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Biomedical subjects

C Savage

Publications and source records attributed to C Savage.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis. Evaluation of a sulpholipid antigen.

In order to evaluate the suitability of serology in the diagnosis of tuberculosis the Mycobacterium tuberculosis anti-sulpholipidic IV IgG were assayed, using the ELISA test, in 41 healthy controls, 121 hospitalized but non-tuberculous patients and 142 tuberculous persons including 46 cured patients. At the 150 and 300 O.D. thresholds proposed in previous studies using the same antigen, the specificity was 88.27% and 98.76%, respectively, and the sensitivity 25% and 11.45%. These results were not related to different potential factors (age, background, associated pathology) but to infection intensity which enhanced the IgG reaction. This may explain discrepancies observed in previous studies made under other epidemiological conditions. Therefore, in this European population from a universitarity hospital, it appears that too many tuberculous patients have such a low IgG reaction that serology cannot be an effective assay in the diagnostic step.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Mycobacterium kansasii cutaneous infection].

The authors report a case of cutaneous infection caused by Mycobacterium kansasii in an immunocompetent woman. The mycobacterium was identified after a search for mycolic acids and the species-specific phenol-glycolipid K1. As minocycline followed by ciprofloxacin were ineffective, a conventional antituberculous treatment was prescribed and was fully successful.

Ciprofloxacin↗
PubMed1993

[Aspergillus spondylodiscitis. Apropos of 5 cases].

Five cases of Aspergillus discitis in male patients are reported. Three patients had impaired immune responses as a result of immunosuppressive therapy following a heart transplant (two cases) or hairy cell leukemia (one case). Two patients had a recent history of mycobacterial infection. All five patients were hospitalized for severe spinal pain suggestive of an inflammatory disease with no neurological abnormalities. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was elevated in every case. The diagnosis of discitis was suspected on spinal roentgenograms and established by computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging. In three patients the spine was the only site of Aspergillus infection (lumbar discitis in two cases and thoracic discitis in one case). One patient developed Aspergillus infection of several disks (L1-L2, L2-L3, and L4-L5) after Aspergillus endocarditis with embolization to the left lower limb. Another patient developed discitis after an Aspergillus lung infection. In every case, Aspergillus fumigatus was recovered in cultures of specimens harvested by a percutaneous needle biopsy of the intervertebral disk. All five patients were treated by itraconazole which was given as single drug therapy in one case and in combination with 5-flucytosine and amphotericin B in four cases. Recovery was achieved in every case after four to six months of this drug therapy. In contrast to most previously reported cases, none of the five patients reported herein required surgical treatment. Efficacy of conservative treatment in this study may be related to the use of itraconazole in every case.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

mec-7 is a beta-tubulin gene required for the production of 15-protofilament microtubules in Caenorhabditis elegans.

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, microtubules with 15 protofilaments are a specialized feature of six touch-receptor neurons; microtubules found in other C. elegans neurons have 11 protofilaments. Mutations in the gene mec-7 result in touch-insensitive animals whose touch cells lack the 15-protofilament microtubules. We have characterized 54 mutations in the mec-7 gene. The absence of mec-7 activity results selectively in the recessive loss of touch sensitivity. Partial loss-of-function alleles result in a partial loss of touch sensitivity. Dominant mutations, which are isolated at an unusually high proportion, may encode abnormal products. We have cloned the mec-7 gene; it encodes a beta-tubulin which is 90-93% identical to vertebrate beta-tubulin. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that tubulin heterogeneity contributes to the formation of structurally and functionally distinct sets of microtubules.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Standardized method for evaluation of hand disinfection by surgical scrub formulations.

A standardized protocol for the evaluation of hand disinfection by surgical scrub formulations was applied to volunteers in a multicenter trial. Povidone iodine (PVI), chlorhexidine (CHX), and a nonmedicated soap (NMS) were tested. The scrubbing procedure involved three daily hand washings for five consecutive days; surviving bacteria were counted daily after being collected in a suitable neutralizing solution. Immediate efficacy (IE), cumulative efficacy (CE), and remanent effect (RE) were calculated by reference to the control hand. Statistical analyses of IE, CE, and RE showed significant differences among the three scrub formulations. IEs of PVI and CHX were equivalent and different from IE of NMS; CE and RE of CHX were higher than those of PVI and NMS. On the basis of the statistical analysis, the population size required for further studies aimed at detecting significant differences between surgical scrub formulations could be estimated.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[A method of bacterial count by epifluorescence with acridine orange. Application to skin biopsies performed in burnt patients].

Acridine orange was used for staining and counting micro-organisms obtained from 136 skin biopsies performed in burned patients. The number of organisms per gram of tissue was compared to the number of colony-forming-units (CFU) calculated from cultures of the same biopsies. The staining method was positive in 97 per cent of septic samples, and in 25 per cent of these it proved more sensitive than bacterial cultures, with a 100 to 1000-fold greater number of pathogens detected. Acridine orange also demonstrated bacteria in 69 biopsies which remained sterile after culture. In some cases, the same bacterial species was found in other samples taken a few days later.

Acridine Orange↗
PubMed1987

Defecation dynamics and behavior profiles in encopretic children.

The social competence and behavioral profiles of 38 encopretic children were evaluated, and the social competence and behavioral ratings were correlated with physiologic abnormalities found during anorectal manometric and EMG evaluation and with treatment outcome. When defecation was studied, 66% of encopretic children were not able to defecate rectal balloons and 63% were not able to relax the external anal sphincter during defecation attempts. Total social competence and behavior problem scores were not different for boys able and unable to defecate balloons. Total social competence scores were significantly lower in girls unable to defecate balloons than in those able to (P less than .006), whereas behavior problem scores were similar in girls able to and unable to defecate. We found that persistence of encopresis at 6-month and 12-month follow-up was not related to the social competence (P greater than .2) or behavioral scores (P greater than .2) but was significantly related to the inability to defecate (P less than .01) and to the inability to relax the external sphincter during defecation attempts (P less than .03).

Anal Canal↗
PubMed1986

[Proposal for a method of studying the activity of soap or antiseptic against the microbial flora of the hands after a single surgical scrub].

The authors, all members of the Antiseptics group of the Societé Française de Microbiologie, propose a standardised method for the evaluation of the activity of antiseptics on the microbial flora of the hands in the context of surgical scrubbing. This paper defines the aims of the method, its field of application and describes the media and materials required. The various phases of the preliminary study and the definitive trial also described.

Anti-Infective Agents, Local↗
PubMed1984

Binding of sulfadimethoxine to isolated human blood protein fractions.

The binding of sulfadimethoxine to selected human blood protein fractions and to fresh serum has been examined by means of a new equilibrium dialysis technique which minimizes experimental error and permits the evaluation of low-level binding. Certain alpha-globulin fractions, containing mixtures of proteins, were found to bind the drug. Scatchard analysis of the binding of sulfadimethoxine to fresh serum, calculated as though all of the binding is due to albumin, gives a different result from that obtained with isolated albumin. This may be a reflection of the contribution of the alpha-globulins to the overall binding of sulfadimethoxine in fresh serum. Although sulfadimethoxine is amphoteric, it did not bind to the alpha 1-acid glycoprotein. The drug behaves as an acidic compound when binding to the blood proteins.

Alpha-Globulins↗
PubMed1983

Improved procedure for the determination of protein binding by conventional equilibrium dialysis.

The binding of drugs to plasma proteins has been studied extensively using a variety of methods, including equilibrium dialysis. Published information on controls used in these studies is frequently inadequate; in other cases, there are deficiencies in the experimental design for the controls. A method is described that eliminates many of the problems associated with artifactual errors in dialysis studies. Multiple replicated controls are performed at the same time as the test, under identical conditions. The controls are used to correct for concentration-dependent binding of drug to the membrane or other equipment. The method was used to determine the binding of sulfadimethoxine to CF-IV-1 alpha-globulin at therapeutic concentrations. The level of binding was low (9-13%), but the stringent control technique permitted statistical analysis which showed each mean test value to be significantly different from its corresponding control. Furthermore, there was a linear relationship between the control-corrected percentage binding values and total drug concentration, whereas there was no correlation between total drug concentration and the uncorrected percentage binding values.

Blood Proteins↗