Paleodermatoses: lessons learned from mummies.

Mummies, the preserved remains of living beings from former times, bear witness across millennia to the maladies plaguing humankind. Disease, older than humanity, is better understood when examined in the context of history. Paleopathology, literally meaning "ancient suffering", is the study of disease through evaluation of ancient remains.

Delayed type hypersensitivity to benzoyl peroxide.

Benzoyl peroxide (BP) has been a standard and effective topical treatment for acne vulgaris for the past 35 years. Previous studies and case reports have documented benzoyl peroxide to be a strong irritant and a weak allergen, with many cases of tolerance induced with repeat use of this irritant. While less common, numerous cases of BP-induced allergic contact dermatitis (delayed type hypersensitivity reaction) have been reported in the literature.

Calcium channel antagonists in the treatment of hypertension.

Calcium channel antagonists are widely used antihypertensive agents. Their popularity among primary care physicians is not only due to their blood pressure-lowering effects, but also because they appear to be effective regardless of the age or ethnic background of the patients. The first available calcium channel antagonists utilized immediate-release formulations which, although effective in patients with angina pectoris, were not approved by the US FDA for use in hypertension.

Alcohol-induced apoptosis of canine cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells: role of extracellular and intracellular calcium ions.

Exposure of canine cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to ethanol (10, 25 and 100 mM) for 1, 3 and 5 days induced apoptosis with its typical characteristics of nuclear shrinkage, condensation, and DNA breakage as well as formation of apoptotic bodies observed by fluorescence staining, terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling and comet assays. Such effects of alcohol on cerebral VSMCs were time- and concentration-dependent. The threshold ethanol concentration for induction of the apoptotic process was found to be 10 mM.

Hyperextension and rotation of head causing internal carotid artery laceration with basilar subarachnoid hematoma.

Hyperextension of the head can cause injury to the vessels at the base of the brain. These lacerations are believed to be caused by stretching of the vessels due to the abrupt movement of the head and rotational acceleration of the brain within the cranium, and they usually occur in the intracranial portions of the vessels, producing a subarachnoid hemorrhage. This is the case of a 35-year-old man who received a blow to the face that forcefully hyperextended and rotated his head to the left.

Transcript cleavage factors GreA and GreB act as transient catalytic components of RNA polymerase.

Prokaryotic transcription elongation factors GreA and GreB stimulate intrinsic nucleolytic activity of RNA polymerase (RNAP). The proposed biological role of Gre-induced RNA hydrolysis includes transcription proofreading, suppression of transcriptional pausing and arrest, and facilitation of RNAP transition from transcription initiation to transcription elongation. Using an array of biochemical and molecular genetic methods, we mapped the interaction interface between Gre and RNAP and identified the key residues in Gre responsible for induction of nucleolytic activity in RNAP.

Modulation of afterpotentials and firing pattern in guinea pig CA3 neurones by group I metabotropic glutamate receptors.

Activation of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) alters the firing patterns of individual CA3 pyramidal cells in guinea pig hippocampal slices. Following addition of the selective group I agonist (S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG) to the bathing solution, pyramidal cells initially firing regular, single action potentials switched to firing in brief bursts. This change in firing pattern resulted from modulation by mGluRs of three afterpotentials.

Role of ACE inhibitors in treating hypertensive diabetic patients.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major determining factor of morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetic patients. Hypertension, which accompanies diabetes in more than 70% of cases, contributes to increased prevalence of CVD events in this group of patients. Results from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) indicated that reduction of elevated blood pressure might decrease CVD morbidity and mortality more than reduction of hyperglycemia.

The use of ACE inhibitors on diabetic patients without renal disease.

Strategies that interrupt the renin-angiotensin system, especially with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, reduce cardiovascular disease mortality and morbidity in high-risk persons such as those with the insulin resistance syndrome and diabetes mellitus. In the 1980s emphasis was placed on the renal protective effects of ACE inhibitors in patients with diabetes and proteinuria. During the past several years controlled clinical trials have demonstrated that ACE inhibition reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity.

The activated clotting time can be used to monitor the low molecular weight heparin dalteparin after intravenous administration.

Objectives: This study was designed to compare the dose response of dalteparin versus unfractionated heparin (UFH) on the activated clotting time (ACT), and to determine whether the ACT can be used to monitor intravenous (IV) dalteparin during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: The use of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) during PCI has been limited by the presumed inability to monitor its anticoagulant effect using bedside assays.

Methods: This study was performed in three phases.

The angiotensin II receptor blockers: opportunities across the spectrum of cardiovascular disease.

Angiotensin receptor blockers are a new class of agents that have made a major contribution to the treatment of hypertension. These agents effectively reduce blood pressure and are well tolerated. Other clinical trials have focused, however, on the much wider use of angiotensin receptor blockers in conditions such as congestive heart failure, postmyocardial infarction management, and diabetic nephropathy.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of T7 RNA polymerase elongation complex.

Stable transcription-elongation complexes consisting of T7 RNA polymerase (molecular mass 99 kDa) in association with a nucleic acid scaffold consisting of an 8 bp RNA-DNA hybrid and 10 bp of downstream DNA were assembled and crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion technique under near-physiological conditions. The crystals diffract beyond 2.6 A resolution and belong to space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 79.

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency: a new case report and identification of two novel mutations (Gly156A1a and Val217Ile), only one of which (Gly156A1a) is deleterious.

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) deficiency results in an autosomal recessive immunodeficiency disease characterized by initial involvement of cellular immunity and neurological manifestations with subsequent abnormalities of humoral immunity. The initial presentation and clinical course has varied widely in the relatively few published cases. The molecular basis has been reported in only 10 patients, precluding evaluation of phenotype-genotype relationships.

Clinical implications of aldosterone blockade.

Background: Aldosterone contributes to hypertension, cardiac and vascular remodeling, and heart failure. The significant risk reduction provided by the addition of spironolactone to standard therapy in patients with severe heart failure has renewed interest in aldosterone blockade.

Methods: This review describes recent clinical studies of eplerenone, a selective aldosterone blocker, in patients with hypertension.

Holocaust survivors in a primary care setting: fifty years later.

Past studies have not assessed the prevalence of emotional disturbances in Holocaust survivors seeking medical treatment in a family practice environment. The present study examined the prevalence of lifetime (the presence of symptomatology at any time) and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, general anxiety, and depression in Holocaust survivors seeking medical treatment in a primary care setting. 20 of the 27 Holocaust survivors in our sample received a current diagnosis of PTSD and reported significant symptoms of depression and general anxiety.

Isotretinoin made S.M.A.R.T. and simple.

With the introduction of oral isotretinoin 20 years ago, an incredible triumph was achieved in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Much has been learned of the pathogenesis of acne and the mechanism by which isotretinoin affects acne. The teratogenicity of isotretinoin has cast a shadow on this effective drug with recent concern about the regulation of its use.

Complexity measures of event related potential surface Laplacian data calculated using the wavelet packet transform.

We describe a method to obtain estimates of EEG signal complexity using the well-established wavelet packet transform with best basis selection. In particular, we use the two-dimensional wavelet packet transform to obtain estimates of the complexity of two-dimensional images. This allows us to calculate complexity estimates of high-resolution brain potential maps generated from 61 scalp electrode Visual Oddball paradigm, grand-mean data.

The familial aggregation of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Objective: To determine the role of genetic mechanisms in the development of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Design: Genetic-epidemiologic survey of families of index children with laboratory-confirmed OSAS.

Setting: Tertiary care academic medical center.

Hepatitis C infection in children and adolescents with end-stage renal disease.

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the risk factors associated with its transmission are described in a contemporary cohort of 55 children and adolescents with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Thirty-seven patients were on dialysis or had been transplanted (ESRD) and 18 had chronic renal failure (CRF) but had not yet received dialysis. Seven (19%) tested positive for HCV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or both.

Differing concentrations of corticotropin-releasing factor and oxytocin in the cerebrospinal fluid of bonnet and pigtail macaques.

The two neuropeptides corticotropin-releasing-factor (CRF) and oxytocin (OT) may produce opposing behavioral effects - elevations of the former have been associated with anxiety and social vigilance and reductions of the latter with reduced social affiliation. We sought to test the hypothesis that, within the primate macaque genus, the more gregarious, affiliative, and affectively stable bonnet species (Macaca radiata) would exhibit lower cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) CRF and higher CSF OT concentrations in comparison to its close relative, the temperamentally volatile and socially distant pigtail (Macaca nemestrina). Cisternal CSF samples were obtained from young adult male and female pigtail and bonnet macaques, and CRF and OT concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay.

Effects of substitutions in a conserved DX(2)GR sequence motif, found in many DNA-dependent nucleotide polymerases, on transcription by T7 RNA polymerase.

The region in bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase (RNAP) comprising residues 421-425 contains a sequence motif (DX(2)GR) that is conserved among many DNA-dependent nucleotide polymerases. We have found that alterations in this motif result in enzymes that display weaker retention of the RNA product during transcript initiation, a decreased ability to make the transition to a stable elongation complex, and changes in substrate binding and catalytic activity. Many of these defects are coupled with an altered response to the presence or absence of the non-template strand.

Activation of group I mGluRs elicits different responses in murine CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells.

The group I metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist DHPG has been shown to produce two major effects on CA3 pyramidal cells at rest: a reduction in the background conductance and an activation of a voltage-gated inward current (I(mGluR(V))). Both effects contribute to depolarising CA3 pyramidal cells and the latter has been implicated in eliciting prolonged epileptiform population bursts. We observed that DHPG-induced depolarisation was smaller in CA1 pyramidal cells than in CA3 cells.