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Biomedical subjects

C Lane

Publications and source records attributed to C Lane.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Seroresponses to human papillomavirus types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45 virus-like particles in South African women with cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45 in woman in Cape Town with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) (n = 95), cervical cancer (n = 40), female blood donors (n = 95) and children (n = 110). The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) made use of baculovirus synthesised HPV virus like particles (VLPs) as antigen. Antibodies to at least one HPV type were detected in sera from 75% of cancer patients, 71.6% of CIN patients, 44.2% of blood donors and 27.3% of children. Sera from 95 women with CIN were compared with age-matched female blood donors. There was a significant association of seropositivity to VLP-16 (P = 0.006) and VLP-45 (P = 0.008) with CIN compared with the blood donors. There was also a significant difference in the seropositivity of women with CIN to any of the five virus-like particle (VLP) types compared to the blood donors (P = 0.0002: OR = 3.2). Thirty-nine of sixty-nine (56.5%) women with CIN were found to be HPV-16 DNA positive. The average age of women in this group that were VLP-16 seropositive was 34 years and those found to be VLP-16 seronegative was 52 years of age. Antibodies to all five VLP types were detected in these populations, thus an ideal vaccine should induce protection from infection by a wide range of HPV types.

Adult↗

Radiotherapy outpatient review: a nurse-led clinic.

The aim of this project was to improve the quality of the delivery of care to patients undergoing outpatient fractionated radiotherapy, in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. This article provides a descriptive account of the activities that took place within a traditional doctor-held radiotherapy review (floor) clinic (71 individual clinic episodes from 71 patients) and compares them with a nurse-led clinic (299 clinic episodes from 141 patients). The outcome measures encompassed the number and type of activities in both clinics, including the number of interventions that occurred, consultation time, waiting time, degree of involvement with other support services, reasons for doctor contact, and perceptions of patients, doctors, nurses and therapy radiographers. Nurse consultations lasted longer than doctor consultations. Waiting times were reduced. Of 299 nurse-led clinic episodes, only 21 contacts were made with the doctor. More interactions and activities occurred during nurse consultations. A greater number of referrals and liaisons with other support services occurred, resulting in the establishment of continuity of care. The results from this small sequential observational study require prospective confirmation, but they suggest that specialist nursing staff, given appropriate medical support, may provide more effective care for patients who are undergoing outpatient radiotherapy.

England↗

Linkage analysis in an autosomal dominant 'zonular nuclear pulverulent' congenital cataract, mapped to chromosome 13q11-13.

PURPOSE: To determine by linkage analysis the chromosomal locus responsible for autosomal dominant congenital cataract (ADCC) in a four-generation Welsh pedigree. METHODS: The family pedigree was traced through two members of the family attending the hospital for treatment of their cataracts. Twenty-five members of the family were examined ophthalmologically and blood was collected with consent for genetic linkage analysis. RESULTS: Fifteen members of this family were known to have bilateral congenital cataracts, of whom 11 had a cataract extraction prior to examination. The youngest member of the pedigree was 5 years old and the oldest was 78 years old. Four children, unoperated at the time of this study, had a phenotypically identical morphology of their zonular pulverulent congenital cataracts. The known loci for congenital cataract were excluded. Significant lod scores for markers in the 13q11-13 region were detected with a Zmax of 3.59 D13S1236 (theta = 0.00). CONCLUSIONS: We report linkage of an ADCC of the zonular pulverulent type to chromosome 13q11-13 in a four-generation family.

Adolescent↗

Human erythrocyte and plasma amino acid concentrations during exercise.

PURPOSE: This investigation examined the effects of exercise and maltodextrin (Md) or placebo (Pl) ingestion on plasma and erythrocyte concentrations of amino acids. METHODS: The erythrocyte and plasma concentrations of 17 amino acids, as well as plasma glucose and insulin, were analyzed in eight healthy trained male subjects before, during, and 25 min after 90-min cycle ergometer exercise at 65% peak oxygen uptake. The two treatments involved ingestion of orange-flavored water (Pl) or orange-flavored 10% maltodextrin solution (Md). RESULTS: Two-way ANOVA revealed 1) that plasma concentrations of alanine and tyrosine changed significantly during the treatments, 2) that the plasma concentrations were significantly different between treatments for glycine and threonine, 3) that all erythrocyte concentrations increased significantly throughout the treatments except for arginine and tyrosine, and 4) that there were no significant differences in erythrocyte concentrations between the treatments. Three-way ANOVA highlighted the significant differences in the time responses between plasma and erythrocyte concentrations; the changes in erythrocyte levels from rest being significantly different from plasma for all amino acids except aspartic acid, glycine, and ornithine. Plasma glucose concentrations became elevated and remained above rest values in Md but fell below rest values in Pl: the differences in concentration between treatments were significant. Correspondingly, plasma insulin was significantly higher in Md during exercise. CONCLUSION: These results highlight that far from being slow in the uptake of amino acids, the erythrocyte in fact sequesters amino acids at an appreciable rate during exercise without a corresponding elevation in the plasma amino acids. For a greater understanding of amino acid changes during exercise, the analysis of both plasma and erythrocytes is recommended.

Administration, Oral↗

Globalization and the German model of capitalism--erosion or survival?

The German business system has been regarded as a particularly tightly coupled system, with embeddedness of even multinational companies (MNCs) in their home base as particularly deep. A study of the impact of companies' changing internationalization, if not globalization, strategies is therefore especially suited to test competing claims about their effects on the German business system. Are we experiencing an erosion of this system, an adaptation in a largely path-dependent way, or even a greater specialization and stronger crystallization of the German business system? To investigate these questions, the paper examines a small number of German MNCs in their domestic and international context. More particularly, the work focuses on whether and how their emergent globalization activities affect the reproduction or erosion of the three institutional complexes which shape the factors of production: the financial system; the innovation system; and the industrial relations system. The paper concludes that a new type of transformation--hybridization--is emerging. It is regarded as a consequence of German companies' growing integration into a global economic system.

Economics↗

Adipogenesis in thyroid eye disease.

PURPOSE: Adipogenesis contributes to the pathogenesis of thyroid eye disease (TED). Thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) transcripts are present in orbital fat. This study was conducted to determine whether they are expressed as functional protein, and if so, whether this is restricted to TED orbits or to a particular stage in adipocyte differentiation. METHODS: Samples of fat were obtained from 18 TED-affected orbits and 4 normal orbits, and 9 were obtained from nonorbital locations. Frozen sections were examined by immunocytochemistry using monoclonal antibodies specific for the human TSHR. Samples were disaggregated and the preadipocytes separated from the mature by differential centrifugation and cultured in serum-free or DM and examined for morphologic changes, oil red O and TSHR staining, and TSH-induced cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production. RESULTS: Marked immunoreactivity was observed in frozen sections from all three TED samples and faint staining in both normal orbital fat samples. In vitro, 1% to 5% of preadipocytes displayed TSHR immunoreactivity in five of six TED and two of three normal orbital samples and in three of five nonorbital samples. Differentiation, was induced in all 14 orbital samples. Three of four nonorbital samples contained occasional differentiated cells. Fifty percent to 70% of differentiating cells demonstrated receptor immunoreactivity. Two of three TED and four of four nonorbital preadipocytes in DM and/or mature adipocytes displayed a TSH-mediated increase in cAMP. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that orbital fat TSHR transcripts are expressed as protein, which can be functional. This is not aberrant in TED orbits, although expression may be upregulated. The majority of preadipocytes undergoing differentiation express the receptor, indicating a key role for this population in one mechanism for increasing orbital volume.

Adipocytes↗

Pharmacodynamics, safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the 0.8-mg dose of cerivastatin in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia.

Cerivastatin is a third generation hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-Co-enzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor proven to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol 28% to 31% in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia when given at 0.3 mg/day. This study evaluates the safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics of cerivastatin 0.8 mg once daily for 4 weeks. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel group trial conducted at 2 study centers, 41 patients (63% women) with primary hypercholesterolemia were placed on an American Heart Association Step 1 diet for 4 weeks. Single-blind placebo was administered for the final 2 weeks, before randomization. Patients received cerivastatin 0.8 mg (n = 28) or placebo (n = 13) once each evening for 28 days. Cerivastatin at 0.8 mg daily was well tolerated. No discontinuations occurred during the study. Adverse events were mild and transient. One cerivastatin-treated patient experienced asymptomatic creatinine kinase, 8x the upper limit of normal (ULN) elevation on the last day of the study, which resolved 6 days after the completion of the study. Cerivastatin 0.8 mg daily significantly reduced LDL cholesterol compared with placebo (-44.0 +/- 2.0% vs 2.2 +/- 2.8%, p <0.0001); total cholesterol (-30.8 +/- 1.4% vs 2.6 +/- 2.1%, p <0.0001), triglycerides (-11.2 +/- 5.9% vs 15.9 +/- 8.6%, p <0.02), but did not significantly alter high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (3.2 +/- 2.1% vs -1.2 +/- 3.1%, p = NS). The pharmacokinetics of the 0.8-mg dose revealed dose proportional elevations in the 24-hour area under the curve and maximum plasma concentration relative to 0.3- and 0.4-mg doses with no change in time to maximum concentration or the elimination half-life in plasma. The increased efficacy and lack of clinically significant laboratory abnormalities or adverse events demonstrates a need for a large long-term study to confirm the safety and efficacy of this dose of cerivastatin.

Cholesterol, LDL↗

Oral vaccination of mice with human papillomavirus virus-like particles induces systemic virus-neutralizing antibodies.

To assess whether oral vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) may be feasible, we administered HPV virus-like particles (VLPs) to mice by gavage. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results indicated that serum anti-VLP immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibodies were induced after oral vaccination, and these responses demonstrated antigenic specificities that were conformationally dependent and restricted according to HPV genotype. Importantly, orally induced postimmune sera were found to neutralize HPV-11 virions in vitro. These results indicated that the VLPs were antigenically stable in the environment of the gastrointestinal tract and were able to engage in potentially useful immune system interactions. These findings support the concept of oral vaccination against anogenital HPV disease, and suggest the possibility that this may be a useful approach to the immunization of large populations against cervical cancer and other HPV associated diseases.

Administration, Oral↗

Chronic antidepressant administration increases the expression of cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase 4A and 4B isoforms.

The influence of chronic antidepressant administration on expression of the three major phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4 subtypes found in brain (PDE4A, PDE4B, and PDE4D) was examined. The treatments tested included representatives of four major classes of antidepressants: selective reuptake inhibitors of serotonin (sertraline and fluoxetine) or norepinephrine (desipramine), a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (tranylcypromine), and electroconvulsive seizure. Expression of PDE4A and PDE4B, but not PDE4D, mRNA and immunoreactivity were significantly increased in rat frontal cortex by chronic administration of each of the four classes of antidepressants. We also found that antidepressant administration significantly increased the expression of PDE4B mRNA in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region thought to mediate pleasure and reward that could also contribute to the anhedonia often observed in depressed patients. In contrast, expression of PDE4A and PDE4B were not influenced by short-term treatment (1 or 7 d) and were not influenced by chronic administration of nonantidepressant psychotropic drugs (cocaine or haloperidol), demonstrating the time dependence and pharmacological specificity of these effects. Upregulation of PDE4A and PDE4B may represent a compensatory response to antidepressant treatment and activation of the cAMP system. The possibility that targeted inhibition of these PDE4 subtypes may produce an antidepressant effect is discussed.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗

Detection of collagenase-induced damage of collagen by 9A4, a monoclonal C-terminal neoepitope antibody.

To determine whether the collagen network is compromised by collagenase during acute inflammation, a monoclonal antibody (9A4) was developed with specificity for the C-terminal neoepitope sequence generated by collagenase-cleavage of type II collagen (Gly-Pro-Pro-Gly-Pro-Gln-Gly-COOH). 9A4 was shown to detect the collagen collagenase-cleavage neoepitope with a K = 1.7 x 10(-7) M (type II) and K = 2 x 10(-6) M (type I). It does not recognize uncleaved native or denatured collagen. Articular cartilage from control animals is unstained by 9A4. During acute inflammation elicited in hamsters by intra-articular LPS, positive staining for the 9A4 neoepitope indicated the collagen was damaged. Wheel running exercise was used to apply stress to control cartilage and cartilage from animals with damaged collagen. After 6 months of running, the cartilage from normal animals was unaffected. By contrast, in the group with damaged collagen, the cartilage was fibrillated in all animals and in half of those, the cartilage failed and bony eburnation resulted.

Acute Disease↗

The peripheral corneal melting syndrome and psoriasis: coincidence or association?

The peripheral corneal melting syndrome (PCMS) is a rare disease consisting of marginal corneal thinning that can progress to perforation. The PCMS carries a grave prognosis and it is of vital importance that dermatologists are aware that this may be responsible for a painful red eye in a patient with psoriasis. We highlight the features of the PCMS developing in an elderly woman with long-standing psoriasis to increase awareness of its significance, and hypothesize that an association may exist between the two conditions. Only one previous report has been published in which the authors speculate on the possible association of this syndrome with psoriasis. That few other cases have been described is either a consequence of under-reporting by both ophthalmologists and dermatologists unaware of a link or because the relationship between the syndrome and psoriasis is genuinely coincidental.

Aged↗

Efficacy of low-dose subcutaneous interleukin-2 to treat advanced human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in persons with </=250/microL CD4 T cells and undetectable plasma virus load.

The immunologic efficacy of low-dose recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) administered subcutaneously (sc) once a day in combination with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was assessed in a pilot study in patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Twenty-five persons with </=250 CD4 cells/microL and plasma HIV-1 RNA levels </=500 copies/mL for >24 weeks were randomly assigned to receive sc rIL-2 (3 x 10(6) IU once a day) with their previous antiretroviral regimen (n=13) or to continue with the same treatment (n=12). The level of CD4 T cells was significantly higher in the IL-2 group at week 24 (105+/-65/microL; P<.05) but not in the control group (30+/-78/microL). Memory T cells initially contributed to the CD4 T cell increase at week 4 (P<.05). Naive T cell increases (99+/-58/microL) in the IL-2 group became statistically significant at week 24 compared with the control group (28+/-27/microL; P<.05). Subcutaneous rIL-2 once a day in combination with HAART was well tolerated and improved immunologic surface markers in patients with advanced HIV infection.

Adult↗

A non-comparative multi-centre clinical evaluation of a new hydropolymer adhesive dressing.

This study evaluates the performance of a new hydropolymer adhesive dressing in the treatment of chronic or acute wounds, in the presence of blood and/or low levels of exudate, in 74 patients, in a five-site multi-centre non-comparative clinical trial of four weeks' duration. The primary efficacy variable was defined as the incidence of central island dressing adherence to the wound bed in the final stages of healing. The hydropolymer dressing performed extremely well with 98.4% (240 out of 244) of the dressings not adhering to the wound bed.

Acute Disease↗

The thyrotropin receptor in thyroid eye disease.

Thyroid eye disease (TED) has an autoimmune etiology, but the nature of the autoantigen that is the target of the initiating event remains unknown. A number of candidates have been proposed based on Western blotting, library screening, and deduction from sequence similarity. A strong favorite is the thyrotropin receptor (TSHR), which is the target of the thyroid stimulating antibodies (TSAB) of Graves' disease (GD). We have recently demonstrated TSHR transcripts in orbital adipose tissue from a patient with TED by Northern blot, transcripts in normal adipose tissue being at the limit of detection. We have shown that the transcripts are translated into protein by immunohistochemical analysis using two monoclonal antibodies to the TSHR generated by genetic immunization. TSHR immunoreactivity is associated with elongated cells with the appearance of a fibroblast, often adjacent to clusters of adipocytes, in orbital biopsies from patients with TED but not in strabismus or pseudotumor biopsies. In animal studies, we have transferred thyroiditis to naive BALBc and NOD mice, using T cells primed to the human TSHR, either using the receptor expressed as a bacterial fusion protein or by genetic immunization. The BALBc develop a Th2-type response to the receptor, but the NOD a Th1-type with thyrocyte destruction. Orbital pathology, edema, infiltration by mast cells and lymphocytes, and adipose accumulation was also induced in 68% of the BALBc but none of the NOD mice. Together these data indicate that the preadipocyte expresses the TSHR and that a Th2 autoimmune response to the receptor may be an initiating event in TED.

Animals↗

Human papillomavirus type 11 recombinant L1 capsomeres induce virus-neutralizing antibodies.

The human papillomavirus type 11 (HPV-11) L1 major capsid protein can be trypsinized to generate recombinant capsomeres that retain HPV genotype-restricted capsid antigenicity (M. Li, T. P. Cripe, P. A. Estes, M. K. Lyon, R. C. Rose, and R. L. Garcea, J. Virol. 71:2988-2995, 1997). In the present study, HPV-11 virion-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies H11.F1 and H11.H3, previously characterized as recognizing two distinct HPV-11 capsid-neutralizing antigenic domains (S. W. Ludmerer, D. Benincasa, and G. E. Mark III, J. Virol. 70:4791-4794, 1996), were each found to be highly immunoreactive with trypsin-generated capsomeres in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Capsomeres were used to generate high-titer polyclonal immune sera that demonstrated HPV genotype-restricted reactivity by ELISA. The capsomere antisera were then tested in an in vitro infectivity assay and found to neutralize HPV-11 virions. In this assay, HPV-11 capsomere polyclonal antisera exhibited neutralization titers (10(-5) to 10(-6)) comparable to those obtained with a virion-neutralizing antiserum raised previously against intact HPV-11 VLPs (R. C. Rose, R. C. Reichman, and W. Bonnez, J. Gen. Virol. 75:2075-2079, 1994). These results indicate that highly immunogenic, genotype-restricted HPV capsid-neutralizing antigenic domains are contained entirely within capsomeres. Thus, capsomeres may be viable vaccine candidates for the prevention of HPV disease.

Animals↗

Ratio of bcl-xshort to bcl-xlong is different in good- and poor-prognosis subsets of acute myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous collection of leukemic disorders ranging from chemotherapy-sensitive subsets [inversion 16 and t(8;21)], which often can be cured with cytosine arabinoside alone, to the most resistant subsets, which can survive even supralethal levels of combination alkylator chemotherapy (cytogenetic subsets monosomy 5 and monosomy 7). MATERIALS AND METHODS: To analyze the expression of BCL-2 family genes, which are expressed in these subsets of AML, we used PCR sequence amplification reactions that are dependent on oligonucleotide primers representing the BH1 and BH2 homology domains to generate the unique regions between BH1 and BH2. These primers are conserved among all members of the BCL-2 gene family and are separated by a 150 nucleotide region sequence between the BH1 and BH2 domains. The PCR products unique to each BCL-2 family member were cloned directionally into sequencing vectors. The identity of the insert of each clone was determined by slotblots of the DNA amplified from individual colonies and by hybridization with radioactive probes specific to the bcl-2, bcl-x, or bax genes. RESULTS: We found that bcl-2 is the predominant member expressed in AML samples with a poor prognosis (-5, -7), whereas the transcripts of bcl-x are higher than those of bcl-2 in the AML samples with a good prognosis [inv16, t(8;21)]. No significant difference in bax expression was detected between AML subsets of good and bad prognosis. The ratio of bcl-xlong, which inhibits apoptosis, to bcl-xshort, which promotes apoptosis, was determined by amplification with a pair of primers specific to bcl-x followed by separation of the PCR product on agarose gels. Bcl-xlong and bcl-xshort appeared as bands of different molecular mass on a molecular weight gel and were visualized by ethidium bromide staining or Southern blot analysis with a bcl-x-specific probe. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the ratio of bcl-x long to bcl-x short was higher in the AML patients with a poor prognosis. These experiments showed that the levels of BCL-2 family members in the leukemia cells of good- and poor-prognosis subsets are different. In addition, novel members of the BCL-2 family were isolated from the cells of AML patients of either prognosis.

Acute Disease↗