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Biomedical subjects

E Cohen

Publications and source records attributed to E Cohen.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Bone metabolism in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Plasma and urinary indexes of bone metabolism were studied in 36 children affected by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) during 1 year, in order to evaluate the calciotropic hormone levels and bone mass. Children were divided in three groups according to the subtype of JRA: pauciarticular, polyarticular, systemic. Patients of the latter two groups were on corticosteroid treatment. A control group of healthy children (matched for age and sex) was compared. Children affected by pauciarticular disease did not show any difference with respect to controls. In the polyarticular and systemic groups, basal observation revealed decreased levels of 25(OH)D, significantly lower (P less than 0.01) with respect to the control and pauciarticular groups. After one year, 25(OH)D showed a further decrease in the systemic group, while PTH levels were increased. Moreover, bone mineral density values in systemic JRA were significantly lower than values of a matched control group and did not increase as expected during the year. It seems thus possible that severe JRA has an influence on bone mass, perhaps mediated by a decrease in active vitamin D metabolites.

Adolescent↗

Effects of weight cycling on metabolic control in male outpatients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Examined the effects of weight cycling (i.e., losing and regaining or gaining and relosing body weight) versus weight maintenance on metabolic control in 327 adult, male, outpatient veterans with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) who were followed over an average of 3.4 years. When compared with weight maintenance, weight cycling, whether defined as a categorical or as a continuous variable, was not found to be associated with deficits in metabolic control or increased need for hypoglycemic medication. Patients who weight cycled had fasting serum glucose and hemoglobin A1c levels comparable to those who remained within 10% of their initial body weights, and these levels of metabolic control were obtained with similar classes and dosages of hypoglycemic medication.

Blood Glucose↗

Children of victims of terrorism revisited: integrating individual and family treatment approaches.

Children and their guardians, seen in treatment following the death of the children's parents in terrorist activities, were interviewed again ten years later. The earlier therapy had concentrated on promoting interpersonal family strengths but, at follow-up, psychopathology indicative of unresolved trauma was reported. A process view of posttraumatic adjustment and treatment is presented, and more structured research designed to test these clinical observations is proposed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

An immunofluorescence study of primary anetoderma.

Primary anetoderma (PA) has occasionally been described in association with lupus erythematosus (LE). The present study was performed to elucidate a possible causal link between PA and LE by the use of direct and indirect immunofluorescence (IF) methods. Two patients with PA were studied. Biopsy specimens were obtained from early inflammatory and atrophic anetoderma lesions and from the exposed and unexposed uninvolved skin of each patient. The pattern of immune deposits observed in one patient was indistinguishable from that which is often seen in systemic LE, and in the other patient from that which may be observed in chronic cutaneous LE. The direct IF study also showed fibrillar immune deposits in the dermis that resembled elastic fibres morphologically. The indirect IF study, however, failed to demonstrate anti-elastic fibre antibodies in the patients' sera. The results of this study and a review of the literature suggest that some cases of PA have direct IF findings similar to those of either chronic cutaneous or systemic LE. However, these findings, along with the serological findings, are insufficient to establish a diagnosis of LE in most of these PA cases.

Adult↗

Healthy aging and male sexual function.

The authors examined the effect of age on sexual function and behavior and on nocturnal penile tumescence in 65 healthy married men aged 45 to 74 years. There was a significant negative relation between age and sexual desire, arousal, and activity and an increasing prevalence of sexual dysfunction with age but no age difference in sexual enjoyment and satisfaction. Significant age-related decreases in frequency, duration, and degree of nocturnal penile tumescence were found. Sexual desire, arousal, coital frequency, and prevalence of erectile problems correlated with nocturnal penile tumescence measures. The authors discuss the relevance of these findings for the understanding of sexual function in aging men.

Aged↗

Effect of temperature on the assembly of tight junctions and on the mobility of lipids in membranes of HT29 cells.

In the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT29, tight junctions can be induced by treatment with appropriate proteases or salt solutions. The temperature dependence of induced tight junction formation is characterized by a marked sigmoidal behavior. The different methods of induction used in this study were characterized by threshold temperatures ranging from 15 to 32 degrees C. Fluorescence photobleaching recovery measurements of the lateral diffusion of a fluorescent phospholipid probe in the cellular plasma membrane gave no evidence for a phase transition or for alteration in the organization of membrane lipids in lateral domains in the temperature range between 0 and 37 degrees C. Moreover, dynamic parameters of the probe in the plasma membrane did not change substantially on mild treatment with trypsin. Thus, the temperature dependence of tight junction formation is not dictated by the bulk properties of the cytoplasmic membrane lipids. The observed temperature dependence suggests that the assembly of tight junctions is a cooperative process, which may involve conformational rearrangement in a protein precursor subsequent to its proteolytic activation.

Freeze Fracturing↗

Modulation of murine natural killer cells by a granulocytosis-inducing tumor.

The nonmetastatic neutrophilia-inducing murine mammary carcinoma CE1460 has been shown previously to have profound effects on hemopoiesis and lymphopoiesis. In this report we examined the effects of progressive growth of CE1460 on natural killer (NK) cell activity both in the bone marrow, the site of primary NK cell production, and in a peripheral site, the spleen. (BALB/c x CE)F1 mice were injected subcutaneously with trypsinized cells from in vivo passaged CE1460 or from B66, a BALB/c mammary carcinoma that does not induce neutrophilia. 3 days posttumor implantation, NK activity in bone marrow cells or spleen cells was greatly enhanced compared to normal controls. In B66 tumor-bearing mice, NK activity returned to normal by Day 7 and remained there through Day 14. In contrast, however, NK activity in CE1460 tumor-bearing mice decreased to only 10-20% of normal by Day 14. Excision of the tumor on Day 14, when WBC counts were three times normal, was followed by a rapid return of the WBC count to the normal range. NK activity in bone marrow and in spleen cells recovered somewhat but was still significantly suppressed 7 days after tumor excision. Limiting dilution analysis revealed a 3-5-fold decrease in frequency of NK precursors in bone marrow cells of mice bearing CE1460 for 7 or 14 days. The dramatic changes in NK activity observed in these experiments may reflect perturbation in production as well as an initial activation and subsequent suppression of mature NK cells.

Animals↗

Depression and anxiety in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease and cystic fibrosis.

The lifetime and current prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders was determined in 41 children with Crohn's disease, 12 children with ulcerative colitis, and 52 children with cystic fibrosis, using the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interview. The lifetime prevalence of depression was 29% in Crohn's disease, 21% in ulcerative colitis, and 11.5% in cystic fibrosis. The difference in the prevalence of depression between Crohn's disease and cystic fibrosis was significant (p less than 0.05). The lifetime and current prevalence of dysthymia was significantly greater in ulcerative colitis than Crohn's disease (p less than 0.01) or cystic fibrosis (p less than 0.01). The lifetime prevalence of atypical depression was significantly greater in Crohn's disease than cystic fibrosis (22% versus 5.8%, p less than 0.05) and was also greater in ulcerative colitis than cystic fibrosis (21% versus 5.8%, p = 0.1). There was no difference between the groups in the current prevalence of major depression or atypical depression, or in the lifetime or current prevalence of anxiety disorders.

Adolescent↗

Relationship between the Unicellular Red Alga Porphyridium sp. and Its Predator, the Dinoflagellate Gymnodinium sp.

Contamination of algae cultivated outdoors by various microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa, can affect growth and product quality, sometimes causing fast collapse of the cultures. The main contaminant of Porphyridium cultures grown outdoors in Israel is a Gymnodinium sp., a dinoflagellate that feeds on the alga. Comparison of the effects of various environmental conditions, i.e., pH, salinity, and temperature, on Gymnodinium and Porphyridium species revealed that the Gymnodinium sp. has sharp optimum curves, whereas the Porphyridium sp. has a wider range of optimum conditions and is also more resistant to extreme environmental variables. The mode of preying on the alga was observed, and the specificity of the Gymnodinium sp. for the Porphyridium sp. was shown. In addition, Gymnodinium extract was shown to contain enzymatic degrading activity specific to the Porphyridium sp. cell wall polysaccharide.

Journal Article↗

Spinal extradural arachnoid cyst.

A relatively unusual cause of progressive paraparesis is a spinal arachnoid cyst. The following is a case report of this lesion in an adolescent. The CT-myelographic and MR features, as well as the management of this case are discussed, followed by a review of the pertinent English literature on this topic.

Adolescent↗