OVERHEATING IN BED AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN MANY COMMON DERMATOSES

Background. Extensive questioning of patients with a wide variety of skin disorders led to the impression that nocturnal overheating was probably an important factor in the initiation and the perpetuation of many skin disorders. Methods. In order to test the hypothesis, 12 “clean-skinned” subjects (6M/6F) aged 18 to 45 years were monitored electronically every 30 seconds during an 8 hour sleep period (2300 to 0700 hours), sleeping under a standard 10 tog duvet. Results. All the subjects were too hot by 3 to 4°C. All showed changes in their EEG patterns with reduced REM sleep, increased awakenings, and all showed changes in their sleep stage patterns. In addition, they all showed evidence of increased sweating in the “heat-sink” area. Conclusions. The mechanisms where by such changes could be implicated in the precipitation and perpetuation of skin disease are discussed. “Lifestyle” modification as a very effective, noninvasive, therapeutic regime is recommended. Further research along these lines would probably be very valuable and instructive.     

Aortopulmonary window with patent ductus arteriosus and interrupted aortic arch: A case report

Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery -     

Vestibular contribution to combined arm and trunk motion

Recent studies have shown that the hand-pointing movements within arm's reach remain invariant whether the trunk is recruited or not or its motion is unexpectedly prevented. This suggests the presence of compensatory arm-trunk coordination minimizing the deflections of the hand from the intended trajectory. It has been postulated that vestibular signals elicited by the trunk motion and transmitted to the arm motor system play a major role in the compensation. One prediction of this hypothesis is that vestibular stimulation should influence arm posture and movement during reaching. It has been demonstrated that galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) can influence the direction of pointing movements when body motion is restrained. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of GVS on trunk-assisted pointing movements. Subjects either moved the hand to a target or maintained a steady-state posture near the target, while moving the trunk forward with the eyes closed. When GVS was applied, the final position of the hand was deviated in the lateral and sagittal direction in both tasks. This was the result of two independent effects: a deviation of the trunk trajectory and a modification of the arm position relative to the trunk. Thus, the vestibular system might be directly involved not only in the control of trunk motion but also in the arm-trunk coordination during trunk-assisted reaching movements. Electronic Publication     

Characterization of N-acetyltransferase 1 and 2 polymorphisms and haplotype analysis for inflammatory bowel disease and sporadic colorectal carcinoma

Background  

N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) and 2 (NAT2) are polymorphic isoenzymes responsible for the metabolism of numerous drugs and carcinogens. Acetylation catalyzed by NAT1 and NAT2 are important in metabolic activation of arylamines to electrophilic intermediates that initiate carcinogenesis. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) consist of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), both are associated with increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. We hypothesized that NAT1 and/or NAT2 polymorphisms contribute to the increased cancer evident in IBD.     

Decreased inducibility of TNF expression in lipid-loaded macrophages

Background  

Inflammation and immune responses are considered to be very important in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Lipid accumulation in macrophages of the arterial intima is a characteristic feature of atherosclerosis which can influence the inflammatory potential of macrophages. We studied the effects of lipid loading on the regulation of TNF expression in human monocyte-derived macrophages.     

Mouse homologues of the human AZF candidate gene RBM are expressed in spermatogonia and spermatids, and map to a Y chromosome deletion interval associated with a high incidence of sperm abnormalities

An RNA-binding motif (RBM) gene family has been identified on the human Y chromosome that maps to the same deletion interval as the 'azoospermia factor' (AZF). We have identified the homologous gene family (Rbm) on the mouse Y with a view to investigating the proposal that this gene family plays a role in spermatogenesis. At least 25 and probably >50 copies of Rbm are present on the mouse Y chromosome short arm located between Sry and the centromere. As in the human, a role in spermatogenesis is indicated by a germ cell-specific pattern of expression in the testis, but there are distinct differences in the pattern of expression between the two species. Mice carrying the deletion Yd1, that maps to the proximal Y short arm, are female due to a position effect resulting in non-expression of Sry ; sex-reversing such mice with an Sry transgene produces males with a high incidence of abnormal sperm, making this the third deletion interval on the mouse Y that affects some aspect of spermatogenesis. Most of the copies of Rbm map to this deletion interval, and the Yd1males have markedly reduced Rbm expression, suggesting that RBM deficiency may be responsible for, or contribute to, the abnormal sperm development. In man, deletion of the functional copies of RBM is associated with meiotic arrest rather than sperm anomalies; however, the different effects of deletion are consistent with the differences in expression between the two species.