Linoleic and eicosapentaenoic acids in adipose tissue and platelets and risk of coronary heart disease.

The relation between the fatty-acid composition of adipose tissue and platelet membranes and the estimated relative risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) was examined in a case-control study of new angina pectoris (AP) and first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). There were progressive inverse relations between adipose linoleic acid and platelet-membrane eicosapentaenoic acid and the estimated relative risk of AP. These relations were statistically independent of each other and traditional CHD risk factors.

Leucocytes in the ejaculate from fertile and infertile men.

The presence of leucocytes and their subpopulations was studied in the ejaculate from 69 men with an infertile marriage and 12 fertile men. Monoclonal antibodies specific for human leucocytes were used in an immunoperoxidase technique. In addition to the standard sperm analysis, each specimen was also tested for sperm antibodies, aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, Ureaplasma urealyticum and Chlamydia trachomatis.

Edinburgh breast education campaign on breast cancer and breast self-examination: was it worth while?

A health education campaign was carried out at the start of a large trial of screening for breast cancer in Edinburgh. After preliminary studies the campaign concentrated on talks to small groups of women by specially trained health visitors. Over a year, 12,000 women attended.

Clinical factors in the prediction of further haemorrhage or mortality in acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage.

Data collected prospectively from 326 admissions for acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage were examined to identify factors predicting further haemorrhage or mortality. Seven predictive factors were identified by univariate analysis for both further haemorrhage and/or mortality, but only age over 60 years, an admission haemoglobin less than 8 g/dl and the presence of endoscopic stigmata of recent haemorrhage were shown by stepwise logistic regression to have independent significance for further haemorrhage. An age over 60 years, the presence of clinical shock on admission and an episode of further haemorrhage following admission emerged as independently significant in the prediction of mortality.

Superficial bladder cancer: intravesical chemotherapy and tumour progression to muscle invasion or metastases.

Of 299 patients who presented with superficial bladder cancer (Ta, T1), 60 were treated by intravesical chemotherapy (Epodyl, methotrexate or mitomycin C). The rate of tumour progression to muscle invasion or metastases was identical for each intravesical regime. There was no evidence that mitomycin C promoted tumour progression.

Application of a Poisson-gamma model to study the influence of gamete concentration on sperm-oocyte fusion in the zona-free hamster egg penetration test.

A Poisson-gamma distribution model has been developed for studying sperm-oocyte interaction in the zona-free hamster egg penetration test. With the aid of this model we have analysed the relationship between the penetration results achieved with semen of normal fertile men and the concentration of spermatozoa and oocytes used in the assay. From this analysis we have drawn up reference tables estimating the number of spermatozoa and oocytes which must be present in the assay for the result to represent a significant (P less than 0.

Relationship between respiratory morbidity in children and the home environment.

The relationships between 12 features of the home environment and respiratory morbidity as reported by parents, and as recorded in general practice records, were studied in 165 children aged seven to eight years. Parental reports of wheeze, nocturnal cough and school absence owing to chest trouble were significantly more common among children with a family history of wheeze, and those from damp or mouldy housing. There were associations between coal fires and nocturnal cough and between an open window and wheeze.

The submucosa of the human colon.

Full-thickness specimens of colon were obtained at operation or autopsy from 20 patients. The submucosa was isolated from the mucosa and muscularis externa, with confirmation by light microscopy. Submucosal specimens were then fixed and prepared for scanning and transmission electron microscopy, with preservation of their orientation.

Linoleic acid content in adipose tissue and coronary heart disease.

The possibility of an inverse relation between essential fatty acids in adipose tissue, in particular linoleic acid, and mortality from coronary heart disease was studied by a cross sectional survey of random population samples of apparently healthy men aged 40-49 from four European regions with differing mortality from coronary heart disease. The proportion of linoleic acid in adipose tissue was lowest in men from north Karelia, Finland, where mortality from coronary heart disease is highest, and highest in men from Italy, where mortality is lowest, with intermediate proportions in men from Scotland and south west Finland. Similar gradients were observed for the desaturation and elongation products dihomo-gamma-linolenic and arachidonic acid.

Application of Poisson distribution theory to the zona-free hamster oocyte penetration test to assess sperm function of men with asthenozoospermia.

Assessments of the penetrating potential of human spermatozoa were carried out using the zona-free hamster oocyte penetration test on 4 groups of subjects exhibiting normal fertility, idiopathic asthenozoospermia(less than 40% motility), asthenozoospermia associated with varicocele and oligoaesthenozoospermia (less than 20 X 10(6) spermatozoa/ml and less than 40% motility). When the Poisson model was used to correct the results of the in-vitro penetration experiments for differences in motile sperm concentration, significant differences were apparent between the normal fertile controls and all 3 categories of asthenozoospermic patient. Furthermore, the penetrating ability of the motile spermatozoa from patients presenting with a varicocele or oligoaesthenozoospermia was significantly less than that for the group in which asthenozoospermia was the only detectable defect.

An experimental design to study colonic fibre fermentation in the rat: the duration of feeding.

1. The time-course of metabolic adaptation by rats to diets containing either wheat bran or gum arabic was studied during a 12-week period. 2.

Fecundability rates from an infertile male population.

From a computer file of 955 couples attending hospital because of an infertile marriage, 279 were identified where the female partner had normal investigation results. Follow-up information was available for all couples and the fecundability (conception rate per month) for the first year of follow-up has been calculated, stratified according to the husband's investigation results. The fecundability of couples where the wife had normal investigation results but the husband had reduced sperm density ranged from 0.

Is a male infertility clinic of any use?

Two methods of statistical analysis were used to evaluate the results from an infertility clinic (the couple-months method and Cox regression analysis). The results were in general agreement and validated the couple-months method. The total trying time, sperm motility, sperm density and results of the wife's investigation were all shown to be highly significant prognostic factors.

Long-term effect of wholemeal bread on stool weight, transit time, fecal bile acids, fats, and neutral sterols.

Stool weight, fecal constituents, bile acids, fat, neutral sterols, and intestinal transit time were recorded in 28 subjects over 18 mo. During the first 12 mo the subjects ate white bread. They were studied for an initial period of 7 days, and after 6 mo (study period 1).

Bromocriptine: long-term low-dose therapy in Parkinson's disease.

Low-dose bromocriptine therapy (average dose 14.5 mg/day at 2 years) produced significant improvement in 25 of 39 parkinsonian patients. Bradykinesia was less in de novo subjects; tremor and rigidity improved most in the levodopa subjects.

Acquired cystic disease of the kidney in patients with end-stage chronic renal failure: a study of prevalence and aetiology.

Renal ultrasound scanning was performed in 100 patients with end-stage renal failure treated by both haemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Each kidney was assessed for the presence of acquired cystic disease and solid lesions. The appearances were divided into five grades from grade 0 (no cysts detected) to grade 4 (greater than 15 cysts per kidney).

Prognostic significance of alkaline and acid phosphatase and skeletal scintigraphy in carcinoma of the prostate.

The prognostic significance of skeletal scintigraphy has been reassessed in relation to other tests by extended follow-up of 220 patients. Skeletal metastases increased in prevalence with T stage and were associated with shorter survival irrespective of age. Early disease, a normal acid or alkaline phosphatase at presentation and well differentiated tumours were associated with longer survival.

A comparison of the nutrient intake of some Scotsmen with dietary recommendations.

During 1980 and 1982, 164 men aged 45-54 in North Edinburgh and West Fife participated in a 7-day individual weighed dietary survey. The mean energy intake was 11.2 MJ (2700 kcal), 38.

Vitiligo in diabetes mellitus.

We studied the association between vitiligo and diabetes mellitus, and found that vitiligo is associated with insulin-dependent diabetes but not with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. This gives further weight to the theory that vitiligo is an autoimmune disease.

Measuring bile-salt concentrations lacks clinical value for detecting hepatic dysfunction in infants receiving parenteral nutrition.

Concentrations of conjugated cholate, chenodeoxycholate, direct bilirubin, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT, EC 2.6.1.

Influence of insulin antibodies on pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of recombinant human and highly purified beef insulins in insulin dependent diabetics.

Sixteen insulin dependent diabetics of long standing, with undetectable fasting plasma C peptide concentrations, and eight non-diabetic controls were each infused intravenously with biosynthetic human and highly purified beef insulin (1 mU/kg/min) while euglycaemia was maintained by a Biostator. No difference was observed between the two insulins in respect of insulin pharmacokinetics or biological action. The diabetics showed appreciable insulin resistance, manifested by a 40% reduction in the rate of insulin mediated glucose disposal, which was unrelated to the presence of insulin antibodies.