Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D J Weaver.
Renal oncocytomas were tested for loss of alleles at loci on the short arm of chromosome 3, a genetic change characteristic of human renal cell carcinoma. Five renal oncocytomas did not show loss of alleles at loci on 3p supporting the view that renal oncocytoma is a distinct form of renal neoplasia.
The exact role of varicocele in human male infertility remains controversial. Fifty-five male partners of infertile couples randomly selected and 17 fertile semen donors were evaluated for semen quality, scrotal temperature, and presence of varicocele using clinical palpation and Doppler ultrasound. The incidence of varicocele was 42% in male partners of infertile couples and 41% in fertile semen donors. Left scrotal temperature was significantly (p less than .001) higher in infertile males with varicocele as compared to all groups. No significant differences were observed in the percentage of morphologically normal sperm in semen of males with and without varicocele. However, the incidence of tapered, elongated, and immature sperm was significantly higher in the infertile patient population with a varicocele. Measurement of scrotal temperature and assessment of sperm morphology may be used as predictors of the presence and deleterious effect of varicocele.
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We present a case study of a patient with seminoma who had normal testicles on palpation. Testicular ultrasound is the technique of choice to locate occult nonpalpable testis lesions. We recommend its use in the search for the source of any retroperitoneal mass of undetermined origin.
We analyzed cytogenetically 6 tumors from 4 patients with bilateral renal cell carcinoma. Comparison among findings in these patients with bilateral disease and previously reported cases of unilateral tumor demonstrates that bilaterality is associated with a more frequent loss of a sex chromosome, and gain of chromosomes 7 and 3, whereas unilateral tumors often are associated with loss of chromosome 3 material. It is proposed that bilateral tumors are distinct genetically from unilateral tumors and that most bilateral tumors have a genetic propensity to either enhanced metastatic spread to other renal tissue or spontaneous degeneration.
Twenty-eight tissue specimens from 26 patients with renal cell carcinoma were subjected to cytogenetic analysis using a newly developed combined method of enzymatic technique and short term tissue culture. Of the 28 tumor samples studied, 21 were chromosomally abnormal. Four (including two oncocytomas) were normal, and three did not grow in tissue culture. Of the 21 tumors with abnormal chromosomes, the most frequent abnormality was either trisomy or tetrasomy of chromosome 7 (18 of 21 tumors). In four of these tumors, trisomy 7 was the only visible abnormality. Ten tumors contained abnormalities of chromosome 3. Three showed a previously reported chromosome 3 interstitial deletion, five were hyperdiploid, and two revealed a monosomy 3. Of these 10 patients, six have had disease progression, compared to one of the 16 remaining patients without an abnormal chromosome 3. These data suggest that abnormalities of chromosome 7 represent a primary abnormality, and that when these abnormalities are present in association with abnormalities involving chromosome 3, they may correlate with a more aggressive clinical course and a corresponding higher stage of disease at diagnosis.
Using a newly developed combined method of enzymatic technique and short-term tissue culture, 30 tumor specimens from 26 patients with nonfamilial renal cell carcinoma were subjected to cytogenetic analysis. Of the 26 patients, 19 had chromosomally abnormal tumors, four (including two oncocytomas) were normal, and three did not grow. The modal chromosome numbers ranged from 44 to 98 (including two pseudotetraploids). Banding analysis revealed 38 clonal aberrations and ten nonclonal aberrations. Abnormalities were of structure and number. The most consistent clonal abnormality was a trisomy or tetrasomy chromosome 7 occurring in tumors from 15 of the 19 patients with cytogenetically abnormal tumors. In four cases, trisomy 7 was the only visible abnormality observed, and in an additional five it was the only abnormality in two or more cells. An abnormal chromosome 3 was found in ten (38%) of the cases. Two were trisomic for #3, two were monosomic, three were hyperdiploid, and three had interstitial deletions with breakpoints clustered from p11 to p25. In only one case was a deleted #3 the only abnormality observed in a clone of cells. Loss of the sex chromosome was seen in eight (35%) of the 23 chromosomally abnormal cases including all four (100%) patients with bilateral disease. One of the patients with bilateral disease had an abnormal clone with monosomy X as the only abnormality. These data suggest that trisomy or tetrasomy 7 more often represents the specific primary abnormality than abnormalities of either chromosome 3 or the sex chromosomes. From this, a model of chromosomal progression may be constructed for nonfamilial renal cell carcinoma, which could assist in pathologic classification and prognostic and therapeutic considerations.
Transitional cell carcinoma from 20 patients and two human cell lines were maintained in short-term tissue culture. Each was studied ultrastructurally before and after incubation with cisplatinum, adriamycin, or mitomycin C. Sequential ultrastructural changes were noted and were found to be specific for each agent tested. Ultrastructural changes in the nucleoli were produced by exposure to cisplatinum or mitomycin C; alterations in the heterochromatin of the nuclei were characteristic of treatment with adriamycin. The changes in the nucleoli seen with cisplatinum have not been described previously and support an alkylating property as a mechanism of action. Intravesical chemotherapeutic agents are now commonly used in clinical treatments. The morphological changes produced by these agents are specific and may be seen in the clinical setting.
Eighty-five tumors from 49 patients with transitional cell carcinoma were examined in a model for in vitro sensitivity using tumor explant reduction assay. Individual sensitivity patterns were obtained for each tumor tested. Explants were most frequently found to be sensitive to cis-platinum (49 per cent) and least frequently sensitive to thiotepa (20 per cent). Thirteen patients were studied on multiple sequential intervals, with resistance to specific agents noted to develop in 53 per cent of the patients. To date, a prospective cross-over study has been conducted on seven patients with 15 correlates. Overall, clinical correlation of this assay for both resistance and sensitivity is 93 per cent. We report a new assay for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder that is adaptable to small specimen samples and provides adequate material for testing 73 per cent of the time.
Hormonal, neurologic, and vascular factors affecting potency were evaluated in 10 men with scleroderma and in 10 age-matched men with rheumatoid arthritis. Impotence was reported by 6 of the patients with scleroderma and none with rheumatoid arthritis. Studies of serum testosterone, free testosterone index, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, prolactin, estradiol, thyroxine, and thyrotropin did not show a hormonal basis for impotence in any patient. Neurologic causes were not found on physical examination. Penile blood pressures were markedly abnormal in 4 impotent patients, intermediate in 2 impotent and 3 potent patients, and normal in 11 potent patients. A history of claudication and diminished ankle blood pressures indicated large vessel disease in 2 impotent patients; the remaining 4 impotent men had normal ankle pressures, suggesting that their poor penile blood pressures and impotence were due to small vessel disease, perhaps the small artery lesions of scleroderma.
A comprehensive bibliography of the literature concerned with opiates, endorphins, and the developing organism is presented. A total of 1378 clinical and laboratory references, with citations beginning in 1875, are recorded. A series of indexed accompanies the citations in order to make the literature more accessible. These indexes are divided into clinical and laboratory topics. The clinical section is subdivided into: age of subject examined; maternal aspects; effects on the fetus; pharmacology, physiology, and the withdrawal syndrome; and "other" effects on the offspring. The laboratory section is subdivided into: type of opiate/endorphin studied; species utilized; and major subject areas explored.
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OBJECTIVE: To find optimal conditions for cryopreservation of human spermatozoa with glycerol as cryoprotectant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pooled semen from groups of three normal donors was allowed to liquefy for 30 minutes at 37 degrees C. Samples were subjected to a prefreeze equilibration interval of 0, 30, or 60 minutes, with 5% or 10% glycerol, at 0 degrees C, 22 degrees C, or 37 degrees C. Samples were frozen in liquid nitrogen for 24 hours, thawed, and assessed for post-thaw motility. Uptake and metabolism of glycerol were studied using [3H] glycerol. Thin-layer chromatography of ethanol extracts of washed spermatozoa that had been incubated with the labeled glycerol was used to determine metabolic products. RESULTS: Overall best cryopreservation was obtained at 37 degrees C with 5% glycerol and 30 minutes' prefreeze incubation. Labeled glycerol was incorporated into both polar and nonpolar metabolites. Two chromatographic peaks were found associated with the spermatozoa, and one peak was found in the incubation medium.