Our results show that progeny exposed to early life ethanol displayed increased consumption of ethanol solutions and increased sensitivity to cocaine rewarding effects assessed in the conditioned place preference test. Offspring exposed to ethanol were more LY2090314 mouse sensitive to the anxiolytic effect of ethanol and the increased sensitivity could, at least in part,
explain the alteration in the consumption of ethanol for its anxiolytic effects. In addition, the sensitivity to hypothermic effects of ethanol and ethanol metabolism were not altered by early life ethanol exposure. The sensitization to cocaine (20 mg/kg) and to amphetamine (1.2 mg/kg) was increased after early life ethanol find more exposure and, could partly explain, an increase in the rewarding properties of psychostimulants. Gene expression analysis revealed that expression of a large number of genes was altered in brain regions involved in the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse. Dopaminergic receptors and transporter
binding sites were also down-regulated in the striatum of ethanol-exposed offspring. Such long-term neurochemical alterations in transmitter systems and in the behavioral responses to ethanol and other drugs of abuse may confer an increased liability for addiction in exposed offspring. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Objective: The effect of seasonal variation on cardiac surgery outcomes is unknown. We investigated the effect of season on risk-adjusted hospital mortality and length of stay.
Methods: Prospectively collected data from cardiac operations at one center between April 1996 and March 2006 were analyzed. Seasonal variation in outcomes was studied by using multiple regression models that included EuroSCORE and year of operation to adjust Histidine ammonia-lyase for risk profile and changes over time.
Analysis was performed for 2 separate surgical groups: patients having coronary artery bypass grafting only and patients having other cardiac procedures with or without coronary artery bypass grafting.
Results: There were 16,290 patients who had a first record of cardiac surgery in the study period between April 1, 1996, and March 31, 2006, with 10,263 patients having coronary artery bypass grafting only and 6027 patients having another procedure with or without coronary artery bypass grafting. There were increased odds of hospital mortality in patients having operations in winter compared with the average across all seasons for both surgical groups, although this was only significant in the coronary artery bypass grafting -only group (odds ratio, 1.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 -1.63; P=.04). There were decreased odds of death in the coronary artery bypass grafting -only group in summer (odds ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.60 -0.96; P = .02).