Gerhard Strauss-Blasche

The melatonin receptor subtype MT2 is present in the human cardiovascular system

Abstract: We showed that the melatonin receptor subtype, MT1, is expressed in healthy and diseased human coronary arteries. As studies in experimental animals suggest that the MT2 melatonin receptor subtype is also present in the vasculature, we investigated whether the MT2 is expressed in human aorta and coronary arteries. Additionally, MT2 expression in human ventricular specimens was analysed, as melatonin was shown to affect myocyte function. Expression of the MT2‐receptor was studied in sections of isolated coronary arteries, aorta and left ventricular specimens from healthy heart donors (control) and patients with dilated or ischemic cardiomyopathy. MT2 expression was found by reverse transcriptase (RT)‐nested‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in all of the specimens (aorta, left ventricle and coronary arteries) derived from controls. Also, visible evidence for receptor expression was found in 12 of 15 samples from cardiomyopathy patients and 10 of 15 of coronary heart disease patients. Additionally, the expression of MT2‐receptor between aorta, left ventricle and coronary arteries varied among the individuals, some of them showing highest expression in the aorta while in others principal expression sites were coronary arteries or left ventricles. In conclusion, the MT2‐receptor subtype is present in human arteries and left ventricles and it is suggested that in coronary heart disease MT2‐receptor expression is altered. Furthermore, there is evidence for heterogeneous MT2 expression patterns in individual patients.

Combined inpatient rehabilitation and spa therapy for breast cancer patients: effects on quality of life and CA 15-3.

The present study investigated the changes of quality of life, mood, and the tumor marker CA 15-3 associated with a 3-week inpatient breast cancer rehabilitation program incorporating spa therapy. One hundred forty-nine women, 32 to 82 years, participated in the study 3 to 72 months after breast cancer surgery. Quality of life (QoL, EORTC QLQ-C30), anxiety, and depression (HADS) were measured 2 weeks before, at the end, and 6 months after rehabilitation; CA 15-3 at the beginning, end, and at 6 months follow-up. Patients received an individualized rehabilitation program incorporating manual lymph drainage, exercise therapy, massages, psychological counseling, relaxation training, carbon dioxide baths, and mud packs. Quality of life and mood improved significantly, the greatest short-term improvements found for mood-related aspects of quality of life, the most lasting improvements found for physical complaints (eg, fatigue). Also, the tumor marker CA 15-3 declined significantly to follow-up. Patient characteristics, as well as the time since surgery, moderated rehabilitation outcome to a limited extent. Older patients, nonobese patients, patients with a greater lymphedema, and patients with an active coping style showed slightly greater improvements. Hot mud packs inducing hyperthermia did not affect CA 15-3. In conclusion, the combination of inpatient rehabilitation with spa therapy provides a promising approach for breast cancer rehabilitation.

Effect of Sulfur Baths on Antioxidative Defense Systems, Peroxide Concentrations and Lipid Levels in Patients with Degenerative Osteoarthritis

Background: Due to possible antiinflammatory effects, sulfur baths are widely used for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. Previously it was demonstrated that drinking cures with sulfur can improve the antioxidative defense system and lower the peroxide levels of patients with chronic degenerative osteoarthritis. Objective: This study therefore sought to investigate the effect of 3-week therapy with sulfur baths on antioxidative defense systems, peroxide concentrations, and lipid levels in patients with degenerative osteoarthritis. Patients and Methods: After randomization one group of patients (n = 19) received sulfur baths during their stay at a health resort (sulfur group), whereas the other age-matched patient group served as controls (n = 19, control group), only receiving spa therapy. Total cholesterol levels, HDL, LDL, triglycerides and the antioxidative status, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, and peroxide concentration, as an oxidative stress parameter, were evaluated at the begin and end of therapy. Results: A 17.2% decline in peroxide concentrations (p = 0.10, n.s.) and significant lower SOD activities (p < 0.001) were detected in the sulfur group at the end of the therapy. Until the end of therapy total cholesterol levels changed differentially (p = 0.007) in the sulfur group (from 229.11 ± 34.47 mg/dl to 217.46 ± 40.45 mg/dl) and in the control group (from 197.63 ± 34.66 mg/dl to 207.95 ± 33.02 mg/dl). A similar significant group difference was found for LDL (p = 0.017), with a 5.9% reduction in the sulfur group and a 6.1% increase in the control group. Triglyceride concentrations were nonsignificantly reduced in both groups after 3 weeks at the health resort (sulfur group 11.2%, control group 20.2%). HDL values only minimally changed in both groups. Conclusions: The results presented here suggest that a sulfur bath therapy could cause a reduction in oxidative stress, alterations of SOD activities, and a tendency towards improvement of lipid levels.

Moderating Effects of Vacation on Reactions to Work and Domestic Stress

Several factors have been found to reduce the adverse effects of stress on physical and mental health. In this study it was investigated whether vacation modified the effects of occupational and domestic stress on different aspects of well-being. Also, the moderating effect of recuperation was studied. Occupational stress, operationalized as perceived workload, domestic stress and well-being were measured by questionnaire ten days before and three days after a two-week vacation from work for a sample of n = 53 employees of a hardware company. Workload did not affect well-being before vacation, but had a deteriorating impact on the quality of sleep, social activities, and mood after vacation. Domestic stress had a similar impact on well-being before and after vacation. Subjects reporting greater recuperation during vacation had less physical complaints and greater life satisfaction when experiencing high workload than subjects reporting less recuperation. In conclusion, this study shows that vacation generally does not buffer the effects of occupational or domestic stress on well-being. Rather, the results suggest that high levels of postvacation work-load eliminate the potentially positive effect of vacation. However, the results also indicate that a restful vacation may buffer postvacation work-related stress with respect to physical complaints and life satisfaction, but not with respect to mood-related aspects of well-being and sleep.

Toxicological and biochemical effects of different beverages on human intestinal cells

The objective of the present study was to examine and compare the effects of frequently consumed beverages on the human intestinal cell line, Caco-2, in terms of toxicity, growth, and differentiation. For this purpose, Caco-2 cells were incubated for 24 h in the presence of: a mineral water, fresh orange juice, packaged orange juice, a cola drink, an energy drink, black, camomille, and green teas, and drip coffee. Toxicity was evaluated firstly by measuring the lactate dehydrogenase leakage from the cells and secondly by performing the MTT assay. Cell differentiation was determined by measuring two brush border membrane enzyme activities. Growth rates of Caco-2 cells were evaluated by cell counting. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between the beverages in toxicity and cell proliferation. Cells exposed to fresh orange juice exhibited higher tetrazolium reduction rates in the MTT assay (121.3% of control). These cells also showed higher succinate cytochrome c reductase activities than the other samples, implying that the contents of fresh orange juice, such as ascorbic acid, stimulated mitochondrial metabolism. The alkaline phosphatase and aminopeptidase N activities of the Caco-2 cells lay between 61.50 and 110.00%, indicating a partial influence of some beverages on Caco-2 differentiation.

The Change of Well-Being Associated with Spa Therapy

Objective: The present exploratory study sought to examine the changes of well-being associated with 3 weeks of resort based spa therapy. This is a traditional form of health enhancement incorporating balneotherapy, physical therapies, and health education in an inpatient setting. Patients and Method: Subjects were spa patients (n = 153, mean age 58 years) with chronic pain and other age related complaints of moderately higher than normal prevalence. The well-being variables were vegetative complaints, pain, fatigue, positive and negative mood, and health satisfaction assessed at the beginning and end of spa treatment as well as 5 weeks and 12 months thereafter. Results: Well-being improved significantly in all variables during spa therapy, the improvement continuing with a slight deterioration at 5 weeks after the stay. After 12 months, vegetative complaints and fatigue had again reached pre-spa levels, whereas pain, positive and negative mood as well as health satisfaction remained improved. Both patients with high and low levels of pain increase their well-being, although pain patients showed greater improvements in some of the measures. Subjects not responding to spa therapy were older and showed less health satisfaction. Conclusions: The results suggest that spa therapy may be a powerful tool in enhancing well-being in progressed middle aged adults with common health impairments.

Vacation at Moderate and Low Altitude Improves Perceived Health in Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome

BACKGROUND Recent data suggest that vacation may improve cardiovascular health, an effect possibly moderated by altitude. The aim of the present study was to study the effect of a 3-week vacation at moderate and low altitude on perceived health in individuals with increased cardiovascular risk. METHODS Seventy-two overweight males, both occupationally active and retired (mean age=56.6 +/- 7.2 years), with signs of metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned to identical sojourns at either moderate (1,700 m) or low (300 m) altitude and engaged in four 3- to 4-h heart-rate-controlled hiking tours per week. Perceived health was measured 2 weeks before vacation, at the beginning and end of vacation, and 7 weeks after vacation. RESULTS Fitness, recreational ability, positive and negative mood and social activities improved during vacation, independent of altitude and occupational status, although the day-to-day improvement in quality of sleep was delayed at moderate altitude. During the follow-up examinations, improvements in all reported aspects of health except for social activities were maintained. In comparison to retired individuals, active individuals showed a greater long-term improvement in social activities. CONCLUSION Vacation positively affects perceived health independent of altitude or occupational status in generally inactive overweight males.

Quantitative analysis of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) expression in arteries and hearts of patients with ischaemic or dilated cardiomyopathy

PPARγ, a nuclear transcription factor, is expressed in various cells within the vasculature and in cardiomyocytes. It has been suggested that PPARγ is involved in atherogenesis and in cardiac hypertrophy. Therefore, we sought to quantify PPARγ mRNA in coronary arteries, the aorta and left ventricular specimens from patients with ischaemic (CHD) and dilated cardiomyopathy (CMP). Using real‐time PCR, we were able to demonstrate the expression of PPARγ in all of the human specimens. The lowest expression of PPARγ was detected in the aorta specimens of both groups (this was set to one). In comparison, the expression in coronary arteries was 2.32‐fold in CHD‐ and 3.78‐fold in CMP specimens and in the left ventricle specimens, 2.12‐fold in CHD‐ and 3.51‐fold in CMP. Samples from CHD patients showed a higher expression of PPARγ in all of the samples compared to those from CMP patients (aorta: 1.99‐fold; coronary arteries: 1.35; left ventricles: 1.23). PPARγ levels were not significantly correlated to CD 36 expression values in any group, suggesting that higher levels of PPARγ are not principally due to increased PPARγ expression in macrophages. This was confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis, which showed that PPARγ is also located in the smooth muscle layer and in cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, our observations of increased PPAR mRNA expression in the coronary arteries and left ventricles from CHD and CMP patients suggest an important function of this nuclear receptor in the pathogenesis of heart disease.

Time Course of Well-Being after a Three-Week Resort-Based Respite from Occupational and Domestic Demands: Carry-Over, Contrast and Situation Effects

The duration of improvements in well-being following vacation is an area of current debate. We investigated the time course of daily ratings of the restfulness of sleep, positive mood and physical ill-being following a three-week stay at a health resort. 133 female and 165 male Austrians with a mean age of 59.1 (range 31 to 75) years participated in the study. Mood and the quality of sleep improved during the stay. Following the stay, the restfulness of sleep showed a gradual decline during the 4-week observation period without reaching prerespite levels. The level of positive mood dropped suddenly after coming home without showing any further changes. Ill-being showed a marked increase in the first week home followed by a decrease to an intermediate level. These response patterns are discussed in terms of carry-over, contrast and situation effects of well-being.

Serum lipids responses to a respite from occupational and domestic demands in subjects with varying levels of stress.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the effect of a temporary respite from domestic and job demands on serum lipid concentrations in subjects with high and low levels of perceived demands. METHODS 111 females and 42 males (mean age 57.1+/-9.8) staying at a health resort for 3 weeks and receiving spa treatments participated in the study. Serum cholesterol (CHOL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), triglycerides (TG) and LDL/HDL were measured at the beginning and end of the stay. In addition, levels of perceived demands were assessed. Data were analysed with MANCOVA for repeated measures with known confounding variables as covariates. RESULTS Subjects with a higher level of perceived demands had higher levels of CHOL, LDL/HDL and TG and lower levels of HDL-c. In response to the respite, subjects experiencing more demands showed a greater decrease of LDL-c (P<.01) and LDL/HDL (P<.001). Sex moderated these stress-related respite effects for HDL-c (P<.01) and LDL/HDL (P<.005), high demand males showing a smaller decrease in HDL and a greater decrease in LDL/HDL than females in response to the respite. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that a respite from chronic demands may reduce LDL-c and LDL/HDL in chronically stressed individuals.