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Biomedical subjects

A Turner

Publications and source records attributed to A Turner.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Malaria chemoprophylaxis to pregnant women provided by community health workers in Saradidi, Kenya. III. Serologic studies.

Parasitaemia and antimalarial antibodies were examined from May 1983 to March 1984 in monthly samples taken from 930 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Saradidi, Kenya, and 317 of their infants; 104 women were taking chloroquine phosphate 300 mg base weekly for chemoprophylaxis. Seropositivity rates in pregnant women were uniformly high, and mean enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) absorbance values were not related to presence of parasitaemia or history of chemoprophylaxis. Parasitaemia was present in 26.5% of 1677 slides from pregnant women and there was little variation by month of sample. Mean ELISA absorbance values varied by month of sample. Seropositivity rates in infants were high as measured in both the indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test (81.6% of 938) and ELISA at 1:100 (83.8% of 1025) and 1:1000 (34.8% of 1025) serum dilutions. Seropositivity rates decreased slightly after birth but by four months of age rates were again high. Parasitaemia was present in 26.5% of 1677 slides from pregnant women. Paired comparisons were made on maternal samples collected less than two months before parturition and samples from the infants collected within two months after birth. The paired antibody response by IFA or ELISA was not dependent on the presence of detectable parasitaemia in the mother. Infants from mothers with a history of antimalarial chemoprophylaxis had significantly (P = 0.04) lower IFA titres than other infants. Measuring the absorbance of a 1:100 serum dilution by ELISA appeared to be an excellent method with which to measure longitudinal serologic changes in a population.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Penetration of ofloxacin into bronchial secretions.

The penetration of ofloxacin into bronchial secretions was evaluated in 16 patients after administration of a single oral dose of ofloxacin 400mg. Bronchial secretions were aspirated at bronchoscopy after 1 to 6 hours and serum was collected simultaneously. Ofloxacin concentrations were measured by a microbiological assay method. Considerable individual variations in serum and bronchial aspirate concentrations were recorded: bronchial aspirate concentrations varied between 1.1 mg/L and 4.5 mg/L but exceeded 1.5 mg/L in 14 of 16 patients between 1 and 6 hours. The ratio between simultaneous mean bronchial aspirate and serum concentrations ranged between 0.53 in the second hour and 0.92 in the fourth hour. It is likely that inhibitory activity will be sustained over at least 6 hours against most potential respiratory pathogens including Haemophilus influenzae, Branhamella catarrhalis, Gram-negative bacilli, Staphylococcus aureus, Legionella pneumophila and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa may have minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values lower than ofloxacin concentrations achieved in bronchial secretions, although some isolates are less sensitive. Clinical studies should establish the relevance of pharmacokinetic data to respiratory infections caused by organisms of borderline susceptibility.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Detection of antibodies in human sera to the repeating epitope of the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum using the synthetic peptide (NANP)3 in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect antibody in human sera to a synthetic peptide, Asn-Ala-Asn-Pro (NANP)3, derived from the repeating amino acid sequence found in the surface circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites. One hundred four sera from U.S. residents were used to determine a cut-off value for reactivity. Test sera were considered reactive when the absorbance was greater than that at the 95th percentile of the control sera. Sera from 112 Kenyans living in an area of holoendemic malaria transmission were tested. Of the total number of sera, 65% had detectable antibody to (NANP)3. The percentage of reactive sera increased from 41% in sera from children under 4 years of age to 85% in sera from adults 20 to 39 years of age. The high exposure to malaria parasites of the Kenyans was reflected in indirect fluorescent antibody assay titers to blood stage P. falciparum parasites. All of the Kenyan sera had antibody present at titers greater than 1:256.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Monocyte esterase? A factor involved in the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative neoplasia.

Monocyte esterase activity was studied in 1,000 doctor-attending patients with normal hematological indices and in 56 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The incidence of esterase deficiency was significantly greater in the NHL-CLL patients (7.1%) than in the population group (1.7%; p less than 0.05). In the NHL-CLL group, study of the families showed the esterase deficiency to be a familial characteristic. We postulate that the presence of the anomaly may be either a factor predisposing to the development of the NHL or CLL or a factor indicating a predisposition to these disorders.

Esterases↗
PubMed1986

Studies on haematocrit in peripheral arterial disease.

Haematocrit is often elevated in peripheral arterial disease, and is an important determinant of blood viscosity and of platelet behaviour. We have studied the relationships of haematocrit to claudication, smoking habit, calf blood flow, platelet aggregation in whole blood, and the late complications of aortic bifurcation grafts. In 31 claudicants, blood viscosity, haematocrit and fibrinogen levels were significantly higher compared to 50 controls (p less than 0.01). However this was largely explained by a higher prevalence in claudicants of cigarette-smoking, which is associated with increased blood viscosity, haematocrit and fibrinogen levels. In 8 stable claudicants with high-normal haematocrit (mean 0.50), venesection reduced haematocrit to low-normal levels (mean 0.44). Resting calf blood flow was unchanged: peak flow increased slightly (17%) but oxygen delivery (peak flow X haemoglobin concentration) was unchanged. Spontaneous platelet aggregation in whole blood was studied using a single platelet counting method: the increase in haematocrit in patients with claudication was not associated with a significant increase in aggregation, and a negative association of haematocrit and aggregation was observed. In a preliminary retrospective study of patients with late complications of aortic bifurcation grafts, significantly higher haematocrits prior to operative were found compared to controls who had not returned to the clinic. Further prospective studies are required to assess the significance of haematocrit in peripheral arterial disease, and to determine whether any adverse effects are due to associations with smoking, rheology or platelet behaviour.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Susceptibility of wallabies to Fusobacterium necrophorum.

Wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus) were not appreciably more susceptible than rabbits or mice to Fusobacterium necrophorum, a fact established by the subcutaneous injection of a series of graded doses into animals of each species. The strikingly frequent occurrence of necrobacillosis in captive macropods is therefore not due to a uniquely high susceptibility. A vaccine containing inactivated F necrophorum culture emulsified with Freund's complete adjuvant failed to increase the resistance of wallabies to subcutaneous challenge with a moderate dose of the homologous strain. The control of necrobacillosis in captive wallabies must therefore depend on managemental measures aimed at minimising faecal contamination of the environment and damage to the buccal mucous membrane and skin.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Divergent metabolism of human chorionic gonadotropin subunits within rat ovarian lysosomes.

Pseudopregnant rats were injected with either native human chorionic gonadotropin or with (125I)-human chorionic gonadotropin and their ovarian homogenates fractionated on Percoll density gradients. The levels of alpha and beta subunits within subcellular fractions were measured using radioimmunoassays specific for each subunit. Radioactivity measurements of fractions obtained from rats injected with (125I)-human chorionic gonadotropin were used as a separate index of alpha subunit distribution. The alpha subunit was primarily restricted to a combined plasma membrane/prelysosomal vesicle fraction. Immunoreactive beta subunit was present at high concentrations within both this plasma membrane/prelysosomal vesicle fraction and within lysosomes. The striking difference in alpha and beta subcellular distribution may arise from differential sensitivities to lysosomal enzymes.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

A comparative trial between cefotetan and cephazolin for wound sepsis prophylaxis during elective upper gastrointestinal surgery with an investigation of cefotetan penetration into the obstructed biliary tree.

Cefotetan is a cephamycin antibiotic theoretically suited to prophylaxis of wound infection during upper elective gastrointestinal surgery. In a prophylaxis trial 100 patients undergoing this type of surgery were randomly allocated to receive 1g cefotetan or cephazolin iv at induction of anaesthesia. Cefotetan-treated patients had significantly fewer postoperative infections overall (P less than 0.05) and there were no wound infections recorded in this group. In a separate pharmacokinetic study the penetration of cefotetan into common bile duct bile and gallbladder wall was measured in a further six patients, all of whom had been jaundiced preoperatively. At the time of maximum risk concentrations of cefotetan in bile and biliary tissue as well as blood and wound fat were in excess of the minimum inhibitory concentration for the majority of relevant pathogens. Cefotetan appears to be equally or more effective than cephazolin and is a suitable alternative prophylactic agent in elective upper gastrointestinal surgery.

Bile↗
PubMed1986

The adverse effect of dilution on the infectivity of Fusobacterium necrophorum culture.

Dilution had an adverse effect on the infectivity of 24 h cultures of a strain of Fusobacterium necrophorum, which became apparent at or near the minimum lethal dose. Thus in mice inoculated subcutaneously the mortality produced by 0.01 ml of undiluted culture was almost invariably greater than that produced by 0.1 ml of a 1 in 10 dilution. The explanation appeared to lie in the increased physical separation of bacterial cells that was the inevitable consequence of dilution.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of ketoconazole in human serum.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with terconazole as internal standard is described for the rapid analysis of ketoconazole in human serum. Except for diazepam no other drug interfered with the analysis. The lowest reproducible limit of the method was 0.05 mg/l. The coefficient of variation of the procedure was less than or equal to 7.5% over a range of ketoconazole concentrations from 1.0 to 10.0 mg/l and less than or equal to 16.75% over a range from 0.05 to 0.5 mg/l. Comparison with a microbiological method showed good correlation.

Biological Assay↗
PubMed1986

Upper-limb function of children with myelomeningocele.

Upper-limb function of 33 children aged between four and 17 years, all with myelomeningocele and hydrocephalus, was investigated by clinical examination and formal tests of hand function. Cerebellar ataxia alone or with other neurological signs was the most common disorder detected. Hand-function scores were determined for each child and for different components of hand function, and the mean score for the whole group was only 59 per cent. In general, children over 11 years of age scored significantly better than younger ones. Children under 11 years of age with a milder degree of hydrocephalus or who were right-handed also scored significantly better. Only two children had clinically normal upper limbs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Costectomy as the first stage of surgery for scoliosis.

Preliminary costectomy before Harrington instrumentation and fusion for idiopathic scoliosis allows direct excision of the rib prominence and better correction at the second-stage operation. The excised rib fragments are used as grafts, thus avoiding the need for a separate pelvic incision. The management regime and the technique of costectomy are described. The results in 42 children, most suffering from adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and all treated by this method, have been reviewed. Respiratory function in a group of these children has been compared with that of a group treated by Harrington instrumentation alone. Costectomy produced a significantly greater reduction in total lung capacity and peak expiratory flow rate but, providing the preliminary lung function tests were reasonably normal, the cosmetic and psychological effects of costectomy were very rewarding.

Adolescent↗