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Biomedical subjects

A C Baker

Publications and source records attributed to A C Baker.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

A double-blind comparative study of alprazolam and dothiepin hydrochloride in the treatment of anxiety associated with depression.

One hundred patients with mixed symptoms of anxiety and depression were enrolled into a prospective, multi-centre, randomized, double-blind study comparing the response to, and the side-effects of, alprazolam and dothiepin hydrochloride over 4 weeks of treatment. Mean daily doses were 2.33 mg alprazolam and 115 mg dothiepin. Data on 96 patients were evaluated for tolerance, and data for 85 patients were analyzed for therapeutic response. In each case, the groups were similar in numbers, mean ages and sex ratios. Both groups experienced satisfactory responses to therapy, with highly statistically significant changes (p less than 0.001) in the means of all efficacy measures within each group. No statistical difference was demonstrated in favour of either treatment group. Both dothiepin and alprazolam exhibited a similar profile of mild minor side-effects, but more patients suffered moderate to severe reactions to dothiepin, leading to a greater drop-out rate in the dothiepin-treated group. It is concluded that, as both treatments produced equally satisfactory responses in this study, alprazolam should be considered for the treatment of anxiety associated with depression in patients for whom tricyclic antidepressant drugs are either contra-indicated or poorly tolerated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Pigeon liver phosphoprotein phosphatase: an effective activator of pyruvate dehydrogenase in tissue homogenates.

A fluoride-insensitive, non-metal-requiring pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase has been purified 730-fold from pigeon liver acetone powder and proven to be a convenient reagent for studies of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and its activation (phosphorylation) state in brain and other tissues. This phosphatase is a cytoplasmic enzyme (Mr = 80,000), and fits the functional definition of a type 1 phosphoprotein phosphatase. The pigeon liver phosphatase can be used to activate pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in vitro in brain and other crude tissue homogenates. Addition of the cytoplasmic pigeon liver phosphatase to a homogenate from rat or mouse brain frozen in situ activated pyruvate dehydrogenase to levels comparable to that found in ischemic brain. The fluoride insensitivity of this phosphatase was used to develop a convenient technique for stopping the pyruvate dehydrogenase activation state in situ in cultured skin fibroblasts and then fully activating the complex in vitro in 5 min. The use of this phosphatase as a reagent can facilitate the study of pyruvate dehydrogenase activation defects in mammalian tissues including cultured cells in normal and disease states.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The spouse's positive effect on the stroke patient's recovery.

To determine the effect of the presence of a spouse on the stroke patient's adaptation, a retrospective chart review of stroke patients who had completed rehabilitation was conducted. The convenience sample comprised 67 stroke patients of a family practice service who received rehabilitation at Pitt County Memorial Hospital Rehabilitation Center in Greenville, NC, over a 45-month period. Roy's Adaptation Model was the theoretical framework for the inquiry. The Barthel Index measured the functioning level, or adaptation, of the patients on discharge from rehabilitation. It was hypothesized that patients who had a stroke and completed a rehabilitation program would achieve a higher level of adaptation if they had a spouse than would comparable patients without a spouse. This hypothesis was supported by the findings; the average Barthel Index score on discharge was 7.5 points higher in patients who had a spouse (Wilcoxon chi-square = 4.17, p < .05). The implications for nurses are presented.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Normal replicative lifespan of Alzheimer skin fibroblasts.

Cultured skin fibroblasts from four patients with Alzheimer's disease had life spans comparable to those of six age-sex matched controls, whether measured by passages to phase-out, cumulative population doublings to phase out, or percentage of nuclei incorporating [3H]thymidine (Cristofalo index). These results provide direct experimental evidence that Alzheimer's disease is not simply a form of accelerated aging. They suggest that the abnormalities, described by several groups, in Alzheimer fibroblasts reflect the disease rather than the physiological age of the donor, making the cultured cell a valid tool for studying the cellular pathophysiology of this disorder. Together with other data, these observations raise the possibility that some forms of Alzheimer's disease may represent inborn error(s) of metabolism of late clinical onset.

Aged↗