Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Curtis

Publications and source records attributed to C Curtis.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Evaluation of serum eosinophilic cationic protein as a marker of disease activity in chronic asthma.

BACKGROUND: Serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) has been promoted as a direct marker of eosinophilic inflammation of the bronchi, especially helpful in patients with asymptomatic asthma. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serum ECP against indirect clinical markers of disease activity, we compared symptom score, bronchial obstruction, bronchial responsiveness, and blood eosinophil counts with serum ECP levels in children with symptomatic and asymptomatic chronic asthma and assessed ECP in others with allergic rhinitis alone. METHODS: Twenty-four children with symptomatic asthma, 10 children with asymptomatic asthma, and 16 children with allergic rhinitis were studied. Measurements were made by standardized symptom questionnaire, spirometry, inhalation challenge with histamine or methacholine, blood eosinophil counts, and radioimmunoassay of serum ECP. RESULTS: There was no difference in serum ECP levels between the symptomatic asthma, asymptomatic asthma, or rhinitis groups, and most values were within the normal range. Activated eosinophil counts were higher in subjects with symptomatic asthma than in those with asymptomatic asthma but not in subjects with rhinitis. Serum ECP correlated with eosinophil counts (p < 0.01) but not symptom score, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow, mid-expiratory phase (FEF25-75), or provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20). Symptom scores correlated with PC20 (p < 0.005) and FEF25-75 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Serum ECP is a poor indicator of disease activity in chronic asthma and cannot differentiate bronchial from nasal inflammation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Controlled trial of lambda-cyhalothrin impregnated bed nets and Maloprim chemosuppression to control malaria in children living in a holoendemic area of Sierra Leone, west Africa. Study design and preliminary results.

The effect of lambda-cyhalothrin impregnated bed nets and maloprim/placebo was studied in approximately 1,500 children living in 17 villages in a rural area of Sierra Leone, approximately 150 miles south east of Freetown, 30 miles north of the town of Bo. Villages were selected randomly amongst villages with impregnated bed nets and villages with no nets at all. Within these villages, children with ages ranging between 3 months to 6 years were chosen to receive maloprim or a double-blind distributed placebo fortnightly. In the villages randomised to receive nets, all beds have received nets. Malaria morbidity is estimated from weekly active case detection, and the impact on the Anopheles vector is being estimated by indoor spray catching, exit trap catching, human night landing catches and light trap catches. During the first 8 weeks of the intervention there was a significant reduction in slide positive rates, reported fever rates and children with temperature > or = 37.5 degrees C in the villages with impregnated bed nets.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Cytostellin: a novel, highly conserved protein that undergoes continuous redistribution during the cell cycle.

Cytostellin, a 240 kDa protein, has been purified from mammalian cells by immunoaffinity chromatography using monoclonal antibody H5. Immunofluorescence microscopy shows diffuse and punctate cytostellin immunoreactivity in interphase nuclei. Nuclease digestion and salt extraction are not required to expose the epitope. The onset of prophase is marked by the appearance of multiple intensely immunofluorescent cytostellin-containing 'bodies' within the nucleus. Nuclear disassembly is heralded by the movement of cytostellin bodies from the nucleus to multiple positions throughout the cell. Cytostellin bodies in metaphase, anaphase and telophase cells are widely dispersed, including some in cell processes far removed from the mitotic spindle apparatus. However, a distinct subset of larger, more intensely staining bodies surrounds the mitotic spindle apparatus. Cytostellin bodies remain in the cytoplasm of the daughter cells and disappear after the appearance of nascent nuclei. Cytostellin is immunologically distinct from other nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins, and it has been detected by immunoblot analysis in all species tested from yeast to humans. Based upon these findings, we postulate that cytostellin has a cell cycle-dependent function which is conserved in higher and lower eukaryotic cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Comparison of velopharyngeal gap size in patients with hypernasality, hypernasality and nasal emission, or nasal turbulence (rustle) as the primary speech characteristic.

Velopharyngeal insufficiency was assessed using multiview videofluoroscopy on eight patients with hypernasality, 10 patients with hypernasality and audible nasal emission, and 10 patients with nasal turbulence (rustle). Patients demonstrating hypernasality, with or without audible nasal emission, were found to have a significantly larger velopharyngeal gap than those with nasal rustle. This finding suggests that the degree of the velopharyngeal insufficiency can be predicted to some extent based on perceptual assessment. If the presence of a nasal rustle suggests a small velopharyngeal gap, despite the severe distortion of speech, then speech therapy should be considered prior to surgery in those cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Application of portfolio theory in decision tree analysis.

A general application of portfolio analysis for herd decision tree analysis is described. In the herd environment, this methodology offers a means of employing population-based decision strategies that can help the producer control economic variation in expected return from a given set of decision options. An economic decision tree model regarding the use of prostaglandin in dairy cows with undetected estrus was used to determine the expected return of the decisions to use prostaglandin and breed on a timed basis, use prostaglandin and then breed on sign of estrus, or breed on signs of estrus. The risk attributes of these decision alternatives were calculated from the decision tree, and portfolio theory was used to find the efficient decision combinations (portfolios with the highest return for a given variance). The resulting combinations of decisions could be used to control return variation.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

[The impact of impregnated mosquito nets on prevalence and morbidity related to malaria in sub-Saharan africa].

Insecticide treated bed nets (permethrin, deltamethrin and lambda cyalothrin) were used for malaria control in The Gambia, Burkina Faso and Tanzania where Anopheles gambiae (and An.funestus in Burkina Faso) is the main vector. Treated mosquito nets are efficient when used on a large scale and not on an individual level. Such a large scale use, acting on longevity and infectivity of vectors, always induced a decrease of malaria transmission by more than 90%. Treated bed nets had no significant effect on the overall parasite rate, showing that malaria transmission was not stopped. But it was usually found that there was a significantly smaller number of children with parasitemia higher than a critical threshold, a sensitive parameter of malaria morbidity. Indeed, in the three situations studied, malaria morbidity (fever + high parasitemia greater than critical level in the concerned area) has generally shown a similar drop of 60%. These data demonstrate that treated bed nets are useful to reduce transmission and morbidity. Advised as a new way for reduction of nuisance, treated bed nets were always welcomed by the populations and this method may be considered as a complementary weapon in public health.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Binding and hydrodynamic properties of muscarinic receptor subtypes solubilized in 3-(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonate.

The muscarinic receptor from the cerebral cortex, heart, and lacrimal gland can be solubilized in the zwitterionic detergent 3-(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio-2-hydroxy-1-propane sulfonate (CHAPSO) with retention of high affinity [3H]N-methyls-copolamine binding. However, in this detergent there are significant differences in the binding properties of the receptors, compared with those observed in membranes and digitonin solution. Some agents retain a degree of selectivity. In the heart and cortex, agonists can bind with high affinity to a receptor-GTP-binding protein complex. A second, lower affinity, agonist binding state is also present, which resembles a class of sites seen in membranes but not in digitonin solution. The high affinity agonist binding state has been resolved from the lower affinity state on sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Hydrodynamic analysis suggests that the high affinity state is approximately 110,000 Da larger than the lower affinity state. The binding properties of the receptor in CHAPSO can be altered to those seen in digitonin by exchanging detergents after CHAPSO solubilization.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Does oral enzyme replacement therapy reverse intestinal lactose malabsorption?

The effects of oral enzyme replacement therapy on breath hydrogen excretion and symptoms after milk ingestion were studied in lactase-deficient patients. Sixteen symptomatic patients underwent interval hydrogen breath tests using whole milk as substrate. Each study was repeated with the addition of 250 mg of beta-D-galactosidase derived from Aspergillus oryzae (Lactrase) given orally with the milk. Subsequently seven of those 11 patients who did not normalize their hydrogen excretion with 250 mg of Lactrase were available to be restudied with a 500-mg dose. Mean cumulative and peak hydrogen excretions were calculated for the baseline (milk alone), 250 mg, and 500 mg Lactrase groups. Significant (p less than or equal to 0.05) decreases in cumulative and peak hydrogen excretion were noted between the 500 mg Lactrase versus the baseline group, but not between the 250 mg versus baseline group. Five of the 16 (31%) symptomatic lactase-deficient patients normalized their hydrogen excretion after 250 mg of Lactrase; four of seven (57%) who had not normalized on 250 mg, normalized their hydrogen excretion with 500 mg of Lactrase. A different pattern was observed in the incidence of symptoms. Five of the nine patients (56%) whose hydrogen excretion normalized with the addition of Lactrase at either dosage became asymptomatic after milk ingestion; in addition, three patients who did not normalize their hydrogen also became asymptomatic. We conclude that oral Lactrase in sufficient dosage temporarily reverses lactose malabsorption in some patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors: structure, function subtypes and therapeutic perspectives.

Structural and binding studies on the purified rat forebrain muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) are consistent with the idea that the receptor is structurally analogous to rhodopsin. We propose that it consists of a short, glycosylated N-terminus, followed by seven transmembrane helices, joined by extra-membranous loops. The transmembrane helices make up a substantial proportion of the molecule. Two peptides, one of which is glycosylated, and therefore close to the N-terminal part of the molecule are labelled on acidic residues by the irreversible antagonist, [3H]-PrBCM, and may thus form part of the ligand binding site. The conformational flexibility of the mAChR, and hence its ability to bind rigid selective ligands such as pirenzepine is strongly affected by the oxidation state of key cysteine residues. The molecule is proposed to terminate in a cytoplasmic C-terminal tail, which participates, together with the cytoplasmic loops, in the recognition of GTP-binding proteins. The C-terminus is susceptible to proteolytic attack, and shows evidence of sequence homology to the C-terminus of the beta-adrenergic receptor.

Animals↗