shukoor65/lab-rag-model huggingface dataset:
The sequential generation of neutrophil chemoattractant proteins in acute inflammation in the rabbit in vivo. Relationship between C5a and proteins with the characteristics of IL-8/neutrophil-activating protein 1. An in vivo experimental peritonitis model was investigated in the rabbit using zymosan as the inflammatory stimulus. After an i.p. injection of zymosan, exudate was removed at intervals and tested in the back skin of assay rabbits. Assay rabbits received i.v. injections of 125I-albumin and 111In-neutrophils, and the local accumulation of each label was measured in response to intradermal injections of exudate samples mixed with a potentiating dose of PGE2. When peritoneal exudate samples were tested in the presence of a specific anti-C5a antibody, virtually all the edema-inducing and neutrophil chemoattractant activity was abolished in samples taken up to 2 h after the zymosan injection. Later samples, however, contained increasing levels of a non-C5a component. In C5a-depleted 6-h exudate two peaks of inflammatory activity were separated using cation exchange HPLC. Evidence is presented that C5a itself is unable to stimulate the production of these activities. Both peaks of activity appear related to IL-8/NAP-1 as they inhibited the binding of 125I-IL-8/NAP-1 to human neutrophils.
Studies on corticosteroid therapy in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. We evaluated the significance of corticosteroid therapy on 47 new patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease examined in the Uveitis Survey Clinic of the Hokkaido University Hospital. All patients were treated with topical corticosteroids, with or without systemic corticosteroids. 18 patients received systemic corticosteroid as pulse therapy, 20 patients received high-dose corticosteroid starting with prednisolone 200 mg, 2 patients received conventional-dose corticosteroid and 7 patients received no systemic corticosteroid therapy. When we evaluated the results 6 months after the initiation of treatment, anterior chamber inflammation was significantly less in patients with pulse and high-dose corticosteroid therapy than in those without systemic corticosteroid therapy. Furthermore, final visual acuity was significantly better in patients with pulse and high-dose corticosteroid than in those without them. However, there was no significant difference between patients with pulse therapy and those with high-dose corticosteroid therapy. The findings are in support of systemic corticosteroid therapy (pulse and high-dose) in the treatment of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.
End-tidal CO2 monitoring in mitral stenosis patients undergoing closed mitral commissurotomy. Arterial to end-tidal carbon dioxide difference (P(a-E')CO2) was recorded in 20 mitral stenosis patients (group A) for closed mitral commissurotomy and 20 healthy individuals (group B) for elective limb surgery. Mitral stenosis patients showed a greater difference than group B patients. Repeated measurements of P(a-E')CO2 in mitral stenosis patients at various stages of closed mitral commissurotomy not only showed a mean increase from before thoracotomy but there was also no correlation between P(a-E')CO2 before thoracotomy with that after thoracotomy, after commissurotomy or after chest closure. This indicated that end-tidal CO2 monitoring was unsuitable to measure adequacy of ventilation during closed mitral commissurotomy.
The possible influence of antibiotics on results of bacillus Calmette-Guerin intravesical therapy for superficial bladder cancer. Intravesical treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin is an established treatment of carcinoma in situ and an effective prophylaxis for the prevention of recurrence of transitional cell carcinoma. During instillation therapy oral antibiotics may be used to prevent or to treat urinary tract infections. Tuberculostatic agents are employed to prevent or to treat local irritative symptoms and systemic side effects caused by Bacillus Calmette-Guerin. We investigated the susceptibility of four different Bacillus Calmette-Guerin preparations to 18 antibiotics and to 11 tuberculostatic agents in vitro. All preparations were equally susceptible to most of the commonly used antibiotics and to all of the tuberculostatic agents with the exception of pyrazinamide. Our results suggest that in the absence of cystitis, instillations should not be accompanied by antibiotics because of the possible inhibition of antitumor efficacy by eradication of living Bacillus Calmette-Guerin organisms. The same inhibition may occur when tuberculostatic agents are used to prevent local and systemic complications of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin instillation therapy.
An unusual angiographic picture in status migrainosus. Arteriographic findings suggestive of inflammation are described in a 26-year-old woman presenting with headache and syncope. There were no clinical findings of angitis, and a diagnosis of status migrainosus was eventually made. We present her case, as well as a review of previous cases of arterial changes in patients with headache. Most previous cases report arterial narrowing, felt to reflect spasm, whereas our patient demonstrated segmental stenoses and dilatations, perhaps implicating inflammation. The inflammatory process has been postulated as the pathogenesis of migraine pain. As most migraineurs do not undergo arteriography, the incidence of arterial change in these patients is unknown. This finding has therapeutic implications for selecting the optimal anti-migraine agent.
Serum and tissue autoantibodies to colonic epithelium in ulcerative colitis. Sera and colonic tissue-bound immunoglobulin extracts from patients with ulcerative colitis and disease controls were examined immunohistochemically and by killer cell cytotoxicity assay for the presence of anticolonic epithelial autoantibodies. IgG yields in the tissue extracts from patients with colitis and control subjects were similar, and the extracts were uniformly autoantibody negative. Of 41 sera from patients with inflammatory bowel disease, 'classical' anticolon antibody was present in 41% and was commoner in patients with sclerosing cholangitis. Cytotoxic anticolon antibody was present in 20% overall and was strongly associated with disease activity; it did not correlate with the presence of 'classical' anticolon antibody. The heterogeneous and non-universal antiepithelial autoantibody response and the failure to detect tissue bound autoantibody in vivo argue against the hypothesis that humoral autoimmunity is of major importance in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.
Rapid development of resistance to antifolates in vitro: possible clinical implication. Within three repeated 7-day incubation periods with either methotrexate (MTX) or trimetrexate (TMTX), human colon adenocarcinoma cells (HCT-8) developed high levels of resistance to these drugs, as evidenced by approximately 20- and 50-fold increases, respectively, in the median effective doses. Similarly, within six short-term exposures (4 hours) to the same drugs, a high degree of resistance developed in the cells. Alternating 4-hour treatment cycles with MTX and TMTX did not delay the onset of resistance to these antimetabolites in the HCT-8 cells. The same strategy produced no better results than giving either MTX or TMTX alone to (C57BL/6 x DBA/2)F1 mice bearing murine leukemia P388 cells. Furthermore, HCT-8 cells resistant to short-term (4-hour) exposure to MTX were cross-resistant to the same drug given for 7 days continuously, and cells resistant to MTX given continuously for 7 days were cross-resistant to the same drug given for 4 hours. Analogous results were obtained with TMTX, indicating that, under these circumstances, changing the schedule of administration of the same agent does not overcome resistance to it. The clinical relevance of these data to prolonged adjuvant chemotherapy, as well as loco-regional and continuous-infusion chemotherapy, is discussed.
Inhibition of mineralization of glutaraldehyde-pretreated bovine pericardium by AlCl3. Mechanisms and comparisons with FeCl3, LaCl3, and Ga(NO3)3 in rat subdermal model studies. In the present study, the authors investigated the mechanism by which Al3+ preincubations inhibited the pathologic calcification of glutaraldehyde-pretreated bovine pericardium (GPBP) implanted subdermally in rats. The concentration dependency of the Al3+ anticalcification effect was compared with that of other trivalent metal ions (Fe3+, Ga3+, La3+) known to interact with calcium phosphates. In vitro incubations of GPBP were carried out in AlCl3 (10(-3) mol/l [molar] to 10(-1) mol/l) to ascertain both the optimal conditions for uptake of Al3+ and the time course of Al3+ dissociation. Al3+ uptake by GPBP was concentration dependent and occurred rapidly, with tissue levels after 1 hour not differing significantly from those after 72 hours of incubation. Analyses of GPBP samples preincubated in AlCl3 (0.1 mol/l, 24 hours) showed that more than 75% of the Al3+ remained tightly bound after 60 days' in vitro release at 37 degrees C, pH 7.4. Preincubations of GPBP in AlCl3 significantly inhibited calcification after subdermal implantation in rats for 60 days (Ca++ = 5.1 +/- 0.9 microgram/mg, 11.5 +/- 4.6 micrograms/mg, 70.3 +/- 23.0 micrograms/mg, mean +/- standard error [SE], for 10(-1) mol/l, 10(-2) mol/l, 10(-3) mol/l AlCl3, respectively), compared with controls (Ca++ = 110.0 +/- 9.3 micrograms/mg). All animals were free of Al3(+)-mediated adverse effects on bone, as determined by light microscopic evaluation of femoral epiphyseal growth plates. Transmission electron microscopy coupled with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) of GPBP incubated in 10(-1) mol l AlCl3 for 24 hours demonstrated discrete Al3+ localization in the sarcolemma and cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes of devitalized pericardial connective tissue cells at intracellular sites coincident with phosphorus loci. Similar intracellular localization remained prominent in explants removed after 60 days; no calcific deposits were noted in these specimens. Preincubations in Fe3+ but not Ga3+ and La3+ solutions yielded significant inhibition of GPBP calcification, which did not differ significantly from that provided by Al3- and had a comparable concentration dependency. Light microscopic examination (Prussian blue staining) and EELS of FeCl3-preincubated explants demonstrated Fe3+ localization within devitalized GPBP connective tissue cells. The authors conclude that Al3+ and Fe3+ significantly inhibit the pathologic mineralization of glutaraldehyde-pretreated bovine pericardium by mechanisms that are likely related to the high affinity of these cations for membrane associated and other intracellular phosphorus loci.
What value is given to quality of life assessment by health professionals considering response to palliative chemotherapy for advanced cancer? A study was designed to obtain information on the importance of quality of life assessment (QL) during palliative chemotherapy. A questionnaire was answered by 542 health professionals (392 general practitioners, 20 specialist oncologists, and 130 oncology nurses). In both simulated patient situations and multiple-choice questions, all groups rated QL higher than other standard methods of assessment. General practitioners and oncologists appeared to weight the assessment criteria more equally than nurses who gave strong emphasis to QL. In the simulated patient situation, there was a small degree of interaction between QL and other assessment criteria. However, the analysis showed that QL was regarded as an independent variable and was considered to be the most important objective of palliative chemotherapy for advanced cancer.
Acute effects of delayed reperfusion on myocardial infarct shape and left ventricular volume: a potential mechanism of additional benefits from thrombolytic therapy. The purpose of this study was to characterize the effects of late reperfusion on myocardial infarct shape and to quantitate associated changes in left ventricular volume. Reperfusion was delayed until there was no salvage of ischemic myocardium. Dogs underwent 6.5 h of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion (n = 5) or 5.5 h of occlusion and 1 h of reperfusion (n = 5). Infarct shape was measured with pairs of ultrasonic crystals implanted circumferentially in the mid myocardium. Infarct stiffness was determined from end-diastolic pressure-segment length curves produced by aortic clamping. Left ventricular volume was measured with three pairs of endocardial ultrasonic crystals and the effect of infarct shape change on left ventricular volume was determined. Infarct size, expressed as a percent of the area at risk, was similar in reperfused (97 +/- 1%) and nonreperfused (98 +/- 1%) hearts. After coronary artery occlusion, infarct segments became akinetic and functional dilation, measured as end-diastolic ultrasonic crystal separation, increased to a similar extent in reperfused (24 +/- 7%) and nonreperfused (19 +/- 3%) hearts. In 13 additional dogs that underwent reperfusion and instrumentation with endocardial ultrasonic crystals for volume measurement, left ventricular volume increased 42 +/- 6% over the preocclusion level (p less than 0.001). Within minutes of reperfusion, the infarct stiffened, infarct dilation decreased to 1 +/- 4% over the baseline preocclusion level (p less than 0.05 vs. prereperfusion) and left ventricular volume decreased to 16 +/- 11% over the baseline level (p less than 0.01 vs. postocclusion). Thus, coronary artery reperfusion reverses initial infarct dilation. Changes in infarct dilation occur immediately after reperfusion and are accompanied by infarct stiffening and a decrease in left ventricular volume. Reperfusion can affect infarct shape and stiffness at a point in time when myocardial salvage is no longer possible.
Stereotaxic implantation of autologous adrenal medulla into caudate nucleus in four patients with parkinsonism. One-year follow-up. Four patients with levodopa-responsive parkinsonism (aged 26, 35, 45, and 49 years) received autologous adrenal medullary implants into or near the left caudate nucleus by stereotaxic implantation after flank adrenalectomy. All patients had an immediate response to implantation lasting several days, during which parkinsonian signs and symptoms decreased. This period was followed by a gradual reappearance of symptoms in all but one patient. This patient had had a dramatic increase in "on" time without dyskinesias and a decrease in the severity and duration of "off" time. He died of multifocal glioblastoma 1 year after transplantation. Autopsy revealed no surviving adrenal cells. In one case, the stereotaxic implantation missed the basal ganglia, resulting in the placement of the adrenal medullary tissue into the medial thalamus and near the third ventricle; the patient did not improve. In the other two cases, a modest but definite increase in "on" time without dyskinesia and a reduction in the severity and duration of "off" time has been observed. The role of autologous adrenal medullary transplantation in patients with parkinsonism remains to be determined. Patients with a family history of cerebral malignancy may be at increased risk for the development of transplant-induced malignancy.
Effect of aluminized covers on body temperature in patients having abdominal surgery. An unintended fall in body temperature is commonly associated with surgery. One promising strategy to help conserve body heat is use of covers made of aluminum-coated plastic. We compared the effect of three combinations of the covers (head cover, body covers, both) and a control condition on tympanic temperature in 60 adults having major abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. The covers were applied from the time of transport to the operating room until exit from the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). Tympanic temperature was measured with an infrared thermometer. Between transport and PACU entry, the four groups had mean temperature decreases ranging from 1.6 degrees to 2.3 degrees F (0.9 degree to 1.3 degrees C). After controlling for background variables affecting body temperature, adjusted PACU entry temperature was higher in the two groups with aluminized body covers. Regression analysis showed that use of the body covers accounted for 7% of the temperature variance at PACU entry and predicted a 0.9 degree F (0.5 degree C) higher temperature at that time. These findings indicate that aluminized body covers help to reduce heat loss in patients having major abdominal surgery.
Endogenous IFN-gamma is required for resistance to acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice. In order to study the role of endogenous IFN-gamma in Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice, a potent murine IFN-gamma-specific mAb was injected i.p. on days -1, 7, and 14, relative to infection. Irrespective of the parasite inocula (100 or 25,000), groups of antibody-treated mice had significantly greater cumulative mortality rates than did appropriate controls. In antibody-treated mice, mean survival times were also significantly shorter, and maximum mean parasitemia levels were significantly higher, than in controls. Moreover, the number of amastigote nests in tissues was higher than in control mice and attained a maximum at the same time as parasitemia. As evident from kinetic studies of neutralizing activity, injected mAb were rapidly consumed in infected, but not in noninfected, mice, which is suggestive of massive IFN-gamma production during the early parasitemic phase of the disease. Nevertheless, IFN-gamma remained undetectable in the sera of infected but untreated mice. Unexpectedly, however, a peak of IFN-like antiviral activity, characterizable as a mixture of IFN-gamma and IFN-beta, appeared in mAb-treated mice that survived to infection at a time when neutralizing activity of injected mAb had drastically decreased in the circulation. We hypothesize that this high level of artificially induced endogenous IFN-gamma, not neutralized by the amounts of injected mAb, was due to the more intense parasite multiplication occurring in mAb-treated mice, which in turn may have induced an increased amount of various cytokines. TNF-alpha was not found in the serum of our mice. The humoral immune response entered its exponential phase at a time point later than that when protection by endogenous IFN-gamma was evident. Treatment with IFN-gamma-specific antibody, as applied in our study, failed to affect the level of different Ig isotypes or of T. cruzi-specific antibodies. Our study clearly indicates that IFN-gamma is produced early in acute T. cruzi infection and exerts a protective effect that is probably independent from the humoral immune response.
Long-term observation after intravesical metaphylaxis with mitomycin C in patients with superficial bladder tumors. After transurethral resection of a superficial bladder tumor 63 patients were treated by chemoprophylaxis with mitomycin C over a period of two years: 33.3 percent experienced recurrent disease under metaphylaxis and 42 patients who remained recurrence-free during instillation therapy were observed further for an average of 26.4 months. During this period 26.2 percent of the patients showed recurrences ranging between two to forty-four months after completing instillation. The majority of the patients in whom recurrent tumors developed also had recurrent tumor processes before the instillation therapy was begun. Of the 42 patients 73.8 percent stayed recurrence-free during the observation period of twelve to fifty-four months after completing instillation therapy. In conclusion, during an average observation period of 50.4 months, 52.4 percent of the patients in this study showed recurrences.
Cancer mortality, aging, and patterns of comorbidity in the United States: 1968 to 1986. Cancer is often reported as contributing to the risk of noncancer causes of death. The age variation of these reports was studied using U.S. data on all causes of death listed on death certificates for 1968 to 1986. The occurrence of cancer as a nonunderlying cause of death increased with age and was higher for treatable and slowly growing tumor types. These patterns persisted even if the cancer manifested changes in occurrence. Nonunderlying occurrences were highest in the 85 to 94 age group and were correlated with cancer survival. This suggests increased importance of cancer as a cause of death and a comorbid condition among oldest-old persons. The high rate of occurrence as an associated cause of death suggests that if life expectancy increases due to declines in circulatory and other chronic disease mortality, cancer could become the preeminent cause of death in the United States.
Reexamination of the blood lymphocyte transformation test in the diagnosis of chronic beryllium disease. The T cell response to beryllium, measured in bronchoalveolar lavage by the lymphocyte transformation test (LTT), is a critical diagnostic test for discriminating between chronic beryllium disease (CBD) and other granulomatous diseases. We examined the sensitivity, reproducibility, and methods of a less invasive, peripheral blood LTT in 17 patients with CBD and in 18 beryllium-exposed control subjects. Ninety-four percent of CBD cases (16/17) had abnormal blood LTT results, and all 18 beryllium-exposed control subjects had normal blood LTT results. Split samples for 10 beryllium disease cases and eight control subjects demonstrated that the blood LTT was reproducible between two separate laboratories. The LTT was equally sensitive with 10% and 20% serum in the culture medium. We conclude that an abnormal blood LTT can be used to diagnose CBD in patients with compatible lung pathology.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: evaluation of postoperative complications, sequelae, and results. A study of 71 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome was performed to evaluate the effectiveness, complications, and late sequelae of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. Postoperative immediate complications were of minor importance. In 96% of the patients, the snoring was improved; it was completely resolved in 48%. The postoperative apnea index remained pathologic in all patients who underwent postoperative polysomnography, although mild improvement was noted. Seventy-four percent of our patients felt a subjective postoperative improvement which was not always confirmed by the polysomnographic examination. A record of improvement was obtained in 64% of the operated patients. Our results establish the beneficial effect of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, which is the recommended surgical procedure for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
Altered interleukin-2 secretion in patients with primary fibromyalgia syndrome. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) production was studied in T lymphocytes and isolated CD4+ T lymphocytes from 12 patients with primary fibromyalgia syndrome and 10 healthy volunteers. The dose and time kinetics of IL-2 production by concanavalin A-stimulated T cells and CD4+ T cells of fibromyalgia patients differed from findings in controls by 1) a need for a higher concentration of mitogen in order to achieve optimal IL-2 secretion, and 2) a delay in the peak time of optimal IL-2 secretion. Unlike normal IL-2 secretion, which was higher after removal of CD8+ T cells, the pattern and degree of IL-2 secretion by cells from fibromyalgia patients were not changed following removal of CD8+ T cells. Addition of calcium ionophore in assays using suboptimal concanavalin A concentrations did not correct the reduction in IL-2 secretion by fibromyalgia patient T cells, but addition of phorbol myristate acetate induced normal secretion of IL-2. These findings suggest that there is a defect in the IL-2 pathway, which is related to protein kinase C activation and does not involve impairment of Ca2+ elevation, in patients with fibromyalgia.