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D Ostrow

Publications and source records attributed to D Ostrow.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Family history of hypertension and rates of sodium transport: absence of an association in population-based studies.

In a series of population-based studies, the relationship between a family history of hypertension and sodium transport was examined. In the total sample of 417 individuals, and in each sex-race-specific sub-sample, no significant differences were noted in red cell sodium-lithium countertransport, sodium concentration, or passive leak. A higher proportion of hypertensives was not found in the group with a positive family history, and blood pressures were only slightly higher in those--compared to those without--a positive family history. If family history of hypertension is associated with levels of countertransport, it would appear that the relationship is weak in the general population.

Adolescent↗

State dependence of noradrenergic activity in a rapidly cycling bipolar patient.

Plasma levels of the major norepinephrine (NE) metabolite, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), were measured in a rapidly cycling bipolar patient and her first-degree relatives. The mood state dependence and the reciprocal relationship between noradrenergic and cholinergic activity were investigated by assessing mood, thought disorder, and plasma MHPG following the infusion of physostigmine. A correlation was found between plasma MHPG and mood states, with exceedingly high levels during mania and hypomania. Levels were significantly decreased by ECT or combined lithium and chlorpromazine administration. A pathologic diurnal MHPG pattern was detected during periods of abnormal mood changes. Infusion of physostigmine led to a prompt reduction in MHPG release and a marked decline in mood-state measurements and the overall level of thought disorder. Muscarinic receptors exerting negative feedback control over the synthesis and/or release of NE may have become supersensitive as a consequence of alpha 2-adrenoceptor densensitization.

Adolescent↗

Increased sodium-lithium countertransport in college students with elevated blood pressure.

Blood pressure screening was carried out on a university campus to identify early hypertension or high-normal BP in young adults. Compared with normotensive control subjects of a similar age, drawn from the same population, persons identified as being at the upper end of the BP distribution had significantly increased levels of sodium-lithium countertransport. This difference persisted when other potential confounding variables, eg, overweight, sex, ethnicity, sodium excretion, and age, were taken into account. A positive family history was associated with slightly higher levels of sodium-lithium countertransport, although the effect could be explained by higher present levels of BP. These data suggest that abnormalities of cation transport are present early in the course of the development of hypertension. Measurement of transport levels may provide an estimate of risk of hypertension and allow identification of susceptible persons.

Adult↗

Dietary salt and blood pressure.

Research evidence on the role of dietary sodium in the etiology and pathogenesis of hypertension is briefly reviewed. This matter is assuming new importance at present, given new data on the efficacy of normalization of blood pressure for adults with so-called "mild" hypertension (average diastolic 90-104 mm Hg), hence the need for safe nutritional-hygienic alternatives to years-long drug treatment for millions of people with such hypertension. Two trials by the authors deal with some unresolved questions in this area. The first, a preliminary study, involved 21 lacto-ovo-vegetarian high school students living in a boarding school. With decrease in daily Na intake from 216 to 72 meq for the experimental compared with the control group, red blood cell Na concentration was significantly lower in the former; systolic pressure was slightly but not significantly lower. The second trial, the Primary Prevention of Hypertension, involves over 200 hypertension-prone persons aged 30-44, and explores the ability in the experimental group to reduce blood pressure and prevent development of hypertension by safe nutritional-hygienic means (weight reduction, dietary Na decrease, avoidance of excess alcohol, rhythmic exercise). Initial results at 6 months are presented. Trials on the prevention and control of hypertension by nonpharmacologic means, including reduced Na intake, and involving analyses of the inter-relationships among dietary Na, other dietary factors, Na metabolism, and blood pressure in samples from different population strata, are an important present-day research need.

Adolescent↗

Family history of hypertension and red cell cation transport in high school students.

High school students who had at least one parent with hypertension (n = 22) were compared to schoolmates of the same age with a negative family history of hypertension in the parents (n = 21). We investigated in both groups the maximal rate of the ouabain-sensitive Na pump and the Na-K cotransport in nystatin-loaded cells and the Lii-Nao countertransport in lithium-loaded cells. The two groups were significantly different only in the sum of net Na transport mediated by the Na-K pump and Na-K cotransport. The mean diastolic blood pressure in the positive family history group was significantly higher. With control for blood pressure the difference in the maximal rate of Na transport was no longer significant; it remains uncertain if control for blood pressure represents "over-adjustment'. The finding of a higher maximal rate of Na transport in these adolescents who are at increased risk of future hypertension, yet currently well within the normal range, suggests that abnormal sodium metabolism may be a useful marker and appears early in the pathogenesis of this disease.

Adolescent↗

Red cell cation transport: differences between black and white school children.

Differences in red cell sodium content and sodium-lithium countertransport were studied in black and white children with a mean age of 12 years. For both boys and girls red cell sodium content was higher in blacks and countertransport lower (P less than 0.05). For both ethnic groups red cell sodium was lower in girls than boys and a consistent positive relationship was noted between body mass index and countertransport. Despite the lower red cell Na-Li countertransport values in black compared to white children, a significant positive correlation with systolic blood pressure was found independent of adiposity. In contrast, no correlation was evident between Na-Li countertransport and blood pressure in the white children. If red cell cation transport is confirmed as a marker for hypertension, study of racial differences may help explain the twofold higher prevalence of this disease among blacks.

Adolescent↗

Hepatitis B in homosexual men: prevalence of infection and factors related to transmission.

Of 3,816 homosexual men examined in five sexually transmitted disease clinics in the United States, 6.1% had hepatitis B surface antigen, 52.4% had antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen, and 3.0% of the men who had no other indicator of infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) had antibody to hepatitis B core antigen. The rate of seropositivity for HBV indicated by the presence of one or more of these serologic markers was 61.5%; seropositivity was significantly related to the duration of regular homosexual activity and to the number of nonsteady male sexual contacts in the four months before the patients were interviewed. Anal-genital intercourse, oral-anal intercourse, and rectal douching were significantly related to evidence of HBV infection, but oral-oral contact and oral-genital contact were not. Trauma to the rectal mucosa is a feature common to the practices that were significantly related to seropositivity for HBV.

Adolescent↗

Methodological assessment of assays for red cell sodium concentration and sodium-dependent lithium efflux.

Assays for red cell sodium concentration and sodium-dependent lithium efflux were studied from a methodological point of view. The technical errors for sodium concentration--based on concurrent analysis of randomized blind duplicate samples--was 2.5% and for lithium efflux 6.4%. Based on repeated measures in the same individual, the assays were stable over time and reproducible; individual differences at a mean interval of 16 days were not significantly different. A wait of two hours from time of phlebotomy to analysis yielded a slight (3.8%) but significant fall in the sodium concentration; no further change was found at four hours. No change occurred in the lithium efflux over time. A standardized breakfast containing 664 mg sodium did not affect the measurements when fasting and three-hour postprandial levels were compared. The ratios of intra- to inter-individual variance were small--0.04 for red cell sodium concentration and 0.09 for sodium-stimulated lithium efflux. These assays appear to be reproducible and stable and can be applied in large scale field trials.

Adult↗

Dietary sodium, erythrocyte sodium concentration, sodium-stimulated lithium efflux and blood pressure.

1. There was a significant positive relationship between sodium-stimulated lithium efflux and systolic blood pressure (r = 0.512) in erythrocytes of black school children. Weight was also positively and significantly correlated with blood pressure. Although erythrocyte sodium concentration did not bear any significant relationship with blood pressure, it did bear significant inverse relationship with urinary sodium excretion. 2. High-school students were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. In the former a reduction of about 70% in salt intake was achieved. After 24 days, the erythrocyte sodium concentration was significantly reduced in the experimental group. A non-significant decline in systolic blood pressure was observed in the experimental group; no change was detectable in the control group for either erythrocyte sodium concentration or systolic blood pressure.

Adolescent↗

Epidemiologic health study of workers in an aluminum smelter in Kitimat, B.C. II. Effects on musculoskeletal and other systems.

A health study was carried out on 2066 workers in an aluminum smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia to study the effects of exposure to fluoride and other air contaminants encountered on the potlines on the musculoskeletal system, hemopoietic tissue, liver, and renal function. Three hundred seventy-two railway repair workers from Squamish, British Columbia served as an "external" control group. Examination of the spine and sacroiliac joints and pelvic X-ray were conducted on long-term potline workers and a number of "internal" control workers in the smelter not exposed to any air contaminants. Urinary fluoride measurements and personal sampling for airborne fluoride were also carried out. Blood samples were collected for routine blood count and liver and renal function test. Definite cases of skeletal fluorosis were not found in any potroom workers. Some of the changes of early skeletal fluorosis described on pelvic X-rays, e.g., increased density, calcification of ligaments, and periosteal changes, were found in a few workers who were employed on the potlines for more than 10 yr. There was, however, poor agreement in the findings of the two radiologists who read the films. The entity "musculoskeletal fluorosis" does not exist in this smelter where the potroom workers were exposed to total fluoride levels below the currently accepted threshold limit value of 2.5 mg/m3. No ill effects on the hematopoietic tissue or liver and renal function were found.

Air Pollutants↗

Abnormal red blood cell ion transport and hypertension. The People's Gas Company study.

A population-based survey of 134 white men, recruited from the Chicago People's Gas Company labor force, was carried out to examine the association between sodium-lithium (Na-Li) countertransport and hypertension. Of the 134 participants in this industry-sponsored periodic health examination, 64 were normotensive and 70 were either taking antihypertensive medications or had a systolic pressure greater than or equal to 140 or a diastolic pressure greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg. The hypertensives were older and more overweight. Countertransport was significantly higher in hypertensives than in normotensives. Among the three subgroups of hypertensives--untreated, borderline (140/90 to 160/95 mm Hg), untreated definite (over 160/95 mm Hg), and treated--an increase in countertransport was consistently observed, significant for the latter two groups. The relationship between countertransport and hypertension was independent of overweight, with countertransport being significantly related to both blood pressure and overweight. Altered ion transport may play an important role in the etiology and/or pathophysiology of hypertension.

Adult↗

Effect of dietary sodium reduction on red blood cell sodium concentration and sodium-lithium countertransport.

A randomized, crossover trial was carried out on the effect of moderate sodium reduction on red-blood-cell sodium metabolism. The participants were healthy high school students (mean age = 16 years, n = 33). Changes in sodium-lithium countertransport and intracellular sodium concentration were evaluated 24 days after a decrease in dietary sodium from approximately 110 to 40 mEq per day. Dietary sodium restriction had no significant effect on either sodium-lithium countertransport or intracellular sodium concentration.

Adolescent↗