Genetics of biochemical and behavioural aspects of alcohol metabolism.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J B Gibson.
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Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was stained in liver tissue in 71% of 496 cases of cirrhosis with and without hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Chinese coming to necropsy in Hong Kong from 1963-1976. Male cases numbered 417; HBsAg was positive in 83% of those in which HCC was combined with cirrhosis and in 62% of those with cirrhosis alone. Of 39 additional male cases of HCC without cirrhosis, 38% were HBsAg+. Similar proportions were recorded in the famale cases. This progression suggests a cumulative carcinogenic effect of persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) fully expressed in the presence of cirrhosis. The approximate risk factors for males in Hong Kong who are HBsAg+ at the time of death, compared with HBsAg- males, are 6:1 for HCC alone, 16:1 for cirrhosis alone and 50:1 for HCC combined with cirrhosis. The frequency of HBsAg+ tests is much higher in Hong Kong than in the United Kingdom, and cirrhosis is calculated to be 2.8 times and HCC 11 times commoner. The high incidence of HCC in Hong Kong is not attributable solely to the high incidence of cirrhosis, but can be related to the high incidence of cirrhosis accompanied by persistent HBV.
The alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) variant ADH-FCh.D. has a secondary alcohol/primary alcohol activity ratio characteristic of ADH-S although it has an electrophoretic mobility inseparable from ADH-F. ADH-FCh.D. is distinguished from these two common ADH variants by being much more thermostable. Genetic analysis suggests tht ADH-FCh.D. is specified by an allele at the Adh locus. Biochemical comparisons show that ADH-FCh.D. has the same electrophoretic mobility, activity ratio and thermostability as the two other heat-resistant variants which have been reported, ADH-F71K in Europe and ADH-Fr in North America. The geographically widespread distribution of a thermostable ADH variant within the ADH-F electrophoretic class indicates that it should be considered in attempts to explain the Adh polymorphism in natural populations.
Seventy cases of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 43 cases with no primary liver disease were investigated at necropsy by Gomori's aldehyde fuchsin stain for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in liver cells. The results were correlated with serum HBsAg levels determined by radioimmunoassay and hemagglutination tests performed during the last three months of life or after death. In more than 90% of cases, a correlation was found between the results in tissue and in sera. The aldehyde fuchsin stain is a reliable tool for the detection of HBsAg in patients with cirrhosis and with HCC or without primary liver disease.
Selection for ethanol tolerance was equally successful in two populations of D. melanogaster in both of which the frequency of AdhF was 0.5 at the start of the experiment. Increased tolerance to ethanol was not invariably associated with increased frequencies of AdhF. In one population alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity was significantly higher in three of the four selected sublines compared with their controls but there was no difference in activity between the selected and control sublines in the second population. The level of ADH activity in the control and selected lines was significantly correlated with the frequency of AdhF, but not with ethanol tolerance. These results show that adaptation to environmental alcohols in populations of D. melanogaster can be independent of the ADH system.
Forty-six Chinese patients with primary gastrointestinal lymphoma were analyzed. The most common presentations were with abdominal pain, bleeding or a palpable mass. Only one case resembled the pattern of the so-called "Mediterranean lymphoma." The most common primary sites were the stomach and the ileum. One case of colonic lymphoma was associated with schistosomiasis but was probably not etiologically related. The pattern of primary gastrointestinal lymphoma in Chinese corresponds in general to the pattern observed in western countries.
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Because of the contemporary significance of gram-negative, nonfermentative bacteria as etiological agents, a simple, rapid determinative system is essential. Therefore, an accurate, reproducible, and an inexpensive micromethod for the identification of these organisms has been developed. Included in this system are twenty-five biochemical tests. Carbohydrate utilization is demonstrated by modification of Otto and Pickett's formula for oxidative attack and assimilation of carbon sources, while the other substrates are modifications of commercially available products. Inoculation is a two-fold procedure into a plastic multicompartmented tray with wells containing 100 micro liters of each substrate. Initial inoculation yields 10(5) colony forming units per well. The carbohydrates are supplemented with an additional 50 micro liters of a 1 X 10(11) saline suspension of organisms. Reactions are read after a maximum incubation of 48 hr at 35 C. The results obtained with the identification of 124 strains of nonfermentative bacteria utilizing a conventional media schema as suggested by the Center for Disease Control and the micromethod system demonstrated the high reproducibility and correlation achievable with this rapid and economical microtechnique.
The patterns of serological polymorphic variety in a group of Oxfordshire populations are related to previously made demographic predictions that the different villages and social classes might be expected to be genetically homogeneous if movement were the main factor determining genetic structure. The predictions are largely fulfilled though there remains a residual pattern of variety which is detectable when all the systems tested are considered together by "genetic distance" examination, and in the case of the geographic variation this pattern reflects the comparative magnitude of the exchanges between the different villages.
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Verbal and performance scores in a standard intelligence test (WAIS) were considered in relation to patterns of hand preference (measured by questionnaire) in a large sample of the general population. Left-handers and mixed-handers did not obtain lower scores than right-handers. Indeed, there was a tendency for subjects who reported that they could use either hand for at least one of the questionnaire tasks to obtain higher I.Q.s. Otherwise, there were no significant differences in I.Q. with the exception of a consistent sex difference, in that men achieved higher scores on both verbal and performance scales.
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