Enzymatic assay for urine lactose in the assessment of recent intravenous abuse of buprenorphine.

Urine samples were analyzed for lactose to investigate if elevated lactose concentrations indicate recent (< 48 hours) intravenous abuse of substances containing lactose as an excipient. Elevated lactose levels were found in samples given by patients who had recently injected substances intravenously, verified by fresh injection marks. Urine lactose assay can support clinical and toxicological findings when assessing substance abuse.

Polydrug abuse among opioid maintenance treatment patients is related to inadequate dose of maintenance treatment medicine.

Background: Polydrug abuse is a known problem among opioid-dependent patients receiving opioid maintenance treatment (OMT). However, improved laboratory diagnostics is required to reveal polydrug abuse in its current scope. Furthermore, there are few studies focusing on the relationship between polydrug abuse and adequacy of the dose of OMT medicine.

Opioid abuse and hospitalization rates in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Substance abuse worsens the course of schizophrenia, but it is not known whether or not there are differences between specific substances concerning their association with the hospitalizations of patients with schizophrenia.

Aims: The primary aims of this study were to examine the possible associations between amphetamine, cannabis, and opioid abuse, and the risk of hospitalizations among patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: The study population consisted of 146 patients with ICD-defined schizophrenia from two different geographical sites in Finland, and it included both inpatients and outpatients.

Serotonin transporter polymorphism as a predictor for escitalopram treatment of major depressive disorder comorbid with alcohol dependence.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) is associated with the treatment outcomes of escitalopram for patients with comorbid major depression and alcohol dependence. Eighty treatment-seeking patients were randomly assigned to either receive 20mg of escitalopram or a control of 20mg of the non-serotonergically acting memantine. Depression was measured by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and alcoholism by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

Age at onset of first depressive episode as a predictor for escitalopram treatment of major depression comorbid with alcohol dependence.

The aim of this study was to determine predictors of the response to escitalopram, a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor antidepressant and memantine, a non-competitive glutamate NMDA receptor blocker, for the treatment of major depression comorbid with alcohol dependence. Eighty alcohol dependent treatment-seeking adult patients with comorbid major depressive disorder were randomized to receive either memantine 20 mg or escitalopram 20 mg for 26 weeks. In both treatment groups, depression was reduced significantly.

Treatment of alcohol dependence in patients with co-morbid major depressive disorder--predictors for the outcomes with memantine and escitalopram medication.

Background: Alcohol dependence comorbid with major depressive disorder poses a major challenge in the clinical setting. The results in the treatment with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors have been conflicting. Thus, we compared in alcohol-dependent patients with co-morbid major depressive disorder the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor escitalopram to a compound that acts on different transporter system and may reduce craving, the glutamate receptor antagonist memantine.

Double-blind, randomized comparison of memantine and escitalopram for the treatment of major depressive disorder comorbid with alcohol dependence.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate possible new treatments for major depressive disorder in patients with comorbid alcohol dependence in a municipal alcohol treatment unit. The efficacy of memantine, a noncompetitive glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor blocker used for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease, was compared with that of escitalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant.

Method: Eighty alcohol-dependent outpatients with major depressive disorder (DSM-IV criteria) seeking treatment from municipal alcohol treatment clinics in Helsinki, Finland, were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive memantine 20 mg/day or escitalopram 20 mg/day.

Mutations in the human delta-sarcoglycan gene in familial and sporadic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Two genes have been identified for the X-linked forms (dystrophin and tafazzin), whereas three other genes (actin, lamin A/C, and desmin) cause autosomal dominant DCM; seven other loci for autosomal dominant DCM have been mapped but the genes have not been identified. Hypothesizing that DCM is a disease of the cytoskeleton and sarcolemma, we have focused on candidate genes whose products are found in these structures.

Nutrient intake and blood pressure in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children.

Delineating the role that diet plays in blood pressure levels in children is important for guiding dietary recommendations for the prevention of hypertension. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between dietary nutrients and blood pressure in children. Data were analyzed from 662 participants in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children who had elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and were aged 8 to 11 years at baseline.

Coronary risk factors in adolescents related to their knowledge of familial coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia: the Muscatine Study.

Objective: To determine the utility of a school-based questionnaire, to identify adolescents with adverse coronary risk factor levels.

Design: In Muscatine, IA, students (9th through 12th grade) completed a questionnaire providing medical history information about first- and second-degree relatives. Anthropometric measures were obtained and blood pressure, lipid, lipoprotein, and apolipoprotein levels were determined.

Low density lipoprotein receptors bind and mediate cellular catabolism of normal very low density lipoproteins in vitro.

Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are heterogeneous, triglyceride-rich particles that are precursors of low density lipoproteins (LDL). Before conversion to LDL, the majority of VLDL are irreversibly cleared from plasma by uncertain mechanisms. To investigate one potential mechanism for VLDL clearance, we studied the ability of LDL receptors to mediate VLDL uptake in vitro.

Lipoprotein lipase induces catabolism of normal triglyceride-rich lipoproteins via the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein/alpha 2-macroglobulin receptor in vitro. A process facilitated by cell-surface proteoglycans.

Bovine milk lipoprotein lipase (LPL) induced binding, uptake, and degradation of 125I-labeled normal human triglyceride-rich lipoproteins by cultured mutant fibroblasts lacking LDL receptors. The induction was dose-dependent and occurred whether LPL and 125I-lipoproteins were added to incubation media simultaneously or LPL was allowed to bind to cell surfaces, and unbound LPL was removed by washing prior to the assay. Lipolytic modification of lipoproteins did not appear to be necessary for increased catabolism because the effect of LPL was not prevented by inhibitors of LPL's enzymatic activity, p-nitrophenyl N-dodecylcarbamate or phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride.