Frontotemporal dementia: treatment response to serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors.

Background: Patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) present initially with primarily behavioral rather than cognitive symptoms. Decreased serotonin receptor binding has been reported in the frontal lobes, temporal lobes, and hypothalamus in autopsy-proven FTD cases. This study tests the hypothesis that many of the behavioral symptoms of FTD (including disinhibition, depressive symptoms, carbohydrate craving, and compulsions) will respond to serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl-ester: a muscarinic receptor antagonist?

The effect of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) towards muscarinic receptors was studied in vitro and in vivo. L-NAME displaced the antimuscarinic ligand [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate ([3H]QNB) from its specific binding sites in rat cerebral cortex and cerebellum homogenates with a more than 10,000 fold lower affinity than atropine, pirenzepine and AFDX 116. Data for L-NAME binding were best fit according to a two-site model (Kd 7.

Alveolar and tissue surfactant pool sizes in humans.

The amounts of surfactant in human lung tissue and in the alveolar pool have not been extensively reported. We used 24 human lungs from persons over the age range of 13 mo to 80 yr to investigate whether the amount of saturated phosphatidylcholine (Sat-PC) in the human lung changed with age. Lung lavages also were obtained from 10 lungs at autopsy for measurements of the alveolar Sat-PC and surfactant protein-A (SP-A) concentrations.

The scope of nutrition intervention trials with cancer-related endpoints.

The National Cancer Institute currently is supporting three full-scale dietary modification trials with cancer-related endpoints. These studies are the dietary component of the Women's Health Initiative, designed to determine whether a low-fat diet will reduce the incidence of breast and colorectal cancer and/or coronary heart disease; the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study, designed to test whether a dietary fat reduction program will decrease breast cancer recurrence and increase patient survival; and the Polyp Prevention Trial, designed to determine whether a low-fat, high-fiber diet will reduce the recurrence of adenomatous polyps. Design issues associated with these full-scale dietary modification outcome trials have been addressed successfully in a series of feasibility studies.

Long QT interval syndrome. A new look at an old electrocardiographic measurement--the power of the computer.

Because clinical studies frequently include only a marginal number of patients, these relatively new, robust statistical techniques will have increased use. The utilization of ROC curves will be more commonplace because they permit the comprehension of the data in a more dynamic mode than merely the reporting of sensitivities and specificities.

Frequent deletions of the human X chromosome distal short arm result from recombination between low copy repetitive elements.

Substantial DNA deletions appear to be the molecular basis of several human genetic disorders but rarely account for the majority of observed mutations at any given locus. Exceptions in which deletions do account for the majority of observed abnormalities include the alpha-thalassemias, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and steroid sulfatase deficiency. Variable deletion breakpoints have been recognized at the alpha-globin and dystrophin loci, but no information is available regarding STS deletions.