Performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in schizophrenia: perseveration in clinical subtypes

Results are reported from a neuropsychological investigation of a large group of schizophrenic patients (n = 141) and normal control subjects (n = 59) who performed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The schizophrenic patients were divided into two DSM-III-R diagnostic subgroups: paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenia. The performance of the WCST by schizophrenic patients was poor compared with that by normal control subjects; furthermore, paranoid patients made a higher number of perseverative errors than did nonparanoid patients. The deficit in WCST performance, which has been widely reported to characterize patients with schizophrenia, appears to be related to the clinical profile and neuropathological differences that contribute to the heterogeneity of the disorder.

Chronic intracerebroventricular cocaine differentially affects prodynorphin gene expression in rat hypothalamus and caudate-putamen

We investigated the effects of sustained administration of cocaine on the regulation of prodynorphin gene expression in rat brain. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusion of cocaine hydrochloride (30 micrograms/day) for 7 days, by means of osmotic minipumps, elicited a significant 35% decrease of prodynorphin mRNA levels in rat hypothalamus and increase (22%) in caudate-putamen. At the same time and in the same animals, no significant changes were detected in the hippocampus or in the nucleus accumbens. These results indicate that continuously infused cocaine is able to modulate expression of the prodynorphin gene in opposite directions or has no effect on prodynorphin expression, depending on the brain region analysed. Cocaine, as well as opiates, might activate specific neuronal pathways, shared by different classes of drugs of abuse, involving, at least in part, the endogenous opioid system.

Pyoderma gangrenosum in association with undifferentiated seronegative spondylarthropathy

The cases of 2 women with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) and undifferentiated seronegative spondylarthropathy (SpA) are described. These 2 cases, together with the recently reported case of PG and B27-positive psoriatic spondylarthropathy, suggest that PG may also occur in association with forms of seronegative SpA that are different from primary ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and AS associated with inflammatory bowel disease.

[Therapeutic alternatives in the treatment of class T1N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the penis: indications and limitations]

At INT of Milan between 1964 and 1990, 204 consecutive native patients suffering from penile cancer have been treated. 101 (59%) patients out of 171 with invasive cancer (23 affected with Tis were excluded) have been classified T1N0M0. 74 patients have been treated with penis conserving methods, such as circumcision, radiotherapy, laser excision and primary chemotherapy + conserving surgery. Overall local failure and/or nodal relapses occurred in 27% (20/74). Relapses are significantly related with grading but there isn't any relationship with macroscopical aspect or size of the tumor. The conservative treatment had been possible in 80% of patients. In our experience T1N0 clinical stage conservative therapy does not worsen the prognosis.

The opioid peptide DAMME modulates histamine's content in gastric mucosa of the rat

The effects of a synthetic Met-enkephalin analogue D-Ala2, MePhe4Met(O)5-ol]enkephalin (DAMME) (1 mg/kg. IP) on gastric damage produced by necrotizing agents (0.6 N HCl, ethanol 1 ml/rat, PO) were evaluated, and the correlation between histamine and opioids in stomach was investigated, Rats pretreated with DAMME bad significantly less severe lesions and lower histamine content in gastric tissue. The histamine level, expressed in mg/g of gastric tissue, changed from 0.41 +/- 0.10 of control animals to 1.33 +/- 0.12 for HCl and 1.51 +/- 0.20 for ethanol treatment, whereas in animals pretreated with DAMME the values were significantly reduced to 0.55 +/- 0.13 and 0.65 +/- 0.15. These results confirm a link between the gastroprotection produced by opioids and the modulation of histaminergic activity in the rat stomach.

Dactylitis with pitting oedema of the hand in longstanding ankylosing spondylitis

The case of a patient with seronegative spondyloarthropathy showing oligoarthritis of the hand together with large pitting oedema is reported. Unlike the patients with late onset peripheral spondyloarthropathy described by Dubost and Sauvezie who show minimal involvement of the axial skeleton, the patient has been suffering from AS for about twenty years.

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder: no evidence for involvement of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performances were studied in 33 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 33 age-, sex-, and education-matched normal comparison subjects; the OCD patients were divided into four subgroups on the basis of their symptomatology. Neither the two groups of subjects nor the four OCD subgroups differed on any of the WCST neuropsychological indices. No relationship was demonstrated between test performance and clinical-epidemiological characteristics of the OCD patients. All of the OCD patients were being treated with fluvoxamine maleate, which improves OCD symptoms and could also improve WCST performances. Nevertheless, no remarkable differences in the WCST indices were observed in patients treated with fluvoxamine when compared with patients who had not received a specific therapy for at least 3 weeks. Since the WCST is widely considered sensitive to dysfunction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, our results do not support the involvement of that brain region in OCD.

Early changes in prodynorphin mRNA and ir-dynorphin A levels after kindled seizures in the rat

Prodynorphin mRNA and immunoreactive dynorphin A (ir-dynorphin A) levels were measured in different brain areas at various time points after amygdala kindled seizures. In the hippocampus, striatum and hypothalamus, prodynorphin mRNA levels were not significantly changed in kindled rats (killed 1 week after the last stimulus-evoked seizure), but they were significantly increased 1 h after seizures. The relative increase was the highest in the hippocampus (approximately 3-fold). In the brainstem, midbrain and cerebral cortex no changes in prodynorphin mRNA were detected in kindled rats, 1 h or 1 week after a kindled seizure. ir-Dynorphin A levels were significantly reduced in the hippocampus and in the striatum of kindled rats, as well as 5 and 60 min after kindled seizures, but they were increased back to control levels after 120 min. In the hypothalamus, ir-dynorphin A levels were significantly increased 120 min after a kindled seizure. ir-Dynorphin A levels were also significantly reduced in the brainstem and in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex 120 min, but not 5 or 60 min, after a kindled seizure. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that the dynorphinergic system is activated after amygdala kindled seizures, with different kinetics in different brain areas.

Late onset undifferentiated seronegative spondyloarthropathy

OBJECTIVE

To define the clinical spectrum of late onset undifferentiated seronegative spondyloarthropathy (uSpA) based on a large number of patients.

METHODS

All consecutive patients older than 45 years at the onset of SpA and not meeting criteria for any of the definite categories of the SpA complex seen in the 1988-1993 period were entered in a special register and were followed prospectively.

RESULTS

Twenty-three patients (mean age at onset 56.9, range 46-72; mean age at the last visit 61.7, range 48-79) were studied. Of these, 12 had 3 or more clinical and/or radiological manifestations of SpA, while 7 showed only 2, and 4 only one. Of the 10 patients with peripheral arthritis, only 3 had the large pitting edema of the lower limbs described by Dubost and Sauvezie. Of the 4 patients with only one manifestation, 2 had peripheral enthesitis and 2 acute anterior uveitis.

CONCLUSION

The clinical spectrum of late onset uSpA is as wide as in children and young and middle aged adults.

Frontal lobe dysfunction in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder: a neuropsychological study

Converging evidence suggests there is a specific role of dorso-lateral-prefrontal cortex (DLPC) in schizophrenic disorders and of orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, 25 schizophrenic and 25 OCD patients were evaluated with Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Object Alternation Test; neuropsychological tools sensitive to DLPC and OFC damage, respectively; and compared with 25 subjects of a control group. Moreover, they all underwent Weigl's Sorting Test and the Word Fluency Test to assess global frontal functioning. The results indicated a DLPC deficit in schizophrenia and an OFC involvement in OCD. These data suggest that functional disorders of the central nervous system can be explored with neuropsychological instruments.

Long-term exposure to opioid antagonists up-regulates prodynorphin gene expression in rat brain

We investigated the effect of long-term administration of opioid antagonists on the regulation of prodynorphin gene expression in rat brain. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections for seven days of nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), the highly selective kappa opioid antagonist, naloxone and its longer acting analog naltrexone, both relatively selective antagonists for the mu opioid receptor, markedly raised prodynorphin mRNA levels in rat hypothalamus, hippocampus and striatum. Peptides, namely immunoreactive-dynorphin A (ir-dyn A), were unaffected after chronic treatment with all antagonists, in the same tissues. These results, taken together with our previous observations, suggest that chronic opioid antagonists, acting on kappa and mu opioid receptors, clearly up-regulate prodynorphin gene expression in discrete rat brain regions, activating its biosynthesis. Moreover, our data support the hypothesis that the endogenous opioid system plays a role in the mechanisms underlying the development of opiate tolerance.

Cerebrospinal alterations of immunoreactive dynorphin A after unilateral dorsal rhizotomy in the rat

Possible alterations of immunoreactive dynorphin A (ir-dyn A) were investigated at different levels of the spinal cord and in discrete brain regions of male rats 10, 30 and 60 days after unilateral dorsal rhizotomy, i.e., during the development of deafferentation pain and autotomy behavior that follows afferent nerve interruption. Dorsal rhizotomy caused an increase of spinal ir-dyn A at 10 days in the cervical segment; subsequent assays showed a progressive increase in other spinal regions too. At the last observation, 60 days after rhizotomy, neuropeptide levels were still significantly higher than in sham-lesioned animals in the cervical, thoracic and lumbosacral spinal cord. The spinal ir-dyn A changes were both ipsi- and contralateral to the lesion. No alterations were found in the brainstem and midbrain and a not significant decrease was observed in the hypothalamus. In the striatum and cortex, however, there was a bilateral significant increase 30 days after surgery and a constant and significant elevation was detected in the hippocampus at all three intervals. These data cast additional light on the neurochemical changes caused by the interruption of afferent nerves, followed by development of the deafferentation pain syndrome in laboratory animals and human beings. They also support the concept of central neuroplasticity in pathological pain and indicate that the opioid neuropeptide dynorphin is involved.

Pathology from hydroxyapatite deposits in periarticular tissues. First conclusions on etiopathogenesis

Biopsies of periarticular tissues from patients with episodes of chronic periarthritis were examinated by histological, ultrastructural and chemico-crystallographic methods. In all samples the mineralogical observations at the optical microscope, showed aggregates of microcrystalline incrustations, whose ultrastructural morphology has been characterized by SEM. The histological observations showed necrosis of collagen fibres and microcrystallization process in cavities and in metaplastic fibrocartilage. The HA deposits in the periarticular tissues, in the next stage of the process, are surrounded and demolished by macrophages and multinucleated giant cells. At the same time granulation tissue carries out the repair process, that begins with the formation of thin parallel collagen fibers interposed with many fibroblasts and numerous small vessels.

An assessment of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test as an indicator of liability to schizophrenia

In order to test the hypothesis that a poor performance in the Wisconsin test (WCST) may be an indicator of liability to schizophrenia, we compared the WCST performances of patients with DSM III-R schizophrenia, normal controls, and patients with schizotypal personality disorder (SZT PD). While schizophrenic patients performed significantly worse than subjects in the other two groups, schizotypal and normal subjects showed no significant differences in the WCST execution. Moreover, patients with SZT PD with or without positive family history for the schizophrenic spectrum had similar WCST performances. Our observations are in keeping with other studies employing the WCST in paradigms of heightened liability to schizophrenia, and suggest that a poor performance in the test is more probably a feature of the disease process, than a trait marker of vulnerability to the illness demonstrable in high-risk subjects.

Binding profile of benextramine at neuropeptide Y receptor subtypes in rat brain areas

Binding studies in rat whole brain, frontoparietal cortex and brainstem membrane preparations revealed that benextramine displaced [3H]neuropeptide Y specific binding from a low and a high affinity site with IC50 values in the microM (36 +/- 2, 4.4 +/- 1.4 and 300 +/- 120 microM, respectively) and the pM (29.3 +/- 12.1, 0.35 +/- 0.11 and 0.42 +/- 0.03 pM, respectively) range, whereas in rat hippocampus benextramine displaced [3H]neuropeptide Y specific binding from one site only with an IC50 value of 22.8 +/- 5.7 microM. With the exception of frontoparietal cortex binding assay, benextramine was not able to completely inhibit [3H]neuropeptide Y specific binding revealing the presence of a benextramine nonsensitive third binding site. Benextramine pretreatment followed by membrane washing demonstrated that benextramine inhibited irreversibly both high and low affinity sites.

Dactylitis also involving the synovial sheaths in the palm of the hand

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Structure of a myristoyl-ACP-specific thioesterase from Vibrio harveyi

The crystal structure of a myristoyl acyl carrier protein specific thioesterase (C14ACP-TE) from a bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio harveyi, was solved by multiple isomorphous replacement methods and refined to an R factor of 22% at 2.1-A resolution. This is the first elucidation of a three-dimensional structure of a thioesterase. The overall tertiary architecture of the enzyme resembles closely the consensus fold of the rapidly expanding superfamily of alpha/beta hydrolases, although there is no detectable homology with any of its members at the amino acid sequence level. Particularly striking similarity exists between the C14ACP-TE structure and that of haloalkane dehalogenase from Xanthobacter autotrophicus. Contrary to the conclusions of earlier studies [Ferri, S. R., & Meighen, E. A. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 12852-12857] which implicated Ser77 in catalysis, the crystal structure of C14ACP-TE reveals a lipase-like catalytic triad made up of Ser114, His241, and Asp211. Surprisingly, the gamma-turn with Ser114 in a strained secondary conformation (phi = 53 degrees, psi = -127 degrees), characteristic of the so-called nucleophilic elbow, does not conform to the frequently invoked lipase/esterase consensus sequence (Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly), as the positions of both glycines are occupied by larger amino acids. Site-directed mutagenesis and radioactive labeling support the catalytic function of Ser114. Crystallographic analysis of the Ser77-->Gly mutant at 2.5-A resolution revealed no structural changes; in both cases the loop containing the residue in position 77 is disordered.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Inhibition of proopiomelanocortin expression by an oligodeoxynucleotide complementary to beta-endorphin mRNA

Gene expression in mammalian cells can be suppressed by oligonucleotides complementary to the target mRNA. This strategy was explored as a means of arresting translation of the prohormone precursor proopiomelanocortin (POMC), used as a model system of peptide messengers that are synthesized and released from endocrine and neuronal cells. The synthesis of the POMC-derived peptides adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and beta-endorphin (beta-END) was markedly reduced by an oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) complementary to a region of beta-END mRNA in AtT-20 cells, which retain many of the differentiated phenotypes of corticotrophs; this treatment did not affect the steady-state levels of POMC mRNA. Antisense ODN was stable in cell culture medium for 24 h, and cellular uptake was low (approximately 2.5% of the added ODN); however, the intracellular levels of the ODN were sufficient to form a ribonuclease-resistant duplex with complementary cellular mRNA. Addition of ODN to the cell culture did not affect the cellular levels of chromogranin A-(264-314)/pancreastatin or cell viability and proliferation, as evidenced by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and ornithine decarboxylase activity. Microinfusion of the antisense ODN in the rat hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, where the majority of POMC-positive brain perikarya are located, significantly reduced ACTH- and beta-END-immunopositive neurons, and antisense ODN-treated rats showed substantially less of the grooming behavior usually observed in a novel environment.

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament in one of a pair of identical twins concordant for ankylosing spondylitis

A pair of identical twins suffering from ankylosing spondylitis is reported. One brother developed an earlier-onset disease and showed ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and the flavum ligament in his cervical spine.

Effect of omega-conotoxin and verapamil on antinociceptive, behavioural and thermoregulatory responses to opioids in the rat

This study with the rat evaluated the contribution of omega-conotoxin GVIA-(omega-CgTx) and verapamil-sensitive Ca2+ channels in behavioural, antinociceptive and thermoregulatory responses to intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of [D-Ala2,NMePhe4,Gly-ol5]enkephalin (DAMGO), [D-Pen2,D-Pen5]enkephalin (DPDPE) and dynorphin A-(1-17), which are selective agonists for putative mu, delta and kappa-opioid receptors, respectively. The rats treated with omega-CgTx (8-32 pmol i.c.v.) showed transient, dose-dependent shaking behaviour, hyperalgesia and hypothermia which gradually disappeared within 4 h. The behaviour of the rats was normal by 24 h. Histological examination of brain sections showed morphological alterations of neurons in the hippocampus, medial-basal hypothalamus and pyriform cortex. antinociception, catalepsy and thermoregulatory responses elicited by DAMGO (0.4 and 2.0 nmol) were significantly prolonged and potentiated by verapamil (20 pmol i.c.v. 15 min before) or omega-CgTx (8 pmol 24 h before). Antinociception and hypothermia induced by DPDPE were antagonized by verapamil and omega-CgTx, whereas only omega-CgTx prevented the behavioural arousal observed after DPDPE. Similarly, hypothermia induced by dynorphin A-(1-17) (5.0 nmol) and by the kappa-opioid receptor agonist U50,488H (215 nmol) was antagonized by the two Ca2+ channel blockers but only omega-CgTx prevented the barrel rolling and bizarre postures caused by the opioid peptide.