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Biomedical subjects

M Eriksson

Publications and source records attributed to M Eriksson.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Relationship between central serotonergic neurotransmission and reduction in alcohol intake by citalopram.

The relationship between the effect of citalopram on alcohol intake and central serotonergic neurotransmission, as assessed by prolactin (PRL) response to fenfluramine, was investigated in 17 male heavy drinkers. A positive correlation was obtained, suggesting that the status of central serotonergic neurotransmission in individuals is associated with the treatment response to citalopram. When the group of subjects were divided into those with high and low PRL response (above and below median, respectively) to fenfluramine, those with high PRL response had a significant reduction in alcohol intake during citalopram treatment, whereas those with low PRL response had no such effect. Thus, in subjects with evidence of unimpaired or only slightly impaired central serotonergic neurotransmission (high PRL response) citalopram may have beneficial effect on alcohol consumption, whereas in those with more evidently impaired serotonergic neurotransmission (low PRL response) citalopram treatment may have no effect on or may even increase the alcohol consumption.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

A mammalian radial spokehead-like gene, RSHL1, at the myotonic dystrophy-1 locus.

Ciliary function is essential for normal cellular activity in all species from simple protozoa upwards. In humans, ciliary dysmotility or complete immobility have been identified in autosomal recessive multisystemic diseases characterized by recurrent respiratory tract infections and male subfertility due to impaired sperm mobility. Linkage to human chromosome 19q13.3 has been published for some families but no candidate genes have been identified. We report the first identification of a mammalian homolog of a radial spokehead-like protein, with high homology to proteins of sea urchins and the protozoan Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, at the myotonic dystrophy-1 locus (chromosome19q13.3). In the lower organisms, these proteins are important in normal ciliary or flagellar action, including that of sea urchin spermatozoa. Expression of the mammalian homolog was detected in the adult testis. We suggest that this gene, which we have called Radial Spokehead-Like 1 (RSHL1), is a candidate gene for familial primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Alternative Splicing↗
PubMed2001

[A case report. Hypotensive reaction caused by albumin infusion].

Hypotensive reactions during surgical procedures cause diagnostic problems in establishing whether the hypotension is due to blood loss or pharmaceuticals or other causes. A case of hypotension probably due to an albumin infusion is described. Bradykinin effects are probably the cause of many hypotensive reactions. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce degradation of bradykinin and thus increase the risk of hypotensive reactions. When possible, doctors should consider withholding ACE inhibitors 24 hours before surgical procedures likely to require albumin transfusions.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors↗
PubMed2001

Heat shock proteins, HSP25 and HSP70, and apoptosis in developing endocardial cushion of the mouse heart.

Formation of the atrioventricular channels and valves from the endocardial cushion occurs through growth and remodeling of the initial endocardial cushion. This process requires balanced coordination of proliferation and apoptosis by still unknown factors. To detect a possible role for the heat shock proteins 25 and 70 (HSP25 and HSP70) as apoptosis-associated proteins and differentiation factors in the development of the endocardial cushion, we analyzed their temporal and regional occurrence during cell proliferation and apoptosis in E11-E17 embryos. The distribution and timing of these events and factors were consistent with the hypothesis that HSP25 is related to myocardial development whereas HSP70 is related to differentiation of the endocardial cushion by cell proliferation and apoptosis.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Determination of hydrocarbons in old creosote contaminated soil using headspace solid phase microextraction and GC-MS.

Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) has been used together with GC-MS to analyze organic substances directly in a soil, heavily contaminated with PAHs/creosote (approximately 300 mg/kg soil), from an old gaswork site in Stockholm, Sweden. The HS-SPME results, both qualitative and quantitative, were compared with traditional liquid extraction using ethyl acetate/hexane (20:80). It was shown that the concentrations determined with HS-SPME at 60 degrees C correlated well, for compounds containing up to two and three aromatic rings (naphthalenes, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene and fluorenes, while a lower concentration was obtained for phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene. The total concentrations for each compound determined with HS-SPME ranged from 2 to 25 microg/g soil. Quantification was done using standard addition of compounds directly to the soil samples. The bioavailable fraction of the compounds in the contaminated soil at 20 degrees C was analyzed using external calibration by spiking sterile uncontaminated sand (same texture and particle size as the contaminated soil but without a heavily sorbed organic fraction) with hydrocarbon standards in different concentrations. Storage of exposed fibers at 20 degrees C showed that analysis should be done within two days to make qualitative measurements and earlier (as soon as possible) for quantitative determinations.

Biological Availability↗
PubMed2001

Process-diagnostic patterns of chlorobiphenyl congeners in two radiochronologically characterized sediment cores from the northern Baffin Bay.

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) patterns were interpreted in two radioisotopically constrained sediment cores from the Arctic ocean in order to seek clues about their large-scale environmental fates. Low but clearly measurable fluxes of individual PCB congeners were observed in deeper layer sediments, corresponding to the past 170 years, in a single dated core from the Baffin Bay shelf. Fluxes of the dominant individual congeners in the surface sediments were 20-100 pg m(-2) d(-1). Combining these data with the sediment data from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, it appears that the PCB distribution in Arctic surface sediments is governed by the organic carbon (OC) content of the sediments. The historical development of the PCB congener fingerprint suggests that the modern sediments are enriched in medium-chlorinated congeners, implying that there are at least two significant, but distinctly different, sink processes acting on the PCB pool. The relative abundance of light-to-heavy congeners, in mid-shelf marine sediments of similar ages, between 40 degrees N and 76 degrees N latitude suggests a northward dilution of PCBs which is stronger attenuated for heavier congeners, consistent with a temperature-driven global fractionation process. The significant presence of PCB in historical archives pre-dating the organochlorine society, as observed in this and several previous studies, awaits a fuller explanation.

Arctic Regions↗
PubMed2001

No effect of the cortisol-synthesis inhibitor metyrapone on alcohol drinking: a pilot study.

Two bases for this study were the theory of stress as a provoking factor for high alcohol consumption in human being and findings that the stress hormones stimulate ethanol intake in rats. We therefore investigated whether the cortisol-synthesis inhibitor metyrapone could reduce high alcohol consumption in socially stable subjects who reported drinking mainly for relaxation purposes. Most of the investigated subjects were found to be alcohol dependent (81%), with moderately high levels of intake, yet they had not reported more severe life problems. All subjects reported their daily alcohol consumption during 2-week baseline, medication, and postmedication periods. Sixteen subjects were given 1 g of metyrapone orally daily for 14 days, and 15 subjects received placebo. Morning serum cortisol concentration was assessed four times in the course of the study period. Metyrapone treatment was not found to reduce alcohol consumption more than placebo. Serum cortisol concentrations remained within the laboratory reference interval during the study and did not differ between the study groups. In this study, we found that a cortisol-synthesis inhibitor had no effect on alcohol consumption. One reason may be that cortisol secretion has no role in the maintenance of high alcohol consumption. On the other hand, because this study is the first of its kind, further studies using other doses of treatment and treatment schedules are suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Parental reports of spoken language skills in children with Down syndrome.

Spoken language in children with Down syndrome and in children in a normative group was compared. Growth trends, individual variation, sex differences, and performance on vocabulary, pragmatic, and grammar scales as well as MaxLU (maximum length of utterance) were explored. Subjects were 330 children with Down syndrome (age range: 1-5 years) and 336 children in a normative group (1;4-2;4 years;months). The Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventory-words and sentences (SECDI-w&s) was employed. Performance of children with Down syndrome at ages 3;0 and 4;0 was comparable with that of children in the normative group at ages 1;4 and 1;8 respectively. In comparison with children in the normative group of similar vocabulary size, children with Down syndrome lagged slightly on pragmatic and grammar scales. The early development proceeded in most cases with exponential or logistic growth. This stresses the great potential of early intervention.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Medical risk factors for small-bowel adenocarcinoma with focus on Crohn disease: a European population-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Crohn disease and biliary diseases have been associated with small-bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA). We examined how medical conditions affect the risk of SBA. METHODS: A population-based European multicentre case-control study during the period 1995-97 including 95 histologically verified cases of SBA along with 3335 population controls; 70 cases (74%) and 2070 (62%) controls were interviewed about previous medical conditions. RESULTS: Crohn disease was identified in two SBA cases (both located in ileum) and two controls; odds ratio (OR) 53.6 (6.0-477) (95% CI in parentheses). Only one case and no controls had had long-standing Crohn disease. Coeliac disease was associated with SBA (2 cases, 0 controls), but one of the cases was diagnosed at the same time as the SBA. Overall, people with a history of gallstones had no increased risk of SBA. The OR was exclusively increased during the 3-year period preceding the SBA diagnosis. Previous gallstone surgery, which may be a sign of severe gallstone disease, was not associated with SBA. Liver cirrhosis, hepatitis or medical treatments with radioactive substances or corticosteroid tablets were not associated with this disease. Cases with SBA had an increased prevalence of anaemia; OR 15.3 (2.5-92.1). An association between low educational level and SBA was found; OR 1.75 (1.0-3.0). CONCLUSION: This study supports Crohn disease and coeliac disease being strong but rare risk factors for SBA. Previous gallstones were unrelated to SBA, and detection bias may account for the findings in earlier studies.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Risk factors in children having palatoplasty.

Palatoplasty carries a relatively high risk of hypoxaemia. We prospectively evaluated 23 children having elective surgery for cleft palate. Intubation was uneventful in 15 patients and the lowest pulse oximetry levels (mean: 93% (range: 100-57)) were less affected than those at extubation (mean: 83% (range: 100-21)) which was uneventful in 10. Establishing a free airway was associated with increased difficulties in patients with Pierre Robin sequence (n = 4). All children who had had a recent airway infection or a parent who smoked (n = 8) had some degree of difficulty in intubation, or extubation, or in both. Increased attention paid to these latter, avoidable, factors may potentially reduce the anaesthetic hazards in this group of patients, who are at increased risk.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2001

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis in healthy children: another "lifestyle disease"?

UNLABELLED: An increasing incidence of non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lymphadenitis has been reported in previously healthy children in the western world since about 1985. In this study we investigated the sociodemographic and individual characteristics of these patients. Information about patients was collected prospectively from 1977 to 1996. For comparison, an ad hoc group of hospitalized children with bacterial cervical lymphadenitis was chosen. In addition to individual characteristics, information was collected on the country of birth of the patients and their parents, and the socioeconomic characteristics of the domicile area. We identified 81 children with NTM, 14 with tuberculous and 192 with septic lymphadenitis. Significantly more parents of children with NTM than in either of the other two groups were Swedish-born and lived in privileged socioeconomic areas. CONCLUSION: The increase in NTM lymphadenitis in healthy children has taken place at the same time as the reported increase in atopic disease and asthma in childhood. Both groups of patients seem to come from favourable living conditions. It is speculated that NTM lymphadenitis, like asthma and certain other diseases triggered by the immune system, might be a "lifestyle disease".

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Effects of low temperature and freeze-thaw cycles on hydrocarbon biodegradation in Arctic tundra soil.

Degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons was monitored in microcosms with diesel fuel-contaminated Arctic tundra soil incubated for 48 days at low temperatures (-5, 0, and 7 degrees C). An additional treatment was incubation for alternating 24-h periods at 7 and -5 degrees C. Hydrocarbons were biodegraded at or above 0 degrees C, and freeze-thaw cycles may have actually stimulated hydrocarbon biodegradation. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal over 48 days in the 7, 0, and 7 and -5 degrees C treatments, respectively, was 450, 300, and 600 microg/g of soil. No TPH removal was observed at -5 degrees C. Total carbon dioxide production suggested that TPH removal was due to biological mineralization. Bacterial metabolic activity, indicated by RNA/DNA ratios, was higher in the middle of the experiment (day 21) than at the start, in agreement with measured hydrocarbon removal and carbon dioxide production activities. The total numbers of culturable heterotrophs and of hydrocarbon degraders did not change significantly over the 48 days of incubation in any of the treatments. At the end of the experiment, bacterial community structure, evaluated by ribosomal intergenic spacer length analysis, was very similar in all of the treatments but the alternating 7 and -5 degrees C treatment.

Arctic Regions↗
PubMed2001

Complex functions of AP-1 transcription factors in differentiation and survival of PC12 cells.

c-Jun activation by mitogen-activated protein kinases has been implicated in various cellular signal responses. We investigated how JNK and c-Jun contribute to neuronal differentiation, cell survival, and apoptosis. In differentiated PC12 cells, JNK signaling can induce apoptosis and c-Jun mediates this response. In contrast, we show that in PC12 cells that are not yet differentiated, the AP-1 family member ATF-2 and not c-Jun acts as an executor of apoptosis. In this context c-Jun expression protects against apoptosis and triggers neurite formation. Thus, c-Jun has opposite functions before and after neuronal differentiation. These findings suggest a model in which the balance between ATF-2 and Jun activity in PC12 cells governs the choice between differentiation towards a neuronal fate and an apoptotic program. Further analysis of c-Jun mutants showed that the differentiation response requires functional dimerization and DNA-binding domains and that it is stimulated by phosphorylation in the transactivation domain. In contrast, c-Jun mutants incompetent for DNA binding or dimerization and also mutants lacking JNK binding and phosphorylation sites that cannot elicit neuronal differentiation efficiently protect PC12 cells from apoptosis. Hence, the protective role of c-Jun appears to be mediated by an unconventional mechanism that is separable from its function as a classical AP-1 transcription factor.

Activating Transcription Factor 2↗
PubMed2001

DNA-based and culture-based characterization of a hydrocarbon-degrading consortium enriched from Arctic soil.

A hydrocarbon-degrading consortium was enriched from fuel-contaminated soil from the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island (82 degrees 30'N, 62 degrees 19'W). The enrichment culture was grown on Jet A-1 fuel at 7 degrees C. Bacterial 16S RNA gene (rDNA) fragments were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from members of the above consortium and cloned into a plasmid vector. Partial sequences (approximately 500 bp) were determined for 29 randomly selected rDNA clones. The majority of sequences were most similar to the corresponding rDNA sequences of Rhodococcus erythropolis (15 sequences), Sphingomonas spp. (six sequences), and Pseudomonas synxantha (four sequences). Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis confirmed that a larger set of 50 clones had frequencies of the three phylotypes similar to those above. Phylotype-specific PCR assays were developed and validated for the above three phylotypes. The consortium was plated and grown on Jet A-1 fuel vapors, and randomly selected isolated colonies were screened with the above PCR assays. Of 17 colonies, six matched the Rhodococcus phylotype, and three matched the Pseudomonas phylotype. A representative strain of each phylotype was physiologically characterized. Both isolates grew on alkanes at low temperature and had general characteristics consistent with their respective phylotypes. During growth of the consortium, the three phylotype populations were monitored by a most probable number PCR assay. All three phylotypes were detected, but their relative abundance was not consistent with that of the phylotypes in the clone library. The relative abundance of all three phylotypes changed substantially during long-term incubation of the consortium. The DNA-based approach used identified phylotypes consistently present in the consortium, but it failed to predict the relative abundance of their populations.

Arctic Regions↗
PubMed2001

CSF collection time at lumbar puncture is influenced by plasma cholesterol and triglycerides.

It is a fairly well-known fact that the CSF collection time (tapping time) at lumbar puncture may influence CSF levels of monoamine compounds (e.g. the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, 5-HIAA) and some neuropeptides. Since serum levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and low CSF levels of 5-HIAA have been linked to violent behaviour and impulsivity, we investigated retrospectively whether serum cholesterol and triglycerides affect CSF collection time. The series consists of 14 healthy males lumbar punctured at the L(4-5) level. We found that both serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides influenced the CSF collection time for 12 ml of CSF (R = 0.77; p = 0.0067). There was no correlation between cholesterol in serum and CSF, nor between cholesterol in the CSF and collection time. However, we accidentally found a correlation between cholesterol in the CSF and age. The proposed hypothesis tries to explain why cholesterol- and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles modify the CSF collection time and influence endothelial function with a subsequent effect on CSF production and/or intraspinal pressure. Thus, it may be of interest to pay attention to serum cholesterol and triglycerides, their effect on CSF collection time and, in the next step, their putative impact on levels of various compounds in the CSF.

Adult↗