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Biomedical subjects

E Frank

Publications and source records attributed to E Frank.

At least 379 records · Page 21Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Nocturnal penile tumescence in depressed men.

Nocturnal penile tumescence recordings were performed in 10 men with major depression and 10 age-matched healthy control subjects to evaluate the possibility that clinical disturbances in sexual interest and activity often reported by depressed persons are associated with objective changes in sexual neurophysiology. Depressed men had significantly reduced minutes of tumescence time, a finding that was not attributable to alterations in sleep efficiency or REM sleep time. Three depressed men had baseline tumescence profiles suggestive of "organogenic" impotence, which improved after recovery. The authors discuss the implications of such findings for clinical practice and future research.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Pregnancy-related affective episodes among women with recurrent depression.

The authors examined 52 women with recurrent depression to determine the differences between women with and without histories of pregnancy-related affective episodes. The women with histories of such episodes (N = 24) had been significantly younger at illness onset, were more severely depressed at baseline, and tended to show less emotional stability. The EEG-recorded sleep of the women with pregnancy-related affective episodes was distinguished by longer REM sleep time and more REM activity, differences accounted for almost entirely by the women with histories of only postpartum episodes.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

A psychoeducational workshop for depressed patients, family, and friends: description and evaluation.

Since 1982 depressed patients enrolled in a treatment study at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and their family and friends have participated in a day-long psychoeducational workshop conducted by the clinic's staff. The workshop is designed to help family and friends become useful, long-term resources for patients with recurrent depression and to enlist their assistance in the treatment study. During the morning session, the group discusses the symptomatology, theory, etiology, and treatment of depression, and staff describe the treatment study. In the afternoon, patients and their families and friends meet separately, the patients to discuss methods of coping with depression and interacting with significant others, and the families to discuss the impact of the patient's depression on their lives and to share common problems. More than 83 percent of family and friends who evaluated the workshop considered it moderately or extremely helpful. The results of the evaluation are summarized.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1987

Peripheral specification of sensory neurons transplanted to novel locations along the neuraxis.

Thoracic dorsal root ganglia in bullfrogs contain sensory neurons that innervate the skin of the trunk and have synaptic connections in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. The ganglion that innervates the forelimb contains, in addition to cutaneous afferents, many muscle afferents that project more ventrally in the spinal cord and make monosynaptic connections with motoneurons. In the present study, we have transplanted thoracic sensory neurons to the brachial level in tadpoles to discover whether they can innervate forelimb muscles and, if so, whether they form central connections characteristic of forelimb muscle afferents. The ganglion that normally supplies the forelimb was removed from tadpoles and replaced with 2 thoracic ganglia. After the tadpoles completed metamorphosis, the peripheral and central connections of the transplanted thoracic sensory neurons were examined with anatomical and electrophysiological techniques. When the ganglia were transplanted at stage XIV or earlier, transplanted sensory neurons innervated the forelimb and projected into the brachial spinal cord. Electrical stimulation of forelimb muscle nerves evoked impulses in the dorsal root, indicating that some centrally projecting sensory neurons were muscle afferents. Furthermore, muscle afferents were also activated by stretching muscles which suggest that they terminated on spindles. HRP labeling of the central projections revealed that transplanted sensory neurons terminated at sites characteristic of both cutaneous and muscle afferents. The pattern of synaptic connections was assessed by recording intracellularly from motoneurons. Stimulation of muscle afferents produced monosynaptic EPSPs in motoneurons. As in normal frogs, triceps muscle afferents projected more strongly to triceps motoneurons than to subscapularis and pectoralis motoneurons, while subscapularis afferents projected to all 3 types of motoneurons. Thus, the transplanted sensory neurons formed central connections appropriate to their novel peripheral targets. These observations suggest that interactions between sensory neurons and their targets may be important in determining their central connections.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Recurrent depression: an assessment of family burden and family attitudes.

Recognition that a psychiatrically ill family member has profound effects on family life and significant others has stimulated the need for more precise assessments of family members. The authors evaluated the burden experienced by those in the immediate environment of an individual with recurrent depressive illness as well as the beliefs they hold about the illness. This report presents a preliminary body of data on the level and types of distress shared by family members, especially family members living with the patient. Such information is valuable in designing educational interventions for family members in order to explore their attitudes and belief systems about depressive illness, to decrease the impact of family and other relationship stress on the patient, and to enhance the significant others' support of the patient.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1986

Normal electrical activity is not required for the formation of specific sensory-motor synapses.

These studies sought to determine the role of stretch-evoked electrical activity in muscle sensory axons on the formation of specific monosynaptic connections made by these neurons onto spinal motoneurons. Normal activity was disrupted by tenotomy during the developmental stages that the central connections are made. The pattern of connections was normal, suggesting that normal activity is not required in this system for the formation of specific sensory-motor connections.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Immunobiology of brain tumors.

The treatment of the cerebral glioma continues to challenge neurosurgeons and basic scientists. The lack of major success with chemotherapy and radiation therapy has spurred further investigation into the biology of this tumor and host reactions to it. Much of this research has centred upon evaluation of tumor cell antigenicity and the cellular immune responses to the glioma. Contrary to previous considerations evidence suggests that astrocytes, glioma cells and tumor endothelial cells may all have pivotal roles in the initiation and prolongation of both local and systemic immune responses to the tumor. In this review we will discuss the immunobiology of the glioma with specific reference to the interactions between the tumor and the host immune system. In addition, ideas for potential therapeutic manipulation of the host-glioma immune interactions will be reviewed stressing potential pitfalls and risks.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1986

Reformation of specific synaptic connections by regenerating sensory axons in the spinal cord of the bullfrog.

The regrowth of sensory axons into the spinal cord of juvenile bullfrogs was studied after disruption of these fibers in the dorsal root. Within 9 d after the root had been frozen, regenerating sensory axons had reached the spinal cord, as revealed by labeling with horseradish peroxidase. Growth into the spinal cord, however, was much slower. Even several months after denervation, very few fibers had reestablished any of their normal longitudinal projections within the dorsal funiculus. Eventually, however, sensory axons grew across the region and into the dorsal horn. Intracellular recordings from motoneurons revealed that these axons made functional reconnections with spinal neurons. Muscle sensory axons established direct, monosynaptic inputs to motoneurons, whereas cutaneous fibers innervated these neurons polysynaptically. Moreover, sensory afferents from a particular muscle distinguished among different classes of motoneurons, just as in normal frogs. Thus, specific synaptic pathways can be reestablished by regenerating sensory axons if they can reach their appropriate target region within the spinal cord.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scanning of the postoperative spine.

A prospective study of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scanning was undertaken for 17 levels previously operated upon in the lumbosacral spine in 14 patients. All levels with prior operations were scanned before and after the administration of intravenous contrast medium. A standardized technique for contrast enhancement using high doses of intravenous contrast medium was employed and a specialized technique for measuring enhancement with corrections for scan artifacts was used. Results indicated that measurable contrast enhancement occurred in 16 of 17 postoperative scars up to 12 years after surgery. Enhanced scans provided more accurate delineation of the size and margins of postoperative scarring than precontrast scans. No instances of enhancement of normal disk or recurrent herniated disk were observed. In six instances recurrent herniated disks were predicted on the basis of contrast-enhanced CT scans and subsequently confirmed at reoperation. Contrast-enhanced CT scans meticulously performed appear to permit differentiation between scarring and disk herniation in patients with recurring symptoms after operations for lumbosacral disk disease.

Humans↗
PubMed1986

Expression of class II major histocompatibility antigens on reactive astrocytes and endothelial cells within the gliosis surrounding metastases and abscesses.

To pursue the hypothesis that astrocytes may function as immunoregulatory cells, astrocytes within the reactive gliosis surrounding metastases and abscesses were examined for the expression of the class II major histocompatibility antigen HLA-DR. The tissue was analysed using single- and double-label avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase techniques employing monoclonal antibodies for HLA-DR (D1-12), macrophages (anti-Fc), T lymphocytes (2D3), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and GFAP antiserum. Macrophages, astrocytes and T lymphocytes were present. The double label demonstrated HLA-DR on a large number of astrocytes. Taken together with evidence that astrocytes can release interleukin-1 and can present an antigen to lymphocytes, the finding of HLA-DR on these astrocytes supports their possible involvement in the cellular immune response.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1985

Marital adjustment in major depression.

The association between depression and marital adjustment is examined in 45 married inpatients with major depression as compared to 45 normal controls from the same community. The marriages of the depressed couples were significantly worse in all areas of functioning than were those of the normals. Two risk factors which distinguished the families of origin of the depressed and normal couples were history of divorce and/or separation in parents and death in the family. In addition, twice as many of the children of the depressives had serious medical or psychiatric illness compared to those of the normals.

Adaptation, Psychological↗