The applicability of the Eating Disorder Inventory in pregnancy.

PURPOSE: The aim of our study was validating Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) among pregnant women, who are vulnerable to eating disorders (EDs). METHODS: In 2012-2013, 1146 women (aged 18-47 years) completed a questionnaire including EDI during the first 3 days after delivery. We checked factorial validity of three diagnostic subscales of EDI with confirmative factor analysis and internal validity by Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlation. We also tested discriminative validity by comparing average of the three subscale of EDI in case of ED and non-ED groups. RESULTS: When applying the EDI to pregnant women, it seems necessary to exclude five items on three diagnostic subscales: on the Drive for Thinness subscale, 4 items remain (out of 7); on the Bulimia subscale, 6 items remain (out of 7); the Body Dissatisfaction subscale decreases from 9 to 8 items. Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlation values meet the requirements defined by Garner et al. The internal consistency of the EDI has proved to be appropriate, indicating that it is a reliable screening tool. CONCLUSIONS: Thinking, attitudes, and behaviors connected to eating, along with the relation to altering body weight change during pregnancy. Vomiting usually accompanies pregnancy; body weight gain within wide limits is also regarded as normal during pregnancy. These behaviors and changes are not feasible to use for measuring ED symptoms. These aspects cannot be neglected when screening eating disorders in pregnant women. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV evidence obtained from multiple time series with or without an intervention.

Partial proteolysis improves the identification of the extracellular segments of transmembrane proteins by surface biotinylation.

Transmembrane proteins (TMP) play a crucial role in several physiological processes. Despite their importance and diversity, only a few TMP structures have been determined by high-resolution protein structure characterization methods so far. Due to the low number of determined TMP structures, the parallel development of various bioinformatics and experimental methods was necessary for their topological characterization. The combination of these methods is a powerful approach in the determination of TMP topology as in the Constrained Consensus TOPology prediction. To support the prediction, we previously developed a high-throughput topology characterization method based on primary amino group-labelling that is still limited in identifying all TMPs and their extracellular segments on the surface of a particular cell type. In order to generate more topology information, a new step, a partial proteolysis of the cell surface has been introduced to our method. This step results in new primary amino groups in the proteins that can be biotinylated with a membrane-impermeable agent while the cells still remain intact. Pre-digestion also promotes the emergence of modified peptides that are more suitable for MS/MS analysis. The modified sites can be utilized as extracellular constraints in topology predictions and may contribute to the refined topology of these proteins.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 13α-estrone derivatives as potential antiproliferative agents.

13α-Estrone derivatives containing various substituents on C-3 and C-17 were synthesized, and evaluated by means of MTT assays for in vitro antiproliferative activity against a panel of human adherent cancer cell lines (HeLa, MCF-7, A2780 and A431). Compounds with N-benzyltriazolylmethoxy moieties on C-3 proved to be more potent than their 3-hydroxy or 3-ether counterparts. Some triazoles exerted substantial cytostatic effects against particular tumor cell lines, with submicromolar IC50 values.

[Changes in psychosocial symptoms of opiate users over six months with buprenorphine/naloxone substitution therapy]. / Buprenorphin/naloxon szubsztitúció alatt álló ópiátfüggök pszichoszociális tüneteinek változásai hathónapos terápia során.

AIMS: The main target of our research was to measure the changes in psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, craving) of patients receiving buprenorphine-naloxone substitution treatment for six months, and the evaluation of the changes using the clients' dependency parameters (ASI). METHODS: The level of dependency was investigated using the Addicton Severity Index (ASI). The psychiatric symptoms related to Axis I and II disorders were examined using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, SCID I and SCID II. The degree of craving was measured using the Heroin Craving Questionnaire, the assessment of the symptoms of depression using BDI and HAM-D, recorded by the medical attendant of the patient. To survey the extent of anxiety, we used STAI-S, and HAM-A. All patients receiving Suboxone therapy in Hungary between November 2007 and April 2008 were included in the study (n=80). During this time, Suboxone therapy was available in 6 locations. RESULTS: We found significant improvement in almost all observed fields of behavioural and symptomatic dimensions during the first month. The only exception was the dimension of subsistence/livelihood of ASI, the changes were only at the tendency level. During the next five months of therapy, there was no further sign of improvement or decline in the observed fields, the only exception was again the subsistence/livelihood dimension of the ASI. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that buprenorphine/naloxone treatment is a promising possibility for patients in need of opiate-substitution treatment.

Interaction of desferrioxamine B (DFB) model dihydroxamic acids with some essential and toxic metal(II) ions: effects of the structure and length of connecting chains on the metal ion selectivity.

Complexation of desferrioxamine B (DFB) model dihydroxamic acids (HO(CH3)NCO(CH2)xCONH(CH2)yCON(CH3)OH where x = 2, 3, y = 5, 4, 3, 2, and the compounds are abbreviated as 2,5-DIHA, 2,4-DIHA, 2,3-DIHA, 2,2-DIHA, 3,4-DIHA and 3,3-DIHA, respectively) with Cu(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) and Cd(II) was studied by pH-potentiometric and spectroscopic (UV-VIS, NMR and ESI-MS) techniques. The effects of the position of the peptide group, the chain length and the geometry on the stability and stoichiometry of the complexes formed were evaluated. It was concluded that metal ions preferring regular octahedral geometry in their complexes form the most stable bis-chelated mononuclear complexes, [ML], with 2,5-DIHA having the same connecting chain structure and length as those of DFB. This benefit of 2,5-DIHA, however, almost disappears in the case of Cu(II). With this metal, which prefers the equatorial coordination of two hydroxamates, the parallel formation of both [CuL] and [Cu2L2] was found. ESI-MS results indicate that the latter complex is exclusively formed with 2,2-DIHA involving the shortest linker. All these dihydroxamic acids are excellent chelating agents for Pb(II). The special geometry determined by the lone pair electrons should be responsible for the somewhat unique preference order of the ligands towards the Pb(II) ion, for the favoured formation of the monomeric bis-chelated complexes and also for the unexpectedly high stability of the species [Pb(2,2-DIHA)].