Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Davies.
Between 50,000 and 60,000 persons in the United States die each year as a result of motor vehicle accidents. It is estimated that myocardial rupture occurs in 10% to 15% of victims of fatal accidents. We recently cared for five patients with atrial rupture in the Columbus, Ohio, metropolitan area, and this experience has prompted this report.
Two cases of advanced granulosa cell tumor are described, in both of which chemotherapy comprising cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, and cis-platinum resulted in an objective partial response with marked symptomatic improvement. In one case the response continues at 12 months, in the other the response lasted for 5 months. In both cases elevated serum estradiol levels fell during treatment. A literature review reveals two previous cases in which this combination has been reported as being effective in advanced granulosa cell tumor, but this is the first report of the use of serum estradiol as a tumor marker.
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This study set out to examine dietary and body shape concerns of four age groups (12-18 yr) of British female adolescents in order to compare current findings with previous results. Although less than 4% were overweight as measured by standard tables, over 10 times this number considered themselves overweight. Approximately half desired to alter their weight and considered various ways of doing so. The subjects' shape related directly to the subjects' desire to alter body shape, particularly in the oldest group. These results are discussed in terms on the literature on the development of an idea of ideal body shape, increasing interest in exercise and previous research in the area.
Body satisfaction was examined in four age groups of female British adolescents. Overall satisfaction with nine body features declined from age 12 to 18 years, particularly upper thigh, buttocks and stomach measurements. Although a shape ratio (weight divided by height) determined various aspects of body satisfaction in older girls, self-perceived weight (underweight, OK, overweight) related more directly to body satisfaction. The results suggest that body satisfaction declines during adolescence and is linked to psychological self-esteem and excessive dieting.
Removal of free calcium ions from the incubation medium of isolated bovine adrenocortical cells with EGTA reduced basal cortisol synthesis and blocked the effects of ACTH; additional calcium restored normal steroid synthesis. Calcium channel blockers, verapamil and nitrendipine and the calmodulin antagonist, trifluoperazine inhibited ACTH-stimulated cortisol synthesis in a dose-dependent manner (IC50s of 6.2, 10 and 5.2 microM, respectively). Steroidogenic effects of dibutyryl cyclic AMP were prevented with 50 microM verapamil or trifluoperazine. Calcium ionophore A23187 at 1 microM increased cortisol synthesis 2-3 fold which was less than the normal response to ACTH. Stimulatory effects of ionophore and cyclic AMP or ACTH were not additive. ACTH-stimulation of cortisol synthesis appears to involve cyclic AMP-dependent uptake of extracellular calcium ions, possibly by a mechanism requiring calmodulin. Increases in intracellular calcium ions cannot wholly mimic ACTH actions.
A parenteral preparation of captopril has been used to produce a smooth reduction of blood pressure in patients presenting with accelerated phase hypertension. In five out of six patients studied, an intravenous infusion of captopril at dose rates ranging from 250-2000 micrograms/h lowered blood pressure from 199 +/- 13/115 +/- 5 to 143 +/- 14/86 +/- 5 mmHg over several hours without adverse effects. Partial inhibition of the angiotensin converting enzyme was demonstrated by a rise in plasma renin activity (PRA) and a fall (although not to normal) in elevated levels of angiotensin II and aldosterone. The plasma level of free captopril at the point of blood pressure control was 15 +/- 4 ng/ml and its short effective half-life was demonstrated by a rise in blood pressure within 15 minutes of stopping the infusion. These data demonstrate that very small amounts of captopril can produce a dose-dependent inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme without abrupt changes in blood pressure.
This report describes the procedures and results of two techniques, which were developed by the senior author (V.C.W.), for eliminating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia involving, to some degree, the endocervical canal. These are excision by carbon dioxide laser of a tall cylinder of tissue for pure endocervical lesions and shallow excision of a similar specimen followed by peripheral vaporization. In 364 consecutive referred cases one of these two procedures was performed. A total of 15.9% of patients required attention for bleeding; most cases were managed in the clinic. Near-normal tissue mass and a squamocolumnar junction at the os were observed during 3 to 60 months of follow-up. In 95.9% of cases, over half of which were grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, normal cytologic and colposcopic findings were demonstrated after one laser procedure. A repeat laser procedure was used to eliminate persistent disease identified at 3 or 6 months. Five hysterectomies were performed. These procedures appear to be therapeutically effective, appear to preserve organ function, and allow regeneration of cervical mass.
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed for detection of anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA) in patients' sera. Results are expressed as a mitochondrial binding index, calculated from binding of patients' antibodies to rabbit liver mitochondrial fraction and total liver homogenate. The incidence of AMA detectable by this method in 22 sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis was identical with that obtained by conventional immunofluorescence testing (86%), and there was a highly significant correlation between titres determined by the two methods (r = 0.828; P less than 0.01) although ELISA titres were far higher. AMA were also detectable by ELISA in sera from 9/22 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 1/38 patients with other liver diseases, 3/16 patients with syphilis, 2/16 patients with non-hepatic autoimmune diseases and 0/29 normal blood donors; of these, only 2 chronic active hepatitis sera were positive for AMA by immunofluorescence. The ELISA titre was significantly correlated with the mitochondrial binding index determined at a serum dilution of 1:200 (r = 0.793; P less than 0.01), allowing an estimate of antibody titre to be made from ELISA screening at this single serum dilution. This assay, which is simple and reproducible, may be of value as an objective method of screening for AMA.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Four hundred twenty-nine consecutive cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were managed by one of three techniques of carbon dioxide laser surgery: dome-shaped vaporization of ectocervical lesions, cylinder-shaped excision of endocervical disease, or a combination of the two in the case of ectocervical disease that extended into the lower cervical canal. Ninety-two patients (21.5%) had grade 1, 137 (31.9%) had grade 2, and 200 (46.6%) had grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The success rates subsequent to one surgical intervention were 97.8% for grade 1, 94.9% for grade 2, and 94.5% for grade 3 of the disease. Success for the entire patient population was 95.3% after the first treatment. A second treatment was required in 20 cases: 18 laser procedures and two hysterectomies. The overall success of laser surgery (one or two procedures) approached 100%. Complications were negligible. These findings suggest that these techniques are very effective in eliminating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of all degrees when a planned approach is followed.
Aging of actively growing, etiolated pea Pisum sativum L. var Alaska plants was initiated by removing the plumules of plants in the third internode stage, and applying lanolin to the cut apices of otherwise intact plants. During the subsequent 4-day aging period, several degenerative events occurred in this apical 10-millimeter region. Ribosomal RNA and messenger RNA contents declined, polyribosomes disaggregated, and the protein synthesizing capacity of the polysomes decreased.Two-dimensional, silver-stained protein patterns revealed that aging altered the relative amounts of specific cellular proteins accumulated in vivo. In addition, polypeptide patterns generated by cell-free translation of total and polysomal RNA, isolated from unaged and aged tissues, showed major modifications. More than 200 spots could be resolved by two-dimensional gel fluorography of translation products using RNA from fresh tissues. Of these 200 spots, about eight appeared or increased when total RNA from aged tissue was used, and about 58 disappeared or declined. When polysomal RNA from aged tissue was used as template, about 12 spots appeared or increased, whereas about 64 disappeared or decreased. In general, the products which increased after aging were lower molecular weight and those that decreased were higher molecular weight.
Aged pea Pisum sativum L. var Alaska epicotyl tissue was wounded by excising the apical 10 or 20 millimeters and incubating the excised segments upright in buffer. Wounding induced a very rapid formation of polysomes which was accompanied by minor increases in ribosomes, mRNA, and poly(A) and by a doubling of the in vivo protein synthesizing capacity. This increase in protein synthesis in vivo was matched by a similar increase in polypeptide synthesis in vitro in wheat germ reactions primed by polysomes. However, in vitro reactions primed by total and polysomal RNA from wounded tissue were affected much less.Two-dimensional gel patterns of silver-stained proteins accumulated in vivo were almost unchanged, even after 6 hours of wounding, since only two spots decreased in intensity and none increased. In contrast, two-dimensional gel fluorographs of polypeptides generated in vitro by both total RNA and polysomal RNA showed numerous changes within 3 hours of wounding. Of the more than 200 spots visualized by fluorography, 17 decreased and 26 increased when total RNA from wounded tissue was used; 15 decreased and 10 increased when polysomal RNA was used. Those polypeptides that decreased after wounding were generally of lower molecular weight; those which increased were of higher molecular weight.Although wounding must be affecting transcription insofar as different mRNAs must be present to encode different polypeptides, its major effect appears to be on translation, presumably through formation of ribosomes with greater translational efficiency.
Applications of auxin to the tips of intact aged pea Pisum sativum L. var Alaska epicotyls resulted in an increase in the content of polyribosomes and poly(A) and in the capacity of isolated polysomes to support protein synthesis in vitro. Few changes were seen in the two-dimensional gel patterns of silver-stained proteins accumulated (or degraded) in vivo even after 15 hours of auxin treatment. In contrast, substantial changes were evident in the two-dimensional gel fluorographs of polypeptides generated in vitro by total RNA and by polysomal RNA from tissue treated with auxin for only 6 hours. Of the 200 spots resolved by fluorography, total RNA from auxin-treated tissue generated 33 spots with increased intensity and 10 with decreased intensity; polysomal RNA yielded 33 spots which increased and only three that decreased. In general, the polypeptides that increased in intensity were higher molecular weight and those that decreased were lower molecular weight. These changes occurred prior to growth and might be prerequisite for the auxin-induced slow growth response seen in this aged tissue.Comparisons were made between the changes in RNA and protein metabolism occuring during aging and after wounding and auxin treatment of aged tissue. Aging causes a decline in poly(A), polysomes, and protein synthesizing capacity, whereas wounding and auxin treatment cause increases. Wounding appears to act primarily at the level of translation, whereas auxin has a greater effect on transcription. It is argued that the use of excised tissue to study auxin effects on RNA and protein metabolism should be avoided.
Wounding (whether by excision, abrasion, or puncture) elicited rapid, massive, and enduring formation of polysomes in aged pea stems and other mature tissues. The response depended on temperature and severity of wounding but not on water uptake, and it occurred in tissues adjacent to, distant from, above, and below the site of injury. The kinetics of polysome formation were similar in tissues adjacent to or up to 150 mm distant from the point of injury. The wound-induced increases in protein-synthesizing capacity of the polysomes both in vivo and in vitro were much greater than the increases in rRNA and poly(A)(+)RNA. The results indicate that wounding evokes the almost immediate production of a wound signal that travels rapidly both acropetally and basipetally to stimulate the recruitment of preexisting ribosomes onto primarily preexisting mRNA, thence forming polysomes with greatly enhanced protein-synthesizing capacity.
Indoleacetic acid (IAA) oxidase has been reported to be involved in plant growth because of its alleged role in the control of endogenous IAA levels. This purported role was reevaluated in terms of the properties and subcellular location of the enzyme in etiolated pea (Pisum sativum L. var. Alaska) epicotyls.The enzymic properties of IAA oxidase in the floating pea epicotyl segments are similar to those previously reported in the literature. Other experiments indicate that approximately 70% of the activity is at the cut surfaces of the tissue. In addition, up to 50% of the IAA oxidase activity could be pelleted in a membranous fraction when the released enzyme was centrifuged at 10,000(g). Higher centrifugal forces reduced the proportion of the enzyme in the pellet, suggesting that vesicles containing IAA oxidase rupture at these forces.Subcellular localization of IAA oxidase was accomplished by use of sucrose density gradient centrifugation and fractionation. It was found that the enzyme is associated most closely with Golgi and also to a lesser degree with the lysosomes and endoplasmic reticulum. It is suggested that little if any IAA oxidase is freely soluble in the cytoplasm and is therefore unlikely to have a role in controlling normal growth via IAA levels. The enzyme may, however, have a role in diseased or damaged tissue.