[Primary Prevention of Mental Disorders in Children of Mentally Ill Parents. The Kanu Programme "Canoe--Moving Jointly Forward"]. / Kanu--Gemeinsam weiterkommen. Ein Projekt zur primären Prävention psychischer Erkrankungen bei Kindern psychisch kranker Eltern.

Children of parents who suffer from mental health disorders are more likely to develop mental disorders than children of parents not suffering from mental disorders. For children at risk, preventive strategies are hardly available and, if available, rarely supported by a scientific evaluation. "Kanu - Gemeinsam weiterkommen (canoe - moving jointly forward)" is a preventive strategy that was developed within a research project focusing on primary prevention in children who live in families with parents affected by mental disorders. The intervention is characterised by a multi-modular concept and was tested in the adult psychiatric setting. Preliminary results indicate a preventive impact of the intervention programme.

Open-tubular capillary electrochromatography of bovine beta-lactoglobulin variants A and B using an aptamer stationary phase.

DNA aptamers that form a G-quartet conformation were covalently attached to a capillary surface for open-tubular capillary electrochromatographic separation of bovine beta-lactoglobulin variants A and B, which vary by 2 of their 162 amino acid residues. Separation was achieved using a 4-plane, G-quartet aptamer stationary phase with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) or phosphate buffer as the mobile phase. In control experiments, separation did not occur using either an oligonucleotide of similar base composition but which does not form a G-quartet structure, or using capillary zone electrophoresis on a bare capillary under similar experimental conditions. Separation was achieved using a capillary coated only with the covalent linker molecule. In phosphate buffer, the separations were similar for aptamer-coated and linker-only stationary phases, while in Tris buffer, retention times were almost doubled for the linker-only capillary. When Tris buffer is the mobile phase, there appears to be weaker interactions between the proteins and the stationary phase that may result in a gentler, less denaturing separation than is commonly achieved using hydrocarbon-based stationary phases.

Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 levels in patients with psoriasis.

A newly developed ELISA was used to detect and quantify the presence of a soluble form of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in the circulation of healthy individuals compared with patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Seventeen psoriatic patients were studied. The extent of skin lesions was rated by the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI). Seventeen age- and sex-matched healthy individuals served as controls. Serum levels were measured by an ELISA technique utilizing an anti-ICAM-1 murine monoclonal antibody bound to the solid phase, and a second, peroxidase-conjugated monoclonal antibody reacting with sICAM-1. Serum levels in controls were 358.8 +/- 87.9 ng/ml sICAM-1, and 480.5 +/- 133.6 ng/ml in psoriatics (mean +/- SD; P = 0.02). In psoriasis, sICAM-1 levels were found to be directly proportional to the PASI score (y = 363.002 + 8.525x, R = 0.55, P = 0.021). These data suggest that the concentration of sICAM-1 in serum increases during psoriatic inflammation. The origin and function of sICAM-1 in psoriasis remain to be defined.

Etretinate or cyclosporin-A treatment normalizes the enhanced respiratory burst of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in psoriasis.

During a therapeutic trial to treat psoriasis with either etretinate or cyclosporin A (CyA) we measured the respiratory burst activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Six patients received 0.5-0.75 mg/kg etretinate and 14 patients 2.5-5.0 mg/kg CyA over a period of 10 weeks. The extent of psoriasis was graded by the psoriasis area-and-severity index (PASI score). The respiratory burst of PMN isolated from the peripheral blood was measured employing luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence at weeks 0, 3 and 10 and compared with that of 26 healthy control individuals. PMN were stimulated with zymosan particles, aggregated immunoglobulin (aggIg) and concanavalin A (ConA). Both treatment regimens improved psoriasis; at 10 weeks there was an approximate 40% PASI score reduction under etretinate and an 80% improvement under CyA. Before treatment the respiratory burst was abnormally high under stimulation with the three stimuli in patients (p = 0.021 to less than 0.0001). After 3 to 10 weeks PMN activity normalized in all patients and even tended to drop below values correlating with an improvement in skin lesions. We conclude that the elevated respiratory burst of PMN in psoriasis normalizes under treatment with both etretinate and CyA.

TNF alpha primes polymorphonuclear leukocytes for an enhanced respiratory burst to a similar extent as bacterial lipopolysaccharide.

We examined whether preincubating polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) with TNF alpha would result in an enhanced respiratory burst upon subsequent stimulation by various agents. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a known primer of PMN, was used as control. We found that both LPS (0.01 to 10.0 microgram/ml) and recombinant TNF alpha (0.001 to 1.0 microgram/ml) act as direct stimulants of PMN as measured by chemiluminescence. Sixty minutes of preincubation of PMN with 1 microgram/ml TNF alpha or 10 micrograms/ml LPS resulted in similar priming for the respiratory burst elicited by opsonized zymosan, phorbol myristate acetate, zymosan, zymosan-activated serum, aggregated immunoglobulin, and f-met-leu-phe (FMLP) depending on the method of measurement used, i.e., chemiluminescence, production of O2-, and H2O2. Priming with TNF alpha for an enhanced response to stimulation by FMLP could be abrogated by anti-TNF alpha antibody. Cell-surface receptor numbers and binding-affinity constants for FMLP remained stable under conditions leading to priming. We conclude that TNF alpha is able to prime PMN for an enhanced respiratory burst to a similar extent as with LPS. Because PMN cell-surface receptors for FMLP are unaltered by priming, the enhanced respiratory burst seems to be due to changes in intracellular metabolism.

[Functional Fc receptor defect of granulocytes in a patient with Sjögren's syndrome]. / Funktioneller Fc-Rezeptordefekt von Granulozyten bei einem Patienten mit Sjögren-Syndrom.

A patient with Sjögren's syndrome exhibited markedly impaired stimulation of her granulocytes via Fc-receptors (FcR), four other stimuli elicited a normal chemiluminescent response. Unexpectedly, granulocytes of the control bore 39,000, of the patient, however, 86,000 FcR/granulocyte.

Functional Fc-receptor defect of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in a patient with Sjögren's syndrome.

We investigated polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) function in a 50-year-old woman with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS). The respiratory burst of PMN was monitored by luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence using zymosan, opsonized zymosan, zymosan-activated serum, and phorbol-myristate-acetate, as well as serial dilutions of aggregated immunoglobulin (aggIg) as Fc-receptor (FcR) stimulus. The effects of serum on the chemiluminescent response as well as the binding of aggIg to PMN were also compared. We found the patient's PMN not to respond to stimulation by aggIg, only the highest concentration (greater than 180 micrograms/ml) induced a marginal chemiluminescent response in the patient. By contrast, incubation of the patient's PMN with other stimuli resulted in responses similar to those in a healthy control. Binding of aggIg to PMN was higher in the patient (3.6% vs 1.5% of the radioactivity added in the control). Sera of patient and control induced similar chemiluminescence on PMN as did that of another human serum. Our data indicate a selective functional FcR defect of PMN despite unimpaired binding of aggIg in a patient with SS.

Impaired function of numerically augmented Fc-receptors on granulocytes in a HLA B8+ patient with palmoplantar pustulosis.

We examined granulocytes or polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in an HLA B8+ patient with palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). Controls included another patient with PPP, however, lacking this antigen and a healthy, HLA B8+ person. Chemiluminescence (CL) served to monitor the respiratory burst in PMN comparing as stimuli zymosan, opsonized zymosan, phorbol myristate acetate, as well as aggregated immunoglobulin (aggIg), the latter as Fc-receptor (FcR) stimulus. FcR density on PMN was determined using 125I-IgG and expressed in the form of Scatchard plots. The effects of serum on the aggIg-induced CL were also measured. We found both control individuals to respond to stimulation by aggIg as a function of a dose-dependent increase of CL. By contrast, the HLA B8+ patient with PPP failed to respond to aggIg; only the highest concentration of aggIg induced marginal CL. Conversely, stimulation by the other agents was similar in all three individuals. The patient with the functional FcR defect expressed 2.5 times more FcR/PMN than the controls. No difference emerged in comparing autologous serum with a reference normal serum on the aggIg-induced CL, ruling out saturation by serum factors alone to be a cause for the defect. In remission, the functional FcR was absent. Our results suggest a defect of signal transduction in PMN from numerically enhanced FcR to the cytosol in the patient with PPP.

Calmodulin mediates the stimulatory effect of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine on adenylate cyclase activity in rat thymocyte plasma membranes.

We have previously demonstrated that T3 increases adenylate cyclase activity in rat thymocyte plasma membranes by a mechanism that is calcium dependent. In the present studies we have examined whether calmodulin participates in this response to T3. Initial experiments provided evidence that calmodulin is involved in regulating the activity of the guanyl nucleotide-dependent adenylate cyclase in this tissue. Thus, compared with findings in freshly prepared membranes, dialysis of thymocyte plasma membrane preparations for 20 h at 4 C decreased their calmodulin concentrations from an initial value of approximately 600 ng/100 micrograms protein by about 50% and decreased adenylate cyclase activity by approximately 80%. Although storage of the same preparations under comparable conditions resulted in no change in calmodulin content, it caused an approximate 30% decrease in adenylate cyclase activity. Addition of calmodulin had no effect on adenylate cyclase activity in fresh or stored membrane preparations, but produced a dose-dependent increase in enzyme activity in preparations that had been dialyzed. Further, when added to freshly isolated membranes, three calmodulin antagonists, trifluoperazine, calmidazolium, and calmodulin antibodies, all produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity, and this was completely reversed in all cases by the addition of high concentrations of exogenous calmodulin. The stimulation of guanyl nucleotide-dependent adenylate cyclase activity that T3 induced in fresh membrane preparations was present in membranes that had been stored, but was absent in those that had been dialyzed. In addition, the response to T3 in fresh membranes was inhibited or abolished by all three calmodulin antagonists. Both in dialyzed membranes and in the presence of antagonists, the response to T3 was restored by the addition of exogenous calmodulin. We conclude that calmodulin influences the activity of the guanyl nucleotide-dependent adenylate cyclase in rat thymocytes and ultimately mediates the stimulation of enzyme activity that T3 produces. Such mediation very likely explains the calcium-dependent nature of the stimulatory effect of T3 on thymocyte adenylate cyclase activity.

17 beta-carboxamide steroids: highly effective inhibitors of the phytohaemagglutinin mediated blastogenesis of normal human peripheral lymphocytes.

Several novel 17 beta-carboxamide analogues of dexamethasone were synthesized. The common precursor, 9-fluoro-16 alpha-methyl-11 beta,17-dihydroxy-3-oxo-1,4-androstadiene-17 beta-carboxylic acid, did not bind to the glucocorticoid receptors of rat liver and human spleen tumours. In addition, no inhibition of the mitogen-induced blastogenesis of cultured human peripheral lymphocytes was observed. The 17 beta-carboxamide analogues, however, bound with similar affinities to the glucocorticoid receptors of both tissues. They inhibited the mitogen-induced blastogenesis of peripheral lymphocytes, showing the same potency and same order of binding affinity as the natural glucocorticoids.

Methyl 17 beta-carboxyester derivatives of natural and synthetic glucocorticoids: correlation between receptor binding and inhibition of in vitro phytohaemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis.

Several methyl 17 beta-carboxyester derivatives of natural and fluorinated glucocorticoids were synthesized in order to compare their potency to compete for [3H]dexamethasone binding sites in human spleen tumour cytosols (as a source of large quantities of white blood cells) with their potency to inhibit phytohaemagglutinin-induced blastogenesis of normal human peripheral lymphocytes. The 17 beta-carboxylic acids neither show binding activity nor inhibition of blastogenesis. Methylation partially restores the binding capacity and the intensity of this effect depends on the kind of ring substitutions. The sequence of binding potency is identical compared to that of parent steroids and was found to be in the following order: desoxymethasone greater than dexamethasone greater than corticosterone greater than cortisol greater than progesterone greater than 17-hydroxyprogesterone. The phytohaemagglutinin-induced stimulation of [3H]thymidine incorporation resembles the order of binding potency. The methyl 17 beta-carboxyester derivatives of progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone and betamethasone are inactive. The N-benzyl 17 beta-carboxamide analogs of dexamethasone and betamethasone behave like their corresponding carboxyesters, suggesting an important influence of the side chain conformation of 17 beta-carboxyl derivatives on glucocorticoid receptor binding.

Release of luteinizing hormone in prepubertal and middle-aged ovariectomized rats.

Concentrations of circulating LH were determined in conscious, free-moving ovariectomized rats. All of the animals had been ovariectomized at 24 days of age. Between 30 and 90 days there was an increase in mean blood LH concentrations; a more vigorous pulsatile release of LH characterized by an increase in amplitude and frequency of LH release; and an elevated responsiveness to LHRH administration. Rats which had been ovariectomized for 1 year still had elevated blood LH levels but had episodic pulses of reduced amplitude and a decrease in responsiveness to LHRH. These data suggest that important alterations occur with age in the neuroendocrine mechanisms responsible for the release of LH.