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Biomedical subjects

B Lewis

Publications and source records attributed to B Lewis.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The effect on blood lipids of eating charcoal-grilled meat.

For 9 days, 12 volunteers ate each day 8 oz of hamburgers and 6 oz of steak barbecued over charcoal. This was followed by a mean rise in high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol of 25%. In addition there was a reduction in total cholesterol (the fall in total less the HDL fraction, which reflects mainly low density lipoprotein cholesterol was 20%). These changes were not seen when 6 of the subjects later ate the same quantity of meat under the same conditions except that it had been cooked in an electric oven. Benzo(a)pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have previously been shown to be produced in meat cooked over charcoal, and it is suggested that the resulting induction of the polycyclic hydrocarbon-dependent type of cytochrome P450 is responsible for inducing enzyme activity involved in lipid metabolism. Despite the beneficial effect that such changes in lipids might have on the risk of coronary heart disease, these findings should not be seen as a guide to long-term changes in cooking practice in view of the possible carcinogenic effects of benzo(a)pyrene produced in this way.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Acquired immune dysfunction in homosexual men: immunologic profiles.

Homosexual men with Kaposi sarcoma, lymphadenopathy syndrome, opportunistic infection, and nonhomosexual traditional Kaposi sarcoma were evaluated for B cell, T cell, and complement immunity and compared to normal controls and homosexual controls. No significant immunologic abnormalities were found in the traditional Kaposi group. All homosexual groups, including the homosexual controls, had a significant decrease in the helper/suppressor cell ratio. Functional abnormalities of T-cell immunity were observed in the homosexual Kaposi sarcoma, lymphadenopathy syndrome, and opportunistic infection groups. Significant elevations of IgG, IgM, IgA, and IgE were found in the lymphadenopathy group, while only IgG and IgA were elevated in the Kaposi sarcoma group. C3, C4, and immune complexes were normal, while total hemolytic complement activity was increased in the Kaposi sarcoma and lymphadenopathy syndrome groups.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1983

Nutrition in coronary heart disease prevention: a program for the 1980s.

Within a quarter century the convergence of geographical and prospective epidemiology, clinical research, and laboratory investigation has provided strongly attested theories of coronary heart disease (CHD) etiology. Evidence that application of these theories will reduce CHD incidence is incomplete but adequate to justify their use at clinical and population levels. Additional etiological hypotheses (HDL, hyperinsulinism, personality type) are persuasive but await comparable investigation. Risk-benefit considerations require ongoing scrutiny: current evidence, however, does not give cause for concern that attainable reduction of plasma cholesterol has deleterious effects. To minimize lipoprotein-mediated CHD risk it may be necessary to attain population mean plasma cholesterol levels of less than 200 mg/dl, a target which is probably feasible by dietary modifications directed to lipid, fiber, and energy intake. A substantial obstacle to CHD prevention is the irresponsible rearguard action by small segments of the food industry and the medical profession, permitting inertia on the false grounds that scientific opinion is seriously divided.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Structural relationships among Rhizobium meliloti symbiotic promoters.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation by Rhizobium meliloti requires the developmentally specific expression of certain bacterial genes. One set of these genes encodes the subunits of nitrogenase, the enzyme responsible for the reduction of atmospheric dinitrogen to ammonia, and another set consists of closely linked genes also essential for nitrogen fixation. Examination of promoter and probable regulatory regions for these gene sets has revealed extensive DNA sequence conservation for more than 160 bp upstream of the respective transcription start points. Three such promoter regions have been identified in the nitrogen fixation (nif) gene cluster of R. meliloti strain 102F34. Using one of these promoter regions as a hybridization probe, three additional sequences were found in the genome of this strain. The DNA of other R. meliloti strains and Rhizobium species were also examined for homology to the symbiotically regulated promoters of R. meliloti 102F34. DNA sequences homologous to these R. meliloti promoters were found among diverse rhizobia, and in at least some cases were associated with nif genes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Five-year experience with the Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial valve in the aortic position.

Between February, 1977, and April, 1982, 168 patients underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with an Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial valve. Concomitant procedures were performed in 71 patients. There were 12 hospital deaths (7.1%). Among patients having AVR only, there were 5 deaths (5.2%). Assessment included valve durability, incidence of thromboembolism, clinical improvement, and patient survival. There was 100% follow-up. Actuarial freedom from intrinsic valve failure at 5 years was 96.3 +/- 3.6%. Intrinsic valve failure occurred only once, 0.3 episodes per 100 patient-years. Four patients had thromboembolic complications. As for clinical status, 99.3% of surviving patients are in New York Heart Association Functional Class I or II, including 79 patients with valve sizes 17, 19, or 21 mm (56%). Among 13 late deaths, 9 were related to the cardiovascular system. Overall patient survival is 84.9 +/- 4.7%. Among the 92 patients with isolated AVR, 87.8 +/- 5.9% are alive at the 5-year follow-up. If the incidence of valve failure is not altered in years to come, the durability of the Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial valve will surpass that of previous bioprostheses.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1983

Lack of correlation between the maximum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity of blood lymphocytes and plasma LDL concentration in normal men.

1. Measurements were made of the maximal low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activities of blood lymphocytes from 81 healthy men with a wide range of plasma LDL cholesterol concentrations (1.45-7.55 mmol/l). 2. Receptor activity was quantified by measuring the degradation of 125I-labelled LDL (10 micrograms of protein/ml) to trichloroacetic acid-soluble material during a 6 h incubation, after derepression of the lymphocytes for 72 h in lipoprotein-deficient medium. 3. No significant correlation existed between LDL receptor activity in vitro and plasma LDL cholesterol concentration in vivo (r = -0.08).

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Modes of action of lipid-lowering diets in man: studies of apolipoprotein B kinetics in relation to fat consumption and dietary fatty acid composition.

The mechanisms by which dietary fat influences fasting plasma lipid concentrations have been investigated in hyperlipidaemic subjects. The synthetic and fractional catabolic (FCR) rates of the apoprotein B (apo B) of very-low density (VLDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoproteins were measured using radioiodinated autologous lipoproteins. Reductions of LDL concentration in eight subjects during low-fat (25% of energy) diets were largely explained by diminished synthesis (-20%, P less than 0.02), and possibly also by an increased FCR (+15%, P = 0.05) of LDL, compared with observations made during a high-fat (45% of energy) diet of similar fatty acid composition. VLDL apo B synthesis and FCR were not significantly altered. When a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids was exchanged for one high in saturated fatty acids (fat providing 45% of energy on both occasions) in four subjects, the synthetic rates of both VLDL apo B (-31%, P less than 0.02) and LDL apo B (-23%, P less than 0.10) were reduced while their FCRs were unchanged.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Relationship of high density lipoprotein cholesterol with total and free testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin.

A cross-sectional study was performed to see if the previously described association between high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and plasma total testosterone concentration reflected a relationship with free testosterone or with sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). In 295 employed middle-aged men, measurements were made of total testosterone and SHBG in serum and of testosterone in saliva, and also of plasma total and HDL cholesterol, plasma triglycerides and other factors which might influence HDL cholesterol levels such as body mass index, alcohol and smoking habits and thyroid hormone levels. In a multiple regression analysis using the GLIM package programme total testosterone concentrations had a persistent positive association with HDL cholesterol (t = 3.5, P less than 0.001) - this association was independent of SHBG (which had a negative association with HDL: t = -1.8, P less than 0.07. The association of HDL cholesterol with testosterone was independent of and stronger than the association of HDL cholesterol with body mass index, alcohol intake and cigarette smoking. Salivary testosterone (a measure of the circulating free hormone) also had a positive independent association with HDL cholesterol. The relationship between HDL cholesterol and testosterone thus appears to reflect an association with circulating hormone levels rather than with the hormone binding globulin.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1983

Penicillamine in rheumatoid disease.

Penicillamine is a slow acting oral antirheumatic drug and a chelating agent. Although it is derived from penicillin, allergy to that is not an absolute contraindication to the use of penicillamine.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1983

Familial chylomicronemia due to a circulating inhibitor of lipoprotein lipase activity.

A mother and her son who have lipoprotein phenotype I are described. They differed from subjects with lipoprotein lipase deficiency in that lipoprotein lipase was present in adipose tissue respectively at 30- and 2-fold the levels seen in normal subjects, and from subjects with apoprotein C-II deficiency in that apoprotein C-II was present in their plasma. They appeared to have an inhibitor to lipoprotein lipase activity in their whole plasma that inhibited that activity eluted from adipose tissue with heparin and that activity present in postheparin plasma of normals. The inhibitor was non-dialyzable, heat-stable, sensitive to repeated freezing and thawing, and appeared to be present in the non-lipoprotein fraction of plasma. The presence of chylomicronemia and the plasma inhibitor in the mother and her son, and possibly in her father and grandson, argues against this being inherited as an autosomal recessive abnormality, as are lipoprotein lipase deficiency and apoprotein C-II deficiency.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1982

Myelomatosis with type III hyperlipoproteinemia: clinical and metabolic studies.

We investigated the metabolism of intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL [1.006 to 1.019 g per milliliter]) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL [1.019 to 1.063 g per milliliter]) in two men with Type III hyperlipoproteinemia associated with myelomatosis. In vivo kinetic studies using radiolabeled autologous lipoproteins demonstrated a greatly reduced fractional catabolic rate of IDL, relative to control values (patients vs. normal, 0.006 and 0.025 per hour vs. 0.20 +/- 0.08 per hour [mean +/- S.E.M]) and a greatly prolonged IDL-to-LDL conversion time (45 and 17 hours vs. 5.4 +/- 1.6 hours). In studies in vitro, LDL from both patients failed to bind to the LDL receptor of normal blood lymphocytes, whereas LDL from subjects with familial Type III hyperlipoproteinemia bound normally to the receptor. In one patient immunoglobulin was shown to be associated with IDL and LDL. Thus, hyperlipoproteinemia reflected an impaired metabolism of IDL, probably secondary to the binding of immunoglobulin to the lipoproteins. A similar impairment of receptor-mediated LDL catabolism did not elevate the plasma LDL concentration because of the low IDL-to-LDL conversion rate.

Apoproteins↗
PubMed1982

The effects of probucol on plasma lipoproteins in polygenic and familial hypercholesterolaemia.

During treatment with probucol at the dose of 1 g per day, the mean reduction in low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration was 11.2% in polygenic hypercholesterolaemia (n = 9) and 9.4% in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (n = 6). However, there was marked heterogeneity of response: in seven of the patients with polygenic hypercholesterolaemia who had in common moderate elevation of LDL cholesterol (5.3-6.4 mmol/1), the reduction ranged from 13 to 40% (mean, 23%). In two of this group the change in LDL concentration was associated with a decrease in LDL apolipoprotein B synthetic rate. Of the patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia one showed a 33% reduction in LDL cholesterol, and one a 13% reduction. Total high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration tended to decrease during treatment. This reflected a reduction of the cholesterol concentration in the HDL3 subclass; HDL2 cholesterol remaining unchanged. Plasma triglyceride and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol were unaffected by probucol. The drug was well tolerated with only one patient complaining of severe diarrhoea, and two of mild and transient diarrhoea. No clinically significant changes occurred in serial resting electrocardiograms. Thus, probucol appears to be a useful drug for the treatment of most patients with polygenic hypercholesterolaemia, and of some patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Adolescent↗