Interpersonal trauma histories and relationship functioning among LGB Veteran couples seeking PTSD treatment.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Veterans report greater emotional distress, trauma exposure, and PTSD rates than both LGB civilians and non-LGB Veterans. Traumatic experiences impact intimate relationships, potentially placing LGB Veterans at higher risk of relationship dysfunction secondary to trauma and PTSD. However, limited research has examined links between relationship functioning and trauma histories among couples with one or more LGB-identifying partners. In this exploratory study, participants include 21 couples from a larger treatment study comprising a PTSD-diagnosed Veteran and their significant other in which at least one partner identified as LGB. Variables included trauma experiences, PTSD symptom severity, and relationship satisfaction. A descriptive analysis revealed high relationship satisfaction despite high interpersonal trauma rates among both PTSD-diagnosed Veterans and their partners. Further, we found different patterns of relationship functioning depending on whether a participant had experienced sexual assault. These initial analyses present novel data on trauma in treatment-seeking LGB veteran couples and provide an important basis for future research on couple-based mental health treatments for this population.

Pornography Consumption, Modality and Function in a Large Internet Sample.

Pornography consumption research often contains measurement inconsistencies that make the literature difficult to integrate. We investigated measurement issues relating to four key areas of pornography research simultaneously in a single data set: (a) differential endorsement across commonly used pornography consumption measures; (b) common modalities of pornography use (e.g., pictures, videos); (c) function of pornography use; and (d) association of age and gender with the above. The sample (n = 1,392) of adults in the United States was collected using Amazon Mechanical Turk and included a much wider age range (ages 18-73) than in typical pornography research. Using all modalities of pornography, 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women herein reported having consumed pornography in the past month. The three primary modalities of pornography consumed were written pornography, pictures, and videos. Videos were consumed most often, but women were much more likely to consume written pornography than men. The primary function of viewing pornography was to enhance masturbation, but notably there was endorsement of many other uses. Cross-sectional age trends and gender differences are discussed with suggestions for future research. Empirical concerns for research in pornography are addressed, with special attention to considerations for estimates of pornography consumption rates and research definitions of pornography.

Acute liver failure complication of brucellosis infection: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is one of the most widespread zoonoses worldwide. It can affect any organ system, particularly the gastrointestinal system, but there is no report of acute liver failure as a brucellosis complication. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of acute liver failure secondary to brucellosis infection. A 75-year-old Hispanic man presented to a University Hospital in Chía, Colombia, with a complaint of 15 days of fatigue, weakness, decreased appetite, epigastric abdominal pain, jaundice, and 10 kg weight loss. On examination in an emergency room, abdomen palpation was normal with hepatosplenomegaly and the results of a liver function test were elevated. The diagnosis of brucellosis was confirmed by epidemiological contact and positive Rose Bengal agglutination with negative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay immunoglobulin M for Brucella. He was then treated with doxycycline plus trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, with a favorable clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical presentation of brucellosis can be very imprecise because it can affect any organ system; however, there is no report of acute liver failure as a brucellosis complication. This is the first reported case in the Colombian literature of acute liver failure due to brucellosis. We found this case to be of interest because it could be taken into account for diagnosis in future appearances and we described adequate treatment and actions to be taken at presentation.

Interferon-α accelerates murine systemic lupus erythematosus in a T cell-dependent manner.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism by which interferon-α (IFNα) accelerates systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in (NZB×NZW)F1 (NZB/NZW) mice. METHODS: NZB/NZW mice were treated with an adenovirus expressing IFNα. In some mice, T cells were depleted with an anti-CD4 antibody. The production of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and enzyme-linked immunospot assay. Germinal centers and antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) in spleens and IgG deposition and leukocyte infiltrates in kidneys were visualized by immunofluorescence staining. The phenotype of splenic cells was determined by flow cytometry. Finally, somatic hypermutation and gene usage in VH regions of IgG2a and IgG3 were studied by single-cell polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: IFNα-accelerated lupus in NZB/NZW mice was associated with elevated serum levels of IgG2 and IgG3 anti-dsDNA antibodies and accumulation of many IgG ASCs in the spleen, which did not develop into long-lived plasma cells. Furthermore, IgG2a and IgG3 antibodies in the mice were highly somatically mutated and used distinct repertoires of VH genes. The induction of SLE in the mice was associated with an increase in B cell Toll-like receptor 7 expression, increased serum levels of BAFF, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor α, and induction of T cells expressing IL-21. Although IFNα drove a T cell-independent increase in serum levels of IgG, autoantibody induction and the development of nephritis were both completely dependent on CD4+ T cell help. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that, although IFNα activates both innate and adaptive immune responses in NZB/NZW mice, CD4+ T cells are necessary for IFNα-driven induction of anti-dsDNA antibodies and clinical SLE.

Characterization of Abeta11-40/42 peptide deposition in Alzheimer's disease and young Down's syndrome brains: implication of N-terminally truncated Abeta species in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Senile plaques (SPs), one of two defining lesions of Alzheimer's disease (AD), are composed of a mixture of full-length Abeta1-40/42, and N- or C-terminally truncated Abeta peptides, including Abeta11-40/42. Sequential proteolysis of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by beta- and gamma-secretases produces Abeta1-40/42, but beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), the major beta-secretase, also generates Abeta11-40/42, and BACE1 overexpression in cultured cells results primarily in secretion of Abeta11-40/42. The ratio of Abeta11-40/42 to Abeta1-40/42 depends on the ratio of BACE1 to APP, and Abeta11-40/42 can be generated from both full-length APP and its carboxy-terminal fragment (C99). Here, we investigated the role of Abeta11-40/42 in the pathogenesis of AD and Down's syndrome (DS) brains. We demonstrated significant amount of Abeta11-42 in DS brains by Western blots. While pyroAbeta11-42-modified Abeta species existed predominantly in mature SP cores in AD brain sections, both unmodified free Abeta11-40 and pyro-modified Abeta11-40 are detected in vascular amyloid deposits by immunohistochemistry. Using novel ELISAs for quantifying free Abeta11-40/42 and pyroAbeta11-40/42, we showed that insoluble Abeta11-42 predominated in extracts of AD and DS brains. This is the first systematic study of Abeta11-40/42 in neurodegenerative Abeta amyloidosis implicating Abeta11-40/42 in SP formation of AD and DS brains. The detection of Abeta11-42 in young DS brain suggests an early role for this N-terminally truncated Abeta peptide in the pathogenesis of SPs in AD and DS.