An inventory for assessing different anger-coping strategies was designed. The initial item pool contained 51 items and was presented to a heterogeneous group of 412 subjects. Factoranalytic and itemmetric analyses resulted in a 28 item anger-coping inventory. The factors spontaneous behaviour, controlled affect, guilt and social inhibition were identified. Internal consistency data of the factors (cronbach-alpha) varried between 0.67 and 0.81. In a second analysis the 28 item scale were presented to a heterogeneous group of 100 subjects. In the following analysis the complete factor structure could be replicated, except for three items. This inventory can be used as an instrument for assessing different anger-coping strategies. Clinical application is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neopterin as a new marker to detect acute rejection after heart transplantation.

Neopterin is excreted at high levels in the course of activation of the immunologic system during allograft rejection or viral infection. This pteridine therefore may be considered as a specific indicator of T cell-mediated immunity. With radioimmunoassay we analyzed both serum and urine levels of neopterin in 43 patients after orthotopic heart transplantation. These data were correlated to the histologic finding at routine endomyocardial biopsies (EMB). In case of rejection (that is, grades I to II or more in EMB) serum levels of neopterin increased about 156% +/- 94% within 1 week before EMB, whereas urine levels increased about 215% +/- 137%. The most marked increase was seen 2.8 days before the corresponding EMB. The predictive value theory was used to elaborate the reliability of the correlation between an increase of neopterin levels and the occurrence of an acute rejection episode. With regard to serum levels, sensitivity and specificity were 0.872 and 0.815, respectively. The positive predictive value was 0.41 and the negative predictive value was 0.977. We found similar results in urine levels.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

On the renal balances for different lipid fractions in dog.

(1) Six dogs were kept fasting for 12 h and the uptake or release of various lipid fractions by the kidney was determined. (2) Free and esterified fatty acids were generally taken up during the fasting state. More fatty acids were taken up than could be oxidized with respect to the normal oxygen consumption of the kidney. (3) When glucose was infused a release of fatty acids was observed in general. (4) The critical role of endogenous fatty acids for the energy metabolism of the kidney is pointed out.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mycophenolic acid monitoring in HTX patients: a preliminary report.

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is a new immunosuppressive drug used in clinical trials in combination with cyclosporine A (CsA) and prednisolone. Its immunosuppressive mechanism consists in a non-competitive inhibition of the inosine monophosphate (IMP) dehydrogenase which is the key enzyme in the conversion of inosine monophosphate to guanosine monophosphate. Depletion of the guanine nucleotide pool impairs DNA synthesis and thus inhibits the cell cycle progression of T- and B-lymphocytes. For monitoring of MPA and its metabolite mycophenolic acid glucuronide (MPAG), a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, and for MPA an EMIT-immunoassay, were established. MPA HPLC and EMIT exhibit a linearity up to 10.00 mumol/l (3.20 micrograms/ml) and 46.95 mumol/l (15.00 micrograms/ml) respectively. Coefficients of variation for intra /inter-assay bias were 5.3/14.1 per cent for HPLC and 4.8/12.3 percent for the EMIT assay. The correlation between both methods was: HPLC = 0.82 EMIT -1.85 (r = 0.955); limits of agreement between the methods were 13.6 and -5.12 mumol/l. In 8 stable heart transplant recipients treated with 2 g mofetil/day, mean and median steady-state MPA concentrations for HPLC and EMIT were 6.86 mumol/l (2.19 micrograms/ml), 4.77 mumol/l (1.52 micrograms/ml) and 10.88 mumol/l (3.48 micrograms/ml), 7.42 mumol/l (2.37 micrograms/ml) respectively, during a period of 3 months. Mean and median MPAG concentrations were 141.21 mumol/l (61.40 micrograms/ml) and 100.70 mumol/l (43.78 micrograms/ml) respectively.

Antibiotics, Antineoplastic↗