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We recently showed that clones of Th1 cells, but not Th2 cells, expressed a functional beta-2-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) and that either norepinephrine or the beta2AR agonist terbutaline stimulated this receptor to modulate the level of Th1 cytokines produced. In the present study, we show that norepinephrine and terbutaline stimulate the beta2AR to decrease the level of IL-2 produced by freshly isolated murine splenic naive CD4+ T cells from either Balb/C or DO11.10 transgenic mice and activated polyclonally with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs. In contrast, the level of cytokines produced by primary effector Th1 and Th2 cells were unaffected when norepinephrine, terbutaline, or cAMP analogs were added at the time of restimulation. These results suggest that a diversity exists among CD4+ T-cell subsets with respect to the level of adrenergic receptor expression, responsiveness to cAMP, stage of cell differentiation, or a combination of the above.

Testosterone, after conversion to estrogen, masculinizes the developing preoptic area (POA) of rats, via binding to intracellular estrogen receptors located within the POA. Our previous studies have shown what seems to be a paradox, in that the levels of estrogen receptor mRNA are lower in males than in females. In the present study, we examined the effects of hormone manipulations on estrogen receptor (ER) mRNA levels in the preoptic area of neonatal male and female rats to test the hypothesis that gonadal steroid hormones regulate ER mRNA during the perinatal period. The relative amount of steady state ER mRNA was assessed in the preoptic area of postnatal day 4 animals using in situ hybridization and film autoradiography. Hybridization density was approximately 2-fold higher in females compared with hybridization density in males. Depletion of testosterone by bilateral removal of the testes on the day of birth increased the level of ER mRNA in males to that observed in females. Treatment of females with the synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol (1 microgram per day, in pellet form), reduced ER mRNA levels to a level comparable to that in intact males. The non-aromatizable androgen, dihydrotestosterone (50 micrograms per day, in pellet form), had no effect on ER mRNA in females. These results suggest that estrogen, derived from the local aromatization of circulating testosterone, down-regulates ER mRNA in the neonatal male preoptic area. Down-regulation of ER mRNA may be an important estrogen-regulated event in the process of sexual differentiation of the preoptic area.

In the long and frequently troubled history of Europe a span of 20 years seems insignificant, but placed in context of a century and a half of modern nursing the last two decades have been rich in growth and significance for the profession. As a nurse privileged to work with colleagues from the EC member states over this period, I have witnessed a great "sea change" brought about by nurses' own efforts through close cooperation and trust. These nurses came from 12 very different countries but had a common link: membership with the International Council of Nurses (ICN). Nursing in Europe faces many daunting challenges but we have more things to unite us that to divide us. The following articles should convince the reader that this is indeed the case.

When Dame Sheila Quinn became director of ICN's newly established Social and Economic Welfare Division in 1961, Daisy Bridges retired as general secretary, only to emerge later on as an ICN historian. It was during the years that Bridges spent delving into ICN archives that Quinn passed many hours with her reminiscing about ICN's fascinating past. Quinn's interest in ICN's history grew when she became executive director and was later refueled by her eight years on the ICN Board. Quinn's real chance came when the Board in 1985 gave her a new assignment: updating ICN's history, the result being ICN--Past and Present, which was launched at the 19th Quadrennial Congress in Seoul in 1989. Below, her reflections.