Urinary and faecal N-methylhistamine concentrations do not serve as markers for mast cell activation or clinical disease activity in dogs with chronic enteropathies.

Background: This study sought to correlate faecal and urinary N-methylhistamine (NMH) concentrations with resting versus degranulated duodenal mast cell numbers in dogs with chronic enteropathies (CE), and investigate correlations between intestinal mast cell activation and clinical severity of disease as assessed by canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity index (CCECAI), and between urinary and faecal NMH concentrations, mast cell numbers, and histopathological scores. Twenty-eight dogs with CE were included. Duodenal biopsies were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), toluidine blue, and by immunohistochemical labelling for tryptase.

Self-reported anxiety, sleeping problems and pain among Turkish-born immigrants in Sweden.

Objectives: To study whether symptoms of self-reported anxiety, sleeping problems and severe pain are more common among Turkish-born immigrants in Sweden than among Swedes, and whether age and socio-economic status can explain this hypothesised difference.

Design: Two random samples were studied -- the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare Immigrant Survey, and the Swedish Annual Level-of-Living Survey, both from 1996. A total of 526 Turkish-born immigrants in Sweden were compared with 2,854 Swedish controls, all aged between 27 and 60 years.