Menopausia: actitudes y conocimientos en un grupo de medicos internos, de la facultad de medicina, de la Universidad de Antioquia / Menopause: attiude an knowledge in a group of final-year medical students of the school of medicine of the University of Antioquia

Se presentan los resultados de una encuesta realizada a los médicos de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Antioquia, en el segundo semestre de 1997. El proyecto se realizó con el doble propósito de construir conocimiento sobre el tema del climaterio femenino y, en segundo lugar, para aportar elementos pertinentes a la discusión de cambio curricular en que está empeñada la Facultad y la Universidad. Partimos de la hipótesis de que la historia personal del individuo limita las actitudes y condiciona el desarrollo de motivación y destrezas sobre un tema determinado. Se utilizó el censo y las técnicas de encuesta y escala Lickert para indagar sobre variables socioculturales, demográficas y de carácter científico/técnico. Se encontró que el nivel de conocimientos, medido por la nota, fue de 2.85 + 0.83; la actitud frente a la terapia fue baja en el 44 por ciento y alta en el 40 por ciento. Como se había previsto en la hipótesis, la relación entre actitudes y conocimientos fue directa, pero la asociación con variables sociodemográficas no pudo determinarse debido a la homogenidad de la población

Antitumor and Antiviral Activity of Colombian Medicinal Plant Extracts

Extracts of nine species of plants traditionally used in Colombia for the treatment of a variety of diseases were tested in vitro for their potential antitumor (cytotoxicity) and antiherpetic activity. MTT (Tetrazolium blue) and Neutral Red colorimetric assays were used to evaluate the reduction of viability of cell cultures in presence and absence of the extracts. MTT was also used to evaluate the effects of the extracts on the lytic activity of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). The 50 percent cytotoxic concentration (CC50) and the 50 percent inhibitory concentration of the viral effect (EC50) for each extract were calculated by linear regression analysis. Extracts from Annona muricata, A. cherimolia and Rollinia membranacea, known for their cytotoxicity were used as positive controls. Likewise, acyclovir and heparin were used as positive controls of antiherpetic activity. Methanolic extract from Annona sp. on HEp-2 cells presented a CC50 value at 72 hr of 49.6x103mg/ml. Neither of the other extracts examined showed a significant cytotoxicity. The aqueous extract from Beta vulgaris, the ethanol extract from Callisia grasilis and the methanol extract Annona sp. showed some antiherpetic activity with acceptable therapeutic indexes (the ratio of CC50 to EC50). These species are good candidates for further activity-monitored fractionation to identify active principles

Clinical features of early-onset Alzheimer disease in a large kindred with an E280A presenilin-1 mutation.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize clinical features of a very large pedigree with early-onset Alzheimer disease (AD) in which all affected individuals carry the identical glutamic acid-to-alanine mutation at codon 280 in the presenilin-1 gene. DESIGN: Clinical histories were obtained by patient and family interviews and through medical or civil records. Using standard diagnostic criteria, a case series of 128 individuals was identified, of which 6 have definitive (autopsy-proven) early-onset AD, 93 have probable early-onset AD, and 29 have possible early-onset AD. SETTING: Community based in Antioquia, Colombia. PATIENTS: A population-based sample in which all members of 5 extended families (nearly 3000 individuals) were surveyed. Criteria for inclusion required obtaining sufficient information to categorize the individual as affected. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age at onset, neuropsychological profile, neurologic history, and examination. RESULTS: The patients had a mean age at onset of 46.8 years (range, 34-62 years). The average interval until death was 8 years. Headache was noted in affected individuals significantly more frequently than in those not affected. The most frequent presentation was memory loss followed by behavior and personality changes and progressive loss of language ability. In the final stages, gait disturbances, seizures, and myoclonus were frequent. CONCLUSIONS: Other than the early onset, this clinical phenotype is indistinguishable from sporadic AD except that affected individuals frequently complained of headache preceding and during the disease. Despite the uniform genetic basis for the disease, there was significant variability in the age at onset, suggesting an important role for environmental factors or genetic modifiers in determining the age at onset.

Prion plaques: molecular tumors. A hypothesis on the etiopathogenesis of prion diseases.

In spite of remarkable advances in the etiopathogenesis of spongiform encephalopathies in man and animals and the growing acceptance of the prion hypothesis, there is no explanation for the supposed 'autocatalytic' activity of this protein molecule. Our molecular tumor hypothesis proposes that the prion protein is a genotoxin which interacts directly or indirectly but specifically with its homologous cellular gene introducing mutations which lead to aberrant processing and accumulation of the protein. It is also speculated that this hypothesis would shed some light on other diseases not presently classified as prion diseases and in the process of ageing.

Is the immune system necessary for placental reproduction? A hypothesis on the mechanisms of alloimmunotherapy in recurrent spontaneous abortion.

Recurrent spontaneous abortion is being treated with alloimmunotherapy which consists of the inoculation of allogeneic mononuclear cells. However the mechanisms explaining the benefits of this therapy are not clear yet. Taking the immunotrophic hypothesis as the paradigm of the field of reproductive immunology, hereby we present a hypothesis to propose a role for the immune system in reproduction and at the same time to explain how alloimmunotherapy may work. We base our view on several facts: first, immunodeficient mice reproduce--albeit their progeny may not be as robust and numerous as that from normal individuals. Second, maternal lymphocytes cross the placenta and may induce graft versus host disease. Third, graft versus host disease in newborn F1 mice inoculated with paternal lymphocytes can be prevented by inoculation of the mother with the same paternal lymphocytes before and during pregnancy. We propose that: 1) the immune system by itself is not necessary for placental reproduction; 2) the immune system plays its major role in reproduction by counteracting the allogeneic response generated against the fetus; 3) recurrent spontaneous abortion represents a type of graft versus host disease induced by maternal cells infiltrating the fetus; and 4) alloimmunotherapy induces an antiidiotypic response necessary to counteract the graft versus host reaction in the fetus.