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Biomedical subjects

C M Allen

Publications and source records attributed to C M Allen.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Oral mucosal reactions to cinnamon-flavored chewing gum.

Oral lesions induced by contact with cinnamon flavoring agents are relatively uncommon, and are probably unrecognized as such by many clinicians. Ten patients with these lesions seen during the past 6 years are described in this report. Most patients had a "burning sensation" as their primary symptom. Clinically, lesions appeared as erythematous patches with varying degrees of superimposed keratosis or ulceration, or both. The lesions were usually confined to the buccal mucosa and lateral border of the tongue. The offending agent was almost always cinnamon-flavored chewing gum, and symptoms typically resolved within 1 to 2 days of discontinuing the product containing cinnamon.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Dehydrodolichyl diphosphate synthetase from rat seminiferous tubules.

Homogenates of seminiferous tubules from rat testes catalyzed the incorporation of label from [14C]isopentenyl diphosphate into a variety of polyprenyl products. Long chain polyprenyl mono- and diphosphates were formed as major products when undesirable side reactions were minimized. The long chain polyprenyl diphosphate synthetase was measured as a sum of the mono- and diphosphate derivatives formed and was dependent on the addition of t,t-farnesyl diphosphate, isopentenyl diphosphate, and divalent cation. The highest activity was associated with the membranous fractions, whereas activity was negligible in the cytosolic fraction. The products of this prenyl transferase were labile to acid and yielded petroleum ether soluble products which indicated that the alpha-isoprene unit was unsaturated. Hydrolysis of either the polyprenyl mono-or diphosphates with a testicular phosphatase in the absence of NaF yielded C75, C80, C85, and C90 polyprenols. The chain lengths of the products of the synthetase suggest that this enzyme is responsible for the de novo biosynthesis of dehydrodolichyl diphosphates which are precursors of the dolichyl derivatives found in testes.

Alkyl and Aryl Transferases↗
PubMed1987

Lichen planus pemphigoides: report of a case with oral lesions.

Lichen planus pemphigoides is a rare condition characterized by the coexistence of lichen planus and bullous pemphigoid. Oral lesions have been reported but have not been studied immunopathologically. We describe a 59-year-old white man with cutaneous and oral lesions of lichen planus pemphigoides. Biopsies were done on these lesions, and the specimens were examined by routine light microscopy and immunofluorescent techniques. Fine keratotic striae on the anterior buccal mucosa were clinically consistent with oral lichen planus. Perilesional tissue associated with ulceration of the posterior buccal mucosa showed histologic and immunopathologic changes consistent with bullous pemphigoid.

Fluorescent Antibody Technique↗
PubMed1987

A combined approach to the assessment of neurological dysphagia.

The dysphagia encountered by patients with neurological disorders can be both distressing and life threatening because of the associated problems of aspiration. Decisions regarding management are often difficult because the exact nature of the underlying disorder varies from patient to patient and is frequently complex. A new approach to the assessment and evaluation of acquired neurological dysphagia is presented. Management of the first 50 patients assessed by this method is described. The advantages of a joint dysphagia clinic comprising neurology, speech therapy, ENT and radiology departments are discussed.

Combined Modality Therapy↗
PubMed1987

Differences in mucosal reaction related to Candida albicans isolates.

In order to examine the behavior of Candida albicans in an oral mucosal model, 16 isolates of the organism were collected from a variety of clinical settings and were inoculated weekly, in equal numbers and concentrations, into the mouths of separate groups of 20 female Sprague-Dawley rats. Oral swabs were taken bi-weekly in order to monitor the presence of the yeast. After 16 weeks, the animals were killed and the tongues were examined grossly and histologically. Six isolates demonstrated the ability to produce characteristic dorsal tongue lesions to varying degrees (1/20; 1/20; 1/20; 2/20; 3/20; and 12/20). Of the remaining 10 isolates, 5 showed hyphal penetration of the keratin layer of the dorsal tongue epithelium, yet no mucosal reaction was elicited and no lesion was produced (1/19; 2/19; 4/20; 5/20 and 5/20). These findings support the concept that C. albicans exhibits a spectrum of mucosal pathogenicity for dorsal rat tongue.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

A randomized, controlled clinical trial of a geriatric consultation team. Compliance with recommendations.

As part of a prospective, randomized, controlled study of the effectiveness of a geriatric consultation team, we examined compliance by the house staff with recommendations made by the team. Recommendations were formulated for 185 patients, aged 75 years or older, who were randomized into intervention (n = 92) and control (n = 93) groups. In the control group, only 27.1% of the actions that would have been recommended by the team were implemented independently by the house staff. Problems commonly neglected included polypharmacy, sensory impairment, confusion, and depression. In the intervention group, overall compliance was 71.7%. Highest compliance occurred for recommendations addressing instability and falls (95.0%) and discharge planning (94.3%). We conclude that a geriatric consultation team contributes substantial additional input into the care of older patients. Furthermore, relatively high compliance can be achieved with recommendations made by a geriatric consultation team, thereby overcoming the first barrier to the establishment of such a service.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Relation of stress and anxiety to oral lichen planus.

Stress and anxiety have frequently been mentioned as possible factors related to the development of oral lichen planus, although this association appears to have only an anecdotal origin. In this study, 48 patients with a clinical and histologic diagnosis of oral lichen planus completed questionnaires aimed at assessing their stressful life events (Social Readjustment Rating Scale) and their tendency for anxiety (the trait portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Age- and sex-matched control groups included patients who underwent biopsies for irritation fibroma and routine clinic patients. No significant differences were seen among any of the groups with respect to scores on the questionnaires. These results suggest that patients who manifest oral lichen planus have no greater tendency toward anxiety and no more stressful life events than other individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Treatment of oral erosive lichen planus with systemic isotretinoin.

Six patients with symptomatic oral erosive lichen planus were treated with systemic isotretinoin (10 to 60 mg daily) for 8 weeks. Five (83%) showed subjective and objective improvement at completion of therapy, but the improvement was slight. Relapse occurred in four patients within 2 months after the drug was stopped; one was lost to follow-up. Because of the minimal improvement and adverse side effects, no patient wished to be re-treated with isotretinoin.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Necrotizing sialometaplasia: a case with metachronous lesions.

A case of two episodes of necrotizing sialometaplasia occurring metachronously in a single patient has been reported. The clinical and histologic features of these lesions are described and discussed in relation to the spectrum of presentations of the condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Indirect immunofluorescence of oral lichen planus.

Sections of lesional tissue from 6 patients who exhibited only oral lesions of lichen planus (LP) were incubated with autologous serum and studied immunopathologically for the presence of lichen planus specific antigen (LPSA). None of the specimens was positive for LPSA. Serum from the oral LP patients was subsequently incubated with allogeneic cutaneous LP lesional tissue sections, which resulted in the demonstration of LPSA in 2 of the 4 sera examined. These results suggest an immunologic relationship between cutaneous LP and at least some cases of oral LP.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Fibrinolysis in health and disease: abnormal levels of plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor, and protein C in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is characterized by widespread occluding and persistent microthrombotic lesions. Evidence for both endothelial damage and primary platelet aggregation as possible pathogenetic mechanisms has been produced. Persistence of microthrombi has not been explained satisfactorily. In patients with TTP we studied plasma fibrinolysis and protein C. Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) activity levels, measured functionally, were low or unmeasurable in 11 of 12 patients; t-PA antigen levels, measured immunochemically, were normal in all six observed. The level of potent inhibitor of plasminogen activation directed against both t-PA and urokinase was elevated significantly in all 12, whereas the alpha 2-antiplasmin level was elevated in only two. Protein C antigen levels were low in three of six patients observed. Fibrinolysis levels in patients in remission did not differ from those in patients with acute disease. Plasma exchange resulted in temporary reversal of the abnormalities, but achievement of clinical remission was not associated with permanent normalization of fibrinolysis. Inasmuch as all 12 patients had severely depressed fibrinolytic mechanisms it is possible that a defect in the fibrin-clearing system permits thrombus formation to occur and proceed in an unchallenged fashion, thereby contributing to the complex events leading to arterial ischemia in vital organs.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Clinical diagnosis of intracranial haemorrhage using Guy's Hospital score.

We tested the Guy's Hospital stroke diagnostic score using the clinical data from two independent samples of patients with acute stroke. These were 228 patients from the Oxfordshire community stroke project and 130 referred to the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London. The diagnosis was confirmed by computed tomography or necropsy in each case. The optimum cut off point on the clinical score for the differentiation of intracranial haemorrhage from infarction was found to be the same for both the patients in our study and those from whose data the score was derived originally. Set at this level, the score achieved a sensitivity for the diagnosis of haemorrhage of 81% and 88% in the patients from Oxford and London, respectively. In those from Oxford infarction was diagnosed with a sensitivity of 78% with an overall predictive accuracy of 78% with an overall London the sensitivity for infarction was also 78% with an overall predictive accuracy of 82%. When it is essential to exclude intracerebral blood before starting treatment in the small proportion of patients with stroke who require anticoagulation the Guy's Hospital score is not sufficiently accurate to replace computed tomography. The score is, however, the most accurate clinical means of differentiating haemorrhage from infarction as the cause of stroke. It is suggested that it should be used as a screening test in epidemiological studies and in large scale trials of low risk treatment for the secondary prevention of stroke when computed tomography in all cases is impracticable.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗
PubMed1985

Photoaffinity labeling of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthetase with a farnesyl pyrophosphate analogue.

The prenyl transferase undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthetase was partially purified from the cytosolic fraction of Escherichia coli. Its enzymic products were characterized as a family of cis-polyprenyl phosphates, which ranged in carbon number from C55 to C25. The enzyme is constituted of two subunits of approximately 30,000 molecular weight. A radiolabeled photolabile analogue of t,t-farnesyl pyrophosphate, [3H]2-diazo-3-trifluoropropionyloxy geranyl pyrophosphate, was shown to label Lactobacillus plantarum and E. coli undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthetase on UV irradiation in the presence of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and divalent cation. The only labeled polypeptide migrated on electrophoresis in a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel at a molecular weight of approximately 30,000. No protein was radiolabeled when the natural substrate, t,t-farnesyl pyrophosphate was included in the irradiation mixture. Irradiation in the presence of MgCl2 without isopentenyl pyrophosphate gave less labeling of the polypeptide. Irradiation with only isopentenyl pyrophosphate gave little labeling of the polypeptide. When the enzyme was irradiated with 3H-photoprobe, [14C]isopentenyl pyrophosphate, and MgCl2, the labeled polypeptide gave a ratio of 14C/3H that indicated the product must also bind to the enzyme on irradiation. These results demonstrate the ability to radiolabel the allylic pyrophosphate binding site and possibly product binding site of undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthetase by a process which is favored when both cosubstrate and divalent cation are present.

Affinity Labels↗
PubMed1985

Role of tetracycline in pathogenesis of chronic candidiasis of rat tongues.

Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 animals received tetracycline solution (0.1% during week 1 and 0.01% thereafter) as drinking water, as in previous studies. Group 2 animals received double-distilled demineralized water. Animals in both groups were inoculated orally with an equal number of viable, mucosally pathogenic Candida albicans organisms. After 20 weeks, inspection of the tongues showed gross lesions in 16 of the 20 animals in group 1 and 17 of the 20 in group 2. These lesions were confirmed histologically. No significant difference in the number of lesions was noted between the two groups. However, the lesions in group 1 animals were significantly larger than those in group 2 animals. These results suggest that, given this mucosally pathogenic strain of C. albicans, the establishment of a chronic infection of the rat tongue is apparently not influenced by tetracycline-treated drinking water as administered in this study. This suggests that antibiotic exposure is not an essential factor in the pathogenesis of this lesion. A larger lesion area, however, does appear to be related to the use of tetracycline solution as drinking water.

Administration, Oral↗