tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Neural contractions in colonic strips from patients with diverticular disease: role of endocannabinoids and substance P
Authors: F Guagnini
Journal: Gut (2006)

<b>Background and aims:</b> Diverticulosis is a common disease of not completely defined pathogenesis. Motor abnormalities of the intestinal wall have been frequently described but very little is known about their mechanisms. We investigated in vitro the neural response of colonic longitudinal muscle strips from patients undergoing surgery for complicated diverticular disease (diverticulitis). <b>Methods:</b> The neural contractile response to electrical field stimulation of longitudinal muscle strips from the colon of patients undergoing surgery for colonic cancer or diverticulitis was challenged by different receptor agonists and antagonists. <b>Results:</b> Contractions of colonic strips from healthy controls and diverticulitis specimens were abolished by atropine. The β adrenergic agonist (−) isoprenaline and the tachykinin NK<sub>1</sub> receptor antagonist SR140333 had similar potency in reducing the electrical twitch response in controls and diseased tissues, while the cannabinoid receptor agonist (+)WIN 55,212-2 was 100 times more potent in inhibiting contractions in controls (IC50 42 nmol/l) than in diverticulitis strips. SR141716, a selective antagonist of the cannabinoid CB<sub>1</sub> receptor, had no intrinsic activity in control preparations but potentiated the neural twitch in diseased tissues by up to 196% in a concentration dependent manner. SR141716 inhibited (+)WIN 55,212-2 induced relaxation in control strips but had no efficacy on (+)WIN 55,212-2 responses in strips from diverticular disease patients. Colonic levels of the endogenous ligand of cannabinoid and vanilloid TRPV1 receptors anandamide were more than twice those of control tissues (54 <i>v</i> 27 pmol/g tissue). The axonal conduction blocker tetrodotoxin had opposite effects in the two preparations, completely inhibiting the contractions of control strips but potentiating those in diverticular preparations, an effect selectively inhibited by SR140333. <b>Conclusions:</b> Neural control of colon motility is profoundly altered in patients with diverticulitis. Their raised levels of anandamide, apparent desensitisation of the presynaptic neural cannabinoid CB<sub>1</sub> receptor, and the SR141716 induced intrinsic response, suggest that endocannabinoids may be involved in the pathophysiology of complications of colonic diverticular disease.
Hospital admissions for asthma in east london: associations with characteristics of local general practices, prescribing, and population
Authors: C. Griffiths, P. Sturdy, J. Naish, R. Omar, S. Dolan, G. Feder
Journal: BMJ (1997)

To determine the relative importance of appropriate prescribing for asthma in explaining high rates of hospital admission for asthma among east London general practices.Poisson regression analysis describing relation of each general practice's admission rates for asthma with prescribing for asthma and characteristics of general practitioners, practices, and practice populations.East London, a deprived inner city area with high admission rates for asthma.All 163 general practices in East London and the City Health Authority (complete data available for 124 practices).Admission rates for asthma, excluding readmissions, for ages 5-64 years; ratio of asthma prophylaxis to bronchodilator prescribing; selected characteristics of general practitioners, practices, and practice populations.Median admission rate for asthma was 0.9 (range 0-3.6) per 1000 patients per year. Higher admission rates were most strongly associated with small size of practice partnership: admission rates of singlehanded and two partner practices were higher than those of practices with three or more principals by 1.7 times (95% confidence interval 1.4 to 2.0, P < 0.001) and 1.3 times (1.1 to 1.6, P = 0.001) respectively. Practices with higher rates of night visits also had significantly higher admission rates: an increase in night visiting rate by 10 visits per 1000 patients over two years was associated with an increase in admission rates for asthma by 4% (1% to 7%). These associations were independent of asthma prescribing ratios, measures of practice resources, and characteristics of practice populations.Higher asthma admission rates in east London practices were most strongly associated with smaller partnership size and higher rates of night visiting. Evaluating ways of helping smaller partnerships develop structured proactive care for asthma patients at high risk of admission is a priority.
THE THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF HYPOCHLOROUS ACID
Authors: R. F. Cordova
Journal: BMJ (1916)

THERAPEUTIC VALUE OP HYPOCHLOROUS ACID.[THzBJ g 65r the bowel.His condition was ascribed to a known indis- cretion in diet.He had had no previous illness.On admission the child looked ill and was very restless.The temperature was 1040 F., pulse 160, and respirations 36.The abdomen was freely palpable.A swelling could be felt occupying the right iliac and right hypoclhondriac regions.It was immovable, very hard, and apparently circumscribed.Although tlle outline of the mass could not be entirely determiined, tlle tumour appeared to be adherent along its deep surface, while the abdominal wall was freely movable over it.On palpation the whole mass seemed to be smooth, and of the size and slhape of a large orange.A provisional diagnosis of sarcoma or of tuber- cumlous glands was made.The following morning laparotomy was performed.The abdomen was tense.-Thleintestines were nowlhere adlherent, the ilcum and part of the ascending, the transverse, and the descending colon were very red and inflamed, and about 6 in. of the ileum was collapsed, apparently from pressure.There was no fartlher sign
594 VON WILLEBRAND FACTOR LEVELS AND VARIATIONS IN THE VON WILLEBRAND FACTOR GENE INDEPENDENTLY INFLUENCE LIVER STIFFNESS: THE ROTTERDAM STUDY
Authors: E.P.C. Plompen, J.N.L. Schouten, M.P.M. de Maat, B.E. Hansen, A. Hofman, A.G. Uitterlinden, B.H.C. Stricker, F.W.G. Leebeek, H.L.A. Janssen
Journal: Journal of Hepatology (2013)
What's new in the other general journals
Authors: Christopher Martyn
Journal: BMJ (2005)

Herpes zoster and its deeply unpleasant complication, post-herpetic neuralgia, occur more frequently with increasing age, a phenomenon explained by waning cell mediated immunity to the virus. Although antiviral therapy reduces the severity and duration of the rash, it is ineffective in preventing the development of post-herpetic neuralgia. The results of a large randomised controlled trial of vaccination against Varicella zoster virus in people aged over 60 suggest that prevention may be better than cure.



Credit: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE



Compared with placebo, vaccination with live attenuated Varicella zoster vaccine reduced the incidence of herpes zoster by 51.3% and of post-herpetic neuralgia by 66.5%. No severe adverse reactions occurred, although transient local symptoms, mainly varicella-like rashes at the site of injection, were common. With an annual incidence of herpes zoster in the placebo group of about 1 in 100, the number needed to treat is large. But the accompanying editorial reckons that, at …
pathogenesis of the henny feathering trait in the Sebright bantam chicken. Increased conversion of androgen to estrogen in skin.
Authors: F W George, J D Wilson
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1980)

In female chickens of all breeds development of female feathering pattern is mediated by estrogens, whereas normal males and castrated chickens of both sexes develop male feathering. Male chickens carrying the henny feathering trait (such as the Sebright bantam and golden Campine) develop a female feathering pattern but otherwise virilize normally. To examine the possibility that the henny feathering trait is the result of increased conversion of androgen to estrogen in skin, estrogen formation from [1,2,6,7-3H]testosterone was measured in tissue slices from control breeds and chickens with the henny feathering trait. Rates of estrogen formation were undetectable or low in all control tissues other than ovary, whereas rates were high in skin and skin appendages and detectable in many tissues from Sebright and Campine birds. The increased rate of estrogen formation in skin was demonstrable in Sebright chicks and in all areas of skin biopsied in the mature bird. Furthermore, plasma levels of 17 beta-estradiol were higher in Sebright and Campine than in control male cocks. Thus, increased formation of estrogen from androgen in the peripheral tissues probably explains the henny feathering trait.
2-photon imaging of phagocyte-mediated T cell activation in the CNS
Authors: Marija Pesic, Ingo Bartholomäus, Nikolaos I. Kyratsous, Vigo Heissmeyer, Hartmut Wekerle, Naoto Kawakami
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2013)

Autoreactive T cells can infiltrate the CNS to cause disorders such as multiple sclerosis. In order to visualize T cell activation in the CNS, we introduced a truncated fluorescent derivative of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) as a real-time T cell activation indicator. In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a rat model of multiple sclerosis, we tracked T cells interacting with structures of the vascular blood-brain barrier (BBB). 2-photon imaging documented the cytoplasmic-nuclear translocation of fluorescent NFAT, indicative of calcium-dependent activation of the T cells in the perivascular space, but not within the vascular lumen. The activation was related to contacts with the local antigen-presenting phagocytes and was noted only in T cells with a high pathogenic potential. T cell activation implied the presentation of an autoantigen, as the weakly pathogenic T cells, which remained silent in the untreated hosts, were activated upon instillation of exogenous autoantigen. Activation did not cogently signal long-lasting arrest, as individual T cells were able to sequentially contact fresh APCs. We propose that the presentation of local autoantigen by BBB-associated APCs provides stimuli that guide autoimmune T cells to the CNS destination, enabling them to attack the target tissue.
Malaria Parasites and Other Haemosporidia
Authors: Harold W. Brown
Journal: JAMA (1967)

During the past two decades man has learned much about the life cycle and the physiology of his own four species of malaria as well as those of other mammals, birds, and reptiles. The electron microscope has provided a fund of morphological detail, and biochemists have answered many questions concerning the nutrition of the parasite and its resistance to chemotherapy. The use of malaria's fever in the therapy of paresis and animal studies have advanced our understanding of immunity and chemotherapeutic response. The exo-erythrocytic portion of the life cycle explains some of the perplexing clinical facets of the disease. Professor Garnham, who has made many outstanding contributions to our knowledge of malaria, brings together not only the wealth of new but also the important old research on malaria that goes back four centuries. Laveran, Ross, Grassi, and Danilewsky live again on these pages. He paints in beautiful detail (with numerous
Type II (tositumomab) anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody out performs type I (rituximab-like) reagents in B-cell depletion regardless of complement activation
Authors: Stephen A. Beers, Claude H. T. Chan, Sonya James, Ruth R. French, Kathrine E. Attfield, Claire M. Brennan, Anupama Ahuja, Mark J. Shlomchik, Mark S. Cragg, Martin J. Glennie
Journal: Blood (2008)
Identification of factors that contribute to recombinant AAV2 particle aggregation and methods to prevent its occurrence during vector purification and formulation
Authors: J. Fraser Wright, Tannie Le, Joseph Prado, Jennifer Bahr-Davidson, Peter H. Smith, Zhu Zhen, Jurg M. Sommer, Glenn F. Pierce, Guang Qu
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2005)

Aggregation of recombinant AAV2 results in reduced yield during purification and may have deleterious effects on vector transduction efficiency, biodistribution and immunogenicity following in vivo administration. Studies to elucidate the mechanism of vector aggregation and methods to prevent its occurrence are reported. In excipient screening studies, the sugars sorbitol, sucrose, mannitol, trehalose, or glycerol at concentrations of up to 5% (w/v), or surfactants Tween 80 or Pluronic F68, did not prevent aggregation. Aggregation was prevented by the use of various salts at concentrations corresponding to solution ionic strengths of >200 mM. AAV2 vectors purified by double cesium chloride gradient centrifugation, cation-exchange chromatography, or combined chromatography and gradient centrifugation each demonstrated a similar requirement for ionic strength to prevent aggregation. AAV2 vectors concentrated to 6.7 x 10(13) vector genome (vg)/mL in neutral-buffered isotonic saline resulted in 59+/-6.0% recovery of nonaggregated material compared to 96+/-4.4% recovery in an isotonic formulation with elevated ionic strength. The latter showed no aggregation following storage or after 10 freeze-thaw cycles at -20 degrees C. AAV2 vectors stored for an extended period in an elevated ionic strength formulation retained a high infectivity titer (13 vg/infectious unit) and transduction efficiency. Nuclease digestion of purified AAV2 vectors reduced aggregation, implicating trace amounts of vector surface nucleic acids in interparticle binding.
3D Roentgenographic Movies
Authors: William G. Esmond
Journal: JAMA (1971)

ABSTRACT To the Editor.— The author of Three Dimensional Time Sequence Roentgenography (217:322, 1971) is apparently unaware of my previous publication, Precision Stereoscopic Movies for Anatomical and Surgical Teaching which was presented at the Seventh National Instrument Society of America Symposium, May 19 to 21, 1969, at Ann Arbor, Mich, and was published in the ISA volume, Imagery in Medicine.The first method developed by me used split frames and is not suitable for X-ray movies without extensive processing. The second method is unique since it can be used to project stereoscopic movies from any film ever made as long as motion is present. Astounding as this statement may be, it is true, because even with a stationary camera, as long as the subject being photographed is in motion, then frame 1 bears stereo information relative to frame 2 and frame 2 to frame 3 etc. The projector must be
SCIENCE AND ART IN MEDICINE.THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL THINKING.
Authors: JOHN C. HEMMETER
Journal: JAMA (1906)

<h3>IS MEDICINE A SCIENCE OR AN ART?</h3> Medical men the world over frequently have to hear the criticism, I might call it the reproach, that medicine is not a pure science, that its methods and its discipline are not sufficiently accurate to merit this term. On the other hand, critics are not wanting among the non-medical public, who argue that medicine is not a perfect art. Now, what is an art, and what is a science? In a recent address President Ira Remsen<sup>1</sup>attempts to define these terms, and on the authorities there quoted by this versatile educator we might profitably start out by borrowing the interpretations of the terms science and art. One writer says: "The distinction between science and art is that science is a body of principles and deductions to explain the nature of some matter, and art is a body of precepts with practical skill
Acne: double blind clinical and laboratory trial of tetracycline, oestrogen-cyproterone acetate, and combined treatment.
Authors: R Greenwood, L Brummitt, B Burke, W J Cunliffe
Journal: BMJ (1985)

Since the recent introduction of a drug regimen containing 2 mg of the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate and 50 micrograms ethinyl-oestradiol (Diane; oestrogen-cyproterone acetate) several uncontrolled reports have extolled the benefits of this drug. Double blind studies, however, are lacking. Sixty two patients with moderate or moderately severe acne were therefore included in a double blind trial of treatment for six months comparing tetracycline alone, oestrogen-cyproterone acetate alone, and a combination of these agents. Sebum excretion rates and bacterial counts were measured before, during, and after treatment, at the same time as a clinical assessment was made. At six months the acne (as assessed by overall grade) had improved by 68% in the antibiotic treated group and by 74% in the oestrogen-cyproterone treated group. The group given a combination of both agents improved by 82%, which was significantly better (p less than 0.025) than the improvement in the tetracycline treated patients. No significant difference was found between the groups given oestrogen-cyproterone alone and the combined treatment. The sebum excretion rate was suppressed by 25% in the patients in both groups receiving oestrogen-cyproterone but not in the group given antibiotics alone. Oestrogen-cyproterone acetate is as effective as antibiotics in treating acne in women, and adding antibiotics offers no advantage over using oestrogen-cyproterone on its own, although in this study the combination was more effective than tetracycline alone at six months.
Periodontal microbiology in <scp>L</scp>atin <scp>A</scp>merica
Authors: Adolfo Contreras, Sandra M. Moreno, Adriana Jaramillo, Melissa Pelaez, Andres Duque, Javier E. Botero, Jørgen Slots
Journal: Periodontology 2000 (2014)

Abstract This review article describes the microbiota associated with periodontal disease in Latin America. This vast territory includes 22 nations, which show great ethnic diversity, with large groups of White people, Black people, Mestizo people and Native people. Widespread poverty and limited access to education and health‐care services, including periodontal care, are prominent predisposing factors for destructive periodontal disease in Latin America. Black people and Mestizo people seem to have particularly severe periodontal disease and are frequently colonized by the major periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans . The ‘red complex’ bacterial pathogens and A. actinomycetemcomitans predominate in chronic and aggressive periodontitis, but gram‐negative enteric rods and herpesviruses can also play important periodontopathic roles in Latin America. The key to minimizing the risk of periodontal disease is control of the pathogens, and new low‐cost periodontal treatments deserve serious consideration in Latin America.
The Scintigram after Renal Transplantation in Man
Authors: Julio E. Figueroa, Antonio Rodríguez-Antúnez, Satoru Nakamoto, Willem J. Kolff
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine (1965)

KIDNEY transplantation now offers a hope for patients dying in chronic uremia. The use of cadavers avoids many of the ethical problems encountered with living donors.The production of urine within several minutes after a renal transplantation from a cadaver donor is the rule rather than the exception. Occasionally, the diuretic phase persists, and the patient recovers without the need for further dialysis. In most cases, however, oliguria develops and may last for as long as three or four weeks. It is during this initial period of oliguria that the need for an accurate diagnosis arises. Is the kidney dead, . . .
Frequency and clinical significance of BCR-ABL mutations in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with imatinib mesylate
Authors: E Jabbour, H Kantarjian, D Jones, M Talpaz, N Bekele, S O'Brien, X Zhou, R Luthra, G Garcia-Manero, F Giles, M B Rios, S Verstovsek, J Cortes
Journal: Leukemia (2006)
Plasminogen activator system in pemphigus vulgaris
Authors: B.M. SCHAEFER, C. JAEGER, M.D. KRAMER
Journal: British Journal of Dermatology (1996)

Summary Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is caused by autoantibodies against desmosomes and is characterized by intra-epidermal blisters. The pathology of PV has been linked with plasminogen activation in lesional epidermis. The plasminogen activator system (PA system) consists of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). tissue-type PA (tPA). as well as the two types of plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI-1 and PAI-2). In keratinocytes. uPA binds to a specific cell surface receptor for uPA (uPA-R = CD87) in an autocrine manner. Cell-bound uPA is regulated by PAIs. The central PA system component plasminogen, which is present in plasma and interstitial fluids, is bound to the keratinocyte surface via plasmin(ogen) binding sites, where it can be activated by uPA-R-bound uPA. Cell surface-associated plasmin then mediates pericellular proteolysis. As the topographical organization of the distinct PA system components in lesional epidermis of PV remained elusive, we have performed the present immunohistological analysis of lesional and non-lesional epidermis of PV. In keratinocytes directly involved in the epidermal split formation, plasmin(ogen) was stained in nine of 10 cases, uPA-R and uPA in four of 10 cases and PAI-2 in seven of 10 cases. Together, acantholytic plasmin(ogen)+ keratinocytes appeared in three different phenotypes: uPA-R+/uPA+ and PAI-2+, uPA-R-/uPA- and PAI-2+. as well as uPA-R-/uPA- and PAI-2-. Our findings demonstrate that, in acantholytic keratinocytes of PV. PAs and PAIs appear as differentially regulated components of the PA system.
Differential Sensitivity of Lymphocyte Subpopulations to Suppression by Low Density Lipoprotein Inhibitor, an Immunoregulatory Human Serum Low Density Lipoprotein
Authors: Linda K. Curtiss, Thomas S. Edgington
Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation (1979)

Reports by a number of investigators have described the thymus-derived (T)-cell dependence of immunoglobulin synthesis by pokeweed mitogen (PWM) stimulated human peripheral blood bone marrow-derived (B) cells. Because of the cooperative nature of this in vitro system, it was chosen for examination of the differential effects of low density lipoprotein inhibitor (LDL-In) on B- and T-cell functions. Supernates from 7-d cultures that contained either peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) or combinations of isolated lymphocyte populations were assayed for immunoglobulin (Ig)G by competitive inhibition radio-immunoassay. LDL-In suppression of whole PBM IgG synthesis occurred at 5-20 μg protein/ml and was independent of PWM concentration. Maximal suppression required preincubation of cells with LDL-In before stimulation. Suppression was also observed when B cells alone were exposed for 24 h to LDL-In before PWM stimulation; these suppressed B cells were not rescued by normal T cells. Exposure of T cells alone to low doses of LDL-In for 24 h augmented, but high doses suppressed, IgG synthesis, suggesting a differential effect on T-helper vs T-suppressor cell populations. Independent LDL-In exposure of T-helper or T-suppressor cell enriched populations, separated by rosetting with IgG- or IgM-coated ox erythrocytes, identified the T-suppressor cell populations as the most sensitive of the lymphocyte populations tested. The sensitivities of lymphocyte subpopulations to LDL-In, relative to PBM, were 2.8, 1.2, and 0.3 for the T-suppressor cells, B cells and T-helper cells, respectively. Thus, both B and T lymphocytes are sensitive to and can be regulated by LDL-In. In addition, the biologic activity observed when unseparated PBM are exposed to LDL-In appears to represent a composite of the sensitivity of each of the lymphocyte subpopulations.
Impaired NK-cell migration in WAS/XLT patients: role of Cdc42/WASp pathway in the control of chemokine-induced β2 integrin high-affinity state
Authors: Helena Stabile, Claudia Carlino, Cinzia Mazza, Silvia Giliani, Stefania Morrone, Lucia D. Notarangelo, Luigi D. Notarangelo, Angela Santoni, Angela Gismondi
Journal: Blood (2010)