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Biomedical subjects

C Little

Publications and source records attributed to C Little.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Herbal therapy for treating rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: The increasing popularity of the use of complementary and alternative interventions or treatments appears to be particularly evident amongst people with chronic disease. In the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, one therapy that has been identified as having potential benefit, is herbal medicine (phytotherapy). OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of herbal therapies in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We developed a search strategy using terms to include all forms of arthritis combined with herbal medicine. We searched the following electronic databases from 1966 to 2000: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CISCOM, AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR), Cochrane Musculoskeletal specialized register, Dissertation Abstracts, BIDS ISI and the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Fields Specialized Register. This was supplemented by searching the reference lists from retrieved trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomized trials of herbal interventions in rheumatoid arthritis, compared to placebo. Two reviewers independently read and selected each potential study according to the criteria published in an a priori protocol. Papers of any language were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted independently by the same two reviewers and an assessment of methodological quality was conducted. MAIN RESULTS: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Seven of the studies compared gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) to placebo although three of these were not suitable for data pooling. The remaining studies considered four different herbal interventions and were assessed individually. All of the GLA studies found some improvement in clinical outcomes but methodology and study quality was variable, making it difficult to draw conclusive results. However, the better quality studies suggest potential relief of pain, morning stiffness and joint tenderness. With the exception of one intervention (Tripterygium wilfordii hook F), no serious side effects were reported. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be some potential benefit for the use of GLA in rheumatoid arthritis although further studies are required to establish optimum dosage and duration of treatment. The single studies are inconclusive.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed2001

Maternal depression and comorbidity: predicting early parenting, attachment security, and toddler social-emotional problems and competencies.

OBJECTIVE: To examine relations between maternal depression (in pure and comorbid forms) and mother-infant interactions, infant attachment, and toddler social-emotional problems and competencies. A second objective was to explore sex differences. METHOD: Sixty-nine mother-infant dyads were followed from pregnancy to 30 months postpartum. Depression was measured at multiple times with self-report and interview assessments. Play was assessed at 4 months and attachment status at 14 months postpartum. At 30 months, mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist and Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment. RESULTS: Lifetime maternal depression predicted less optimal mother-infant interactions and insecure infant attachment. However, this "depression effect" was accounted for by mothers with comorbid diagnoses, who had less optimal interactions, and infants with higher rates of insecurity than either mothers with depression only or mothers with no psychopathology. Prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms were associated with problem behaviors and lower competencies for boys. In contrast, quality of early interactions predicted problem behaviors in girls. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to examine the context of maternal depression with respect to additional psychopathology and environmental risks. Maternal depression in the presence of other psychopathology confers risk to the mother-child dyad. Consistent with previous work, risk pathways appear to differ for boys and girls. Early identification and prevention efforts are warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The effects of orally administered diacerein on cartilage and subchondral bone in an ovine model of osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: An ovine model of osteoarthritis (OA) induced by bilateral lateral meniscectomy (BLM) was used to evaluate in vivo effects of the slow acting antiarthritic drug diacerein (DIA) on degenerative changes in cartilage and subchondral bone of the operated joints. METHODS: Twenty of 30 adult age matched Merino wethers were subjected to BLM in the knee joints and the remainder served as non-operated controls (NOC). Half of the BLM group (n = 10) were given DIA (25 mg/kg orally) daily for 3 mo, then 50 mg/kg daily for a further 6 mo. The remainder of the meniscectomized (MEN) group served as OA controls. Five DIA, 5 MEN, and 5 NOC animals were sacrificed at 3 mo and the remainder at 9 mo postsurgery. One knee joint of each animal was used for bone mineral density (BMD) studies. Osteochondral slabs from the lateral femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau were cut from the contralateral joint and were processed for histological and histomorphometric examination to assess the cartilage and subchondral bone changes. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the modified Mankin scores for cartilage from the DIA and MEN groups at 3 or 9 mo. However, in animals treated with DIA, the thickness of cartilage (p = 0.05) and subchondral bone (p = 0.05) in the lesion (middle) zone of the lateral tibial plateau were decreased relative to the corresponding zone of the MEN group at 3 mo (p = 0.05). At 9 mo subchondral bone thickness in this zone remained the same as NOC but BMD, which included both subchondral and trabecular bone, was significantly increased relative to the NOC group (p = 0.01). In contrast, the subchondral bone thickness of the outer zone of lateral tibial plateau and lateral femoral condyle of both MEN and DIA groups increased after 9 mo, while BMD remained the same as in the NOC. CONCLUSION: DIA treatment of meniscectomized animals mediated selective responses of cartilage and subchondral bone to the altered mechanical stresses induced across the joints by this procedure. While subchondral bone thickness in tibial lesion sites was reduced, cartilage and bone proliferation at the outer joint margins, a region where osteophyte formation occurred, were enhanced, suggesting that DIA supported the processes of repair and endochondral ossification.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2000

Immunolocalisation of BPTI-like serine proteinase inhibitory proteins in mast cells, chondrocytes and intervertebral disc fibrochondrocytes of ovine and bovine connective tissues. An immunohistochemical and biochemical study.

A polyclonal anti-bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) IgY was raised in chickens immunised with aprotinin. The anti-BPTI IgY was subsequently isolated from egg yolks and purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography on immobilised aprotinin and by Superose 6 size exclusion fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). Immunoblotting with the chicken IgY demonstrated its specificity for BPTI; 3.9 ng BPTI could be detected by this technique. There was no crossreactivity against alpha1-proteinase inhibitor (human and sheep), inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (human and sheep), secretory leucocyte proteinase inhibitor or a range of serine proteinase inhibitory proteins (SPIs) isolated from plant sources (soybean and lima bean trypsin inhibitor, potato trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors) or serum SPIs (antithrombin-III, alpha2-macroglobulin). Immunoblotting using the anti-BPTI IgY identified the 6- to 12- and 58-kDa forms of endogenous ovine cartilage SPIs in cartilage extracts, confirming the interrelationship of the ovine cartilage SPIs with BPTI. BPTI-domain SPIs were immunolocalised within mast cells of ovine and bovine duodenum, lung and pancreas, and in ovine and bovine bronchial cartilage chondrocytes, chondrocytes of the superficial and intermediate zones of articular cartilage and in the fibrochondrocytes/chondrocytes of the nucleus

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Microbiological examination of cold ready-to-eat sliced meats from catering establishments in the United Kingdom.

A microbiological study of cold, ready-to-eat sliced meats from 2579 catering establishments (public houses, hotels, cafés, restaurants, residential homes and other catering premises) found that 2587 of 3494 samples (74%) were of acceptable quality, 892 (26%) were of unsatisfactory quality and 15 (<1%) were of unacceptable quality. Unacceptable results were due to high levels of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria species and/or Clostridium perfringens. Unsatisfactory results were mostly due to high Aerobic Plate Counts. The microbiological quality of cold, ready-to-eat meats was associated with meat type, premises type, management training, hygienic practices, meat supplier and length of storage. The relationship between food hygiene training and microbiological quality is discussed.

Bacteria↗
PubMed2000

Cytokine message and protein expression during lung granuloma formation and resolution induced by the mycobacterial cord factor trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate.

Trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate (TDM), or cord factor, is a mycobacterial cell wall component that induces granuloma formation and proinflammatory cytokine production in vivo and in vitro. The purpose of this work was to better understand the mechanisms by which TDM promotes lung granuloma formation. This was accomplished by characterizing cytokine mRNA expression during TDM-induced alveolitis culminating in cohesive granuloma development. A single intravenous injection of TDM given to C57BL/6 mice produced lung granulomas that peaked in number 5 days after challenge and were nearly resolved by 14 days. mRNA in whole lung preparations was quantitated by bioluminescent RT-PCR. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and IL-6 were significantly elevated during granuloma development and decreased during granuloma resolution. There were no detectable changes in mRNA for interferon-y (IFN-y), IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-12(p40). The level of TNF-alpha protein extracted from lung minces highly correlated with morphologic indices of granulomatous inflammation, indicating that it may be an important modulator of the inflammatory intensity induced by TDM. TDM may interact specifically with macrophages in vivo, as evidenced by induction of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6, but not IFN-gamma, protein in bone marrow-derived macrophages from C57BL/6 mice. TDM may therefore play an important role early in macrophage activation during the host granulomatous response to mycobacteria.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed2000

An improved configuration of a moving wire transport detector.

An improved design of the transport detector is described that uses a pre-oxidized titanium ribbon as the transport medium. The titanium ribbon has a high loading capacity that permits a large proportion of the total column eluent to be taken into the sensing system. The solute is sensed by pyrolysis and the subsequent detection of pyrolysis products by a miniature argon detector. The pyrolyzer and sensor system is designed to ensure that all the pyrolysis products enter the detector with minimum dilution and band dispersion. As a result, the sensitivity of the detector (or minimum detectable concentration) has been reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude compared with the original design. The sensitivity of the system described to sucrose is 8 x 10(-8) g/mL, which is similar to the sensitivity of the fixed-wavelength UV detector to benzene (approximately 5 x 10(-8) g/mL). It would appear that the new design has potentially a sensitivity at least an order of magnitude lower than that reported here.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Manual ventilation.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation↗
PubMed2000

Guidelines for the microbiological quality of some ready-to-eat foods sampled at the point of sale. PHLS Advisory Committee for Food and Dairy Products.

These guidelines for the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat foods represent a revision and expansion of guidelines first published by the PHLS in September 1992 and revised in March 1996. The latest guidelines incorporate many of the constructive comments received from food examiners and other microbiologists within and outside the PHLS and from environmental health officers throughout the United Kingdom. This document reviews the changes and the reasons they were made and sets out the new guidelines. It also clarifies the role of food examiners in interpreting the microbiological results of formal samples.

Colony Count, Microbial↗
PubMed1999

The transplantation of human fetal neuroretinal cells in advanced retinitis pigmentosa patients: results of a long-term safety study.

The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term safety of transplanting human fetal neuroretinal cells (14 to 18 week gestational age) into a series of patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa (RP). After obtaining informed consent, both hosts and mothers of donors were screened for transmissible diseases. Pre- and postoperative clinical exams, visual acuity, electroretinograms, and fluorescein angiograms were performed and visual field testing was attempted in each case. Surgically, an anterior approach through pars plana ciliaris was used. A retinotomy was performed in the paramacular area and a two-function cannula was introduced into the subretinal space to deliver a suspension of donor cells. The cell suspension carried approximately 4000 cells/microl; the volume injected did not exceed 150 microl. The patients were examined for periods ranging from 12 to 40 months posttransplantation. To date, no evidence of inflammation, infection, or overt rejection of the graft was noted in the host eye, neither was any change observed in the contralateral, unoperated eye. In conclusion, neuroretinal cells were injected into the subretinal space of 14 patients with advanced RP with no clinical appearance of detrimental effects at the time of surgery or up to 40 months postinjection except in 1 patient who developed retinal detachment. This sets the stage for a phase II clinical trial to determine the possible beneficial effects of this procedure in patients blinded by degenerative retinal disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Sub-grouping non-melancholic depression from manifest clinical features.

AIM: To determine whether clinical symptoms manifested during an episode of major depression are sufficient to allow meaningful sub-groups of non-melancholic depression to be identified. METHODS: A sample of 178 non-melancholic patients with a major depressive episode was studied. The initial set of clinical variables was refined to 38 (21 depression, 17 anxiety) items and a cluster analysis undertaken. RESULTS: A four-cluster solution identified 'anxiety', 'irritability', 'depressed mood' and 'residual' clusters, with these labels clarified by reference to a large data bank of non-symptomatic variables. These analyses suggested that members of the first two clusters could be viewed as having spectrum conditions (whereby Axis I symptom states are able to be linked with precursor or prodromal states and personality). CONCLUSIONS: We confirm the long-standing suggestion that the non-melancholic depressive class contains sub-groups of those with manifest states of anxious depression and of an irritable or 'hostile' depression, and that such manifest symptoms are likely to be rooted in and fed by temperament and personality characteristics. The delineation of such sub-groups should assist studies designed to identify underlying neurobiological underpinnings and clinical management of the non-melancholic depressive disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Microbiological quality of retail imported unprepared whole lettuces: a PHLS Food Working Group Study. Public Health Laboratory Service.

A study of imported unprepared whole lettuces sampled from supermarkets, greengrocers, shops, and market stalls found that all were of acceptable microbiological quality. Twenty-seven out of 151 (18%) imported lettuce samples had Enterobacteriaceae levels of 10(4) CFU/g or more. However, these bacteria that constitute part of the natural microflora of unprepared vegetables may also be derived from the soil and/or by poor handling. The pathogens, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, Vibrio cholerae, Listeria monocytogenes, and also Escherichia coli, an indicator of fecal contamination, were not detected in any imported lettuces, indicating that hygiene, harvesting, and production practices were good. Imported lettuces with Enterobacteriaceae levels of 10(4) CFU/g or more varied with type of retail premises and the temperature at which the lettuces were displayed. Samples from greengrocers, shops, and market stalls were more likely to contain Enterobacteriaceae at levels in excess of 10(4) CFU/g than those from supermarkets.

Colony Count, Microbial↗
PubMed1999

Microbiological investigation of halal butchery products and butchers' premises.

Halal butchers' premises were investigated as they had not been represented in a recent study of butchery products and butchers' premises conducted by the Local Authorities Coordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards and the PHLS. This study examined 183 raw prepared meats and 212 environmental samples from 105 halal butcher premises. Only raw meats were prepared on 97 of the premises visited; and the types of meat prepared on the remaining eight premises was not specified. Four halal butchers sold cooked meats prepared elsewhere. Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. were detected in 12 (7%) and 52 (28%) of the 183 raw meat products, respectively. Five raw prepared meats (3%) contained both salmonella and campylobacter. Vero cytotoxin producing Escherichia coli O157 was isolated from a raw meat product that also contained campylobacter. No cooked meat products were available for collection. The physical separation of raw and unwrapped cooked meat products in premises that prepared raw and sold cooked meats was not recorded. Apron cloths were the most heavily contaminated environmental samples examined; hygiene indicator microorganisms indicated an increased risk of cross contamination. Managers in 85 premises had received no food hygiene training and 88 premises had no hazard analysis system in place. Improvements are needed to reduce the risk of cross contamination.

Abattoirs↗