Mapping a locus for alcohol physical dependence and associated withdrawal to a 1.1 Mb interval of mouse chromosome 1 syntenic with human chromosome 1q23.2-23.3.

Physiological dependence and associated withdrawal episodes are thought to constitute a motivational force perpetuating continued alcohol use/abuse. Although no animal model duplicates alcoholism, models for specific factors, like the withdrawal syndrome, are useful to identify potential determinants of liability in humans. We previously detected quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with large effects on predisposition to physical dependence and associated withdrawal following chronic or acute alcohol exposure to a large region of chromosome 1 in mice (Alcdp1 and Alcw1, respectively).

A QTL on mouse chromosome 12 for the genetic variance in free-running circadian period between inbred strains of mice.

Background: Many genes control circadian period in mice. Prior studies suggested a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on proximal mouse chromosome 12 for interstrain differences in circadian period. Since the B6.

Characterization of the quantitative trait locus for haloperidol-induced catalepsy on distal mouse chromosome 1.

We report here the confirmation of the quantitative trait locus for haloperidol-induced catalepsy on distal chromosome (Chr) 1. We determined that this quantitative trait locus was captured in the B6.D2-Mtv7a/Ty congenic mouse strain, whose introgressed genomic interval extends from approximately 169.

A single copy of carbonic anhydrase 2 restores wild-type circadian period to carbonic anhydrase II-deficient mice.

Carbonic anhydrase II (CA-II)-deficient mice have long circadian periods compared to their siblings with normal CA-II levels. The CA-II-deficient mice differ genetically from their siblings at proximal chromosome three, where the mutated carbonic anhydrase 2 gene sits on a small insert of DNA from the DBA/2J strain. The rest of the genome is that of the C57BL/6J strain.

Intermittent long-wavelength red light increases the period of daily locomotor activity in mice.

Background: We observed that a dim, red light-emitting diode (LED) triggered by activity increased the circadian periods of lab mice compared to constant darkness. It is known that the circadian period of rats increases when vigorous wheel-running triggers full-spectrum lighting; however, spectral sensitivity of photoreceptors in mice suggests little or no response to red light. Thus, we decided to test the following hypotheses: dim red light illumination triggered by activity (LEDfb) increases the circadian period of mice compared to constant dark (DD); covering the LED prevents the effect on period; and DBA2/J mice have a different response to LEDfb than C57BL6/J mice.

Quality of sleep in patients with schizophrenia is associated with quality of life and coping.

Background: While sleep disturbance is widespread in schizophrenia it is less clear whether sleep disturbance is uniquely related to impaired coping and perceived quality of life.

Methods: We simultaneously assessed sleep quality, symptoms, and coping in 29 persons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in a post acute phase of illness. Assessment instruments included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale; the Heinrichs Quality of Life Scale; and the Ways of Coping Scale.

A locus for circadian period of locomotor activity on mouse proximal chromosome 3.

Lengthened circadian period of locomotor activity is a characteristic of a congenic strain of mice carrying a nonsense mutation in exon 5 of the carbonic anhydrase II gene, car2. The null mutation in car2 is located on a DBA/2J inbred strain insert on proximal chromosome 3, on an otherwise C57BL/6J genomic background. Since reducing the size of the congenic region would narrow the possible candidate genes for period, two recombinant congenic strains (R1 and R2) were developed from the original congenic strain.

New quantitative trait loci for the genetic variance in circadian period of locomotor activity between inbred strains of mice.

Provisional quantitative trait loci (QTL) for circadian locomotor period and wheel-running period have been identified in recombinant inbred (RI) mouse strains. To confirm those QTL and identify new ones, the genetic component of variance of the circadian period was partitioned among an F2 intercross of RI mouse strains (BXD19 and CXB07). First, a genomic survey using 108 SSLP markers with an average spacing of 15 cM was carried out in a population of 259 (BXD19 x CXB07)F2 animals.

Circadian activity rhythms in high-alcohol-preferring and low-alcohol-preferring mice.

The circadian periods of high-alcohol-preferring (HAP) and low-alcohol-preferring (LAP) selected lines of mice were compared. The mice were ethanol-naive. Circadian periods were calculated from records of running-wheel activity in constant dark.

A QTL for the genetic variance in free-running period and level of locomotor activity between inbred strains of mice.

Many genes support the manifestation of the circadian period in mice. In a multiple-gene trait all genes contributing in a minor way to this characteristic are quantitative trait loci (QTL). Screens of both the BXD and the CXB panels of recombinant inbred mice suggested that distal chromosome 1, between 90 and 100 cM, contained a QTL, Cplaq3, for a difference in the circadian period of locomotor activity between the C57BL/6J and the DBA/2J and between the BALB/cBy and the C57BL/6By progenitor strains.

Provisional QTL for circadian period of wheel running in laboratory mice: quantitative genetics of period in RI mice.

Wheel running was monitored in B x D recombinant inbred (RI) mice under dark-dark (DD) conditions, and the mean circadian period was calculated for each strain. There were significant differences for this trait among B x D recombinant inbred strains (p < .0001) and a narrow-sense heritability of 21%.

Provisional quantitative trait loci (QTL) for the Aschoff effect in RI mice.

Mice of the CXB recombinant inbred (RI) panel were phenotyped for period of locomotor activity in continuous dark (tau) and in continuous 10-lux light (tauLL). There were significant differences in the effect of light on period, delta tau (tauLL-tau), among CXB RI strains and their progenitors. By comparing strain means for delta tau in the CXB RI strains with typed genetic loci using a product moment correlation, it was possible to hypothesize quantitative trait loci (QTL) important to the genetic variance in the effect of constant low-level light on circadian period.

Genomic DNA from mice: a comparison of recovery methods and tissue sources.

Our aim is to identify an extraction method and the source of mouse tissue(s) that could allow a high-resolution genomic scan from a living mouse. We compared and optimized two methods for yield, purity of DNA, and their use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of DNA extracted from different mouse tissues. In addition to whole blood, tissue samples from the brain, liver, testis, and tail were included in this study.

The microevolution of mouse salivary androgen-binding protein (ABP) paralleled subspeciation of Mus musculus.

Mouse salivary androgen-binding protein (ABP) is a major secretory product of the submaxillary glands. Although it is a common salivary protein among rodents generally, the function of ABP has yet to be determined. Here we report a comparison of the DNA coding sequences and putative amino acid sequences they determine for the three common alleles of the Alpha subunit gene (Abpa), alleles that appear to be diagnostic for the three subspecies of Mus musculus.

Aging lengthens TauDD in C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, and outbred SWR male mice (Mus musculus).

The effect of aging on the free-running period (TauDD) of a circadian rhythm for wheel-running activity was observed in two inbred strains (DBA/ 2J and C57BL/6J) and one outbred strain (Tac: (SW)fBR) of laboratory mice (Mus musculus). TauDD in the DBA and C57 mice was monitored at approximately age 100 days and age 300 days. TauDD in the outbred strain was monitored at approximately age 100 days and age 600 days.

Hypothetical quantitative trait loci (QTL) for circadian period of locomotor activity in CXB recombinant inbred strains of mice.

The locomotor activity of male mice (Mus musculus) of 13 CXB (BALB/cBy x C57BL/6J) recombinant inbred (RI) strains and their progenitor strains was monitored for 4 to 6 weeks by infrared photoelectric beams under constant dark. The circadian period (tau) of locomotor activity was calculated and used in quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of strains' means. Results were compared with potential QTL found in a previous study of the BXD RI series.

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in mice.

The locomotor activity of male mice (Mus musculus) was monitored by infrared photo-electric beams under three lighting regimens: LD (12 h of light and 12 h of dark), DD (constant dark), and LL (constant broad-spectrum light, 10 lux). Circadian period of locomotor activity (tau) was compared among 3 inbred strains of mice, C57BL/6J (B6), BALB/c (C), and DBA/2J (D2), and 26 recombinant inbred strains B x D (B6 x D2). The tau under both continuous low-intensity light and continuous darkness varied significantly among strains.

[Are food preferences affected by body mass index, age, sex or tobacco?].

In recent decades the percentage of energy derived from dietary fat has increased. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between food taste preferences, BMI, age, gender and smoking habits. A computerized questionnaire using a hedonic scale (range 0 to 8) to quantify the liking for sweet and savoury, lean and fat foods, was filled by 233 adults: 171 normal weight (131 women, 40 men) and 62 overweight subjects (BMI > 25 kg/m2 42 women, 20 men).

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring as a means to avoid overtreatment of elderly hypertensive patients.

Do elderly similarly to younger hypertensive patients tend to be overtreated if therapeutic decisions are based exclusively on blood pressure measured by the physician in his office? Eighteen hypertensive patients (10 previously treated) aged 70 years or more had repeatedly office systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 170 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 100 mm Hg. The physicians in charge were asked to reduce blood pressure within 4 months to a target of less than or equal to 160/95 mm Hg using any drug regimen. Blood pressure was monitored during daytime using a noninvasive blood pressure recorder, but the results of the recording were not available to the physicians until the end of the study.

[Biliary calculi in a cohort of autopsies (Lausanne 1974-1981)].

In a sample of 5892 consecutive autopsies of adults (3676 men and 2216 women) performed at the pathology department of the university of Lausanne 1469 instances of cholelithiasis and/or cholecystectomy were noted (686 men and 783 women). The total frequency was 24.1% (18.

Long-term Result of Treatment of Prader-Willi Syndrome by Scopinaro's Bilio-pancreatic Diversion. Study of Three Cases and the Effect of Dextrofenfluramine on the Postoperative Evolution.

The Prader-Willi Syndrome shortens the life of patients due to the morbid obesity which it entails. The compulsive hyperphagia associated with it makes a dietetic treatment or a gastroplasty difficult. This study presents the case histories of three patients suffering from the Prader-Willi syndrome who were operated on by means of a Scopinaro's bilio-pancreatic diversion.

Effect of weight reduction in moderately overweight patients on recorded ambulatory blood pressure and free cytosolic platelet calcium.

Although platelet cytosolic calcium has been shown to decrease during pharmacological treatment of hypertension, there is no evidence that cytosolic calcium also falls during a nonpharmacological reduction in blood pressure. To provide such evidence, we examined prospectively the relation between platelet cytosolic calcium and ambulatory blood pressure during weight reduction in moderately overweight (body mass index [BMI] greater than 25), mildly hypertensive individuals. The experimental group (responders: BMI reduction greater than 5%) consisted of 19 patients who lost 8.

Plasminogen activators and plasminogen activator inhibitors in liver deficiencies caused by chronic alcoholism or infectious hepatitis.

Plasma concentrations of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), urokinase (u-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and PAI-2 were studied in 53 patients with liver deficiency caused by chronic alcoholism (n = 40), viral hepatitis (n = 10) or malignant disease of the liver (n = 3) and compared to that of a control group (n = 20) of healthy subjects. u-PA and PAI-1 levels were significantly increased in all patients with chronic alcoholism, whereas high t-PA was only observed in combination with disturbed liver function tests or with liver cirrhosis (two and six-fold above control values, respectively). A good correlation was observed between t-PA and gamma glutamyl transferase (r = 0.

[Disseminated nocardiosis due to Nocardia brasiliensis in an ambulatory patient].

We report the case of a 76-year-old man with generalized nocardiosis. The microbiologic pattern, the different clinical manifestations and the treatment of nocardiosis are discussed in general. In the particular case of our patient the disease manifested itself primarily as a subcutaneous abscess, a metastasis secondary to pulmonary nocardiosis.