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Biomedical subjects

C Sowter

Publications and source records attributed to C Sowter.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Morphometry of bladder carcinoma: morphometry and grading complement each other.

Subjective grading of bladder carcinoma is a good predictor of the clinical outcome in those patients whose tumours are grade 1 or grade 3. However, in grade 2 tumours, which account for 45% of cases, grading has little predictive value in an individual patient. We have complemented the use of subjective grading with measurement of nuclear area and used a calculation of the distribution of nuclear sizes as a predictor of the clinical course. When subjective grading was complemented by morphometry the outcome was correctly predicted in 55 of 58 cases and all cases with poor clinical outcome were identified.

Carcinoma, Transitional Cell

Morphometry of bladder carcinoma: definition of a new variable.

In this study two measurements of nuclear size, the mean area and the size distribution curve of nuclear area, were used to differentiate between two polar groups: nuclei from non-neoplastic urothelium and nuclei from transitional cell carcinomas of bladder with a poor clinical outcome. Wide separation of these groups is necessary if a measurement is to be used to assess tumour grade where the morphometric differences are intermediate between such polar groupings. Separation between two groups was best achieved using a weighted distribution of nuclear size and this is a means of objective scoring of urothelial tumours.

Carcinoma, Transitional Cell

Is genetically transmitted obesity due to an adipose tissue defect?

1. The aim of this investigation was to ascertain of a variety of obese rodents whether the primary cause of fat cell enlargement lay in the fat cell itself, or in its environment. Rodents studied were the mutant mice 'diabetic' (db/db), 'adipose' (dbad/dbad), and 'yellow obese' (Ay/+), New Zealand obese mice, CBA mice made obese with gold thioglucose, and obese BIO 4.24 hamsters. 2. Gonadal fat of obese or lean genotype was transplanted under the kidney capsule of an obese or lean host. Grafts were left in place for at least one month, then examined histologically to measure fat cell diameters, from which fat cell masses were calculated. 3. Immunological rejection of grafts was avoided either by using mice syngeneic except for the obesity producing mutation (db/db, dbad/dbad or Ay/+) or by transplanting into F1 hybrids (NZO X BALB/c) made by mating the strains acting as donors of obese or lean fat. Transplantation of fat between lean BIO 4.22 hamsters and obese BIO 4.24 hamsters was possible because these had common histocompatibility antigens. 4. In all the forms of murine obesity studied, 'lean' fat cells enlarged in an obese recipient to the size typical of cells in 'obese' fat whilst 'obese' fat cells shrunk in a lean recipient to, at least, the size typical of 'lean' fat. Lean hamster fat cells also enlarged in an 'obese' environment and 'obese' hamster cells shrunk in a 'lean' environment. 5. Environment therefore contributes to the determination of fat cell size in all the rodents studied, and in several rodents (db/db, dbad/dbad, Ay/+, and gold thioglucose obese mice) our results showed that environmental factors are of paramount importance in determining cell size, and factors associated with the fat cell itself make a negligible contribution.

Adipose Tissue

Evaluation of a new technique for the demonstration of gonococci and other micro-organisms in host cells.

A method (Gram-MGPLG) for demonstrating micro-organisms was compared with Gram and four other known methods. Each method was tested on tissue infected with Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which were then fixed in Bouin's formol saline, formol sublimate, or Van de Grift solutions. Gram-positive organisms in tissues were easily seen even at low magnification when stained by several of the methods tested. Gram-negative organisms, however, are very difficult to locate when stained by Gram's method because tissue components and the organisms are all shades of red, whereas the Gram-MGPLG provided easier location of organisms because these are stained red while the nuclei are blue and connective tissue is green. All methods are markedly affected by fixation; better preservation of cytological detail and improved staining reactions were produced by fixative containing mercuric chloride.

Evaluation Studies as Topic

Human fat cell sizing--a quick, simple method.

Two methods were used to determine the mean cell diameters of 37 samples of human adipose tissue, obtained by open or needle biopsy. Method I was the sizing of cells in cell suspensions and Method II was a quick, simple method of sizing cells from fixed sections. The agreement between the two methods was good (r = 0.93, P = less than 0.001). The results using Method II were slightly lower than those using Method I, and a correction factor is suggested. Method II has several advantages over Method I and we propose that it is a suitable method for sizing cells when a quick method with a permanent record is required.

Adipose Tissue