Elmo Jensen

Insomnia in an 80‐year‐old population: Relationship to medical, psychological and social factors

In this study, insomnia in 80‐year‐olds was related to medical, psychological and social factors. The data were based on examinations every year in people aged between 80 and 89 years. Of 333 people living in the city of Lund and born in 1908, 67% participated. Increased severity of insomnia was significantly associated with use of diuretics, other cardiovascular drugs, hypnotics and laxatives, and with nervousness, difficulty relaxing, anorexia, nausea, constipation, backache, feeling cold, sweating, loss of weight, dizziness, depression, general fatigue, exhaustion, angina pectoris, cardiac insufficiency, worsened objective and subjective health, presence of negative T‐waves on ECG, anxiety, total life satisfaction, neuroticism, disbelief in a just world, feeling lonely and lower survival rates. Thus insomnia has widespread associations with different aspects of life in 80‐year‐olds.

Plasma homocysteine in 80-year-olds Relationships to medical, psychological and social variables.

Plasma homocysteine concentrations in a group of 80-year-old persons were related to symptoms and signs. Plasma homocysteine concentrations higher than 15 micromol/l were associated with lower total life satisfaction (P<0.01), mood (P<0.05), zest for life (P<0.05), lower scores for reasoning (P<0.05), spatial ability (P<0.05), memory recognition (P<0.05), and subjective health (P<0.01). In an instrument comprising of 30 symptoms, plasma homocysteine concentrations higher than 15 micromol/l were associated with impaired concentration (P<0.05), restlessness (P<0.05), feeling cold (P<0.05), loss of weight (P<0.05), and feeling depressed (P<0.01). The above data indicate that plasma homocysteine values over 15 micromol/l could be relevant markers for clinical intervention.

Microcalorimetric investigation of metabolism in rat hepatocytes cultured on microplates and in cell suspensions

In the present work, heat production rate in rat hepatocytes has been measured by use of thermopile heat conduction calorimeters. Both hepatocytes cultured in monolayers on microplates and hepatocytes in suspensions were used for microcalorimetric measurements. The highest heat production rate was found in newly cultured cells; thereafter, a gradual decrease was noted. After 1 day of culture, metabolic activity had reached a steady state that lasted about 4 days. A cell-density dependence of heat production was found, both in cell suspensions and in cultured hepatocytes on microplates. Higher cell concentration in the calorimeter ampoule was accompanied by decreasing heat production per cell. The heat output recorded for hepatocytes cultured on microplates (25 X 10(3) cells) was found to be 0.327 +/- 0.13 nW per cell after 24-48 h. Addition of sodium azide and sodium fluoride to tissue culture medium reduced heat production rate in cultured hepatocytes by 60 and 20%, respectively. Recording of heat production with the present calorimetric technique is relatively simple and fast, and offers the possibility to perform measurements in small samples of cultured hepatocytes on microplates, thus allowing long-term as well as repeated measurements on the same cell population.

Cell density dependent uptake of LDL in cultured rat hepatocytes

An inverse relationship between low-density lipoprotein uptake and cell density was observed in rat hepatocyte monolayers incubated with lipoprotein-deficient serum. This was also true for cell association, binding and degradation of low-density lipoproteins. Compactin stimulated cell association and degradation of low-density lipoproteins both at low and high concentrations. Insulin, on the other hand, had no consistent effect on low-density lipoprotein cell association or degradation.

Insulin stimulates the uptake of chylomicron remnants in cultured rat hepatocytes

Abstract. The effects of insulin (10–1000 μU ml‐1) on chylomicron remnant uptake and degradation were studied in hepatocyte monolayer cultures. Both uptake and degradation were stimulated by insulin. The degree of stimulation was influenced by cell density, being most pronounced in sparse cultures. The uptake was stimulated in a dose‐dependent fashion and was noticed already at a physiological insulin level (100 μU ml‐1). At this insulin concentration uptake was stimulated by approximately 50% (range 26–84%). As suggested by the increase in Vmax for the remnant uptake, the number of lipoprotein receptors on the hepatocytes was increased by 100 μU ml‐1 of insulin. Apolipoprotein‐E‐free low density lipoproteins (LDL) competed much less efficiently for the uptake of radioactive remnants than did unlabelled remnant particles. About half of the stimulatory effect of insulin on the remnant uptake could, however, be abolished by adding an excess of LDL, indicating that at least part of the stimulation by insulin was due to increased activity of the LDL receptor. This study thus shows that physiological insulin levels increase chylomicron remnant uptake in hepatocyte monolayer cultures. It is assumed that the effect of insulin is to increase the number of lipoprotein receptors at the cell surface, and at least part of the stimulation is due to an increase in LDL receptor activity.

Cell-density-dependent uptake of chylomicron remnants in rat hepatocyte monolayers. Effects of compactin and mevalonic acid

In rat hepatocytes cultured in lipoprotein-deficient serum, the uptake and degradation of chylomicron remnant cholesteryl ester per mg cell protein varies inversely with cell density. Compactin, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme-A reductase, stimulates the uptake at all cell densities. Mevalonic acid, on the other hand, can suppress a significant part of the remnant uptake. Chylomicron remnant uptake in hepatocyte cultures can thus be influenced by factors known to regulate the apolipoprotein-BE receptor activity.

The gender differences in growth hormone-binding protein and leptin persist in 80-year-old men and women and is not caused by sex hormones.

objective  Leptin and growth hormone‐binding protein (GHBP) both show gender differences that might be explained by sex hormones. To study the potential relevance of oestradiol and testosterone, we have examined 80‐year‐old subjects in whom oestradiol is higher in men than in women. The interrelationships between leptin, insulin, GHBP and fat mass in this age group were also investigated.

Concentrations of Plasma Methylmalonic Acid in 80-Year-Olds Show Only Weak Relation to Psychological Performance

Abstract Most studies of the relation between psychological performance in the elderly and deficiencies of cobalamin and folate have used methods that determine the blood concentrations of these vitamins, which might not reflect the vitamin status in the tissues. Recently, two new markers, plasma homocysteine and methylmalonic acid, have attracted growing interest since they are considered to reflect the status of cobalamins and folates in the tissues. In a previous study, we noted a strong association between five parameters of well-being and lower concentrations of plasma homocysteine. In the present study, we have extended these observations by determination of plasma methylmalonic acid in the same healthy elderly population. In the present study, 18 out of 100 subjects had increased plasma methylmalonic acid and in 7 of these subjects, the concentrations of serum cobalamin, blood folate, plasma homocysteine and serum creatinine were within normal limits. The relation between plasma methylmalonic acid concentrations and concentrations of serum cobalamin and blood folates and five parameters of well-being were investigated. Concentrations of plasma methylmalonic acid were only weakly associated with the concentrations of serum cobalamin and lower scores on the logical reasoning test. The present study clearly shows that the levels of plasma methylmalonic acid show a much lesser association with the parameters of well-being than did plasma homocysteine.

Depressive symptoms in an 80-year-old population in relation to medical, psychologic, and sociologic factors

Depressive symptoms were found in 19% of an 80-year population, more frequently among women (24%) than among men (9%) (p < 0.05). The group with depressive symptoms used hypnotics (p < 0.001), sedatives (p < 0.05), and laxatives (p < 0.001) more often than the non-depressed group. There were no differences in drug use for digitalis, diuretics, other heart medicines, or vitamins/herbal pills. Persons with depressive symptoms differed (showed more symptoms) from non-depressed in the following: nervousness (p < 0.001), fatigue (p < 0.05), sleep (p < 0.001), difficulty in relaxing (p < 0.001), exhaustion (p < 0.05), restlessness (p < 0.001), obstipation (p < 0.05), backache (p < 0.05), and loss of weight (p < 0.05). The overall health of persons with depressive symptoms differed in a negative manner from that of the others both according to themselves (p < 0.01) and according to the investigating physician (p < 0.01). Persons with depressive symptoms showed less life satisfaction as defined by Mood (p < 0.001...

Acute Maprotiline Intoxication-Report on Six Cases

Tetracyclic antidepressants are claimed to be less car-diotoxic than tricyclic antidepressants. The tetracyclic antidepressant maprotiline has been on the market in Sweden since 1977, but only isolated cases of acute side effects have been reported. We have seen six patients with maprotiline intoxication. All had minor ECG-abnormalities, and one patient also developed hypotension.Neurologic symptoms, however, seemed to be more predominant than cardiotoxic ones. Four of the six patients had convulsions, and all but one had a reduced level of consciousness. One patient had dysarthria and developed ataxia with unsteady gait.We suggest that maprotiline intoxication causes more serious central nervous system disturbances than cardiotoxic ones. It also seems reasonable to believe that these effects can be induced by comparatively low dosages of the drug.