Effects of nicotine on the immune response. I. Chronic exposure to nicotine impairs antigen receptor-mediated signal transduction in lymphocytes.

Previous work has demonstrated that chronic exposure of rats to cigarette smoke causes inhibition of the antibody-forming cell (AFC) response and that the particulate phase of cigarette smoke, containing most of the nicotine in cigarette smoke, is essential for immunosuppression. Using intradermally implanted miniosmotic pumps, LEW rats were exposed to nicotine or its principal metabolite, cotinine, at the rate of about 14 micrograms/hr for 3-4 weeks. Serum cotinine levels in nicotine-treated (NT) animals of 219 +/- 40 ng/ml (on Day 10) were comparable to average human smokers.

Clinical factors associated with urinary albumin excretion in type II diabetes.

Clinical factors associated with urinary albumin excretion (UAE) in type II diabetes are less well known than in type I diabetes. To examine the factors associated with UAE in type II diabetes, 933 Appropriate Blood Pressure Control in Diabetes Trial patients were classified according to UAE status: normoalbuminuria (< 20 micrograms/min), microalbuminuria (20 to 200 micrograms/min), and macroalbuminuria (> 200 micrograms/min). The class of UAE was then correlated with various clinical factors.

Alcohol-induced changes in the immune response: immunological effects of chronic ethanol intake are genetically regulated.

Experimental evidence on the immunomodulating effects of ethanol is contradictory and, in animals, the immunological effects of long-term alcohol intake may depend on the age of animal, amount of alcohol consumed, and nutritional composition of the administered diet. In this study, immunological effects of pair-feeding a 35% ethanol-containing Bio-Serv liquid diet for 6 weeks were evaluated using two major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-compatible inbred strains of rats (F344 and LEW). Food intake, rate of gain in body weight, and percentages of B cells, T cells, and T cell subtypes were not affected by ethanol intake.

Characteristics of CD4+ T cells which transfer murine AIDS (MAIDS).

The murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) is caused in susceptible C57BL/6 (B6) mice by a defective murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and resembles human AIDS in several respects. The disease is characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, polyclonal B cell activation, lymphadenopathy, and generalized immunosuppression within 5-8 weeks postinfection. The virus has been shown to infect B cells and macrophages and both T and B cells are required for MAIDS development.

Patient weights: from physician complaints to improved nursing practice through quality improvement.

Identification of a patient-centered problem led the Quality Improvement Committee to the development of a standard of care and a concurrent clinical monitor. This project focused on nurses making an assessment when a patient's daily weight fluctuated more than 1 kg. Although the problem was patient oriented, the indicators of the concurrent monitor reviewed the nursing practice.

Determination of the glycogen synthesis pathway by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis.

The level of hepatic glycogen synthesized directly from glucose was measured in rats with [1-13C]glucose. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of glucose was used to measure the distribution of the 13C label from C1 to the other carbons. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were surgically implanted with catheters in the left carotid artery and the right jugular vein, followed by a 3-day recovery period and a 24-hour fast to deplete liver glycogen.

The ABCD (Appropriate Blood Pressure Control in Diabetes) trial. Rationale and design of a trial of hypertension control (moderate or intensive) in type II diabetes.

Objective: The primary objective of the ABCD (Appropriate Blood Pressure Control in Diabetes) Trial is to determine the efficacy of intensive versus moderate antihypertensive control on the outcome of type II diabetic end-organ complications in normotensive and hypertensive populations. The secondary objective is to determine whether any differential effect on end-organ complications exists between an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril) and a calcium channel blocker (nisoldipine).

Design: The ABCD Trial is a prospective, controlled, randomized, double-blind trial, with a planned follow-up of 5 years.

Correlations between the receptive field properties and morphology of neurons in the deep layers of the hamster's superior colliculus.

Extracellular and intracellular recording, receptive field mapping, and intracellular HRP injection techniques were used to define the morphological classes of cells in the deep laminae of the hamster's superior colliculus and to determine whether there are any correlations between the structural and functional characteristics of these neurons. A total of 110 neurons were characterized and reconstructed. Of these, 23.

Addiction in the treatment of pain: significance, recognition, and management.

The treatment of pain in the presence of addiction is often a challenge. Better understanding of the relationships between pain and addictive disease may help both pain clinicians and addictionists treat individuals in whom these conditions coexist. Mechanisms through which addiction may reinforce pain are explored.

Discovering work excitement among navy nurses.

An interest in what makes work exciting among Navy Nurse Corps officers led to the use of Simms' work excitement data collection protocol in Navy Medical Centers. Significant levels of work excitement were found among Navy nurses when compared to civilian nurses in non-military settings. Overall, results indicated that Navy nurses are excited about the variety, the leadership/management experiences, and the opportunities for teaching and learning--elements that are the very essence of Navy nursing practice.

The integral membrane protein, ponticulin, acts as a monomer in nucleating actin assembly.

Ponticulin, an F-actin binding transmembrane glycoprotein in Dictyostelium plasma membranes, was isolated by detergent extraction from cytoskeletons and purified to homogeneity. Ponticulin is an abundant membrane protein, averaging approximately 10(6) copies/cell, with an estimated surface density of approximately 300 per microns2. Ponticulin solubilized in octylglucoside exhibited hydrodynamic properties consistent with a ponticulin monomer in a spherical or slightly ellipsoidal detergent micelle with a total molecular mass of 56 +/- 6 kD.

T cell-B cell interaction: autoreactive T cells recognize B cells through a terminal mannose-containing superantigen-like glycoprotein.

Rat autoreactive T cells (ATs) recognize a membrane component(s) on syngeneic B cells in association with class II MHC antigens resulting in proliferation of ATs as well activation and differentiation of B cells. Results presented herein indicate that ATs recognize a stimulating antigen(s) SA, in association with class II MHC antigens, on the B cell surface. Our studies using inhibitors of carbohydrate and protein synthesis suggest that SA is a glycoprotein(s) with a high turnover rate but is not an immunoglobulin.

Residents of private nursing homes and their care.

A study was undertaken to examine the characteristics of residents in private nursing homes, to measure residents' dependency levels, to determine the adequacy of procedures for admitting new residents and to explore general practitioners' work with residents. Details were obtained of 61 nursing homes registered by Nottingham district health authority and of a selection of residents. Information about residents provided by the nurses in charge included aspects of self care, orientation and social integration, these items contributing to a dependency score for each resident.

Normal development and effects of deafferentation on the morphology of superior collicular neurons projecting to the lateral posterior nucleus in hamster.

Visually responsive neurons in the superficial layers of the hamster's superior colliculus (SC) can be divided into distinct morphological and functional classes. In the preceding paper (Mooney et al., '91), we showed that neonatal enucleation has only slight and insignificant effects upon the structural characteristics of cells within a given class, but results in a significant reduction of neurons (narrow and widefield vertical cells) with dorsally directed dendritic arbors.

Structural and functional consequences of neonatal deafferentation in the superficial layers of the hamster's superior colliculus.

Intracellular recording and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) injection techniques were used to evaluate the effects of neonatal enucleation upon the structural and functional properties of cells in the superficial retinorecipient laminae of the hamster's superior colliculus (SC). The physiological recordings confirmed previous results that normally visual superficial layer neurons develop somatosensory receptive fields in the enucleated animals. This study further showed that all of the physiological subclasses of somatosensory neurons normally encountered in the deep layers were present in the superficial laminae.

Progressive renal insufficiency: the role of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors.

Experimental animal studies have demonstrated a renal protective effect of ACE inhibition therapy in diabetes mellitus and the remnant kidney model of chronic renal failure. The mechanism of this effect is secondary, at least in part, to the drugs' effects on glomerular hemodynamics. In addition, there is further evidence to suggest that ACE inhibitors may influence other pathogenic mechanisms of progressive renal insufficiency.

Effects of cigarette smoke on the immune response. II. Chronic exposure to cigarette smoke inhibits surface immunoglobulin-mediated responses in B cells.

We have previously reported that chronic exposure of rats to cigarette smoke inhibits the antibody-forming cell (AFC) response to both T-dependent and T-independent antigens and may reflect B cell dysfunction. In this communication we extend these studies to show that T cell functions are normal in chronically smoke-exposed rats (SM) as judged by their responses to mitogens and "nominal" or alloantigens. While B cells from SM respond significantly to the B cell mitogen lipopolysaccharide (LPS), they fail to proliferate in response to anti-IgM (anti-mu) or to produce significant AFC response to sheep red blood cells.

The future of calcium channel blocker therapy in diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus is associated with significant morbidity and mortality caused by the micro- and macro-vascular complications that all too frequently develop during the lifetime of the diabetic patient. In attempts to treat the complications of diabetes, several different treatment strategies have been investigated. The role of tight blood glucose control in the treatment of diabetic vascular complications has recently been challenged, as the existing data in support of this mode of therapy are currently inconclusive.