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Biomedical subjects

A Petrie

Publications and source records attributed to A Petrie.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1974

Bromocriptine in Parkinsonism.

Bromocriptine, a drug acting directly upon dopaminergic receptors, has been found to have a significant therapeutic action in a double-blind study of 20 patients with idiopathic Parkinsonism who were already receiving conventional therapy, including levodopa. Neurological deficits improved by almost 20% in severely disabled patients; amelioration of mildly affected patients was about 10%. Adverse reactions were similar to those encountered with levodopa-they were all dose-dependent and reversible. These observations are discussed in relation to certain theoretical advantages which might be expected from a drug which acts directly on dopaminergic receptors.

Aged↗
PubMed1973

Serum lipids in cholelithiasis: effect of chenodeoxycholic acid therapy.

Hypercholesterolaemia has been predicted as a possible complication of chenodeoxycholic acid treatment for gall stones. To exclude this, fasting serum lipids were measured in patients with stones before and at monthly intervals for six months after starting chenodeoxycholic acid. Before treatment half of a group of 36 patients with presumed cholesterol gall stones had serum cholesterol levels exceeding 260 mg/100 ml or serum triglyceride values greater than 160 mg/100 ml or both; these lipid levels were significantly greater than those in control subjects matched for age and sex. Treatment with chenodeoxycholic acid (0.5-1.5 g/day by mouth) did not change serum cholesterol levels but did significantly reduce serum triglyceride concentrations from a pretreatment level of 118 (+/- S.E. of mean 11.7) mg/100 ml to 95 (+/- 7.2) mg/100 ml after six months of therapy. The mechanism of this triglyceride-lowering action of chenodeoxycholic acid is not known, but it may have therapeutic value in patients with hypertriglyceridaemia.

Adult↗
PubMed1973

Vitamin B 12 status in pregnancy among immigrants to Britain.

Haemoglobin, serum vitamin B(12), and serum and red cell folate levels have been measured in 322 pregnant immigrant women in London at their first booking and in a proportion at 34 weeks of gestation and postnatally. The Indian, East-African Indian, and Pakistani and Bangladeshi patients showed significantly lower initial mean serum vitamin B(12) levels than the European group, the levels being lower in Hindu and Sikh patients than in Moslems. The patients of West Indian, Indian, and East-African Indian origin showed significantly lower initial mean haemoglobin levels than the immigrants from European countries. Though there was no overall correlation between haemoglobin and serum vitamin B(12) level the incidence of hypersegmented polymorphs and macrocytosis in the peripheral blood was highest in the Indian and East-African Indian patients, and both these features were particularly frequent in patients with subnormal serum vitamin B(12) levels. Only one patient, however, had overt megaloblastic anaemia due to vitamin B(12) deficiency. The Indian patients whose red cell folate levels were less than 200 ng/ml also had a lower mean serum vitamin B(12) level than those with red cell folate levels greater than 200 ng/ml. The Indian patients had smaller babies than the Europeans but this was not related to the differences in vitamin B(12) status between the two groups. However, out of 39 babies of the Indian group 5 (13%) showed subnormal serum vitamin B(12) levels in the first 10 days of life, the lowest level being 120 pg/ml.Though there was an overall statistically significant fall in serum vitamin B(12) between first booking and 34 weeks of pregnancy there was no significant fall in serum vitamin B(12) in those who initially had subnormal levels. Thus many Indian women are vitamin B(12) deficient in pregnancy, and this is associated with morphological blood abnormalities in many cases, but megaloblastic anaemia due to this deficiency is relatively infrequent.

Africa, Eastern↗
PubMed1972

Acute renal failure and open heart surgery.

A retrospective study of 428 open heart operations showed the incidence of mild and severe renal failure to be 26% and 4.7% respectively. The mortality rate was 38% in the mild cases and 70% in the severe cases. Only half of the patients whose death was associated with renal failure showed macroscopic or microscopic renal lesions at necropsy. The patients who developed renal impairment had significantly higher mean preoperative blood urea (40 mg/100 ml) than the non-renal-failure cases (33 mg/100 ml). Periods of perfusion over 60 minutes, mean perfusion pressures below 80 mm Hg, and multiple valve replacement operations also increased the incidence of renal failure. There was no statistical correlation between the age of individual patients, the degree of cooling, and postoperative blood urea values. There was no evidence to suggest that frusemide or mannitol separately or together influenced the development of renal failure. Peritoneal dialysis was preferred for initial treatment of patients with severe renal failure, and haemodialysis was required only in special cases.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1972

Action of L- -methyldopa-hydrazine on the blood pressure of patients receiving levodopa.

The blood pressure and pulse rate have been compared in a 'double blind, cross over' study involving twenty patients with idiopathic Parkinsonism receiving maximum tolerated dosage of levodopa with and without an extracerebral decarboxylase inhibitor, L-alpha-methyldopahydrazine. The supine and erect systolic pressures were significantly higher and the erect pulse rate significantly lower during administration of L-alpha-methyldopahydrazine. The implications of these observations are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1971

Idiopathic Parkinsonism treated with an extracerebral decarboxylase inhibitor in combination with levodopa.

The clinical actions of levodopa in Parkinsonism, given with and without an extracerebral decarboxylase in hibitor, L-alpha-methyldopahydrazine, were compared. Twenty-one patients were investigated in a "double-blind cross-over" study, administering levodopa in maximum tolerated dosage. L-Alpha-methyldopahydrazine failed to augment the overall therapeutic actions of levodopa but it consistently alleviated nausea. It is concluded that L-alpha-methyldopahydrazine will prove useful in the management of some Parkinsonian patients who have difficulty in taking levodopa alone.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immunological studies in inflammatory bowel disease.

Three aspects of immunological function were studied in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease): atopic status and serum IgE levels; serum concentration of C-reactive protein; and C3 activation. The incidence of atopy, assessed by prick testing with common allergens, did not differ in patients with inflammatory bowel disease from healthy controls. 12 of 39 patients with Crohn's disease and 5 of 20 with ulcerative colitis, among whom were some non-atopic subjects, had elevated serum levels of IgE. Serum levels of C-reactive protein in patients were significantly greater than normal, even in those in whom the disease was clinically quiescent. Symptomatic patients with Crohn's disease had significantly higher levels than similar patients with ulcerative colitis and in Crohn's disease the levels correlated well with an overall assessment of severity and disease activity. Although conversion of C3 was detected in fresh serum samples from inflammatory bowel disease patients and not controls, only minimal traces were present in just 7 of 89 samples of EDTA--plasma from 47 patients; this finding did not correlate with disease activity. However, there were low titres of immunoconglutinin in the sera of some patients, but not in controls, suggesting that complement activation may be occurring in vivo.

C-Reactive Protein↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Levels of lipid peroxidation products in a chronic inflammatory disorder.

We have examined the plasma levels of the lipid peroxidation products 4-hydroxy-nonenal and malondialdehyde in a carefully controlled study of age and sex-matched subjects with rheumatoid arthritis in whom potentially confounding influences such as disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), self-medication and vitamin supplements were eliminated. The plasma concentrations of the antioxidants uric acid and vitamin E were also measured. The results reveal a strong and consistent inverse correlation between the levels of lipid peroxidation products in the plasma and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). There is no indication that vitamin E or urate function as the major antioxidant agent in arthritis, as has been suggested in more seriously affected patients. It is concluded that there is no evidence that vitamin E is more important, and urate less important as an antioxidant in mild arthritis. The correlation between lipid peroxidation and ESR suggests a more complex relationship than has been assumed.

Adult↗