Prevalence of hormone replacement therapy and antidepressant use in peri- and postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and antidepressant use in peri- and postmenopausal women. DESIGN: Prevalence survey. SUBJECTS: Peri- and postmenopausal outpatients (N = 253) at five medical clinics. METHODS: Participants completed a 47-item questionnaire requesting information on mood changes associated with menstruation, childbirth, oral contraceptive use, and menopause. Peri- and postmenopausal participants were asked to rate the severity of dysphoric symptoms experienced during the menopausal transition and to specify whether HRT, antianxiety medication, or antidepressant medication relieved the symptoms. RESULTS: Forty percent of respondents experienced more severe depression than anticipated during menopause, but only 8% were treated with antidepressants. Forty-six percent of respondents were treated with HRT. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that antidepressant and antianxiety medications are more helpful than HRT in relieving peri- and postmenopausal depression or anxiety. However, most women managed the mood changes associated with menopause without psychopharmacologic intervention. This is consistent with other reports on the transitory nature of peri- and postmenopausal depression for most women.

Investigation of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor type I in thymus regeneration in the acute stage of experimental FIV infection in juvenile cats.

Thymus involvement and the development of thymic lesions in HIV-1 infection is hypothesized to suppress thymus function and limit T cell maturation and replenishment of the peripheral lymphoid pool. Therapeutic modulation to protect or enhance thymus function may therefore ameliorate peripheral lymphocytopenia and retard disease progression. Thymotrophic agents, such as insulin-like growth factor type I (IGF-I), may therefore represent adjunctive but important methods of treatment to protect or promote thymus function. The assessment of rhIGF-I in lentiviral infection and its impact on the thymus was performed using the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) model. Regeneration of the thymus in juvenile cats and amelioration of the thymic lesion after FIV infection was assessed by multiple measurements including thymic weight, stereologic analysis of the thymus cortex and medulla, histologic and immunohistologic analysis, quantitation of thymocyte and peripheral lymphocyte subsets, and quantitative competitive RT-PCR. Evidence of thymic cortical regeneration was observed in FIV-inoculated cats after 12 and 20 weeks of rhIGF-I treatment. Inflammation in the thymus was reduced during this period of treatment in this group of rhIGF-I/FIV-inoculated cats as evidenced by the reduced numbers of B cells detected. Viral replication rates in peripheral lymph nodes were not altered by rhIGF-I treatment and were decreased by 1 log in the thymus after 20 weeks of treatment. Peripheral blood CD4+ T cell counts also increased after 14 weeks of treatment. This suggests that rhIGF-I treatment can enhance thymus function and replenishment of the peripheral T cell pool.

Mutation in region III of the DNA polymerase gene conferring foscarnet resistance in cytomegalovirus isolates from 3 subjects receiving prolonged antiviral therapy.

Three human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects with progressive cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis despite prolonged antiviral therapy had buffy coat CMV isolates that were resistant to both ganciclovir and foscarnet. Genetic analysis of the resistant isolates showed that each contained a well-known ganciclovir resistance mutation in the viral UL97 phosphotransferase sequence, as well as a mutation (Ala to Val at codon 809, V809) in conserved region III of the DNA polymerase (Pol) sequence. A segment of the Pol sequence from one of the clinical isolates was transferred to CMV laboratory strain AD169 by homologous recombination. The recombinant virus containing V809 showed 6.3-fold increased foscarnet resistance and 2.6-fold increased ganciclovir resistance. Occurrence of the V809 mutation in 3 unrelated cases suggests that it is a clinically significant viral genetic marker for foscarnet resistance and decreased susceptibility to ganciclovir.

Measurement of feline cytokine gene expression by quantitative-competitive RT-PCR.

We have developed a method to quantitate feline cytokine gene expression using competitive RT-PCR. Feline cytokine specific primers were developed that encompass an intron, thus allowing differentiation of cDNA vs. genomic DNA amplification products. The PCR products of the primers were verified by sequencing and Southern blot analysis. For quantitation, a non-homologous RNA competitor was created for each cytokine of interest. The competitor was designed to yield an RT-PCR product 10-20% larger than the native sequence, thereby allowing differentiation of the two products by electrophoresis on an agarose gel. Both competitor and native sequences used the same primer sequences for RT (oligo dT) and PCR (cytokine specific). The amplification efficiency of the competitor and native sequence was shown to be identical which allowed comparison at any point during the amplification, including the plateau phase. The quantity of starting cytokine mRNA was determined by interpolation from a standard curve. As little as 1 microgram of total cellular RNA was required per cytokine determination. The assay can routinely quantify as few as 1000 copies of template and spans a range of up to 4 log.