Kidney biopsy-based management of maintenance immunosuppression is safe and may ameliorate flare rate in lupus nephritis.

The optimal duration of maintenance immunosuppressive therapy for patients with lupus nephritis who have achieved clinical remission has not been established. Furthermore, clinical and histologic remissions are often discordant. We postulated that continuing therapy for patients with persistent histologic activity on kidney biopsies done during maintenance and discontinuing therapy only for patients without histologic activity would minimize subsequent lupus nephritis flares.

Substance use among American Indian youth in an Eastern city.

This study represents one of the first efforts to examine substance use among American Indian (AI) youth in an Eastern city. As part of a school-based study in metropolitan Columbus, Ohio, 596 self-identified AI youth (grades 6-12) completed surveys describing their use of alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, marijuana and inhalants. Net of gender, grade and family structure, AI youth were more likely than their white peers to regularly use most substances while overall prevalence resembled estimates from studies of urban AI youth in the Western United States.

A measure of nicotine dependence for smokeless tobacco users.

The objective of the present study was to examine the properties of a modification of the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence in a large sample of smokeless tobacco (ST) users. The subjects for this study included 256 males who were recruited for a tobacco cessation intervention that involved a visit with a dentist and advice to quit smoking during the exam. At baseline, the modified dependence scale was administered to the participants and a saliva sample was collected to measure cotinine.

Randomized trial of an intervention to improve mammography utilization among a triracial rural population of women.

Introduction: Mammography is underused by certain groups of women, in particular poor and minority women. We developed a lay health advisor (LHA) intervention based on behavioral theories and tested whether it improved mammography attendance in Robeson County, NC, a rural, low-income, triracial (white, Native American, African American) population.

Methods: A total of 851 women who had not had a mammogram within the past year were randomly assigned to the LHA intervention (n = 433) or to a comparison arm (n = 418) during 1998-2002.

Are physicians asking about tobacco use and assisting with cessation? Results from the 2001-2004 national ambulatory medical care survey (NAMCS).

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if providers asked patients about tobacco and assisted tobacco users with cessation.

Methods: The data source is the 2001-2004 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, which is an annual survey of outpatient visits. The prevalence of "asking" about tobacco use, providing "assistance" with tobacco cessation, and prescription of pharmacotherapy for cessation were estimated.

The dose-response relationship of adolescent religious activity and substance use: variation across demographic groups.

This article addresses two inconsistent findings in the literature on adolescent religious activity (RA) and substance use: whether a dose-response relationship characterizes the association of these variables, and whether the association varies by grade, gender, ethnicity, family structure, school type, and type of substance. Multinomial logistic regression analyses of a large, diverse data set of high school students in metropolitan Columbus, Ohio ( n = 33,007), found marked differences in alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among youths who never, occasionally, or regularly participated in RA. Weekly RA was consistently associated with less substance use, yet occasional RA sometimes was associated with greater use.

High school students' misuse of over-the-counter drugs: a population-based study in an urban county.

A survey of high school students (n = 39,345) found 4.7% occasionally misuse over-the-counter drugs (i.e.

Psychological distress and cardiovascular disease: results from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey.

Aims: The objective of this study was to examine the burden of psychological distress among individuals with different forms of heart disease in a large representative sample of adults.

Methods And Results: Data were obtained from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, which is a large annual survey of the US non-institutionalized civilian population. Psychological distress was assessed with a standardized questionnaire (K6) and heart disease diagnoses were based on self-report.

Drug selling among high school students: related risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics.

Purpose: To identify risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics associated with high school students' selling drugs.

Methods: In 2000, an anonymous standardized survey assessed substance use, drug selling and related risk factors (e.g.

Parental mental health, childhood psychiatric disorders, and asthma attacks in island Puerto Rican youth.

Objective: Previous research documents an association of poor parental mental health with asthma in children. This study aims to determine whether the associations between parental mental health problems and childhood asthma attacks persist after controlling for childhood anxiety and depression and other confounding factors.

Design/methods: A community household sample of youth ages 4 to 17 years and their primary caregivers from the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was studied to determine the associations between parental mental health and childhood asthma attacks.

Religious activity and risk behavior among African American adolescents: concurrent and developmental effects.

This study examines how religious activity is associated with risk behaviors, concurrently and developmentally among urban African American adolescents. Seven hundred and five African American youths were interviewed annually during high school. Retention rates for the study exceeded 90%.

College students' early cessation from episodic heavy drinking: prevalence and correlates.

The author surveyed 788 undergraduates at a large public university (overall response rate 54%) to (1) estimate the proportion of college students who cease engaging in a pattern of episodic heavy drinking (EHD) and (2) identify individual and contextual factors associated with early cessation. He used a staging algorithm to classify respondents into 4 stages of EHD cessation. Of the 60% who had engaged in EHD, 64% continued to drink heavily with no intention of stopping, 12% continued to drink heavily but were thinking about stopping, 14% had ceased temporarily, and 9% had ceased permanently.

Episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.

Purpose: To examine whether similar risk factors influenced episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.

Methods: The sample consisted of 705 African-American youths (48.9% male; mean age at baseline = 14.

Etiology and chemoprevention of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the human esophagus has a multifactorial etiology involving several environmental and/or genetic factors. Current modalities of therapy for this disease offer poor survival and cure rates. Although a number of approaches could be undertaken to reduce the occurrence of esophageal SCC, including changes in lifestyle and improved nutrition, such approaches are not easily implemented.

Effects of dietary N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide on N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine metabolism and esophageal tumorigenesis in the Fischer 344 rat.

Background: 9-cis-Retinoic acid (9-cis-RA) and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR) are effective chemopreventive agents against epithelial tumors in the oral cavity, breast, and prostate. We tested the inhibitory activity of these retinoids against N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced tumorigenesis in the rat esophagus.

Methods: Male Fischer 344 rats were randomly assigned to receive diets either lacking or containing 9-cis-RA or 4-HPR for 1 week before tumor initiation with NMBA and then for the duration of the study.

Inhibition of N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine-induced tumorigenesis in the rat esophagus by dietary freeze-dried strawberries.

In the present study, we examined the ability of dietary freeze-dried strawberries to inhibit N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced tumorigenesis in the rat esophagus. Initially, we conducted a bioassay to determine the effects of dietary freeze-dried strawberries on esophageal tumor development. Two weeks prior to NMBA treatment, animals were placed on a control diet or diets containing 5 and 10% freeze-dried strawberries.

Investigation of the enhancement of N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine-induced esophageal tumorigenesis by 6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate.

Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that 6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate (PHITC), enhances N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced esophageal tumorigenesis in F344 rats while the shorter chain analogs, phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), and 3-phenylpropyl isothiocyanate (PPITC), inhibit NMBA-induced esophageal tumorigenesis. To test the hypothesis that PHITC influences the promotional stage of esophageal tumorigenesis, groups of 22-27 rats were dosed with vehicle or NMBA three times a week for 5 week, and fed a modified AIN-76A diet containing PHITC at concentrations of 0.0, 1.

Isothiocyanates and freeze-dried strawberries as inhibitors of esophageal cancer.

A group of arylalkyl isothiocyanates were tested for their abilities to inhibit tumorigenicity and DNA methylation induced by the esophageal-specific carcinogen, N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA) in the F344 rat esophagus. Phenylpropyl isothiocyanate (PPITC) was more potent than either phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) or benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC). Phenylbutyl isothiocyanate (PBITC), however, had a lesser inhibitory effect on esophageal tumorigenesis, and phenylhexyl isothiocyanate (PHITC) actually enhanced esophageal tumorigenesis.

Inhibition of N'-nitrosonornicotine-induced esophageal tumorigenesis by 3-phenylpropyl isothiocyanate.

The ability of dietary isothiocyanates to inhibit the esophageal metabolism of N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) was examined in F344 rats. Following feeding of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), 3-phenylpropyl isothiocyanate (PPITC), 4-phenylbutyl isothiocyanate (PBITC) or 6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate for 2 weeks, rats were killed and the esophagi were incubated in vitro with [5-3H]NNN. While dietary BITC, PEITC and PBITC all decreased NNN metabolism, dietary PPITC had the greatest effect, yielding inhibition ranging from 55 to 91% of the control production of various NNN metabolites.

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for measurement of cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of 7-ethoxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin.

An HPLC method for analysis of deethylation of 7-ethoxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin (ETFMC), a substrate of various enzymes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily, was developed. ETFMC was incubated at 37 degrees C with human hepatic microsomes or microsomes prepared from a lymphoblastoid cell line that expresses human CYP2B6. Under these conditions, the highly fluorescent metabolite 7-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin (HTFMC) is formed.

p53-independent down-regulation of cyclin D1 and p21Waf1 in the process of immortalization of human esophageal epithelial cells.

Immortalization is considered to be an initial critical step in the process of multistage cell transformation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this event are not well understood. Our laboratory previously established the immortalized human esophageal epithelial cell line, HET-1A, by SV40 T-antigen transfection.

Isothiocyanates and plant polyphenols as inhibitors of lung and esophageal cancer.

A group of arylalkyl isothiocyanates were tested for their abilities to inhibit tumorigenicity and DNA methylation induced by both the tobacco-specific nitrosamine, NNK, in A/J mouse lung and the esophageal-specific carcinogen, NMBA, in F344 rat esophagus. In addition, ellagic acid was tested for its ability to inhibit NMBA-induced esophageal tumorigenesis. In the strain A lung tumor model, PEITC effectively inhibited NNK-induced lung tumors at a dose of 5 micromol, but was not inhibitory at lower doses.

Mechanism of enhancement of esophageal tumorigenesis by 6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate.

6-Phenylhexyl isothiocyanate (PHITC) enhances esophageal tumorigenesis induced by the carcinogen N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA) in rats while its shorter chain analog, phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), inhibits NMBA-induced esophageal tumorigenesis. A significant increase in O6-methylguanine levels in esophageal DNA at 72 h after NMBA administration to rats pretreated with PHITC suggested that PHITC might enhance NMBA metabolic activation or inhibit DNA repair. To test this hypothesis, groups of 20 rats were administered PEITC or PHITC at concentrations of 0, 1.