Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) stress response in preschool age varies by serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR): A preliminary report.

The serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) has been implicated in stress regulation, with increased stress reactivity often being found in carriers of the low-expressing short (S) allele. Nevertheless, the role of the 5-HTTLPR in influencing parasympathetic stress reactivity, as indexed by Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), is still unknown. This study examined, for the first time, whether the 5-HTTLPR was associated with variations in RSA response to maternal separation in a sample of 69 healthy 5-year-old children.

Adult attachment interviews of women from low-risk, poverty, and maltreatment risk samples: comparisons between the hostile/helpless and traditional AAI coding systems.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the correlates of a Hostile-Helpless (HH) state of mind among 67 women belonging to a community sample and two different at-risk samples matched on socio-economic indicators, including 20 women from low-SES population (poverty sample) and 15 women at risk for maltreatment being monitored by the social services for the protection of juveniles (maltreatment risk sample). The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) protocols were reliably coded blind to the samples' group status. The rates of HH classification increased in relation to the risk status of the three samples, ranging from 9% for the low-risk sample to 60% for the maltreatment risk sample to 75% for mothers in the maltreatment risk sample who actually maltreated their infants.

Experimental studies to obtain rice malt.

The production of a rice malt that could be used as an ingredient in gluten-free foodstuffs, especially for brewing purposes, was studied. Different rice varieties were characterized through morphological description and chemical-physical analyses. Each rice variety was germinated in the laboratory in jute bags for different periods.

X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia: a ten-year case report and clinical considerations.

Background: Ectodermal Dysplasias (EDs) are a large group of syndromes that are heterogeneous under clinical and genetic aspects, and are characterised by anomalies in the structures of ectodermal origin. In EDs dental anomalies in shape and number (oligo-hypodontia) occur frequently and severely and can affect both the primary and permanent dentition.

Case Report: The oral habilitation of a child affected by X-linked Hypohidrotic-Ectodermal Dyspasia with oligodontia over a period of ten years is described.

The role played by the interaction between genetic factors and attachment in the stress response in infancy.

Background: The importance of understanding which environmental and biological factors are involved in determining individual differences in physiological response to stress is widely recognized, given the impact that stress has on physical and mental health.

Methods: The child-mother attachment relationship and some genetic polymorphisms (5-HTTLPR, COMT and GABRA6) were tested as predictors of salivary cortisol and alpha amylase concentrations, two biomarkers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis and sympathetic adrenomedullary (SAM) system activity, during the Strange Situation (SS) procedure in a sample of more than 100 healthy infants, aged 12 to 18 months.

Results: Individual differences in alpha amylase response to separation were predicted by security of attachment in interaction with 5-HTTLPR and GABRA6 genetic polymorphisms, whereas alpha amylase basal levels were predicted by COMT x attachment interaction.

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in subjects with alternating hemiplegia of childhood.

Purpose: To examine the functioning of patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), a very rare clinical condition manifesting with recurrent episodes of hemiplegia lasting from few minutes to several days, paroxysmal occurrence of tonic/dystonic attacks and other autonomic disturbances. Furthermore, patients exhibit chronic disabilities as well as mental retardation, epilepsy and motor disorders that affect the patients' everyday functioning to a considerable extent.

Method: Data about 25 patients with AHC (F = 13) aged 3-34 years were collected with International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) questionnaires.

Cementoenamel junction of deciduous teeth: SEM-morphology.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the cementoenamel junction of a group of 11 primary sound mandibular incisors extracted for orthodontic reasons.

Materials And Methods: Eleven caries and defect-free human inferior deciduous incisors were extracted for orthodontic reasons and the cementoenamel junction was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The types of tissue interrelations were classified in four possible categories: 1) cementum and enamel edge-to-edge, 2) cementum overlapped by enamel, 3) enamel overlapped by cementum, 4) presence of exposed dentin between enamel and cementum.

Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases by endothelin and noradrenaline in small arteries, regulation by calcium influx and tyrosine kinases, and their role in contraction.

Small-artery responses to vasoconstrictor agonists are important for vascular function. To investigate the signaling pathways involved in contraction, we studied the activation and regulation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38MAPKs) and heat shock protein (HSP) kinase by endothelin and noradrenaline in rat mesenteric arteries. Both vasoconstrictors activated p38alpha and/or p38beta but not p38gamma or p38delta, leading to increased HSP kinase activity.

The importance of nitric oxide in the cytokine-induced inhibition of glucose formation by cultured hepatocytes incubated with insulin, dexamethasone, and glucagon.

Culturing hepatocytes with a combination of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma, and interleukin 1 beta plus lipopolysaccharide resulted in an induction of nitric oxide synthase and concomitant inhibition of both hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. The inhibition of gluconeogenesis was evident both under basal conditions and in cells stimulated acutely with glucagon. The stimulation of glycogen mobilization by glucagon was largely prevented by the presence of the cytokines.

Inhibition of cytokine-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase expression by glucagon and cAMP in cultured hepatocytes.

Addition of lipopolysaccharide plus interferon gamma, tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 1 beta to cultured hepatocytes resulted in the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity as measured by NO3(-)+NO2- formation, the conversion of L-[U-14C]arginine into citrulline and Western blotting of the iNOS protein. The inclusion of 1 microM glucagon during the induction period significantly decreased the effect of the cytokines on iNOS activity, the major effect being at the level of the total amount of protein, rather than alterations in substrate supply or covalent modification of the existing protein. In contrast, 1 microM insulin was without effect.

Effect of multiple cytokines plus bacterial endotoxin on glucose and nitric oxide production by cultured hepatocytes.

Treatment of cultured hepatocytes with a combination of cytokines, including tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma and interleukin-1 beta, plus lipopolysaccharide resulted in a time-dependent induction of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (as measured by NO2- (+) NO3- production) and inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycogen breakdown. The inhibition of glucose release was comparable with the observed following treatment of rats with lipopolysaccharide or treatment of isolated hepatocytes with artificial NO donors. In addition, this effect was also evident with all substrates tested that enter the gluconeogenic pathway below the level of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, suggesting that this combination of cytokines may underlie the inhibition of gluconeogenesis observed in endotoxic shock.

Biochemical evidence of functional interaction between mu- and delta-opioid receptors in SK-N-BE neuroblastoma cell line.

Radioligand binding assays and functional experiments revealed that the SK-N-BE neuroblastoma cell line expresses a similar ratio of mu- and delta-opioid receptors, both negatively coupled to adenylyl cyclase through pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins. Our findings also indicate that some functional interaction occurred between the two opioid subtypes; in fact, long-term exposure to [D-Ala2-N-methyl-Phe4-Gly-ol5]enkephalin (DAMGO), a mu-selective agonist, sensitized the functional response of the delta-selective agonist but not vice versa. It is interesting that in acute interaction experiments, we observed a shift to the right of the concentration-effect curve of either DAMGO or [D-Pen2,5]enkephalin (DPDPE), a delta-selective agonist, as a result of DPDPE or DAMGO administration, respectively.

Alterations in energy metabolism of hypertrophied rat cardiomyocytes: influence of propionyl-L-carnitine.

Alterations in energy metabolism, reduced fatty acid oxidation, and cardiac carnitine content have been implicated in the evolution from compensated to decompensated cardiac hypertrophy. We determined high-energy nucleotide levels in hypertrophied quiescent cardiomyocytes isolated from rat hearts 4 weeks after banding of abdominal aorta. In hypertrophied quiescent cardiomyocytes, a decrease in ATP content (p = 0.

Inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis by nitric oxide: a comparison with endotoxic shock.

Isolated hepatocytes incubated in the presence of the NO donors S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and 3-morpholino-sydnonimine (SIN-1) displayed a time- and dose-dependent inhibition of glucose synthesis from lactate plus pyruvate as the substrate which correlated with NO production, but not nitrite production. Neither the parent compound of SNAP, N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (NAP), nor nitrite or nitrate had any significant effect on glucose output, indicating that the inhibition was due to the generation of NO within the incubation medium. The concentrations of NO required for this effect (< 800 nM) are within the range reported to occur in intact tissues and in vivo.

Effect of treatment in vivo of rats with bacterial endotoxin on fructose 2,6-bisphosphate metabolism and L-pyruvate kinase activity and flux in isolated liver cells.

The effect of treatment of rats with bacterial endotoxin on fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2) metabolism was investigated in isolated liver cells prepared from 18 h-starved animals. The results obtained support the hypothesis that a stimulation of 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase (PFK-1) activity and an inhibition of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (Fru-1,6-P2ase) may be one mechanism underlying the inhibition of gluconeogenesis from lactate and pyruvate by endotoxin. We suggest that the stimulation of PFK-1 and inhibition of Fru-1,6-P2ase activity is the result of a 2-3-fold increase in Fru-2,6-P2.