Vaccination against infections by Chlamydia pneumoniae.

Chlamydia pneumoniae is an intracellularly growing bacterium that causes respiratory infections and is strongly associated with atherosclerosis. Antibodies against C. pneumoniae are frequently encountered in the adult population, indicating past exposure to the micro-organism.

Vaccines, coming of age after 200 years.

An overview on the short, only 200 years, past history and future expectations in the field of vaccines is presented. The focus is on development trends and potential rather than individual vaccines. While the first vaccines were a result of keen observation, the further development has been tightly dependent on the development of microbiology to provide both the knowledge basis and the technology for new vaccines for new purposes.

Acquired immunity to Chlamydia pneumoniae is dependent on gamma interferon in two mouse strains that initially differ in this respect after primary challenge.

The role of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in a Chlamydia pneumoniae mouse model was studied by in vivo neutralization in two inbred mouse strains. During primary C. pneumoniae infection, neutralization of IFN-gamma increased both the numbers of bacteria and the pneumonia score in the lungs of C57BL/6 mice but not BALB/c mice.

Arterial haemoglobin oxygen saturation is affected by F(I)O2 at submaximal running velocities in elite athletes.

This study was conducted to determine whether arterial desaturation would occur at submaximal workloads in highly trained endurance athletes and whether saturation is affected by the fraction of oxygen in inspired air (F(I)O2). Six highly trained endurance athletes (5 women and 1 man, aged 25+/-4 yr, VO2max 71.3+/-5.

A prospective study of bone loss and turnover after cardiac transplantation: effect of calcium supplementation with or without calcitonin.

Cardiac transplantation exposes recipients to osteoporosis and increased risk of consequent fractures. The purpose of the present study was to examine the magnitude, timing and mechanism of bone loss following cardiac transplantation, and to establish whether bone loss can be prevented by calcium with or without calcitonin. Thirty patients (29 men, 1 woman), aged 26-68 years (mean 48 years), were randomized into three groups of 10 to receive either no additional treatment, oral calcium 1 g twice daily for 12 months or the same dose of calcium plus intranasal calcitonin 400 IU/day for the first month and then 200 IU/day for 11 months.

Depletion of CD8+ cells abolishes memory in acquired immunity against Chlamydia pneumoniae in BALB/c mice.

The importance of T cells in Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in mice was assessed by comparing wild-type BALB/c mice with nude mice and mice depleted in vivo of either CD4+ or CD8+ T cells. Whereas wild-type mice cleared the primary infection in 3 weeks, nude mice were only able to restrict the infection and could not clear it during the observation period of 56 days. Nude mice exhibited a greater number of macrophages in their lungs and the pulmonary cells secreted a higher level of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) than wild-type mice.

Prognosis after community-acquired pneumonia in the elderly: a population-based 12-year follow-up study.

Background: Only a few studies have investigated the long-term effects of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). These studies have focused on cases treated in the hospital, and, to our knowledge, no long-term survival studies that include all cases of CAP are available.

Methods: A prospective observational study on the survival rates in a population-based cohort of elderly inhabitants aged 60 years or older at baseline in 1 township in eastern Finland in 1983.

The infant rat model adapted to evaluate human sera for protective immunity to group B meningococci.

The infant rat infection model previously developed to evaluate protective ability of passively administered murine antibodies to group B meningococcal (MenB) surface antigens was adapted for human sera. Several challenge doses were tested, aiming at sensitive detection of protection with little interassay variability. Doses of 10(5) and 10(6) colony forming units of strain IH5341 (MenB:15:P1.

Incremental effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccine on simultaneously administered influenza vaccine in preventing pneumonia and pneumococcal pneumonia among persons aged 65 years or older.

The effectiveness of simultaneously administered influenza and pneumococcal vaccines vs. influenza vaccine alone in preventing pneumonia, pneumococcal pneumonia and pneumococcal bacteraemia among the elderly was studied. The vaccines were offered to all persons aged 65 years or older (N=43,500) living in 35 administrative districts in Northern Finland.

Is cardiovascular disease preventable by vaccination?

The possibility of using vaccination as a tool in the prevention of atherosclerotic disease was opened by the findings that infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including acute myocardial infarction. Since this finding, data have accumulated confirming the initial epidemiological association and demonstrating the presence of C. pneumoniae and/or its components in vascular lesions.

A prospective study of bone loss and turnover after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation: effect of calcium supplementation with or without calcitonin.

Transplantation of solid organs including heart, kidney, and liver is associated with rapid bone loss and increased rate of fracture; data on bone marrow transplantation recipients (BMT) are scarce. The purpose of the present study was to examine the magnitude, timing, and mechanism of bone loss following allogeneic BMT, and to study whether bone loss can be prevented by calcium with or without calcitonin. Sixty-nine patients undergoing allogeneic BMT for malignant blood diseases were enrolled into the study.

Homing potentials of circulating antibody-secreting cells after administration of oral or parenteral protein or polysaccharide vaccine in humans.

The site of antigen encounter influences the Ig-distribution and homing potentials of circulating antibody-secreting cells (ASC) induced. After oral antigen administration, the majority ASC secrete the mucosal Ig-isotype, IgA, and all of them express the gut homing receptor (HR), alpha 4 beta 7, thus implying mucosal homing of these cells. Parenteral protein vaccine induces an IgG-dominated response with a low proportion of alpha 4 beta 7 expressing cells.

Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to validate the lower end of the putative therapeutic range of serum tacrine concentrations of 7-20 ng ml(-1) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: The relationship between dose, steady-state serum tacrine concentrations and change in MMSE score (a measure of cognitive function) was examined in 106 Alzheimer's disease patients who had been treated with the drug for 12 weeks.

Results: In all, 72% of patients showed some response, but there was no relationship between dose and the chance of a favourable outcome.

Etiology of childhood pneumonia: serologic results of a prospective, population-based study.

Background: To investigate the etiology of pediatric community-acquired pneumonia, we conducted a prospective, population-based study covering the total population <15 years of age (n = 8851) in 4 municipalities in eastern Finland.

Materials And Methods: The number of patients was 201; chest radiographs were available for all cases and paired sera for serologic assays were available for >90% of cases. The methods included assays for antibody response to 3 pneumococcal antigens, specific pneumococcal immune complex assays and conventional antibody tests for mycoplasmal, chlamydial and viral infections.

Local immune responses to Chlamydia pneumoniae in the lungs of BALB/c mice during primary infection and reinfection.

Cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses play a major role in protection as well as pathogenesis of many intracellular bacterial infections. In this study, we evaluated the infection kinetics and assessed histologically the lymphoid reactions and local, in vitro-restimulated CMI responses in lungs of BALB/c mice, during both primary infection and reinfection with Chlamydia pneumoniae. The primary challenge resulted in a self-restricted infection with elimination of culturable bacteria by day 27 after challenge.

The conventionally ventilated operating theatre and air contamination control during cardiac surgery--bacteriological and particulate matter control garment options for low level contamination.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to compare the usefulness of a conventional bacteriological technique with that of particle counting under lower air contamination and better aseptic conditions achieved with special staff garments and covering for the patient. Contamination levels were estimated with continuous on line air particle counting measurement, volumetric intermittent short period aerobic bacteriological cultures and wound surface contact cultures.

Methods: In a series of 66 consecutive coronary artery bypass operations performed by the same team and in the same theatre using different types of patient and staff clothing, the impact of a reduced bacteriological and particulate contamination were assessed.

The serum selenium concentrations in children and young adults: a long-term study during the Finnish selenium fertilization programme.

Objective: To investigate the effects of the Finnish nationwide selenium (Se) fertilization programme on the Se status of the population.

Design And Subjects: Serum Se concentrations from 1985-1992 from 1568 healthy children and young adults in southwestern Finland were determined using direct electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.

Results: The mean concentration in young adults increased from 1.

Enteric infections in an endemic area induce a circulating antibody-secreting cell response with homing potentials to both mucosal and systemic tissues.

Enteric infections induce a response of circulating pathogen-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC). The expression of homing receptors (HRs) on these cells was studied in patients with diarrhea caused by Vibrio cholerae in Bangladesh, an area in which cholera is endemic. The gut HR, alpha4beta7, was expressed by approximately 80% of the ASC, indicating mucosal homing of these cells.

Does psychological distress predict disability?

Study Objective: To evaluate psychological distress as a predictor of disability due to common chronic disorders.

Study Population And Methods: A 10-year follow-up study was carried out among a representative cohort (N = 8655) of 18-64 year old Finnish farmers, who had participated in a health survey in 1979 and were able to work at baseline. A record linkage with the nationwide register of the Social Insurance Institution was made to identify disability pensions granted between 1980 and 1990 in the cohort.

Clinical efficacy of pneumococcal vaccine in the elderly: a randomized, single-blind population-based trial.

Purpose: To study the efficacy of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine among the elderly by use of a population-based intervention in one township, Varkaus, Eastern Finland.

Patients And Methods: A randomized, controlled trial in which elderly inhabitants (aged 60 years or older) of the catchment area were randomized to receive either pneumococcal and influenza vaccines (PI group = vaccinated) or influenza vaccine alone (I group = controls) and offered participation. The response rate was 67.

Estimated numbers of deaths from coronary heart disease "caused" and "prevented" by alcohol: an example from Finland.

Objective: Epidemiological studies show that moderate alcohol consumption rather than abstention is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality. Our objective was to adjust established methods for calculating attributable fractions to a situation where the risk function is J-shaped and to estimate the number of CHD deaths "caused" and "prevented" by alcohol in Finland.

Method: Point estimates of relative risk were obtained by a meta-analysis.

Contribution of deaths related to alcohol use to socioeconomic variation in mortality: register based follow up study.

Objective: To estimate the contribution of excessive alcohol use to socioeconomic variation in mortality among men and women in Finland.

Design: Register based follow up study.

Subjects: The population covered by the 1985 and 1990 censuses, aged > or = 20 in the follow up period 1987-93.

The effects of eccentricity and stimulus magnification on simultaneous performance in position and movement acuity tasks.

We presented two tasks, spatial interval discrimination and displacement detection, simultaneously in the same location at various eccentricities. The subject was to solve (i) only the spatial interval task; (ii) only the displacement task; or (iii) both tasks simultaneously. With 500 msec stimulus duration, and using the method of spatial scaling, the E2 value (the eccentricity at which stimulus size has to be doubled to maintain performance level) was found to be 0.

Chemical castration induced by adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil chemotherapy causes rapid bone loss that is reduced by clodronate: a randomized study in premenopausal breast cancer patients.

Purpose: In the majority of premenopausal breast cancer patients, an adjuvant chemotherapy-induced early menopause occurs, which is known to be a strong predictor of osteoporosis. We present data on the effect of adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) therapy on bone mineral density (BMD) and the efficacy of clodronate on the prevention of bone loss in 148 premenopausal breast cancer patients without skeletal metastases.

Materials And Methods: Patients were randomized to receive oral clodronate 1,600 mg/d or to a control group.

Detection of geometric image distortions at various eccentricities.

Purpose: Human ability to perceive spatial stimuli declines with increasing eccentricity. To study this phenomenon with natural images, the authors applied the spatial scaling method by measuring the smallest detectable amount of geometric change in a human face at several eccentricities for a series of stimulus magnifications to find out whether performance could be made equal across the visual field simply by an appropriate enlargement.

Methods: The authors used a novel method to produce subtle changes to an image of a face.