Relationship between the spino-pelvic parameters and the slip grade in isthmic spondylolisthesis.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Analysis of changes in the spino-pelvic alignment, depending on the slip grade in patients with low and high-grade isthmic slip. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 60 patients who had lumbar spine radiograms adequate to measure the spino-pelvic parameters selected from a series of 195 cases of isthmic spondylolisthesis. We analyzed the following spino-pelvic parameters: pelvic incidence (PI), sacral slope (SS), pelvic tilt (PT), lumbosacral angle by Dubousset (LSA) and lumbar lordosis (LL). The ANOVA statistical test was used to examine whether there is a significant correlation between (1) the slip grade and the value of PI, PT, and LL, and the Pearson correlation was used to examine a correlation between (2) the size of PI and the value of other spino-pelvic parameters, (3) the value of LL and SS, (4) value of the LSA and LL, PI and PT. RESULTS: The greater the slip grade, the greater the value of PI, PT, and LL and lower LSA. Positive correlations have been found between PI and SS, PT and LL. There was also a positive correlation between LL and SS. Negative correlations were noted between LSA and LL, PI and PT. CONCLUSION: The spino-pelvic alignment changes with the grade of isthmic spondylolisthesis, and the individual spino-pelvic parameters correlate together to form a causal chain in the development of isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Bipolar I and II versus unipolar depression: clinical differences and impulsivity/aggression traits.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate distinguishing features between bipolar I, II and unipolar depression, and impulsivity/aggression traits in particular. METHODS: Six hundred and eighty-five (n=685) patients in a major depressive episode with lifetime Unipolar (UP) depression (n=455), Bipolar I (BP-I) disorder (n=151), and Bipolar II (BP-II) (n=79) disorder were compared in terms of their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Compared to unipolar patients, BP-I and BP-II depressed patients were significantly younger at onset of their first depressive episode, and were more likely to experience their first depressive episode before/at age of 15. They also had more previous affective episodes, more first- and second-degree relatives with history of mania, more current psychotic and subsyndromal manic symptoms, and received psychopharmacological and psychotherapy treatment at an earlier age. Furthermore, BP-I and BP-II depressed patients had higher lifetime impulsivity, aggression, and hostility scores. With regard to bipolar subtypes, BP-I patients had more trait-impulsivity and lifetime aggression than BP-II patients whereas the latter had more hostility than BP-I patients. As for co-morbid disorders, Cluster A and B Personality Disorders, alcohol and substance abuse/dependence and anxiety disorders were more prevalent in BP-I and BP-II than in unipolar patients. Whereas the three groups did not differ on other socio-demographic variables, BP-I patients were significantly more often unemployed that UP patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings comport with major previous findings on differences between bipolar and unipolar depression. As for trait characteristics, bipolar I and II depressed patients had more life-time impulsivity and aggression/hostility than unipolar patients. In addition, bipolar I and II patients also differed on these trait characteristics.

Ran binding protein RanBP1 in zebrafish embryonic development.

Ran, which functions in nucleocytoplasmic transport and mitosis, binds to and is regulated in part by RanBP1. We have identified a zebrafish RanBP1 cDNA and report that it encodes for a polypeptide of 233 amino acids with considerable similarity to human and Xenopus RanBP1, despite the fact that it is 10% longer due to an extension at its carboxy terminus. RanBP1 mRNA is present as a maternal transcript and is expressed ubiquitously throughout the developing embryo. At the protein level, RanBP1 is present at all embryonic stages. Surprisingly, the ectopic overexpression of the protein had no obvious effect on embryogenesis. Attempts were also made to down-regulate RanBP1 activity by RNA interference. Injecting double-stranded RNA augmented both the mortality rate and the frequency of induced defects. Specific defects accompanied by changes in RanBP1 expression were not seen, leading us to propose that RNAi is not a reliable method for deregulating the activity of constitutively expressed genes, like RanBP1, in zebrafish. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 59:235-248, 2001.

[Activity of alpha-amylase, trypsin and lipase in pancreas and duodenal contents of Ascaridia galli infected chickens fed with various proteins]. / Aktywnosc alfa-amylazy, trypsyny i lipazy w trzustce i tresci dwunastniczej kurczat zarazonych Ascaridia galli zywionych pasza o róznej zawartosci bialka.

The study was carried out on Astra S chickens which were grown on diets containing 11% and 19% proteins. In homogenized pancreas and duodenal contents from control animals and chickens infected with 500 invasive eggs of Ascaridia galli activities of alpha-amylase (Fennel method), lipase (Cherry-Crandall method) and trypsin (Anson method) were determined. After 7 weeks of the invasion the activities of these enzymes were higher in duodenal contents and lower in pancreas of infected birds in comparison with the control animals. The differences were significant for alpha-amylase and lipase activities in animals which were given 11% protein diet, and for trypsin activity of chickens groups fed with 19% protein diet.

Complement C3 fragments in urine: detection in systemic lupus erythematosus patients by western blotting.

We characterized urinary excretion of C3 fragments among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as a possible indicator of renal involvement. 28 patients, representing a broad range of disease activity were admitted to our study. Urinary proteins were separated on 4-20% gradient SDS-PAGE gels, under reducing conditions, and transblotted to nitrocellulose. Western blots were developed with a polyvalent goat-anti-human C3d antiserum, and an alkaline phosphatase-conjugated rabbit anti-goat IgG. Three patterns were obtained: 1) no bands detected; 2) bands suggesting the presence of intact C3; and 3) samples with additional low molecular (< 4 x 10(4)) bands. The 12 patients with no C3 bands had minimal disease activity (e.g. fatigue, arthralgia, arthritis, rash, oral ulcers). The seven patients with intact C3 patterns also had minimally active disease. Their primary clinical findings included fatigue, pleurisy, renal disease which had been treated, hemolytic anemia, and arthritis. Patients with low molecular weight C3 fragments in their urine formed two sub-sets, based upon their presenting features. The first group had severe disease and contained all patients with active lupus nephritis (n = 4), while the second consisted of non-renal patients with primary clinical findings of moderate disease activity (e.g. thrombocytopenia, pneumonitis, arthritis). Our results suggest urinary excretion of low molecular weight C3 fragments correlates with active renal disease, but is a variable finding among SLE patients with non-renal manifestations of disease activity.

Differential effects of dehydroepiandrosterone and deoxyribonucleosides on DNA synthesis and de novo cholesterogenesis in hepatocarcinogenesis in rats.

Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an inhibitor of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), prevents the development of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT)-positive foci in the early stages of hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. Since high rates of DNA and cholesterol (CH) synthesis are observed during promotion of carcinogenesis, and mevalonate (MVA), or some other intermediates of CH synthesis, could be mediators of DNA synthesis, we investigated the effect of DHEA on CH synthesis in rat liver during the development of GGT-positive foci. Hepatocarcinogenesis was induced by diethylnitrosamine in female Wistar rats by the Solt-Farber protocol (initiation/selection) with and without phenobarbital treatment. A 15 day treatment with DHEA (0.6% in the diet), started after selection, caused a great fall in labeling and mitotic indices of GGT-positive foci, which was prevented by the simultaneous administration of a mixture of four deoxyribonucleosides (DRNs) of adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine or four ribonucleosides (RNs) of adenine, guanine, cytosine and uridine, but not by the corresponding bases. DHEA greatly inhibited G6PD activity and the production of ribulose-5-phosphate, without affecting NADPH levels, due to the compensatory increase in malic enzyme and isocitric dehydrogenase activities. Serum lecithin/cholesterol acyltransferase activity underwent a reduction in conditions allowing a rapid growth of GGT-positive tissue (absence of DHEA or presence of DHEA plus DRNs or RNs). Liver slices isolated from DHEA-treated rats showed a rise in CH content, coupled with a 80% fall in the incorporation of labeled acetate, but not of labeled MVA, into CH. A 25 day treatment of rats subjected to initiation/selection, started after the appearance of persistent nodules, caused a 36 and 78% fall in the incorporation, in vivo, of 3H2O into nodular and surrounding liver CH respectively. DRN did not counteract DHEA-induced inhibition on CH synthesis. Thus DHEA inhibits the CH biosynthetic pathway before MVA synthesis, in conditions (presence of DHEA plus DRN/RN) allowing rapid growth of preneoplastic lesions. Therefore, the development of these lesions does not need the synthesis of large amounts of CH and CH metabolites. Thus, the antipromotion effect of DHEA may depend on a decreased availability of pentose phosphates for DNA synthesis.

[The influence of an infective dose and the duration of infection with Ascaridia galli on trypsin and alpha-amylase activity in the pancreas of chickens fed with diets of different protein levels]. / Wplyw dawki zarazeniowej i trwania inwazji Ascaridia galli na aktywnosc trypsyny i alfa-amylazy w trzustce kurczat zywionych pasza o zróznicowanym poziomie bialka.

The studies were carried out on the chickens given the diet containing 19% and 11% of protein. On the 7th day of their life one part of the chickens were infected with different doses (125-500) of invasive eggs of Ascaridia galli. The other part of the birds were infected with 500 eggs of A. galli and the invasion lasted from 5 to 49 days. In the extracts from pancreas the activities of trypsin and alpha-amylase were measured. No differences were observed between trypsin activity of control and infected chickens fed with diet containing 11% of protein. The activity of trypsin was lower in infected chickens fed with diet containing 19% of protein, when the invasion lasted over 15 days. The activity of alpha-amylase in both groups decreased after infection with more than 100 invasive eggs of A. galli. The intensity and the extensiveness of invasion were lower in the chickens given the diet of 19% of protein.