The association between depressive symptoms and smoking in pregnant adolescents.

There have been no studies that have specifically examined the relationship between smoking and depressive symptoms in Australian pregnant adolescents. Eighty one pregnant adolescents completed an adapted version of Lawson's (1994) Smoking Questionnaire and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Smoking status (smokers vs.

The role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a therapeutic role for inhibitors of MMPs?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the collective term describing two separate chronic lung disease diseases: emphysema and chronic bronchitis (1). Initial clinical symptoms are shortness of breath and occasional cough. As the disease progresses difficulties in breathing becomes more pronounced, the cough more persistent and becomes associated with production of a clear sputum.

Metalloproteinase inhibitors: new opportunities for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

The clinical efficacy of anti-TNF-alpha therapies have highlighted the apparently central role that TNF-alpha plays in the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis, particularly the inflammatory component. Recent identification of a metalloproteinase from the metzincin superfamily responsible for the production of the soluble form of this cytokine, has generated a large amount of pharmaceutical interest and presents the prospect of a metalloproteinase inhibitor as an anti-inflammatory drug. However, the traditional focus of metzincin inhibitor research has been the identification of inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases; enzymes associated with matrix destruction, a feature common to both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Ro 32-3555, an orally active collagenase selective inhibitor, prevents structural damage in the STR/ORT mouse model of osteoarthritis.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of a selective inhibitor of collagenases in an animal model of osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: Ro 32-3555, an orally active collagenase selective inhibitor, was administered to STR/ORT mice. Microfocal x-ray-generated images of the hind limbs were visually scored for joint space narrowing, osteophyte formation, and calcification of tendons.