Use of hormone replacement therapy by Melbourne women.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used for relief of symptoms related to the menopause and for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Patterns of use of HRT are thought to be changing rapidly, but little is known about who is using the therapy, for what purpose or for what period of time. Telephone interviews were conducted in May 1991 with a randomly selected sample of 2001 Australian-born women aged 45 to 55 years living in Melbourne, as part of the Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project.

Alpha beta and gamma delta T cells can share a late common precursor.

Background: The subdivision of T cells into alpha beta and gamma delta subtypes is conserved throughout vertebrate development. The respective alpha beta and gamma delta T-cell receptors (TCRs) are encoded by somatically rearranged genes. There has been broad speculation as to whether an individual thymocyte can become either a gamma delta T cell or an alpha beta T cell as a result of stochastic gene rearrangement processes, or whether the two types of T cell are derived from separate lineages.

Nucleotide sequence and distribution of the pepPN gene from Lactobacillus helveticus CNRZ32.

The Lactobacillus helveticus CNRZ32 gene encoding a di-/tri- pepidase with prolinase activity (pepPN) was sequenced. An open reading frame of 912 base pairs was identified corresponding to a peptide with a molecular mass of 35.04 kDa.

T cell receptor beta chain gene rearrangement and selection during thymocyte development in adult mice.

The identification is made in normal mice of the stages in T cell development at which the rearranged beta chain of the T cell receptor (TCR) is utilized to promote T cell maturation, independent of the TCR alpha chain. In addition, evidence is provided that utilization of beta chains in T cell progenitors does not preclude differentiation to TCR gamma delta + T cells. This is consistent with the view that an initial consequence of beta chain expression by early thymocytes is clonal expansion, increasing the size of the pool of useful precursors.

Schizophrenia, narcolepsy, and HLA-DR15, DQ6.

A strong association between HLA-DR2, DQ1 and narcolepsy-cataplexy has been known since 1986. In 1990 a subdivision (HLA-DR15, DQ6) was shown to be equally associated. Narcolepsy symptoms include rapid eye movement (REM)-sleep intrusion hallucinations during the day.

Abnormal T cell development in CD3-zeta-/- mutant mice and identification of a novel T cell population in the intestine.

The T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-associated invariable membrane proteins (CD3-gamma, -delta, -epsilon and -zeta) are critical to the assembly and cell surface expression of the TCR/CD3 complex and to signal transduction upon engagement of TCR with antigen. Disruption of the CD3-zeta gene by homologous recombination resulted in a structurally abnormal thymus which primarily contained CD4- CD8- and TCR/CD3very lowCD4+CD8+ cells. Spleen and lymph nodes of CD3-zeta-/- mutant mice contained a normal number and ratio of CD4+ and CD8+ single positive cells that were TCR/CD3very low.

Gamma delta T-cell lines isolated from intestinal epithelium respond to a B-cell lymphoma.

gamma delta T-cell hybrid clones were obtained from intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (i-IEL) by fusion with the BW5147 thymoma line. Four clones which expressed different V gamma/V delta genes were selected for further study. All of the gamma delta clones secreted interleukin-2 (IL-2) in the presence of the BALB/c-derived B-lymphoma line, A20.

Rearrangement and diversity of T cell receptor beta chain genes in thymocytes: a critical role for the beta chain in development.

Thymocytes from mice congenitally deficient for TCR alpha chain synthesis were examined for the status of their TCR beta chain genes, by DNA sequencing and by a novel technique that analyzes populations of gene rearrangements. TCR beta chain genes were predominantly productively rearranged, in contrast with the statistical prediction for a quasi-random rearrangement process. Therefore, productive TCR beta chain gene rearrangement appears to be a critical step in thymocyte maturation, independent of TCR alpha chain expression.

Age disorientation in Kraepelinian schizophrenia: frequency and clinical correlates.

Many schizophrenic patients exhibit significant neuropsychological impairment, and age disorientation is considered to be one of the more extreme manifestations. To evaluate clinical correlates of age disorientation with reference to the course of schizophrenic illness, we compared 39 deteriorated chronic Kraepelinian schizophrenic patients and 39 nondeteriorated schizophrenic patients early in the course of illness. Age disorientation was observed in 36% of patients in the Kraepelinian group, but in no patient in the non-Kraepelinian group.