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Prolactin response to electroconvulsive therapy (E.C.T.)was investigated in nine patients with endogenous depression. Four patients undergoing minor gynaecological surgery who had had the same type of intravenous anaesthesia as the E.C.T. group were studied as controls. 15 minutes after E.C.T. there was a 10 to 50 fold increase in serum-prolactin in eight of the patients. The effects of anaesthesia and surgery on serum-prolactin in the controls were negligible.

In 1957 all inhabitants (2,612) in a delimited geographical area, Lundby, were examined by a psychiatrist, and social factors were evaluated for each individual. During the following 15 years 58 men became alcoholics. Among the men who in 1957 were in the age group 0-14 years and belonged to a 'gang', the risk of becoming an alcoholic was 100-fold increased. 'Gang' was also an important factor in the age group 15-24 years. 'Crisis' was an important factor among those over 14, and 'disintegrated environment' in the age group 25-59 years. In the latter age group occupations such as 'entrepreneur', became important as a precipitating factor. 'Married' was the only protective factor found.

The objective of the present study on cycloid psychosis was to describe the incidence and risk in a defined population sample. We therefore re-evaluated specific diagnostic groups in the 1947 cohort of the Lundby Study. Three female cases were identified as cycloid psychosis according to the diagnostic criteria of Leonhard, Perris and Brockington. No men were found. The incidence rate (per 100 observation years) was found to be 0.016% for women. The cumulative probability i.e. risk, up to 60 years of age was calculated to be 0.7%. Incidence rate and risk for cycloid psychosis in women was thus about half of the corresponding values for schizophrenia as described for the same population in a parallel study. We conclude that cases of cycloid psychosis constitute a substantial proportion of female psychotic patients.

Two different treatment contracts, one with and one without active patient cooperation were compared during two 4-month periods on a short-term psychiatric ward. Attitudes and symptoms were measured at admission after 5 days and at discharge by an independent rater and by self-ratings. The length of stay was similar during the two periods. Patients with cooperation contracts showed a significantly larger reduction of anxiety compared with the others. Patients benefitting most from a cooperation contract were those with socio-psychological treatment contract objectives and those treated in a basic activation group. It is concluded that treatment contracts with an active patient cooperation on a short-term psychiatric ward are useful especially for patients not primarily suitable for specific psychotherapy or specific psychopharmacological treatment.

Gas chromatographic, mass fragmentographic and liquid chromatographic techniques for the determinations of bromocriptine (2-bromo-alpha-ergocriptine; Parlodel) in human plasma are described. These methods were found to be suitable for determining concentrations of bromocriptine down to 0.5, 1.0 and 10.0 microgram/l, respectively. Accuracy, specificity and analytical capacity were satisfactory for all three methods. Gas chromatography was compared with liquid chromatography, and the two methods were demonstrated to give identical results in patients treated with bromocriptine for Parkinson's disease. Gas chromatography was also compared with mass fragmentography, and the results from these two assays were also in agreement.

The antipsychotic effect of alpha-methyltyrosine (alpha-MT) in combination with thioridazine was investigated by means of rating scales for "social behaviour" and "mental symptoms". The clinical effect was also evaluated in relation to the serum concentrations of alpha-MT and thioridazine and to the increase in prolactin secretion in response to the interaction with hypothalamic dopaminergic mechanisms. The interactions between the serum levels of alpha-MT and those of the transmitter precursors phenylalanine and tyrosine were analysed. The results confirmed the ability of alpha-MT (2 g/day) to potentiate the antipsychotic effect of thioridazine, whereby the dose of neuroleptic drug required to control psychotic symptoms may be markedly reduced. None of the four patients who completed the trial showed side effects that could be ascribed to alpha-MT. The antipsychotic effect of thioridazine, alone or in combination with alpha-MT, correlated well with the prolactin response in the individual patient. No important interference with serum phenylalanine or tyrosine levels was noted during treatment with alpha-MT.

Immune precipitation patterns of Mycobacterium intracellulare, M. phlei and M. smegmatis were analysed by selective enzyme staining procedures in order to characterize individual mycobacterial antigens. Enzyme activity was shown in eight precipitinogens of M. intracellulare, seven of M. phlei, and six of M. smegmatis. The identification of mycobacterial precipitinogens as enzymes is important since only a few mycobacterial antigens have been functionally characterized.

An apparatus for ERG recording in clinical practice using light-emitting diodes as stimulation light is described and evaluated. By introducing special electronic devices, slow potentials (c-wave) can be recorded and there is no need for a shielded cage. The function of the set-up is trouble-free and the reproducibility is very satisfying.

Precipitates in two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis (2D-IE) plates can be amplified by the application of an antiserum against IgG after the second dimension run. Thereby, the sensitivity of the IE method is increased; faint precipitates and antigen-antibody reactions close to but below the level of forming recognizable precipitates are made visible. The advantage of the method was demonstrated for a multilinear Mycobacterium phlei system.

Plasma levels of prolactin, FSH, LH, progesterone and 17-beta-oestradiol in twenty women with premenstrual tension were compared with those in twenty controls. The former group was studied also during treatment with bromocriptine. The mean prolactin level in the PMT group was lower in the follicular phase than in the luteal phase (P less than 0.01), but there was no difference between the PMT and control group in the luteal phase. No differences were found between the controls and the PMT group in FSH,LH, 17-beta-oestradiol and progesterone levels in the luteal phase. Bromocriptine suppressed prolactin concentrations (P less than 0.01), but had no effect on the FSH, LH, 17-B-oestradiol or progesterone levels.

A method has been developed for the quantitative determination of haloperidol in brain and other tissues. Such determinations have been made after acute and chronic administration of haloperidol to Sprague-Dawley rats. Different regions of the brain including the striatum, the limbic forebrain and the cerebellum have been analyzed separately. The haloperidol effects on Dopa formation have been studied in the same tissue samples. The stimulation of prolactin secretion via blockade of hypothalamic dopaminergic mechanisms and behavioural effects of the drug have been evaluated in parallel experiments. The elimination of haloperidol from brain tissue is a multiphasic process. The fourth phase of elimination is the slowest with a half life of 4 days. No strict correlation was found between serum and brain concentrations of haloperidol. Both after acute and chronic administration there exists apparently a saturating dose above which the brain concentration of the drug increases very little. The dose seems to coincide with that beyond which little increase in Dopa formation is observed. A pharmacokinetic analysis suggests an element of saturable binding or transfer of haloperidol to brain tissue. This mechanism is not preferentially localized to areas of brain rich in dopaminergic synapses. A good correlation was found between the haloperidol concentration in the brain on the one hand and its effects on behaviour, on serum prolactin values and on Dopa formation on the other.

In this prospective longitudinal study over 15 years (1957 to 1972) the background factors for those who became alcoholics and those who did not were registered before anybody knew what the outcome would be. The population (2,612 inhabitants) lived in 1957 in a delimited area in the South of Sweden, Lundby. In 1957 nearby everyone (98%) was examined by a single psychiatrist, and again in 1972, irrespective of domicile, by two psychiatrists. Among the men who at the outset did not misuse alcohol, 58 became alcoholics. These alcoholics were compared with the non-alcoholics regarding e.g. personality traits, social factors and interactions between factors.

Organic brain syndromes among the elderly have been studied prospectively in a total population during the 25-year period 1947-1972. The population (2,550 persons) originates from a geographically delimited area in southern Sweden (Lundby). The original population has been followed for 25 years irrespective of domicile. A comparison of incidences for the first 10-year period (1947-1957) and the second 15-year period (1957-1972) shows a decrease in organic brain syndromes in the population concerning multi-infarct as well as senile dementias.

Intercellular adhesion is measured by a new method based on determination of the rates of attachment of single cells to confluent cell monolayers. The procedure is simple, rapid, and reproducible. Specific and nonspecific intercellular adhesions can be quantitated and distinguished from each other, and from the adhesion to glass (or plastic). The rate of adhesion of single cells to the monolayer is characteristic of more than 80% of the single-cell population. This method, therefore, provides a means for study of the molecular basis of intercellular adhesion.