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14.11.2005 - ISI Web of Knowledge & PubMed Search Alert Hakanen, A. J., M. Lindgren, P. Huovinen, J. Jalava, A. Siitonen and P. Kotilainen. J Clin Microbiol. 2005; 43(11): 5775-8. We describe the emergence of a new quinolone resistance pattern in Salmonella enterica isolates from Southeast Asia. These isolates are susceptible to nalidixic acid but exhibit reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. The increase of such strains may threaten the value of the nalidixic acid disk test to screen for reduced fluoroquinolone susceptibility in salmonellas. Huurre, T., O. Rahkonen, E. Komulainen and H. Aro. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2005; 40(7): 580-7. BACKGROUND: Few follow-up studies have investigated psychosomatic health and socioeconomic status (SES) and associations between them at different life stages. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in psychosomatic symptoms by SES in adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood and to examine whether lower SES leads to higher levels of symptoms (social causation) or higher levels of symptoms to lower SES (health selection) or both. METHODS: All 16-year-old ninth-grade school pupils of one Finnish city completed questionnaires at school. Subjects were followed up using postal questionnaires when aged 22 and 32 years. RESULTS: Females reported significantly higher scores of psychosomatic symptoms than males at 16, 22 and 32 years of age. Higher rates of psychosomatic symptoms were found among females of manual class origin at 16 years. In addition, at 22 years, both females and males with only comprehensive school education and, at 32 years, those who worked in manual jobs had higher scores of symptoms. When low SES both as a cause and consequence of symptoms was investigated, the findings supported both these paths among females and more the health selection among males. In both genders, especially the path from psychosomatic symptoms in adolescence to lower education in early adulthood was strong. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the need of greater consideration of psychosomatic symptoms, particularly in adolescence, in later socioeconomic outcomes. Hynynen, R., S. Laitinen, R. Kakela, K. Tanhuanpaa, S. Lusa, C. Ehnholm, P. Somerharju, E. Ikonen and V. M. Olkkonen. Biochem J. 2005; 390(Pt 1): 273-83. ORP2 [OSBP (oxysterol-binding protein)-related protein 2] belongs to the 12-member mammalian ORP gene/protein family. We characterize in the present study the effects of inducible ORP2 overexpression on cellular cholesterol metabolism in HeLa cells and compare the results with those obtained for CHO cells (Chinese-hamster ovary cells) that express ORP2 constitutively. In both cell systems, the prominent phenotype is enhancement of [14C]cholesterol efflux to all extracellular acceptors, which results in a reduction of cellular free cholesterol. No change was observed in the plasma membrane cholesterol content or distribution between raft and non-raft domains upon ORP2 expression. However, elevated HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA) reductase activity and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) receptor expression, as well as enhanced transport of newly synthesized cholesterol to a cyclodextrin-accessible pool, suggest that the ORP2 expression stimulates transport of cholesterol out of the endoplasmic reticulum. In contrast with ORP2/CHO cells, the inducible ORP2/HeLa cells do not show down-regulation of cholesterol esterification, suggesting that this effect represents an adaptive response to long-term cholesterol depletion in the CHO cell model. Finally, we provide evidence that ORP2 binds PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) and enhances endocytosis, phenomena that are probably interconnected. Our results suggest a function of ORP2 in both cholesterol trafficking and control of endocytic membrane transport. Lanti, M., A. Menotti, S. Nedeljkovic, A. Nissinen, A. Kafatos and D. Kromhout. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. 2005; 17(4): 306-315. Background and aims: Time trends in major cardiovascular risk factors are described in cohorts of middle-aged men followed for 35 years in 9 European cohorts of Finland, The Netherlands, Italy, Serbia and Greece. Methods: Men aged 40 to 59 years at entry in the early 1960s were repeatedly re-examined 3 to 5 times over the last 35 years. Systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, body weight and body mass index were considered for analysis, including study of aging (35 years of follow-up) and of generation effects (10 years for men aged 50-59 in the period 1960-1970 and separately 10 years for men aged 75-84 years in the period 1985-1995). Results: For the aging effect, average systolic blood pressure increased approximately 15 mmHg over 25 years maintaining a steady state thereafter, the largest increases being found in Serbia and Greece. Average serum cholesterol varied between approximately 4.5 in Serbia and 6.5 mmol/L in Finland in about 1960. Twenty-five years later, the average level was about 6 mmo L in all five countries and decreased slightly thereafter. Average body weight and body mass index increased in all countries for 25 years and levelled off thereafter. For the generation effect, average systolic blood pressure decreased in all countries, with the exception of men aged 50-59 in Serbia and men aged 7584 in The Netherlands. Average serum cholesterol uniformly increased in men aged 50-59 for the younger age-class and slightly decreased in men aged 75-84. Average body weight and body mass index increased systematically in all countries and in both age groups. Conclusions: Major changes were the great increases in average systolic blood pressure and serum cholesterol level in Serbia and in systolic blood pressure level in Greece between 1960 and 1985, and the large decrease in average serum cholesterol in Finland between 1970 and 1995. Average body weight and body mass index showed universal increases in both middle-aged and older men after 1960. Lehtinen, M., H. M. Ogmundsdottir, A. Bloigu, T. Hakulinen, E. Hemminki, M. Gudnadottir, A. Kjartansdottir, J. Paavonen, E. Pukkala, H. Tulinius, T. Lehtinen and P. Koskela. Am J Epidemiol. 2005; 162(7): 662-7. A case-control study was nested within two maternity cohorts with a total of 7 million years of follow-up for assessment of the role of bacterial infections in childhood leukemia. Offspring of 550,000 mothers in Finland and Iceland were combined to form a joint cohort that was followed for cancer up to age 15 years during 1975-1997 through national cancer registries. For each index mother-case pair, three or four matched control mother-control pairs were identified from population registers. First-trimester serum samples were retrieved from mothers of 341 acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases and 61 other leukemia cases and from 1,212 control mothers. Sera were tested for antibodies to the genus Chlamydia, Helicobacter pylori, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for sibship size, were calculated as estimates of relative risk. M. pneumoniae immunoglobulin M appeared to be associated with increased risk (odds ratio (OR) = 1.6), but the association lost statistical significance when the specificity of the immunoglobulin M was considered (OR = 1.5, 95% confidence interval: 0.9, 2.4). In Iceland, H. pylori immunoglobulin G was associated with increased risk of childhood leukemia in offspring (OR = 2.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 6.9). Since H. pylori immunoglobulin G indicates chronic carriage of the microorganism, early colonization of the offspring probably differs between Iceland and Finland, two affluent countries. Carcinogenicity of the chlorination disinfection by-product MX McDonald, T. A. and H. Komulainen. Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part C-Environmental Carcinogenesis & Ecotoxicology Reviews. 2005; 23(2): 163-214. 3-Chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone, better known by its historical name 'mutagen X' or MX, is a chlorination disinfection byproduct that forms from the reaction of chlorine and humic acids in raw water. MX has been measured in drinking water samples in several countries at levels that ranged from non-detectable to 310 ng/L. Although the concentration of MX in drinking water is typically 100- to 1000-fold lower than other common chlorinated by-products of concern (e.g., trihalomethanes), some have hypothesized that MX might play a role in the increased cancer risks that have been associated with the consumption of chlorinated water. This hypothesis is based on observations that MX, in some test systems, is extremely potent relative to trihalomethanes in inducing DNA damage and altering pathways involved in cell growth, and that in some epidemiological studies increased cancer rates are associated with the bacterial mutagenicity of disinfected water of which MX contributes a significant portion. MX also appears to be more potent than other chlorination by-products in causing cancer in animals. This article reviews the available evidence on the carcinogenicity of MX. MX induced cancer at multiple sites in male and female rats, acted as a tumor initiator and promoter, enhanced tumor yields in genetically modified rodents, induced a myriad of genotoxic effects in numerous in vitro and in vivo test systems, and was a potent inhibitor of gap junction intercellular communication. Although the precise mechanism of MX-induced DNA damage is not known, MX is able to cause DNA damage through an unusual mechanism of ionizing DNA bases due to its extremely high reductive potential. MX may also cause mutations through DNA adduction. This article develops a mean cancer potency estimate for MX of 2.3 (mg/kg-d)(-l) and an upper 95% percentile estimateof 4.5 (mg/kg-d)(-1), and examines the potential health risks posed by this chlorination contaminant in drinking water. A discussion of additional data that would be desirable to better characterize the risks posed by MX and other halogenated hydroxyfuranones follows. Adolescent outpatients with depressive disorders: clinical characteristics and treatment received Pelkonen, M. and M. Marttunen. Nord J Psychiatry. 2005; 59(2): 127-33. Depressive disorders constitute a common clinical problem. However, research on psychosocial impairment and treatment-related factors among adolescent outpatients with different diagnoses of depression is scarce. This study aimed at investigating consecutively referred outpatient adolescents with depressive syndrome compared with psychiatric controls. We also compared those with major depression (MDD), other depressive disorders (OD), or adjustment disorder with depressed mood (ADDM) in terms of psychosocial impairment and treatment received in a sample of 302 consecutively referred adolescent outpatients. Psychosocial impairment was most severe in MDD. Comorbidity with anxiety disorders characterized those with MDD, whereas antisocial disorders were common among those with OD. Psychosocial treatment was more intensive and psychotropic medication more prevalent in patients with MDD compared with those with OD or ADDM. All the depressed patients receiving psychotropic medication had additional psychosocial treatments. Psychosocial functioning improved in all three groups (MDD, OD, ADDM), whether their treatment involved only psychotherapeutic treatments or additional psychotropic medication. Adolescents with different diagnoses of depression have specific psychosocial impairments that have to be taken into account in developing psychiatric treatments for them. Qiao, Q., J. Tuomilehto, B. Balkau, K. Borch-Johnsen, R. Heine and N. J. Wareham. Diabetic Medicine. 2005; 22(11): 1476-1481. Background Insulin resistance (IR) has been considered an underlying cause of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG). Whether IR increases with age has been debated. We investigated the age-associated deterioration in the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) of IR and in glucose metabolism. Methods Ten (nine including women) European studies contributed data on 6314 men and 6393 women aged 30-88 years. The cohort- and sex-specific top 25% of HOMA of IR in non-diabetic subjects was used to define HOMA-IR. Results Compared with subjects aged 50-59 years, the cohort- and body mass index-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for HOMA-IR was 0.83 (0.64, 1.08), 0.87 (0.74, 1.03), 1.20 (1.02, 1.42) and 1.45 (1.10, 1.92) in men and 0.84 (0.62, 1.14), 0.91 (0.77, 1.09), 1.38 (1.19, 1.62) and 1.71 (1.35, 2.17) in women, respectively, aged 30-39, 40-49, 60-69 and >= 70 years (P < 0.0001 for trend test). The same increasing trend was also observed for IFG. In contrast, the corresponding odds ratios for IGT increased linearly and more strongly with age, being 0.37 (0.22, 0.63), 0.67 (0.52, 0.87), 1.55 (1.24, 1.92) and 2.96 (2.13, 4.13) in men and 0.51 (0.31, 0.85), 0.66 (0.52, 0.86), 1.92 (1.57, 2.35) and 3.85 (2.89, 5.12) in women, respectively. Conclusions Age is more strongly associated with IGT than with HOMA-IR or IFG in non-diabetic European populations. Chronic alcohol problems among suicide attempters--post-mortem findings of a 14-year follow-up Suokas, J., K. Suominen and J. Lönnqvist. Nord J Psychiatry. 2005; 59(1): 45-50. This study set out to describe the clinical characteristics of a subgroup of suicide attempters with clear post-mortem evidence of long-term alcohol misuse, and to investigate the risk factors predicting chronic alcohol misuse/dependence using survival analysis. Data were collected over 14 years on all unselected deliberate self-poisoning patients (n=1018) treated in the emergency unit of Helsinki University Central Hospital. Of the 222 (22.7%) who had died by the end of the follow-up period, 85 (38.5%) showed clear post-mortem evidence of long-term alcohol misuse. Seventy-four per cent of misusers were men. The risk factors for chronic alcohol misuse/dependence among deceased suicide attempters were: male sex, numerous previous suicide attempts, non-impulsive suicide attempts, certain intention to die and subjective motive of the index attempt other than "wish to die". The findings emphasize that more attention should be focused on evaluating alcohol use and the risk of alcohol dependence in suicide attempters encountered in the emergency room of general hospitals. A review of the efficacy of rosuvastatin in patients with type 2 diabetes Tuomilehto, J., L. A. Leiter and D. Kallend. Int J Clin Pract Suppl. 2004;(143): 30-40. It has been estimated that 92% of individuals with type 2 diabetes, without cardiovascular disease (CVD), have a dyslipidaemic profile. Several guidelines on cardiovascular risk now recommend that patients with diabetes should be considered at high risk of CVD and should thus receive lipid-lowering therapy to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to below 2.5 mmol/L. Since their introduction in 1987, statins have revolutionized the management of CVD. The most recent statin to be introduced, rosuvastatin, has been shown to be the most effective at lowering LDL-C, as well as consistently raising HDL-C across the 10-40 mg dose range. This has been confirmed by many studies, including the Measuring Effective Reductions in Cholesterol Using Rosuvastatin Therapy (MERCURY I) study in which rosuvastatin 10 mg was shown to be more effective than commonly used doses of other statins, both for LDL-C reduction and achieving treatment target goals. The effectiveness of rosuvastatin has also been studied in type 2 diabetes patients in three studies: the URANUS (Use of Rosuvastatin vs. Atorvastatin iN type 2 diabetes mellitUS), ANDROMEDA (A raNdomized, Double-blind study to compare Rosuvastatin [10 & 20 mg] and atOrvastatin [10 & 20 Mg] in patiEnts with type II DiAbetes) and CORALL (COmpare Rosuvastatin [10-40 mg] with Atorvastatin [20-80 mg] on apo B/apo A-1 ratio in patients with type 2 diabetes meLLitus and dyslipidaemia) studies. URANUS and ANDROMEDA showed rosuvastatin to be more effective than atorvastatin at reducing LDL-C and achieving treatment target goals. CORALL demonstrated rosuvastatin 10, 20 and 40 mg to be more effective at lowering LDL-C than 20, 40 and 80 mg of atorvastatin, respectively. Ongoing studies will evaluate whether these properties of rosuvastatin translate into beneficial effects on atherosclerosis and significant reductions in cardiovascular events. Tryptophan involvement in the ligand binding of the glycolipid transfer protein West, G., M. Nylund, J. P. Slotte and P. Mattjus. Chemistry and Physics of Lipids. 2005; 136(2): 140-141. Meeting Abstract. |