Biomedical subjects

M Altemus

Publications and source records attributed to M Altemus.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites in fluoxetine-treated patients with major depression and in healthy volunteers.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of the monoamine metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), and homovanillic acid (HVA) were measured in three groups: 46 healthy volunteers; 9 medication-free patients with DSM III-R major depressive disorder, recurrent; and these same 9 patients following at least 4 weeks of fluoxetine treatment at 20 mg/day. CSF monoamine metabolite levels in medication-free patients did not differ from healthy volunteers; however, CSF 5-HIAA and MHPG decreased significantly from 95.9 +/- 24.6 (all values +/- SD) to 64.2 +/- 26.1 pmol/ml and from 46.7 +/- 14.2 to 42.6 +/- 11.6 pmol/ml, respectively, following fluoxetine treatment. Fluoxetine also significantly decreased mean Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores from 23.2 +/- 6.5 to 17.4 +/- 5.0 and significantly increased the CSF HVA/5-HIAA ratio.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Tamoxifen prevents sulpiride-induced weight gain in female rats.

To evaluate its potential utility in counteracting neuroleptic-induced obesity, the effects of long-term administration of tamoxifen (TAM) on body weight (BW) and food intake (FI) of gonadally intact and sulpiride-treated (SUL) female rats were assessed. In addition, estradiol and prolactin serum levels were measured in rats treated with SUL. SUL plus TAM and SUL plus bromocriptine (BR). TAM, at doses of 10, 50 and 100 micrograms, significantly decreased BW gain: FI was significantly reduced at the doses of 50 and 100 micrograms. In addition, doses of TAM ranging from 5-100 micrograms completely prevented SUL-induced BW gain and hyperphagia. BR also prevented SUL effects on BW and FI. In contrast to BR, concomitant administration of TAM did not prevent SUL-induced hyperprolactinemia. Estradiol levels were not modified by SUL alone or SUL plus BR, but they were significantly increased in the animals treated with TAM plus SUL. Neuroleptic-induced obesity in female rats might be related to an alteration in gonadal steroid balance secondary to hyperprolactinemia. While BR might counteract neuroleptic-induced weight gain by preventing hyperprolactinemia, TAM might directly interact with estrogen receptors, or indirectly increase estradiol levels. The use of TAM in preventing neuroleptic-induced obesity in humans warrants further investigation.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neuropsychological correlates of menstrual mood changes.

The authors compared responses to dichotic auditory stimuli presented in the premenstrual and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle and three months of prospective mood self-ratings. Women who reported more dysphoria premenstrually had a lower right ear advantage for language-related stimuli. They also heard fewer positive words in the premenstrual compared to the follicular phase of their cycles.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Responses to laboratory psychosocial stress in postpartum women.

OBJECTIVE: Lactation has been associated with attenuated hormonal responses to exercise stress in humans. This study was designed to determine the effect of lactation on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and anxiety responses to psychological stress. METHOD: The Trier Social Stress Test was administered to 24 lactating women, 13 postpartum nonlactating women, and 14 healthy control women in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Lactating women were stressed at least 40 minutes after last feeding their infant. RESULTS: ACTH, cortisol, heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, and subjective anxiety ratings were all significantly increased in response to the psychological stress (all p <.0001). There were no differences among the three groups in any of these responses to the stress. However, postpartum nonlactating women did have a persistently higher systolic blood pressure and lower cardiac vagal tone than the lactating women and control subjects. In addition, the typical negative correlation between cardiac vagal tone and heart rate was consistently higher in lactating women than nonlactating postpartum women and controls, which suggests stronger vagal control of heart rate in lactating women. In addition, there was no change in oxytocin or allopregnanolone in response to the stress, and baseline oxytocin and allopregnanolone levels did not differ among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that physiological and subjective responses to social stress are not attenuated in lactating women tested at least one hour after feeding their infant. However, enhanced vagal control of cardiac reactivity was observed in lactating women. In addition, postpartum women who did not lactate showed evidence of increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic nervous system tone.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pulsatility of 24-hour concentrations of circulating interleukin-1-alpha in healthy women: analysis of integrated basal levels, discrete pulse properties, and correlation with simultaneous interleukin-2 concentrations.

Even though it is widely known that interleukin (IL)-1 alpha acts at the local level, it is still uncertain whether IL-1 alpha is secreted into the circulation and acts at distant sites. We have tried to elucidate this by measuring 24-hour levels of total IL-1 alpha in six healthy female volunteers. Subjects had detectable and pulsatile levels of IL-1 alpha throughout the 24-hour period. The integrated 24-hour IL-1 alpha concentration was 2,367 +/- 753 min x micrograms/l (mean +/- SD), and the integrated pulsatile IL-1 alpha concentration was 553 +/- 260 (25 +/- 10% ot total integrated IL-1 alpha). The mean IL-1 alpha concentration was 1.63 +/- 0.53 micrograms/l, mean pulse frequency/24 h was 12.8 +/- 0.8, mean pulse height was 2.31 +/- 0.52 micrograms/l; mean pulse width was 80.4 +/- 2.3 min, and mean interpulse interval was 105.3 +/- 2.8 min. Total IL-1 alpha levels significantly correlated with those previously reported for IL-2 in the same samples, and IL-1 alpha pulse parameters which are concentration independent were significantly similar to those of IL-2. Furthermore, cross-correlation analysis indicated that in 83% of our subjects (5/6) there was synchronicity of IL-1 alpha and IL-2 levels. IL-1 alpha pulse parameters were in the range reported for hormones which have well-characterized pulsatility, such as growth hormone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, cortisol, beta-endorphin, and progesterone. Based on these data we speculate that a pulsatile cytokine cascade may exist in the systemic circulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗