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Biomedical subjects

A Goldstein

Publications and source records attributed to A Goldstein.

353 records · Page 20Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Symptom complaints of patients maintained on methadone, LAAM (methadyl acetate), and naltrexone at different times in their addiction careers.

In this study, side effect complaints were compared between methadone patients on a stable dose with no heroin use for at least 3 months and matched non-drug-using controls; between methadone patients when using and not using heroin; and between patients in treatment (stable dosage, no heroin use for at least one month) and at follow-up, when not using any opiates and no longer in treatment. This last comparison was done for methadone, LAAM (l-alpha-acetylmethadol, methadyl acetate), and naltrexone patients. Methadone patients had more complaints than did non-drug-using controls; patients in methadone treatment felt worse when using heroin than when not using heroin; methadone, LAAM, and naltrexone patients felt worse while in treatment than when they left treatment and stopped using all opiates; the level of complaints for patients abstinent from opiates at follow-up was not different from that reported by non-drug-using controls. The difficulty of ascribing the symptom complaints to the drugs, in the absence of placebo-treated control groups, is discussed.

Constipation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Synthesis of the skeleton of the morphine molecule by mammalian liver.

The possibility that morphine could be synthesized in animals has long been considered and a pathway in mammalian brain analogous to that in the opium poppy has been proposed. Substances have been detected in mammalian brain that are recognized by antisera raised against morphine. Recently we reported the presence of three such immunoreactive substances in bovine hypothalamus and adrenal, and in rat brain, and the definitive identification of two of them by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as morphine and codeine. Incorporation of a labelled precursor has demonstrated the biosynthesis of morphine in the opium poppy from tyrosine-derived units (see Fig. 1). Intramolecular coupling of reticuline to form salutaridine is the critical step that generates the morphine skeleton (morphinan) and the stereochemistry of the morphinan series. We now report the conversion in vivo and in vitro of reticuline to salutaridine by rat liver, but this conversion is not detectable in rat brain and bovine adrenal. This is the first direct demonstration of the synthesis of a morphinan in an animal tissue and also supports the hypothesis that morphine and codeine in brain and adrenal are of endogenous origin.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Heroin addiction: neurobiology, pharmacology, and policy.

The neurobiology of drug addiction is being clarified. Research is revealing the anatomic pathways of primary drug reinforcement (reward) in the brain and the molecular architecture of the receptors on which addictive drugs act. All addictive drugs mimic (or occasionally block) the actions of some neurotransmitter; in the case of heroin or methadone an endogenous opioid, probably beta-endorphin. The groundwork is being laid for understanding Dole and Nyswander's "metabolic disease" concept as a concrete neurochemical abnormality of the endogenous opioid system. Thus, a stronger basis is developing for regarding methadone maintenance as a means of replacing a neurohormonal deficiency. Three practical conclusions that can be drawn from this model are: (1) methadone dosage must be adequate (never less than 50-80 mg); (2) it should be more widely accepted that some patients may require lifelong methadone maintenance; and (3) longer-acting, better stabilizing methadone congeners, such as LAAM and its metabolites, should be brought into general use.

Endorphins↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A low-cost gate for ultrasound pulse-echo studies.

Selective gating of ultrasounds echoes usually requires an expensive piece of electronics, a stepless gate. This note presents a simple circuit utilizing low-cost components which is easily built, and gives satisfactory performance as a gate for the study of individual ultrasound echoes. The gate has been measured to have a transmission loss of - 2 dB and an isolation of - 50dB.

Ultrasonics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

B-mode registration: a new procedure for analyzing errors.

The theory of a new B-mode registration test procedure is presented along with experimental verification of the detailed theoretical predictions. The new procedure separately tests the B-scan articulated arm calibration and the equipment acoustic velocity calibration. Readily verifiable secondary standards are incorporated into the procedure for self-calibration purposes. The procedure provides a specific and reproducible analysis of angular misregistration errors while maintaining an acceptable level of sensitivity. No coupling gels or oils operator skill is required. A special test has been found which permits the service person to verify that the equipment is capable of attaining proper B-mode registration before beginning the recalibration procedure.

Calibration↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Visualization of B-scan transducer transverse cross-sectional beam patterns.

A technique has been developed to "fool" a B-scanner into imaging the transverse cross-sectional beam pattern of its transducer. This technique can be easily used by clinical personnel to test in-house transducers under their normal conditions of use. The effects of various equipment parameters on the effective beam pattern and the image spatial resolution are demonstrated. It is shown that the technique may be used easily and accurately to measure transducer connector/acoustic axis misalignment.

Equipment Design↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Radiation exposure during skeletal traction treatment of pediatric femoral fractures.

Radiation-exposure data during femoral fracture management has not been previously reported. We report a retrospective analysis of radiation exposure in 45 patients aged 5-12 years (average, 8.3) with isolated femoral shaft fractures treated by 90/90 degrees femoral skeletal traction. Group I had 32 patients aged 5-9 years (average, 7.3), and group II had 13 patients of an average age of 10.7 years. Total average radiation dose before casting was 0.699 rads and was independent of age and gender. In addition to potential complications of tractions and increased hospital stay with attendant fiscal and psychosocial burdens, radiation exposure with this type of management, in this series, was significant.

Age Distribution↗