Cocaine enhances monocyte migration across the blood-brain barrier. Cocaine's connection to AIDS dementia and vasculitis?

Cocaine has wide-ranging effects on the immune and neuroendocrine systems (Fiala et al., 1996) resembling an inflammatory "stress" response with upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulation of the HPA axis (Gan et al., 1997).

Application of a diabetes managed care program. The feasibility of using nurses and a computer system to provide effective care.

Objective: Treatment of patients with diabetes often falls short of recommended process and outcome guidelines. To improve the quality of the provided diabetes care, a program (the Comprehensive Diabetes Care Service [CDCS]) using a computerizing tracking and recall system in conjunction with nurses following protocols was implemented in a managed care setting. The impact of this program was studied and compared to the care provided to patients in another managed care setting.

Detection of pulmonary emboli at the segmental and subsegmental level with electron-beam CT: validation in a porcine model.

Rationale And Objectives: The authors evaluated the sensitivity of electron-beam computed tomography (CT) in the detection of segmental and subsegmental pulmonary artery emboli in a porcine model.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one segmental and subsegmental branch pulmonary arteries in five swine were selectively catheterized and embolized with gelatin sponge pledgets. The presence of emboli was confirmed by means of contrast material-enhanced angiography.

Mutation of alpha B-crystallin: effects on chaperone-like activity.

A recent paper by Plater et al. [20], showed that the mutation of a single phenylalanine residue F27R in mouse alpha B completely abolished the chaperone-like property of alpha-crystallin when assayed with insulin at 25 degrees C or with gamma-crystallin at 66 degrees C. We have produced the same mutation as well as some additional mutations in human alpha B-crystallin.

Combined use of carboxyl-directed protein pegylation and vector-mediated blood-brain barrier drug delivery system optimizes brain uptake of brain-derived neurotrophic factor following intravenous administration.

Purpose: Peptide drug delivery to the brain requires optimization of (a) plasma pharmacokinetics and (b) blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. In the present studies, plasma pharmacokinetics are improved with protein pegylation and BBB transport is facilitated with the use of vector-mediated drug delivery using the OX26 monoclonal antibody (MAb) to the rat transferrin receptor, which undergoes receptormediated transcytosis through the BBB in vivo.

Methods: A conjugate of OX26 and streptavidin (SA), designated OX26/SA, was prepared in parallel with the carboxyl-directed pegylation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Transvenous embolization of a dural arteriovenous fistula of the cavernous sinus through the contralateral pterygoid plexus.

We report a new transvenous endovascular route for treatment of dural arteriovenous fistulas of the cavernous sinus. The cavernous sinus was approached from the contralateral pterygoid plexus and embolization of a dural fistula was performed successfully with Guglielmi detachable coils.

Developmental patterns of heart rate and variability in infants with persistent apnea of infancy.

During periods of regular breathing, heart rate is slower and more variable in healthy (no history of respiratory distress syndrome) prematurely born infants with persistent apnea, relative to full-term control infants of comparable post-conceptional ages. We tested the hypothesis that the cardiovascular differences may be linked to the persistent apnea, rather than premature birth, by assessing heart rate and variability in full-term infants with persistent apnea. Thus, resting heart rate and variability were compared in full-term infants with apnea of infancy, prematurely born infants with persistent apnea, and full-term control infants.

Immunosuppressive drugs in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunosuppressive (IS) drugs are an important option in the management of both forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. As the experience of using these agents in the treatment of IBD has increased and more data have become available on their efficacy, these drugs are being used more extensively. The principle drugs used in clinical practice at this time include: azathioprine (AZA) and its metabolite 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), methotrexate, and cyclosporin A.

The clinician-scientist in neuropsychiatry: a position statement from the Committee on Research of the American Neuropsychiatric Association.

Neuropsychiatric research seeks to improve the lives of patients with brain-based behavioral disturbances. There has been dramatic progress in diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, and progress in neuroscience and biotechnology promises further success. Paradoxically, recent trends threaten to erode this progress.

Regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and glucose metabolism in post-ischaemic myocardium.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) is regulated both by covalent modification and through modulation of the active enzyme by metabolites. In the isolated heart, post-ischaemic inhibition of PDH, leading to uncoupling of glycolysis and glucose oxidation and a decrease in cardiac efficiency, has been described. In vivo, post-ischaemic reperfusion leads to metabolic abnormalities consistent with PDH inhibition, but the effects of ischaemia/reperfusion on PDH are not well characterized.

A Xenopus cysteine string protein with a cysteine residue in the J domain.

A cDNA clone encoding a Xenopus cysteine string protein (Xcsp) was isolated and sequenced. The deduced primary sequence of Xcsp is very similar to other vertebrate csps with the exception of a cysteine residue that lies outside of the cysteine-string domain. This cysteine residue replaces a serine that is highly conserved among vertebrate csps, and thus may be of functional importance.

Significance of fetal intracardiac echogenic foci in relation to trisomy 21: a prospective sonographic study of high-risk pregnant women.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine if an association exists between intracardiac echogenic foci in the second-trimester fetus and trisomy 21.

Subjects And Methods: Over a 2-year period, targeted fetal sonography was performed for various indications in 1593 second-trimester high-risk pregnant women. Presence or absence of echogenic foci was recorded for each fetus.

Instruments of microbial warfare: bacteriocin synthesis, toxicity and immunity.

Bacteria have devised ingenious enzymatic machinery to synthesize antibiotic molecules (bacteriocins) for their continuous warfare with other microorganisms. Synthesis and export of these toxic compounds are coordinated to ensure the proper extracellular activation of bacteriocin toxicity. In designing future antibiotics, some of the tricks used by bacteriocins might be exploited for the synthesis of novel compounds.

Transcription: TRF walks the walk but can it talk the talk?

The TBP-related factor TRF binds to a TATA box promoter sequence and mediates basal transcription in vitro. A central question is: does TRF function in vivo to transduce the effects of activators in a tissue-specific fashion?

Dependence of cardiac cell Ca2+ permeability on sialic acid-containing sarcolemmal gangliosides.

The specific removal of negatively-charged sialic acid by neuraminidase produces a large increase in cardiac myocyte Ca uptake (17.3 +/- 1.1 mmol Ca/kg dry weight) and marked cell contracture.

Effect of heat inactivation of serum on Bordetella pertussis antibody determination by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

The effect of heat inactivation on Bordetella pertussis antibodies determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was studied. Sera were heated at increasing temperatures (from 30 to 50 degrees C at 5 degrees C increments and from 52 to 70 degrees C at 2 degrees C increments). Between 30 and 50 degrees C, no significant differences were observed in immunoglobin G (IgG) antibodies to pertussis toxin (PT).

Progress in ovarian cancer.

The management of advanced ovarian cancer relies on appropriate surgical cytoreduction in conjunction with appropriate adjuvant chemotherapy. In the past year several studies have continued to support aggressive cytoreduction at the initial operation, including for stage IV disease, as well as in a second-look setting. Ongoing research has identified several agents active in ovarian cancer, yet the optimal first-line regimen has yet to be developed.

Cancer of the uterine cervix.

The overall five-year survival of cervical cancer is only 40% worldwide despite the development of effective screening modalities. Paramount to this issue is access to appropriate medical care which remains limited to high-risk populations throughout the world. While surgery and radiation remain the mainstays of current treatment, new therapies based on the association of cervical cancer with the human papillomavirus are currently under investigation.

Functional analysis of the stress response element and its role in the multistress response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The DDR2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a multistress response gene whose transcription is rapidly and strongly induced by a diverse array of xenobiotic agents, and environmental and physiological conditions. The multistress response of this gene requires the pentanucleotide, 5' CCCCT, (C4T;STRE (STress Response Element)) and the zinc-finger transcription factors, Msn2p and Msn4p. A 51bp oligonucleotide (oligo 31/32) containing two STREs from the DDR2 promoter region was previously shown to direct heat shock activation of a lacZ reporter gene.

Styelins, broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides from the solitary tunicate, Styela clava.

Two novel phenylalanine-rich antimicrobial peptides, Styelin A and Styelin B, were purified from the hemocytes of Styela clava. The peptides had very similar masses (Styelin A, 3685.8; Styelin B, 3700.

Loss of CD28 expression on T lymphocytes: a marker of replicative senescence.

The CD28 molecule, a disulfide-linked homodimer expressed on peripheral T cells and thymocytes, mediates an essential costimulatory signal following engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR). Increased proportions of CD28- T cells have been observed during aging and in situations of chronic immune stimulation, but the origin and functional characteristics of these cells have been unclear. T cells which reach replicative senescence in culture after multiple rounds of cell division have shortened telomeres, respond poorly to stress stimuli, and no longer express CD28, suggesting that CD28- T cells observed in vivo may be the progeny of memory cells which have been repeatedly stimulated.

MD@: a physician-friendly decision analysis tool.

The cost-effective use of medical resources is increasingly important in justifying strategies for medical diagnosis and management. Although some software is available to help with decision analysis, it can be difficult to use these tools for medical applications. We have developed a prototype package for modeling various medical decision strategies, which can be used with a Macintosh or Windows-based personal computer.