Traditional treatment for mental illness in Africa: A review

The publication of The Quest for Therapy in Lower Zaire (University of California Press) by John M. Janzen (with the collaboration of William Arkinstall), and African Therapeutic Systems (Crossroads Press), edited by Z. A. Ademuwagun, John A. A. Ayoade, Ira E. Harrison and Dennis M. Warren, calls attention to recent research findings which indicate that mentally ill persons, particularly schizophrenics, may recover more rapidly and fully in non-industrialized societies than they do in industrialized ones. The books by Janzen and Ademuwagen et al. will be examined as contributions to a growing body of information on native African therapeutic practices. Evidence relating to the apparently benign course of psychosis in Africa will be examined, and various explanations for this pattern will be evaluated. Finally, some guidelines for future research will be suggested.     

In vivo suppression of phytochrome aggregation by the GroE chaperonins in Escherichia coli

When expressed in Escherichia coli, a truncated form of phytochrome (oat PHYA AP3 residues 464-1129) self associates to form a series of products ranging in size from monomers to aggregates of greater than 20 subunits. When these same phytochrome sequences are coexpressed with the chaperonins GroEL and GroES, the truncated phytochrome migrates as a native-like dimer in size exclusion chromatography and no higher-order aggregates were detected. GroEL and GroES inhibition of phytochrome aggregation in E. coli presumably occurs via the suppression of folding pathways leading to incorrectly folded phytochrome.     

Effects of season and lactation on luteinizing hormone secretion in postpartum ewes

Effects of season, postpartum interval and short-term weaning were investigated on luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in ewes. Blood samples were collected at 10-min intervals for 4 h (basal period). Then gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) was administered and 10 more blood samples were collected over an additional 4 h period. The effects of day post partum (5, 20 or 40) and short-term weaning (weaned Day 37, tested Day 40 post partum) on basal and GnRH-induced LH secretion were tested. Mean basal concentrations of LH for ewes on Day 5, 20 or 40 post partum ranged from 1.6 to 4.6 ng/ml and did not differ. Mean concentrations of LH during the post-GnRH sampling interval were greater (P<0.01) for ewes bled on Day 20 or 40 post partum (12.3 and 11.8 ng/ml, respectively) than for ewes bled on Day 5 or for unbred control ewes (6.7 and 5.8 ng/ml, respectively). Weaning on Day 37 depressed GnRH-induced LH secretion on Day 40 post partum (8.18 ng/ml; P<0.05). Seasonal changes in LH secretion on Day 20 or 40 post partum in January, March or June lambing ewes were also tested. There was no difference in basal or GnRH-induced LH secretion between Day 20 or 40 post partum among groups in January or March.. In June, ewes had lower (P<0.01) basal and GnRH-induced LH secretion on Day 20 post partum than ewes did on Day 40 post partum. Across month of the year, on Day 20 post partum, ewes lambing in March released more LH in response to GnRH than ewes lambing in January (P=0.07) or June (P<0.05). Response to GnRH on Day 20 post partum was similar for ewes lambing in January or June (P>0.1). Ewes lambing in January released less (P<0.01) LH on Day 40 post partum than ewes lambing in March or June; however, no difference was detected between the latter two groups (P>0.1). Thus, seasonal modifications of the releasable pool of LH may mask or modify the effect of the postpartum interval upon this endocrine response.     

Metabolic and morphologic properties of single muscle fibers in the rat after spaceflight, Cosmos 1887

The adaptation of a slow (soleus, Sol) and a fast (medial gastrocnemius, MG) skeletal muscle to spaceflight was studied in five young male rats. The flight period was 12.5 days and the rats were killed approximately 48 h after returning to 1 g. Five other rats that were housed in cages similar to those used by the flight rats were maintained at 1 g for the same period of time to serve as ground-based controls. Fibers were classified as dark or light staining for myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). On the average, the fibers in the Sol of the flight rats atrophied twice as much as those in the MG. Further, the fibers located in the deep (close to the bone and having the highest percentage of light ATPase and high oxidative fibers in the muscle cross section) region of the MG atrophied more than the fibers located in the superficial (away from the bone and having the lowest percentage of light ATPase and high oxidative fibers in the muscle cross-section) region of the muscle. Based on quantitative histochemical assays of single muscle fibers, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity per unit volume was unchanged in fibers of the Sol and MG. However, in the Sol, but not the MG, the total amount of SDH activity in a 10-microns-thick section of a fiber decreased significantly in response to spaceflight. Based on population distributions, it appears that the alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) activities were elevated in the dark ATPase fibers in the Sol, whereas the light fibers in the Sol and both fiber types in the MG did not appear to change. The ratio of GPD to SDH activities increased in the dark (but not light) fibers of the Sol and was unaffected in the MG. Immunohistochemical analyses indicate that approximately 40% of the fibers in the Sol of flight rats expressed a fast myosin heavy chain compared with 22% in control rats. Further, 31% of the fibers in the Sol of flight rats expressed both fast and slow myosin heavy chains compared with 8% in control rats. Immunohistochemical changes in the MG were minimal. These data suggest that the magnitude and direction of enzymatic activity and cell volume changes are dependent on the muscle, the region of the muscle, and the type of myosin expressed in the fibers. Further, the ability of fibers to maintain normal or even elevated activities per unit volume of some metabolic enzymes is remarkable considering the marked and rapid decrease in fiber volume.     

Evolutionary conservation of the chromosomal configuration and regulation of amylase genes among eight species of the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup

Nuclear DNA was extracted from each of the eight species comprising the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup. Southern hybridization of this DNA by using a molecular probe specific for the alpha-amylase coding region showed that the duplicated structure of the amylase locus, first found in D. melanogaster, is conserved among all species of the melanogaster subgroup. Evidence is also presented for the concerted evolution of the duplicated genes within each species. In addition, it is shown that the glucose repression of amylase gene expression, which has been extensively studied in D. melanogaster, is not confined to this species but occurs in all eight members of the species subgroup. Thus, both the duplicated gene structure and the glucose repression of Drosophila amylase gene activity are stable over extended periods of evolutionary time.      

Model for microneurovascular muscle transplantation in the dog

Previous studies have suggested that successful transplantation of skeletal muscle to replace previously lost function depends on the mass of the transplanted tissue. In the present experiment, the possibility that careful microneurovascular surgical technique substantially improves the chances of successful transplantation of large-sized muscle was tested using dog gracilis muscle averaging 75 gm in weight. Gracilis muscles were completely excised ipsilaterally and were implanted into their original location (orthotopic) by reattaching tendons of insertion and origin. In addition, neurorrhaphies of nerve stumps were performed along with repair of the vascular pedicle using microsurgery techniques. After approximately 1 year, orthotopic transplants weighed about 70 percent of contralateral sham-operated gracilis muscles. Although average tension output of transplants declined to about 60 percent of control values, three of the most successfully transplanted muscles produced between 73 and 88 percent of control force. A significant increase in the number of slow-twitch-oxidative fibers was correlated with a slight but significant reduction in the maximal velocity of shortening of transplanted muscles. The ability of transplants to resist fatigue when repetitively stimulated was similar to the endurance capacity of control muscles. These results suggest that microneurovascular surgery may enhance the more complete restoration of function of transplanted skeletal muscles of relatively large size.     

Heterogeneity in direct cytotoxic function of L3T4 T cells. TH1 clones express higher cytotoxic activity to antigen-presenting cells than TH2 clones

In the process of generating culture supernatant from T cell clones, with anti-CD3 antibodies and the B lymphoma A20 as APC, a striking difference in the stimulation of TH1 and TH2 clones was observed, i.e., TH2 clones produced higher levels of lymphokines than TH1 clones. This prompted us to test the hypothesis that differential killing of APC (thus the removal of stimuli) by T cells led to differential T cell activation. By studying a panel of five TH1 and seven TH2 clones, it was demonstrated that TH1 clones mediated significantly higher levels of cytotoxicity toward A20 cells in the presence of soluble anti-CD3 antibody (as opposed to immobilized anti-CD3). Although T cell clones could, when activated with immobilized anti-CD3, produce lymphokines cytotoxic to A20 cells, experiments in which lymphokine production was blocked indicated that T cell clones, in the presence of soluble anti-CD3, mediated killing of A20 through direct cytotoxicity. A higher level of cytotoxicity, by TH1 compared with TH2 clones, was not restricted to anti-CD3 or a particular target cell type, because it also occurred with Con A- or Ag-dependent killing (a monocyte-macrophage cell line), and LPS blasts. Furthermore, the higher cytotoxic activity of TH1 clones compared with TH2 clones was independent of the stage of T cell activation and was unlikely a result of the length of in vitro culture. High levels of killing of APC led to low levels of T cell activation, the significance of which may be as a negative feedback mechanism in the immune response. Other biologic relevancies of higher cytotoxic activity in TH1 vs TH2 cells were also discussed.