Blood lead and blood pressure. Relationship in the adolescent and adult US population.

Heavy lead exposure has been connected to cardiovascular disease, but modest exposures encountered in the general environment have not been associated previously with disease risk. The relationship between blood lead levels and blood pressures was examined using data from the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A direct relationship was found between blood lead levels and systolic and diastolic pressures for men and women and for white and black persons aged 12 to 74 years.

A progressive neurologic disorder with supranuclear vertical gaze paresis and distinctive bone marrow cells.

Nine patients with a progressive neurologic disorder that was characterized by mental deterioration, supranuclear vertical gaze paresis, and foam cells or sea-blue histiocytes in the bone marrow are described and compared with patients who were previously described as having " neurovisceral storage disease with vertical supranuclear ophthalmoplegia" and "dystonic lipidosis." The clinical manifestations of our patients and those described by others and the pathologic findings and profiles of lipid analysis reported by others are similar to those in patients with Niemann-Pick disease, type C. Sphingomyelinase activities in leukocytes and skin fibroblasts were normal in our patients and in more than half of the reported cases; these findings are also compatible with those in patients with Niemann-Pick disease, type C.

Characterization of a sheep elastin cDNA clone containing translated sequences.

mRNA, isolated from the ligamentum nuchae of fetal sheep by guanidine HCl extraction and oligo(dT) cellulose chromatography, was used to synthesize blunt-ended cDNA molecules by the successive application of AMV reverse transcriptase, DNA polymerase and S1 nuclease. The cDNA was centrifuged on a 15-30% sucrose gradient and molecules greater than 700 bp were tailed with dCTP and cloned into the PstI site of pBR322 which had been tailed with dGTP. Ampicillin-sensitive and tetracycline-resistant colonies were screened by in situ hybridization with elastin-enriched mRNA that had been terminally labeled with 32p.

Chlorambucil in the treatment of uveitis and meningoencephalitis of Behçet's disease.

Among 21 patients with Behçet's disease, the results of various treatments were assessed. Treatment with chlorambucil, 0.1 mg/kg daily, compared favorably with corticosteroids.

Psychiatry in prisons.

In the midst of the critical struggle over the failures of rehabilitation and the impotency of the prison system, the role of the psychiatrist in the prison has become increasingly unclear. This article presents a persuasive argument for working in prisons and discusses ethical considerations, treatment approaches, and the special problems and challenges provided by prison psychiatry.

Cauda equina syndrome secondary to long-standing ankylosing spondylitis.

Fourteen patients with cauda equina syndrome secondary to long-standing ankylosing spondylitis are described. The roughly symmetrical neurological deficits were very slowly progressive and began long after the onset of the spondylitis, usually well after the rheumatological symptoms had stopped. Eventually every patient had cutaneous sensory loss in the fifth lumbar and sacral dermatomes.

Decreased urinary polyamines in patients with psoriasis treated with etretinate.

Oral administration of the aromatic retinoid etretinate is effective therapy for psoriasis and other epidermal hyperproliferative disorders. Since polyamine metabolism is known to be important in cell growth and differentiation, we measured urinary levels of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine as a reflection of cutaneous polyamine metabolism in 19 psoriatic patients treated with etretinate for 16 weeks. Using thin-layer chromatography, polyamine determinations were performed on urine collected pretherapy, during therapy, and 8 weeks after therapy was concluded.

Biochemical studies of taste sensation: monoclonal antibody against L-alanine binding activity of catfish taste epithelium.

The L-alanine taste receptors of the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus provide a useful biochemical model for studying taste receptor mechanisms. Mouse hybridomas that synthesize monoclonal antibodies have been produced. The antigen used to activate mouse spleen cells was the plasma membrane fraction obtained from the taste receptor-containing epithelium of the channel catfish.

Making videotapes: an activity for hospitalized adolescents.

An activities specialist, an instructional technologist, and an occupational therapist developed a videotape program for hospitalized adolescents. The goals of the program were to provide clients with an opportunity to use the videotape medium creatively, to promote communication between staff and clients, and to facilitate each client's mastery of some aspect of the health care experience. The program was initially implemented on a 30-bed adolescent inpatient unit of a pediatric hospital.

Etretinate therapy causes increases in lipid levels in patients with psoriasis.

We investigated changes in serum triglyceride, cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) levels during etretinate administration in 21 patients with psoriasis. Mean serum triglyceride and cholesterol values showed a statistically significant increase during etretinate therapy compared with placebo treatment; mean HDLC levels did not change. During etretinate therapy, elevations out of the normal range occurred in 77% of the patients for serum triglycerides and 25% for serum cholesterol.

Absence of cholesterogenesis regulation in the liver and prostate of the BIO 87.20 hamster.

Normal, adult golden Syrian hamsters and the inbred stain BIO 87.20 Syrian hamsters were maintained on either control, cholesterol, candicidin or clofibrate diets for time periods of up to 4 months. The ventral prostate gland in both species was found to synthesize cholesterol at a greater rate than the liver.

Surface properties of normal, transformed, and temperature-sensitive rat liver epithelial cells.

Cell surface proteins, glycoproteins, and glycopeptides from normal, transformed, and mutant temperature-sensitive rat liver epithelial cells were radiolabeled and compared by Sephadex G-50 chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Some changes were observed in the transformed cell lines including an increase in high-molecular-weight glycopeptides and a decrease in the amount of fibronectin (large external transformation-sensitive) protein. The mutant TS223 cells, which were temperature-sensitive for maintenance of the transformed phenotype when grown at the nonpermissive temperature (41 degrees C), had characteristics intermediate between those of the normal and transformed phenotypes.

Glycoproteins of nuclear polyhedrosis viruses.

The glycopeptides and glycoproteins of two nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs) grown in two lepidopteran insect cell lines were studied using Sephadex elution chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. No quantitative or qualitative differences were observed in the glycopeptide and glycoprotein patterns between the viruses grown in either cell line. However, both viruses synthesized a glycoprotein which was not observed in either insect cell line and may be virus-directed.