The Relative Role of Perceived Partner Risks in Promoting Condom Use in a Three-City Sample of High-Risk, Low-Income Women

We examined the effect of women’s perceptions of sexual partner risks on condom use. Women from three US cities (n = 1,967) were recruited to provide data on HIV risks. In univariate models, increased odds of condom use were associated with perceiving that partners had concurrent partners and being unaware of partners': (a) HIV status, (b) bisexuality, (c) concurrency; and/or (d) injection drug use. In multivariate models, neither being unaware of the four partner risk factors nor perceiving a partner as being high risk was associated with condom use. Contextual factors associated with decreased odds of condom use were having sex with a main partner, homelessness in the past year, alcohol use during sex, and crack use in the past 30 days. Awareness of a partner’s risks may not be sufficient for increasing condom use. Contextual factors, sex with a main partner in particular, decrease condom use despite awareness of partner risk factors

Inhibition of purinoceptors amplifies glucose-stimulated insulin release with removal of its pulsatility

External ATP has been proposed to be an autocrine regulator of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and responsible for the synchronization of the Ca2+ rhythmicity in the P-cells required for a pulsatile release of insulin from the pancreas. The importance of external ATP for glucose-stimulated insulin release was evaluated in rats with the aid of 2-deoxy-N-methyladenosine3,5-bisphosphate (MRS 2179), an inhibitor of the purinoceptors known to affect the Ca2+ signaling in R-cells. The concentration of cytoplasmic Ca2+ was measured in single P-cells and small aggregates with ratiometric fura-2 technique and the release of insulin recorded from isolated islets and the perfused pancreas. Addition of 1 mu mol/l ATP induced premature cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+](i)) oscillations similar to those found in P-cells exposed to 20 mmol/l glucose. In most experiments, the presence of 10 mu mol/l MRS 2179 did not remove the glucose-induced [Ca2+] rhythmicity in single R-cells or the synchronization seen in coupled cells. Nevertheless, the same concentration of MRS 2179 promptly interrupted the pulsatility (frequency 0.22 +/- 0.01/min) of insulin secretion, raising the total amounts released from the pancreas. Prolonged exposure of islets to 1 and 10 mu molA MRS 2179 enhanced insulin secretion at 20 mmol/l glucose 33% (P < 0.05) and 63% (P < 0.01), respectively, without affecting the release at 3 mmol/l glucose. The results support the idea that neural ATP signals entrain the islets into a common rhythm resulting in pulsatile release of insulin and that glucose stimulation of the secretory activity is counteracted by accumulation of inhibitory ATP around the beta-cells

Pancreatic dysfunction in acute pancreatitis

In the normal setting, the release of digestive substances and hormones from the pancreas is closely regulated. However, a variety of diseases, such as acute pancreatitis (AP), may disturb this balance. A limited number of studies on exocrine function in the acute phase of pancreatitis have been performed, most of them in animals. In the convalescent phase of AP, a substantial number of patients will have abnormal results of pancreatic function tests. Many patients with AP develop temporary hyperglycemia requiring insulin treatment and some will end up requiring long-term insulin therapy. The aim of this review is to summarize current knowledge of exocrine and endocrine dysfunction of the pancreas during both the acute and recovery phases of AP. Pancreatic function in the normal setting, dysfunction associated with AP and follow-up studies are presented