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Biomedical subjects

D Hilton

Publications and source records attributed to D Hilton.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Three-month efficacy and safety of once-daily diltiazem in chronic stable angina pectoris.

The 3-month efficacy and safety of a once-daily controlled formulation of diltiazem (180 to 360 mg/day) were assessed in a study of 54 patients with angina pectoris. This multicenter study was a nonrandomized, placebo run-in, open-label, 3-month trial followed by a 1-week, double-blind, randomized period during which most patients (89%) received placebo. There were only minimal changes in the time to termination (mean change +/- SEM -5.8 +/- 9.6 seconds), time to onset of angina (10.5 +/- 12.2 seconds), and the time to 1 mm ST-segment depression (2.9 +/- 12.5 seconds) from the end of the titration phase to the end of the open-label study. There were, however, statistically significant differences between the end of the 3-month treatment phase and the end of the 1-week randomized placebo phase for those 3 efficacy parameters (-37.3 +/- 11.2, -58.6 +/- 13.6, and -45.6 +/- 16.4 seconds, respectively). Diltiazem significantly decreased the frequency of anginal attacks and nitroglycerin use at the end of the 3-month treatment phase compared with results at the end of the randomized double-blind placebo phase. No new or unusual adverse events were reported during treatment. The present results suggest that there is no loss of efficacy of once-a-day diltiazem when administered for a long period to patients with chronic stable angina pectoris.

Aged↗

Mass spectrometric analysis of opioid and tachykinin neuropeptides in non-secreting and ACTH-secreting human pituitary adenomas.

In a study to test the hypothesis that defects in the metabolism of neuropeptides might be a contributing factor to human anterior pituitary tumor formation, the proenkephalin A, proopiomelanocortin (POMC), and tachykinin systems, which produce methionine enkephalin (ME), beta-endorphin (BE), and substance P (SP), respectively, were measured in patients who had a wide variety of pituitary tumors. Mass spectrometry was used to optimize the level of molecular specificity of the ME and BE analytical measurements, and radioimmunoassay was used to measure SP-like immunoreactivity (SP-li). Compared to data obtained from pituitaries from post-mortem controls, the non-secreting tumors contained a significantly lower amount of the POMC neuropeptide, BE. The lower ME level was not significant. However, two adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)-secreting tumors contained ME, BE, and SP-li amounts that were much higher than both the controls and nonsecreting tumors. These data suggest that a hypometabolism of the POMC precursor may be operating in non-secreting tumors, and that a hypermetabolism of the proenkephalin A, POMC, and tachykinin precursors may be operating in two ACTH-secreting tumors. These data demonstrate that mass spectrometry plays a critical role in the study of human pituitary tumors.

Adenoma↗

Inhibition of differentiation in a murine F9 embryonal carcinoma cell subline by leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF).

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a cytokine previously shown to maintain pluripotent embryonic stem cells in their undifferentiated state. We have examined the effects of LIF in nullipotent embryonal carcinoma cell lines, and have found that LIF blocks differentiation induced by retinoic acid and at low temperature in OTF9 cells. LIF did not block differentiation in a parent F9 cell line. For OTF9 cells, LIF acts early in differentiation, inhibiting the appearance of parietal endoderm-type product cells. However, it acts subsequent to retinoic acid, and at least one early retinoic acid-induced event is unaltered in the presence of LIF. This finding provides both a means of dissecting the cascade of events leading to EC cell differentiation, and a well-characterised target cell type for studying the mechanism of action of LIF.

Animals↗

Leukemia inhibitory factor can potentiate murine megakaryocyte production in vitro.

Receptors for murine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) were demonstrated on immature and mature murine megakaryocytes. LIF alone had no effects in culture on the survival or proliferation of normal murine megakaryocytes or their precursors. However, combination of LIF with multipotential-colony-stimulating factor (Multi-CSF) (interleukin-3) enhanced the megakaryocyte colony formation able to be stimulated by Multi-CSF; the enhancement involved all types of megakaryocyte colony and resulted in the formation of increased numbers of megakaryocytes. These observations provide a possible basis for the observation that, when LIF is injected in vivo, elevations are observed in megakaryocyte numbers and platelet levels.

Animals↗

Abnormal embryonic development induced by antibodies to rat visceral yolk-sac endoderm: isolation of the antigen and localization to microvillar membrane.

An antigenic substance was isolated from rat visceral yolk-sac endoderm of the 18th-20th days of gestation by extraction with the nonionic detergent Nonidet P-40, Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration, and Ricinus communis agglutinin affinity chromatography. The rabbit antiserum directed against this antigenic substance when injected into pregnant rats during the period of organogenesis caused abnormal embryonic development, fetal growth retardation, and embryonic death. Ouchterlony gel diffusion analysis demonstrated that the antiserum formed one immunoprecipitin band against the crude detergent extract and a complete identity between the present visceral yolk-sac antigen and the renal glycoprotein antigen previously isolated (C. C. K. Leung, (1982) J. Exp. Med. 156, 372-384). The antigen eluted from the antibody affinity column appeared to consist of two major peptides of 60 and 30 kDa when analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Indirect immunofluorescent and immunoperoxidase localization studies at the light microscopic level demonstrated that both rat renal proximal tubule and embryonic visceral yolk-sac endoderm at various gestational stages (including the organogenetic period) shared the same antigen. Indirect immunoperoxidase localization studies at the electron microscopic level demonstrated that the antigen was a part of (or associated with) the microvillar membrane and membrane invaginations at the base of the microvilli of the renal proximal tubule and visceral yolk-sac endoderm. In vivo immunoperoxidase localization studies demonstrated that the teratogenic antibodies localized within the large phagolysosomes and the apical vesicles of the visceral yolk-sac endoderm. It is postulated that visceral yolk-sac pathology was induced by the antibodies.

Animals↗

Cadaveric renal transplantation in two patients with preexisting Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Two young men developed nephrotic syndrome associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma and progressive renal failure. After a short course of hemodialysis with blood transfusion, each received a cadaveric renal transplant. During the postoperative period, chemotherapy (MOPP) was given. No transplant rejection episodes were diagnosed. The patients, who live normal lives, have been in lymphoma remission for 12 and 22 months and have serum creatinine levels of 120 and 108 mumol/L 47 and 50 months posttransplant, respectively (Table 1).

Adult↗

Vasodilator therapy in refractory congestive heart failure: a comparative analysis of hemodynamic and noninvasive studies.

The response to vasodilator therapy was assessed in 12 patients with chronic severe congestive heart failure refractory to conventional treatment. Cardiac output and intraarterial and pulmonary capillary wedge pressures were recorded continuously to assess the hemodynamic response to the vasodilators used. Control and post-treatment M mode echocardiograms and radionuclide angiograms were obtained to assess the change in left ventricular size and ejection fraction concurrent with the hemodynamic improvement. Despite a 33 percent decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (p less than 0.001) and a 35 percent increase in cardiac index (p less than 0.001), no significant change occurred in left ventricular end-diastolic or end-systolic chamber size on echocardiography or in ejection fraction measured with radionuclide angiography. In this study M mode echocardiography and radionuclide angiography were of no value in monitoring the actual hemodynamic response to vasodilator therapy in this group of patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 30 percent.

Aged↗