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Biomedical subjects

A Jones

Publications and source records attributed to A Jones.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Cell envelope and cell wall immunization of Macaca fascicularis: effect on the progression of ligature-induced periodontitis.

The nonhuman primate, Macaca fascicularis, was used to study the role of immunization with selected members of the periodontopathic microbiota in the longitudinal progression of ligature-induced periodontitis. Animals were immunized with cell envelope antigens prepared from Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia, and a mixture prepared from Fusobacterium nucleatum, Campylobacter rectus, and Actinomyces viscosus. Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM and IgA isotype antibodies increased significantly in all immunization groups and were specific for each of the immunogens. P. gingivalis and P. intermedia immunization resulted in a stabilization of the proportions of these species throughout most of the experiment. The high P. gingivalis antibody titer resulted in low P. gingivalis numbers being recovered. P. gingivalis immunization, while lowering recoverable viable P. gingivalis, resulted in significantly increased levels of Prevotella loescheii, Prevotella buccae, Bacteroides macacae and Prevotella melaninogenica compared with preligation and preimmunization levels. Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Capnocytophaga spp. and Eikenella spp. remained at preligation levels postimmunization. Campylobacter spp. increased significantly during the course of the experiment in all groups, whereas the levels of Fusobacterium spp. decreased. Plaque indices and bleeding on probing showed significant increases in all groups following ligation, with the placebo group showing the greatest increase. Pocket depth measurements revealed that , whereas the placebo animals showed an approximate 5% increase, the P. gingivalis- and P. intermedia-immunized groups showed nearly a 20% increase in pocket depth. Attachment level measurements showed significantly greater attachment loss in the P. gingivalis- and P. intermedia-immunized groups, and the F. nucleatum + C. rectus + A. viscosus immunization appeared to prevent significant changes in pocket depth/attachment level loss. Radiographic measurement of bone loss by computer-assisted densitometric image analysis revealed that the placebo group lost bone throughout the experiment. P. gingivalis- and P. intermedia-immunized groups showed an exacerbated loss of bone density and the group immunized with F. nucleatum + C. rectus + A. viscosus exhibited significantly lower amounts of bone loss when analyzed by computer-assisted densitometric image analysis, compared with the other immunized groups. Although immunization with P. gingivalis and P. intermedia cell envelope antigens had an effect on their emergence in the complex microbiota of the developing periodontal pocket, this immunization also resulted in greater bone loss than immunization with F. nucleatum + C. rectus + A. viscosus, suggesting that, whereas selective members of the putative periodontopathic microbiota may play a direct role in periodontal tissue destruction, the complexity of the subgingival microbiota dictates that considerable scrutiny is required to select useful immunogens that can elicit functional protection from periodontal tissue destruction induced by oral microorganisms that already colonize or infect the host.

Actinomyces viscosus↗
PubMed1995

Urological day case surgery in elderly and medically unfit patients using sedoanalgesia: what are the limits?

OBJECTIVE: To assess how elderly and medically unfit patients cope with day case surgery in a urological unit using sedoanalgesia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred patients (mean age 78 years, range 59-97) either over the age of 75 years, or with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status of 3 or 4 (58 patients) were studied before and after surgery to assess their medical condition, home circumstances and how they coped with their first day after the operation. RESULTS: Ninety patients found the procedure good or acceptable and 86 thought having their operation and going home on the same day was a good idea. CONCLUSION: Elderly and medically unfit patients can be treated safely with no serious complications using sedoanalgesia in a well organized Day Unit equipped with full monitoring facilities.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Factors affecting radiographic progression of knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prognostic significance of patient characteristics and radiographic features at the knee for outcome of knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of 350 osteoarthritic knees. Clinical and radiographic data were obtained on 188 hospital referred patients (mean age 70, range 34-91 years). RESULTS: Median duration of follow up was two years (range 1-5 years). The majority of patients (48%) reported deterioration, but 23% experienced improvement in symptoms during the study period. Reported exercise tolerance remained unchanged in the majority (62%) and deteriorated in 35%. Change in at least one individual radiographic feature of osteoarthritis was seen in 252 (72%) knees: increase in joint space narrowing occurred in 52%, osteophyte in 32%, cysts in 19%, sclerosis in 14%, and attrition in 30%. Increase in Kellgren grade occurred in 137 (39%) knees. Knee effusion, osteoarthritis at multiple joint sites, and nodal change associated with change in Kellgren grade (odds ratios 1.03, 2.39, and 1.80; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.01 to 1.05, 1.16 to 4.93, and 1.02 to 3.17, respectively); warmth at the knee associated with change in any radiographic feature (odds ratio 2.22; 95% CI 1.19 to 4.14). Development of, or increase in, attrition and joint space narrowing associated with worsening symptoms and function and occurred with increased frequency in knees with effusions, clinical warmth and calcium pyrophosphate crystals in synovial fluid (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A high rate of change, radiographic more than clinical, was seen in osteoarthritic knees during this study. Poor clinical and radiographic outcome associated with calcium pyrophosphate crystal deposition and clinical inflammation as reflected by knee effusion and warmth.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

High complete remission rates with primary neoadjuvant infusional chemotherapy for large early breast cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of continuous infusion fluorouracil (5FU) with every-3-week epirubicin and cisplatin (ECF) as primary chemotherapy instead of immediate mastectomy for patients with large, potentially operable, breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with large operable breast cancer, median tumor diameter 6 cm (range, 3 to 12), were treated with 5FU 200 mg/m2/d via a Hickman line using an ambulatory pump for 6 months with epirubicin 50 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 IV every 3 weeks for eight courses. Subsequent surgery and/or radiotherapy was determined by clinical response. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients achieved an overall response (98%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 94% to 100%), including 33 complete clinical remissions (CRs) (66%; 95% CI, 53% to 79%). Only three patients (6%) still required mastectomy. Tumor cellularity was markedly reduced on repeat needle biopsy following 3 weeks of treatment in 81% of patients versus only 36% in similar patients after conventional chemotherapy (P < .002). Severe (World Health Organization [WHO] grade 3 to 4) toxicity was rare, with nausea/vomiting being the most common, occurring in 20% of patients. CONCLUSION: Primary infusional ECF appears to be more active on clinical and histopathologic grounds than conventional chemotherapy for large operable breast cancer and is well tolerated. This approach now merits randomized comparison to determine if high CR rates may translate into improved survival.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Laboratory markers of colonoscopic activity in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's colitis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have not identified a convenient laboratory marker of colonoscopic activity in Crohn's colitis or ulcerative colitis. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's colitis undergoing colonoscopy by the same observed had laboratory measurements of serum albumin, orosomucoid, C-reactive protein, plasma viscosity, haemoglobin, leucocyte and platelet counts, and faecal alpha-1-antitrypsin from single non-lyophilized samples. Multiple linear regression was performed using each laboratory variable as the dependent variable and the lengths of each grade of endoscopic activity as the explanatory variables. RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis using all the endoscopic grades of acute activity showed significant correlations with faecal alpha-1-antitrypsin (p < 0.001), serum albumin (p < 0.001), C-reactive protein (p = 0.02), and plasma viscosity (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The highest multiple correlation coefficients were obtained with faecal alpha-1-antitrypsin (r = 0.82) and serum albumin (r = 0.80), and these measurements can be recommended as convenient markers of endoscopic activity in these diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Assessing counselling skills in nurse education.

Nurses frequently employ counselling skills in their work. Competent practice in counselling is achieved by self-exploration, supervised work, acquiring skills and the study of theory. Competence can be assessed by trainers, managers, supervisers, external judges, peers, the counsellor or the client.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1995

Postnatal depression. Facilitating peer group support.

Health visitors and lay people have been working together in Maidenhead to support women suffering from postnatal illness. Alison Jones, Tricia Watts and Sybil Romain describe how the group supplements medical and psychiatric services, by tackling the isolation women with postnatal depression can feel, and helping them through until the illness ends.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMed1995

In vivo measurement of aromatase inhibition by letrozole (CGS 20267) in postmenopausal patients with breast cancer.

Thirteen postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer were enrolled in an open randomized Phase I trial of a new p.o. active aromatase inhibitor, CGS 20267 (letrozole). The primary aim of the trial was to assess the impact of two doses of letrozole (0.5 and 2. 5 mg/day) on the peripheral aromatization of androstenedione to estrone. An in vivo isotopic technique was used to measure peripheral aromatization in each patient before treatment. The patients were then randomly assigned to one of the two doses, and measurements of aromatization were repeated after 6 weeks. At 0.5 mg and 2.5 mg/day, letrozole inhibited aromatization by 98.4% (97.3 to >99.1) and >98.9% (98.5 to >99.1; geometric means and ranges), respectively. Plasma estrogen levels were also measured before and during treatment. At the dose of 0.5 mg/day estrone and estradiol levels fell by 82.0% and 84.1% (geometric means), respectively. At the dose of 2.5 mg/ day, the estrogens fell by 80.8% and 68.1%, respectively. There were no significant differences between the doses in aromatase inhibition. No formal statistical analysis was performed on the estrogen data. Letrozole is therefore a highly effective inhibitor of aromatase, causing near complete inhibition of the enzyme in peripheral tissues at the doses investigated. The falls in estrogen levels were greater than those seen with earlier generation aromatase inhibitors.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Liver expression of epidermal growth factor RNA. Rapid increases in immediate-early phase of liver regeneration.

The liver exhibits a remarkable capacity to regenerate its mass following partial removal or after injury. Transmembrane receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGF) are highly expressed in liver cells, which quickly respond to this polypeptide mitogen by activating an intrinsically low rate of cell division. Although EGF appears to regulate liver growth, its significance has remained unclear, and only a small change in serum levels can be detected during hepatocellular proliferation. Using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay, we report here the novel finding that EGF RNA transcripts are synthesized in a hepatic cell-specific pattern, appearing in hepatocyte and lipocyte cell types. Our data reveal that within 15 min following a 70% liver removal, EGF RNA levels increase > 10-fold and then diminish below basal levels prior to the first wave of regenerative cell division. Immunoanalysis of metabolically labeled hepatocytes shows that EGF accumulates as a large 60-kDa peptide. These results demonstrate that EGF transcription is a previously unrecognized component of hepatic gene expression, and rapid increases in EGF RNA levels in the immediate-early phase of liver regeneration point to EGF as an autocrine factor in the prereplicative hepatic growth program.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of iophenoxic acid in serum.

Iophenoxic acid (IPA), a marker used to investigate the feeding behaviour of bait-consuming animals has previously been indirectly determined by measuring protein-bound iodine levels in serum or plasma. For the first time a method is reported for the direct determination of IPA in biological fluids. IPA was determined in de-proteinized serum by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water. Isocratic and gradient systems are described with limits of detection of 0.2 microgram/ml (isocratic) and 0.05 microgram/ml (gradient). Recoveries from fox serum were 85% at 0.5 microgram/ml, 95% at 5 micrograms/ml and 91% at 50 micrograms/ml.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Antagonism of presynaptically mediated depressant responses and cyclic AMP-coupled metabotropic glutamate receptors.

The depression of monosynaptic excitation of neonatal rat motoneurones by (1S,3S)- and (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate (ACPD) and by L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (L-AP4), which is probably presynaptically mediated, is antagonized by (+/-)- and (+)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG). The same phenylglycine derivatives also antagonize the depression of forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP synthesis effected by the two ACPD stereoisomers and by L-AP4. These results support previous suggestions that presynaptic depression is mediated by metabotropic glutamate receptors negatively coupled to adenylyl cyclase activity. MCPG is the first antagonist to be reported for these receptors.

Aminobutyrates↗