[The relationship between a mother's internal working model and her tendency to be abusive in her child-raising approach].

OBJECTIVE: The internal working model (IWM) is an outcome of the individual's pattern of development during their childhood and determines attachment styles. Probably the most significant factor that leads to child-abuse is an unstable type of attachment of mothers towards their children. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the relationship between a mother's IWM, her tendency to be abusive in her child raising approach and the implications for support to prevent such abuse. METHODS: Use of a self-administered questionnaire for mothers (n = 534) who visited health centers in Ishikawa prefecture for a routine child development check-up. RESULTS: The results showed that mothers with a strongly ambivalent IWM showed an increased tendency towards child abuse when compared with mothers with other types of IWM. Even when these ambivalent IWM mothers were supported, their abusive tendencies did not change. Another aspect that emerged from the study was that mothers with a low tendency for a stable IWM showed more abusive actions towards their child when compared with mothers with other types of IWM. However, these mothers, with support, responded with a reduction in their abusive actions. CONCLUSION: It can therefore be concluded that there is a demonstrable relationship between a mother's IWM and an abusive child-raising approach. It also showed that with mothers having a low tendency for a stable IWM, provision of support can reduce and even prevent child-abuse.

Glycoform-dependent conformational alteration of the Fc region of human immunoglobulin G1 as revealed by NMR spectroscopy.

The Fc portion of immunoglobulin G (IgG) expresses the biantennary complex type oligosaccharides at Asn297 of the C(H)2 domain of each heavy chain with microheterogeneities depending on physiological and pathological states. These N-glycans are known to be essential for promotion of proper effector functions of IgG such as complement activation and Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR)-mediated activities. To gain a better understanding of the role of Fc glycosylation, we prepared a series of truncated glycoforms of human IgG1-Fc and analyzed their interactions with human soluble FcgammaRIIIa (sFcgammaRIIIa) and with staphylococcal protein A by surface plasmon resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods. Progressive but less pronounced reductions in the affinity for sFcgammaRIIIa were observed as a result of the galactosidase and subsequent N-acetylhexosaminidase treatments of IgG1-Fc. The following endoglycosidase D treatment, giving rise to a disaccharide structure composed of a fucosylated GlcNAc, abrogated the affinity of IgG1-Fc for sFcgammaRIIIa. On the other hand, those glycosidase treatments did not significantly affect the affinity of IgG1-Fc for protein A. Inspection of stable-isotope-assisted NMR data of a series of Fc glycoforms indicates that the stepwise trimming out of the carbohydrate residues results in concomitant increase in the number of amino acid residues perturbed thereby in the C(H)2 domains. Furthermore, the cleavage at the GlcNAcbeta1-4GlcNAc glycosidic linkage induced the conformational alterations of part of the lower hinge region, which makes no direct contact with the carbohydrate moieties and forms the major FcgammaR-binding site, while the conformation of the C(H)2/C(H)3 interface was barely perturbed that is the protein A-binding site. These results indicate that the carbohydrate moieties are required for maintaining the structural integrity of the FcgammaR-binding site.

Preventive effect of traditional herbal formulae against experimental hypercholesterolemia in rats with special reference to blood lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

To investigate the effect of traditional herbal formulae (Zhong Yao) against experimental hypercholesterolemia, we assayed serum lipoprotein levels and hepatic function in rats administered herbal formulae under cholesterol rich diet. Two kinds of herbal formulae; prescription 1 (Bupleurum chinense and other 9 kinds of herbs) and 2 (Camellia sinensis and other 5 kinds of herbs) were prepared. All of 35 rats were separated into 4 groups, group P fed under cholesterol rich diet for 15 days and administered the prescriptions for 2 days, group Q administered the prescriptions for 17 days under the same diet, group R fed under the same diet but no prescriptions, and group S fed under regular diet. In rats administered prescription 1, serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in group Q were preserved as well as standard group S. Such a preservation was not observed under administration of prescription 2. Regarding choleretic function, serum total bilic acid levels measured in group P were extremely increased when prescription 1 was administered for only 2 days after stopping the cholesterol rich diet. In study on telomerase activity of liver extracts to assess hepatocyte function, significantly higher level of activity was noted in group Q administered prescription 1. From these results, it was suggested that prescription 1 had much preventive effect against hypercholesterolemia in rats, probably due to its choleretic function.