Unraveling the effects of low protein-phenol binding affinity on the structural properties of beta-lactoglobulin

Non-covalent interactions of phenolics with proteins cannot always be readily identified, often leading to contradictory results described in the literature. This results in uncertainties as to what extent phenolics can be added to protein solutions (for example for bioactivity studies) without affecting the protein structure. Here, we clarify which tea phenolics (epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin and gallic acid) interact with the whey protein β-lactoglobulin by combining various state-of-the-art-methods. STD-NMR revealed that all rings of EGCG can interact with native β-lactoglobulin, indicating multidentate binding, as confirmed by the small angle X-ray scattering experiments. For epicatechin, unspecific interactions were found only at higher protein:epicatechin molar ratios and only with ¹H NMR shift perturbation and FTIR. For gallic acid, none of the methods found evidence for an interaction with β-lactoglobulin. Thus, gallic acid and epicatechin can be added to native BLG, for example as antioxidants without causing modification within wide concentration ranges.

Violence in hospitalized psychiatric patients: diurnal and seasonal patterns

The use of four-point physical restraints on a single occasion or repeatedly in psychiatric inpatients was followed prospectively during 1993 in Beer Sheva Mental Health Center. Mood-disordered patients had significantly more restraints per patient than did schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients. The monthly rates of restraints of mood-disordered and schizophrenic patients were found to be negatively correlated with the duration of the daily photoperiod, which was phase-advanced by a month. The findings suggest that seasonality (the duration of the daily photoperiod) should be taken into account in attempts to predict the potential dangerousness of psychiatric patients.

Word associative production in affective versus schizophrenic psychoses

The production of association word to stimulus words, which was found to be correlated with conceptual disorganization, as clinically measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, was developed as a quantifiable measure of formal thought disorder. Associative word production in patients with affective psychoses (acute episodes of mania or schizoaffective disorder) was found to be higher in a statistically significant manner than in patients with acute episode of paranoid schizophrenia. The production of associative words in the two groups of acutely psychotic patients was significantly higher than in normal subjects, unipolar depressed, or residual schizophrenic patients. These quantitative differences reflected qualitative differences in the pattern of the production of word associations. Indeed, while patients with paranoid schizophrenia showed a sinusoidal-like type of oscillation in associative word production, patients with affective psychoses were characterized by exponential-like phases in associative word production. Associative word production may thus serve as a simple quantitative test for differentiating formal thought disorder in acute psychoses between patients with mania and patients with schizophrenia.

Increased interleukin-1 and interleukin-3 like activity in schizophrenic patients

1. The interleukins play an important role in the development and maintenance of the immune system 2. Decreased cell mediated immunity measures were found in schizophrenic patients. 3. The purpose of the present study was to study the spontaneous production of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-3 like activity (IL-3-LA) by human mononuclear cells from schizophrenic patients in comparison to healthy individuals. 4. Interleukin-1 was increased significant by schizophrenic patients as compared to controls. 5. Interleukin-3 like activity was slightly elevated in schizophrenic patients as compared to controls. 6. These findings support the hypothesis of an autoimmune dysfunction in some schizophrenic patients.

Anticardiolipin antibodies are elevated in drug-free, multiply affected families with schizophrenia

The objective of this study was to measure anticardiolipin antibodies in patients and healthy relatives in multicase families with schizophrenia. Twenty-eight (28) multicase families with schizophrenia were examined. One hundred three drug-free patients and 66 first-degree relatives consented to evaluation by DSM-III-R criteria. Criteria for patient definition included the following: age > or = 16, a confirmed hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia, knowledge of biological parents, and consent to participate. Additional data were drawn from family history and medical records. Serum samples were tested separately for IgG and IgM anticardiolipin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and designated positive/negative by comparison to the reactivity of an age-matched control group. IgG anticardiolipin antibodies were significantly more common in both patients and relatives compared to controls. IgM anticardiolipin antibodies were significantly more common in patients. In 75% of families at least one member was anticardiolipin positive and this positivity correlated with patient positivity. The relevance of anticardiolipin antibodies in both patients and healthy relatives of some multicase families to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia is discussed.

Increased anti-Sm antibodies in schizophrenic patients and their families

1. Autoantibodies in the Sm complex have become a useful serologic aid in the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and have rarely been observed in other diseases. 2. A subset of SLE patients have a variety of psychiatric abnormalities, including schizophrenia. 3. The authors have recently observed that schizophrenic patients have a high incidence of autoantibodies suggesting that autoimmune phenomena may play a role in the pathogenesis of this disease. 4. In the present study the authors investigated multicase families with schizophrenia for the presence of anti-Sm antibodies and showed that these autoantibodies are elevated both in patients and in their healthy relatives. 5. An autoimmune process may be involved in the pathology of schizophrenia.

Autoantibodies to DNA in multicase families with schizophrenia

In an attempt to define the autoimmune status of members of multicase families with schizophrenia, sera of both patients and healthy relatives from 28 such cases were tested for antinuclear antibodies, anti-double-stranded DNA, and anti-single-stranded DNA autoantibodies. These autoantibodies were significantly more frequent in both schizophrenic patients and healthy relatives than in normal subjects. Immunoglobulin (Ig) M anti-DNA antibodies were more common in patients, whereas in healthy relatives, IgG anti-DNA antibodies were more common. No significant differences were found between schizophrenic patients and their healthy relatives. The data indicate that an autoimmune process may be involved in the etiology of a subset of patients with schizophrenia.

Evaluation of Partial Structure Factors in the Small Q-Region with Amorphous Ni80P20 by Neutron Diffraction Using Isotopic Substitution

Amorphous Ni80P20-alloys were produced under He-atmosphere by the melt spin technique. With three specimens produced from P with natNi, 62Ni and 0Ni elastic scattering expriments were performed using neutrons with l = 5.4 Å in the Q-region 6 · 10−3 Å−1 ≦ Q ≦ 2.7 · 10−1 Å−1 . The measured intensities were corrected for absorption and background, desmeared, and normalized. The partial Bhatia Thornton structure factors SNN, SCC, and SNC w e r e evaluated and allowed the following conclusions: The a-Ni80P20-alloy contains regions with radii of about 6.5 Å caused by concentration fluctuations. A method is presented which allows to determine the composition of the regions and the total content of regions within the specimen. In the small Q-region (6 · 10−3 Å−1 ≦ Q ≦ 4 · 10−2 Å−1) the run of the partial structure factors is proportional to Q−3caused by concentration- and density-fluctuations. From the partial Fourier transforms follows a slight anisotropy concerning the chemical arrangement with correlation lengths elongated along the ribbon direction.