The effects of dietary supplementation with ω‐3‐polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω‐3‐PUFA) on the proliferative response of PBMC and on the secretion of monokines and arachidonic acid metabolites from PBMC and monocytes (Mo) from healthy subjects and patients with recent‐onset insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) were examined. Three groups of eight to nine healthy individuals were randomized to either 2.0 g/day or 4.0 g/day of ω‐3‐PUFA devoid of vitamins A and D, or an isocaloric amount of placebo. Furthermore, eight patients with recent‐onset IDDM received 4.0 g/day of ω‐3‐PUFA. IL‐lβ production and TNF‐α secretion was determined before and after 7 weeks of treatment, and 10 weeks after withdrawal of treatment. Significant increases in platelet and PBMC membrane eicosapentaenoic acid was found in ω‐3‐PUFA‐treated individuals. ω‐3‐PUFA treatment significantly reduced the content of IL‐Ib in lysates of PBMC, but did not affect PBMC or Mo secretion of IL‐1β, TNF‐α or prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) or PBMC leukotriene B4 (LTB4) secretion in healthy subjects or in IDDM patients. A significant inhibition of the PHA‐stimulated. but not the spontaneous or PPD‐stimulated, proliferative response of PBMC was observed in healthy and diabetic subjects treated with (o‐3‐PUFA. No correlation was found between PHA‐stimulated PBMC proliferation and PBMC secretion of TNF‐α and IL‐1β. There were no significant differences in the spontaneous or the PPD‐or PHA‐stimulated proliferative responses of PBMC between diabetic and healthy individuals at entry. We conclude that although dietary supplementation with 4.0 g/day of ω‐3‐PUFA inhibits the proliferation of PBMC and reduces IL‐I immunoreactivity in PBMC and Mo, it does not alter monokine, PGE₂ or LTB₄, secretion in healthy or IDDM subjects.

Twenty women with primary fibromyalgia syndrome and 20 age matched healthy women were investigated. The subjects performed maximum voluntary isokinetic contractions of the right quadriceps in an isokinetic dynamometer. Maximum voluntary isometric contractions of the right quadriceps were performed with superimposed transcutaneous electrical stimulation. The examination protocol was repeated after 1 h of resting. Isokinetic and isometric muscle strength was found to be, respectively, 45% (p = 0.0001) and 44% (p = 0.0001) lower in the patient group compared to the healthy subjects. The frequency of superimposed twitches was 65% in the patient group and 15% in the control group (p = 0.003). Patients with primary fibromyalgia have a lower maximum voluntary muscle strength than expected. The increased presence of superimposed electrically elicited twitches during maximum voluntary contraction indicates submaximal force application in primary fibromyalgia syndrome.

The ascertainment of consistent diurnal variations in human epidermal cell proliferation may have important implications for the treatment of many skin diseases. For the evaluation of diurnal rhythms in the growth of human epidermis, skin biopsies were taken every 4th hour for 48 h from each of two persons under synchronized living conditions. The epidermal cell proliferation was assessed by the fraction of cells in S and in G2-M phase as determined by measurements of the DNA content in the individual cells in single-cell suspensions. The existence of diurnally consistent body functions in the test persons was verified by monitoring the excretion of cortisol by urine. The fraction of cells in G2-M phase indicated circadian rhythmicity for the first 32 h of the test period. No regular variation according to time of day could be established in the fraction of cells in S-phase.

In 16 acute stroke patients with focal cerebral hyperemia angiography and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were studied 1 to 4 days post stroke. CT was performed twice with and without contrast enhancement 3 +/- 1 days and 16 +/- 4 days post stroke. Angiographic evidence of focal cerebral hyperemia was seen in 8 patients in the form of early filling veins. In 5 of these the hyperemic areas were located within infarcted areas and in 3 patients in areas which appeared normal on CT. In the remaining 8 patients the hyperemias were located perifocally around ischemic infarcts. Early filling veins were not seen in this type of hyperemia. The blood flow was higher and the transit time of the contrast medium was faster in the former type of hyperemia probably because of arteriovenous shunting. Contrast enhancement was not observed on the early CT but was typically seen in the infarcts on the late CT at a time when the hyperemic state is known to have vanished. It is concluded that focal cerebral hyperemia is not responsible for contrast enhancement on CT.

In 119 patients referred with suspected fibromyalgia, biopsies from the quadriceps muscle were analyzed for "rubber band" morphology, and isokinetic quadriceps strength was measured. Eighty-four fulfilled the criteria for fibromyalgia, 26 had chronic myofascial pain (CMP) and 9 had other diseases including 5 with concomitant fibromyalgia. Twenty-four CMP patients and 48 fibromyalgia patients were randomly selected to match with regard to sex, age, smoking and drinking habits. "Rubber band" morphology was blindly graded on a biopsy score scale from 0 to 2. A statistically significant difference in biopsy score was found between the two matched groups (P = 0.003); median biopsy score in fibromyalgia was 0.42 and 0.25 in CMP. A cut-off value at 0.33 gave a specificity of 71% and a sensitivity of 63%. Isokinetic muscle strength did not differ in the fibromyalgia and CMP groups and was not related to the biopsy score. "Rubber band" morphology is seen more often in fibromyalgia patients than in CMP patients. The exact genesis of this phenomenon is still unknown but theories connected with the possible pathogenesis of the syndrome are presented.