin peptide family from Xenopus laevis skin which activates dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels in mammalian epithelial cells.

We have used a sensitive bioassay of calcium-mediated volume changes in mammalian absorptive intestinal epithelial cells to screen extracts of the skin of the amphibian Xenopus laevis for the presence of factors affecting ion transport. A 66-residue peptide, purified using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography techniques, caused isotonic volume reduction of guinea pig jejunal villus cells in suspension. This volume reduction required extracellular Ca2+ and was prevented by the dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channel blocker niguldipine.

Craniofacial electromyogram activation response: another indicator of anesthetic depth.

Objective: After finding that craniofacial EMG preceding a stimulus was a poor predictor of movement response to that stimulus, we evaluated an alternative relation between EMG and movement: the difference in anesthetic depth between the endpoint of EMG responsiveness to a stimulus and endpoint of movement responsiveness to that stimulus. We expressed this relation as the increment of isoflurane between the two endpoints.

Methods: We measured EMG over the frontalis muscle, over the corrugator muscle, and between the Fp2 and the mastoid process as patients emerged from general anesthesia during suture closing of the surgical incision.

Antimicrobial management of presumed microbial keratitis: guidelines for treatment of central and peripheral ulcers.

Aims: To determine the quantitative relation between the major risk factors for microbial keratitis of previous ocular surface disease and contact lens wear and central and peripheral infiltration, often associated with ulceration, in order to establish a rational chemotherapeutic management algorithm.

Methods: Data from 55 patients were collected over a 10 month period. All cases of presumed microbial keratitis where corneal scrapes had been subjected to microbiological examination were included.

Cloning of human PEX cDNA. Expression, subcellular localization, and endopeptidase activity.

Mutations in the PEX gene are responsible for X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets. To gain insight into the role of PEX in normal physiology we have cloned the human full-length cDNA and studied its tissue expression, subcellular localization, and peptidase activity. We show that the cDNA encodes a 749-amino acid protein structurally related to a family of neutral endopeptidases that include neprilysin as prototype.

In vitro cleavage of internally quenched fluorogenic human proparathyroid hormone and proparathyroid-related peptide substrates by furin. Generation of a potent inhibitor.

The cleavage of parathyroid hormone (PTH) from its precursor proparathyroid hormone (pro-PTH) is accomplished efficiently by the proprotein convertase furin (Hendy, G. N., Bennett, H.

MR imaging of renal function.

MR imaging has advantages over both computed tomography and nuclear scintigraphy for assessing renal function, because it combines high spatial resolution with information on perfusion and function. A further advantage is the lack of ionizing radiation. Quantitation of flow rate by phase contrast in the renal arteries and veins has the potential to provide estimation of renal blood flow, which could prove useful in a number of clinical situations, especially for studying renal vascular disorders and the effects of treatment, and for assessing renal transplants.

Functional MR imaging of the porcine kidney: physiologic changes of prolonged pneumoperitoneum.

Background: Increased intraabdominal pressure (IPA) during laparoscopy has been associated with decreased urine output. The purpose of this study was to use a noninvasive MRI technique to measure renal vessel flow velocity and change in differential renal medulla and cortex perfusion during pneumoperitoneum.

Study Design: Six female farm pigs underwent general endotracheal anesthesia and dynamic imaging following left ventricular (LV) injection of Gd-DTPA, utilizing a dual echo gradient echo sequence.

Tandem duplication of chromosome 14 (q12q13).

A nine-years-old Egyptian boy was referred for speech and language delay. He has an I.Q.

Age at onset and pattern of neuropsychological impairment in mild early-stage Alzheimer disease. A study of a community-based population.

Objectives: To examine the effects of age at onset on neuropsychological functioning in a group of patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD) and, within this group, to scrutinize further those patients with mild early-onset disease as it was hypothesized that within this group specific patterns of cognitive impairment could be identified that correlated with neuropathological staging of the disease.

Design: Each patient underwent an extensive neuropsychological test battery to examine a wide range of cognitive processes to provide information to identify subtypes of dementia.

Setting: The Memory Clinic in the Department of Geriatric Medicine, Concord Hospital, Concord, New South Wales, Australia.

The hairpin stack fold, a novel protein architecture for a new family of protein growth factors.

The granulin/epithelin protein motif has an unusual structure consisting of a parallel stack of beta-hairpins stapled together by six disulphide bonds. The new structure also contains a folding subdomain shared by small toxins, protease inhibitors as well as the EGF-like protein modules.

Anatomy of the retroperitoneum: observations of the distribution of pathologic fluid collections.

Purpose: To correlate anatomic dissections with clinical observations regarding anatomic distribution of retroperitoneal fluid, and to document the existence of planes that lie between classically described retroperitoneal spaces.

Materials And Methods: Latex was injected in varying amounts into the pancreatic tail in three fresh cadavers to simulate peripancreatic fluid collections. Spiral computed tomography (CT) was performed of the abdomen and pelvis after each latex injection.

Variables associated with cognitive function in elderly California Seventh-day Adventists.

From a cohort of white, non-Hispanic California Seventh-day Adventists, 99 subjects over age 75 years in 1991 were randomly selected. Dietary habits and educational status had been measured in 1976. Subjects completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in 1991, and at that time, they or caregivers also gave information on current medical problems and drug therapy.

Subanesthetic concentrations of desflurane and propofol suppress recall of emotionally charged information.

Whether anesthetized patients register emotionally charged information remains controversial. We tested this possibility using subanesthetic concentrations of propofol or desflurane. Twenty-two volunteers (selected for hypnosis susceptibility) received propofol and desflurane (on separate occasions, and in a random order) at a concentration 1.

Inhibition of intestinal secretion by rice.

Rates of stool output are reduced when cooked rice is incorporated into oral rehydration solutions. We found that a fraction extracted from rice inhibited the response of intestinal epithelial crypt cells to adenosine 3'5'-cyclic monophosphate, a major intracellular mediator of secretion. This response to rice was seen as an inhibition of cell shrinkage and of chloride efflux in fresh suspended guinea pig crypt cells.

Proparathyroid hormone is preferentially cleaved to parathyroid hormone by the prohormone convertase furin. A mass spectrometric study.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH), an 84-amino acid peptide, is the major regulator of blood calcium homeostasis. Its mRNA, in addition to encoding the mature peptide, also encodes a "pre" sequence of 25 amino acids and a basic "pro" hexapeptide. To assess which of the subtilisin-like prohormone convertases can process proPTH to PTH we coinfected cells with a vaccinia virus construct expressing human preproPTH and vaccinia virus constructs expressing furin, PC1 or PC2.