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Biomedical subjects

A Roy

Publications and source records attributed to A Roy.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Mental disorders among alcoholics. Relationship to age of onset and cerebrospinal fluid neuropeptides.

Eighty-one percent of 339 alcoholics participating in a research program were found to have associated mental disorders. Alcoholics with onset of heavy drinking before 20 years of age had significantly more antisocial personality traits, drug abuse, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, suicide attempts, and paternal alcoholism than alcoholics with onset after age 20 years. Alcoholics with onset before and after 20 years of age also differed significantly from each other for cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of diazepam-binding inhibitor and somatostatin. These results support the notion that age of onset may delineate subgroups of alcoholics with significant clinical and neurochemical differences.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Depression among alcoholics. Relationship to clinical and cerebrospinal fluid variables.

Although depression is common among alcoholics, its determinants are poorly understood. Among 339 alcoholics, 111 (33%) had a history of major depression. Depressed, compared with never-depressed alcoholics, had a higher daily alcohol intake, more lifetime diagnoses of other anxiety and affective disorders and drug abuse, more had attempted suicide, and more reported alcoholism in both parents. Depressed alcoholics also had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid levels of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid and of gamma-aminobutyric acid. Among subgroups of depressed alcoholics, secondary compared with primary depressives were more often divorced, of lower social status, with an earlier onset of alcoholism, and higher Michigan Alcohol Screening Test scores. Secondary depressives also had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of homovanillic acid than never depressed alcoholics. These results suggest that certain psychosocial variables, alcohol consumption, and neurochemical variables may be specifically associated with depression in alcoholics.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Personality and cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites in alcoholics and controls.

Alcoholics as a group have been consistently reported to show differences from controls on various personality inventories. Moreover, neurobiologic substrates have been postulated to underlie personality dimensions. Therefore, we compared alcoholics with controls on measures of personality and investigated relationships between measures of personality and cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolite concentrations. The alcoholics were significantly different from controls on many personality measurements. There were significant, negative correlations between interview-derived lifetime aggression scores and cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of both the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid. However, there were no significant correlations between any cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolite concentrations and scores on personality inventories.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗
PubMed1991

Descriptive epidemiology of intravenous heroin users--a new risk group for transmission of HIV in India.

India is considered to have a low incidence of HIV infection so far. Nevertheless, an epidemic of HIV infection has been reported recently among intra-venous drug users (IVDUs) in Manipur, a north-eastern state of India, bordering Myanmar (Burma). This report describes the epidemiology of intravenous drug abuse in the state of Manipur. Four hundred and fifty IVDUs were interviewed. Their age (median 24 years) and sex patterns (95% male) differ from those reported from western countries. It is estimated that there may be approximately 15,000 such addicts in a population of 1.8 million and 50% of them could be positive for HIV. Knowledge of AIDS and its transmission is significantly higher among the addicts than non-addict controls. Free availability of heroin was found to be the major factor responsible for the high rate of addiction. It is presumed that two other neighbouring States which are well-connected to Manipur and also have a common border with Myanmar (part of the 'Golden Triangle') may have a similar problem with HIV infection.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1991

Cerebrospinal fluid diazepam binding inhibitor in depressed patients and normal controls.

Diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) is a neuromodulatory peptide for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission. Levels of DBI in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were found to be elevated in depressed patients, when compared to age- and sex-matched normal controls. Levels of the peptide, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), in CSF have been found to be elevated in depressed patients. Significant positive correlations between levels of DBI and CRH in the CSF of depressed patients and normal controls were found. These data suggest the possibility that DBI may have a role in coordinating responses to stress in humans, in addition to its possible role in the pathophysiology of depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

CSF GABA in depressed patients and normal controls.

The inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. Therefore, we examined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of GABA in depressed patients (N = 25) and normal controls (N = 20). There was no significant difference between the groups. However, among the depressed patients the subgroup of unipolar melancholic patients (N = 13) had significantly lower CSF levels of GABA than the rest of the depressed patients (N = 12). There was no significant difference for CSF levels of GABA between depressed patients who were (N = 14) or were not (N = 11) cortisol non-suppressors. It was of interest that among the controls there was a significant negative correlation between CSF levels of GABA and CSF levels of norepinephrine.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The criteria of Cloninger et al. and von Knorring et al. for subgrouping alcoholics: a comparison in a clinical population.

There is increasing evidence that meaningful subgroups of alcoholics may exist. Cloninger et al. and von Knorring et al. have developed criteria to delineate what both call type 1 and type 2 alcoholism. However, when we compared their criteria in a predominantly inpatient sample of male alcoholics, we found large differences between the approaches in identifying type 1 and type 2 alcoholism. Concordance was equally low in a subsample of 34 alcoholics exhibiting antisocial behavior and when subjects were divided by whether the first alcohol-related problem began before or after 20 years of age. Similar findings emerged when we limited our analyses to primary alcoholics and alcoholics with no other mental disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Cerebrospinal fluid variables among alcoholics lack seasonal variation.

Seasonal influences on indices of serotonergic function, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), have been reported in psychiatric patients and healthy volunteers. We examined seasonal differences in CSF concentrations of 5-HIAA among 135 alcoholics admitted to a research ward who had a lumbar puncture. No significant seasonal differences were found for either CSF concentrations of 5-HIAA or CSF concentrations of other monoamine metabolites or peptides. The possible explanations for these negative findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The AGA1 product is involved in cell surface attachment of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell adhesion glycoprotein a-agglutinin.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae a and alpha cells express the complementary cell surface glycoproteins a-agglutinin and alpha-agglutinin, respectively, which interact with one another to promote cellular aggregation during mating. Treatment of S. cerevisiae a cells with reducing agents releases the binding subunit of a-agglutinin, which has been purified and characterized; little biochemical information on the overall structure of a-agglutinin is available. To characterise a-agglutinin structure and function, we have used a genetic approach to clone an a-agglutinin structural gene (AGAI). Mutants with a-specific agglutination defects were isolated, the majority of which fell into a single complementation group, called aga1. The aga1 mutants showed wild-type pheromone production and response, efficient mating on solid medium, and a mating defect in liquid medium; these phenotypes are characteristic of agglutinin mutants. The AGA1 gene was cloned by complementation; the gene sequence indicated that it could encode a protein of 725 amino acids with high serine and threonine content, a putative N-terminal signal sequence, and a C-terminal hydrophobic sequence similar to signals for the attachment to glycosyl phosphatidylinositol anchors. Active a-agglutinin binding subunit is secreted by aga1 mutants, indicating that AGA1 is involved in cells surface attachment of a-agglutinin. This result suggests that AGA1 encodes a protein with functional similarity to the core subunits of a-agglutinin analogs from other budding yeasts. Unexpectedly, the AGA1 transcript was expressed and induced by pheromone in both a and alpha cells, suggesting that the a-specific expression of active a-agglutinin results only from a-specific regulation of the a-agglutinin binding subunit.

Agglutination↗
PubMed1991

Cerebrospinal fluid immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing hormone and adrenocorticotropin secretion in Cushing's disease and major depression: potential clinical implications.

To explore whether possible differences in central nervous system neuromodulators contribute to the differential presentation of affective symptomatology in Cushing's disease and major depression, we examined the levels of immunoreactive CRH and ACTH in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 11 patients with Cushing's disease, a patient with ectopic ACTH secretion, 34 patients with major depression, and 60 healthy subjects. We elected to measure these peptides not only because both are classically involved in pituitary-adrenal regulation, but also because their primarily arousal-producing and anorexigenic behavioral effects in experimental animals suggest that they may play a role in the symptom complex of depressive syndromes. We also explored whether the CSF levels of these peptides were more helpful in determining the often difficult differential diagnosis between major depression and Cushing's disease than the plasma ACTH response to ovine CRH, a currently used but somewhat insensitive laboratory means of distinguishing these disorders. CSF levels of immunoreactive CRH and ACTH were significantly lower in Cushing's disease patients [21.9 +/- 2.7 and 15.4 +/- 1.8 pg/mL, (mean +/- SEM), respectively] compared to patients with major depression [38.4 +/- 2.3 pg/mL (P less than 0.01) and 24.5 +/- 1.6 pg/mL (P less than 0.01), respectively] and controls [38.4 +/- 1.6 pg/mL (P less than 0.001) and 26.3 +/- 1.1 pg/mL (P less than 0.001), respectively]. The coexistence of high plasma ACTH and low CSF ACTH in Cushing's disease yielded a CSF/plasma ACTH ratio consistently less than that in depressed patients, with only 2 of 31 subjects comprising both groups showing values that overlapped. In contrast, 9 of the combined patients showed ACTH responses to ovine CRH that overlapped. These data suggest that differences in centrally directed CRH secretion may account for the differential presentation of the dysphoric syndromes seen in major depression and Cushing's disease. Hence, the classic form of major depression (melancholia), is often associated with evidence of pathological hyperarousal, such as intense anxiety, sleeplessness, and anorexia, while that of Cushing's disease is associated with evidence of pathological hyperarousal, including hyperphagia, fatigue, and inertia. Moreover, measurement of the CSF/plasma ACTH ratio may serve as a clinically useful adjunct to the ovine CRH stimulation test and other laboratory measures in determining the differential diagnosis between major depression and Cushing's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Detection of human papillomavirus in cervical swabs from Indian women by cytological and immunocytochemical technique.

Cervical swabs were collected from 88 women in the age group of 17-55 years in Calcutta, India to study the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The viral infection was demonstrated on the basis of koilocytotic changes in Papanicolaou staining (PAP test) and the presence of viral capsid antigen as detected by immunocytochemistry (IMC test). The PAP and IMC tests revealed 25% and 28.4% of women, respectively, to be positive for HPV infection. Higher frequency (61.1% to 87.5%) of infection was observed in moderate to severe dysplastic lesions. HPV infection was observed to be more frequent in the younger age group (less than 40 years) with 1-2 parity. Although koilocytes were absent in all (n = 51) of the apparently normal subjects, 4 (7.8%) of them were positive for HPV antigen. Except for these, sensitivity of PAP test and IMC test for the detection of HPV was found to be almost similar.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Displaced acetabular fractures: long-term follow-up.

From 1980 to 1987, 136 patients with displaced acetabular fractures were reviewed to compare the long-term results of operative versus nonoperative treatment. Of 90 patients followed up to 8 years (mean, 4 years, 9 months), 54 were treated operatively and 36 nonoperatively. Experience in pelvic trauma surgery was of significance both in choice of treatment and success in achieving optimum results. Assessment by a new acetabular fracture score showed that anatomic or near-anatomic restoration of the joint led to 86% excellent or good results compared with 30% good results for fractures remaining moderately or severely displaced.

Acetabulum↗
PubMed1991

Feeding behavior patterns of anophelines from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat states of India.

Identification of host blood meals collected on filter paper in the field from fully fed female anophelines was carried out by a microdot-ELISA; field-caught mosquito species were simultaneously identified. The results indicate that the percentages of mixed feeds, i.e., mosquitoes feeding both on human and cattle hosts to complete a blood meal, was only 3-4%. Human and mixed feeds together accounted for nearly 10% of bloodmeals. Mosquitoes collected from human dwellings did not show a higher percentage of human feeding than cattle feeding. The human blood index was found to be related to the proportion of human and cattle population in an area.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Cerebrospinal fluid thyrotropin-releasing hormone concentrations in alcoholics and normal controls.

Alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis function have been reported in alcoholism. Blunting of the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) occurs in approximately 25% of alcoholic patients. Using a sensitive radioimmunoassay that allows TRH itself to be measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), CSF concentrations of TRH were measured in alcoholics and normal controls. There was no significant difference in TRH concentrations between the groups. However, among the controls there was a significant correlation between CSF concentrations of the major serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and CSF concentrations of TRH. This correlation was lacking in the alcoholics. These findings are of interest because basic neurobiological studies have reported that TRH and serotonin are co-localized in certain neurons in the rat central nervous system.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Highly conserved core domain and unique N terminus with presumptive regulatory motifs in a human TATA factor (TFIID).

The factor TFIID is one of several general factors that are necessary and sufficient for transcription initiation by mammalian RNA polymerase II. Stable interactions with the common TATA element lead both to template commitment and to the assembly of the other general factors into a functional preinitiation complex. Consistent with its key role in the promoter activation pathway, human TFIID also seems to be a target for some regulatory factors, as evidenced both by physical and functional studies of interactions between these components. The evolutionary conservation of functional properties led to the purification and cloning of yeast TFIID, the identification of presumptive structural motifs, and direct structure-function studies. Here we report the cloning of a complementary DNA encoding a functional human TFIID. This reveals an evolutionarily conserved core which corresponds precisely to the 180-residue DNA binding/activation domain determined for yeast TFIID, a near absolute conservation of component structural motifs (direct repeats, central basic core/lysine repeat, and sigma homology), providing further support for their functional importance, and a unique N-terminal structure that suggests involvement in species-specific regulatory factor interactions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Synthesis of di- and tri-saccharides related to the polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 23 and a study of their inhibition in the precipitin reaction.

Syntheses of methyl 2-O-beta-L-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (9), methyl 2-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (13), and methyl 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-D- galactopyranoside (16) in good yields are described. Both 13 and 16 significantly inhibit antigen-antibody precipitation in the S. pneumoniae Type 23 immune system. The results indicate that the rhamnosyl group in the side chain of the repeating unit of the antigen is alpha and not beta as reported previously, and that the trisaccharide related to 16 is the immunodominant group.

Antigen-Antibody Reactions↗
PubMed1990

Circadian variation of plasma homovanillic acid levels is attenuated by fluphenazine in patients with schizophrenia.

Plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) levels were measured hourly for a 24-hour period in 10 patients with schizophrenia during treatment with placebo and fluphenazine. Ten age- and sex-matched normal volunteers were similarly studied. Diet and activity were carefully controlled and monitored in both patients and controls. A circadian rhythm of the plasma HVA level was found in controls with a nadir in the afternoon and peak values in the early morning hours; when the patients were free from drugs, they showed a similar rhythm with lower amplitudes. Fluphenazine treatment significantly reduced the plasma concentrations of HVA and abolished the 24-hour rhythm. These data suggest that a 24-hour rhythm of the plasma HVA level exists in humans and that the amplitude of this rhythm may be less pronounced in patients with schizophrenia. Treatment with neuroleptic drugs reduces both the absolute levels and the normal circadian rhythm of the plasma HVA level.

Adult↗