Dietary fatty acids and endometrial cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

BACKGROUND: Diet may impact important risk factors for endometrial cancer such as obesity and inflammation. However, evidence on the role of specific dietary factors is limited. We investigated associations between dietary fatty acids and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). METHODS: This analysis includes 1,886 incident endometrial cancer cases and 297,432 non-cases. All participants were followed up for a mean of 8.8 years. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of endometrial cancer across quintiles of individual fatty acids estimated from various food sources quantified through food frequency questionnaires in the entire EPIC cohort. The false discovery rate (q-values) was computed to control for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Consumption of n-6 γ-linolenic acid was inversely associated with endometrial cancer risk (HR comparing 5th with 1st quintileQ5-Q1=0.77, 95% CI = 0.64; 0.92, ptrend=0.01, q-value = 0.15). This association was mainly driven by γ-linolenic acid derived from plant sources (HRper unit increment=0.94, 95%CI= (0.90;0.98), p = 0.01) but not from animal sources (HRper unit increment= 1.00, 95%CI = (0.92; 1.07), p = 0.92). In addition, an inverse association was found between consumption of n-3 α-linolenic acid from vegetable sources and endometrial cancer risk (HRper unit increment= 0.93, 95%CI = (0.87; 0.99), p = 0.04). No significant association was found between any other fatty acids (individual or grouped) and endometrial cancer risk. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that higher consumption of γ-linolenic acid and α-linoleic acid from plant sources may be associated with lower risk of endometrial cancer.

EVALUATION OF MODEL-BASED ITERATIVE RECONSTRUCTION IN ABDOMINAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING AT TWO DIFFERENT DOSE LEVELS.

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively evaluate recently introduced Model-based iterative reconstruction method (IMR) and routinely used iterative reconstruction algorithm iDose4 to investigate future dose reduction possibilities for abdominal CT exams. The study contained data from 34 patients who underwent abdominal CT in SkåneUniversityHospital Lund, Sweden. A low-dose scan (CTDIvol3.4 mGy) reconstructed with both iDose4 and IMR and a standard-dose scan (CTDIvol 5.3 mG) reconstructed with iDose4 alone were visually graded in ViewDEX v2.0 by four radiologists using modified EU image criteria. The visual grading characteristics analysis for the evaluation comparing iDose4 standard dose with IMR low dose did not show any statistically significant difference in five of six criteria. In one of the criteria, iDose4 was superior to IMR. The result show promising possibilities are introduced for substantial radiation dose reduction (35%) in abdominal CT imaging when replacing iDose4 with IMR. Still, care should be taken when considering the reproduction of adrenal glands.

Kinematic analysis of dopaminergic effects on skilled handwriting movements in Parkinson's disease.

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibit impairments in the execution of highly practiced and skilled motor actions such as handwriting. The analysis of kinematic aspects of handwriting movements has demonstrated that size, speed, acceleration and stroke duration are affected in PD. Although beneficial effects of dopaminergic therapy in regard to execution of movements have been reported, the effects of pharmacological therapy on these measures have not been examined in detail. The present study has compared kinematic aspects of handwriting movements of 27 healthy subjects and 27 patients with PD both on their usual dopaminergic treatment and following withdrawal of dopaminergic medication. Healthy subjects were matched with PD patients according to age, sex, handedness and education level. A digitising tablet was used for the assessment of handwriting movements. Subjects were asked to perform a simple writing task. Movement time, distance, velocity, acceleration and measures of fluency of handwriting movements were measured. Compared with healthy subjects, the kinematics of handwriting movements in PD patients were markedly disturbed following withdrawal of dopaminergic medication. Although dopaminergic treatment in PD patients resulted in marked improvements in the kinematics of handwriting movements, PD patients did not reach an undisturbed level of performance. The results suggest that dopamine medication results in partial restoration of automatic movement execution.

MELAS: a neuropsychological and radiological follow-up study. Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke.

We report on a patient with long standing, full-blown mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). In contrast to earlier publications, detailed neuropsychological assessment revealed no dementia but a pattern of distinct cognitive deficits with marked impairment of visuo-constructive and executive functions. Focal lesions and progressing atrophy mainly of the basal ganglia and the temporo-parieto-occipital area with preservation of hippocampal and entorhinal structures were present. Furthermore, a 4-year follow-up assessment revealed an increasing deterioration of distinct cognitive functions, including phasic alertness, tactile functions and the discrimination of tone pitch and rhythm. This may be because of chronic regional metabolic disturbances, as there was no further stroke-like episode in that period of time.

hSKCa3: no association of the polymorphic CAG repeat with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia.

hSKCa3 is a neuronal small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel, which contains a polyglutamine tract, encoded by a polymorphic CAG repeat in the gene. Since an association between longer alleles of this CAG repeat and bipolar disorder or schizophrenia has been reported, we genotyped the polymorphic CAG repeat in 91 German family trios of patients with bipolar disorder I and used the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) to test for association. Applying a dichotomized model (< or = 19 or > 19 CAG triplets), we found no evidence for an association of longer alleles with bipolar disorder (TDT = 0.75, P = 0.386). Regarding the whole range of alleles, there was no preference in transmitting the larger of the two observed alleles from parents to the affected offspring. In parallel we performed an independent case-control study on German patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Again we did not detect an overrepresentation of longer CAG repeats in patients. Thus, our data do not support the hypothesis that longer CAG repeats in the hSkCa3 gene contribute to the susceptibility for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

[Migraine with aura as early symptom of neurosyphilis]. / Neurosyphilis unter dem Bild einer "Migräne mit Aura"

CASE: On the basis of a case report the often difficult classification of migraine with aura and exclusion of symptomatic origin is discussed. In spring 1996 a 34-years old patient started to suffer from attacks of a migraine like headache with focal aura several times a week. While clinical examination was inconspicuous the electroencephalogram showed a general slowing of background activity with intermittent rhythmic delta-activity. NMR was normal. During treatment with flunarizine intensity and frequency of the attacks decreased, but within half a year he developed an increasing psychomotor slowing and cognitive deficit. Now cerebrospinal fluid showed a pleocytosis and highly positive treponema pallidum specific antibody index making the diagnosis of neurosyphilis reliable. Parenteral penicillin caused a delayed normalisation of mental abilities and CSF. DISCUSSION: Headache, especially with the characteristics of migraine, is one of the most frequent symptoms of neurosyphilis and--if untreated--may be followed by transient ischemic attacks or strokes even month later. To detect this kind of symptomatic headache a careful neurological follow-up examination and early CSF-analysis are essentially necessary, because pathological electroencephalograms are not rare in migraine with aura and NMR cannot exclude an inflammatory process.

[Anticonvulsive drugs in therapy of chronic pain--metaanalysis]. / Antikonvulsiva zur Therapie chronischer Schmerzen. Metaanalyse.

Anticonvulsive drugs provide good analgesic effect in the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain syndromes as well as in certain types of headache. Moreover these drugs may also be considered helpful for cases of non-neuropathic pain, especially if non-opioid analgesics are not effective. The optimal anticonvulsive drug for neuropathic pain is carbamazepine, while for headache prophylaxis valproic acid is recommended.