A comparative study of the effects of timolol and latanoprost on blood flow velocity of the retrobulbar vessels.

Purpose: To examine the effects of topical timolol and latanoprost on retrobulbar vessel blood velocity in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Methods: Nine patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and six patients with ocular hypertension were enrolled for this study. All patients were treated topically with 0.

Rapid modulation of the apoptosis regulatory genes, bcl-2 and bax by prolactin in rat Nb2 lymphoma cells.

The Nb2 rat lymphoma represents a useful model for investigation of molecular events coupled to PRL-induced proliferation. Moreover, recent evidence has also demonstrated the utility of this system to study mechanisms linked to programmed cell death (apoptosis). Thus, glucocorticosteroids activate apoptosis in lactogen-dependent Nb2 cells, whereas the addition of PRL abrogates this effect.

Ocular hypertension and primary open-angle glaucoma: a comparative study of their retrobulbar blood flow velocity.

Purpose: To compare the orbital blood flow velocities of patients with long-standing ocular hypertension and patients with primary open-angle glaucoma.

Methods: Twenty patients with ocular hypertension were recruited from our clinic and underwent color Doppler imaging evaluation of their retrobulbar vessels. The blood flow velocities and resistance index of their central retinal artery, temporal short posterior ciliary artery, and ophthalmic artery were compared with those of 20 glaucoma patients individually matched for age and level of the highest untreated intraocular pressure ever recorded.

Various glaucomatous optic nerve appearances. A color Doppler imaging study of retrobulbar circulation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to observe the blood flow velocity in the retrobulbar vessels of patients with glaucoma with different appearances of optic discs.

Methods: Patients with four different disc appearances (focal ischemic discs, myopic glaucomatous discs, senile sclerotic discs, and discs with a generalized enlargement of the cup) were selected from a pool of optic disc photographs. No clinical information from the patients was available during the selection.

Color Doppler imaging in patients with asymmetric glaucoma and unilateral visual field loss.

Purpose: To determine whether lower blood velocities and high resistive index in the retrobulbar arteries are primary or secondary to glaucomatous damage in patients with open-angle glaucoma.

Methods: Color Doppler imaging was performed in 32 glaucomatous patients with unilateral visual field loss and in 31 control subjects. Peak systolic velocity and end diastolic velocity were measured, and resistive index was calculated in the central retinal artery and short posterior ciliary arteries.

Visual field correlations with color Doppler studies in open angle glaucoma.

Purpose: This study was designed to assess the correlation between flow velocity, the resistive index and visual field defects in patients with chronic open angle glaucoma in comparison with a nonglaucomatous control population.

Methods: Color Doppler imaging was used to study flow velocity in the central retinal artery and short posterior ciliary arteries of 76 patients with chronic open angle glaucoma and 28 normal subjects. Velocity and resistive index were correlated with visual field abnormalities.

A novel heat shock response in prolactin-dependent Nb2 node lymphoma cells.

Virtually all cells respond to heat stress by increased expression or induction of one or more of the highly conserved cellular stress response proteins, heat shock proteins (HSPs). Here, we report the unusual property of rat Nb2-11 cells, a prolactin-dependent pre-T-cell line, to display reduced HSP expression following exposure to elevated temperature. After heat stress (41 degrees C, 1 h), there was no evidence of inducible members of the 70 kDa HSP family, a response common to other cell culture and tissue systems.

Rapid induction of pim-1 expression by prolactin and interleukin-2 in rat Nb2 lymphoma cells.

The lactogen-dependent Nb2 lymphoma line (Nb2-11) represents a useful pre-T cell model for investigation of early molecular events coupled to PRL-stimulated cell cycle progression. Expression of pim-1, a protooncogene that encodes a conserved cytosolic serine/threonine protein kinase, is rapidly induced in hematopoietic cells upon mitogen stimulation and is thought to be important for lymphocyte activation. The present study was conducted to determine whether mitogen stimulation in Nb2-11 or lactogen-independent Nb2-SFJCD1 cells provokes pim-1 gene expression.

Rapid activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase and p21ras by prolactin and interleukin 2 in rat Nb2 node lymphoma cells.

Several serine/threonine and tyrosine kinase signal transduction pathways have been recently linked to prolactin (PRL) action in lymphoid cells. Utilizing the lactogen-dependent, rat pre-T lymphoma cell line, Nb2-11, and the autonomous subline, Nb2-SFJCD1, studies were conducted to determine whether PRL- or interleukin-2 (IL-2)-stimulated Nb2 cell proliferation is coupled to the activation of p21ras and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Stimulation of Nb2-11 cells, growth-arrested in the early G1 phase of the cell cycle, with PRL or IL-2 rapidly (5-10 min) provoked GTP binding to Ras, enhanced tyrosyl phosphorylation of MAP kinase, significantly increased its enzymatic activity, and caused its nuclear translocation.

The nuclear prolactin receptor: a 62-kDa chromatin-associated protein in rat Nb2 lymphoma cells.

Previously we demonstrated that lactogen-dependent Nb2 cells express a nuclear prolactin (PRL) receptor. Thus, the nuclear receptor expressed in PRL-dependent Nb2-11 and -independent Nb2-SFJCD1 cells was characterized. Initially, the potential proteolytic processing of internalized 125I-rPRL was investigated.

Alterations in splenocyte protein kinase C (PKC) activity by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in vivo.

The effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on growth factor-coupled activation of nuclear protein kinase C (nPKC) and on the subcellular distribution of PKC activity in rat splenocytes were investigated. Seven days after a single injection of TCDD (50 micrograms/kg body weight), cytosolic and particulate PKC activity was significantly higher in splenocytes from TCDD-treated rats or pair-fed control rats compared to ad libitum-fed animals. In a separate experiment, purified splenocyte nuclei from TCDD-treated animals and controls were used to study activation of nPKC by growth factors and other trophic agents.

Color Doppler imaging and spectral analysis of the optic nerve vasculature in glaucoma.

Purpose: We used color Doppler imaging to study blood flow velocity in the central retinal artery and the short posterior ciliary arteries in patients with glaucoma.

Method: Fifty-two patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma, 24 patients with normal-tension glaucoma, and 28 normal subjects were studied. The mean of the peak systolic velocity, the end diastolic velocity, and the resistive index were compared in the three groups.

Nuclear translocation of prolactin: collaboration of tyrosine kinase and protein kinase C activation in rat Nb2 node lymphoma cells.

Recent evidence has suggested that prolactin (PRL), internalized by lactogen-dependent Nb2 lymphoma cells, is actively translocated to the nucleus where it binds to PRL receptors. Moreover, the mitogenic action of PRL in these cells has been separately linked to protein tyrosyl phosphorylation and activation of protein kinase C (PKC). Therefore, the coupling of PRL internalization and nuclear translocation to the activation of these signal transduction pathways was investigated.

Identification of essential nucleotides in an upstream repressing sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by selection for increased expression of TRK2.

The TRK2 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a membrane protein involved in potassium transport and is expressed at extremely low levels. Dominant cis-acting mutations (TRK2D), selected by their ability to confer TRK2-dependent growth on low-potassium medium, identified an upstream repressor element (URS1-TRK2) in the TRK2 promoter. The URS1-TRK2 sequence (5'-AGCCGCACG-3') shares six nucleotides with the ubiquitous URS1 element (5'-AGCCGCCGA-3'), and the protein species binding URS1-CAR1 (URSF) is capable of binding URS1-TRK2 in vitro.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and associated patterns of memory decline.

The relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cognitive functioning was analyzed in a study with 50 aging patients. A complex pattern of interactions was identified between emotional and cognitive functioning and chronic respiratory disease when the effects of age, sex, type and severity of disease were controlled. These patients did not show any global and diffuse cognitive impairment.

Prolactin-induced phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of MAP kinase in Nb2 lymphoma cells.

The coupling of prolactin (PRL) receptor ligation to activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase was sought in rat Nb2 lymphoma cells, a pre-T lymphocyte line dependent upon lactogens for proliferation. Addition of PRL (20 ng/ml) to Nb2 cells, growth arrested in the early G1 phase of cell cycle, stimulated rapid tyrosyl phosphorylation of MAP kinase (min). Phosphorylated MAP kinase subsequently translocated to the nucleus, with kinetics essentially identical to those demonstrated for nuclear accumulation of PRL.

The Italian version of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS): psychometric and normative characteristics from a normal aged population.

The Alzheimer's Disease Assesment Scale (ADAS) was specifically proposed for the clinical assessment of patients suffering from dementia and is used in different countries. The Italian version of ADAS is presented in this paper together with the description of criteria used in transforming the American edition in the Italian edition. Psychometric and normative data are illustrated and discussed.

Suramin, a protein kinase C inhibitor, impairs hepatic regeneration.

Previously we have shown that partial hepatectomy (PH) or exposure of the liver to the mitogen prolactin induces activation of hepatic protein kinase C (PKC). Here, we used suramin, an antitrypanosomal and chemotherapeutic drug which inhibits that enzyme, as a probe of PKC signal transduction in the regenerative response after PH in the rat. Suramin was administered i.

Diagnosis of peritonsillar abscess: value of intraoral sonography.

Objective: Clinical differentiation of peritonsillar abscess from peritonsillar cellulitis can be difficult and often relies on blind needle aspiration of the tonsillar fossa to locate pus. The objective of this study was to establish a noninvasive and reliable sonographic technique for differentiating peritonsillar abscess from peritonsillar cellulitis in equivocal cases and to thereby avoid unnecessary needle aspiration.

Subjects And Methods: The study population included three healthy volunteers and 18 patients with clinically suspected peritonsillar abscess.

The aging of memory: A method for the assessment of qualitative changes.

Age associated memory changes are traditionally described in terms of quantity of recall. Evidence of qualitative changes associated with aging could lead to a modification of this approach. The primacy and recency effects in serial learning provide a good model to evaluate these qualitative modifications.

Neural and endocrine mechanisms of cocaine-induced 70-kDa heat shock protein expression in aorta and adrenal gland.

Cocaine has properties of a physiologic stressor that are reflected by its ability to activate both the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. We have previously reported that activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system by restraint and pharmacologic agents induces expression of a set of highly conserved cellular stress response proteins (heat shock proteins, HSP) in the adrenal gland and aorta. In the adrenal gland, HSP expression appears to be mediated by stress-induced increases in adrenocorticotropic hormone whereas expression in the aorta involves noradrenergic neurotransmission.