Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D West.
A previously unreported complication of a patient with Crohn's enterocolitis and internal fistulation is presented. The patient presented with meningeal signs in the lumbosacral region, fever, and sepsis. Computerized axial tomography revealed air in the epidural space, and a presumptive diagnosis of rectalepidural fistula was made. Surgical management included a diverting end sigmoid colostomy and presacral drainage.
A study was made of various aspects of 53 naturally occurring cases of foot abscess in sheep in New Zealand. Radiographic techniques were used to follow the progress of the lesion and from this it was concluded that foot abscess could be defined as an infection of the distal interphalangeal joint. The term foot abscess was considered preferable to the term "infective bulbar necrosis". The attack rate of foot abscess was reported to be higher for rams than for ewes and the condition was less prevalent during summer. Once infection was established in the distal interphalangeal joint a relatively uniform and thus predictable series of events took place that inevitably resulted in some permanent damage and deformity to the digit. If rupture of the axial collateral ligaments occurred, the joint became unstable and the degree of permanent deformity was greater. Treatment with antibiotics did not appear to markedly affect the progress of the lesion or the outcome, once infection had become established in the joint. Although the prognosis for complete recovery was poor, in most cases the foot healed sufficiently after a period of about two months to allow the animal to walk normally.
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Cytochrome P-450 (P-450)-dependent aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHHase) and 7-ethoxycoumarin deethylase (ECDEtase) in human tissues were differentially inhibited by monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that were prepared to inhibit and completely inhibited the activity of 3-methylcholanthrene-induced rat liver P-450. The AHHase and ECDEtase of placentas from individual women who smoked were inhibited by the MAbs by 83-90% and by 34-74%, respectively. Benz[a]anthracene (BaA)-induced AHHase and ECDEtase in lymphocytes were inhibited 18-65% and 30-78%, respectively. The enzymes in both control and BaA-induced human cells in culture were inhibited to different extents. Both the AHHase and ECDEtase in control and BaA-induced monocytes and in normal liver were largely unaffected by the MAb. Thus, we have with the MAbs: (i) identified P-450s with a common antigenic site in placenta, lymphocytes, and human cells in culture; (ii) identified two forms of hydrocarbon-induced P-450s in lymphocytes, at least one of which is common with the induced P-450s of placenta and with a P-450 form present in uninduced lymphocytes; (iii) identified two forms of P-450 responsible for smoking-induced ECDEtase activity in placenta, one of which is also responsible for AHHase activity; (iv) shown that the P-450s of liver, basal, and BaA-induced monocytes are different from the MAb-sensitive P-450s of placenta and lymphocytes; (v) quantitated in several human tissues the percentages of control and inducible AHHase and ECDEtase that are dependent on the MAb-sensitive P-450; and (vi) defined by HPLC the contribution of the MAb-sensitive P-450 to the formation of specific benzo[a]-pyrene metabolites. The results demonstrate the value of MAbs for defining antigenic site relatedness for different enzymatic functions of P-450s and for identifying and quantifying the amount of a specific enzyme activity in a tissue dependent on specific P-450s. This study may be a prototype for the use of MAbs for phenotyping and mapping of P-450s responsible for specific metabolic reactions and, thus, may be useful in determining the relationship of P-450 phenotype to individual differences in drug metabolism and carcinogen susceptibility.
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An ornamental succulent plant sold in many plant stores in the Chicago area has been identified as Euphorbia hermentiana Lem. Open and closed patch testing using undiluted latex from this species was performed on five Caucasian volunteers. Open testing on flexor forearms resulted in irritant follicular dermatitis, while closed testing to the flexor surfaces of both upper arms in each subject produced bullae and vesiculation with residual desquamation and hyperpigmentation. Dermatological signs persisted for over a week following latex application.
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We identified the wives or ex-wives of 227 males of the 256 reported with cancer of the penis to the New York State Cancer Registry from Upstate New York from 1960-64. Utilizing the Registry, death certificates, hospital and physician records, we ascertained those wives who developed cancer at any site from 1951-1975. We generated expected numbers of cases of cancer at each site by applying the age specific incidence rates experienced by women of a specific age in a specific year designated by the age of the wife of the index case in each year, estimating withdrawals from age-specific death rates. Thus, our expected numbers are based on the experience of the women in Upstate New York with traits like those of spouses of the men in the same population with cancer of the penis. We found significantly more cases of cancer of the cervix than expected. This was not true for other sites of cancer.
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Several recently reported deaths following the use of sodium nitroprusside have been attributed to the accumulation of the nitroprusside metabolite, cyanide. In this study, brief nitroprusside infusions (mean = 36 minutes) were administered in currently recommended doses during intracranial surgery. The peak blood cyanide following the infusions was 65.2 +/- 17.5 microgram per cent (mean +/- SE) (n = 13). It occurred within 45 minutes after infusion. The highest cyanide level detected was 205 microgram per cent, which is within the range of reported lethal blood cyanide levels. Metabolic acidosis developed in the four patients with the highest blood cyanide levels (range 90-205 microgram per cent). This occurred between 45 and 180 minutes following the cyanide peak. Blood ATP levels were depressed in the same patients. These findings are indicative of disturbed aerobic metabolism. We conclude that there is evidence of cyanide toxicity when nitroprusside is infused into patients using currently recommended doses. We recommend that for short infusions the dose of sodium nitroprusside should not exceed 0.5 mg/kg.
We collected data on the 434 individuals reported with cancer of the testis to the New York State Tumor Registry, 1960-64, from upstate New York. We compared these with the 410 members of a random sample of the upstate population interviewed from 1959 to 1962. A high risk of developing cancer of the testis was associated with professional occupations, native-born parentage, rural residence, and having been married, especially while young. These findings paralleled some other studies, as well as our earlier inquiry. Each of these factors carried a higher risk even when considered in the context of the other traits, and risk increased with an increase in the number of characteristics possessed.
A DNA-containing bacteriophage, phiCd1, was isolated from sewage and shown to infect both stalked and swarmer cells of Caulobacter crescentus strain CB13B1a. phiCd1 is a small, icosohedral bacteriophage, 60 nm in diameter, which possesses a short, noncontractile tail, 10 to 12 nm in length. The bacteriophage particle is composed of at least eight structural proteins. phiCd1 nucleic acid exists as a linear duplex of DNA as judged by: (i) thermal denaturation (Tm), (ii) CsCl density gradient centrifugation, and (iii) chemical analysis of its base composition. The DNA is 61% guanosine plus cytosine, has a buoyant density in CsCl of 1.721 +/- 0.001 g/cm3, and denatures sharply at 78.5 C in 0.1 SSC (standard saline citrate) buffer. The S20, w value for the DNA is 34.3 +/- 0.1S as compared with T7 DNA, indicating a molecular weight of about 29 x 10(6).
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The properties of two types of proton radiography, MARGINAL-RANGE and MULTIPLE SCATTERING are described briefly and examples of the radiographs shown. A practical application of one of the techniques, MARGINAL-RANGE, to an industrial problem is described. Certain outstanding features of MULTIPLE SCATTERING radiography which may lead to its use in the future are mentioned.