Spectral analyses of sleep EEG in depressed offspring of fathers with or without a positive history of alcohol abuse or dependence: a pilot study.

The current study was designed to examine the effects of family history of alcohol use disorders on spectral electroencephalographic (EEG) sleep measures obtained in a sample of youth with depression. We evaluated sleep in 32 depressed youth (8-16 years of age) with and without a family history of alcohol use disorders. Eighteen of the participants (10 males and 8 females) reported a positive paternal history of alcohol use disorders and made up the family history positive (FHP) group.

Increased anxiety-like behavior in adult rats exposed to nicotine as adolescents.

Objective: Twenty percent of adolescents between 12 and 18 years old are regular smokers. Recently developed animal models demonstrate that adolescent nicotine exposure produces behavioral and electrophysiological changes, which persist into adulthood. The purpose of this study was to further define the behavioral effects of nicotine exposure during adolescence.

Event-related potential responses to alcohol-related stimuli in African-American young adults: relation to family history of alcoholism and drug usage.

Aims: To use event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the response to alcohol-related stimuli in African-American young adults.

Methods: ERPs to an object recognition task, that included pictures of objects, food and alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related drinks as stimuli, were obtained in 81 African-American young adult men and women (18-25 years old) without a personal history of alcohol dependence. Information on: psychiatric diagnoses, personal drinking and drug use history, and familial history of alcoholism was also obtained.

EEG low-voltage alpha and alpha power in African American young adults: relation to family history of alcoholism.

Background: Several studies support an association between having a low-voltage EEG and alcohol dependence; however, it is not clear whether this measure represents a risk marker or is a result of years of heavy drinking. The present study's aims were to investigate the prevalence of low-voltage alpha EEG variants in African American young adults who have not yet developed alcohol dependence and to test for associations between low-voltage alpha (LVA) EEG, alpha power, and a family history of alcohol dependence.

Methods: Clinical ratings and spectral characteristics of the EEG, collected using bipolar recordings, were investigated in 81 African American young adult men and women (18-25 years old) who had no personal history of alcohol dependence.

[Angiomyolipoma of the kidneys as a rare cause of retroperitoneal hemorrhage. Two case reports with tuberous sclerosis Bourneville-Pringle].

Tuberous sclerosis (Bourneville-Pringle-disease, TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by seizures, mental retardation and hamartomatous tumours in multiple organs, including subependymal giant cell astrocytomas, cardiac rhabdomyomas and renal angiomyolipomas. Recent population-based studies suggest a prevalence of 1 case per 25,000 individuals. Renal angiomyolipomas, which may be found sporadically or associated with TSC, become evident as an acute retroperitoneal haemorrhage or by symptoms of a flank mass.

Association of the ADH2*3 allele with greater alcohol expectancies in African-American young adults.

Objective: A polymorphism at the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene locus, ADH2*3, exhibits markedly greater capacity and maximal velocity for ethanol, and has been reported to occur exclusively in African Americans and some tribes of Native Americans. While it appears that this allele may produce protection from alcohol-induced morbidity, the mechanism by which it does so remains unknown.

Method: This study examined the association between expectations of the effects of alcohol and the presence of the ADH2*3 allele in 66 African-American young adults (18-25 years old).

The effects of corticotropin-releasing factor on the cortical EEG are reduced following adolescent nicotine exposure.

Although smoking is highly prevalent among adolescents, relatively little is known about the lasting neurobehavioral consequences associated with adolescent nicotine exposure. Prior studies from our laboratory suggest that adolescent nicotine exposure induces an anxiogenic profile in adult rats. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) systems are important modulators of anxiety and response to stress.

EEG and ERP profiles in the high alcohol preferring (HAP) and low alcohol preferring (LAP) mice: relationship to ethanol preference.

Neurophysiological measures, such as decreased P300 amplitude and altered EEG alpha activity, have been associated with increased alcoholism risk. The purpose of the present study was to extend the assessment of the neurophysiological indices associated with alcohol consumption to a recently developed mouse model of high ethanol consumption, the first replicate line of high alcohol preferring (HAP-1) and low alcohol preferring (LAP-1) mice. Male HAP-1, LAP-1, and HS mice from the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado Health Science Center (i.

Protective association of genetic variation in alcohol dehydrogenase with alcohol dependence in Native American Mission Indians.

Objective: Two alcohol dehydrogenase genes (ADH2 and ADH3 on chromosome 4) and one aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (ALDH2 on chromosome 12) exhibit functional polymorphisms. The goal of this study was to determine whether any associations exist between the ADH2, ADH3, and ALDH2 polymorphisms and alcohol dependence in a group of Native Americans. An additional goal was to determine if any associations exist between these polymorphisms and the endophenotype, maximum number of drinks ever consumed in a 24-hour period.

Long latency event-related potentials in mice: effects of stimulus characteristics and strain.

The P3, or P300 component of the event-related potentials (ERPs) is a positive going waveform that can be averaged from the EEG approximately 250-500 ms following the presentation of task or context 'relevant' stimuli. This potential has been demonstrated to be a sensitive measure of both normal and abnormal cognitive functioning. P300 models have been developed in monkeys, cats and rats.

Neurophysiological profiles of replicate line 2 high-alcohol-drinking (HAD-2) and low-alcohol-drinking (LAD-2) rats.

Rationale: A select number of electrophysiological findings have been demonstrated to differentiate rat lines selectively bred for high and low ethanol preference.

Objective: In the present study, EEGs and event-related potentials (ERPs) of high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) and low-alcohol-drinking (LAD) rats from replicate line 2 (HAD-2 and LAD-2) were assessed to determine if their neurophysiological profiles are similar to selected lines previously evaluated.

Methods: Rats obtained from Indiana University were implanted with cortical and amygdalar recording electrodes.

Neuropeptide Y administration into the amygdala does not affect ethanol consumption.

Evidence seems to indicate that the anxiolytic effects of centrally administered neuropeptide Y (NPY) are mediated by the central nucleus of the amygdala. Because findings seem to indicate that ethanol may be self-administered partially for its anxiolytic effects, it was hypothesized that NPY, microinjected into the central nucleus of the amygdala, would decrease ethanol intake. In this study, we examined the effects of NPY, administered into the central nucleus of the amygdala, on ethanol, sucrose, and food consumption, as well as the concomitant effects of NPY on cortical electroencephalographic activity.

Lasting effects of adolescent nicotine exposure on the electroencephalogram, event related potentials, and locomotor activity in the rat.

Tobacco smoking initiated during adolescence is often associated with rapid onset of dependence and difficulty in maintaining abstinence. Animal models have demonstrated that adolescent nicotine exposure causes cell death and altered neurochemistry in the cortex and hippocampus; however, little is known about the neurophysiological consequences of adolescent nicotine exposure in the adult. The primary objective of this study was to assess the consequences of adolescent nicotine exposure on the adult electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related potentials.

Sleep deprivation as a probe of homeostatic sleep regulation in primary alcoholics.

Background: Alcoholic patients show prominent disturbances of sleep electroencephalograms (EEGs) with a marked loss of slow wave sleep that is even more profound in African American alcoholics as compared to European Americans. Using partial sleep deprivation, this study examined the extent to which abnormal sleep is reversible in alcoholic subjects.

Methods: In a sample stratified on ethnicity, polysomnographic and spectral sleep EEG measures were compared in male primary alcoholic in patients (n=46) and age-matched comparison controls (n=32) at baseline-and recovery sleep following a night of partial sleep deprivation.

Psychiatric diagnoses among Mission Indian children with and without a parental history of alcohol dependence.

Objective: The primary goal was to determine whether Mission Indian children of alcoholics (COAs) have higher rates of psychiatric disorders than Mission Indian non-COAs. A secondary goal was to explore associations of other familial variables with rates of childhood psychiatric disorders.

Method: Psychiatric diagnoses were obtained from the primary caregiver, using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA), for 117 (63 female) Mission Indian children; 81 of the children were interviewed directly.

Neuropeptide Y administration into the third ventricle does not increase sucrose or ethanol self-administration but does affect the cortical EEG and increases food intake.

Rationale: Several studies have provided indirect evidence that neuropeptide Y (NPY) may play a role in the regulation of ethanol consumption. However, the direct effects of central NPY administration on ethanol drinking are unclear.

Objective: This study examined the effects of NPY on ethanol, sucrose, and food consumption as well as its concomitant effects on the cortical EEG.

Substance P and neurokinin levels are decreased in the cortex and hypothalamus of alcohol-preferring (P) rats.

Objective: Central tachykinin levels (i.e., substance P [SP], neurokinin A [NKA], neurokinin B [NKB] and neurokinin K [NKK]) have been reported to fluctuate in association with stress and anxiety.

Characterization of GlnK1 from Methanosarcina mazei strain Gö1: complementation of an Escherichia coli glnK mutant strain by GlnK1.

Trimeric PII-like signal proteins are known to be involved in bacterial regulation of ammonium assimilation and nitrogen fixation. We report here the first biochemical characterization of an archaeal GlnK protein from the diazotrophic methanogenic archaeon Methanosarcina mazei strain Gö1 and show that M. mazei GlnK1 is able to functionally complement an Escherichia coli glnK mutant for growth on arginine.

Association of the ADH2*3 allele with a negative family history of alcoholism in African American young adults.

Background: Two of the class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes (ADH2 and ADH3) encode for multiple isozymes that differ in their kinetic properties. Polymorphisms at both of these gene loci have been linked to alcoholism and/or alcohol-induced disabilities in some populations. At the ADH2 locus, three polymorphisms are present (ADH2*1, ADH2*2, ADH2*3).

Visual P3 findings in Mission Indian youth: relationship to family history of alcohol dependence and behavioral problems.

Native Americans have some of the highest rates of alcohol abuse and dependence, yet risk factors for problem drinking remain relatively unknown. The amplitude of the P3 component of the event-related potential (ERP) has been suggested to be an index of 'vulnerability to alcoholism', especially when it is elicited by visual tasks in younger individuals. Visual P3 tasks, however, have not been previously investigated in Native American youth.

Early maternal separation alters neuropeptide Y concentrations in selected brain regions in adult rats.

Human and animal studies support the involvement of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the pathophysiology of depression. Thus, hippocampal NPY-LI is decreased in genetic models of depression, the Flinders Sensitive Line and Fawn Hooded rats. Maternal "deprivation" has been identified as one risk factor in the development of psychopathology, including depression in adulthood.

Auditory P3 findings in mission Indian youth.

Objective: Native Americans have some of the highest rates of alcohol abuse and dependence, yet potential biological risk factors associated with the problem drinking seen in many tribes remain relatively unknown. In this study, the amplitude of the P3 component of the event-related potential (ERP), a measure associated with risk for alcoholism in European-American youth, was investigated in Mission Indians.

Method: The study participants were Mission Indian children and adolescents (N = 68, 37 male) between the ages of 7 and 13 years.

EEG asymmetry: relationship to mood and risk for alcoholism in Mission Indian youth.

Background: Left frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha dominance has been hypothesized to be related to depressed mood as well as aversive motivation and emotion. However, few studies have prospectively evaluated electroencephalogram asymmetry during development in high-risk adolescents and children.

Methods: EEG alpha asymmetry was investigated in 134 Mission Indian children who were between 7 and 13 years of age.

Females have lower skin surface pH than men. A study on the surface of gender, forearm site variation, right/left difference and time of the day on the skin surface pH.

Background/aims: It is of great interest to describe the many functions and properties of the skin in order to better understand reactions that result in different skin abnormalities, as a prerequisite in the development of skin products and topical medicines. Skin surface pH is considered a critical parameter of skin wellbeing and is typically studied on the forearm skin. Despite many previous investigations, this is an extensive field that still needs a great deal of research.

Comparison of two pH meters used for skin surface pH measurement: the pH meter 'pH900' from Courage & Khazaka versus the pH meter '1140' from Mettler Toledo.

Background/aims: Measurement of skin surface pH is used in clinical research to evaluate hazardous shifts in pH following external exposures and to evaluate the state of diseased skin with acute or chronic changes. It is therefore important to measure skin surface pH as precisely as possible. The aim of this study was to compare two commercially available pH meters used for skin surface pH measurement, to reveal differences between them in measured skin pH on the forearm.