Previous research updated the mortality experience of North American synthetic rubber industry workers during the period 1944-1998, determined if leukemia and other cancers were associated with several employment factors and carried out Poisson regression analysis to examine exposure-response associations between estimated exposure to 1,3-butadiene (BD) or other chemicals and cancer. The present study used Cox regression procedures to examine further the exposure-response relationship between several unlagged and lagged, continuous, time-dependent BD exposure indices (BD parts per million (ppm)-years, the total number of exposures to BD concentrations >100 ppm ("peaks") and average intensity of BD) and leukemia, lymphoid neoplasms and myeloid neoplasms. All three BD exposure indices were associated positively with leukemia. Using continuous, untransformed BD ppm-years the regression coefficient (beta) from an analysis that controlled only for age was 2.9 x 10(-4) (p
Existing Substances Division, Environmental Health Directorate, Health Canada, Environmental Health Centre, Tunney's Pasture PL0802B1, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0L2.
Source
J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2003 Jan-Feb;6(1):55-83
1,3-Butadiene has been assessed as a Priority Substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The general population in Canada is exposed to 1,3-butadiene primarily through ambient air. Inhaled 1,3-butadiene is carcinogenic in both mice and rats, inducing tumors at multiple sites at all concentrations tested in all identified studies. In addition, 1,3-butadiene is genotoxic in both somatic and germ cells of rodents. It also induces adverse effects in the reproductive organs of female mice at relatively low concentrations. The greater sensitivity in mice than in rats to induction of these effects by 1,3-butadiene is likely related to species differences in metabolism to active epoxide metabolites. Exposure to 1,3-butadiene in the occupational environment has been associated with the induction of leukemia; there is also some limited evidence that 1,3-butadiene is genotoxic in exposed workers. Therefore, in view of the weight of evidence of available epidemiological and toxicological data, 1,3-butadiene is considered highly likely to be carcinogenic, and likely to be genotoxic, in humans. Estimates of the potency of butadiene to induce cancer have been derived on the basis of both epidemiological investigation and bioassays in mice and rats. Potencies to induce ovarian effects have been estimated on the basis of studies in mice. Uncertainties have been delineated, and, while there are clear species differences in metabolism, estimates of potency to induce effects are considered justifiably conservative in view of the likely variability in metabolism across the population related to genetic polymorphism for enzymes for the critical metabolic pathway.
The -1C to T polymorphism in the annexin A5 gene is not associated with the risk of acute myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death in middle-aged Finnish males.
OBJECTIVE: A common polymorphism (-1C to T) in the translation initiation sequence of annexin A5 (ANV) gene has recently been associated with a decreased risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between the ANV genepolymorphism and the risk of AMI and ischemic sudden cardiac death (SCD) in middle-aged Finnish males. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A case-control study involving three distinct groups of subjects was carried out: (1) victims of SCD (n=98), (2) survivors of AMI (n=212), and (3) randomly selected control subjects without any history of coronary heart disease (n=243). The ANV polymorphism was genotyped in each study group. RESULTS: Among the control group of healthy Finnish males the prevalence rates of the CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 83.1%, 15.2%, and 1.6%, respectively. Among the survivors of AMI, the prevalence rates of CC, CT, and TT were 79.7%, 20.3%, and 0%, respectively, and among the victims of SCD 83.7%, 16.3%, and 0%, respectively. No significant differences in the genotype or allele distributions were observed between the study groups. CONCLUSION: The -1C to T polymorphism in the ANV gene is not associated with the risk of AMI or SCD in middle-aged Finnish males.
Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
To examine the 1-month prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental, Fifth Edition (DSM-V), and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), and the overlap between these criteria, in a population sample of 75-year-olds. We also aimed to examine comorbidity between GAD and other psychiatric diagnoses, such as depression.
During 2005-2006, a comprehensive semistructured psychiatric interview was conducted by trained nurses in a representative population sample of 75-year-olds without dementia in Gothenburg, Sweden (N = 777; 299 men and 478 women). All psychiatric diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV. GAD was also diagnosed according to ICD-10 and DSM-V.
The 1-month prevalence of GAD was 4.1% (N = 32) according to DSM-IV, 4.5% (N = 35) according to DSM-V, and 3.7% (N = 29) according to ICD-10. Only 46.9% of those with DSM-IV GAD fulfilled ICD-10 criteria, and only 51.7% and 44.8% of those with ICD-10 GAD fulfilled DSM-IV/V criteria. Instead, 84.4% and 74.3% of those with DSM-IV/V GAD and 89.7% of those with ICD-10 GAD had depression. Also other psychiatric diagnoses were common in those with ICD-10 and DSM-IV GAD. Only a small minority with GAD, irrespective of criteria, had no other comorbid psychiatric disorder. ICD-10 GAD was related to an increased mortality rate.
While GAD was common in 75-year-olds, DSM-IV/V and ICD-10 captured different individuals. Current definitions of GAD may comprise two different expressions of the disease. There was greater congruence between GAD in either classification system and depression than between DSM-IV/V GAD and ICD-10 GAD, emphasizing the close link between these entities.
Population-based studies on violent crime and background factors may provide an understanding of the relationships between susceptibility factors and crime. We aimed to determine the distribution of violent crime convictions in the Swedish population 1973-2004 and to identify criminal, academic, parental, and psychiatric risk factors for persistence in violent crime.
The nationwide multi-generation register was used with many other linked nationwide registers to select participants. All individuals born in 1958-1980 (2,393,765 individuals) were included. Persistent violent offenders (those with a lifetime history of three or more violent crime convictions) were compared with individuals having one or two such convictions, and to matched non-offenders. Independent variables were gender, age of first conviction for a violent crime, nonviolent crime convictions, and diagnoses for major mental disorders, personality disorders, and substance use disorders.
A total of 93,642 individuals (3.9%) had at least one violent conviction. The distribution of convictions was highly skewed; 24,342 persistent violent offenders (1.0% of the total population) accounted for 63.2% of all convictions. Persistence in violence was associated with male sex (OR 2.5), personality disorder (OR 2.3), violent crime conviction before age 19 (OR 2.0), drug-related offenses (OR 1.9), nonviolent criminality (OR 1.9), substance use disorder (OR 1.9), and major mental disorder (OR 1.3).
The majority of violent crimes are perpetrated by a small number of persistent violent offenders, typically males, characterized by early onset of violent criminality, substance abuse, personality disorders, and nonviolent criminality.
A 1-year evaluation of Syva MicroTrak Chlamydia enzyme immunoassay with selective confirmation by direct fluorescent-antibody assay in a high-volume laboratory.
TThe Syva MicroTrak Chlamydia enzyme immunoassay (EIA; Syva Company, San Jose, Calif.) with cytospin and direct fluorescent-antibody assay (DFA) confirmation was evaluated on 43,630 urogenital specimens over a 1-year period in the Provincial Laboratory in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. This was a two-phase study intended to define a testing algorithm for Chlamydia trachomatis that would be both highly accurate and cost-effective in our high-volume (> 3,000 tests per month) laboratory. The prevalence of C. trachomatis infection in our population is moderate (8 to 9%). In phase 1, we tested 6,022 male and female urogenital specimens by EIA. All specimens with optical densities above the cutoff value and those within 30% below the cutoff value were retested by DFA. This was 648 specimens (10.8% of the total). A total of 100% (211 of 211) of the specimens with optical densities equal to or greater than 1.00 absorbance unit (AU) above the cutoff value, 98.2% (175 of 178) of the specimens with optical densities of between 0.500 and 0.999 AU above the cutoff value, and 83% (167 of 201) of the specimens with optical densities within 0.499 AU above the cutoff value were confirmed to be positive. A total of 12% (7 of 58) of the specimens with optical densities within 30% below the cutoff value were positive by DFA. In phase 2, we tested 37,608 specimens (32,495 from females; 5,113 from males) by EIA. Only those specimens with optical densities of between 0.499 AU above and 30% below the cutoff value required confirmation on the basis of data from phase 1 of the study. This was 4.5% of all specimens tested. This decrease in the proportion of specimens requiring confirmation provides a significant cost savings to the laboratory. The testing algorithm gives us a 1-day turnaround time to the final confirmed test results. The MicroTrak EIA performed very well in both phases of the study, with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 96.1, 99.1, 90.3, and 99.7%, respectively, in phase 2. We suggest that for laboratories that use EIA for Chlamydia testing, a study such as this one will identify an appropriate optical density range for confirmatory testing for samples from that particular population.
A 1-year follow-up of low birth weight infants with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia: health, growth, clinical lung disease, cardiovascular and neurological sequelae.
Homozygosity or mixed heterozygosity for mutations in the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase gene cause enzyme deficiency directing adenine through an alternative metabolic pathway. This results in the production of 2,8-dihydroxyadenine, which is actively secreted into the urine. 2,8-dihydroxyadenine is insoluble at physiological urinary pH but as marked supersaturation is possible the manifestations differ: there may be minimal consequences, there may be infiltration of the tubulointerstitial tissue with acute or chronic damage or there may be stone formation in the urinary tract. Effective treatment can be offered and therefore the prognosis depends upon the renal function at diagnosis. Treatment consists of adequate fluid intake, a low-purine diet and administration of allopurinol. Urinary 2,8-dihydroxyadenine crystals are easily recognized under a microscope. The diagnosis of 2,8-dihydroxyadeninuria can be confirmed by estimation of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase activity in erythrocyte lysates. More than 300 cases of 2,8-dihydroxyadeninuria have been diagnosed worldwide, most of them in Japan, France and Iceland. One case has been reported in Finland but there have been no reports from the Scandinavian peninsula or from Denmark. The relevant mutations may be very rare in these countries but underdiagnosis is also possible.
