Induction of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in keratinocytes by histamine.

Mast cells and their mediator, histamine, are well-recognized effectors in immediate allergy, but their role in tissue remodeling and chronic inflammation has also been the focus of intense research during the past decade. Gschwandtner et al. (2008, this issue) report that histamine can induce MMP-9 expression in keratinocytes, promote collagen type IV degradation in the basement membrane, and stimulate keratinocytes, leading to increased T-cell transmigration through an artificial basement membrane.

Design, construction and evaluation of an ambulatory device for screening of sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a major public health problem. The golden reference for diagnosing OSAS is the sleep-laboratory based polysomnography (PSG). However, screening of population for OSAS may be practical and cost efficient only through ambulatory home recordings.

Partial remission indicates poor functioning and a high level of psychiatric symptoms: a 3-phase 6-year follow-up study on major depression.

Patients with depression in partial remission are at high risk of relapse, but factors associated with being in this outcome group are not well known. We conducted a clinical survey to examine the course of major depression in 87 patients during a follow-up period of 6 years. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores indicated the outcome of depression, i.

Serum L-homoarginine concentration is elevated during normal pregnancy and is related to flow-mediated vasodilatation.

Background: Normal pregnancy is associated with enhanced vasodilatation because of the increased nitric oxide (NO) production. Because L-homoarginine can act as a substrate for NO production, concentrations of L-homoarginine in normal pregnancy were assessed in the present study to test whether L-homoarginine is associated with endothelial function.

Methods And Results: Healthy non-pregnant (n=61) and pregnant women (n=58) were studied in a cross-sectional study.

Is there a role for mast cells in psoriasis?

Mast cells have traditionally been considered as effector cells in allergy but during the last decade it has been realized that mast cells are essentially involved in the mechanisms of innate and acquired immunity. Upon activation by anaphylactic, piecemeal degranulation or degranulation-independent mechanisms mast cells can secrete rapidly or slowly a number of soluble mediators, such as serine proteinases, histamine, lipid-derived mediators, cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. Mast cells can express cell surface co-stimulatory receptors and ligands, and they can express MHC class II molecules and thereby present antigens.

Clinical significance of troponin I efflux and troponin autoantibodies in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: The appearance of circulating autoantibodies against cardiac troponin I (cTnAbs) in patients with heart failure has been reported. We sought to evaluate the role of circulating cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and cTnAbs in the pathophysiology and prognosis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Methods And Results: Circulating concentrations of cTnI and the presence of cTnAbs were determined in 95 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Low HDL cholesterol associates with major depression in a sample with a 7-year history of depressive symptoms.

Long-term depression may increase the risk for adverse coronary events. Low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) have in particular been suggested to underlie this connection. A total of 124 participants with a recorded seven-year history of depressive symptoms (depressed, n=63) or euthymic state (controls, n=61) underwent a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV to confirm their psychiatric diagnosis.

Increased expression of Abeta degrading enzyme IDE in the cortex of transgenic mice with Alzheimer's disease-like neuropathology.

Expression levels of amyloid beta (Abeta)-degrading enzymes, insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) and neprilysin (NEP), were examined in transgenic mice with Alzheimer's disease-like neuropathology. After the development of first Abeta plaques in transgenic mice brain, cortical mRNA and protein levels of IDE were significantly up-regulated in the transgenic mice compared to their non-transgenic littermates. Up-regulation of IDE mRNA-levels occurred in parallel with increased Abeta40 and Abeta42 production.

Electrocardiographic alterations during hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia in healthy subjects.

Background: We evaluated the arrhythmogenic potential of hypoglycemia by studying electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in response to hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia and associated sympathoadrenal counterregulatory responses in healthy subjects.

Methods: The study population consisted of 18 subjects, aged 30-40 years. Five-minute ECG recordings and blood samplings were performed at baseline and during the euglycemic and hypoglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp studies.

Somatostatin genetic variants modify the risk for Alzheimer's disease among Finnish patients.

The levels of somatostatin are consistently decreased in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. The somatostatin gene is located on chromosome 3q27.3 close to an association region identified in late-onset AD patients originating from Finland.

Electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy has low diagnostic accuracy in middle-aged subjects.

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG LVH) as a marker of LVH in middle-aged subjects.

Methods: LVH was determined by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 188 apparently healthy middle-aged [97 men (45+/-7 years) and 91 women (47+/-6 years)]. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, test sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for identifying LVH at different ECG criteria were calculated.

Headache induced by an arachnoid cyst of the sphenoid sinus: a rare diagnosis problem?

We describe a diagnostic problem in a young adult with a long history of frequently occurring headache episodes. The cause for these episodes was traced to a rare condition, extensive arachnoid cyst of sphenoid sinus. Extensive lesions of the sphenoid sinus are relatively rare and can cause non-specific symptoms.

Evaluation of informed consent: a pilot study.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to describe and analyse the use of informed consent in clinical research, from the point of view of voluntary adult research participants, in order to develop and test an interview schedule for the evaluation of informed consent.

Background: Informed consent is one of the central ethical research principles in healthcare research, but empirical research on this topic is still scarce. To evaluate and develop the ethical quality of scientific research, there is a need to explore the meaning and implications of informed consent for research participants.

Evolution of mild obstructive sleep apnea after different treatments.

Study Objectives: To evaluate the prognosis of mild obstructive sleep apnea in relation to different treatment modalities.

Study Design: An open, retrospective, longitudinal follow-up study.

Methods: Fifty adult patients diagnosed and treated for mild obstructive sleep apnea at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Kuopio University Hospital between 1998 and 2004 had a control polysomnography in 2005.

Cytokines, interstitial collagen and ventricular remodelling in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is associated with myocardial fibrosis, and proinflammatory cytokines may play a role in this.

Methods: N-terminal type I and III procollagen propeptides (PINP, PIIINP) and cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) were measured from serum samples of 73 patients with DCM and 56 age and sex matched controls. Circulating cytokine levels were determined in DCM patients.

Role of genetic and environmental influences on heart rate variability in middle-aged men.

Our aim was to estimate causal relationships of genetic factors and different specific environmental factors in determination of the level of cardiac autonomic modulation, i.e., heart rate variability (HRV), in healthy male twins and male twins with chronic diseases.

Juvenile-onset neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis with infantile CLN1 mutation and palmitoyl-protein thioesterase deficiency.

Accurate diagnosis, especially in progressive hereditary diseases, is essential for the treatment and genetic counseling of the patient and the family. Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) are amongst the most common groups of neurodegenerative diseases. Infantile, juvenile, and adult-onset types with multiple genotype-phenotype associations have been described.

Comparison of methods for editing of ectopic beats in measurements of short-term non-linear heart rate dynamics.

Non-linear heart rate (HR) dynamics characterizes the fractal properties and complexity of the variations in HR. Ventricular and supraventricular ectopic beats might introduce a mathematical artefact to the analyses on sinus rhythm. We therefore evaluated the effects of different editing practices for ectopic beats such that 753 40-min ECG recordings were (i) not edited for the ectopic beats, or the ectopic beats were edited with (ii) an interpolation or with (iii) a deletion method before the analyses of non-linear HR dynamics.

The effects of valproate exposure in utero on behavior and the need for educational support in school-aged children.

Children exposed to valproate monotherapy in utero were evaluated with respect to neurological functioning, behavior, and additional educational needs, and the results were compared with those for age- and gender-matched controls exposed to carbamazepine and children with no prenatal exposure to antiepileptic drugs. We identified from the community-based pregnancy registry of Kuopio University Hospital area (1989-2000) all first-born and school-aged children exposed to valproate (N=13). Neurological and neuropsychological assessments were made clinically, and behavioral problems were assessed with the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS).

Influence of overlying soft tissues on trabecular bone acoustic measurement at various ultrasound frequencies.

Ultrasound (US) has been introduced as a promising tool for osteoporosis diagnostics. However, soft tissues overlying the bones affect reliability of the ultrasound (US) techniques. In this in vitro study, the effect of soft tissues on bone US measurements was investigated numerically and experimentally.

Brain serotonin reuptake did not change during one year in overtrained athletes.

Brain 5-HT neurotransmission has been described to be down-regulated in depressed people, and also suspected to be changed in overtraining state, the consequence of long-term physical overloading and stress in athletes. We studied brain serotonin (5-HT) transporter binding i.e.

Interleukin-6 promoter polymorphism and late-onset Alzheimer's disease in the Finnish population.

Recently, the involvement of the inflammatory response in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has received considerable attention. The gene encoding for interleukin-6 (IL-6) is interesting since IL-6 has been reported not only to be involved in immune functions but also in AD. We investigated whether the IL-6-174 G/C polymorphism is associated with late onset AD (LOAD) in the Finnish subjects.

Collagen network primarily controls Poisson's ratio of bovine articular cartilage in compression.

The equilibrium Young's modulus of articular cartilage is known to be primarily determined by proteoglycans (PGs). However, the relation between the Poisson's ratio and the composition and structure of articular cartilage is more unclear. In this study, we determined Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of bovine articular cartilage in unconfined compression.

Recovery from depression: a two-year follow-up study of general population subjects.

Background: The recovery from depression and factors associated with it are not well known in the general population.

Aims: To conduct a two-year follow-up of general population subjects and investigate their recovery from depression.

Methods: Individuals who were assessed as suffering from depression on the basis of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores were monitored for two years.

Community-based, prospective, controlled study of obstetric and neonatal outcome of 179 pregnancies in women with epilepsy.

Purpose: This study evaluated obstetric and neonatal outcome in a community-based cohort of women with active epilepsy (WWAE) compared with the general pregnant population receiving modern obstetric care.

Methods: We reviewed the total population who gave birth between January 1989 and October 2000 at Kuopio University Hospital. Obstetric, demographic, and epilepsy data were collected prospectively from 179 singleton pregnancies of women with epilepsy and from 24,778 singleton pregnancies of unaffected controls.