Cortico-striatal oxidative status, dopamine turnover and relation with stereotypy in the deer mouse.

The deer mouse presents with spontaneous stereotypic movements that resemble the repetitive behaviours of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and demonstrates a selective response to serotonin reuptake inhibitors. OCD has been linked to altered redox status and since increased dopamine signalling can promote stereotypies as well as oxidative stress, we investigated whether the severity of deer mouse stereotypy may be associated with altered dopamine turnover and cortico-striatal redox status. Deer mice were separated into high (HSB), low (LSB) and non-stereotypy (NS) groups.

Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is associated with metabolic changes in HIV-1-infected Africans: a prospective study.

Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is associated with inflammation and may predict lipodystrophy and dysmetabolism in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy. We aimed to assess firstly, whether suPAR levels are elevated in treated and untreated HIV-1-infected Africans compared to uninfected controls at baseline and at a 3-year follow-up, and secondly whether suPAR levels are correlated with cardiovascular and/or metabolic changes. SuPAR, cardiovascular, and metabolic variables were assessed and the percentage change was determined.

Associations between reactive oxygen species, blood pressure and arterial stiffness in black South Africans: the SABPA study.

Many mechanisms, including oxidative stress, contribute to hypertension. This study investigated the possible associations between oxidative stress, blood pressure and arterial stiffness in black South Africans. Ambulatory blood pressure measurements were taken for 101 black South African men and 99 women.

Point-of-use micronutrient fortification: lessons learned in implementing a preschool-based pilot trial in South Africa.

This current pilot trial assessed the feasibility of implementing a point-of-use (PoU) micronutrient fortification in preschool settings. Preschool children (n = 151) aged 36-79 months were randomized into intervention (n = 76) and control (n = 75) groups, both receiving breakfast maize-porridge with added micronutrient or placebo powder for 52 school days. Process evaluation and early childhood development indicators were used to assess trial feasibility.

Role of monoamine oxidase, nitric oxide synthase and regional brain monoamines in the antidepressant-like effects of methylene blue and selected structural analogues.

Dual action antidepressants have important therapeutic implications. Methylene blue (MB), a charged compound structurally related to tricyclic antidepressants, acts on both monoamine oxidase (MAO) and the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway, and has demonstrated antidepressant activity in rodents. We investigated the antidepressant properties of MB and selected structural analogues and whether their actions involve MAO, NO synthase (NOS) and regional brain monoamines.

Compassion fatigue within nursing practice: a concept analysis.

"Compassion fatigue" was first introduced in relation to the study of burnout among nurses, but it was never defined within this context; it has since been adopted as a synonym for secondary traumatic stress disorder, which is far removed from the original meaning of the term. The aim of the study was to define compassion fatigue within nursing practice. The method that was used in this article was concept analysis.

Serum calcium revisited: associations with 24-h ambulatory blood pressure and cardiovascular reactivity in Africans.

Sub-Saharan Africans face an increasing burden of hypertension. Although controversial, recent experimental evidence strongly suggests that serum calcium contributes to elevated blood pressure through increased vascular resistance. We investigated the associations of 24-h blood pressure and cardiovascular reactivity with serum calcium in African men stratified by age.

A significant decline in IGF-I may predispose young Africans to subsequent cardiometabolic vulnerability.

Objectives: Low serum IGF-I is an independent risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These noncommunicable diseases are extremely common in urban black South Africans, but their IGF-I concentration is unknown. We aimed to compare serum IGF-I concentrations of African and Caucasian people, investigate their age-related IGF-I decline, and determine whether IGF-I could account, at least in part, for the high prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in black Africans.

Dimethylarginines: their vascular and metabolic roles in Africans and Caucasians.

Objective: Alarming increases in hypertension and type 2 diabetes among Africans accentuate the need to identify factors that could serve as targets for prevention or treatment. In Caucasian populations, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), the predominant endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, is associated with cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance (IR). ADMA's counterpart, symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), originally thought to be inert, was recently also linked with cardiovascular risk.

Blood glutathione and subclinical atherosclerosis in African men: the SABPA Study.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africans face an increasing burden of hypertension and related cardiac and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality, making the identification of factors leading to early vascular abnormalities imperative.

Methods: We investigated the possible influence of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) on early subclinical atherosclerosis in 63 hypertensive (aged 45.2 years) and 34 normotensive (aged 38.

Changes in coronary heart disease risk profile of adults with intellectual disabilities following a physical activity intervention.

Background: Regular physical activity is one of the modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). With an increasing age profile and similar patterns of morbidity to the general population, persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) and their caregivers would benefit from data that indicate CHD risk factors. Knowledge of the CHD risk factors and the changes a physical activity intervention may have on theses risk factors will facilitate future intervention programmes.

Cortico-striatal cyclic AMP-phosphodiesterase-4 signalling and stereotypy in the deer mouse: attenuation after chronic fluoxetine treatment.

Motor stereotypies, described as repetitive, topographically invariant and seemingly purposeless behaviours, are common to several developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. While drug induced stereotypy has been extensively studied, the neurobiology of spontaneous stereotypy is poorly understood. Deer mice present with naturalistic stereotypic behaviours that are selectively suppressed by fluoxetine.

Expectations of postgraduate nursing students: an inquiry.

Postgraduate supervision in South Africa currently takes place in the context of university transformation with a notable increase in concern for quality. The latter is determined by the extent to which students' expectations within a supervisory practice are met. This study investigated students' expectations regarding their research supervision in a postgraduate nursing programme.

Nitric oxide synthase inhibition by pentacycloundecane conjugates of aminoguanidine and tryptamine.

This paper describes the synthesis and in-vitro activity of pentacycloundecane-conjugated aminoguanidine and tryptamine analogues on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) using rat brain homogenate. Both aminoguanidine and tryptamine-derived NOS inhibitors show selectivity towards the inducible and neuronal isoforms of the NOS enzyme, but are weak inhibitors and complete inhibition of the enzyme occurs only at high millimolar concentrations. In view of the increased NOS inactivation observed with alkyl substitution of these structures, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the pentacycloundecane cage moiety as an alkyl substituent on the in vitro NOS inhibition of aminoguanidine and tryptamine compounds.

Classifying Africans with the metabolic syndrome.

This study was aimed to compare prevalences of the metabolic syndrome in Africans using five definitions as proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR), the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults [Adult Treatment Panel (ATPIII)], the American College of Endocrinology (ACE), and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). A further objective was to identify difficulties in classifying Africans with the metabolic syndrome and to suggest specific areas where criteria adjustments for identifying Africans should be made. A case-case-control cross-sectional study involved 102 urban African women.

Von Willebrand factor as marker of vascular function in South African women: the POWIRS Study.

Background: The increasing prevalence of hypertension and vascular-related morbidity and mortality among Africans emphasizes the need to identify markers for the early detection of vascular disease. Caucasian-based studies demonstrate that the von Willebrand factor (vWf) is a useful marker of vascular dysfunction. We investigated whether associations between this marker and markers of cardiovascular function in Caucasian women are comparable with African women.

Stress and re-stress increases conditioned taste aversion learning in rats: possible frontal cortical and hippocampal muscarinic receptor involvement.

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder are often precipitated by sensory cues in the form of visual, auditory, olfactory and gustatory "flashbacks" resulting in enhanced fear-memory consolidation and the characteristic symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance and hyper-arousal. Single prolonged stress with and without re-stress have been used to explore the neurobiology of this disorder, particularly with respect to contextual conditioning and spatial memory impairment. However, less work has been done regarding associative sensory-related memories linked to aversive events.

The effect of different intervention programmes on the self-concept and motor proficiency of 7- to 9-year-old children with DCD.

Background: The self-concept of children is influenced by developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD). The aim was to determine the most effective method in enhancing motor proficiency and self-concept of 7- to 9-year-old children with DCD.

Methods: Teachers at nine different schools identified 201 possible DCD candidates.

Diabetes, metallothionein, and zinc interactions: a review.

Epidemiological evidence, associating diabetes with zinc (Zn) deficiencies, has resulted in numerous research studies describing the effects of Zn and associated metallothionein (MT), on reducing diabetic complications associated with oxidative stress. MT has been found to have a profound effect on the reduction of oxidative stress induced by the diabetic condition. Over expression of MT in various metabolic organs has also been shown to reduce hyperglycaemia-induced oxidative stress, organ specific diabetic complications, and DNA damage in diabetic experimental animals, which have been further substantiated by the results from MT-knockout mice.

Beliefs of South Africans regarding food and cardiovascular health.

Objectives: To investigate the beliefs of South African metropolitan adults regarding the importance of influencing cardiovascular health by eating certain food types, and to compare these beliefs between different race, living standards, age and gender groups.

Design: Randomised cross-sectional study. Trained fieldworkers administered questionnaires by conducting face-to-face interviews with consumers.

Hyperuricaemia is an independent factor for the metabolic syndrome in a sub-Saharan African population: a factor analysis.

Objective: To assess the risk factor pattern of the metabolic syndrome and its association with insulin resistance and hyperuricaemia in a sub-Saharan African population with different levels of urbanisation.

Methods: Four hundred forty-eight black South African volunteers, men and women aged 15 years and older were investigated in a cross-sectional, comparative, population-based survey. Subjects were stratified into three groups representing different levels of urbanisation in rural and urban areas.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine is associated with parameters of glucose metabolism in Caucasian but not in African women from South Africa.

Aim: Ethnic differences in obesity and obesity related disorders prompted us to search for possible contributors. The impact of the novel cardiovascular risk factor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) has been never determined in the African population. The present observational study aimed to compare ADMA levels between healthy African (102) and Caucasian women (115) from South Africa, and its impact on glucose metabolism.

Stereotypic behaviour in the deer mouse: pharmacological validation and relevance for obsessive compulsive disorder.

Stereotypy is an important manifestation of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD involves disturbed serotonin and dopamine pathways, and demonstrates a selective response to serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI), with limited to no response to noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (NRI). Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii) engage in various spontaneous stereotypic behaviours, including somersaulting, jumping and pattern running, and has to date not been explored for possible relevance for OCD.

Metabolic syndrome risk in black South African women compared to Caucasian women.

Rapid urbanisation has led African women to have an obesity prevalence double than that of Caucasian women, and this also holds true for the stroke prevalence in Africans. The study aimed to compare various metabolic syndrome (MS) criteria of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) of body mass index and age-matched African (n=102) and Caucasian women (n=115). More Caucasian (30.

Differences and similarities regarding adiponectin investigated in African and Caucasian women.

Objective: Concentrations of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with insulin-sensitizing actions, may vary according to ethnic group. This study aimed to determine whether fasting adiponectin levels of Caucasian and African women differ. A second objective was to determine which components of the metabolic syndrome are more closely related to adiponectinemia in both groups.