The Effects of Acculturation Level on Boston Naming Test and Controlled Oral Word Association Test in a Sample ofHisparrics ofMexican-American Extraction

This research investigated in the relationship between acculturation and performance on verbal fluency tasks in a sample of 57 Hispanics of Mexican-American extraction. It was hypothesized that as acculturation to Anglo-American culture approaches assimilation, facilitation of word fluency on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWA) will increase. As the independent variable, acculturation was examined on three levels: Mexican·oriented, balanced, and Anglo-oriented using Scale One of the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans· Second Edition (ARSMA·II). The dependent variables were verbal fluency scores on the BNT and COWA. A 3 x 2 (acculturation group X raw test scores) multiple analysis of variance (MANOV A) was performed to assess differences between mean scores for subjects in the three acculturation groups on the BNT and COWA (A=.408,

ANTI-COLLAGEN TYPE IV ANTIBODIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MICROVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS WITH ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Background and Aims: Thickening of basement membrane in capillaries and small vessels is a well-known finding and important in the progression of diabetic microangiopathy. Patients with diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension are at higher risk of vascular disease. Material and methods: To monitor the metabolism of the basement membrane protein collagen type IV (CIV) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), serum levels of antibodies to CIV (ACIV) IgG, IgM and IgA were measured using an ELISA method in 93 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension (AH) (mean age 61,4±11,3 years, diabetes duration 9,88±3,12 years; hypertension duration 9,28±4,98). These values were compared to serum antibodies to CIV in 42 age and sex matched controls. Diabetics were divided in two groups according to presence- Group 1 (n=67) or absence- Group 2 (n=26) of microangiopathy. Results: Patients with T2DM and AH showed statistically significant higher levels of ACIV IgG in comparison to healthy controls (0.30±0.12 vs. 0.21±0.08) (p=0.0001). Group 1 showed significantly hihger levels of ACIV IgG than Group 2 (0.32±0.13vs. 0.24±0.08) (p=0.009) and healthy controls (0.32±0.13vs. 0.21±0.08) (p=0.0001). ACIV IgG are statistically significant higher in diabetics with retinopathy than this without (0.33±0.10 vs. 0.26±0.13) (р=0.04). ACIV IgG correlates with diabetes duration (r=0.49); (p=0.0004), retinopathy (r=0.20); (p=0.05) and BMI (r=-0.24); (p=0.05). Serum ACIV IgM and IgA levels in patients with T2DM and AH were lower than these in controls, but the differences are not statistically significant.Conclusion: Our study showed a relationship between elevation of serum levels of ACIV IgG in diabetics and development of microangiopathy