Polymorphisms in the SLC6A4 and HTR2A genes influence treatment outcome following antidepressant therapy.

The majority of antidepressant drugs act by increasing synaptic serotonin levels in the brain. Genetic variation in serotonin-related genes may therefore influence antidepressant efficacy. In this study, nine polymorphisms in four serotonin receptor genes (HTR1B, HTR2A, HTR5A and HTR6) and the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) were analysed to investigate their influence on antidepressant response in a well-characterized unipolar depressive population (n=166) following a protocolized treatment regimen. 5-HTTLPR short-allele homozygotes were significantly associated with both remission (odds ratios (OR)=4.00, P=0.04) and response (OR=5.06, P=0.02) following second switch treatment, with a similar trend observed following initial treatment and paroxetine therapy. Following initial treatment, unipolar patients homozygous for the SLC6A4 intron 2 repeat polymorphism were significantly associated with lack of remission (OR=0.38, P=0.02) and lack of response (OR=0.42, P=0.01). Additionally, the HTR2A C(1354)T polymorphism showed an association with remission (OR=7.50, P=0.002) and response (OR=5.25, P=0.01) following paroxetine therapy. These results suggest that genetically determined variation in serotonin receptor genes makes a significant contribution to the efficacy of commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs.

Honeybee, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), leaf damage on Alnus species in Uganda: a blessing or curse in agroforestry?

It is a dictum that Apis mellifera Linnaeus is innocuous in agricultural ecosystems. This study provides the first record of A. mellifera as a significant defoliator of Alnus species. Careful field observations coupled with microscopic examination provided convincing evidence implicating A. mellifera as the cause of leaf perforation on Alnus species in Uganda. Apis mellifera was observed foraging selectively on young Alnus leaves and buds in search of a sticky substance, apparently propolis. In so doing, the bee created wounds that enlarged and caused tattering of Alnus leaves as they matured. Biological surveys indicated that the damage was prevalent and occurred widely, particularly on Alnus acuminata Kunth in Uganda. Incidence of the Apis mellifera damage on Alnus acuminata peaked in the dry season, with up to 90% of leaves emerging per shoot per month damaged, and was lowest in the wet months during peak leaf emergence. Apis mellifera leaf damage was consistently higher on Alnus acuminata than A. nepalensis D. Don., on saplings than mature trees, and on sun exposed than shaded leaves. The activity of honeybees may be detrimental to the productivity of Alnus, yet the substance for which the insect forages on Alnus is a resource with potential economic importance.

Psychomotor agitation: poorly defined and badly measured.

BACKGROUND: Psychomotor agitation is commonly associated with various psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the definition and measurement of agitation over the past 100 years. METHODS: Definitions and descriptions of agitation were taken from dictionaries of etymology, medicine and psychiatry, and from psychiatric textbooks. A systematic MEDLINE (1966-1996) search of 'psychomotor', 'agitation', and 'restlessness' was conducted. This was augmented by a search for other relevant references cited in the articles identified by MEDLINE. RESULTS: The definition of psychomotor agitation has varied in ambiguous and contradictory ways, both over time and in contemporary writings. Tools developed to measure agitation are either too unreliable, or else reflect this conflict of definition and are not comparable. CONCLUSIONS: A preferred definition of agitation is proposed which takes into account both theoretical and empirical data. This has implications for further research into psychomotor agitation in classification of and treatment response in affective disorders, old age psychiatry and the evaluation of putative anti-agitation drugs.

Components of female sex pheromone of cocoa pod borer moth,Conopomorpha cramerella.

The cocoa pod borer,Conopomorpha cramerella (Snellen) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), is the most serious pest of cocoa in Southeast Asia. Analyses of ovipositor washings and entrained volatiles from virgin female moths by gas chromatography (GC) linked to electroantennography (EAG), and comparison of EAG responses from the male moth to synthetic compounds indicated the presence of theE,Z,Z andE,E,Z isomers of 4,6,10-hexadecatrienyl acetate and the corresponding alcohols, and of hexadecyl alcohol. Amounts of pheromone produced were less than 0.1 ng/female, and no peaks for the unsaturated components were observed on GC analysis. Extensive field testing of synthetic mixtures in Sabah, East Malaysia, showed that traps baited with a polyethylene vial impregnated with 1.2 mg of a mixture of the above five components in 40∶60∶4∶6∶10 ratio caught more maleC. cramerella moths than traps baited with a virgin female moth.

The effect of stretch removal on muscle weight and proteolytic enzyme activity in normal and dystrophic chicken muscles.

Hypertrophy was induced in the patagialis (PAT) muscle of 6-week-old normal and dystrophic chicks by passive stretch for 1 week. Stretch was then removed and muscle weights and activities of the proteolytic enzymes cathepsin C, cathepsin D, and leucine aminopeptidase (LAPase) were measured after 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days. In both genotypes, weights of stretch-released muscles dropped progressively for 7 days relative to control muscles, after which they were not significantly different. At the time of stretch release, proteolytic enzyme activities were approximately twice as high in stretched normal muscles as in normal control muscles. In dystrophic chicks there was no difference in activities between stretched and control muscles. However, the activities of the enzymes in dystrophic muscles were already about 4 times higher than in normal control muscles. After stretch release, the enzyme activities in normal muscle progressively fell for 10 days, after which they were not different from normal control muscles. In dystrophic muscles the enzyme activities remained elevated and were not different from dystrophic control muscle activities at any time. We conclude that degradative enzyme activities in normal muscle closely parallel changes in muscle weight, whereas in dystrophic muscle proteolytic enzymes remain elevated and constant whether the muscle is gaining or losing weight.