Chronic lower back pain patients had more negative mood and less positive mood than controls. These patients also demonstrated neuromotor deficits in coordination and reaction time. Further studies are required to examine possible neurological mechanisms and research potential intervention strategies for patients suffering from chronic pain.

Objective of this study was to assess effects of manganese (Mn) exposure on 56 workers employed in a Mn welding workshop of a machine building factory in Taiyuan (Shanxi Province, P.R. China) for a mean period of 16.1 years. The mean air Mn level in the workshop was 138.4 microg/m3. Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB), including the Profile fo Mood States, (POMS), was performed. Blood pressure (BP) increase following immediate stand-up (BP-IS), serum prolactin (PRL) and plasma renin activity (PRA) in supine position were also determine. Most of the NCTB scores of the Mn-exposed workers were lower than those of controls, while the POMS scores were higher, indicating a Mn-induced impairment of neurophysiological functions and a deflection of mood towards negative emotion states. PRL values of the Mn-exposed workers were higher than those of the controls. BP-IS of Mn-exposed workers was significantly lower than that of the controls. PRA of the same workers was augmented more that 200%. In the Mn-exposed workers, the higher PRL values are possibly due to a reduced inhibitory effect on pituitary lactotrope cells by the tubero-infundibular dopamine system; the decreased BP-IS was referred to imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic activities, whereas the higher basal PRA was thought to depend on neuroendocrine changes (including increased central sympathetic tone) and/or on a direct effect of Mn on renal juxta-glomerular cells. On the whole, this study demonstrates that occupational Mn exposure is responsible for neurobehavioral changes coexisting with alterations of neuroendocrine and humoral systems.

Effects of Lead Exposure in Printing Houses on Immune and Neurobehavioral Functions of Women: Niu Qiao, et al. Department of Occupational Health, Shanxi Medical University, China—The object of this study was the effect of lead (Pb) exposure on immune and neurobehavioral parameters of 16 women with a mean age of 34 yr who worked for an average of 12 yr in three printing houses in Taiyuan (Shanxi Province, China). The women were not occupationally exposed to toxic agents other than Pb. Mean air Pb in the printing houses was about 25 jug/m3, mean blood Pb of the workers was 28.6 μg/61 and that of the referents 12.4. The referent group of 36 women, resident in the same industrialised and traffic busy city, was of similar age, working activity, lifestyle and education of the Pb‐exposed group. The Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB) was utilised; some of the NCTB scores, including the simple reaction time, Digit Symbol, Pursuit Aiming II (PA) and correct PA, were significantly lower in the Pb exposed group, whereas all the negative Profile Mood States (POMS) scores were slightly higher in the workers (some with a significant difference) indicating a negative psychological effect of Pb. Lymphocyte subsets were determined in 16 of the Pb exposed women and in 16 referent women with similar age and lifestyle of the whole group of 36 controls. CD4+‐CD45RO+ “memory” T lymphocytes of the workers were significantly higher than those of control women, whereas NK and B CD3‐HLA‐DR+ and NK CD16+‐CD56+ lymphocytes of the Pb exposed women were much lower than those of the referent group. We suggest that the reduction of blood CD16+‐CD56+ lymphocytes in the workers in the printing houses may depend either on a direct effect of Pb exposure on the immune system or on an effect mediated by the neuroendocrine system.