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8070887 | Species differences in the metabolism of 1,3-butadiene in vivo. | The metabolism of 1,3-butadiene in vivo was studied in mice, rats and primates. The percentage of inhaled butadiene that is absorbed by exposed animals depends in large part on its rate of metabolism. Uptake of inhaled butadiene was 20% in B6C3F1 mice but only 4% in Sprague-Dawley rats and 3% in cynomolgus monkeys exposed to low levels (10 ppm 14C-butadiene or less). The routes of excretion of the carbon-14 retained pletion of the exposures were similar in rats and mice, one-half of the material being excreted in urine, 5-10% in faeces, 5-10% exhaled as carbon dioxide, 15-20% exhaled as volatile metabolites and 10-20% retained in the body. Monkeys, however, appeared to metabolize the retained 14C-butadiene pletely, as one-half of the internal dose of butadiene was exhaled as 14C-carbon dioxide. With equivalent exposures, blood metabolite levels were much higher in mice than in monkeys. In mice, the only species examined thus far, bone marrow was found to have much higher levels of butadiene monoepoxide per gram of tissue than did the blood, suggesting formation of the butadiene monoepoxide in the marrow in situ. The major urinary metabolites were two mercapturic acids (called M-I and M-II), formed from the glutathione conjugates of either butadiene monoepoxide (M-II) or the butenediol hydrolysis product of butadiene monoepoxide (M-I). Mice excrete three times as much M-II as M-I, corroborating the finding in vitro that mice are more efficient at forming the glutathione conjugate of butadiene monoepoxide than in hydrolysing it to the butenediol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
8070888 | A pharmacokinetic model to describe toxicokinetic interactions between 1,3-butadiene and styrene in rats: predictions for human exposure. | Co-exposure to vapours of 1,3-butadiene and styrene occurs in the styrene-butadiene polymer manufacturing industry. pounds are biotransformed during a first step by cytochrome P450-dependent mono-oxygenases to epoxides--intermediates which are proven carcinogens. In a previous publication, we reported that metabolism of butadiene in rats was inhibited by simultaneous exposure to styrene, whereas butadiene had no effect on the kinetics of styrene. In order to translate these results into conditions of human exposure, we developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model, which is presented here. Maximal metabolic rates (Vmax) and Ostwald's partition coefficients were obtained using liver microsomes and tissues from rat and man. Apparent Michaelis (Km) and inhibition (Ki) constants were derived from previously published data on rats and were considered to be species-independent. The model was used to simulate human exposure to atmospheric mixtures of 5 and 15 ppm butadiene with 0.20 and 50 ppm styrene. It predicts that the presence of styrene significantly inhibits butadiene metabolism in man: At exposures up to 15 ppm, the amounts of butadiene metabolized can be expected to be reduced to 81 and 63% with co-exposure to styrene at 20 and 50 ppm, respectively. |
8070889 | Kinetics of urinary excretion and effects on colour vision after exposure to styrene. | We evaluated the influence of the body burden of styrene on biological indices of exposure and the effects of this solvent on colour perception. The exposure of 19 workers was followed during a working week by personal sampling and biological monitoring. Although no significant difference in daily exposure was observed, pre-shift values of urinary styrene and urinary mandelic acid increased significantly during the week, and the regression line between external dose and biological exposure indices changed correspondingly. These data suggest that body burden can influence the results of biological monitoring of styrene. The effect of styrene on colour vision was evaluated in two further groups: 73 exposed workers and 53 referents and 36 pairs of workers and controls. A dose-related impairment was observed, which appeared to be synergistic with age and was not significantly improved by a one-month interruption of exposure. Our data show the need to improve biological monitoring of exposure to styrene and, in particular, to establish dose-effect and dose-response relationships between exposure and early effects. Urinary excretion of styrene and colour vision assessment represent, respectively, promising indices of exposure to and an effect of styrene. |
8070890 | Dose-dependent kinetics of inhaled styrene in man. | One female and one male volunteer were exposed to styrene vapour (2 h; 50 W) at four different concentrations (26, 77, 201 and 386 ppm). Styrene levels were measured in arterialized capillary blood during and after exposure by head-space gas chromatography, and the levels of mandelic acid in urine were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Non-linear relationships between the level of exposure to styrene and the concentration of styrene in arterial blood and 0-5 h cumulative excretion of mandelic acid indicated metabolic saturation. A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model was used to estimate the maximum metabolic rate (Vmax) of styrene from data on blood styrene. According to the model, the Vmax is 2.9 mmol/h, and metabolic saturation occurs at concentrations of 100-200 ppm styrene, depending on the level of physical activity. To our knowledge, this is the first time that dose-dependent kinetics of styrene has been shown in humans. |
8070891 | Development of microglia in mouse neopallial cell cultures. | Microglia develop in cultures initiated from disaggregated neopallial cells of newborn C3H/HeJ mice when the cultures are subjected to nutritional deprivation for 10 or more days (Hao et al: Int J Dev Neurosci 9:1-14, 1991). In the present experiments, the cultures were pulsed with BrdU for 3 hours at different times during incubation and then the cells were immunoreacted with antibodies against BrdU, GFAP, and CR3 receptor. The dividing cells (BrdU+) were found to be either GFAP+ or GFAP-, but not Mac-1+/BrdU+. Infection of proliferating cells after 2 or more days of incubation with replication-deficient retroviral vector containing E. coli lacZ reporter gene resulted in many labeled astroglia cell clones but no labeled microglia. However, when cells were infected right after disaggregation of neopallium, labeled Mac-1+ microglia were found. When Mac-1+ cells in a suspension of disaggregated neopallial cells were killed plement mediated lysis before setting up the cultures, Mac-1+ microglia developed, in spite of the treatment. We conclude that in cultures initiated from mouse neopallium there are MAC-1-/GFAP- microglia progenitor cells which do not divide in nutritionally deprived cultures but can transform into Mac-1+ microglia under the influence of astroglia-derived trophic factors. Microglia, which e Mac-1+ (i.e., express CR3 receptor), proliferate extensively in the presence of CSF-1 (which is produced by astroglia). |
8070892 | Microglial response to degeneration of serotonergic axon terminals. | The neurotoxic drug p-chloramphetamine (PCA) causes widespread degeneration of fine, unmyelinated serotonergic (5-HT) axons in the forebrain. PCA toxicity is selective for 5-HT axon terminals; preterminal axons and cell bodies are spared. Degeneration is followed by slowly progressive axonal sprouting and partial reinnervation. PCA is injected subcutaneously; this route of administration avoids mechanical disruption of the blood brain barrier. The present study analyzed the response of microglia and astrocytes in rat brain to selective ablation of 5-HT axons by PCA. Several microglial markers were analyzed with immunocytochemical methods. An increase in the number of microglial processes and in immunoreactive staining was observed with antibodies directed against CR-3, MHC-I, CD4, and rat LCA. The microglial response was maximal 3 weeks after PCA treatment, became less evident 6 weeks after treatment, and by 9 weeks no difference was observed between treated and control rats. No change was detected in MHC-II or the macrophage marker ED1, nor in expression of GFAP by astrocytes. Thus, degeneration of 5-HT axon terminals affects only a subset of the microglial markers examined; parison, retrograde reaction to facial nerve transection causes a robust increase in all of these markers and in GFAP. The microglial response to PCA-induced axon loss is slow in onset and small in magnitude. These findings indicate that CNS microglia are activated by degeneration of fine, unmyelinated 5-HT axon terminals; furthermore, sensitive microglial markers can detect a subtle axonal lesion that provokes no detectable increase in GFAP expression by astrocytes. |
8070893 | Cellular expression of an HMGCR promoter-CAT fusion gene in transgenic mouse brain: evidence for a developmental regulation in oligodendrocytes. | The HMGCR gene encodes the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, which is the key enzyme for cholesterol synthesis. Mice transgenic for the prokaryotic chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter gene fused with a 5' Bam H1 fragment including the promoter sequence for murine HMGCR gene have been obtained. Homozygote transgenic mice were derived from a particular line selected for similar regulation of endogenous HMGCR and the transgene expression by nutritional conditions in different tissue. In addition, high expression of the transgene was evidenced in the brain. Cellular expression of the CAT gene in the central nervous system (CNS) was investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). This study was performed on frozen sections of the developing and adult brain, using a rabbit anti-CAT antiserum especially raised for that purpose. CAT expression was observed in some rare individuals in different neural cell types including Purkinje cells and astrocytes. But the most outstanding observation was the high level of CAT expression correlated with differentiated pattern of oligodendrocyte (Ol) distribution observed in white-matter tracts. Double and triple labeling for CAT and stage-specific antigens were performed on transgenic Ol-enriched preparations and cultures. This study showed a normal sequence of differentiation in the transgenic oligodendroglial cell lineage and demonstrated a strict correlation between late differentiation and activation of the CAT gene in these cells: CAT expression started in transgenic Ols between galactocerebroside (GC)-positive and myelin basic protein (MBP)-positive stages and was detected in MBP-positive cells during the myelination period. After myelination, the number of CAT-positive Ols decreased in the adult brain. These observations demonstrate a developmental regulation of the CAT transgene in Ols during myelination in CNS and reinforce the hypothesis of endogenous synthesis as major source of cholesterol during myelination. |
8070894 | FGF-2 in the MPTP model of Parkinson's disease: effects on astroglial cells. | Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) is synthesized and stored by astroglial cells and regulates their proliferation and differentiation in vitro. Its implication in the transformation of quiescent astrocytes into reactive astroglia has been discussed. Using a mouse model of Parkinson's disease, in which FGF-2 has been shown to exert marked neuroprotection of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, we have studied striatal levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), an established marker for astrocytes, and the distribution and morphologies of GFAP-immunoreactive cells following treatments with the neurotoxic drug 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), the growth factor FGF-2, and the non-trophic control protein cytochrome C (cyt C). Systemic injections of MPTP (30 mg/kg) on 3 consecutive days, which we have previously shown to cause profound and long-lasting damage to the nigrostriatal system, induced an approximate 20% transient increase in striatal GFAP, determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 1 day after the final MPTP injection (= day 4), with subsequent normalization at day 7, which lasted until the end of the experiment (day 18). Morphologically, MPTP elicited a marked increase in number, size, arborization, and stainability of GFAP-immunoreactive cells at day 4 in a striatal area adjacent to the corpus callosum, which was evaluated throughout all experiments. Even on day 18, astrocytes were still apparently larger and more branched than in unlesioned controls. Administration of 4 micrograms of either FGF-2 or cyt C (soaked into a piece of Gelfoam unilaterally to the right striatum in either MPTP- or saline-injected controls) increased striatal GFAP levels bilaterally about 2- to 2.5-fold at 14 days, when FGF-2 showed marked protection of dopaminergic parameters. Likewise, GFAP immunocytochemistry revealed increased numbers of intensely immunoreactive astrocytes under any experimental situation. Differences in the morphologies of astrocytes in FGF-2- and cyt C-treated animals were very subtle and only noted at greater distances away from the site of application of the factors. We conclude that FGF-2, a potent neurotrophic factor for the neurotoxically lesioned nigrostriatal system, does not cause a marked astrogliotic reaction, which might be expected from previous in vitro and in vivo studies in other neural systems. This may limit concerns regarding potential applicability of FGF-2 to the parkinsonian striatum. |
8070895 | Interactions of living astrocytes in vitro: evidence of the development of contact spacing. | We have studied the behaviour of living, process-bearing astrocytes in vitro, observing groups of cells at daily intervals for up to 7 days. Each cell initially formed two processes, appearing bipolar in shape, and with further time in culture, grew additional processes and appeared stellate. As their processes grew, the interactions between astrocytes underwent characteristic changes. While bipolar, the cells appeared to avoid making contact, lying parallel to each other. As they became stellate, the astrocytes made extensive contact with neighbours, gradually forming extended, contacting networks in which their somas were regularly spaced (as previously described). The interactions which led to the establishing of such arrays were also evident. If two cells were initially close or adjacent, they extended short processes to contact each other; then, as their processes grew, their somas moved apart, until they were separated by 60-120 microns. If two cells were initially well separated, each directed processes towards the other until contact was made, often with striking precision, and their somas then moved together, until they were separated by 60-120 microns. These behaviours of contact, separation, and approach caused astrocytes to form clusters, within which their somas appeared regularly spaced, and may represent the interactions which occur among astrocytes during normal development to produce the regularly spaced arrays of astrocytes described in earlier studies of intact central nervous tissue. |
8070896 | Differences in a K current in Schwann cells from normal and neurofibromatosis-infected damselfish. | Patch clamp techniques were used to study whole cell ionic currents in Schwann cells (SC) from a tropical marine fish, the bicolor damselfish, Pomacentrus partitus. The bicolor damselfish is affected by a disease termed damselfish neurofibromatosis (DNF), being developed as an animal model of neurofibromatosis-type 1 (NF1) in humans. NF1 affects SC, fibroblasts, and perineurial cells. The sole depolarization-activated ionic current present in cultured SC from normal fish peripheral nerve and from neurofibromas of fish with induced or spontaneously occurring DNF was an inactivating K+ current (K current), with a strong dependence on the Nernst potential for K+. This K current activated at depolarizations to -40 mV and above and inactivated during a maintained test pulse (0.2-1 s), but inactivation was significantly greater in tumored SC. Both currents were inhibited by 4-aminopyridine (Kd approximately 1 mM) and by dendrotoxin (15 microM) but were insensitive to extracellular tetraethyammonium (< or = 150 mM), indicating that the whole cell currents were similar pharmacologically. The currents could be distinguished on the basis of their sensitivity to depolarized holding potential, with normal cells less sensitive. Half-inactivation of the current was -32 mV in normal cells and -38 mV in tumored cells. Inactivation curves constructed from the average normalized current for many SC were significantly different in normal and tumored cells. When the depolarized holding potential was maintained between test depolarizations, greater voltage-dependent inactivation in tumored cells was apparent. Normal cells maintained an average of 36% of peak current at a holding voltage of -40 mV, while in tumored cells this average was 12%, a significant difference. |
8070898 | Pharmacological profile of a novel, orally active leukotriene B4 antagonist, SM-15178. | SM-15178, a new hydroxyacetophenone derivative, was evaluated to determine its antiinflammatory activity and antagonistic activity against leukotriene B4 (LTB4). SM-15178 inhibited [3H]LTB4 binding to its receptors on human neutrophils (IC50 = 0.30 microM). It inhibited LTB4-induced chemotaxis of human neutrophils (IC50 = 0.72 microM) with little inhibitory effect against C5a or FMLP-induced chemotaxis at concentrations up to 30 microM. pound alone did not cause human neutrophil chemotaxis at concentrations up to 10 microM. LTB4-induced chemotaxis of mouse and rat neutrophils and guinea pig eosinophils was also inhibited by pound, with IC50 values of 0.55, 0.52, and 0.58 microM, respectively. In an in vivo study, SM-15178, given orally, significantly prevented LTB4-induced transient leukopenia. It also suppressed LTB4-induced bronchoconstriction in the guinea pig pletely when given orally at a dose of 40 mg/kg. Furthermore, orally given SM-15178 suppressed arachidonic acid-induced neutrophil infiltration in mouse ears and Arthus reaction-induced paw edema in the mouse in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that SM-15178 is a selective and orally active LTB4 antagonist and that it might be effective for the treatment of some types of inflammatory diseases. |
8070897 | Nicotine-induced release of elastase and eicosanoids by human neutrophils. | We examined the direct effects of nicotine on a variety of neutrophil functions at concentrations achievable in lung and oral tissues from cigarette smoking. The results show dose-dependent suppression of chemotaxis and phagocytosis, and enhancement of degranulation and eicosanoid generation, but not superoxide production. Cell viability was not affected by the concentrations of nicotine used in these experiments, as shown by trypan blue dye exclusion and MTT assays. These results implicate nicotine as the ingredient in cigarette smoke responsible for inflammatory damage to lungs and oral tissues observed in cigarette smokers. |
8070899 | Hyaluronan and myeloperoxidase in human peritoneal fluid during genital inflammation. | The changes in concentration of hyaluronan (HYA) and myeloperoxidase in peritoneal fluid (PF) were studied during genital intraperitoneal inflammation. PF were collected from 111 women undergoing laparatomy for adhesiolysis and reconstructive surgery of the fallopian tubes, or laparoscopy in search of causes of infertility or low abdominal pain. When the number of leukocytes in the PF had been counted, the fluid samples were centrifuged and the supernatants analyzed for the concentrations of HYA and of myeloperoxidase. During genital inflammation, whether post-operative or postinfectious, leukocytosis and elevated levels of HYA and myeloperoxidase were found in the PF. Concentrations of these substances in the PF may be usable as clinical markers for genital inflammation. |
8070900 | Decreased production of nitric oxide by human neutrophils during septic multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Comparison with endotoxin and cytokine effects on normal cells. | The objective of this study was to determine nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion release (O-2) by neutrophils (PMNs) in the septic multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and pare them with the response of normal cells to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cytokines. NO production was measured by the release of nitrites in the medium, its maximal production rate by a modified oxyhemoglobin assay and O-2 by standard methods. Normal cells were incubated with LPS, gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), or tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) alone or bination. Results showed that PMN release of both NO and O-2 was reduced in septic samples; in contrast, an association of LPS, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha promoted maximal NO release by normal cells (40-50%). We conclude that while interaction of normal PMNs with cytokines increases NO and O-2 release, progression of sepsis to a multiple organ dysfunction impairs these responses in both functions. |
8070901 | Production of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-6 and prostaglandin E2 by LPS-stimulated rat bone marrow macrophages after thermal injury: effect of indomethacin. | The effect of thermal injury on the in vitro production of TNF, IL-6, and PGE2 by bone marrow-derived, LPS-stimulated rat macrophages was studied. Thermal injury caused a general hyperactivity in the production of the mediators by the cells. Indomethacin, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor of PGE2 synthesis, inhibited the production of IL-6 and PGE2 but had no effect on the production of TNF. These results suggest that the observed low concentration of PGE2 produced by the cells was insufficient to cause inhibition of TNF synthesis; thus, the effect of indomethacin would be undetectable. The results also suggest that indomethacin may act directly in inhibiting the production of IL-6 by the macrophages. The hyperactive effect of thermal injury on the production of inflammatory mediators by newly differentiated bone marrow derived macrophages can be important in the overall systemic response to the insult. |
8070902 | Role of mast cells in calcium ionophore (A23187)-induced peritoneal inflammation in mice. | Several lines of evidence document a critical role for mast cells in plex-mediated inflammatory models. However, their role in nonimmune models of acute inflammation is largely unknown. In the present investigation, the role of mast cells was examined in calcium ionophore (A23187)-induced mouse peritoneal inflammation. Intraperitoneal injection of A23187 (20) micrograms/mouse) elicited marked and transient increases in immunoreactive levels of 6-ketoprostaglandin-F2 alpha, leukotrienes B4, C4, D4, E4, and F4. There were no discernible differences in levels of these mediators in male Swiss Webster mice, mast cell-deficient mice (WBB6F1-W/W'), and age-matched controls (WBB6F1-+/+), suggesting a minimal role of mast cells in eicosanoid biosynthesis in this model. However W/W' mice showed smaller increases in levels of myeloperoxidase, a marker for pared to +/+ mice. Both W/W' and +/+ mice have lower constitutive levels of peritoneal N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), a marker for mononuclear cells. Similar to the changes seen in myeloperoxidase, W/W' mice exhibited a blunted NAG pared to +/+ mice. These results suggest that mast cell products other than eicosanoids may contribute to the changes in cellular trafficking in response to intraperitoneal A23187. These results also suggest that mast cells are required for full expression of inflammatory responses. |
8070905 | Gc globulin (vitamin D-binding protein) increases binding of low concentrations of C5a des Arg to human polymorphonuclear leukocytes: an explanation for its cochemotaxin activity. | The chemotactic activity of native human C5a des Arg is enhanced significantly by the normal serum and plasma protein Gc globulin (vitamin D-binding protein). Gc globulin attaches to sialic acid residues within the oligosaccharide chain of C5a des Arg to form plex with potent chemotactic activity for human PMN. We investigated the mechanism whereby this phenomenon may occur and found that Gc globulin enhanced the binding of low concentrations of [125I]C5a des Arg to PMN, but had no effect on C5a-induced displacement of bound [125]C5a des Arg. Gc globulin bound to PMN, and probably acted as a C5a des Arg chaperon. Thus, it appears that Gc globulin, plexing to C5a des Arg, increases the number of C5a des Arg molecules per unit of PMN membrane without affecting its affinity of binding. This phenomenon provides a plausible explanation for the enhancing effect of Gc globulin on the chemotactic activity of low concentrations of native human C5a des Arg. |
8070903 | Doxycycline suppression of ischemia-reperfusion-induced hepatic injury. | Leukocytes, in particular polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs), are believed to play a central role in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced tissue injury. Changes in endothelial cells occurring during ischemia promote PMN binding to these cells during reperfusion, which primers PMN synthesis of oxygen radicals and release of cytotoxic proteins. These events lead to vascular damage and subsequent tissue injury. Recently we have shown that doxycycline (Dc), a member of the tetracycline family of antibiotics, inhibits PMN superoxide (O2) synthesis and degranulation in vitro. It also suppresses PMN-mediated RBC, fibroblast, and endothelial cytotoxicity, properties of the drug that may make it of use to protect tissues from I/R-induced injury. In this study we demonstrate that Dc administration either prior to clamping of the portal circulation, or 1 h after the reperfusion, significantly suppressed liver damage as assessed by serum levels of a marker of hepatic injury, alanine aminotransferase (s-ALT). The reduction in s-ALT was not a result of reduced reflow in the Dc-treated rats as indicated by Evans' blue perfusion data. The findings suggest that Dc and possibly other tetracyclines may be of value in protecting tissues and organs from I/R-mediated damage even if the drug is given after the ischemic event has occurred. |
8070904 | Lipopolysaccharide-induced increases in porcine serum cortisol and progesterone concentrations are not mediated solely by prostaglandin F2 alpha. | The increase in steroid hormone blood levels in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) appears to be an important mechanism by which mammalian species regulate inflammation. This study examined changes in serum concentrations of cortisol, progesterone, and 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGFM) in diestrous pigs following the intravenous injection of LPS and determined whether indomethacin would attenuate these changes. Serum cortisol and progesterone concentrations increased (P < 0.05) within 30 min after the administration of LPS, and the increases in steroid hormones were panied by a sharp, transient increase (P < 0.05) in PGFM levels. In the presence of indomethacin, serum PGFM levels did not change (P > 0.05); however, LPS enhanced (P < 0.05) cortisol and progesterone concentrations, although the increases were delayed. Serum concentrations of cortisol acutely increased (P < 0.05) immediately following both infusions of indomethacin. In summary, cortisol and progesterone concentrations increased irrespective of serum PGFM concentrations, thereby indicating that prostaglandin F2 alpha was not the sole mediator of LPS-induced changes in cortisol and progesterone concentrations. |
8070908 | Evaluation of patients with postsurgical syndromes. | The evaluation of patients with postgastrectomy or other postsurgical syndromes must be thorough. A proper medical or surgical treatment plan should be based on a thoughtful physiologic examination, not just an anatomic evaluation. Procedures such as vagotomy testing and intestinal transit studies may identify or exclude causes (e.g., acid hypersecretion, poor gastric emptying) of postsurgical syndromes and should address the cause of the problem, not the effect. |
8070909 | Physiologic consequences of vagotomy and gastric resection. | Operations for peptic ulcer have evolved to minimize physiologic disturbance while ulcer recurrence is prevented. Nevertheless, all operations disturb gastrointestinal motility to some extent, and these changes correlate with postoperative side effects. In particular, the pattern of gastric emptying is altered, but small bowel emptying is largely preserved. Alterations in biliary motility increase the risk of gallstone formation after most, but not all, ulcer operations. |
8070906 | Signal transduction pathways of bacterial lipopolysaccharide-stimulated bovine vascular endothelial cells. | Increased procoagulant activity of vascular endothelial cells may be an ponent in the pathogenesis of intravascular coagulation associated with gram-negative bacterial diseases. Two bovine endothelial cell (BEC) lines isolated from pulmonary arteries (ENS-2 and ENT-18) were used in this study to investigate procoagulant signal transduction pathways of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS)--stimulated BECs. The endothelial cell line ENS-2 was sensitive to LPS as demonstrated by tissue factor (TF) expression, but in contrast, the ENT-18 endothelial cell line was unusually resistant to the effects of LPS. No remarkable quantitative difference in binding of radiolabeled LPS was detected between the two endothelial cell lines. A protein kinase C (PKC) activator (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, PMA) failed to induce TF expression in either cell line at concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 1.00 microM when used as a sole stimulus for the endothelial cells. However, when PMA was used bination with LPS, PMA enhanced the stimulatory effect of LPS on the endothelial cells. In parallel experiments, PKC inhibitors (H-7 and GF 109203X) interfered with the stimulatory effect of LPS on the cells by decreasing tissue factor expression. We also found that an activator of adenylate cyclase, forskolin, similarly inhibited LPS-induced tissue factor activity. In contrast, protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors (genistein, lavendustin A) had no inhibitory effect on LPS-induced endothelial cell tissue factor expression. Our results collectively suggest that activation of PKC is an important step in stimulation of endothelial cells by LPS, and that LPS and phorbol esters may synergize to produce an enhanced stimulatory effect. Our results also suggest participation of cAMP in controlling LPS-mediated stimulation of endothelial cells, but fail to demonstrate a role for protein tyrosine kinase activity. |
8070910 | Early postoperative and postgastrectomy syndromes. Diagnosis, management, and prevention. | The evaluation and treatment of patients after operations on the foregut is a challenge for physicians and surgeons. The early postoperative period is an especially important interval because the very survival of the patient as well as the success of the surgical intervention depends on the correct interpretation of the plaints. In all cases, a thoughtful and systematic approach allows physicians and surgeons to identify the causes and best remedies of these challenging problems. |
8070911 | Nutritional outcomes of gastric operations. | It is important to understand the digestive disturbances and nutritional es of that may follow stomach resections. This article focuses primarily on the nutritional consequences of traditional gastric operations for ulcers, but related cancer and bariatric operations also are discussed. |
8070913 | Alkaline reflux gastritis. | Alkaline reflux gastritis is a putative postgastrectomy syndrome presumably caused by excessive reflux of upper gastrointestinal content into the residual stomach after operations for peptic ulcer. In this article, the theoretic basis for the existence of such a syndrome is critically examined and found to be wanting in several respects. The diagnosis is therefore one of exclusion. Most nonoperative therapies are only modestly effective, with the possible exception of feeding patients ursodeoxycholic acid. When operation is indicated, the creation of a long-limb (45-cm) Roux-en-Y eliminates reflux. Unfortunately, symptoms are not invariably alleviated. Complications of operation include marginal ulceration and the Roux stasis syndrome. |
8070912 | Postgastrectomy syndromes: dumping and diarrhea. | This article reviews the current literature on the postgastrectomy syndromes of dumping and postvagotomy diarrhea. Pathophysiology, diagnosis, incidence, and treatment options are discussed. These syndromes present some of the most difficult treatment dilemmas seen after surgery. Specific mendations for both medical and surgical treatments are included. |
8070914 | Postoperative recurrent ulcer. | Figure 2 summarizes my evaluation of most patients with postoperative recurrent ulcers. First, serum gastrin and calcium levels should be determined in all patients. At the initial endoscopy, any silk sutures should be removed, and gastric ulcers biopsied. The presence of gastric ulcers or evidence of delayed gastric emptying should influence the surgical procedure. Ideally, a Congo red test should be performed at the initial endoscopy. The only caveat is that excessive sedation may invalidate the test results. If the initial diagnostic endoscopy does not include a Congo red test and serum gastrin and calcium levels are normal, it is reasonable to proceed with medical management without vagotomy testing. I believe that if medical management fails and operative treatment is planned, all patients should undergo vagotomy testing. If the Congo red test is definitively positive, sham feeding is not necessary. On the other hand, if the Congo red test suggests hyposecretion, I believe that sham feeding is mandatory prior to proceeding with operation. Conversely, sham feeding tests may be falsely negative in postoperative patients. Therefore, many of our patients undergo both Congo red testing and sham feeding prior to reoperation. Finally, if delayed gastric emptying is believed to be part of the clinical syndrome, a radionuclide scan should be performed to assess gastric emptying. It can be either a solid-meal study or an acetanilidoiminodiacetic acid scan, which measures bile reflux as well as determines emptying of bile from the fasted stomach (see introductory article in this issue). |
8070915 | Gastric atony and the Roux syndrome. | The Roux limb syndrome is a plex characterized by chronic postprandial epigastric pain, fullness, and vomiting observed in approximately one third of patients after gastric reconstructive surgery for reflux gastritis and other conditions in which vagotomy and Roux-en-Y gastroenterostomy have been preformed. The etiology of the plex is controversial, with experimental evidence in animal and human studies suggesting dysfunction of both the gastric remnant and the Roux limb itself. Medical treatment is successful in only about half of cases, but surgical treatment to remove most or all of the gastric remnant is usually successful. These observations suggest that most of the symptoms of the Roux limb syndrome arise from postvagotomy gastric atony. |
8070916 | Management of the problem patient after bariatric surgery. | Bariatric surgery is performed for clinically severe obesity and includes jejunoileal bypass, which is designed to produce weight loss through malabsorption, and the gastric restrictive operations--gastric bypass, gastrogastrostomy, and gastroplasty--which produce weight loss through restriction of volume of intake. Patients have problems after bariatric operations because of knowledge deficits; attitudinal, social, and psychologic influences; and anatomic and physiologic effects of these operations. Specific difficulties specific to the type of bariatric operation may arise. Although plications may be averted with nonoperative therapy, reversal of the operation may be required for others. |
8070917 | Management of the problem patient after antireflux surgery. | Long-term follow-up studies have confirmed the efficacy and durability of properly performed operations for gastroesophageal reflux; however, a significant number of patients develop trouble-some postoperative symptoms. Recurrent acid reflux and heartburn, dysphagia, gas bloat, diarrhea, and sliding and/or paraesophageal hernias may require medical or surgical intervention. Whereas some of these problems are transient, most plete re-evaluations, and many require reoperations, ideally performed by surgeons with experience of plex cases. |
8070918 | The future of intestinal pacing. | Pacing the human heart, first done in 1952, monly used today. Pacing the canine stomach and small intestine has also been plished and has been used to treat a variety of disease models, including dumping, the short bowel syndrome, gastroparesis, the Roux stasis syndrome, and tachygastria. In contrast, pacing the human stomach and small intestine has not progressed as far. Pacing of these organs in man has only been done for short intervals. Moreover, no clear-cut therapeutic applications have as yet emerged. Nonetheless, pacing holds promise as a future therapeutic modality for a variety of disorders of the human stomach and small bowel. |
8070919 | Management of the short bowel syndrome. | The short bowel syndrome has e an mon clinical condition. Malnutrition and plications should be avoidable with use of bination of enteral and parenteral nutrition support. Dietary management needs to be individualized. Drugs directed against gastric hypersecretion, increased motility, intestinal secretion, unabsorbed bile salts, and bacterial overgrowth improve intestinal function. Complications specific to the short bowel syndrome (gastric hypersecretion, cholelithiasis, nephrolithiasis) can be minimized and diagnosed early. Surgical management includes preserving intestinal remnant length and improving its function. Intestinal transplantation is evolving as a promising therapeutic alternative for patients plications of long-term parenteral nutrition support. |
8070921 | Influence of dietary (n-3)-polyunsaturated fatty acids on leukotriene B4 and prostaglandin E2 synthesis and course of experimental tuberculosis in guinea pigs. | In the present study eicosanoid synthesis was studied in macrophages of guinea pigs fed different amounts of (n-6)- and (n-3)-polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Three groups of weanling guinea pigs were fed by isocaloric diets differing only in their contents of PUFA: controls with 2.8 Cal% of linoleic acid (LA; 18:2(n-6)); (n-6)-rich fed animals with 15.4 Cal% of LA; and (n-3)-rich fed animals with 10.1 Cal% of LA, 1.4 Cal% of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5(n-3)) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6(n-3)). After 13 weeks half the number of animals from each group was infected i.m. by 180 colony forming units of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv. Seven weeks after infection the release of leukotriene (LT)B4 and prostaglandin (PG)E2 was quantified in calcium ionophore stimulated whole blood, peritoneal macrophage cultures and alveolar macrophages by immunoassays after high performance liquid chromatography. Synthesis of LTB4 and PGE2 was found to be reduced in (n-3)-rich fed guinea pigs (p < 0.05), and equivalent between controls and (n-6)-rich fed animals. Controls and (n-6)-rich fed animals showed the same mycobacterial counts in the spleen whereas (n-3)-rich fed guinea pigs demonstrated an increased number of mycobacteria (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrate that an increased dietary intake of (n-3)-PUFA suppress LTB4 and PGE2 synthesis. The increased number of M. tuberculosis found in the spleens of (n-3)-rich fed animals could represent persistence of the experimental infection. It may be speculated that a functional relationship exists between the two findings. |
8070920 | Pneumopericardium complicating invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: case report and review. | Pneumopericardium, the presence of air in the pericardial space, is a rare disorder that is usually caused by trauma. We describe a patient given induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia who developed pulmonary aspergillosis that resulted in pericarditis and pneumopericardium. He responded to antifungal treatment and recovered from granulocytopenia, but died early during the next course of chemotherapy. Two other reported cases of pneumopericardium associated with pulmonary aspergillosis are summarized. |
8070927 | Correlation between antifungal susceptibility testing of Candida isolates from patients with HIV infection and clinical results after treatment with fluconazole. | In an open-label controlled study 23 HIV-infected patients (CDC IV A-E) with documented oropharyngeal candidosis were treated with 100 mg fluconazole orally over 5 days (53 episodes; 1-6 treatments/patient). Efficacy data pared with a control group of 21 patients who received treatment for 10-21 days with 100 mg fluconazole for candidosis. Candida isolates were repeatedly recovered from patients before and after treatment with fluconazole and antifungal susceptibility testing (microbroth-dilution) was done. Inoculum size, medium pH, incubation time and temperature were standardized. Up to 85% of patients responded to therapy clinically and mycologically. Candida albicans was the most important yeast (86%) isolated from cultures of oral washings. In 90% of C. albicans isolates MIC to fluconazole were low (< or = 1.56 mg/l). Primary resistance to fluconazole was not seen, but secondary resistance occurred in two cases clinically and in vitro (MIC > or = 25 mg/l). Short treatment for 5 days was as successful as for 10 to 21 days without leading to significantly more recurrences of oral candidosis in these patients. Selection of Candida spp. other than C. albicans (e.g. Candida krusei, Torulopsis glabrata) under repeated fluconazole treatment occurred rarely. One patient developed clinical signs of chronic recurrent candidiasis, where only C. krusei could be cultured repeatedly. |
8070928 | Use of amphotericin B aerosols for the prevention of pulmonary aspergillosis. | Invasive pulmonary Aspergillus infections are increasingly recognized among severely neutropenic and/or immunosuppressed individuals. As the infections are usually acquired through the inhalation of Aspergillus conidia, at present prevention of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis consists mainly of the reduction of environmental exposure to aspergillus conidia. More recently, prophylaxis with amphotericin B aerosols has been investigated. Inhalations with amphotericin B aerosols significantly delayed mortality in an animal model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and high pulmonary concentrations of amphotericin B could be achieved. In man, pulmonary deposition of amphotericin B could also be demonstrated mercially available nebulizers. Inhalations were well tolerated with little systemic absorption of the drug. In order to evaluate the efficacy of aerosol amphotericin B administrations for the prevention of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, a prospective randomized trial has been initiated. |
8070926 | In vitro susceptibility and sterol biosynthesis of Candida albicans strains after long-term treatment with azoles in HIV-infected patients. | Over a period of 6 to 24 months a long term follow up of the in vitro antifungal susceptibility of 306 Candida albicans strains from 49 HIV-infected patients was performed. Using a microdilution test, the strains were tested against the azoles ketoconazole, itraconazole and fluconazole. The susceptibility range for fluconazole was between 1 and 128 mg/l, for itraconazole between 0.015 and 32 mg/l and for ketoconazole between 0.007 and 16 mg/l. 11.7% of the strains showed elevated IC30-values against ketoconazole, 9.1% against itraconazole and 10.1% against fluconazole. Sterol biosynthesis was examined by thin layer chromatography in 18 less sensitive strains and nine sensitive strains in the presence of ketoconazole. The proportion of ergosterol in the presence of ketoconazole at a concentration of 0.003 mg/l varied between 7.6% and 21.1% in sensitive strains and between 11.1% and 86.6% in less sensitive strains. In resistant control strains the proportion of ergosterol was 73% and 94.2%, respectively. Without ketoconazole the ergosterol proportion was > 85% in all strains. There was a significant correlation between the IC30-values and the inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis (p = 0.05). |
8070929 | Concentrations of ampicillin and sulbactam in serum and in various compartments of the respiratory tract of patients. | After infusion of 2 g ampicillin and 1 g sulbactam the concentrations of these two beta-lactams were determined in serum and partments of the respiratory tract of 22 patients. About 30 min after the end of the infusion in 15 patients the mean serum concentration of ampicillin was 97 +/- 9.5 mg/l and of sulbactam 37.6 +/- 3.8 mg/l; in the biopsy samples of bronchial mucosa the concentration of ampicillin was 38.6 +/- 7.2 mg/kg and of sulbactam 28.1 +/- 5.2 mg/kg; in bronchial fluid the concentration of ampicillin was 0.6 +/- 0.1 mg/l and of sulbactam 0.3 +/- 0.1 mg/l (n = 15). In a further seven patients serum and pleural empyema samples were analysed pared. The mean values of Cmax attained 1 to 2 h after the end of the infusion in pleural empyema were 7.6 +/- 3.1 mg/l and 6.2 +/- 1.6 mg/l for ampicillin and sulbactam, respectively. The two beta-lactams were eliminated markedly more slowly from empyema than from serum. These results show that ampicillin and sulbactam rapidly penetrate into partments of the respiratory tract and reach therapeutically active concentrations. The ratio of their concentrations (2:1) is largely the same as that in serum. The pharmacokinetic data therefore support the use of ampicillin/sulbactam in the perioperative prophylaxis and the treatment of bacterial infections of the lower respiratory tract. |
8070930 | Penetration of ampicillin and sulbactam into human costal cartilage. | The question of whether ampicillin and sulbactam are able to penetrate sufficiently into costal cartilage tissue was investigated in 21 children undergoing surgery for funnel chest malformations. The concentrations of pounds were determined in the core and mantle pieces of samples taken 45 min or 120 min after infusion of ampicillin/sulbactam (33.3/16.7 mg/kg bodyweight) preoperatively for antibiotic prophylaxis. Ampicillin was determined by bioassay and sulbactam was determined by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry. Mean concentrations of ampicillin were 23.3 mg/kg and 10.4 mg/kg at 45 min and at 27.4 mg/kg and 7.8 mg/kg 120 min in the mantle and core piece, respectively. Mean concentrations of sulbactam were at the same time 21.3 mg/kg and 9.7 mg/kg and 17.5 mg/kg and 11.9 mg/kg, respectively. These values indicate that pounds achieve high concentrations even in bradytrophic tissue such as cartilage. The concentrations exceed the MIC values of important bacterial pathogens involved in postoperative wound infections. Therefore ampicillin protected by sulbactam appears to be a well-suited agent for perioperative prophylaxis in thoracic surgery. |
8070931 | Non-invasive sampling for detection of genital infection with Chlamydia trachomatis in males utilising urinary leukocyte esterase tests and immunoassays. | First-void urine specimens from 224 male recruits and 443 patients of venereal disease clinics plaints of symptoms of urethritis were collected. Urinary leukocyte esterase test, two enzyme immunoassays (EIAs: Syva MicroTrak and Orion), a chemiluminometric assay (Magic Lite) and Syva's MicroTrak direct immunofluorescence test were used. The prevalence of chlamydial urethritis in the study population as determined by direct immunofluorescence test of first-void urine in the military recruits and venereal disease patients was 1.3% and 6.3%, respectively. The denominator used for calculation of sensitivities was the sum of patients with positive test results in at least two of the different test systems used. The sensitivities of first-void urine were 100% for Syva EIA, 96.7% for Orion EIA and 86.7% for the chemiluminometric assay. All assays proved highly specific (99.5-99.7%). Compared with direct immunofluorescence test of first-void urine, the urine leukocyte esterase test had a sensitivity of 93.6% and a specificity of 94.3%. The study showed that the urine leukocyte esterase test is an effective method to detect males infected by Chlamydia trachomatis. |
8070932 | First recorded outbreaks of meningococcal disease in the Israel Defence Force: three clusters due to serogroup C and the emergence of resistance to rifampicin. | Outbreaks of meningococcal disease were observed for the first time in the Israel Defence Force (I.D.F.) in 1992 and 1993, while in previous years, cases appeared in sporadic fashion. Two episodes in the winter of 1992 involving three and two individuals, respectively, were caused by Neisseria meningitidis group C, which was nontypable and nonsubtypable (C:NT:-). Three cases in one event in early 1993 were due to group C:NT:P1.2, the two secondary cases being caused by pletely resistant to rifampicin. While these outbreaks were small, they should be seen against a background of the emergence of relatively virulent clones of serogroup C which have caused significant outbreaks in several countries. This and the drug resistance problem will require medical decision-makers to review strategies for the prevention of meningococcal disease, taking into account alternative agents for chemoprophylaxis as well as a possible role for vaccination. |
8070933 | Hepatitis C virus infection in a sexually active inner city population. The potential for heterosexual transmission. | The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and associated risk factors in an inner city sexually active heterosexual population participating in a prospective study for the evaluation of heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) were examined. Individuals with prior history of injection drug use or receipt of blood products were excluded from the study. Of 571 participants, 25 (4.4%) were seropositive for HCV, 39 (7%) for HIV, and 125 (22%) for hepatitis B virus (HBV). Multivariate analysis revealed that those with more than ten heterosexual partners in the past 5 years (OR = 3.7; 95% CI = 1.3, 10.2; P = 0.01), engaging in sexual practices more than once per week (OR = 3.3; 95% CI = 1.1, 10.1; P = 0.04), with antibody to hepatitis B core (HBc) antigen (OR = 2.9; 95% CI = 1.1, 7.4; P = 0.03), and antibody to HIV-1 (OR = 5.8; 95% CI = 1.9; 17.6; P = 0.002) were independently associated with HCV infection. These findings suggest that heterosexual transmission of HCV may occur in an inner city sexually active heterosexual population. |
8070934 | Mucocutaneous diseases in drug addicts with or without HIV infection. A case-control study. | A case-control study was performed to evaluate the prevalence of mucocutaneous diseases in 106 male drug addicts (age 21-38 years) with or without HIV infection. A mucocutaneous disease was recorded in ten out of 64 HIV-negative and in 20 of 42 HIV-positive patients (OR = 4.9; p < 0.01). Some mucocutaneous diseases were present in similar proportions in both groups (i.e. fungal skin lesions), while others were typically present only in HIV-positive patients. Stratification for possible confounding factors, such as years of drug addiction and number of sexual partners, confirmed that HIV infection is the main risk factor for mucocutaneous disease. Stratification according to the number of CD4-positive cells showed that the more advanced the HIV disease, the more frequently mucocutaneous disease was present (p = 0.02). The study demonstrates that many, but not all, mucocutaneous diseases are associated with HIV infection. |
8070939 | The risk of male subfecundity attributable to welding of metals. Studies of semen quality, infertility, fertility, adverse pregnancy outcome and childhood malignancy. | These studies were initiated by the results of two Danish investigations of infertility clients, which indicated the reduced fecundity of male metal welders. The objective was to refute or corroborate the effects of welding on male reproductive capability and--if there was any effect--to identify the causal exposures. The initial hypothesis postulated reduced spermatogenesis, spontaneous abortion, congenital malformation and childhood malignancy following exposure to hexavalent chromium among stainless steel welders. Subsequently, a hypothesis concerned with the significance of exposure to radiant heat on reduced semen quality was put forward. These prised a case-referent study of infertility, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of semen quality and historical cohort studies of fertility, pregnancy e and cancer in offspring. Exposure to welding was reported with a higher frequency during periods of infertility than prior to conception in the case-referent study (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-4.0). This finding is consistent with the main cross-sectional study showing reduced semen quality in welders [average reduction ranging from 8% (sperm penetration rate in eggwhite) to 28% (total sperm count)] and with the cohort study revealing reduced fertility in relation to welding (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.83-0.97). However, reduced semen quality and fertility were not attributable to the welding of stainless steel but to the welding of mild steel; and no relationship was found between biological measures of exposure to chromium and parameters of semen quality. If the unexpected association between mild steel welding and reduced fecundity is causal, the biological mechanisms involved are obscure. A separate longitudinal study leaves little doubt that moderate radiant heat exposure may cause reversible deterioration of semen quality, but it is not justified to generalize this observation to the entire population of welders. Male-mediated effects on occurrence of congenital malformation and cancer in offspring from stainless steel welding are not indicated by the studies. Weak indications of an increased risk of spontaneous abortion among partners to stainless steel welders (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.2) need to be refuted or corroborated in future studies. Suggested effects of mild steel welding on male fecundity should be corroborated by longitudinal controlled studies of semen quality examined before and during exposure and by prospective studies of fecundability in couples trying to conceive a child. On account of the present knowledge it is not possible to mend rational preventative measures with the exception of elimination of radiant heat exposure in cases of infertility.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) |
8070935 | Amphotericin B versus amphotericin B plus 5-flucytosine: poor results in the treatment of proven systemic mycoses in neutropenic patients. | Twenty-eight neutropenic (< 500 granulocytes/microliters) adults with microbiologically or histologically proven systemic mycosis were randomly assigned to receive either amphotericin B alone (0.5 mg/kg/day; n = 14) or amphotericin B (0.5 mg/kg/day) plus 5-flucytosine (150 mg/kg/day; n = 14) intravenously. Therapy was given for an average duration of 10 days in both groups, amounting to a total dose of amphotericin B of 338 mg and 308 mg, respectively. The mean duration of granulocytopenia was 18 days in the amphotericin B group and 20 days in bination group. Only two patients treated with amphotericin B alone and three given bination survived. Adverse events were similar in both groups with an elevation of the serum creatinine in six cases during the administration of amphotericin B alone and in seven cases treated with bination. No other serious adverse events were encountered. Treatment with both regimens was disappointing partly because mycosis was too far advanced by the time therapy was begun and neutrophils were recovered in only half the patients. |
8070940 | Failure of neutrophils to recover their ability to produce superoxide after stunning by a conventional, acidic, lactate-based peritoneal dialysis solution. | Exposure of human neutrophils to conventional, acidic, lactate-based peritoneal dialysis solutions for 5 minutes results in a depression of superoxide generation. In spite of restoration of extracellular pH to 7.4, these stunned cells failed to recover their ability to generate the anion after a period of an hour. |
8070936 | Clinical significance of positive direct antiglobulin test in patients with HIV infection. | A direct antiglobulin test (DAT) was performed in 70 patients with anti-HIV antibodies (group A: seropositive patients without or with minimal disease and group B: AIDS patients with or without malignancies). A positive DAT was found in 24 of 70 patients (34%, significantly pared to 0.1% in healthy controls) and a higher prevalence of positive DAT was observed in group B than in group A patients (55% versus 21% p < 0.01). paring DAT-positive and negative patients within the same clinical group, no significant difference is seen in haemoglobin levels. There is no difference in serum bilirubin, haptoglobin or reticulocyte count between DAT-positive and negative patients altogether or in the same clinical group. AZT therapy seems to exert no significant influence on the onset of a positive DAT. The results confirm a high prevalence of positive DAT in patients with HIV antibodies, mainly in worse clinical conditions, and suggest that a positive DAT might be a prognostic factor in the clinical course of the disease. |
8070937 | Intrafamilial clustering of hepatitis A. | The intrafamilial clustering of hepatitis A virus infections (HAV) in families with an index case of sporadic hepatitis A was studied. Four hundred and three family members (84.3%) of 113 children with acute hepatitis A admitted to the Paediatric Department of the West Attica Hospital were included in the study. Epidemiological data and serum samples were collected within 1 week after the patient's admittance to the hospital. Enzyme-immunoassays were used to detect recent or past HAV infections. The attack rate of HAV infections in susceptible family members was found to be similar in susceptible fathers (16.6%, 1/6), mothers (23.5%, 4/17) and siblings (18.1%, 37/204). The infected family members belonged to 22 families. The attack rate was found to be higher in families with a lower immunity level, while the social class was not found to play an important role. The administration of ISG prevented further spread of hepatitis A among those susceptible. Our data suggest that immunoglobulin for HAV prevention should be given not only to children but also to parents and other adult family members in areas with a low prevalence of anti-HAV among adults. |
8070941 | Effectiveness and safety of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) in the treatment of anemia of chronic renal failure in non dialysis patients. European Multicentre Study Group. | Seventy-five non-dialized patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and severe renal anemia were enrolled in a study, receiving r-HuEPO subcutaneously thrice weekly for 6 months. In 64 patients (85%) 7 weeks of treatment with a weekly dose of 158 U/kg were required to achieve Hb concentrations within the target range of 10 to 12 g/dl. Of the 11 patients (15%) who failed to achieve the target Hb range, none were considered to be non-responders as they were excluded for unrelated reasons prior to week 16 (8 cases), or were iron deficient (2 cases), or had plications (1 patient). Maintaining the Hb concentration at a level of 10.5 g/dl required a mean r-HuEPO dose of 92 U/kg per week. Adverse events were generally mild or moderate. The monly reported were hypertension (8%), viral infection/including flu-like syndrome (7%), nausea (7%), and dizziness (5%). Statistically significant increases in mean creatinine concentrations observed after 12 and 24 weeks were most likely due to the progression of renal disease. These results confirm that 50 U/kg of r-HuEPO given 3 times per week subcutaneous provide a safe and effective therapy for anemic predialysis patients. |
8070942 | Amyloid bone disease and highly permeable synthetic membranes. | The effect of different highly permeable membranes on amyloid bone disease (ABD) was retrospectively evaluated in patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) in our Unit with a dialytic age of more than 4 years. A group of 36 patients (age 60 +/- 12 years) after a variable period (28 +/- 29 months) on hemodialysis with cuprophane membrane (CU-HD), were moved to HDF with a reinfusate volume of 22 +/- 1 1/session, for a period of 65 +/- 26 months using the following membranes: AN69 1.6 m2, PAN 1.8, PMMA 2.1, PS 1.3, polyamide (PA) 1.3 and 1.6. Bone x-rays of wrists, hips and shoulders were taken annually and the presence of ABD was evaluated according to generally accepted criteria. ABD occurred in 4 patients after a period of 73 +/- 30 months on CU-HD only; it developed in 4/7 patients an AN69, in 4/6 on PAN, in 3/5 on PMMA, in 3/5 on PS; no patient of the 13 on PA developed ABD. Comparing patients on PA with those on other synthetic membranes, no significant difference was found in dialysis time (73 +/- 19 vs 83 +/- 28 months) as well as in age (59 +/- 13 vs 61 +/- 11 years) at ABD on set, when present. These data strongly encourage prospective studies enrolling more patients for a longer period of observation in order to evaluate possible differences on ABD development among various synthetic membranes. |
8070938 | Shunt nephritis associated with Propionibacterium acnes. | Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was observed in a 22-year-old male patient in whom a ventriculoatrial shunt and a ventricular catheter were implanted after he was diagnosed in September 1989 with a cerebral cyst. Propionibacterium acnes infection of a central nervous system shunt was diagnosed. The ventriculoatrial shunt was removed (the catheter had e embedded in tissue and was left in place) and the patient was treated with cefotaxime (3 x 2 g) for 14 days. Renal function improved, but recovery was plete. |
8070943 | Prevention of hypovolemia-induced hypotension during hemodialysis by means of an optical reflection method. | In this study protocol we evaluate the clinical value of the continuous monitoring of blood volume (BV) during hemodialysis (HD) by means of an optical reflection method. In the course of a dialysis session the ratio between the ultrafiltration (UF) rate and the patient's refill capacity determines the extent of decrease of BV. A steep fall of BV and, moreover, a remaining absolute BV too low, cause the greater part of plaints. During 23 standard HD sessions BV was monitored by means of the optical method. Nine of the sessions plicated by hypotension (group H). Comparison of the mean BV graphs of group H with the graphs of plicated sessions (non-H) produces several differences. Most important is the fact that BV is better preserved in group non-H, a difference which is already significant during the first ninety minutes of dialysis. By making use of the shape of the monitored BV graph and HD patient, in that way, might be recognized as hypotension-prone during the first third of a dialysis session. To prevent the occurrence of hypovolemia-induced hypotension two strategies can be followed. First, the decrease of BV of a patient prone to hypotension can be triggered to the mean BV decrease according to the BV graph of the non-H group. This can be achieved by interventional methods, e.g. temporary lowering of the UF rate. However, for this intervention the development of a closed-loop circuit is required. Another possibility is to measure a patient's maximal refill capacity each hour of hemodialysis by taking advantage of the displayed BV graph.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
8070944 | Characterization of left ventricle function by analysis of pressure responses to steps in rotational speed of the Hemopump. | Optimizing the procedure of weaning the left ventricle from a left ventricular assist device requires the determination of the momentaneous condition of the left ventricle. In sheep, a method was developed to momentaneously quantify the left ventricular condition. The left ventricular pump condition was quantified by the time-varying parameters elastance and resistance. They were determined from perturbations in the left ventricular pressure of two subsequent beats induced by changes in flow of the assist device. The end-diastolic volume of the ventricle was estimated without directly measuring ventricular volume. Maximum elastance and resistance were 201.3 +/- 32.7 [Pa/ml] and 12.3 +/- 1.6 [Pa.s/ml], respectively (mean +/- SE). The ventricular time constant, defined by the ratio of resistance of elastance, was 84.6 +/- 17.1 [ms] (mean +/- SE). |
8070945 | Right heart function during left ventricular assistance in an open-chest porcine model of acute right heart failure. | Changes in the right ventricular function measured with a thermodilution ejection fraction catheter have been recorded in open-chest normal pigs and pigs with acute right heart failure (RVF) undergoing left ventricular assistance with a pneumatic-sac-type device (LVAD). To produce acute right heart failure, 5 pigs underwent ligation of the right ventricular free wall coronary arteries. Compared with normal pigs, cardiac output in ligated pigs fell by 21% (7.5 +/- 0.5 vs 9.5 +/- 1.2 L/min; p < 0.05) and the right ventricular end diastolic pressure rose (11.4 +/- 2.6 vs 5.7 +/- 3.6 vs mmHg: p < 0.05). With the left ventricular assist device connected, the right atrial pressure was increased to 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 mmHg by volume loading while maintaining the haematocrit at 35 +/- 6%. The right ventricular stroke work index (RVSWI) increased with volume loading in normal pigs. In RVF pigs, RVSWI increased significantly with the LVAD (59.2 +/- 5.8 vs 23.5 +/- 7.8 mmHg ml/min/kg, p < 0.01), approaching that of normal pigs (62.3 +/- 4.8 mmHg ml/min/kg). Similar changes were observed in the cardiac output and right ventricular stroke volume. These results show that, in this model of open-chest, mild, acute right heart failure, left ventricular assistance allows right ventricular function to return to normal, despite volume overloading, by decreasing right ventricular after load and increasing right pliance. |
8070946 | Tissue regenerating capacity of carbodiimide-crosslinked dermal sheep collagen during repair of the abdominal wall. | In future, the function of collagen-based biomaterials as temporary scaffolds for the generation of new tissue may be emphasized. In this study the function of dermal sheep collagen (DSC) crosslinked with carbodiimide (ENDSC) as repair material for abdominal wall defects in rats pared with that mercial hexamethylenediisocyanate-crosslinked HDSC. The results indicate that early after implantation both ENDSC and HDSC functioned well as a matrix for cellular ingrowth. However during further implantation HDSC soon degraded resulting in herniations, while ENDSC showed a delay in the degradation time of at least 20 weeks. ENDSC thereby enabled collagen new-formation and functioned as a guidance for muscle overgrowth. These results are very promising concerning the problem of the ongoing foreign body reaction with continuing risk of implant rejection observed in clinical practice with non-degradable materials. |
8070947 | Reconstruction of anal function by transposed gracilis muscle with electrical stimulation: rabbit model. | For the reconstruction of anal function for fecally incontinent patients, it could be practicable to transpose the gracilis muscle around the anal canal, with electrical stimulation to maintain contraction. It is necessary to keep continuous tonus, so tetanic contraction or "summation" would be essential for fecal continence, with a stimulation which permits prolonged contraction. Transposition of the gracilis muscle around the rectum was performed in thirteen Japanese white male rabbits. The muscles of the conditioning group (n = 8) were stimulated at 10 Hz for 6 weeks before the procedure. By stimulation at 15 Hz, a low frequency to permit prolonged contraction, the neoanal pressure increased maximally to 134.2 +/- 55.6 cmH2O (mean +/- s.d.) in the conditioning group, and to 115.0 +/- 37.1 cmH2O in the non-conditioning group (n = 5) (N.S.). But, the basal pressure with stimulation rose 82.3 +/- 12.4% (mean +/- s.d.) of the increase in the conditioning group, while that of the non-conditioning group remained at resting pressure (p < 0.001). The conditioning made it possible for the rabbit's gracilis muscle to create anal pressure with a sufficient rise in the basal pressure at a frequency permitting prolonged contraction. |
8070948 | The effects of anthelmintics on ovine larval nematode parasite migration in vitro. | The anthelmintics ivermectin, levamisole, morantel tartrate and thiabendazole all inhibited, in vitro, the motility of third stage larvae (L3) of Trichostrongylus colubriformis. The bioassay, based on the inhibition of L3 migration from agar gels, yielded sigmoid dose-response curves for ivermectin, levamisole and morantel tartrate, but not thiabendazole. The concentration of levamisole giving 50% inhibition of migration (EC50) was determined for Cooperia curticei, Haemonchus contortus, Nematodirus spathiger, Ostertagia circumcincta, Trichostrongylus axei, T. colubriformis and T. vitrinus. EC50s differed between species but within species the EC50s for ensheathed and exsheathed L3 were similar except for N. spathiger which showed significantly higher EC50 for the ensheathed L3. No difference between EC50s for levamisole-resistant and susceptible strains of T. colubriformis were found. Similarly, morantel-resistant and susceptible strains of T. colubriformis could not be differentiated in this bioassay. The inhibition of L3 motility by known pounds in this bioassay suggests that the bioassay could be used as a screen for potential new anthelmintics. |
8070949 | The partition and fate of soluble and digesta particulate associated oxfendazole and its metabolites in the gastrointestinal tract of sheep. | The disposition of oxfendazole (OFZ) containing a trace of [14C]OFZ was examined in the gastrointestinal tract and bloodstream of sheep fitted with rumen and abomasal cannulae. Within 2 h of intraruminal (IR) administration, OFZ and its metabolites were pletely associated with rumen particulate digesta. The proportion of metabolites in digesta fluid increased with their passage from the rumen into the abomasum. To determine the fate of 14C-labelled metabolites after distribution throughout rumen digesta, the rumen particulate and fluid digesta phases from a donor sheep were separated and each transferred to the rumen of an untreated recipient sheep. The 14C-labelled metabolites which derived from the donor rumen fluid quickly associated with recipient rumen particulate material. The metabolites were then progressively desorbed, as were metabolites which were transferred already associated with rumen particulate digesta. Desorption occurred faster in the abomasum than in the rumen. There was no difference in uptake kinetics between administration routes, indicating rapid equilibrium. Consequently the disposition of [14C] OFZ and its metabolites in the bloodstream was similar in each group. It is suggested that the progressive desorption of particulate associated metabolites is a principal determinant of the duration of OFZ availability. |
8070950 | Treatment of multiple resistant field strain of Ostertagia spp. in Cashmere and Angora goats. | A multiple resistant field strain of gastro-intestinal nematodes was detected in Cashmere and Angora goats imported from New Zealand. Different treatments with three types of broad spectrum anthelmintics (albendazole, levamisole/tetramisole and ivermectin) at various dose rates are described. Satisfactory effect in Angora goats was not achieved until all three anthelmintics were administered simultaneously at twice the normal sheep dose. Post mortem worm counts and identification revealed that the resistant population consisted of 89% Ostertagia circumcincta, 6% Ostertagia ostertagi and 5% Ostertagia trifurcata. However, egg hatch assay carried out seven months later detected the presence of resistant nematodes again. |
8070951 | Worm population characteristics and pathological changes in lambs after a single or trickle infection with Teladorsagia circumcincta. | The regulation of the worm population and of its pathological effects was studied after a single or trickle infection with T. circumcincta. One hundred and twenty lambs, 60 Romanov and 60 Mérinos d'Arles, 3 months old, were distributed in four balanced groups: non-infected (G0), infected with 7000 L3 per animal once and slaughtered after 4 weeks (G14) or 8 weeks (G18), and infected 8 times and slaughtered after 8 weeks (G88). Parasitological, histological, haematological parameters and weight gains were recorded on each animal. Female and artificially nursed lambs had lower worm burdens and egg counts (epg) than males and naturally suckled lambs. No difference in parasitological parameters was seen between the two breeds, but Mérinos lambs infected once, had a higher increase in pepsinogen concentrations than Romanov lambs. In the infected animals, a significant proliferation of mast and eosinophil cells was observed in the abomasum wall. Serum pepsinogen concentrations were significantly higher 3 weeks p.i. and the weight gain was depressed during the first month p.i. The worm population was more numerous and younger in group pared with G18 in which 24% of the worms had been expelled during the second month p.i. The female worms in G18 were longer and had more eggs in utero and higher egg output. After the trickle infection (G88) the take was reduced, female worms were longer with more eggs in vagina (pars ejectrix) and there was a higher variability in the number of eggs (compared with G18 data). The pepsinogen rise was smaller but no specific effect was seen on histological and haematological parameters.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
8070953 | Adenosine analogues as antimetabolites against Plasmodium falciparum malaria. | Analogues of purine nucleosides and deoxynucleosides were tested for toxicity against the intraerythrocytic parasite Plasmodium falciparum in vitro culture. Sangivamycin (7-deaza-7-amido-adenosine) (IC37 of 0.3 microM), tubercidin (7-deaza-adenosine) (IC37 of 0.7 microM), 6-methylamino-deoxyadenosine (IC37 of 10 microM), 8-aza-2-amino-deoxy-adenosine (IC37 of 11 microM) and 2-chloro-adenosine (IC37 of 11 microM) were found to be the most toxic towards the parasite. Structure-activity analysis suggested that alteration of the purine ring at the 7 or 8 position significantly increased the toxicity of pound against P. falciparum. Analysis by HPLC of parasite lysates which had been subjected to the pounds confirmed that alterations in the flux of the purine salvage pathways of the parasite had occurred. Comparison of the toxicity of pounds against P. falciparum with the toxicity against a similar intraerythrocytic parasite, Babesia bovis, or human melanoma cell lines indicated a differential toxicity, in that many of pounds toxic towards P. falciparum were relatively non-toxic towards human melanoma cell lines or B. bovis and vice versa. The mechanism of toxicity of the deoxyadenosine and adenosine analogues, whose normal metabolism involves transport, metabolism and incorporation into nucleic acids appears to vary significantly between P. falciparum, B. bovis and mammalian cells. |
8070952 | Diagnosis of Babesia caballi infections in horses by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot. | From Babesia caballi in vitro cultures a preparation of 100% infected erythrocytes was obtained. From this, B. caballi antigens were extracted with the detergent 3-[(3-Cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propane-sulfonate (CHAPS) and used as ELISA antigens. A control antigen of normal erythrocytes from the same donor horse was prepared in an identical manner. The ELISA and Western blot were validated by testing of sera from horses experimentally infected with B. caballi or B. equi or not infected with Babesia spp. ELISA and Western blot results pared with those obtained by the immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) plement fixation test (CFT). The sensitivity of the ELISA of 98.3% obtained for sera from day 14 after infection was superior to the Western blot (94.9%), the IFAT (96.6%) and the CFT (28.8%). No positive results were obtained in the ELISA and Western blot with 106 sera from horses not infected with Babesia spp. resulting in a calculated specificity of 100% for both tests. Cross reactions of B. equi-positive sera did occur to a larger extent in the ELISA (20%) than in the IFAT (4%). No cross reactions were observed with the Western blot and the CFT. The higher sensitivity of the ELISA was also demonstrated by testing of 132 field sera: more positive results were obtained by ELISA (112) pared to IFAT (92) or CFT (41). The validity of these results was confirmed by testing of sera by Western blot. The ELISA as the most sensitive test provides the best method for the identification of carrier horses to prevent the introduction into non-endemic areas (export testing).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
8070954 | Two new members in the Contracaecum osculatum complex (Nematoda, Ascaridoidea) from the Antarctic. | The genetic structure of adults and larvae of Contracaecum osculatum (sensu lato) from the Antarctic is analyzed on the basis of 24 enzyme loci. Significant deviations of genotype frequencies from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were found, even in samples recovered from the same host. These data indicate that two distinct, reproductively isolated species coexist in C. osculatum (sensu lato) samples from the Antarctic. They were provisionally designated C. osculatum D and E, as they do not correspond to any of the three species previously detected in plex from the Atlantic Arctic Boreal region (C. osculatum A, B and C). An allozyme diagnostic key for the identification of the five members of the C. plex, at the larval and adult stage and in both sexes, is given. Species D and E were found to be genetically quite variable: average P99 = 84.3, A = 3.3 and He = 0.23. Both showed high values of intraspecific gene flow: Nm = 4.6 and 6.1 respectively; similar values were found for the Arctic-Boreal C. osculatum A, B and C. The most related members of plex are the Antarctic species E and the Arctic-Boreal species A (DNei = 0.21), while the most differentiated ones are the Arctic-Boreal species B and C (DNei = 0.76). The evolutionary divergence of C. osculatum C started more than 3 million years ago, in a Pliocene refugium (Baltic Sea). As to the other C. osculatum species, their evolutionary divergence took place during Pleistocene, when plex achieved a bipolar distribution. This process involved two distinct colonizations of the marine Antarctic region by ancestors of the northern hemisphere, about 1.5 and 1 million years ago, giving origin to C. osculatum D and E respectively. |
8070955 | The production and characterisation of monoclonal antibodies to Lucilia cuprina larval antigens. | A panel of murine monoclonal antibodies was produced against three Lucilia cuprina larval preparations that are unlikely to be exposed to the sheep's immune system during a normal infection. Antibodies were successfully produced against a crude third instar midgut homogenate preparation (MG), and Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and Triton X-114 (TX) detergent extracts of first instar larvae. Characterisation of the relevant antigens was performed using 1- and 2D gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, immunoperoxidase histological studies and in vitro larval growth cultures. All the mAbs were of the IgM isotype. Common recognition of bands at 40, 50 and 80 kDA was evident on 1D blots of larval organ preparations by most mAbs while recognition of antigens in the 2D blots appeared to be more specific. Immunohistological studies suggested that a number of the antibodies specifically bound to intracellular structures within the midgut epithelium. However, antibodies derived from one clone also recognised the epithelium of Malpighian tubules, oenocytes and muscle fibres. None of the antibodies raised against TX extracts were observed to bind to larval structures. Results of larval cultures suggested that certain antibodies could significantly inhibit larval survival and growth in vitro. |
8070956 | Effects of Plasmodium berghei (Apicomplexa) on Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nematoda) infection in the mouse, Mus musculus. | Ova and free oxygen radical production and relative peripheral eosinophilia during single and concurrent infections in mice with P. berghei and N. brasiliensis were investigated. Prolonged helminth patent periods indicate that Nippostrongylus self-cure in concurrently infected mice was suppressed. Differential white blood cell determinations showed that the relative number of peripheral blood eosinophils steadily increased (P < or = 0.05) during a Nippostrongylus infection pared to noninfected controls. Eosinophil levels in mice singly infected with P. berghei or concurrently infected with both parasites did not differ significantly from those of controls suggesting a suppression by Plasmodium of Nippostrongylus-induced eosinophilia. Generation of intestinal free oxygen radicals was indirectly assessed using the Thiobarbituric Acid Assay to measure malondialdehyde (MDA). Intestinal MDA levels were significantly elevated (P < or = 0.05) during single Plasmodium infections as well as concurrent infections while there was no change in MDA production during single Nippostrongylus infections. These results suggest suppression by Plasmodium of the immune response to Nippostrongylus, allowing prolonged patent periods. They also suggest that eosinophils play a role in self-cure while free oxygen radicals do not. |
8070957 | A cytidine triphosphate synthetase gene in Plasmodium falciparum. | The malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum is dependent on de novo synthesis for its pyrimidine nucleotide requirements. However, the activity of the key enzyme in cytidine nucleotide synthesis, CTP synthetase (EC 6.3.4.2), has not been reported. We present evidence for a CTP synthetase gene in P. falciparum, having isolated a PCR product obtained using 2 primers derived from the CTP synthetase amino acid consensus sequences DPYINVDPG and GICLGMQ. The amplified DNA segment encodes an amino acid sequence with considerable homology to CTP synthetases from several other species including human and yeast. |
8070958 | Phlebotomus perniciosus Newstead, 1911, infection by various zymodemes of the Leishmania infantum complex in the Granada province (southern Spain). | This study presents the results of the isoenzymatic characterization of 21 strains of Leishmania of sandfly (P. perniciosus) origin from the Torvizcón area. It forms an integral part of a larger eco-epidemiological study of the Alpujarras (Granada province, Southern Spain). The strains analysed were shown to belong to the L. plex based on the results of 15 enzymes. The electrophoretic profiles for the enzymes MDH, G6PD and NP1 have permitted the identification of four zymodemes: GR-1 (5 strains), GR-2 (2 strains), GR-3 (13 strains) and GR-7 (1 strain); only one of these zymodemes, GR-1, was found in the Torvizcón area in the vertebrate host (man and dog). This is the first time zymodeme GR-7 has been described. |
8070959 | Detection of Cryptosporidium and Giardia intestinalis in Bedouin children from southern Israel. | During an 18 month period, a total of 4796 stool specimens collected from 151 Bedouin children enrolled in a cohort study and followed from birth, were screened for Giardia intestinalis, Cryptosporidium spp. and other intestinal parasites. Specimens were collected in phenol-alcohol-formalin (PAF) preservative and examined prior to, and after, formalin-ether concentration (FEC). During 6 months of the second year Giardia intestinalis was observed in 17.6% of the specimens and Cryptosporidium in 0.9% pared with 1.8% (Giardia intestinalis) and 1.6% (Cryptosporidium) observed during the first year. Giardia intestinalis was detected in 8.4% (407/4796) of all the samples examined and Cryptosporidium in 1.3% (63/4796). Other intestinal protozoan parasites and helminthic ova demonstrated in the stool specimens included: Entamoeba coli (0.1%); Entamoeba histolytica (< 0.1%); Hymenolepis nana (0.1%); and Trichuris trichiura (< 0.1%). Mixed infection with 2 parasites was observed in 0.3% of the specimens. PAF fixation was found to be highly effective in preserving the integrity and antigenicity of both Cryptosporidium-oocysts and Giardia intestinalis-cysts. The detection rate of Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium before FEC was not significantly different from that obtained after FEC, showing differences of only 1% and 3% for Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium, respectively. |
8070960 | Adoptive transfer of protection to Taenia taeniaeformis infection in rats with immune spleen cells. | The effector mechanism of the protection against re-infection with eggs of Taenia taeniaeformis was evaluated in rats by analysing protection dynamics against an ongoing primary infection. Immune spleen cells were prepared from F344 donor rats 10 days after oral inoculation with 200 eggs and used for adoptive transfer experiments. When F344 recipient rats were injected intravenously with immune spleen cells (2 x 10(8)) from 2 to 48 h after a primary egg inoculation, there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of metacestodes recovered at day 30 of the infection. The highest protection figures were obtained in rats given immune cells at 12 or 24 h of the primary infection. The maximum reduction induced with immune cells was 92% when they were injected at 12 h of the ongoing infection. It is strongly suggested that the vulnerable stage of the parasite damaged by immune spleen cells is the initial stage of infection (oncosphere and post-oncosphere stages in the liver within 2 days, especially between 12 and 24 h). |
8070961 | Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis on the serum lipids of rabbits infected with Schistosoma japonicum: oxidative modifications of diene system in fatty chains. | Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy was used to characterize the oxidized products in the serum lipoprotein lipids (LPL) of rabbits infected with Schistosoma japonicum. The loss of bis-allylic and allylic methylenes proton peaks (2.7 and 2.0 p.p.m.) of unsaturated systems of the LPL and the appearance of the signals of the conjugated diene systems of hydroperoxide (5.43-6.45 p.p.m.) and epidioxide (2.45 p.p.m.) of the fatty chains of the serum demonstrated the lipids degradation associated with the Schistosoma infection. |
8070962 | Potentiation of ionophorous anticoccidials with dihydroquinolines: reduction of adverse interactions with antimicrobials. | In two experiments, patibility of the binations of monensin and duokvin, as well as that of maduramicin and duokvin, with some antimicrobials widely used in the broiler production was studied in cockerels. The bination was found to be patible with erythromycin, sulphachlorpyrazine, and sulphaquinoxaline. With tiamulin, a slight interaction was observed, but it was far less severe than the toxic interaction between monensin and the diterpene antibiotic. The bination proved to patible with all of the chemotherapeutics tested, including tiamulin. The results of the studies indicate that the adverse interactions of monensin and maduramicin with certain antimicrobials can be considerably diminished or even abolished by using them in reduced doses bination with the pound duokvin. |
8070963 | Sheep small intestinal mast cells/globule leucocytes: ability to divide. | The number of mucosal mast cells/globule leukocytes (MMC/GLs) increase in the intestinal mucosa in response to nematode parasite infections but it is not known if this accumulation is due to in situ cell division, derivation from elsewhere or bination of both. To determine if MMC/GLs can divide, cells were obtained from immunized Romney sheep and cultured in vitro in RPMI 1640. For cultures supplemented with 10, 20 or 30% foetal lamb serum (FLS) or foetal calf serum (FCS) and without concanavalin A (Con A), cell division had ceased by day 2, but with Con A (3 micrograms ml-1) cell division continued to day 9. Better growth of cells was obtained with the higher concentrations of serum. However the use of 30% or 50% autologous serum with Con A lead to cell death but 10% serum permitted limited growth. The detrimental effect of autologous serum could be e by increasing the Con A concentration. It was established that an alpha-macroglobulin present in autologous serum can bind Con A. This macroglobulin appears to have a higher avidity for Con A than does the receptor(s) on the surface of MMC/GLs. Our data seem to indicate that a direct interaction of Con A with the cell surface or a receptor(s) is responsible for MMC/GLs division. |
8070964 | The status and composition of the genus Steringophorus Odhner, 1905 (Digenea: Fellodistomidae), based on partial small subunit rRNA sequences. | Analysis of partial small subunit (18S) rRNA sequences shows the paraphyly of the genus Steringophorus as currently recognised. In consequence it is necessary to change the conception of the genus by the transfer of the species Steringophorus agnotus and S. sebastodis back to their original genus, Fellodistomum. |
8070965 | Primary structure, spectroscopic and inhibitory properties of a two-chain trypsin inhibitor from the seeds of charlock (Sinapis arvensis L), a member of the napin protein family. | A protein with inhibitory activity toward trypsin has been isolated from Sinapis arvensis L (charlock). It has a molecular weight of 15,500 and consists of two chains connected by disulfide bonds. The amino acid sequence was determined and showed that it belongs to the napin family of storage proteins. CD studies showed an alpha-helix content of 12% and a beta-structure of about 50%. |
8070966 | Some 'difficult sequences' made easy. A study of interchain association in solid-phase peptide synthesis. | Case studies of the solid-phase synthesis of some 'difficult sequences' using continuous-flow Fmoc-polyamide techniques are presented. Solvent change and peptide side chain and backbone modification procedures recently found to reduce association effects are applied, and the pared to syntheses under standard conditions. |
8070967 | Human parathyroid hormone: efficient synthesis in Escherichia coli using a synthetic gene, purification and characterization. | Human parathyroid hormone is a peptide hormone consisting of 84 amino acid residues. Production of small proteins by direct expression in Escherichia coli is often unsuccessful owing to susceptibility of the mRNA and/or the product to endogenous enzymes. In this study, direct expression of the hormone at an excellent level (over 100 mg/L) has been achieved by using a suitably designed synthetic gene under the control of the T7 promoter. The protein produced in bacteria was extracted and easily purified in a good yield of 27 mg/L. The purified product was physico-chemically identified as intact human parathyroid hormone from the results of amino acid analysis, N-terminal sequencing, and peptide mapping using fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. In biological assays the purified product stimulated adenylate cyclase in vitro, promoted bone growth and increased the serum osteocalcin in rats to the same extent as the authentic hormone. |
8070968 | Solid-phase syntheses of phosphorylated and thiophosphorylated peptides related to an EGFR sequence. | The 13 amino acid EGFR-sequence AENAEYLRVAPQS-NH2 containing the in vivo autophosphorylated Tyr 1171, was synthesized by Fmoc continuous-flow SPPS with and without N-terminal Boc protection. In addition to the native sequence, peptides in which tyrosine was exchanged by serine and threonine were prepared. Global phosphorylation of the unprotected hydroxyl amino acids on the resin with di-tert-butyl-N,N-diethylphosphoramidite and 1H-tetrazole followed by in situ oxidation of the resulting phosphites with tert-butyl hydroperoxide or with dibenzoyl tetrasulfide resulted in the tyrosine-, serine- and threonine-phosphorylated and -thiophosphorylated sequences, respectively. The quality of the products after phosphorylation with N-terminal protection was better than without. Whereas the serine- and threonine-thiophosphate group was stable, tyrosine-thiophosphate turned out to be hydrolytically labile under acidic conditions. The rate of hydrolysis was determined with the tyrosine-thiophosphorylated model dipeptide Ac-Tyr-Gly-OH between pH 0.1 and 8. Hydrolysis was fastest at pH 3, with a half-time of 12.5 h at room temperature. The tyrosine-thiophosphate group pletely stable at pH 8. |
8070969 | Solvent effects on the conformation of cyclo(-D-Trp-D-Asp-Pro-D-Val-Leu-). An NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling study. | The conformations of cyclo(-D-Trp-D-Asp-Pro-D-Val-Leu-) in dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO-d6) and water were determined using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and restrained molecular dynamics. Comparisons were made between conformations of the cyclic pentapeptide in both solvents. The NMR study revealed that, while the backbone remained relatively unchanged in both solvents, the side-chains adopted distinctly different orientations in DMSO-d6 vs. H2O. A modeling study, minus NOE constraints, produced a set of low-energy conformers possessing agreement in backbone conformation with the NMR-derived structures; however, lowest-energy conformers did not have this agreement. These results show that different solvents can significantly affect the preferred side-chain conformation of small cyclic peptides in solution. This finding will impact the selection of solvent when determining structures for use as templates in rational drug design. |
8070970 | Synthesis of the cardiac inotropic polypeptide anthopleurin-A. | The sea anemone polypeptide anthopleurin-A (AP-A) at nanomolar concentrations enhances myocardial contractility without affecting automaticity. It has a therapeutic index higher than that of the digitalis glycosides, and may serve as a molecular model for designing a new class of inotropic drugs acting on the myocardial Na channel at site 3. AP-A is a 49 residue peptide crosslinked by three disulfide bonds; its tertiary structure has been determined by NMR. Here we report the solid-phase synthesis of this polypeptide. Synthetic AP-A displayed CD and NMR spectra identical with those of the natural toxin; it possessed 94 +/- 15% of the inotropic activity of natural AP-A. Therefore, it is feasible to prepare various type 1 sea anemone toxin analogs by solid-phase chemical synthesis in order to identify side chains important for peptide folding and interaction with sodium channels. |
8070971 | Effects of C alpha-methyl substitution on the conformation of linear GnRH antagonist analogs. | We have examined the effect of C alpha-methyl groups on the conformational ensemble of GnRH analog peptides paring 1H 2D NMR data from two analogs, Ac-D-Nal1-D-4-Cl-C alpha-Me-Phe2-D-Pal3-Ser4-Tyr5-D-Arg6-Leu7-Arg8-Pro9-D-Al a10- NH2 (1) and Ac-D-Nal1-D-4-Cl-C alpha-Me-Phe2-D-Pal3-Ser4-C alpha-Me-Tyr5-D-Arg6- Leu7-C alpha-Me-Arg8-Pro9-D-Ala10-NH2 (2). The two additional C alpha-methyl groups in residues 5 and 8 of 2 do not influence significantly the pattern of the observable main chain NOE intensities, or of the backbone HN proton chemical shifts, which indicates that they do not produce global changes in the conformational ensemble of the peptide. A local change induced by the substitution was observed in the conformation at D-Arg8-Pro9. |
8070972 | Stepwise synthesis of a GalNAc-containing cluster glycoside ligand of the asialoglycoprotein receptor. | A series of peptidylglycoside derivatives, including the tris(GalNAc-aminohexyl) glycoside of tyrosyl(glutamyl)-glutamate (1) which is known to have sub-nanomolar affinity for the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPr), have been synthesized using the protected tetra-O-acetyl aminohexyl glycoside (9) of N-acetylgalactosamine. The N-succinyl derivative of 1 was also prepared, providing a derivative for bioconjugate formation via carboxyl activation of the glycopeptide. Use of the protected glycoside 9 affords synthetic intermediates with increased solubility in organic solvents that are easier to purify and use in subsequent synthetic manipulations parison pounds containing unprotected glycosides. These synthetic procedures will be generally applicable to the preparation of pounds to probe binding to the ASGPr and the use of these cluster glycosides as ligands for targeted delivery to the liver. |
8070974 | Substrate phosphorylation capacities of the major tyrosine protein kinase from the human promyelocytic cell line, HL-60. | The major tyrosine protein kinase, HPK40, isolated from HL-60, the preparation of which is described elsewhere (Ernould, A.P., Ferry, G., Barret, J.M., Genton, A. and Boutin, J.A., Eur. J. Biochem., 214, 503-514), was investigated as to its specificity on a number of peptides and proteins. It was found that HPK40 can phosphorylate histones (except histone H4), casein, acid-treated enolase, actin and tubulin but not calmodulin. Phosphorylation specificity of HPK40 was investigated using over a hundred peptidic structures. HPK40 is not related to the 'src' family and does not phosphorylate efficiently either the tetrapeptide NEYT derived from the pp60src autophosphorylation domain or the corresponding peptide RRsrc, RRLIED-NEYTARG. VALYDYESR from the SH3 domain of pp60c-src is recognized as a substrate with a high phosphorylation level. DEDYIQD, derived from the phosvitin/casein kinase II, was also highly phosphorylated. In order to determine the minimal recognition sequence of HPK40, the phosphorylation of about 60 dito tetrapeptides was investigated. Some of the tetrapeptides, such as *EEYE and NEYE, were well phosphorylated. Even some tripeptides, such as EYE, DYM, TYS and KYE, were recognized by HPK40, while none of the tested dipeptides was recognized as substrate. Sequences of peptides from DRVYHPF (angiotensin), LEEEEEAYGWMDF (minigastrin) and QEEYSAM (from H-ras1) were examined as substrates. The presence of one or several acidic residues on the N alpha-side of tyrosine residue was identified as the only apparently favorable determinant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
8070973 | Leiurotoxin I, a scorpion toxin specific for Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels. Structure-activity analysis using synthetic analogs. | Recently, we reported a structure-activity relationship study on P05, a novel leiurotoxin I-like scorpion toxin which is selective for the apamin-sensitive Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel [Sabatier et al. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 2763-2770]. Arg6, Arg7 and C-terminal His31 appeared to be key residues for P05 biological activity. Owing to the high sequence identity between P05 and leiurotoxin I (87%), several analogs of leiurotoxin I (Lei-NH2) with point mutations at these positions were designed and chemically synthesized using an optimized solid-phase technique. The synthesized peptides were [L6]Lei-NH2, [R7]Lei-NH2, Lei-OH and [R7]Lei-OH, as well as fragment [R7,Abu8]N4-S11-NH2. A chimeric analog ([M22,K24,R27]Lei-NH2), which possesses part of the iberiotoxin C-terminus, was also constructed. Circular dichroism analyses of these analogs, in agreement with their structural models obtained by molecular dynamics, showed that the point mutations did not significantly affect the overall secondary structures, pared to natural Lei-NH2. All the peptides and natural toxins pared in vitro for their capacity to inhibit binding of [125I]-apamin to rat brain synaptosomes, and in vivo for their specific neurotoxicity in mice. The Arg6 residue was essential for high biological activity of leiurotoxin I. Further, substitution of Met7 in the natural toxin by Arg7, or C-terminal amidation of His31, greatly increased affinity for the apamin receptor but did not significantly affect toxin neurotoxicity. Remarkably, the chimeric analog [M22,K24,R27]Lei-NH2 was found to retain leiurotoxin I-like activity, thus indicating that the negatively charged residues Asp24 and Glu27 (and Ile22) are not directly involved in the high toxin bioactivity. However, the chimeric molecule had no iberiotoxin-like effect on rat muscular maxi-K+ channels incorporated in lipid bilayers. |
8070975 | A new general solid-phase method for the synthesis of backbone-to-backbone cyclized peptides. | A model peptide with the sequences Ala-Pro-Lys(2ClZ)-Tyr(2BrZ) was synthesized on a 4-methylbenzhydryl amine (MBHA) polystyrene resin using conventional Boc/benzyl protective group strategy. The amino acid aldehyde Boc-valinal was coupled by reductive alkylation with NaCNBH3 in acidified DMF for 1 h. The secondary amine in the peptide-resin Boc-Val psi[CH2NH]Ala-Pro-Lys(2ClZ)-Tyr(2BrZ)-MBHA was reductively alkylated by 3(4-methylbenzylthio)-propanal at 40 degrees C for 6 h, resulting the peptide-resin Boc-Val psi[CH2N(CH2CH2CH2-S-pMeBzl)]Ala-Pro-Lys(2ClZ)-T yr(2BrZ)-MBHA. After the removal of the Boc group the synthesis was continued employing the above-mentioned methods, which led to the resin-bound peptide Leu psi[CH2N(CH2CH2CH2S-pMeBzl)]Ser-Pro-Gly-Lys(2ClZ )-Val psi [CH2N(CH2CH2CH2-S-pMeBzl)]Ala-Pro-Lys(2ClZ)-Tyr( 2BrZ)-MBHA. The peptide was cleaved from the resin with hydrogen fluoride. Reversed-phase HPLC and plasma desorbtion mass spectrometry analysis showed that the expected peptide Leu psi[CH2N(CH2CH2CH2SH)]Ser-Pro-Gly-Lys-Val psi[CH2N(CH2CH2CH2-SH)] Ala-Pro-Lys-Tyr-NH2 was obtained as the major product with low levels of side products. Intramolecular oxidation of the thiols gave the backbone to backbone cyclized peptide Leu psi[CH2N(CH2CH2CH2S)]Ser-Pro-Gly-Lys- Val psi[CH2N(CH2CH2CH2-S)]Ala-Pro-Lys-Tyr-NH2. |
8070976 | Referral patterns of dentists: transference-countertransference. | The doctor-patient, doctor-doctor dental relationships are discussed from the viewpoint of transference-countertransference psychodynamics. The dental referral process is a triad of patient, general practitioner and specialist and, in many ways, is dependent upon Freud's concept of transference-countertransference. The unconscious distortions of this process may affect the patient's treatment as well as the interpersonal and intraprofessional relationships. |
8070977 | Twelve years of experience with yoga in psychiatry. | The author describes his experience with the use of yoga in the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug related problems, in psychosomatics, neuroses, geriatric psychiatry, and in some other areas. He deals with problems of the use of yoga in psychiatry pliance, systems petitiveness and respecting specific indications in regard to health status and contraindications with personal differences. The usefulness of yoga in the prevention of stress and burn-out in health care professionals is emphasized. |
8070979 | The manifest problem as the psychoanalytic unit in the interpretation of dreams. | A psychoanalytic view of dream interpretation is presented based on a previous study demonstrating that the manifest content of the dream reflects ongoing significant problems and dilemmas of the dreamer. It is argued that a specifically psychoanalytic dream interpretation is one in which the focus is on the transference and resistance manifestations produced by the treatment situation, rather than a never ending search for distorted infantile or childhood motivations. |
8070980 | Salivary composition, gender and psychosocial stress. | The purpose of the present study was to evaluate position as an indicator of psychological stress. A group of 26 new Israeli patients in a stress management clinic was studied in an attempt to assess both the effects of long standing trait-related stress as well as that of situational state related stress. Significantly higher state anxiety scores, blood pressure, pulse rate, and lower salivary flow rates were found in the patients before pared to after the initial psychodiagnostic interview, illustrating the effect of a situational stress. Significantly lower salivary flow rates and elevated total protein concentrations were found in the patients after the interview pared to healthy controls, illustrating the effect of sympathetic enhancement associated with more stable trait-related psychological stress. Salivary electrolytes (Na and K) and IgA did not differ significantly when the clinical sample pared to the control group. Although male patients reported lower state anxiety than female patients did, their hemodynamic and position measures indicated a higher sympathetic arousal, possibly reflecting Israeli male patient difficulties in adapting their distress. |
8070981 | Quantifying the density of Friedman's pathogenic emotions (AIAI). | Because of both psychoneuroendocrine and psychobehavioral mechanisms, the chronicity of negative emotional arousal is probably the mon pathway mediating the relationship of psychosocial factors (cognitions, environments and behaviors) on one side of the mind-brain chasm, and ischemic heart disease (IHD) on the other. But the problem of "denial" remains a potential source of measurement error in studies of the association of such factors and IHD endpoints. The present study examined the association of patient-reported and spouse/friend-reported AIAI (aggravation, irritation, anger and impatience) with four measures of Type A Behavior or hostility (the Framingham Type A Scale, Cook-Medley Hostility Scale, Type A Structured Interview and a Hostility rating from the Structured Interview) in two samples: 175 men undergoing coronary angiography; and 56 age and SES-matched males with no manifest history of occlusive atherosclerotic disease. Chronic AIAI was underreported by the sample as a whole relative to spouse/friend perception, while the opposite was true of Depression and Anxiety/Worry (p < .001). All four measures were significantly associated with both patient and spouse/friend reported chronicity of AIAI, but the FTAS was the most reliable correlate according to both sources. The FTAS was also negatively associated with denial of AIAI, while the other three measures were not. |
8070982 | Evaluation of the Chinese version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A cross-cultural perspective. | The authenticity of the Chinese translation of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) was tested in a sample of medical students. The Chinese version demonstrated good agreement with the English original. There was a large difference between the mean anxiety and depression subscores. Factor analysis consistently yielded three factors, suggesting the existence of a somatic factor. It is suggested that mon cut-off point for the subscales of the HAD scale is not advisable and a multidimensional model for mood disorders is more appropriate in a cross-cultural context. |
8070984 | Measuring the psychological construct of control. Discriminant, divergent, and incremental validity of the Shapiro Control Inventory and Rotter's and Wallstons' Locus of Control Scales. | The psychological construct of control is increasingly thought to be an important variable in psychosomatic medicine, but there are limitations with how it has been measured by previous instruments. The current study details four limitations of previous instruments as a rationale for developing a new multi-faceted, multi-dimensional instrument to measure control, the Shapiro Control Inventory (SCI). Discriminant, divergent, and incremental validity of the SCI pared with the Rotter's Internal/External Locus of Control Scale and Wallstons' Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales on five groups, one normal and four clinical groups (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality, and panic disorder). Analysis of variance showed significant differences among populations on each of the nine SCI scales. The majority of these results were highly significant, whereas for Rotter's scale the results were barely significant, and for Wallstons' three scales, not at all significant. Correlations of the SCI scales with Rotter's and Wallstons' scales were small to moderate, but in no case explained more than 15% of the variance. The SCI also provided incremental validity over Rotter's and Wallstons' scales both for sensitivity (clinical versus normal) and specificity (between clinical groups). The discussion section provides suggestions for future research. |
8070986 | Multi-site electromyographic analysis of non-contact therapeutic touch. | Therapeutic Touch (TT) has been an active change agent within the field of medicine since its introduction as a nursing intervention in 1975. A critical factor which has been missing from the research conducted in this area, however, is definitive scientific evidence or documentation that TT has an objective quantifiable impact upon the physiology of the subject. This study utilized a randomized ABAC methodological design to investigate the effect of TT without contact (NCTT) upon autonomic and CNS parameters. The subjects were blinded to the true nature of the experimental protocol as well as the fact that a healing study was being conducted in order to control for placebo and expectation effects. The impact of NCTT was assessed by multi-site surface EMG recordings located at the Frontalis, Cervical 4 paraspinals, Thoracic 6 paraspinals, and Lumbosacral 3 paraspinals. Autonomic indicators of physiological activity were also monitored and included hand and head temperature, heart rate, and end tidal CO2 levels. The results demonstrated that all of the autonomic indicators showed a general trend towards lower levels of arousal over time. The data also showed that three of the four muscle regions monitored--C4, T6, and L3 paraspinals--indicated a significant reduction in energy during and following the NCTT treatment sessions for a majority of the subjects. For example, the C4 EMG showed a significant NCTT treatment effect (F = 10.31; df = 1; p < .009 level), while the T6 EMG (F = 13.49; df = 1; p < .004) and L3 EMG (F = 4.74; df = 1; p < .05) also demonstrated significance. In addition to the habituation effects seen in the autonomic variables, the implications of neutralization of postural homeostasis and lowering of emotional arousal are discussed along with consideration of the Eastern concept of "nadis." |
8070987 | Non-invasive feedback of external pubococcegii muscle activity as a treatment for urinary incontinence. | Urinary incontinence may result from medical disease or surgical intervention. This article reports the treatment of 18 patients using biofeedback techniques to strengthen pubococcegii muscles and increase awareness and control of urinary function. The results indicate varying amounts of improvement, with all patients reporting benefit from the procedure. |
8070988 | The changing roles of dream interpreters in the understanding of dreams. | This article describes six major contemporary methods of interpretation, each requiring different behaviors on the part of the interpreter. These methods are the cultural formulation method, the psychotheoretical formulation method, the associative approach, the catharsis method, the personal projection method, and the phenomenological method. Workers with dreams appear frequently to be far more authoritarian than they think themselves to be. A review of ones own work through transcripts can be revealing and beneficial. |
8070989 | The impact of relaxation/imagery on high level noise exposure: a pilot study. | In this study the detrimental impact of high level noise on temporary threshold shift (TTS) (i.e., hearing loss), was reduced when subjects were given suggestions of imaginary ear muffs attenuating the amplitude and aversive aspects of the noise. This effect was small, however, and only apparent when subjects' responses to noise under a relaxation/imagery (self-regulation) condition pared to exposure while working on crossword puzzles. The subject's level of hypnotic susceptibility was not related to the e. Implications of these findings were discussed. |
8070990 | The effect of the Relaxodont brain wave synchronizer on endodontic anxiety: evaluation by galvanic skin resistance, pulse rate, physical reactions, and questionnaire responses. | The effects of a brain wave synchronizer (BWS) on endodontic (root canal) anxiety was evaluated in the clinical practices of the senior author. The experimental groups were: (1) a verbal method (routine calming words by dentist) plus BWS (N = 10) and (2) verbal method plus BWS and alpha relaxation tape (N = 10). The control group was verbal method alone (N = 10). All three groups were evaluated during plete endodontic treatment by the use of galvanic skin resistance (GSR), pulse rate (PR), physical responses, and pre- and post-treatment questionnaires. Recordings were made during the following periods: (1) start; (2) local anesthetic injection; (3) rubber dam application; (4) drilling; (5) x-ray taking; (6) instrumentation; (7) obturation; and (8) conclusion. Results showed that the experimental groups were significantly better than the control group in the reduction of endodontic anxiety. The findings reinforced the belief that local anesthetic injection is the most anxiety producing aspect of endodontic treatment. |
8070991 | Life change, irrational attitudes and disease impacts in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. | The present study is concerned with (1) the question whether patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are different from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) reported previously, with respect to the personality trait of irrational attitudes and to disease impacts, and (2) how the socio-psychological variables of life stress and irrational attitudes relate to disease impacts. Subjects were 197 patients with definite AS from a rheumatic treatment center. AS-patients scored lower in irrationality, pain-intensity, sensory pain, pain avoidance and disability than RA-patients but were not different in affective pain and in general health condition. Relations between negative events and avoidance behavior were stronger in AS-patients. The associations between irrationality versus pain intensity, affective pain and disability were lower (but significant) in pared to RA. Of equal strength were correlations between irrationality and avoidance as well as general symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses with disease activity as control variables revealed 2.2% to mon variance between life stress and disease impacts (affective pain, avoidance behavior, general symptoms). Irrational attitudes explained 8.9% to 18.3% of disease impact variation. The results suggest influences of social and personality variables on suffering of AS-patients and expect these patients to be good treatment candidates-though they seem stable and non-neurotic in their personality. |
8070992 | Hypnosis for child sexual abuse: a case study. | In this case study, hypnosis incorporating images petence and efficacy was utilized to assist a young woman to e feelings of powerlessness that were engendered by childhood sexual abuse. This treatment was highly effective in assisting this patient to resolve her traumatic memories of these episodes of molestation and abuse. |
8070993 | Submodalities. I: Adolescent happiness. A submodalities approach. | Bandler's technique of using submodalities to control mood states is explained. Three case studies illustrate how adolescents might use the approach to increase their happiness. The first of these demonstrates how an obsessive thought can be e through the modification of visual submodalities; the second how an internalized inner message from an unsympathetic parent might be handled by changing auditory submodalities; and the third how an unpleasant mood state may be removed. All these changes were achieved very quickly and attention is drawn to the value of short-term therapeutic interventions as opposed to long-term traditional approaches. |
8070994 | The changing role of the patient in dream work. | Over the past 2000 years or so of interest in dream interpretation, and especially in the last century, the dreamer almost exclusively stood outside the dream, and tried to work out the meaning of the dream. This "outside" position of the patient remained through a variety of approaches. Several approaches have been developed recently in which the person or patient goes "inside" the dream to do the dream work. As yet, a small proportion of dream workers use this approach. |