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“Background: Tremor is a widespread phenomenon in human populations. Environmental factors are likely to play an etiological role. Harmane (1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-beta]indole) is a potent tremor-producing beta-carboline alkaloid. Lead is another tremor-producing neurotoxicant. The effects of harmane and lead with respect to tremor have been studied in isolation.

Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that tremor would be particularly severe among individuals who had high blood concentrations of both of these toxicants.

Methods: Blood concentrations of harmane and lead were

each quantified in 257 individuals (106 essential tremor cases and 151 controls) enrolled in an environmental epidemiological study. Total tremor

score (range = 0-36) was a clinical measure of tremor severity.

Results: Selleckchem Tucidinostat The total tremor score ranged from 0 to 36, indicating that a full spectrum of tremor severities was captured in our sample. Blood harmane concentration correlated with total tremor score (p = 0.007), as did blood lead concentration (p = 0.045). The total tremor score was lowest in participants with both low blood harmane and lead concentrations RG7112 in vivo (8.4 +/- 8.2), intermediate in participants with high concentrations of either toxicant (10.5 +/- 9.8), and highest in participants with high concentrations of both toxicants (13.7 +/- 10.4) (p = 0.01).

Conclusions: Blood harmane and lead concentrations separately correlated with total tremor scores. Participants with high blood concentrations of both toxicants had the highest tremor scores, suggesting an additive effect of these toxicants on tremor severity. Given the very high population prevalence of tremor disorders, identifying

environmental determinants is important for primary disease prevention. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“We have previously characterized a 21-kDa protein encoded by UL138 (pUL138) as a viral factor inherent to low-passage strains of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) that is required for latent infection in vitro. pUL138 is encoded on 3.6-, 2.7-, and 1.4-kb 3′ coterminal DMH1 nmr transcripts that are produced during productive and latent infections. pUL138 is encoded at the 3′ end of each transcript and is preceded by an extensive 5′ sequence (similar to 0.5 to 2.5 kb) containing several putative open reading frames (ORFs). We determined that three putative ORFs upstream of UL138 (UL133, UL135, and UL136) encode proteins. The UL138 transcripts are polycistronic, such that each transcript expresses pUL138 in addition to the most-5′ ORF. The upstream coding sequences (CDS) present a significant challenge for the translation of pUL138 in mammalian cells. We hypothesized that sequences 5′ of UL138 mediate translation initiation of pUL138 by alternative strategies.