Standardized Beck Depression Inventory-II scores for male veterans coping with chronic pain.

The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) has been suspected of overestimating the level of depression in individuals that endure chronic pain. Using a sample (N = 345) of male military veterans with chronic pain enrolled in an outpatient treatment program, a factor analysis on the BDI-II revealed a "Somatic Complaints" factor along with 2 other factors we labeled "Negative Rumination" and "Mood." Standardized scores were provided for each BDI-II factor score, Total score, and Total minus Somatic score. The internal consistency reliabilities (Gilmer-Feldt and alpha coefficients) for all scores were found to be clinically acceptable. Item-Total score correlations found that all of the BDI-II items were good discriminators (r > .30). We conclude that the normative data provided in this study should help control for somatic responding by male chronic pain veterans on the BDI-II. We highly recommend that clinicians and researchers use the norm-referenced method when interpreting BDI-II scores from individuals suffering from chronic pain.

Changes in bacterial communities from swine feces during continuous culture with starch.

Bacteria from swine feces were grown in continuous culture with starch as the sole carbohydrate in order to monitor changes during fermentation and to determine how similar fermenter communities were to each other. DNA extracted from fermenter samples was analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). A significant decrease in diversity was observed, the Shannon-Weaver index dropped from 1.92 to 1.13 after 14 days of fermentation. Likewise, similarity of fermenter communities to those in the fecal inoculum also decreased over time. Both diversity and similarity to the inoculum decreased most rapidly in the first few days of fermentation, reflecting a period of adaptation. Sequencing of DGGE bands indicated that the same species were present in replicate fermenters. Most of these bacteria were placed in the Clostridium coccoides/Eubacterium rectale group (likely saccharolytic butyrate producers), a dominant bacterial group in the intestinal tract of pigs. DGGE proved useful to monitor swine fecal communities in vitro and indicated the selection and maintenance of native swine intestinal bacteria during continuous culture.

Differential effects of simultaneous or sequential administration of paroxetine and WAY-100,635 on ejaculatory behavior.

Clinical treatment of depression or anxiety with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) often results in delayed ejaculation or anorgasmia. Co-treatment with subtype-selective serotonin receptor antagonists may alter the timing of onset of action and potentiate or reduce sexual side effects. Sexual behavior in male Sprague-Dawley rats was examined after acute administration of the SSRI, paroxetine and the serotonin1A antagonist, WAY-100,635. Acute administration of paroxetine alone did not alter male ejaculatory behavior. However, administration of paroxetine plus WAY-100,635 resulted in a significant delay in mounting behavior and increased the time to ejaculation. Simultaneous administration of paroxetine and WAY-100,635 produced a greater delay in initiation of mounting behavior and ejaculation compared to sequential administration of paroxetine followed by WAY-100,635. The differential effect on sexual behavior or addition of specific serotonin receptor antagonists may be relevant for clinical treatment therapies of premature ejaculation.

Antisense and antigene properties of peptide nucleic acids.

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are polyamide oligomers that can strand invade duplex DNA, causing displacement of one DNA strand and formation of a D-loop. Binding of either a T10 PNA or a mixed sequence 15-mer PNA to the transcribed strand of a G-free transcription cassette caused 90 to 100 percent site-specific termination of pol II transcription elongation. When a T10 PNA was bound on the nontranscribed strand, site-specific inhibition never exceeded 50 percent. Binding of PNAs to RNA resulted in site-specific termination of both reverse transcription and in vitro translation, precisely at the position of the PNA.RNA heteroduplex. Nuclear microinjection of cells constitutively expressing SV40 large T antigen (T Ag) with either a 15-mer or 20-mer PNA targeted to the T Ag messenger RNA suppressed T Ag expression. This effect was specific in that there was no reduction in beta-galactosidase expression from a coinjected expression vector and no inhibition of T Ag expression after microinjection of a 10-mer PNA.

Vitamins and immunity: II. Influence of L-carnitine on the immune system.

Vitamin A affects the antibody responses and may affect phagocytic function and properdin levels. Pyridoxine deficiency impairs nucleic acid synthesis and depresses antibody formation, delayed hypersensitivity reactions and the ability of phagocytes to kill bacteria. Pantothenic acid deficiency impairs antibody formation. Vitamin C deficiency increases the incidence of infection, primary by a negative influence on reparative processes. Deficiencies of other vitamins either have not been sufficiently studied or have a variable effect. Moreover, even substances which for their biosynthesis require an adequate vitamin supplementation may exert immunomodulatory influences. With this respect the authors report their results on the influence of L-carnitine on the immune system. L-carnitine increases the proliferative responses of both murine and human lymphocyte following mitogenic stimulation and increase polymorphonuclear chemotaxis. Furthermore, L-carnitine, even at minimal concentrations, neutralizes the lipid induced immunosuppression.

[Effect of azathioprine and inosiplex on rosette formation by lymphocytes from normal donors and from patients with neoplasia (author's transl)]. / Effetto dell'azatioprina e dell'inosiplex sulla formazione di rosette da parte dei linfociti di soggetti sani e di pazienti con neoplasie.

The effect of azathioprine and inosiplex on the capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes to form E active rosettes has been studied in vitro on 25 healthy subjects and 63 cancer patients (27 with pulmonary cancer and 36 with cancer of the digestive tract). Azathioprine significantly inhibited the capacity of T cells obtained from normal donors to form rosettes (P less than 0.01). Similar results were registered in patients suffering from pulmonary cancer (P less than 0.01) or from digestive neoplasia (P less than 0.05). Inosiplex, a substance with antiviral and immunomodulating properties, increased the percentage of the E active rosettes forming cells of 18 subjects with lung carcinoma and 26 patients with cancer of the gastrointestinal apparatus. If lymphocytes of both normal donors and cancer patients were preincubated simultaneously with azathioprine and inosiplex, the latter had an inhibitory effect on the azathioprine dependent rosette inhibition and restored the percentage of the E active rosette forming cells to control values.

[Effect of antibiotics on spontaneous and direct migration of human leukocytes. Preliminary findings]. / Effetto degli antibiotici sulla migrazione spontanea e diretta dei leucociti umani. Risultati preliminari.

Like other human blood cells, neutrophiles can travel enter tissues spontaneously. This apparently casual journeying is arrested in the presence of infection and they migrate to the site of the lesion. Experiments in vitro have shown that tetracycline, rifamycin, chloramphenicol, and cefuroxine inhibit such migration. In the present paper, it is demonstrated that ampicillin and tauglycolcillin, a new semi-synthetic penicillin, exert no significant influence on either direct or spontaneous neutrophile migration.

[Influence of antibiotics on leukocyte migration]. / Influenza degli antibiotici sulla migrazione leucocitaria.

Polymorphonuclear granulocytes play an important role in the immediate unspecific host response, and a depression of their functions can be found in many patients with severe or recurrent infections. Therefore administration of drugs causing such impairment in PMN function may be regarded as an additional risk for negative side effects to the patient. In our report the influence of 13 antibiotics--amphotericin B, ampicillin, tauglicolcillin, amoxicillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, cephaloridine, cefalexin, cefuroxime, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, rifamycin, fosfomycin--on the granulocyte spontaneous and induced migration is investigated under in vitro experimental conditions. Human PMN preincubated with the antibiotics appropriately brought to the desired concentrations (therapeutic dose, 1/10 and 10X) in Hepes-Medium 199-water solution pH 7.2, were washed three times and tested for spontaneous and induced migration under agarose. Our experiments demonstrate that amphotericin B, cefalexin, cephaloridine, cefuroxime, chloramphenicol, dicloxacillin, gentamicin and rifamycin can inhibit in vitro human PMN chemotaxis and/or random migration. Inhibition of intracellular respiratory enzyme synthesis, presence of inactive metabolites of the drug, alterations of cyclic AMP and GMP or of the membrane bound divalent cations can be responsible of the phenomenon.