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Biomedical subjects

A Sharma

Publications and source records attributed to A Sharma.

At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Evaluation of a district growth screening programme: the Oxford Growth Study.

The Oxford district growth screening programme was established in 1988 as a community based survey of the heights of children at 3 and 4.5 years of age in a district of 550,000 people. The current birthrate is 7500 births/year and over the first three years of the study 20,338 children were screened in the community; the ascertainment ranged from 61-73.9% of the total expected. Mean height SD scores were significantly greater than the British standards; mean SD scores for boys and girls were 0.33 and 0.35 respectively at age 3, and 0.20 and 0.26 at 4.5 years. Altogether 260 (1.3%) of the total cohort were found to have heights < or = -2SD scores. The mean growth velocity of 2742 children measured at 3 and 4.5 years of age was similar to that of the national standards, 7.14 cm/year in boys and 7.21 cm/year in girls. Follow up data was available from 149 children whose heights were confirmed to be < or = -2SD scores. Of these 69 were already under the care of paediatricians. Thus far diagnoses in the 149 have included growth hormone deficiency (n = 2), Turner's syndrome (n = 2), Noonan's syndrome (n = 4), and emotional deprivation (n = 1). Ways in which ascertainment and detection of treatable causes of short stature could be improved are discussed and it is concluded that community growth screening is a useful part of the child health surveillance programme.

Body Height↗
PubMed1993

Reduction in mydriatic drop size in premature infants.

In a prospective study of 26 premature infants, 5 microliters microdrops were compared with standard 26 microliters eye drops of cyclopentolate 0.5% and phenylephrine 2.5%. There was no statistical difference in pupil dilatation. The 5 microliters microdrops have potentially fewer adverse effects in premature infants.

Cyclopentolate↗
PubMed1993

Galaptin and galaptin-binding glycoconjugates in serum and effusions of carcinoma patients.

The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify galaptin, an endogenous lectin, and galaptin-binding glycoconjugates present in normal serum, (2) to determine if these components were altered in the serum and effusions of carcinoma patients with advanced disease, and (3) to determine if ovarian carcinoma cells synthesize and release soluble galaptin inhibitors. Serum from healthy females (n = 10) had a mean galaptin content of 96 +/- 40 ng/ml. Galaptin levels in carcinoma patient serum (n = 29) were depressed (mean 21 +/- 23 ng/ml; p < 0.0001). Galaptin was not detected in 6 of 8 ovarian carcinoma patient sera. Effusions (n = 17) had a mean galaptin content of 358 +/- 326 ng/ml. Assays involving inhibition of binding of galaptin-peroxidase conjugates to asialofetuin were carried out to evaluate the levels of galaptin-binding glycoconjugates in serum and effusions. The mean inhibition titer of normal serum (n = 12) was 75 +/- 38. Patient serum (n = 28) had an elevated inhibitor content (mean titer = 304 +/- 155; p < 0.0001). Effusions (n = 17) also had a higher inhibitor content relative to normal serum (mean titer = 247 +/- 202; p = 0.0037). Ovarian carcinoma cells isolated from effusions and cultured in vitro were shown to synthesize and release into the medium galaptin-binding glycoconjugates of molecular mass 100-200 kD. An ovarian carcinoma cell line, A121, released galaptin-binding glycoconjugates of molecular mass > or = 200 kD into the medium. The data presented show that the levels of soluble galaptin and galaptin-binding glycoconjugates in the serum of advanced cancer patients are perturbed relative to normal female serum.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1993

Use of a high molecular weight Entamoeba histolytica antigen fraction in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and thin layer immunoassay tests.

A high molecular weight Entamoeba histolytica antigen fraction I was employed for the determination of anti-amoebic antibodies in ELISA and thin layer immunoassay (TIA) tests. A large number of human serum and immunized guinea pig serum samples were tested against this antigen. In comparison, ELISA was found more sensitive than the TIA technique. The potent antigen fraction I used in these tests was lyophilized at an optimum concentration of 1 mg/ml for obtaining uniform results.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Progesterone antagonist mifepristone (RU 486) decreases cardiotoxicity of cocaine.

RU 486, a potent progesterone antagonist, was used to determine whether RU 486 blocks the enhanced cardiotoxicity of cocaine mediated by progesterone upon rat papillary muscles. Groups of nonpregnant rats were pretreated with: progesterone for 3 days (n = 12); progesterone + RU 486 for 3 days (n = 12); progesterone for 3 days + single low dose RU 486, progesterone for 3 days + single high dose RU 486, and RU 486 for 3 days (n = 6); or were untreated (n = 12). Papillary muscles from these groups were electrically paced during exposure to cocaine concentrations ranging from 10(-14) M to 10(-3) M. One group (n = 6) was pretreated with RU 486, but not exposed to cocaine. The results showed that all muscles from rats pretreated with RU 486 for 3 days were functional when exposed to cocaine concentrations one to four orders of magnitude higher than tolerated by muscles from untreated or progesterone-treated rats. As indicated by alterations in contraction response patterns, RU 486 treatment for 3 days reversed progesterone-enhanced cardiotoxicity of cocaine. Single low dose and high dose RU 486 administrations also reversed progesterone's effects upon cocaine-induced cardiotoxicity.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1993

A study of disposal of hospital wastes in a rural teaching hospital.

The present study was carried out in order to observe and analyse the waste disposal patterns in a 500 bedded, multidisciplinary hospital located in a rural area. The hospital under study is a teaching hospital attached to a Medical college and has been functioning for over ten years. Data were collected by means of pre-structured interviews and on-the-spot observations of the various stages in the waste disposal chain. It was observed that the hospital does not have a documented wastes management and disposal policy. The disposal of wastes is not properly supervised and is exclusively entrusted to the junior most staff from the house keeping department. The disposal of all categories of hospital wastes, in general, leaves much to be desired and even pathological wastes were observed to be disposed off, on the open ground with scant regard to aesthetic considerations. Both the internal as well as external transportation of hospital wastes were found to be far from satisfactory.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1993

Novel Taxol formulations: Taxol-containing liposomes.

Taxol is a complex diterpenoid natural product under investigation for therapy of colon, ovarian, lung, and breast cancer, as well as for melanoma and lymphoma. One problem associated with the administration of Taxol is its low solubility; the formulation used clinically contains polyethoxylated castor oil (Cremophor EL) and ethanol as excipients. Cremophor EL is implicated in hypersensitivity reactions observed on infusion of Taxol. To eliminate the Cremophor EL vehicle and possibly improve the antitumor efficacy of Taxol, a systematic approach was taken to formulate Taxol in phospholipid suspensions (liposomes). Prototype formulations were developed that have sufficient chemical and physical stability to test the hypothesis that liposomes can alter the pharmacology of Taxol, in addition to providing a biologically compatible carrier in which to administer the drug. In vitro. Taxol liposomes retain the growth-inhibitory activity of free Taxol against a variety of tumor cell lines. In vivo, preliminary results showed no effect of free Taxol (in Cremophor EL) on the growth of Colon-26, a Taxol-resistant murine tumor, when given at doses that included or exceeded the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). In contrast, Taxol liposomes delayed tumor progression at a dose that exceeded the MTD of free Taxol.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Differential cell-mediated immune response to S. mutans in children with low and high dental caries.

Role of cell-mediated immune response (CMI) in dental caries was studied in 171 subjects, comprising of 86 children with low caries (LC), 31 with high caries (HC), and 54 age matched controls. [3H]thymidine mediated lymphoblast transformation test (LTT) using mutans streptococci antigen as stimulant was used to study the stimulation index (SI) of in vitro cultured lymphocytes from these children. The analysis revealed low stimulation index in high caries children whereas low caries children exhibited high stimulation index normally ranging between 2 to 6. The findings indicated that low caries children had strong CMI response as compared to high caries children. Although, the findings are based on limited number of samples, it certainly lays emphasis on protective or regulatory role of CMI in different phases of dental caries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Oxidative stress and antioxidant defence mechanism in Plasmodium vivax malaria before and after chloroquine treatment.

The protection of Plasmodium vivax-parasitized red blood cells (PRBCs) against activated forms of oxygen was examined in relation to the non-parasitized and chloroquine-treated red blood cells. Increased parasitaemia was found to be accompanied with a decrease in the activities of enzymes of the glutathione system, namely glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GRx) and glutathione S-transferase (GTr) in the red blood cells (RBC) lysates. In contrast, however, the total amount of reduced glutathione (GSH) and the content of water-soluble antioxidant vitamin C was increased 2-3 fold over those of control RBCs. Chloroquine-treated red cells contained enzyme activities and antioxidant contents (GSH, vitamin C) comparable to those of control and non-parasitized red cells. Our results therefore indicate the oxidative stress experienced by RBCs during P. vivax infection and that this infection is accompanied with changes in the antioxidant defence system of the host, which are restored to near normal levels after treatment with chloroquine.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Chromosomal damage in lymphocytes of controls and patients with autosomal and sex-chromosomal disorders.

The frequency of chromosomal aberrations was studied in lymphocytes from karyotypically abnormal patients and normal donors. There was no difference between normal females and Down's syndrome female patients. Male Down's syndrome patients showed a significant increase in aberrations of normal diploid male lymphocytes and a significant difference was observed in male and female Down's syndrome patients. Sex-chromosomally abnormal patients, both X and Y chromosome deficient, showed elevated chromosomal aberrations compared with age and sex-matched normal diploid cells.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

In vivo cytogenetic studies on male mice exposed to Ponceau 4R and beta-carotene.

Chromosomal aberrations induced by Ponceau 4R (an azo food dye) and beta-carotene (a natural food colour) were studied on bone marrow cells of mice in vivo. The results indicated that Ponceau 4R was more clastogenic than beta-carotene. Ponceau 4R was found to have a minimum effective dose of 4 mg which induced a significant number of chromosome aberrations. This dose is also the recommended 'admissible daily intake'. Chromosome aberrations induced by beta-carotene were not significantly higher than those of the control (olive oil) in the dose range 0.27 to 27 mg/kg body weight. The genotoxicity of these dyes can be attributed to their chemical composition. In so far as genotoxicity is concerned the carotenoid beta-carotene can be safely used as a food colorant whereas Ponceau 4R should be delisted as a food dye.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Diagnostic and prognostic role of CRP and m-ESR in neonatal septicemia.

Serial estimation of CRP and m-ESR was done in 65 clinically suspected cases of septicemia and 25 healthy controls. Of these 65, 12 (18%) had a negative CRP test at the time of diagnosis and rest all had significantly elevated CRP and m-ESR compared to matched controls at the time of diagnosis. A persistently negative CRP test indicated bad prognosis. With treatment a declining trend of CRP was seen in survivors, but in deteriorating/expired babies the levels kept on increasing. However, m-ESR had no prognostic significance.

Blood Sedimentation↗
PubMed1993

Speech-evoked cortical potentials in children.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained to synthesized speech stimuli in 16 school-aged children (7-11 years) and compared to responses in 10 adults. P1, N1, and P2 event-related potentials were elicited by the phoneme /ga/. The mismatch negativity (MMN) was elicited by variants of /da/ and /ga/, which differ in the onset frequency of the second and third formant transitions. In general, the well-defined N1/P2 complex characteristic of the adult response, was not found in children. Waves P1 and N1 had longer peak latencies in children than in adults. Wave P2 amplitude was smaller in children than in adults. In contrast to the often poorly delineated earlier cortical potentials, the MMN was well defined in children. Significant MMNs were obtained in all subjects tested. MMN magnitude (peak amplitude and area) was significantly larger in the children. No significant differences were found in peak latency and duration of the MMN in children compared to the adult response. Another negative wave occurring at 400 msec was also observed in response to the deviant stimuli. This negative wave occurred at a similar latency in adults and children and was significantly larger and more robust in children. Results support the view that development of ERPs does not involve a hierarchical process with respect to latency. That is, earlier occurring waves do not necessarily mature before later occurring waves. The latencies of P1, N1, and P2 and overall morphology of these waves may provide a measure of maturation of central pathways. The early development of the MMN, its apparent robustness in school-aged children, and its reflection of the processing of acoustic differences in speech stimuli suggest its possible use in the assessment of central auditory function.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1993

Primary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, renal infarction and hypertension.

We describe a 22-year-old woman with renovascular hypertension, stroke, and left renal infarction. She had markedly elevated antiphospholipid antibodies without evidence of systemic lupus erythematosus, other autoimmune or rheumatic disorders. Selective renal angiogram revealed lack of perfusion to the lower pole of left kidney and her left renal vein renin level was elevated. She represents an example of primary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome resulting in renal infarction and hypertension.

Adult↗