tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Thyroid Auto-antibodies in Pernicious Anaemia
Authors: J. L. Markson, J. M. Moore
Journal: BMJ (1962)

PERNICIOUS ANAEMIA CJORNAL precipitation.These three methods correlate well.The electrophoretic method was found to be the most suitable for the study of this antibody.Antibodies to gastric mucosa were demonstrated by complement fixation and immunofluorescence.The two methods gave good correlation, the latter being more sensitive.The antigen was localized in the cytoplasm of the parietal cells and was recovered in the particulate fraction of gastric mucosal homogenates.The complement-fixing antibody is a 7S y-globulin, which is specific for parietal cells and cross-reacts with gastric mucosal extracts of other species.The parietal-cell antibody is distinct from anti-I.F.Of patients with pernicious anaemia, 44% had autoantibodies to I.F.The incidence of parietal-cell antibodies was 86%.This compares with 1 1 % in controls matched for age and sex.The immunofluorescent test may have important diagnostic applications, particularly for pernicious anaemia patients under the age of 60, where the incidence of positive reactions was 93%.Close parallels between pernicious anaemia and auto- immune thyroiditis are drawn on the basis of clinical and immunological features.We are grateful to Professor Sir Charles Dodds, F.R.
A Controlled Trial of the Effect of a Prepaid Group Practice on Use of Services
Authors: Willard G. Manning, Arleen Leibowitz, George A. Goldberg, William H. Rogers, Joseph P. Newhouse
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1984)

Abstract Does a prepaid group practice deliver less care than the fee-for-service system when both serve comparable populations with comparable benefits? To answer this question, we randomly assigned a group of 1580 persons to receive care free of charge from either a fee-for-service physician of their choice (431 persons) or the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (1149 persons). In addition, 733 prior enrollees of the Cooperative were studied as a control group. The rate of hospital admissions in both groups at the Cooperative was about 40 per cent less than in the fee-for-service group (P<0.01), although ambulatory-visit rates were similar. The calculated expenditure rate for all services was about 25 per cent less in the two Cooperative groups (P<0.01 for the experimental group, P<0.05 for the control group). The number of preventive visits was higher in the prepaid groups, but this difference does not explain the reduced hospitalization. The similarity of use between the two prepaid groups suggests that the mix of health risks at the Cooperative was similar to that in the fee-for-service system. The lower rate of use that we observed, along with comparable reductions found in non-controlled studies by others, suggests that the style of medicine at prepaid group practices is markedly less "hospital-intensive" and, consequently, less expensive. (N Engl J Med 1984; 310:1505–10.)
ETIOLOGY AND PREVENTIVE TREATMENT OF SCARLATINAL NEPHRITIS.
Authors: H. LOWENBURG
Journal: JAMA (1906)

In presenting a paper on the etiology and prevention of scarlatinal nephritis, it is not my purpose to attempt any addition to our knowledge, but rather to emphasize the importance of already-known facts. In striving to control any morbid process, that system of therapeutics should be regarded as best which attempts the destruction of etiologic factors or seeks to mitigate their malign influences on the economy. In dealing with the acute infectious diseases the greatest advances have been made along the line of prevention. This fact has received special emphasis in those diseases in which the habits of the several specific germs and their means of transmission have been carefully studied. This has been notably illustrated in tuberculosis, diphtheria, malaria and, more recently, in yellow fever. Many diseases are rightly regarded as specific even in the absence of evidence sufficient to demonstrate any special organism as the active agent. Among
Plasma Digoxin Concentrations in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: D. A. Chamberlain, R. J. White, M. R. Howard, T. W. Smith
Journal: BMJ (1970)

Plasma digoxin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay in 116 patients with atrial fibrillation on long-term oral treatment with the drug, and in 23 patients with digoxin toxicity. The mean concentrations were 1.4 ng./ml. and 3.1 ng./ml., respectively. Though an overlap occurred between the therapeutic and toxic ranges, toxicity is unlikely to occur below a level of 2 ng./ml. Plasma concentration showed a poor correlation with resting heart rate during atrial fibrillation. In patients with good renal function, however, a significant correlation was found between oral dose and plasma concentration. No evidence was obtained for increased sensitivity to therapeutic concentrations of the drug in elderly subjects, but the doses required to achieve these concentrations tended to be less than in younger patients.
Effects of simvastatin administration on rodents with lipopolysaccharide-induced liver microvascular dysfunction
Authors: Vincenzo La Mura, Marcos Pasarín, Cintia Z. Meireles, Rosa Miquel, Aina Rodríguez-Vilarrupla, Diana Hide, Jorge Gracia-Sancho, Juan Carlos García-Pagán, Jaime Bosch, Juan G. Abraldes
Journal: Hepatology (2012)

Endothelial dysfunction drives vascular derangement and organ failure associated with sepsis. However, the consequences of sepsis on liver sinusoidal endothelial function are largely unknown. Statins might improve microvascular dysfunction in sepsis. The present study explores liver vascular abnormalities and the effects of statins in a rat model of endotoxemia. For this purpose, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or saline was given to: (1) rats treated with placebo; (2) rats treated with simvastatin (25 mg/kg, orally), given at 3 and 23 hours after LPS/saline challenge; (3) rats treated with simvastatin (25 mg/kg/24 h, orally) from 3 days before LPS/saline injection. Livers were isolated and perfused and sinusoidal endothelial function was explored by testing the vasodilation of the liver circulation to increasing concentrations of acetylcholine. The phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (PeNOS) / endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) ratio was measured as a marker of eNOS activation. LPS administration induced an increase in baseline portal perfusion pressure and a decrease in vasodilation to acetylcholine (sinusoidal endothelial dysfunction). This was associated with reduced eNOS phosphorylation and liver inflammation. Simvastatin after LPS challenge did not prevent the increase in baseline portal perfusion pressure, but attenuated the development of sinusoidal endothelial dysfunction. Treatment with simvastatin from 3 days before LPS prevented the increase in baseline perfusion pressure and totally normalized the vasodilating response of the liver vasculature to acetylcholine and reduced liver inflammation. Both protocols of treatment restored a physiologic PeNOS/eNOS ratio. Conclusion: LPS administration induces intrahepatic endothelial dysfunction that might be prevented by simvastatin, suggesting that statins might have potential for liver protection during endotoxemia. (Hepatology 2013)
Coronary calcification in hemodialysis patients: The contribution of traditional and uremia-related risk factors
Authors: Daniela Veit Barreto, Fellype Carvalho Barreto, Aluízio Barbosa Carvalho, Lilian Cuppari, Miguel Cendoroglo, Sérgio Antonio Draibe, Rosa Marie Afonso Moyses, Kátia Rodrigues Neves, Vanda Jorgetti, Andrew Blair, Robert Guiberteau, Maria Eugênia Fernandes Canziani
Journal: Kidney International (2005)
'Tropical sprue': some early investigators favoured an infective cause, but was a coccidian protozoan involved?
Authors: G C Cook
Journal: Gut (1997)

Occasional viewpoint'Tropical sprue': some early investigators favoured an infective cause, but was a coccidian protozoan involved?Overwhelming evidence now exists that 'tropical sprue' ('post-infective tropical malabsorption') has an infective basis'; progression to the overt clinical syndrome-from an
MEDICAL AND SURGICAL NOTES FROM MESOPOTAMIA
Authors: G. G. Turner
Journal: BMJ (1917)

I WENT out to Mesopotamia with a British general hospital and landed in Basra in the beginning of April, 1916, and I am now writing at the end of December, so that my experience is of the dry season and not of the rains.True, after I first arrived there were some tlhunderstorms, witil .ustenougil rain to introduce me to the universal, intoler- ably slippery mud of the winter, but from April 15tli to tile and of October one day succeeded anothler witlh unfailing blue sky, briglht hot sun, and an average maximum tem- perature of just 1000 F. Very rarely a cloud appeared, and now and again there were penetrating dust storms, though usually there was not even a breeze, for the Shamal (north-west wind) almost completely failed.October, November, and December may be looked upon as the autumn.During these months it was hot in thle sun and a topee was necessary, but the early mornings and evenings were beautiful, and those who were first introduced-to the climate at this time thought it wellnigh perfect.The nights were cool and sometimes very cold, and in December the temperature once dropped to 420 F. On Novemnber 5tll we had our first slhower since April, but there was no lheavy rain until December 26th.TThe monotony of the summier weatller was only relieved by tlle interest taken by some of us in the temperature.I kept records of tile maximum and minimum for the whole of my stay, and the main facts of my observations are set out in the following table.My tlhermometer was of English make, but not registered at Kew, thlouglh, on com-paring it with others, variation was negligible.I lived in an E.P.I.P. tent witlh a double roof and with either the sides down or all the doors open.Tlle thermometer was hung about half-way up one of the tent poles, and thouglh the con- ditions were not such as would be selected for permanent meteorological records, the temperatures slhown are those in wlhich one actually lived and are tllus of especial interest.Record of 1enmperatutres in Alesopotamia dutring Ninte Mouths of 1916.
A study of plasma proteins in the sol phase of sputum from patients with chronic bronchitis.
Authors: R A Stockley, M Mistry, A R Bradwell, D Burnett
Journal: Thorax (1979)

We have studied the sputum/serum protein concentration ratios from 23 patients with bronchitis both in the stable clinical state and during acute chest infections. During the stable state there was a significant negative correlation (2 P less than 0.005) between the ratio and protein size. The ratios of IgG, IgA, C3, and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin were significantly displaced from this relation suggesting local production in the lung. IgM was found in all samples and alpha 2-macroglobulin in 55% of non-infected samples which may be the result of local production rather than transudation from serum, because of their larger size. During acute chest infections the albumin content of sputum rose from a mean sputum/serum ratio of 0.83 (SE +/- 0.08) X 10(-2) to 13.77 (SE +/- 3.21 X 10(-2) suggesting increased transudation from the blood. In the presence of increased transudation, local production of protein appears to be less significant.
Cardiac transgenic matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression directly induces impaired contractility
Authors: G WANG, M BERGMAN, A NGUYEN, S TURCATO, P SWIGART, M RODRIGO, P SIMPSON, J KARLINER, D LOVETT, A BAKER
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (2005)

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) plays a major role in dysfunctional ventricular remodeling following myocardial injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion and heart failure. To directly assess the role of MMP-2 in the absence of superimposed injury, we generated cardiac-specific, constitutively active MMP-2 transgenic mice.Morphologic and functional studies were carried out using both intact and demembranated (skinned) right ventricular trabeculae dissected from hearts of 8-month-old MMP-2 transgenic mice and wild-type controls (WT).Electron micrographs showed that compared to WT, MMP-2 myocardium had no gross, ultrastructural changes (no myocyte dropout or gross fibrosis). However, MMP-2 myocardium contained fibroblasts with abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum, consistent with an activated synthetic phenotype, suggesting extracellular matrix remodeling in MMP-2 trabeculae. Consistent with remodeling, mechanical studies found increased stiffness of intact unstimulated trabeculae (increasing sarcomere lengths from 2 to 2.3 microm caused a greater rise of passive muscle force for MMP-2 trabeculae versus WT). With electrical stimulation, MMP-2 trabeculae generated substantially less active force at all sarcomere lengths. Moreover, inotropic responses to increases of bath [Ca2+], pacing frequency, and isoproterenol were all significantly reduced versus WT trabeculae. Skinned fiber assessment of myofilament function revealed that maximum Ca2+-activated force of skinned MMP-2 trabeculae was reduced to approximately 50% of WT, suggesting a myofilament contraction defect.Cardiac-specific, constitutively active MMP-2 expression leads to impaired contraction and diminished responses to inotropic stimulation. These findings indicate that MMP-2 can directly impair ventricular function in the absence of superimposed injury.
Proposals to strengthen ban on prenatal sex determination hide inaction, activists claim
Authors: Ganapati Mudur
Journal: BMJ (2008)

A report from the Association of American Medical Colleges suggests that all 129 member medical schools should prohibit pharmaceutical and devices manufacturers from providing gifts, food, and travel to doctors, faculty members, and students.The report will be considered at the association's meeting in June.The association set up a task force to examine industry funding and to guide the association, medical schools, and teaching hospitals in developing policies and procedures about gifts and funding from industry.The report said that medical schools and teaching hospitals had become increasingly dependent on industry support for their core educational missions."This reliance raises concerns because such support, including gifts, can influence the objectivity and integrity of academic teaching, learning, and practice, thereby calling into question the commitment of academia and industry together to promote the public's interest by fostering the most cost-effective, evidencebased medical care possible."The report called on academic medical centers "to accelerate their adoption of policies that better manage, and when necessary, prohibit, academic-industry interactions that can inherently create conflicts of interest and undermine standards of professionalism."It concluded, "Industry should voluntarily discontinue those practices that compromise professionalism as well as public trust."The New York Times noted that medical schools, with their prominent professors and impressionable trainees, were particularly attractive targets for marketing (28 April; www.nytimes.com/
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.Delivered at the Forty-second Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association, at Washington, D.C., May 5, 1891.
Authors: WM. T. BRIGGS
Journal: JAMA (1891)

<i>Ladies and Gentlemen:</i>My heart swells with pride when I look over this vast assembly of the representatives of a profession, distinguished alike for its antiquity, its scientific attainments, and its usefulness; a profession which forms the true link between science and philanthropy. You, gentlemen, as members of this Association, have been delegated by your local Associa tions, from every part of this Grand Republic, from the Kennebec to the Rio Grande, from orange groves and golden sands, from mountains clad in eternal snows, and valleys smiling in perpetual verdure, to represent them on this occasion. You are here with no selfish motives, nor purposes of self-aggrandizement, nor to excite or perpetuate sectional antipathies. Indeed, as physicians you should recognize no section; with you there should be no East, no West, no North, no South. You are here solely for the promotion of science and for the good of the
1109. Targeting CYP1B1 with a Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine: Results of Preclinical and Clinical Studies
Authors: Mary Lynne Hedley
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2006)

Injection of microparticle encapsulated DNA has been shown to elicit immune responses to the plasmid-encoded antigens, and the use of this technology in a therapeutic cancer vaccine is described. The tumor-associated antigen Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) is overexpressed in many tumor types, but has a relatively restricted normal tissue expression profile, making tumors that express it excellent targets for immunotherapy. Despite the fact that it is a self protein, T cells specific for CYP1B1 epitopes exist in the human repertoire, and these are cytotoxic for tumor cells expressing the antigen. Microparticle formulations containing plasmid DNA are phagocytosed by antigen presenting cells resulting in the expression of the antigen-encoding DNA in cell types well suited for inducing an immune response. Preclinical studies in mice have demonstrated that a formulation made of PLGA microparticles encapsulating a CYP1B1 encoding plasmid DNA are able to induce immune response to CYP1B1. Additionally, it appears that the microparticle formulation has natural adjuvant activity and is amenable to alterations that result in enhanced immunity. This formulation has been tested in a phase I clinical trial of 17 patients with various cancers types, and was shown to be safe and well tolerated. Interestingly, clinical efficacy appeared to correlate with immune responses induced by the drug, leading to strategies to further potentiate the immune response in subsequent trials.
A functional nonsynonymous toll-like receptor 4 gene polymorphism is associated with metabolic syndrome, surrogates of insulin resistance, and syndromes of lipid accumulation
Authors: Alberto Penas Steinhardt, Florencia Aranguren, Mariana L. Tellechea, Leonardo A. Gómez Rosso, Fernando D. Brites, Maria T. Martínez-Larrad, Manuel Serrano-Ríos, Gustavo D. Frechtel, Mariano J. Taverna
Journal: Metabolism (2009)
F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in a Transitional Meningioma
Authors: Shiori Amemiya, Shigeki Aoki, Masaaki Akahane, Kuni Ohtomo
Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine (2009)

We report a case of a 27-year-old man with a right skull base transitional meningioma. Preoperative evaluation with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) revealed different imaging characteristics in a single tumor according to the histopathologic differences. A fibrous and less vascular-rich portion found in the peripheral protuberant lesion showed high FDG uptake, while the other conventional meningothelial portion showed no significant FDG uptake. No malignant features were detected by histopathological evaluations. Careful attention must be paid before judging its potential malignancy on FDG-PET because a benign meningioma can show high FDG uptake irrespective of its biologic malignancy, but rather reflecting the histopathological characteristics.
Injuries to the Major Branches of Peripheral Nerves of the Forearm
Authors: Horace Norrell
Journal: JAMA (1972)

A wealth of modern experience in treating peripheral nerve injuries has enabled Dr. Spinner to write this monograph. Diagnosis and treatment of traumatic lesions of the median, ulnar, and radial nerves, as well as their branches, receive attention rarely afforded in most texts on peripheral nerve injuries. Careful case analyses reveal excellent results of nerve repair. The most staunch advocates of delayed nerve repair would find difficulty disagreeing with the author's rationale for primary (immediate) repair of smaller branches of the major forearm nerves. The substance of this monograph, including photographs and bibliography, represents a collection of the author's earlier writings originally published in orthopedic journals. These works have been expanded by the addition of a historical introduction, including a translation of Tinel's original work; this section seems out of place in such a specialized monograph. Unfortunately, the awkward sentence structure makes the complex anatomical and pathological descriptions even more
BRAF V600E mutation in early-stage multiple myeloma: good response to broad acting drugs and no relation to prognosis
Authors: E H Rustad, H Y Dai, H Hov, E Coward, V Beisvag, O Myklebost, E Hovig, S Nakken, D Vodák, L A Meza-Zepeda, A K Sandvik, K F Wader, K Misund, A Sundan, H Aarset, A Waage
Journal: Blood Cancer Journal (2015)

Abstract In this study, we analyzed the prevalence and clone size of BRAF V600E mutation in 209 patients with multiple myeloma and related the results to clinical phenotype, response and survival. Biopsies were screened for BRAF V600E by allele-specific real-time PCR (AS-PCR). Positive results were confirmed by immunohistochemistry, Sanger sequencing and, in three patients from whom we had stored purified myeloma cells, whole-exome sequencing. Eleven patients (5.3%) were BRAF V600E mutation positive by AS-PCR and at least one other method. The fraction of mutated cells varied from 4 to 100%. BRAF V600E-positive patients had no characteristic clinical phenotype except for significantly higher levels of serum creatinine (125 versus 86 μmol/l) Seven of eleven patients responded with at least very good partial response to alkylators, immunomodulatory agents or proteasome inhibitors. Progression-free and overall survival were similar in patients with and without the mutation. By this integrated approach, we found that patients with BRAF V600E mutation responded very well to broad acting drugs and there was no relation to prognosis in early-stage myeloma. In particular, a large mutated cell fraction did not correlate with aggressive disease.
Infections and endothelial cells
Authors: Tymen T Keller, Albert T A Mairuhu, Martijn D de Kruif, Saskia K Klein, Victor E A Gerdes, Hugo ten Cate, Dees P M Brandjes, Marcel Levi, Eric C M van Gorp
Journal: Cardiovascular Research (2003)

Systemic infection by various pathogens interacts with the endothelium and may result in altered coagulation, vasculitis and atherosclerosis. Endothelium plays a role in the initiation and regulation of both coagulation and fibrinolysis. Exposure of endothelial cells may lead to rapid activation of coagulation via tissue factor (TF) expression and the loss of anticoagulant properties by impairment of antithrombin III, TF pathway inhibitor (TFPI) and the protein C system. Endothelial-derived plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) is essential for the regulation of fibrinolysis and impaired endothelial function leads to imbalance in fibrinolysis, resulting in a procoagulant state. The interaction between inflammation and coagulation, soluble adhesion molecules and circulation endothelial cells is important in the pathogenesis of an unbalanced haemostatic system. Rather than being a unidirectional relationship, the interaction between inflammation and coagulation appears to be significant. In the crosstalk, the endothelium is playing a pivotal role.