Linking recharge water sources to groundwater composition in the Hindon subbasin of the Ganges River, India.

Groundwater resources of the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Basin are under increasing pressure, not only from extensive groundwater abstraction, but also from contamination. In this study we aim to better understand how different recharge sources affect the hydrochemical and isotope composition of groundwater. We used the Hindon subbasin in Northern India as a case study.

The use of eye-movement recording in patients with anti-Hu antibody-associated paraneoplastic neurological syndromes to objectively determine extent and course of disease.

Background And Purpose: Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes with Hu-antibodies (Hu-PNS) are immune-mediated disorders in patients with malignancies, most frequently small cell lung cancer, affecting both the peripheral and central nervous system (CNS). In Hu-PNS, brainstem and cerebellar involvement are common. Here, we assessed whether eye-movement disturbances can be used for diagnosis and monitoring of CNS involvement in Hu-PNS.

Allopregnanolone and mood disorders.

Unlabelled: Certain women experience negative mood symptoms during the menstrual cycle and progesterone addition in estrogen treatments. In women with PMDD increased negative mood symptoms related to allopregnanolone increase during the luteal phase of ovulatory menstrual cycles. In anovulatory cycles no symptom or sex steroid increase occurs.

Human chorionic gonadotropin treatment of anti-Hu-associated paraneoplastic neurological syndromes.

Objective: Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes associated with anti-Hu antibodies (Hu-PNS) are mediated by a T-cell immune response that is directed against the Hu antigens. In pregnancy, many Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis regress. We hypothesised that this decreased disease activity during pregnancy may be related to high human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels.

How progesterone impairs memory for biologically salient stimuli in healthy young women.

Progesterone, or rather its neuroactive metabolite allopregnanolone, modulates amygdala activity and thereby influences anxiety. Cognition and, in particular, memory are also altered by allopregnanolone. In the present study, we investigated whether allopregnanolone modulates memory for biologically salient stimuli by influencing amygdala activity, which in turn may affect neural processes in other brain regions.

Progesterone selectively increases amygdala reactivity in women.

The acute neural effects of progesterone are mediated by its neuroactive metabolites allopregnanolone and pregnanolone. These neurosteroids potentiate the inhibitory actions of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Progesterone is known to produce anxiolytic effects in animals, but recent animal studies suggest that pregnanolone increases anxiety after a period of low allopregnanolone concentration.

Effects of allopregnanolone on sedation in men, and in women on oral contraceptives.

Allopregnanolone is a known GABA(A) receptor agonist not previously given to men, or to women using oral contraceptives (OC). The effects of metabolites of sex hormones on the GABA(A) receptor are different between men and women. OC are known to change GABA(A) receptor subunit composition.

Oral progesterone decreases saccadic eye velocity and increases sedation in women.

The aim of this study was to investigate the neurophysiological and behavioural effects of a single dose of progesterone in women. Allopregnanolone is a metabolite of progesterone and a potent positive modulator of the GABA(A) receptor and produces sedative and anxiolytic effects. This study was designed to examine the effect of oral progesterone and the metabolite allopregnanolone in women.

Effects of PhD examination stress on allopregnanolone and cortisol plasma levels and peripheral benzodiazepine receptor density.

Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) density in blood platelets and plasma allopregnanolone concentration in humans were determined following acute stress as represented by PhD examination. Fifteen healthy PhD students participated. Heart rate, blood pressure, plasma allopregnanolone, plasma cortisol, and PBR density were measured at different time points.

Neurosteroids in depression: a review.

Rationale: A deregulation in concentrations of the neurosteroids (allo)pregnanolone and 3alpha,5alpha-tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (3alpha,5alpha-TH DOC) has been found in depressed patients. These levels normalize following treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Furthermore, administration of the neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to depressed patients is associated with an improvement in the symptoms of depression.

Dependence potential of antidepressants compared to benzodiazepines.

The aim of the present study was to compare the possible dependence potential of antidepressants (ADs) to benzodiazepines (BZDs). The Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), the Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire (Bendep-SRQ) and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were administered to 70 psychiatric outpatient BZD users and 54 psychiatric outpatient AD users. Significantly more Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition Revised (DSM-III-R) as well as International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) past year (PY) and lifetime (LT) dependence diagnoses were made in the BZD group than in the AD group.