Changes in developmental body weight as a function of toluene exposure: A meta-analysis of animal studies.

Inhalant abuse is a globally prevalent health issue with particular concerns about substance-abusing pregnant women. In both animal models and clinical case reports of toluene exposure, the primary physiological outcome measure of prenatal inhalant exposure is low birth weight (BW). However, the effect of prenatal toluene exposure on animal BW varies widely in the literature. To clarify this effect and investigate possible design moderators of pup BW, a systematic review and meta-analytic techniques were applied to the existing peer-reviewed animal literature of prenatal and postnatal exposure models to the inhaled solvent toluene. Of 288 studies screened, 24 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Evaluation of these studies indicated that toluene exposure was negatively associated with pup BW (d = -0.39), with external inhaled concentration, route of administration, day of weighing, and toluene exposure magnitude moderating this association. Investigators doing animal studies should be cognizant of these factors before investigating the reproductive and developmental outcomes associated with prenatal and postnatal toluene exposure.

Characterization of a Vascular Wilt of Erythroxylum coca Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. erythroxyli Forma Specialis Nova.

A new forma specialis of Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum f. sp. erythroxyli) pathogenic to Erythroxylum coca and E. novogranatense is described. The pathogen was isolated from the vascular tissue of diseased plants from an Erythroxylum plantation in Hawaii. This pathogen causes vascular wilt symptoms and death in both E. coca and E. novogranatense plants as soon as 7 weeks after soil infestation. The pathogenicity of seven isolates from the affected field was determined in field and growth-chamber studies. Genetic variation was not detected among the seven Hawaiian isolates, using arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction. The seven isolates could be differentiated from a strain isolated from a diseased E. coca plant from South America. All Hawaiian isolates and the South American isolate belonged to a single vegetative compatibility group.

Dissociation, childhood trauma, and the response to fluoxetine in bulimic patients.

Histories of childhood trauma have been reported previously in bulimic subjects but no study to date has assessed how these experiences may affect response to fluoxetine. Thirty outpatient subjects in a placebo-controlled trial of 60 mg of fluoxetine for the treatment of bulimia nervosa completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale and a self-report instrument assessing trauma. Response to treatment was measured with the Hamilton Depression Scale-17 (HAMD-17), the CGI, the PGI, and the change in number of binges per day. Subjects taking fluoxetine with histories of physical abuse showed a significantly greater drop in HAMD-17 scores than those without such histories. No relationship between a reported history of abuse and the response of binging to fluoxetine was found. A history of abuse does not appear to predict the response of binging to fluoxetine but may predict a greater response of nonspecific symptoms like depression.

Personality disorder comorbidity with major depression and response to fluoxetine treatment.

The relationship between depression and comorbid personality disorders is still poorly understood. The aims of this study were to examine differences in depression severity between depressed outpatients with and without comorbid personality disorders, to determine the effect of a fixed dose of fluoxetine on personality disorders, and to assess the predictive value of personality disorder diagnoses at baseline with regard to response to fluoxetine. Eighty-three outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were assessed with a self-rating scale, the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (PDQ-R), before and after 8 weeks of treatment with fluoxetine 20 mg/day. The presence of a cluster B diagnosis before treatment predicted positive outcome as measured by the change in score on the modified 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-17*). Following treatment, we found significant reductions in the frequency of most individual personality disorder diagnoses and total PDQ-R score. While patients no longer meeting criteria for cluster B personality disorders after treatment had similar reductions in depressive symptoms compared to those maintaining the diagnoses, subjects no longer meeting criteria for cluster A and cluster C diagnoses after treatment exhibited significantly greater decreases in depression severity than those who maintained the diagnoses. Overall, these results suggest that fluoxetine may be beneficial in the treatment of certain personality disorder traits in patients with MDD.

Anger attacks in unipolar depression, Part 2: Neuroendocrine correlates and changes following fluoxetine treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Neuroendocrine derangements have been reported in both depression and aggressive behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the subset of depressed patients with anger attacks have a distinctive neuroendocrine abnormality. METHOD: The thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) test was administered to 25 patients with major depression, 12 of whom reported having anger attacks, at the Depression Research Program of the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Twenty-two subjects underwent the TRH test again after 8 weeks of treatment with fluoxetine, a relatively selective serotonin uptake inhibitor. RESULTS: The depressed patients with anger attacks had a blunted prolactin response to TRH stimulation compared to the depressed patients without anger attacks. Treatment with fluoxetine was followed by an overall increase in the prolactin response to TRH among the depressed patients with anger attacks. The prolactin response to TRH also tended to predict the degree of response to treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the subset of depressed patients with anger attacks may have a greater central serotonergic dysregulation than depressed patients without such attacks.

Anger attacks in unipolar depression, Part 1: Clinical correlates and response to fluoxetine treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Anger attacks are sudden, intense spells of anger associated with a surge of autonomic arousal including such symptoms as tachycardia, sweating, flushing, and a feeling of being out of control. The purpose of this study was to determine whether depressed patients with and without anger attacks exhibit distinct psychological characteristics and whether these attacks respond to treatment with fluoxetine. METHOD: The Anger Attacks Questionnaire, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the Symptom Questionnaire, and the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale were among the scales administered at the Depression Research Program of the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital to 127 medication-free outpatients with major depression and to 85 of these patients after 8 weeks of open treatment with a fixed dose (20 mg/day) of fluoxetine. RESULTS: At baseline, 44% of the depressed outpatients reported having anger attacks; these patients had significantly higher scores on measures of anxiety, somatization, and state and trait hostility than did the subjects who did not exhibit such attacks. After treatment, there were significant reductions in these measures, and the anger attacks disappeared in the majority (71%) of the patients who had previously reported them. There was a trend toward greater overall clinical improvement for patients with anger attacks than for patients without them. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a subgroup of highly irritable and hostile depressed patients who report the presence of anger attacks and have a psychological profile distinct from that of depressed patients without anger attacks. Furthermore, fluoxetine treatment appears to be beneficial in reducing anger and hostility in these patients.

Prevalence of circulating HL-A lymphocytotoxic antibodies in men after vasectomy.

Thirty-two men undergoing vasectomy were studied for one year to determine presence of HL-A antibodies after surgery. Blood samples were taken prior to vasectomy and at three, six, nine, and 12 months following surgery. Twenty-six men showed no increase in antibody activity during the study when their sera were matched against a 25-member typed lymphocyte donor panel. Sera of two men showed a definite increase in positive reactions, six to 12 months after surgery. The sera of four men showed slight increases in reactivity between three and 12 months after vasectomy. The serum of one man showed a single positive reaction against his own lymphocytes three months after surgery, but no positive reactivity against the lymphocyte donor panel. These studies suggest that HL-A antibodies are not regularly formed as a result of standard vasectomy procedures, but that further long-term evaluation of vasectomized patients may be needed to make definite conclusions.