Are substance use, abuse and dependence associated with study participation? Predictors of offspring nonparticipation in a twin-family study.

Objective: Although epidemiologic studies have reported that problem drinking is associated with nonresponse to surveys, it is unclear whether parents' alcoholism is associated with nonresponse in their offspring. This question is particularly important to family studies of alcoholism. In the current study we constructed a model of offspring nonparticipation in a twin-family design and computed weights to recapture the distribution of offspring alcohol abuse and dependence.

CLIC1 inserts from the aqueous phase into phospholipid membranes, where it functions as an anion channel.

CLIC1 is a member of the CLIC family of proteins, which has been shown to demonstrate chloride channel activity when reconstituted in phospholipid vesicles. CLIC1 exists in cells as an integral membrane protein and as a soluble cytoplasmic protein, implying that CLIC1 might cycle between membrane-inserted and soluble forms. CLIC1 was purified and detergent was removed, yielding an aqueous solution of essentially pure protein.

Delivery across the blood-brain barrier of antisense directed against amyloid beta: reversal of learning and memory deficits in mice overexpressing amyloid precursor protein.

Amyloid beta protein (Abeta) may play a causal role in Alzheimer's disease. Previous work has shown that the learning and memory deficits that develop with aging in SAMP8 mice, a strain that overproduces Abeta, can be reversed with i.c.

Safety and immunogenicity of a canarypox-vectored human immunodeficiency virus Type 1 vaccine with or without gp120: a phase 2 study in higher- and lower-risk volunteers.

Live attenuated viral vectors that express human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigens are being developed as potential vaccines to prevent HIV infection. The first phase 2 trial with a canarypox vector (vCP205, which expresses gp120, p55, and protease) was conducted in 435 volunteers with and without gp120 boosting, to expand the safety database and to compare the immunogenicity of the vector in volunteers who were at higher risk with that in volunteers at lower risk for HIV infection. Neutralizing antibodies to the MN strain were stimulated in 94% of volunteers given vCP205 plus gp120 and in 56% of volunteers given vCP205 alone.

Practice guideline for evaluation of fever and infection in long-term care facilities.

The elderly population (i.e., persons aged > or = 65 years) in the United States is rapidly expanding and will nearly double in number over the next 30 years.

Self-Reported zygosity and the equal-environments assumption for psychiatric disorders in the Vietnam Era Twin Registry.

The equal-environments assumption (EEA) in twin studies of psychiatric disorders assumes that the family environment which contributes to risk for a disorder is equally correlated between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs. In a study of psychiatric disorders in female twins, Kendler and colleagues (1993) have demonstrated the utility of a test of the EEA which includes a specified family environmental factor defined by using measures of perceived zygosity. We tested the EEA assumption among 3155 male-male twin pair members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry for the following DSM-III-R lifetime disorders: alcohol dependence, marijuana dependence, any illicit drug dependence, nicotine dependence, major depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Validation of a screening questionnaire for androgen deficiency in aging males.

It is now well established that testosterone levels decline with age. What has not been established is whether the decline in testosterone is associated with a symptom complex. This study examined whether certain symptoms are more commonly present in males with low bioavailable testosterone (BT) levels.

Management of nutritional problems in subacute care.

Poor nutritional status is one of the major factors associated with functional decline and mortality in older persons. Older persons are at increased risk for malnutrition because of the physiologic anorexia of aging. During a stay in a subacute care facility, attention to nutrition is a major component of the rehabilitative process.

Effectiveness of acute rehabilitation services in geriatric evaluation and management units.

As pressure for cost containment has mounted and the US population ages, causing increased levels of disability among the population and a greater focus on quality of life and rehabilitation after acute illness, the emphasis on acute rehabilitation services has increased. Acute rehabilitation services include many programs, and the field is changing rapidly along several dimensions, some of which are explored. In such a complex and fluid situation, a definitive overview is impossible, but some useful remarks are attempted.

Regulation of the bovine kidney microsomal chloride channel p64 by p59fyn, a Src family tyrosine kinase.

p64 is a chloride channel of intracellular membranes which is present in regulated secretory vesicles. Mechanisms by which the p64 channel could be regulated are largely unknown. p59(fyn) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase of the Src family that has been implicated in a variety of intracellular signaling events.

CLIC-1 functions as a chloride channel when expressed and purified from bacteria.

CLIC-1 is a member of a family of proteins related to the bovine intracellular chloride channel p64 which has been proposed to function as a chloride channel. We expressed CLIC-1 as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein in bacteria. The fusion protein was purified by glutathione affinity, and CLIC-1 was released from its fusion partner by digestion with thrombin.

Longitudinal changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in older people.

Cross-sectional studies have suggested that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels decline with aging. We have examined this putative decline in a longitudinal study using participants in the New Mexico Aging Process Study. 25OHD levels were measured in participants in whom serum samples were available between 1980 to 1982 and 1989 to 1994 (37 men and 99 women).

Intestinal plasma membrane calcium pump protein and its induction by 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) decrease with age.

The plasma membrane Ca pump of intestinal absorptive cells has been proposed as a component in the vitamin D-dependent active transport of Ca. Because intestinal Ca transport declines with age, the purpose of this study was to determine if changes in Ca pump expression parallel this decline. Intestinal levels of the plasma membrane Ca pump protein were measured by Western blotting in Fischer 344 rats that were 2, 12, and 24 mo of age.

An overview of diabetes mellitus in older persons.

Diabetes mellitus is very common in older persons. Changes in exercise habits, body habitus, leptin, amylin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and nitric oxide all play a role in the pathogenesis of age-related insulin resistance. In older persons elevated glucose levels not only produce retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy but also decrease quality of life, pain tolerance, cognition, and functional status and increase injurious falls, nocturia, incontinence, pressure ulcers, and orthostatic hypotension.

Sociodemographic and health status characteristics with prostate cancer screening in a national cohort of middle-aged male veterans.

Objectives: To characterize variables associated with obtaining prostate cancer screening in a nonclinical, nationally distributed, middle-aged male population.

Methods: Telephone interviews were administered to 2652 individual members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry in 1992 and 1995. Dependent variables were self-report measures of having had a digital rectal examination (DRE) and/or a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test in the past 5 years.

Body composition and age in African-American and Caucasian women: relationship to plasma leptin levels.

Leptin is a recently isolated peptide hormone released from adipocytes that has been postulated to play a role in appetite regulation and energy metabolism. Aging affects both food intake and body composition. Body composition is also affected by ethnicity.

Apolipoprotein A1 expression in young and aged rats is modulated by dietary carbohydrates.

To determine if dietary carbohydrates modulate apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) expression, plasma ApoA1 protein and hepatic ApoA1 mRNA levels were measured in young and aged rats maintained on a high-fructose (60% of diet weight consisting of fructose), or high-glucose (60% glucose) diet or fed regular rat chow for 10 days. Aged rats on regular chow had significantly higher plasma ApoA1 concentrations and hepatic ApoA1 mRNA than young rats maintained on this diet. Plasma ApoA1 and hepatic ApoA1 mRNA levels in young rats or aged rats maintained on the 60% fructose diet were significantly higher than in rats within the same age group maintained on regular rat chow (P < .

Longitudinal changes in testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone in healthy older men.

Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated a decline in testosterone and free and bioavailable testosterone with age. This occurs in a majority of older persons without an increase in luteinizing hormone (LH), suggesting that a component of the testosterone decrease is due to secondary hypogonadism. To determine whether these findings could be duplicated in a longitudinal study, we measured testosterone, LH, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels in 77 men participating in the New Mexico Aging Process Study who had sera available in 1980 or 1981 and two or more serial samples in 1982, 1984, 1989, and/or 1994.

Age-related changes in the responsiveness of apolipoprotein A1 to thyroid hormone.

To determine the age-related changes in the effect of thyroid hormone on apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) gene expression, male Fischer 344 rats at 4 (young) and 26 (aged) mo of age were studied. Hyperthyroidism was induced with daily intraperitoneal injections of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (15 micrograms/100 g body wt) for 10 days. Hypothyroidism was induced with 0.

Increased immunogenicity of inactivated influenza virus vaccine containing purified surface antigen compared with whole virus in elderly women.

Thirty-eight elderly female subjects (aged 80 +/- 7 years, mean +/- standard deviation) were randomized to immunization with trivalent inactivated influenza virus vaccine containing either purified surface antigen (n = 18) or whole virus (n = 20) components from A/Texas/36/91 (H1N1), A/Beijing/353/89 (H3N2), and B/Panama/45/90 strains. Humoral and cellular immune responses were assessed by measuring serum hemagglutination inhibition antibodies and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity at 0 and 3 weeks postvaccination. Serological responses to both of the type A vaccine strains following immunization with surface antigen vaccine (SAV) were significantly more frequent and greater in magnitude than those induced by whole-virus vaccine.

Monitoring of antiviral therapy with quantitative evaluation of HBeAg: a comparison with HBV DNA testing.

The serological endpoint of response in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B is the loss of hepatitis B virus DNA and HBeAg. Because the quantitative measurement of hepatitis B virus DNA in serum has been shown to be useful for monitoring and predicting response to interferon-alpha therapy, we decided to evaluate whether changes in HBeAg concentration could also be used in this manner. Twenty-nine patients who were initially positive for HBeAg and HBV DNA were serially evaluated for HBeAg concentration with a microparticle-capture enzyme immunoassay.