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Biomedical subjects

C Chapman

Publications and source records attributed to C Chapman.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

A review of acyclovir treatment of ocular herpes zoster and skin infections.

Intravenous acyclovir had a significant effect on the resolution of the skin rash in patients with acute zoster, but the 5-day course of therapy was not, in itself, sufficient to treat coexisting ocular involvement. In an open study, topical acyclovir was found to control herpes zoster kerato-uveitis, without recurrences and in a shorter time than if steroids alone were used. The use of steroids in combination with acyclovir led to prolonged treatment and high recurrence rates. A comparative trial of topical acyclovir versus steroids in the treatment of acute herpes zoster kerato-uveitis showed significant differences in favour of acyclovir in terms of the time to resolution of corneal epithelial disease, total treatment duration and the numbers of patients having a recurrence of infection. The reductions in treatment duration and recurrence rate would be expected to result in a reduced incidence of ocular damage and visual loss in acyclovir treated patients.

Acyclovir↗
PubMed1983

LH pulse frequency in relation to positive oestrogen-gonadotrophin feedback in amenorrhoea.

The relationship between the pattern of pulsatile LH release and the response to oestrogen provocation was studied in twenty amenorrhoeic or oligomenorrhoeic subjects. In 12 subjects with positive oestrogen-gonadotrophin feedback a definite pulsatile pattern of LH release was demonstrated with a pulse frequency of 60--80 min and an increase from nadir to peak ranging between 30 and 58%. The mean basal LH concentration was significantly higher in this group (P less than 0.001). Of eight subjects who had absence of positive feedback, five showed infrequent pulses, 1--2 during the four-hour period. These were of low amplitude and with a percentage increase of 45--70 from nadir to peak. The remaining three did not have a pulsatile pattern of LH release. Positive feedback, as demonstrated by an oestrogen provocation test was thus found only in patient having 3 or more LH pulses in the 4 h study period; an LH pulse frequency similar to that in the early follicular phase in regularly menstruating women.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

A comparison of topical acyclovir with steroids in the treatment of herpes zoster keratouveitis.

Topical acyclovir has been compared with topical steroids in a coded controlled trial of the treatment of keratouveitis caused by herpes zoster in 40 patients. Topical acyclovir was significantly superior to topical steroids in terms of treatment duration (75 days to 280 days), with no recurrences after the patients were weaned off treatment; there was a 63% recurrence rate in the steroid group. Corneal epithelial disease resolved significantly quicker in the acyclovir treated group. If recurrences occurred in the steroid group, other parts of the eye not initially affected were also involved. Treatment of such recurrences was more difficult than treatment of the initial attack.

Acyclovir↗
PubMed1983

Bombesin stimulates growth hormone secretion from cultured bovine pituitary cells.

Bombesin-like peptides are present in the mammalian hypothalamus. It has previously been reported that synthetic bombesin elevates plasma growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) concentrations in rats. To investigate whether bombesin has a direct action on the pituitary gland we measured GH and PRL secretion from 5-day cultures of bovine anterior pituitary cells. We compared the effects of bombesin with those of a previously described synthetic pentapeptide which releases rat GH in vitro (GHRP) and with the effects of acetylcholine which stimulates bovine GH secretion. Bombesin stimulated GH but not PRL secretion from pituitary cultures during 90-min incubations. Maximal stimulation to 157 +/- 16% of the control value was seen with 1.2 X 10(-7) M bombesin. Half-maximal stimulation occurred with 5 X 10(-9) M bombesin. The pentapeptide GHRP also stimulated GH but not PRL secretion. Maximal stimulation to 207 +/- 14% of the control value was seen with 1.3 X 10(-5) M GHRP. Half-maximal stimulation occurred with 10(-7) M GHRP. Acetylcholine stimulated secretion of both GH and PRL, both responses being abolished by the muscarinic antagonist atropine. Maximal stimulation with 10(-4) M acetylcholine was to 381 +/- 33% of the control value for GH and to 134 +/- 5% of the control value for PRL. The effects of bombesin and GHRP on GH secretion were not additive whilst the effects of both peptides were additive with those of acetylcholine. The data suggest that the synthetic GHRP peptide may possibly interact with native bombesin receptors on pituitary somatotrophs and that bombesin or a related peptide may act in vivo as a GH releasing factor.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1983

Mutations at more than one locus may be involved in cystic fibrosis--evidence based on first-cousin data and direct counting of cases.

Cystic fibrosis was present in 35 of 5,265 first cousins of index cases with the disease. The gene frequency was estimated to be .0281 +/- .00544, using an improved method that allows for the influence of cousin sibship size upon the estimate. This figure is higher than that obtained by direct counting of cases in Victoria, Australia, from 1955-1979 (.0198 +/- .000127), raising the possibility that multiple gene loci may be involved in this disease. Further analysis showed that the number of affected first cousins fitted very well with an expected number based on a model involving two gene loci, each responsible for half the cases of cystic fibrosis. Agreement with expectations based on a single locus was not good. An alternate explanation of gross underascertainment of cases is dismissed because the index sibships were shown to fit very closely a truncate binomial distribution. The gene frequencies at the putative two loci would then each be .0140 and heterozygote frequencies one in 36. One in 18 people would be heterozygous at either one or the other of the loci.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Acyclovir therapy in herpes zoster infection. A practical guide.

The effect of acyclovir on the skin rash and herpes zoster keratouveitis has been studied. It has been shown to have a significant effect on both disease processes, and to be superior to topical steroids in the treatment of herpes zoster keratouveitis. Steroids have been found to have an adverse effect with prolonged treatment and frequent recurrences.

Acyclovir↗
PubMed1982

Cd branding studies in a homologous Robertsonian 13;13 translocation.

A phenotypically normal female with a history of two miscarriages was found to have the karyotype 45,XX,t(13p:13p). C banding showed the translocation to have two regions of centromeric constitutive heterochromatin, silver staining showed an active NOR in 60% of the cells screened, and Cd banding studies showed a single Cd band with absence of the Cd band at the suppressed centromere.

Chromosome Banding↗
PubMed1981

Suppression by bromocriptine of the serum lactalbumin peak associated with human lactogenesis.

The endocrine environment necessary for human lactation has not yet been clearly defined. In particular the role of prolactin is uncertain, since levels of this hormone usually fall to the normal non-lactating range during the course of prolonged lactation. We have found that the immediate post-partum peak of serum lactalbumin associated with lactogenesis was abolished by treatment with bromocriptine. This suggests a direct relationship between prolactin and lactalbumin production at this time.

Bromocriptine↗
PubMed1980

Extraneous drug use in methadone-supported patients.

Weekly urine specimens were collected and analysed from 231 patients receiving daily oral methadone support from the Western Australian Alcohol and Drug Authority over all or part of an eight-week period. Patients were assigned to three dosage groups. The study revealed that patients receiving 80 mg or more of methadone per day had significantly higher levels of extraneous drugs than patients receiving lower daily doses. The levels of extraneous drugs were found to be low compared to the findings of researchers elsewhere. Possible factors contributing to the increased usage of extraneous drugs are suggested, and disadvantages of high methadone dosage are indicated.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The erythrocyte sodium and potassium in patients treated with digoxin.

1 Four healthy persons and ten patients with heart failure were studied for 5 to 20 days after they started taking digoxin. The sodium content of their erythrocytes increased and there was an equimolar decrease in potassium content. 2 The increase in erythrocyte sodium for a given increase in plasma digoxin during this acute digitalization was less on average and varied more in the patients than in the healthy persons, that is the patients' erythrocytes were less responsive to digoxin. 3 The average erythrocyte sodium was greater in 183 patients who had been taking digoxin for at least 2 months than in 100 healthy persons not taking digoxin but there was no significant correlation between the plasma digoxin concentrations and erythrocyte sodium concentration in the patients. Indeed, there was no apparent change in the erythrocyte sodium in many of the patients taking digoxin. 4 If the erythrocyte sodium concentration is a reliable guide to the tissue effects of digoxin then the results suggest that there is a wide variation in the response to digoxin between patients both during acute digitalization and during chronic treatment with digoxin.

Digoxin↗
PubMed1980

Human alpha-lactalbumin and hormonal factors in pregnancy and lactation.

Serum alpha-lactalbumin was monitored throughout pregnancy in twelve women and in a separate group of nineteen women during the first 3 months postpartum. During pregnancy alpha-lactalbumin rose significantly until the mid trimester (P less than 0.001). From then until term, concentrations remained stable. Concentrations during labour were significantly higher (P less than 0.01) than those seen at term. alpha-lactalbumin, 17 beta-oestradiol and progesterone concentrations behaved similarly during the first week of the puerperium in both lactating (n = 10) and non-lactating (n = 9) subjects. A large surge of alpha-lactalbumin closely followed the clearance of high circulating concentrations of sex steroids in both groups. Prolactin concentrations were significantly greater (P less than 0.02) in lactating subjects by the third postpartum day. By the third postpartum week alpha-lactalbumin concentrations in lactating subjects had stabilized at labour levels in a milieu of high prolactin levels and depressed production on 17 beta-oestradiol and progesterone. Conversely, in non-lactating subjects alpha-lactalbumin concentrations fell, as did prolactin, coincidental with a rise in 17 beta-oestradiol, progesterone concentrations remaining barely detectable. The apparent control mechanisms for human alpha-lactalbumin secretion and thus, lactation, are discussed in the light of the data presented.

Estradiol↗
PubMed1980

Conservative management of pituitary prolactinomas; evidence for bromocriptine-induced regression.

Thirty-six women with sustained hyperprolactinaemia, 29 showing radiological abnormality of the pituitary fossa, were managed conservatively; 28 accepted bromocriptine treatment which controlled hyperprolactinaemia in all and was associated with improvement in the radiological appearance of the pituitary in 4 cases. Two of the 8 patients who did not accept bromocriptine showed radiological extension of the pituitary lesion; one showed radiological improvement. Bromocriptine should be regarded as a drug to control the pituitary tumour, not merely one which inhibits the endocrine effects.

Adult↗