We suggest that IL-8 might be involved in the biological mechanisms mediating resilience to anxiety. Thus, our findings highlight the chemokine IL-8 as a potential target for future development of anti-anxiety treatments and suicide prevention.

No abstract

1 In CHO cells transfected with the rat dopamine D 2 receptor (long isoform), administration of dopamine per se elicited a concentration-dependent increase in arachidonic acid (AA) release. The maximal eect was 197% of controls (EC 50 =25 nM). The partial D 2 receptor agonist, (7)-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-N-n-propylpiperidine [(7)-3-PPP], also induced AA release, but with somewhat lower ecacy (maximal eect: 165%; EC 50 =91 nM). 2 The AA-releasing eect of dopamine was counteracted by pertussis toxin, by the inhibitor of intracellular Ca 2+ release, 8-(N N-diethylamino)octyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate (TMB-8), by excluding calcium from the medium, by the phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ) inhibitor, quinacrine, and by long-term pretreatment with the phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). In addition, it was antagonized by the D 2 antagonists, raclopride and (7)-sulpiride ± but not by (+)-sulpiride ± and absent in sham-transfected CHO cells devoid of D 2 receptors. 3 The results obtained contrast to the previous notion that dopamine and other D 2 receptor agonists require the concomitant administration of calcium-mobilizing agents such as ATP, ionophore A-23187 (calcimycin), thrombin, and TRH, to in¯uence AA release from various cell lines.

This is the first placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), escitalopram, in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Women with PMDD (intention-to-treat population, n = 151) were treated intermittently for 3 months, during luteal phases only, with 10 mg/d escitalopram, 20 mg/d escitalopram, or placebo. Escitalopram was found to exert a marked and a dose-dependent symptom-reducing effect, 20 mg/d being clearly superior to 10 mg/d. Although the primary outcome parameter, that is, the sum of the symptoms irritability, depressed mood, tension, and affective lability, was decreased by 90% with 20 mg/d escitalopram, the effect of active treatment on breast tenderness, food craving, and lack of energy was more modest and not significantly different from that of placebo; this outcome supports our previous assumption that the former symptoms are more inclined to respond to intermittent administration of an SSRI than are the latter. Although the placebo response was high, the difference between the placebo group and the 20-mg/d escitalopram group with respect to the percentage of subjects displaying 80% or greater reduction in the rating of the cardinal symptom of PMDD, that is, irritability, was considerable: 30% versus 80%. Adverse events were those normally reported in SSRI trials, such as nausea and reduced libido, and were not more common in patients given 20 mg/d of escitalopram than in patients given the lower dose. This study supports the usefulness of escitalopram for the treatment of PMDD and sheds further light on how different components of this syndrome are differently influenced by intermittent administration of an SSRI.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the dental health of 100 Finnish 4-6-year-old children in Luleå, in the north of Sweden, and to compare data with those from a matched control group of Swedish children of the same age, sex and social background. The study also included attitudes to dental health among the parents. The clinical examination included registration of decayed, extracted and filled teeth and surfaces (deft and defs), gingival bleeding points (GBI) and presence of open bite or crossbite. Posterior bitewings were taken. Data concerning among other things oral habits, dietary habits and fluoride prophylaxis were taken. A questionnaire about the parents' attitudes to their own and their children's dental health as well as their opinion about the dental care received by their children was filled in. The results showed that the average defs in the Finnish group was 12.2 compared to 6.4 in the Swedish group. The percentage of children with a defs greater than 12 was 43% in the Finnish group and 19% in the Swedish. The mean GBI% was 11.2% in the Finnish and 8.2% in the Swedish group. The results showed a statistically significant difference in tooth brushing frequencies between the groups, and a tendency to better dietary habits in the Swedish group. There were no differences in the use of fluoride tablets or fluoridated toothpaste. Forty-seven percent of the Finnish parents were denture wearers compared to 10% of the Swedish. The attitudes to dental health among the Finnish parents differed from those in the Swedish group. This difference in attitudes together with language problems were the factors found that could explain the difference in dental health between the immigrant group and the Swedish group.