Relation between intelligence and psychopathology among preschoolers.

Examined the relation between intelligence and psychopathology in a nonclinical sample of 510 children ages 2 to 5 years. Psychopathology was measured using both quantitative, dimensional methods (Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]) and taxonomic methods (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [3rd. ed., Rev.; DSM-III-R; American Psychological Association, 1987]). IQ scores were derived from either the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities or the Bayley Scales of Mental Development. Based on quantitative, dimensional data, results support similar findings among older children and clinical populations that lower McCarthy general, verbal, and perceptual-performance IQ scores are associated with various types of psychopathology. Results were also consistent for the DSM-III-R data. Bayley IQ scores did not predict CBCL psychopathology or DSM-III-R Disruptive Disorders, but they did predict the presence of a DSM-III-R diagnosis. Early identification of intellectual deficits among preschoolers ages 3 to 5 may help to prevent later school difficulties and severe psychopathology.

Pharmacological studies on the role of protein kinase C in signal transduction of human basophils.

Recent investigations have demonstrated that activation of basophils involves the activation of protein kinase C (PKC). In the present study the effects of different nonselective and selective PKC inhibitors on IgE-mediated histamine release from human basophils were investigated. While potent but nonselective inhibitors such as staurosporine exerted a dose-dependent inhibition of Fc epsilon-receptor-mediated histamine release, staurosporine derivatives with high selectivity for PKC potentiated the IgE-mediated response. The results provide evidence that the histamine release-inhibiting activity of protein kinase inhibitors is inversely correlated with their specificity for PKC. This may confirm the hypothesis that PKC exerts a negative modulatory role during the process of stimulus secretion-coupling following receptor aggregation in basophils. Moreover, investigations with phorbol esters and diacylglycerol derivatives as potent PKC activators show that direct cellular PKC activation and antigen-stimulated mediator release are not closely correlated.