Poland-US collaborative study on cardiovascular epidemiology: classification agreement between US National Cholesterol Education Program and European Atherosclerosis Society hyperlipidemia guidelines in selected Polish and US populations.

Data from two epidemiological studies are used to measure the degree to which two well-known guidelines agree in measuring hyperlipidemia in population samples in the US and Poland. The epidemiological studies are the US Lipid Research Clinics Program Prevalence Study and the Pol-MONICA project in Poland and the guidelines are those adopted by the US National Cholesterol Program (USNCEP) and by the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS). EAS guidelines were analyzed in two ways: Method 1 used triglycerides and total cholesterol only in classifying persons as hyperlipidemics or non-hyperlipidemics; Method 2 used triglycerides, total cholesterol and nine additional risk factors in the classification process. USNCEP guidelines used total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and the same additional nine risk factors used in EAS Method 2 in classifying hyperlipidemics. Classification differences between the two sets of guidelines were high when EAS Method 1 guidelines were compared with USNCEP guidelines. However, EAS Method 2 which included risk factors, compared favorably with USNCEP guidelines in all three populations under study.

Determining of actual activities of acid and alkaline ribonuclease in human serum and urine.

Acid and alkaline ribonuclease (RNase) activities were measured in serum and urine using procedure based on assumption that all determined RNase activities, both at pH 6.5 and 7.8 represent values produced by overlapping of activities of acid leukocyte type RNase and alkaline pancreatic type RNase. The procedure requires simultaneous determining of RNase activity at pH 6.5 and 7.8 and further calculation of actual activities of acid and alkaline RNase activities using the elaborated experimental formula. Results of determining acid and alkaline RNases in human sera yielded on information on specific contribution of leukocyte type and pancreatic type RNases to increased RNase activity in such clinical conditions as terminal renal failure, myocardial infarction and chronic myelogenous leukemia. It was also found that there is in human urine a remarkably increased proportion of acid RNase activity if compared to this in serum.

[Comparison of parameters and factors affecting the differences in obesity among urban population of Warsaw and the rural agricultural-industrial population of the Tarnobrzeg province]. / Porównanie parametrów i czynników mogacych wplywac na zróznicowanie otylosci w populacji wielkomiejskiej Warszawy i rolniczo-przemyslowej województwa tarnobrzeskiego.

Comparison of the parameters of obesity between two populations, urban from Warsaw and agricultural-industrial from Tarnobrzeg province revealed that skinfolds thickness, Quetelet index and body fat index, and per cent of overweight were statistically significantly higher in men from urban population. In the group of women these parameters were also statistically higher in Warsaw population with the exception of triceps skinfold and Quetelet index--differences of no statistical significance. There were also differences in the set of variables which correlate with the parameters of obesity between these two tested populations.

[Regional conditions of the smoking habit-- the POL-MONICA 1984 studies]. / Regionalne uwarunkowania nalogu palenia papierosów. Badanie POL-MONICA 1984.

The POL-MONICA Project screened in 1984 1309 men and 1337 women aged 35 to 64 years, inhabitants of Warsaw (the Warsaw centre) and 1250 men and 1472 women aged 35 to 64 years, inhabitants of the Tarnobrzeg province (the Cracow centre). In both environments the percentage of smoking men was similar (about 57%). Women from big city environment smoked three times more frequently (33.1%) than in the agricultural areas (10.7%). The smoking intensity was higher in the agricultural areas both among men and women. It has been stated that smoking habit depends on such social or demographic patterns as age, sex, civil state, education, physical activity related to work. Smoking influenced significantly the level of such risk factors as systolic arterial blood pressure, the fat body content in both men and women, and the HDL-cholesterol in women from both environments.

Poland and US collaborative study on cardiovascular epidemiology. III. Correlates of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in men and women aged 35-64 years from selected Polish rural, Polish urban, and US samples.

Three diverse samples of men and women aged 35-64 years living in urban Poland, rural Poland, and the United States are described and subsequently analyzed using systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure separately as dependent variables in multiple regression. Several demographic, behavioral, and biologic factors are included in the models as independent variables. Heart rate, Quetelet index, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the natural logarithm of triglycerides were statistically significant in accounting for variation in systolic pressure in men in all three samples, whereas only heart rate and Quetelet index were significant in women in all samples. In the analysis of diastolic pressure, Quetelet index, heart rate, and ethanol consumption were statistically significant in men in all three samples, while only Quetelet index and heart rate were significant in women in all samples.

Pol-MONICA Cracow on-going study: initial findings.

The findings after the first year of the study are presented. The study population is 282,052 men and women aged 25-64 years, current residents of rural Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship. The population is characterized by a declining linear trend in ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality in men aged 35-44 years. The myocardial infarction (MI) incidence (per 100,000 residents) is 233 in men and 68 in women. The MI death rates (per 100,000 residents) are 128 for men and 29 for women. The MI 28-day case fatality is 44% for men and 41% for women. The most frequent risk factors are: smoking in men (58%) and obesity in women (40%). Around one-quarter of the men and of the women are hypertensive. The rates for hypercholesterolemia are 9% in men and 13% in women.

Ribonuclease deficiency in lymphocytes of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Ribonuclease (RNase) activity in the lymphocytes of 20 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients and 10 normal subjects was studied. It was found that in the lymphocytes of the control subjects the RNase activity could be detected in the pH range 4.5 to 8.6, inclusive. The RNase activity versus pH profile of normal lymphocytes consists of an acid RNase peak at pH 6.5 and alkaline RNase peak at pH 7.8. When treated with pCMB an inhibitor-bound RNase activity was revealed. The peak of this activity lay between pH 6.7 to 7.0. Liberating the inhibitor-bound RNase activity changed the RNase activity-pH profile, yielding one peak curve with a maximum at pH 7.0. RNase activity in CLL lymphocytes was remarkably lower than that in normal lymphocytes. The acid RNase in 80% of the CLL patients was lower by a factor of ten. Likewise, a many fold decrease in alkaline RNase activity (in some cases down to the zero level) was observed in CLL lymphocytes. However, in 70% of CLL patients, a level of the inhibitor-bound RNase activity was similar to that found in normal lymphocytes. In 20% of the studied CLL patients, a remarkable decrease in both free alkaline and inhibitor-bound RNase activity was observed. When poly-C was used as a substrate for determining RNase activity, a decrease to approximately 15% in CLL lymphocytes was observed, when poly-U was used instead of poly-C, a decrease to 65% was found only as compared with normal lymphocytes. This may suggest that CLL lymphocytes are deficient in a poly-C specific RNase which displays its activity within a neutral and alkaline pH range.

Heterogeneity of acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase, and alpha-naphthyl-acetate esterase in normal and leukaemic lymphocytes.

Comparative study of isoenzymic patterns of acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase and alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase of normal and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) lymphocytes was carried out by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The isoenzymograms of acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase of leukaemic cells were similar to that of normal lymphocytes. However, different patterns were found in the case of alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase. Two prominent anodal bands were present in CLL lymphocytes; these bands were either absent or very weak in normal cells.